##VIDEO ID:zjHYy2_0Ivg## y e SL she's awesome very excited excellent yet absolutely oh no I didn't come on now spe e h a show good afternoon uh welcome to the scambi county 
tourist development council meeting uh   today is August 29th and it is 3:06 p.m. uh 
Danielle was the meeting properly advertised   yes in the sun press on August 22nd great 
thank thank you uh will you please call the role Jeff BOS James Reeves Mary Hawking Shirley 
cronley here David Bayer here Ronald Rivera here   mati Patel here tin Yad Bron and Casey Jones 
great uh so we do have five members we do have   a quorum so the meeting is officially called to 
order um there is uh one add-on to the agenda   that I forgot to add on it is for pensacon Andy 
Tran is here to speak to that item and I'll put   that down uh before the other business at the 
end of the agenda uh does anybody else have   any add anything to add to the agenda Mr chairman 
could we separate the base Center and the sports   facility and talk about them separately I mean 
I see them on the same line item I mean I I know   for you know for time we keep them together but it 
would be nice to talk about them separately uh we   can they they had asked to have the agenda item 
that oh so I just list is it one and the same I   mean is it I think they're all coming up I think 
I think Ry and Michael rhods are going to come up   and speak about the sports complex and uh Michael 
caps is coming up probably with them also to speak   about the Bas so essentially it's okay okay thank 
you all right um can I get a motion to approve the   agenda as presented motion second so we have a 
motion from Miss cronley a second from Mr Rivera   is there any uh any other changes or discussion 
objections seeing none please show it adopted   thank you um all right moving on to the next item 
is uh public forum uh we have a handful of um well   no we only have two speakers for public forum uh 
today one first one is Meg uh peler welcome uh you   have three minutes please introduce yourself thank 
you good afternoon I'm Meg Peltier president and   CEO of the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce and 
I'm here this afternoon to first of all thank the   TDC board for your support of the Pensacola Beach 
Chamber this past year in particular our Fireworks   program that has brought thousands of tourists to 
Pensacola Beach and we're very excited to now be   continuing with that in the coming year but the 
reason I'm here today is I just personally want   to thank you for the support that I've received 
from the staff Allison and Stephen have been   amazing this past year was my first time applying 
and doing the grant but also to let you know that   this week the chamber issued a press release 
announcing my retirement I will be leaving   the chamber on October 1st and very excited about 
some of the things that are going to be happening   in the future but I wanted the board to know that 
we already have in place the person that will be   stepping into my shoes and that's Jessica Simpson 
she's been our VP of membership services for the   last two years has over five years of experience 
with the Pensacola Chambers their director of   operations and plans to pursue this chamber path 
for her career so we are very excited to have her   with us I'm very confident that she'll be hand 
able to handle all of the things that come in   front of us and we'll be taking our chamber 
to new heights but we're so grateful that you   have been so supportive of us and we have some 
great ideas going forward for ways that we can   continue to develop tourism on Pensacola Beach 
but I just want to recognize Jessica she's here   today and um welcome her and I hope that you'll 
all get a chance to meet with her and again just   wanted to thank you so much for your support 
great thank you mag and and congratulations and   congratulations to both of you look forward 
to working with you um next speaker is Mimi bass did did you want to speak to a subject or 
just general public comment thank you thank you   I'm here with CCA Florida yes in discussion and 
support of the reef program so um thank you very   much for having me here today do you want to speak 
on behalf of the to The Reef program because it's   an agenda item and we'll take speakers during that 
item pardon me oh yes I had another engagement so   they were accommodating okay and and thank you 
yes because we're we're pledging to the event   so they had asked me to go ahead and address you 
great um so my name is Mimi bass I'm uh a local   person here in Pensacola and I've been serving as 
the president of CCA Florida Pensacola chapter for   about eight years I'm really honored on behalf of 
CCA Florida to and if you're not familiar that's   Coastal conservation Association of Florida it's 
a 501c3 nonprofit organization dedicated to marine   fisheries Coastal conservation education and 
advocacy and who is CCA Florida together with our   18,000 members 47 chapters in Florida including 
recreational Anglers outdoor enthusiasts we   support the protection of Marine Resources access 
to marine fisheries law enforcement have habitat   restoration and balanced fishery regulations we 
are a collective voice for recreational anglers   in Tallahassee as well in Washington DC CCA and 
its Affiliates are in every state and we're the   largest Marine environmental organization in the 
United States why the artificial reefs since 2007   CCA Florida and its Partners have deployed more 
than 47 artificial reefs in the State of Florida   the artificial Reef program to CCA Florida 
originated in the Panhandle with Pensacola   CCA Florida who has also successfully completed 
large large fold deployments with several more in   progress we understand artificial reefs and the 
importance of them in our ecosystem artificial   reefs create mimic natural reefs and function 
therefore to provide a number of ecosystem   services primar purpose of the artificial reef is 
to create new Habitat to enhance populations of   marine organisms the variety of habitat created 
by artificial wreaths leads to an increase in   both biomass and biodiversity throughout the area 
several different sea species seek Refuge through   the structures attracting large predators and 
gamefish as well as corals and small reef fish   more red snapper are caught off artificial reefs 
than any other Reef system in the in Florida so   it's a very vital vital program but the economics 
at CCA Florida we understand also economics and   driving tourism and people to Florida is a big 
part of us throughout our 47 chapters through the   state we recognize the benefit of the artificial 
reefs as very sustainable as well these newly   functional ecosystem attract recreational Anglers 
and divers from all over the world the increase in   tourism throughout the region while still helping 
to reduce the pressure on your natural Reef system   so the artificial reef is vital to the life of 
your natural Reef system by giving an alternative   to people and the encroachment on those and 
it supports a healthy Coastline so artificial   reefs are maintained and they're free education 
and tourism it's fun you just add the water you   deploy the reef and then nature builds the rest 
and maintains it it's kind of a refreshing idea so   there's many studies on the economic development 
associated with artificial reefs and the benefits   of those for years to come but most importantly I 
think that you want to know about the commitment   that CCA has to this area we like the opportunity 
first I would like the opportunity to recognize   Robert Turpin and his hard work in getting and 
managing this program through the leadership   and they have helped to make Pensacola one of the 
Premier dive and fishing locations and Pensacola   is on many people's you know blue green travel 
map as well as on their bucket list for these   visiting these so CCA Florida had pledged on 
behalf a CCA Florida Reef habitat grow uh grant   program $50,000 um and that's just for the start 
with the with the SS uh United States but we're   interested in the largest artificial Reef in the 
United States so on behalf of CCA Florida they've   also asked to participate in a more gratuitous 
way as the pro program continues to develop we   have other organizations and places within the 
State of Florida uh aquariums where we have   donated over a million dollars to fund rooms and 
um fishing education programs throughout Florida   but this is a really good fit for CCA we have 
just right now a $1 million grant program going   on throughout the State of Florida just for Reef 
renourishment so when this project was brought   to CCA Florida they put a gold seal on it and 
want to help out and participate and I'm really   honored to be here thank you so much appreciate 
than for your time thanks for your comments ask Brian did you want to 
speak to an item or general   just public forum well you're next Brian W thank you please introduce yourself thank you Brian 
wre with the golf coose minority Chamber of   Commerce and uh thank you so much for the time 
today I'm handing out some fowers for you here   to personally invite you to the Pensacola supplier 
de development exchange uh it's an exchange we're   having September the 10th from 9:00 to 2 at the 
Karen Jones Center location here in Pensacola and   what it is is opportunity for businesses to get 
a chance to meet with local and state agencies to   help provide goods and Market their goods to them 
and look for bids and contracts uh tourism wise   it's kind of interesting the fact that we have 
the departments in Tallahassee come Pensacola   for this event there only about six events 
in the whole state of Florida they come here   Department of Transportation Corrections wildlife 
services criminal justice and they hear and they   provide chance to give information about 
the Departments but then also have people   meet them and create bids and contracts 
for those individuals so I just want to   personally invite you to the event uh in the 
past we have people come from Miami from New   York Texas Louisiana for the day to meet with all 
our vendors in the area thank you great thank you Brian okay sure hi guys hi good to see you Tim Rishon here 
uh two porino Drive Pensacola Beach I'm the   president of C Pensacola and I just wanted to 
give you a little bit of update on our foiling   week upcoming event I've got a little bit of 
handout that I gave you and I'm just going to   run through a description Rachel if I could 
have the next slide so the date of this mark   your calendars is February 24th to March 
second this is going to be for Sailors who   are going to be racing and for the public 
we have a race Village that's going to be   very engaging for the public why we're going 
to shine the global World light on Pensacola   and what we can provide recreationally what are 
the boats we're going to have sailboat races   in at least six classes maybe more the sailing 
Festival will be where the public engages this   will be at Maritime Park and I'll go through the 
map on that there will be a film festival that's   original and documentary we have public demos 
so you can come out and try these foiling boats   for yourself and there will be educational 
forums about technology and technique Rachel   so here's a map of How It's laid out we have the 
major venues in downtown Pensacola Pensacola Yacht   Club is going to be launching the boats the race 
Village will be at Maritime Park we're activating   the maritime Park Marina as well with a variance 
from the city to bring the 32t gc32 catamarans   over and fly their flags and Banners right there 
we have access to the stadium as it turns out so   we'll activate our VIP lounge and take the VIPs 
from the lounge to the least fairies where we'll   take them out on the race course with commentators 
and explain what they're seeing uh next slide   that's the really the layout of the City penso 
yach Club is going to be where the boats are   launched you can see the three race courses 
there and the race Village at Maritime Park   Rachel on the beach we have a lot of activation 
out there as well so we're using Park West as the   board epicenter there will be something like 60 
boards that are foiling flying pumping paddling   and down winding uh launching off the the beach 
on both sides into the Gulf and on the Flat Water   of the sound and of course we're going to use 
quiet water for the public demos so upcoming we   have a stakeholders seminar coming up the first 
week in November where we want to get all the   stakeholders together and explain what they're 
going to see during that week mark your calendars   February 24th to March 2nd 25 there's the website 
info and Rachel if you could play that little video for right okay thank you D thank you for that 
and I'm gonna turn the microphone over to   Tom pace and have him give you an update 
on activities at pyc thank you thank you   will you please fill out a speaker form and Tom I need you to fill one out too please 
I'll do that on the way out y thank thank you Mr   chair hey guys um so uh Tim wanted me to update 
that from foiling week for pyc tons of that deal   we're going to Stage there's a challenge obviously 
being close to marra but we're trying to work that   out best as possible uh we should have anywhere 
between 180 to 300 different boats it's a big   thing so within the numbers we're not real sure um 
Lake Garda event this year had good numbers even   in the worst weather they've had in 12 years um 
people across the board are looking at this event   as a building event um we always want to under 
promise and outperform but I've already had people   asking the yach club to host World Championships 
in 2026 for one of these classes that'll bring 200   votes um they wanted to be a part of foiling week 
we told them um board member cronley said we're   not going to authorize this for multiple than 
one year but we'll see how this goes so that's   the the deal there main reason I'm here is to 
tell you guys how your investment is doing with   American magic as you can see I'm wearing this I'm 
not here to ask for anything but just to let you   know everywhere in Barcelona people know about 
Pensacola I've had my visor printed up with the   Pensacola logo on it according to DC that's fine I 
can do that um everywhere people are excited about   American magic the boat is doing well preliminary 
Riata this past weekend was the last time all the   boats would get together before the the early 
start of the America's Cup which the Louis   Vuitton cup which got underway today um our guys 
sadly did not have a great race today but this is   a month-long competition so uh we're good before 
that you could cut the stress with a knife nobody   knew if the the millions of dollars these programs 
actually had developed the right boat the right   kit everything else we got on the water one our 
first race had a part break in the next last race   we go against New Zealand best boat in the world 
absolutely crushed them got off the line better   spanked him kind of embarrassed him actually so 
the team now is light they're confident learning   curve here is vertical and they're excited to do 
what they do but again everywhere I went whether   it at the fancy W Hotel or at the Skybox viewing 
area or little small restaurants by Roman walls   that go back to 400 ad they went oh that P see 
I go you bet so the mission is doing well your   investment is awesome greatly appreciated uh tune 
in every morning uh 7:00 for the next month races   will start they're a few days off schedule's 
easily printed Buck Mitchell will put a thing up   we've got watch parties at Seville every morning 
if you want to go into apple anes or I'm sorry   um Lily Marlins okay and right now ker and DC and 
Bobby are actually over there kind of waving the   flag for us so it's a good thing any questions 
uh yes Council please turn your microphone on your microphone's still not on yeah no it is so 
uh the question was how could she find information   about it uh multiple media Pages certainly 
Facebook will have that it's AC America's Cup   37 or if you look American magic right that'll 
come up and they printed daily schedules and I   can actually probably send that to Chairman Baron 
he can get that to you and it'll show the the the   schedule of races back out seven hours and that's 
going all happen here okay and can you tell me   off the top of your head just how much um how 
much money does it bring us I'm sorry how much   what how much does it bring the city as far as 
money well on the very hard number with the team   was here they had 147 people so that's hard 
dollars in for accommodation what they're   doing Transportation daily expense being in the 
community when they come back they're bringing   boats as well part of the contract of the city 
in American magic was that they had to bring   radas here that I couldn't as a Commodore of 
the yach club right now I'm already bringing   in World Championships and we have a whole bunch 
of events I'll talk to you guys about for next   year about the impact we're going to bring but 
they get to touch a different class of sailors   the ones that would historically be billionaires 
and Millionaires and they go to Europe and race   they don't come here so within that they're 
looking at at least two events a year that   they'll bring in those should bring in on 
average 4 to 500 people to compete and race   all those need rooms through American magic I'm 
setting up two events uh this coming year March   and April and these are 52ft racing boats and 
they're 11 people per crew and they come hang   out they rig their boats at the Port tie up 
at palifox Marina uh they race for a week put   them back on the port go away come back and race 
again have their parties and do everything else   um and they want to make Pensacola their 
permanent base they would have never come   here had it not been for American magic thank you 
you're welcome any other questions Jimbo how much   more money do you need well I'm glad you've asked 
me here that's for the next conversation always   more than more than we can spend but uh the plan 
going forward I told you guys before the hope is   to commoditize riatas so Ronnie doesn't have to 
look at me and go is this a kids event is this a   multi- hall how many people you know Ray and Daren 
through what they've done with contract with blue   angels there's now an easier to work formula to 
do this according to uh Ellis bulock and a few   others we can try to plug into that Ray wants to 
help make the numbers legitimate so when we show   the rados that we're bringing in prospective 
number of people that are coming we'll be able   to dumb this down into what the heads and beds 
are what the needs will be and then frankly what   the impact will be each year going forward but 
it's substantial um people call me about every   two days wantan to come here and compete so now 
the the fun thing is to try to work within the   spiderweb of schedules between marra and fiestas 
and everything that's done here in town uh so   you don't pray on the inventory for hotel and 
vrbos okay great passed thank you Tom appreciate it uh and that is our last public forum was this 
properly advertised this what was it properly   advertised yeah we started with that did we I 
didn't hear yeah okay I just make sure um all   right that ends public forum session uh review 
and approval of the meeting minutes those were   distributed with the agenda uh second hey Jim 
will you turn on your microphone too please   sir so the people at home can hear you thank you 
we had a motion from Mr Reeves we had a second   from someone yeah is it Shirley yeah from Shirley 
uh is there any debate or dis or discussion any changes uh seeing none please show those adopted 
thank you uh review of the expenditure audit Trail   generally we have Mr Baker here but I don't 
see him in the crowd so Mr Hall come on down please welcome thank you good afternoon council member stefen 
Hall uh Office of Management and budget um so in the reports that have been provided by 
our clerk's office um on the very last page   of that report you would see that the the current 
Year's 2024 tdt budget total roughly 46.2 million   with 15.2 million in expenditures to to date 
and 7.7 million as encumbered and with 23.2   million remaining uh as the available balance 
within the tdt fund now I believe some of the   qu the question may have been what exactly does 
that 7.7 million represent what that represents   is the current contracts for the month of 
September and and expenditures for the month   of August that are remaining to potentially be 
paid could you hold on a second what what page   are we on he's saying these numbers and I have no 
idea where we find them so those were emailed out   but not they haven't been printed so we don't 
have them sitting in front of us because they   weren't printed about audit expenditure 
Trail it's the big thick document that   we generally get from the that the clerk's 
office print emails to Danielle and we send out okay so again those incumbrances those 
amounts remaining represent Visa Pensacola   Pensacola Sports Association and Ace um again 
those are the balances remaining on those POs   as well as the the Our Community Partners which 
are the tdt partners that's what that those   amounts remaining Now understand if if if our 
partners don't spend all that money it remains   in the tdt fund but those are the the balances 
of the contract approvals for fiscal year 2024 also um I did prepare um the balances of 
our TD T TDC Reserve policy and Reserve   balances I believe I provided that to the 
chairman hopefully you guys received all   that so current balance of reserves 
it out either is roughly 21.1 million additionally there are three additional 
years um committed to to the base Center   which was part of that roughly $10 million 
uh contribution from the tdt for Capital   Improvements the total of the three remaining 
years for the Baye Center is roughly 6.9 million uh the Beach renourishment Reserve is 
currently 1.5 million the marketing Reserve is   4,322 704 the public facility Reserve is 
3.5 million what was that 4 million what   Mar marketing Reserve no what is what was the 
balance uh the the total balance of that fund   21.1 no no of just that that marketing 
fund okay marketing Reserve is 4 million 32274 thank you the unallocated or uh 
available Reserve under the board board   of County Commissioners is currently Tim Mill 
10, 35627 and the special event Reserve is 1,465 137 any questions or comments from 
the the 10,356 you said was for bard   of County Commissioners correct those 
are unallocated reserves that fund 108   yes that is the the unallocated to 
the other restricted funds and it's   just an unrestricted balance correct 
and the bulk of that is the fifth Cent tdt have another question yeah 6.9 you 
said for 3 years is that out of the 10   million for the base center or is that correct 
that's part of the $10 million appropriation   that we approved that County Commission 
approved it's the first year has been   paid correct correct the 3.1 and that's 
a balance that's the remaining balance any other questions or comments no all right thank you sir stay up there 
though because you're the next item on the agenda   too status of funds available which you just 
read in the county and a county budget update   we gave you guys a in June at our last meeting 
we presented approved to make the recommendation   to the board County Commissioners for the 
allocation of the the tdt for next year and   we would just like update on where that what has 
been loaded into the budget um obviously we know   that there's an upcoming meeting next month for 
the the board to have the final hearing uh but   sure so as far as the budget the recommended 
budget from from the TDC is the budget that   we have included in the in the board's budget um 
no other changes um beyond that at this time okay and did you want me to do the status of funds 
yes please all right James regrets regrets that   he can't be here but uh he he believes that 
uh going on a on a cruise was a little more   important than being here to to do this status 
of funds today unfortunately support tourism tell   him he's never invited back support tourism I like 
it um so again uh my name is Stephan Hall Finance   director of scambi County budget office today we 
will present be presenting you with the status   of of tdt funds through the month of July 2024 the 
clerk's office has provided the appropriate backup   uh and breakdown of the expenditures the fiscal 
year 24 collections with interest through the   end of July 2024 total 17 m392 569 as compared to 
the collections through May of 2023 totaling 16,   674 714 uh for a collect collective increase 
of roughly 78,000 uh as comparing this year   to last year fiscal year 24 collections 
through July totaling 17 milon 392562   are 87% of the fiscal year 24 Tour development 
tax budget of 20 million again expenses through   July of 2024 total approximately 15.24 
million the current tourist development   tax cash balance is 29.2 million 
through July 2024 it's pretty good okay so what was the date of those collections through the most updated report that 
we have is um June's returns received   in July so is that a portion of July's numbers 
in there or all of July's numbers already in   there yeah it should be because we're past 
the 20th of August I believe so it should be   Apples to Apples okay so we don't have that so 
what is the percent change year-over-year year   to date through July uh it was a 3% increase 
because June had a 16% increase year-over-year I did not do that particular 
calculation you don't have that but but again we are up 78,000 over what was the number 17 million 
seven technically the number is 71785 of the total collection 17 million 
correct that's over last year 17 392,000 all right thank you all right all right and um 
I just have just a a church devilment Council   information item the fiscal the fiscal year 
2022 base Center incentive in the amount of   37 $7,300 and a penny uh will require an 
additional transfer from the tdt fund to   the Bas Center fund uh per the terms of the Bas 
Center contract that was approved by the board   in June of 20120 this will be paid from the first 
two pennies of the tdt which was PL pledged for   base Center operations um this will be paid from 
the board's unrestricted Reserves that is due to   the positive performance of the base Center 
absolutely they've been doing a fantastic job   right any questions or comments that comes out 
of the 10 million doll amount you said correct   okay yes out of the 10 million not the 10 million 
that we appropriated the $10 million unrestricted   funds yes comes out of the boards portion of the 
first two pennies that's unallocated Reserves any any questions or comments all right thank you Stefan 
does that conclude your report uh I   will be back in a little bit okay thank 
you yeah don't go far all right uh next   item on the agenda is the Bas Center and 
Ashton Brenham uh Indoor Sports facility   discussion question um we have Ray 
Palmer and Michael rhs and Michael   caps welcome question this things either 
getting taller or I'm getting shorter so what a day um I'm not going to 
kid you in my 25 years of being   in the sports tourism business starting 
back on Shirley's board as a board member   and then uh having the honor to be named the 
executive director and then president CEO of   pincola sports this guys is absolutely the biggest 
day of uh my professional career as you all know   I'm a pretty emotional dude I'm very excited and 
compassionate about what I do um so I'm a little   more nervous than I normally am I'm usually pretty 
comfortable in front of you guys but but as I said   this is a huge huge day for our community um so 
I'm going to start um with I made some notes and   usually I don't make any notes right I I just 
be Ray and so I'm going to do my best to be Ray   but I want to make sure I get this right because 
this is this is important um so first on behalf of   myself and I'm and first thank you for those 
of you who aren't on a cruise because I know   the opportunity of cruises that you had today and 
having been in the shipyard industry for many of   the years of my youth and having done what you had 
the opportunity to do thank you for not doing that   because that's one of the coolest things ever and 
I'm was definitely jealous of those of people and   friends and family that are doing it but anyway my 
first I wanted to thank publicly um Jeff BOS and   and his commitment to our County but specifically 
to our tourism industry as a whole because um you   know he without his vision and his support I 
don't know that we would be here today so uh   commissioner BOS wherever you may be and hopefully 
you're watching I wanted to say thank you from the   tourism industry uh to him for his service um 
I don't think we'd be here today to make this   presentation uh without his his vision and his 
support it's my honor to start the presentation   for what truly is a historic day in the tourism 
industry for Escambia County as we are going to   present to you two initiatives that have been 
talked about studied thought about studied and   studied some more but most importantly dreamed 
about for many many years while we all know the   beaches of Escambia County are the number one draw 
for our visitors it's equally known the importance   of not being a one-trick pony we've all seen the 
devastating impact of both natural disasters and   man-made mistakes and what the impact they can 
have on our industry the development of additional   and diverse assets to complement our tremendous 
history our fantastic cultural options as well as   everything else is the road to continued growth 
and success a friend a friend many years ago   gave me actually two quotes that sit on my desk 
every day the first the truth is that good ideas   brilliant Innovations and miraculous discoveries 
go nowhere unless somebody forms a team to act   on them well I don't know if we're getting to the 
brilliant in Inventions or miraculous discoveries   today I do know we have built a team to act on 
the great ideas with the noblest of intentions   the other half of that same game same page that 
sits on my desk is a quote that says a good idea   is worth $1 the plan for Implement implementing 
that idea is worth a million dollars quite   frankly today we're talking about millions of 
dollars I'm proud to say we have built this team   one of the other neat things about today for 
me personally are two of the people who will   be providing the meat of our presentations the 
Michaels as I call them roads and caps both of   these young leaders in our community are like a 
blend of my sons they're little brothers they're   my mentors are my mentees but most importantly 
they're my friends and they're my teammates I'm blessed every day to work with these 
guys with a joint Vision to grow the very   successful and valuable sports tourism industry 
in Escambia County you've heard and seen from   the fantastic job these two guys have done and 
their respective teams in their respective roles   over the past few years while we at Pensacola 
Sports often get the Press hopefully good for   the growth in our Sports tourism indust 
industry initiatives and successes none   none of what we do happens without without the 
support of these guys and their teams so let's   get to it today we're presenting to you two 
initiatives that will transform the tourism   industry in esami County First Michael rhs will 
present the results of the latest study of the   multi-purpose indoor venue then Michael caps 
will outline line the plans for major upgrades   and modernizations to our base Center to close 
the presentation Stefan will come back thank   you Stefan we'll provide the board with the 
most important information and that will be   an outline on how all of this could be paid for 
after the presentations um and Ron gonly anytime   obviously whenever you want to interrupt but 
after the presentations we'll open the floor   for uh to the board for questions thank you and 
I will now turn it over to Michael one Michael rhods thank you Ray hard act to follow there 
um first I want to thank my supervisor Wesley   Hall and County Administrator West Marino 
along with our staff deputy director Adam   Reed for uh everyone's support and 
hard work over the frankly the year   leading into this and uh good afternoon I'm 
Michael rhods Parks and Recreation director   and I thank you want to thank the TDC committee 
members for your time and consideration and of   course thank you Ray Palmer at Pensacola sports 
for his continued hard work and enthusiasm and   trying to bring this project to a true reality I 
hope you've received the presentation in advance   electronically I did put them up on the dis um 
and I'm not going to read the PowerPoint verbatim   I Look to go through it uh on bullet points 
if that's okay with you in 2023 we followed   and went through the county procurement process 
to a te and we hired convergence design which   partnered with Crossroads Consulting both 
leaders in the Sports Marketing and study field the study really got rolling in the 
start of 2024 and is wrapping up at this   point culminating as noted in the study and recap 
this Market in exami county in this region will   absolutely support the needs of indoor sports 
facility and facility hosting multiple types of   events as you all know and I grew up here went to 
the University of West Florida the University of   West Florida is the only true competitive Indoor 
Sports facility of its type University of West   Florida is a growing University its priority 
is the students as it should be it's very tough   to get space and we're great partners with the 
University of West Florida but the bottom line is   it's tough to get indoor event space at University 
of West Florida and I want to reiterate uh they're   great partners of ours and we worked hand inand 
with them through this study you will hear me say   this several times in my short presentation 
brosam Park is a county-owned facility it's   a great facility Bram Park is county-owned it 
currently has 13 lit soccer fields it's home to   Major soccer events in the Youth Sports World um 
it's also home to the Nia national championship   this coming up November and it's also hosted 
two SEC women's soccer championships with with   a third to follow in late October into November 
what does this demonstrate folks like coming to   scambia County for the sports um it demonstrates 
people like broam Park as I said I grew up here   long ago broam Park out in that region in Canton 
may have been thought of as a little far out the   truth of the matter is Broan Park is not far out 
anymore it's in the hub of Escambia County uh   it's a major Corridor uh out in the highway 29 
9 M Road area with plenty of hotels which will   be covered later in the presentation again it's a 
hub of Youth Sports and you might hear that again   later in my presentation as well um it's a tried 
and proven location it doesn't get any better   than the SEC and again we're willing to grow that 
and we want to grow that and make that the true   destination of sports in Escambia County which we 
feel it's already on its way key points as I want   to again reiterate brome is is is county-owned 
it's a 14 AC we have 14 acres on this property   that's open flat and undeveloped the undeveloped 
flat portion we did the studies and working with   convergence we feel that a 100 100,000 square foot 
building with 73,000 square ft of open column free   floor space compatible for sports events expose 
special events and various diverse events will fit   the bill for this type for this type footprint 
again it's 14 Acres of open flat land that the   county owns currently already zoned for recreation 
another key point also built did you say 173,000   Square ft no sir 100 I'm sorry 100,000 square 
foot would be that what would work into this   facility on the 14 acres with 73,000 I apologize 
73,000 Square ft of open downstairs floor Spates   column free open to floor um another key Mike 
real quick and I don't mean to interrupt you   how how many people could you put in that facility 
I don't have that number right in front of me but   I will say when you when you talk about teams I 
don't have a capacity of exactly how many folks   I'm thinking more about cars in the neighborhood 
I was that was my next line actually um one key   component on this 14 acres when we talk about 
uh how big the building is going to be 700 plus   parking spaces in the current uh design okay 
again that was my next line Mr Rivera is 700   paved parking spaces uh as I've been across 
a lot of these facilities in the Southeast   with my own Sons parking can be a challenge 
700 paved parking spaces with the obviously   some over some um extra parking space as well 
but the 700 paved parking spots is a very very   key in this in this situation um I appreciate 
that question again the six the eight it would   it would com it would have eight full court 
basketball courts that can be transformed   into 16 hardcourt volleyball courts hardwood has 
been recommended in this study for longevity and   maintenance and it transforms into open uh floor 
space for Expos and various other activities as well I will I will don't want to take 
raay Thunder when I turn it back to   him these type of events in our study 
are estimated to potentially generate   an annual economic impact of up 
to $37 million or more per year moving forward in the presentation let's see 
here when we started this back in January we   we again met with many stakeholders across the 
area to include University of West Florida um   Pensacola State College other youth stakeholders 
in the area and one major stakeholder as they are   neighbors of ours on this property the esamia 
County School District why the school district   is so important because as you come into this 
facility there are three schools on Ashton Brenham   Road Great Partners this type of facility will 
benefit the scam County students not only those   three schools on that road but open floor space 
for recreation and sports activities is always   challenging in the school system this will be a 
win-win we have had discussions with Mr Leonard   and his team early on in this in this process 
about could we possibly transverse Schoolboard   property on a second Road entry into this facility 
so you have two options for Ingress and egress   and they were more than supportive it will be a 
win-win for the school and of course the soccer   will also benefit because you will then have the 
potential to have two entries and and exits to   the facility moving forward again a win-win and a 
great partner moving forward for the community not   just for events but for classes such as PE youth 
basketball that has played at middle schools when   they need extra space as you all know it's a 
challenge across the community indoor sports   challenges were also identified and and strengths 
challenges that were quickly identified was the   traffic that's the that's why we met with the 
school Ward initially other other challenges uh   competition in Regional facilities such as Foley 
funding for construction is a challenge with with   inflation and and price going up um again I feel 
we turned into these these potential challenges   into a positive in meeting with Mr lonard and 
the school board early on because we feel this   can be a great benefit to the school system and 
also eliminate some possible traffic concerns   to our soccer programs and possibly even the 
school again turning this possible challenge   into a positive um again we have great Partners 
great Partners across the board of this there's   strong demand from local sports groups New 
Economic impacts uh new markets to tap into   there's very active local sports programs here 
that are dying to have indoor sports more than   just a few facilities they're currently at There's 
an opport opportunity to fill gaps in the current   inventory and again one thing that was quickly 
pointed out when convergence uh started their   study is the great relationships that's already 
in place with Pensacola Sports along with visit Pensacola again several site plans were were 
studied when this process started nothing is in   stone on the exact layout of the facility again 
it is estimated that 100,000 foot facility will   fit into this footprint of for approximately 
14 acres um but nothing is in stone we did do   several shetes that had several different building 
Concepts but nothing is in stone of the exact layout open common area in the facility open 
common area and this was a challenge what would   go in there besides the basketball courts and the 
volleyball courts open common areas would include   meeting spaces viewing areas restrooms plenty of 
vendor space concession or retail areas if needed   and one pretty cool aspect if you've ever been to 
Olive Baptist Church and a a second floor walking   Track and viewing area to see your your your 
child or grandkids play but also to be open to   the public on various dates for walking in general 
activity and in Recreation that was a big deal   when we did this we certainly realize this is a 
tourism driven uh model but at the same time we   have to be successful in meeting the need of our 
community needs for this to make this work and get   full support from our community the bottom line 
is that we have to have Community Support so there   will be plenty of aspects for recreation for the 
local kids in the area the adults in the area and   folks just wanting to exercise and stay healthy 
very important and I do not want to overlook this   traffic was a major concern I want to touch on 
that one last time and that was something that   we needed to address and we feel that we're 
well in our way in meeting with the school   board on the option to Traverse their property 
behind their schools and create another access point all right again I'm G to turn it 
back over to Ray in just a minute when   I when because I definitely want him to mention 
and get into the economic impact in the room KN   aspect but I really want to emphasize again ran 
park being the county-owned park undeveloped we   own it it's not like we're having to go search 
for property and then bring in uh millions of   dollar of fil dirt to to make it flat so 
we can build on it this is something that   is ready to roll it's something we have it's 
in a growing area in our community many years   ago as I mentioned this may not have been the 
ideal location we feel today it is the perfect   location it's a major hub for sports the SEC 
is coming back this year and we're looking   to extend a contract with them moving forward 
Brenham Youth Soccer already has 7 to 800 kids   annually playing soccer out there and that's not 
going away um the possible addition of a premier   end their Sports facility would only create more 
diverse type opportunities at this facility and   certainly create more economic impact through 
the events that we would be able to bring in we   do realize a project of this magnitude is very 
expensive we respectfully we would respectfully   request the support from the TDC committee and 
your support to the board of County Commissioners   moving forward in which I know Mr Hall will talk 
about some of those funding possibilities moving   forward but in closing in my portion of this of 
this presentation I really want to emphasize this   project can be a win-win for everybody the retail 
in the community the restaurants in the community   and also the local citizens in the area and this 
is something that will stand the test of time we   feel long long after I'm gone as far as in this 
position but moving forward for our kids and   their kids again it's something we don't have wuwf 
is fully tapped our competitors to our West are   kicking it pretty good and Foley and East around 
Panama City we have a chance here to really hit a   grand slam I really truly feel that Mr Palmer 
Ray my good friend Ry has worked his tail off   the study showed what frankly we expected it would 
show it just confirmed what our thoughts would be   again I really would truly appreciate apprciate 
your support moving forward uh and your support   for us for the board of County Commissioners 
and appreciate your time uh we'll be here at   the end to answer any questions we may be able to 
answer and at this time I'll turn it back over to Ray thank you Michael um I'm not going to dig into 
all the economic impacts because y'all all have   them and you can study them and research them we 
do know that the numbers panned out even despite   the the surrounding General competition that we've 
seen happen since we started this initiative in   2009 and then we started a study in 2013 we did it 
and then we did another study in 2016 and we did   another one in 2019 we like said we've studied and 
studied and studied and we keep getting the same   results so now it's action time so if you've got 
something specific I mean it's a proven win that   we need so if you have something specific I'll be 
happy to address this uh it is a Monday through   Thursday Community event that there become the 
weekends is when your tourism component kicks   in yes sir Mr Reeves you have a question yeah um 
I always get interested when we talk about the   economic impact if it's going to cost am I correct 
it's going to cost 61,200 th000 on the high side   yes and it's one thing to build it what what is 
where is the operational cost going to come from   and is there a deficit and operational cost there 
there will be for sure A A Des a deficit in the in   the beginning years operationally um obviously uh 
anytime a community invest in this a lot of these   facilities are subsidized at some capacity um the 
one thing that's nice um about where we we are   sitting is is that we've been looking at this for 
a long time um and we know the market we're in the   market I actually had four rfps yesterday across 
my desk that we if we had this facility that we   would have access to that was in one morning 
that I had opport and it's like that all the   time so there are different models and how you 
can operate this and the and the study the full   study addresses that there are options you can 
do it with Michael and his team we can create   the county park and Rex Department you can go to a 
uh an outside agency which is the way a lot of our   community and competitors do it where they bring 
in a professional uh operating arm and they have   a contract and they have a performance clause and 
they are responsible for doing the programming and   paying for that and that can be a model and 
then you can do a hybrid of those so that is   one of the things that is yet to be that will be 
determined we don't know what all the amenities   of these are you can do 40 8 million or you can 
do 61 depending on how fancy things get and you   know you do as you can affect any building project 
goes so we can affect what the end dollar amount   of this is based on available funds and of how we 
want to build what what we want to build I don't   know that I answered your question very well and 
well the reality is is we don't know it's very   likely that there will be some subsidies for these 
types of buildings just like they are so often   for public facilities but what I'm asking 
is we're going to end up learning where the   money to build would come from what I'm asking 
is where's who's going to pay the operational cost for it our our goal will be to set 
it up operationally so that it is at least   Revenue neutral that that's our plan and goal to 
do that but you're opening up a business and there   are no 100% guarantees I will tell you I would 
suspect it will come out of TDC if you have debt   revenue losses just like you do a bay center and 
just like you can whether it be whatever other   things that communities own in a community center 
I don't think you can show me a community center   probably many places that is revenue positive in 
any community and so I think there's a balance   that we are looking for to um we know that uh you 
know one of the things the reality Jim is that to   understand the value of Tourism is everybody that 
comes to tourism and creates new Revenue all that   money doesn't necessarily come back to TDC a lot 
of it comes to a community or a general fund of   a community to support that and so then you have 
to count on your elected official of understanding   the value of that asset to say yes it doesn't 
directly pay for itself but it indirectly pays for   itself is that a better answer getting there okay 
Mr chairman uh R you mentioned uh I guess you said   that you understand the Legacy cost or the offset 
maintenance cost of this was in in that Crossroad   study is that correct I'm sorry say that again so 
the the the maintenance cost on this or whatever   the delt is that that TDC is going to have to pay 
out over a number of years that was in that the   study the crossroads study is that what you said 
yeah they're always in those studies is they have   a a till a normalized year and let me let me just 
and because I'm trying to get to get to where I'm   going with this is so is that the or is are you 
guys using the Julian Queen study initially or is   this an addition I don't know any Julian I think 
that was it Julian that put this Crossroad study   together years no that was P that was led by pen 
Sports okay okay uh so the original study was led   by you guys too is that right and I'm mistaken on 
that that's right we did the exact same thing we   went out for bids and it was actually LED I'd say 
that it was more led by Pensacola sports but it   was actually a county RFP and it was done by years 
the one years ago and this is not the same study   right no sir okay it just happens to be the same 
organization okay got multiple years they also are   the ones who did the study on the con a Convention 
Center that visit Pensacola did so there's there's   probably four that there are four that crossroads 
has been a part of in some capacity they did the   original in 16 they did the 18 I believe for visit 
19 renewing this and then they were not the lead   agency in this one and you guys refresh my memory 
is that the one the initial one that said that it   would be best downtown is that the one are we 
talking about the same study they I'm trying   to make sure because I don't know the original 
one had five locations in in various locations   some were downtown some were not okay did we and I 
don't did we get this in our backup the this study   this one in today's meeting back up yes yeah oh 
so we did get this study yes I haven't read it yet   okay good thank you I just make sure it's the same 
I want to make sure I'm on the same page good okay okay charlee yes Ray um how the facil this 
facility how does it compare to the facility   uh in Foley as far as sizewise uh courts and 
that sort of thing it's a it's bigger is it   yes yes it's bigger all right and then one other 
question has there been and I know we're this is   further down the line um I would think if 
Monday through Thursday is public and then   uh set aside for tourism and that sort of thing 
would there be money from the county supporting   the public portion as the deficit Michael yeah 
yeah I certainly again this is the early stages   pinning Hall how the setup is done whether it 
be from a third party outside or if it ends up   being extended Park Park Parks and Recreation 
component there will certainly be set up you   know so that if there's public Recreation which 
we fully intend there to be public Recreation   there will be income for that as well revenue 
streams set up for that and frankly to help   offset some of the utility cost and upkeep of 
the building so again we're not to that point   yet of how that exactly sets up but as Ray said 
the general guideline in the study was Monday   through Thursday and then Friday through Sunday 
but there's at times there'll be some flexibility   with that based on if there's a weekl long event 
coming in we certainly will be flexible that's   why regardless if it ends up being an outside 
organization managing the facility which many   across the country go that route there has 
to be some Parks and Recreation component   in the in the parameters because of the local 
component coming in to use it during the week   which will generate some some type of a revenue 
for sure sure might offset it who knows um the I   another question I just have I mean has is there 
community in support out in those neighborhoods I   mean you both of you guys know me Mike you work 
with me closely about Neighborhood Services um   my concern of course would be has the neighbors 
been notified that we're going to have 700 new   cars in their neighborhood and are they on board 
with they may be on board with it like you say I   mean bu is a different place than it was just five 
years ago much less 10 years ago or 15 absolutely   I I I feel some of the concerns would have been 
traffic which again depending on how this rolls   we'll have still have meetings to be had with 
I'll say public meetings but rolling out plans   to present traffic plans which we identified early 
on as possible a concern sure you know not only   for the school but for the neighborhoods again 
around the park and I by providing that second   access point it may be a win-win for not just the 
park but for the schools and the neighborhoods in   that area again I'd have to show you'd have to see 
the way it transverses behind the schools out on   9 Mile Road 10 Mile Road onto Ashton brosam Lane 
it's it's pretty jammed right now uh but again I   will say when we're planning these type of events 
uh even with soccer when we have seven 800 kids   out there four nights a week There's it's rarely 
that bad because the schools get out on that road   seem to be getting out earlier every year by the 
way but again about 2:30 all the schools are out   Recreation soccer doesn't start till 4:30 
530 every afternoon so there's not this big   Jam of traffic between schools and and uh soccer 
parents and then when there's tournaments that's   normally a weekend activity so again there's a 
lot of traffic on the road but not all at once comments couple I didn't get the study the if 
there's a new Crossroads study I didn't get a   copy of that um I just assume the whole time 
we were looking or I seen this all this data   I got all this stuff but I just assumed it was the 
original Crossroad Consulting that was done years   ago that was referenced here that's what I this 
would not be a crossroad study this is Convergence   design they Crossroads just as was a part of this 
team as opposed to being being the lead team I   got you but when we got sent the papers it has 
Crossroads logo on it so I just assumed they're   on the logo yes okay so I just assumed it was the 
old Crossroads study I didn't know there was a new   study we I didn't get a copy of that study um 
but while while David is looking that up uh Ray   if you if either of you know on that study did 
it show like financials of hey this is how many   events we would have have this is what maintenance 
would be this is what you know the net profit net   loss yearly would be on on a facility like this 
yes okay the the the full all we sent you today   was a 10-page presentation they were actually 
contracted to make this presentation as part of   theirs and we were like well let's do it because 
we'll we'll we will present it for you and they   this is their present basically their presentation 
that we're making on their behalf because they   were hired to make all of this in the presentation 
so this is their numbers in their presentation and   I'm not not saying that you know we don't own 
this because we do and it's all been reviewed   by us and approved by us but I would like to go 
back to Jim's question and and Jim I think I I   think Shirley's question probably explains to you 
our difficulty because if the County Commission   tells the TDC that we want this building and you 
use TDC money only to build it and then and then   the board of County Commissioners comes in 
and says Monday through Thursday you can't   charge anybody that's an Escambia resident to use 
that Mo use it then that changes the subsidizing   of a facility like that until the board of County 
Commission or the leadership says this is exactly   how you're going to program it you can't know 
whether there's going to be a subsid or it's   going to be profitable if you go strictly after 
tourism you probably have a better chance of being   profitable but our community needs this venue for 
its day-today citizens so I I hope that helps you   explain why it's hard for us to answer until we 
know exactly what the men we know this facility is   needed we know we've been told you got to go get 
TDC money to build this venue and then our County   citizens and and surrounding County Citizens are 
going to come use it can we charge them and how   much can we charge them that's what we don't know 
yet sir and so that that's kind of our Dilemma to   say yes you're going to make money yes you're 
going to have to subsidize or whatever that may   be that's all part of the management structure 
and like you say may be that that number may   change based on really how this project ends you 
know what goes in what doesn't go out I mean go   goes in goes out but here's the other question I I 
would like to have chance to read the study myself   I mean I haven't had an opportunity to read it and 
I did I overlook it just I I apologize I sent it   to everybody on Tuesday morning but I may have 
incorrect email addresses for everybody I didn't   get it for reason I'll double check and it could 
be me that could I've I've got a lot of emails I   got one this morning could be user error on my 
part um I might be able to clarify the the the   the backup um so I sent I sent to Mr Barrett and 
he I know you distribute it the shortened version   which is 12 Page Long which is the PowerPoint 
today that should be in your backup that's what   you're looking at that's what I that's what I 
got sorry correct I got that but I didn't get   any oh detailed study all I had to say correct 
we provide a I mean a a 12-page bullet point   for this presentation in your backup that's what 
was provided today not the 155 page study itself   we certainly can provide that electronically to 
distribute 100% that is no problem at all it's   a long we certainly didn't want to make full 
copies for your backup but that's no problem   at all send I mean I would comfortable with this 
absolutely it again I hope that didn't confuse   the issue but we will I'll send that to Mr bear 
for distribution it's long it's but I can send it   electronically this afternoon after this meeting 
to you for distribution all right thank you   um yeah I have some just a few comments also 
just looking at about the projected operating   deficit I don't know what that means what 
how well number one if this was going to be   a personal investment I'm not going to build it 
put that major investment bring investors in to   build a facility with with the expectation of 
a deficit this is a governmental entity so you   know government owned facility so I know there's a 
different structure for that but I would hope that   we would look at opportunities the study looked 
at opportunities uh to monetize it to obviously   opening it up to when it's not being used for the 
sports complex that's why I was asking about the   square footage could we bring in more convention 
use it for convention space um I'm sure Andy will   probably talk after this about her their desire 
to be able to use it for pensacon uh you know   for larger space for larger events which bring 
in a lot a different type of tourist also but   utilizing that facility for that looking at maybe 
sponsorship opportunities for different Revenue   sources like we'll talk about with the the bay 
center shortly um but couple other those are some   comments but a question uh is you gave us a range 
the 48 to$ 61 million uh when the project goes   over budget because of um change orders Etc uh 
who is going to be paying for that is that going   to be coming back or will that be someone else's 
responsibility uh because I don't think that it   it if the TDC is looking at opportunities to and 
a return on that investment obviously there's a   a return in the economic impact of 37 million to 
the community uh and I don't think we're looking   for the necessarily the exact return on the the 
tdt but we have to bond the tdt to be able to pay   for a project like this and so we have to increase 
tourism uh to be able to pay it off to pay down   our note you know to pay off this Bond and so 
where um if we hit some number and all of a sudden   you know we've approved a number and then all of a 
sudden you get halfway into the project you don't   stop a project uh but is it the right thing to do 
or the fair thing to do to come back to tdt for   additional funds or do you look at other Revenue 
sources or other funding sources um do you what   do you do uh and if the school district is going 
to participate are they going to provide some of   their half cent local option sales tax to help 
fund this project are they going to use they get   uh picco dollars for facilities are they going to 
be able to utilize those I don't know if these are   conversations you've had with the school district 
what the school district could actually do with I   don't know what the Pico dollars necessarily can 
be used for but uh if it's a partnership um what   are they putting into it we see what they will 
be getting out of it but uh if this is because   they're separate constitutional office I guess 
I don't know how it's I mean they're totally   different organization with different Revenue 
sources Etc but they're going to utilize it they   should put in uh and so whether that's through 
rental usage and you get to pay for it that way   parking 700 paved parking is there an opportunity 
to utilize that for a reasonable parking rate um   to get a return on that portion of the investment 
Etc so uh I mean I'm just trying to look at it   from a private investor perspective this is a 
it's a business opportunity for our community   in tourism we should be looking for a return more 
than just the economic impact to the surrounding   areas but the utilization of the the facility 
okay I'll address as many of those as I can um   yes there are addresses of naming rights there's 
also an an entire additional compon or a component   of the building that is a kind of an add-on that 
is uh envisioned as a medical facility with one of   our medical Partners it will proba it will likely 
not be built without that Financial commitment   and long-term contract as being a partner and a 
resident in the building and again a naming rights   um my past experience in working in this is that 
this scambi County School District is not allowed   to use their dollars unless they are building a 
facility on Schoolboard property now we have had   the conversation that that's their policy we all 
know policies can be changed um and how willingly   they would participate we don't know the answer 
to that now a cost overrun I I don't know I don't   I'm I've never built a jail or any building like 
this I don't know how the county looks at you get   change ERS and overruns I mean that's that's the 
finance people that I'll let Stefan figure that   out but you know honestly our goal is to to bring 
this in at a number well under the 61 million to   even start and the numbers that I'm seeing around 
the country support that we can do that so you   know hoping that we never get close to that $61 
million cap now I'll let Michael answer a few just   the the partnership with the school board they 
they rent our facility facilities periodically   the equester center for Cross Country meets uh 
bran par they run District soccer tournaments at   times so there is agreements in place and working 
relations in place that there could potentially   be Revenue stream for this facility depending 
on what they ought to bring to the table of in   their sports or event and and activity world in 
the scy county school district um again the land   we haven't got to that as far as the land behind 
the school it's it's already a road back there   that would have to be extended but they would give 
us access to that property um to be able to make   that happen that they currently own Mr chairman uh 
hold on Ron oh sorry Mr Reeves had a question yes sir let me not get ahead but the pro The 
Proposal that Mr Hall is going to bring forth   does it have any in come from naming facilities 
or medical facilities as part of the construction cost um again we didn't I would say no those 
are abilities for us to expand opportunities   to help maintain this cost this is what 
we think we can build the building for   anything that we can go out and find new 
money but all I'm saying is probably ought   to ask Mr all but is your provision to 
construct this building only from our funds so at this time uh when we speak 
of bonding we are speaking uh of using   tdt dollars to do that I will be presenting that 
where where what pennies will be used um and and   the the financial split what we anticipate the 
the total bond to be I would also expect that   we would have a like maybe a 20% contingency 
built into that for cost overrun so that we   have the best idea but would it would it all 
your your proposal this afternoon is only TDC   funds correct and for construction only right 
so why don't we let him tell us what he proposes and and also additionally for so we won't keep 
dancing well you guys are doing a great job   dancing so um so what I would say is um you know 
as we work through this we'll be to even issue a   bond we have to have a management contract on the 
new facility all that has to be in place before   we can issue a bond so all the all those things 
will be worked out I would uh I would believe   that that my board would approve a fee schedule 
for different types of events and activities um   you know as part of that management contract again 
to to our partners here whether it's Mike or or   other Mike um doing that who whoever's going to be 
managing the facility so so we will work through   that to generate additional revenues and things 
to offset any operational deficit that there may   be um as work through this we will be potentially 
looking at maybe another funding source as well   if it fits into this so so again maybe providing 
some additional capacity um so but those are all   things that we'll be working with Bond counsil 
and our financial advisers when we really start   getting into that point um let me grab my 
stuff and I'll I'll speak to based on these   estimations and and what I see and which pennies 
will cover what so I'll be right back thank you   while he's doing that Ronnie your question just a 
couple things uh real quick long-term encumbrance   of this board to do other members long term 
like that you're talking about five six years   potentially that we've spent somebody's budget 
but that's neither here nor there I guess let   me I do have a pretty serious question about hotel 
rooms because we know that's really why we're here   right is to discuss hotel rooms and often times 
you hear me say are there heads in beds we say   it around here all the time how many hotel rooms 
are within a three mile radius of this venue does   anybody know could anybody oh there's a bunch of 
trail parks well and that may be a but and listen   everybody stays at the beach anyway we know that's 
the grand Jewel we get that right but how many   rooms are in that area does anybody know right 
now Sur I don't know I don't know but I think   like with the uh SEC tournament and also with 
the uh basketball tournament the beach there were   a bunch of them out at the beach absolutely so 
they were all over the place so I just wondering   yeah yeah and maybe this hey maybe this generates 
more rooms out there right maybe more more hotels   we have it in the big study it's in the big 
study U Adam's looking yes sir thank you Tish may he said I I have no idea yeah I just 
wonder how many not within three miles I   mean I three or five or half a mile or half a 
mile none unless you talk airbnbs or something   we can I bet we can use one some of 
those 700 spaces for an RV park Mr Rees exactly your microphone's off Dam thank you 
um the other thing is is I mean some of the   pennies are for this type of facility you know 
not withstanding hotel rooms or the location   of hotel room so I mean theoretically you could 
build this building miles from hotel or RV Resort sure Stefan ready it's printed about that high 
that big I can't see it but and to your to what   I just heard you say the nii 16 teams that are 
coming in December are all staying in December   are all staying um uh you know 20 mi away and many 
of the SEC teams and sunb Conference teams they   they don't care the the they don't care about 
driving 20 miles if you build the right venue   they will drive they go to Atlanta they drive 
45 minutes all day to play baseball from one   side of Atlanta right TSH one side of Atlanta 
to the other to go one morning and they they   really don't care it's about the quality of 
the building and the place you're coming and   we know that's one of the great things about 
the studies has consistently said people want   to come to Pensacola yeah yeah I I see all all 
the team buses at Pensacola Beach when that say Stephan council member so again these are 
estimated numbers as as has been presented   to you um so we know there's a range on the sports 
facility um you'll hear uh Mr here shortly um for   the Baye center it's the County's contribution is 
going to be around that3 million uh range um for   that one so basically again these are estimated 
numbers so I used 60 million for the uh sports   arena and complex and the base Center 30 million 
so the total of those two would be 90 million uh   for the two projects um the estimated annual Debt 
Service for for that would be around $6 million   now what I would what I would tell the council 
depending on what the interest rates are borrowing   cost bonding cost and things like that um we'll 
also determine what what what our capacity would   be for that six six million what I've seen 
uh from let's see uh from October of 2023 to I believe April of 2024 um if we bonded 
$100 million again that maximum annual   Debt Service would be around $6 million it 
was more expensive to borrow several months   ago than it is now uh I believe I just 
heard the FED has reduced 25 more basis   points so the cost to borrow continues 
to go down which means we can borrow more   if it's necessary uh so to say that um the 
breakdown of those payments between the various   pennies of the tdt we're not going to borrow more 
we're going to borrow it that amount for less but   if you wanted to so uh again uh estimated the 
uh annual Debt Service payment approximately 6   million that split would be 2 million uh for the 
base Center the first two pennies are pledged for   the Bas Center that's where we would pay for for 
that from so again that would be 2 million out of   the first two pennies the first two pennies 
are generating currently about 8.6 million   a year the uh sports arena and facility uh that 
split would be 4 million coming out of that which   would be out of the fifth Cent tdt currently 
the fifth Cent tdt is generating about 4.3 million and that would be statutorily 
compliant with with what each Penny   requires so but that's how we would pay 
for it out those recurring dollars what's   the number of years and what is the 
interest rate you used to get to Six Million the the interest rates so again 
when you when dealing with bonds it gets   a little complicated true interest 
cost 4.18% net interest cost 4.47%   all in 4.21% and the coupon percentage 
would be 5% so these are generally going   to be done over a 30e Debt Service period 
which is pretty standard for a bond yeah you ready for a motion are you you like 
to build up emotion before you have a motion Mr chairman for before this motion goes 
forward I you know and I that's what I said   earlier can't we separate the two to talk about 
them I'm I'm very interested in reading that study   um of course I understand the will of this board 
but I I'm very interested in reading the study   before or I commit to anything I believe both of 
them and I know both of them to do good work but   without the due diligence of reading it I think 
I'd feel kind of odd can I can I say something   please I would like um Ray and Michael um to meet 
with a hotel group um I had a lot of calls I'm   still getting text today because the major thing 
people are saying is hold on if they build this   thing and it loses money is that me is that less 
money that's going to Market Pensacola and how is   that going to affect our hotels so um I think it's 
important one to get to study the full study that   shows if there is a loss how much is a loss and 
then how's that loss getting covered I I know it's   great for the community and and all that but at 
the end of the day the folks that are actual Tax   Collectors if it's going to hurt our business 
how much sense does that make and and I think   this board our our our duty is to make sure 
that we focus on the proper use of these   bed tax dollars not just hey is it good for the 
community but hey is it is it going to continue   to grow this bed tax dollar I know right now 
Stefan said that it's the fifth Cent is 4.3   million but if we're if we're taking a loss every 
year and I don't even know what the number is but   I mean I know at one time the base Center was 
eating 1.9 million a year from us I know that   numberers shrunk now but that to me is scary um 
if a big number is being used to cover a loss now   we potentially that fifth Cent may not be 4.3 now 
it may be a lot less if we're now we're not using   that money to Market our area yes we have a nice 
facility but how is that going to affect us moving   forward and I think I personally I have to see 
that I have to see what kind of numbers are on   that full study that show the loss and and 
then and then being able to understand from   from stepan or whoever how's that loss getting 
fulfilled um M I think we've got to hear from the   other mik because really we've only heard from 60 
million we got another 30 to go another 50% more I agree Mr caps welcome thank you very much council 
members uh Michael caps general manager of the   Pence Club Bas center with ASM Global um I want 
to thank the board here the council here for   the the 10 million that you did commit um those 
projects are underway uh we're working on those   for this year as well as for next year um by the 
next hockey season um we will have a brand it will   look almost like a brand new building with new 
lights new sound uh a new athletic training room   for the team um the parking lots will be repaved 
the the old fence going around the 9th Avenue Lot   will be down and replaced with a new aesthetic 
fence so there's a lot of things that are going   into it some new concession rebranding we're doing 
some of those things that aren't in this big plan   and that's what I talked to you about when we 
asked for the 10 million was that was step one now   we're going to step two and as Mr Reeve asked uh 
why didn't I ask for more I would always love to   ask more more but I asked for what I bet I thought 
I could get uh and I say I uh the county and what   could be realizable with being able to sustain 
it through an operation plan and any Debt Service   so forth um you ask our great friend Greg Harris 
who's in the audience I want to thank him for his   support he'd love a brand new hockey building as 
well uh and a second ice sheet and probably a few   more things uh I do want to thank uh Ray Palmer 
and Michael rhods for all their work uh Stephan   Hall Wes and Wesley everybody with the county and 
and bringing everybody together to try to get the   vision that's been talked about uh I came before 
this board as an event manager in 2013 which we   had dubbed the Cinderella project where we asked 
for one five 10 20 million to go back into the   building um none of that was ever done um and at 
that time we were we were looking at an aging ice   plant that was going to go out of service we're 
in 20124 we're still operating on that but by   your action and the due diligence that we've gone 
through we'll have a new plant next year uh that's   it's going to be more efficient and that's also 
going to reduce our cost um I also want to thank   I have a few staff B in place here uh we do have 
an event tonight with best of the Bay Banquet uh   625 plate up dinner um but I have our finance 
director uh Michelle our operations director   uh Terry Whitman who's losing a lot of sleep over 
this to try to make sure the building Works uh in   his previous career he actually uh built zoos 
uh we're a different kind of zoo now uh that   he's in with the base Center and what we do but 
and then our event manager uh Kenzie liser who's   been with us coming up on a year uh has been 
great in helping us book and work and retain   and and get new clients with a lot of cheerleading 
competitions dance competitions a lot of heads and   beds type events so with that said um we did 
a study with populace uh went through County   procurement um it came back and it showed a lot 
of different things and we asked them for three   different scenarios 30 million 60 million 120 
million 200 million different various options we   willle that down to come down to this 30 million 
project uh it can I get the presentation up on the front Mr chairman real quick while he's 
bringing it up Ray do you when if if and   when this project goes through with the base 
Center do you ex do you expect for Sun Belt   to extend even further with us is there yeah 
are you in talks with them now for it lots of years man a few words up yeah it's the other one my apology no that's okay I'm not going to let the cat completely 
out of the B and that's okay but but I I am   I am comfortable in telling you that we have 
a verbal commitment and we are currently in   negotiations for a longterm contract that we 
will be bringing forward yes sir it's it's got   It's got it written all over it obviously 
I mean I I can see this just looks like we take action there it is going go fullen yeah thank you thank you ma'am um so plan for 
the future for the base Center um we've got   all kinds of dreams and and this is the one 
that we're landing on um and I'll start with   the renovation assumptions uh that how we can 
program so this uh part of the project it's   going to increase the capacity of the building 
which helps us uh get more concerts in better   Talent um taking our 18 end stage from 6,800 
seats to 8600 seats that's about 2,000 seats   we're still short of what the warf is but if 
you have an average ticket price of 100 bucks   now with a with a major concert 2,000 ticks 2,000 
tickets Times $100 that's a it's a big difference   for an artist to choose to play Pensacola versus 
somewhere else and as we get through some of the   cost you'll see um on the right hand side 
the Southside seating Bowl in stage pocket   a cost of 389,000 that's what that takes to make 
that happen so we're looking at very economical   ways to increase the usage of the facility 
without having to go out and build a brand   new one um we're also looking at the rigging 
capacity uh that's a big difference uh maker   for shows and why they choose to play certain 
uh Arenas or not uh we're Limited at 125,000   some of the major shows are at 135 to 150,000 uh 
those costs are not factored into this because   it is such a high cost and we see and it's we 
don't have a proven return it's not going to   guarantee shows come in so we looked at increasing 
some of the food and beverage Services the premium   Services the experiences for the existing 
events that we can do where we can maximize   that Revenue to cover the expense and reduce 
that that operational piece of it um so the   primary focus of this um renovation is to focus 
on premium seating assumptions um to where we   can add different layers of uh an experience you 
have some attendees that want to come in and and   buy the cheap seat um and you have some that 
want they'll spend whatever they want to get   whatever they want so we currently don't have that 
option to give them we only have one so this will   give us this multi layer so instead of someone 
deciding whether to spend $100 versus 10 now we   can offer 25 40 60 different levels in between 
and different levels of experience um this will   also increase our food and beverage points of sale 
uh we look at every point of sale um Can amount to   anywhere from 12 $1,300 to $2,300 per point of 
sale what that is is speed of service we want   people to come in and Shop we don't want to them 
to come in an order and you'll see some of those   examples of what we show up uh in the presentation 
where it goes away from the Belly Up concession   stand where you come up you order they go back get 
their food rather you come in pick up up your item   you go scan it yourself you pay for it yourself 
you walk out again speed of service talking about   costs um we looked at um what kind of budget would 
be possible um whether you and you'll see here a   43 million total expense um we were targeting 40 
um and that is 30 million um with with the county   through the bonding process and then as you'll 
see I get to the last slide ASM is willing to come   and restructure the management agreement to 
more incentivize us to produce the revenue   in exchange for providing some Capital to do 
so so that's how we're trying to get to that   40 million Mark as you see of all of these items 
over here one item the loading dock Edition is at   2.2 million that is going to help us get shows in 
and out example ciray has 19 trucks if we want to   do their show to unload their trucks and do their 
show they need an extra day or two just to do it   they would rather spend that day or two somewhere 
else in another city selling tickets rather than   not selling tickets and unloading trucks um that 
can be adjusted and we can have some fluctuation   points to get back down to that that 40 40 number 
some of the enhancements uh I want to show you   some experiences here this helps us with our 
naming rights um what you see on the the screen   I'll show you a real life example of another 
Stadium um these are actually LED D bars that   would be mounted to the outside of the building 
and you'll see where we can actually show full   video on it full color you can light it up theme 
it similar to what's happened with the bridge uh   going across the bay um and it can really be a 
highlight Point um and an advertisement piece   we also looked at restructuring the entrance you 
know as everybody comes in you got the main flag   poles it's kind of broken up it's really you kind 
of walk up and you're like where do I go what   section I am I supposed to go up this ramp I'm 
supposed to go in this door so we would uh sign   put signs up and Q lines to help guide and get 
people where they need to go um you can see the   estimated cost at 12.65 million um the anticipated 
Revenue generation is anywhere be between uh 400   to 600,000 this is only showing the front side 
of the building the LED pieces would actually go   around the entire perimeter of the building so you 
would see it from the water as you're coming into   Pensacola as well as on the backside in between 
the gates uh the entrance Gates there will be some   Led components there as well this is a real life 
example of a uh I believe it's a soccer stadium   um where you'll see the LED bars that kind 
of go around you can put them in motion you   can actually show full video up close you won't 
see it but from a distance you can actually see it the Westside Club entrance spaces is the the 
premium that we're looking to to do um if you've   been in in the building uh you've been in room a 
we used to host TDC meetings there before uh we're   talking about turning that into a bunker Club 
that's going to be your high-end um uh access   where they pay a license to get in there we'd 
work with the hockey team to structure their   opportunity this is where that added Revenue 
comes into play um but they would have those   front section uh of seating in the blue area and 
uh the red section would actually be accessible   from the second floor meeting room spaces those 
will be completely redesigned to create a LGE   Club area and as you come in the front main 
entrance there's a separate staircase that   gets you up to that second level again you look 
at the estimated cost here at 16.3 million and   then an average uh Revenue assumption uh these are 
very aggressive uh but we feel they're realizable   through the modeling that we've done through other 
buildings uh that we've done some of these types   of Renovations in and I'll touch on those later 
in the in the presentation now let me ask you this   you just talked about 12 million 
and 16 million none of that is   in the 30 million all of all of that 
is in the 43 million the total cost here okay so I'm I'm trying to understand 
first of all you don't count the 10 million   we've already given you corre correct in 
the 43 that you need correct so you're 13   million sure correct and from from TDC ask and 
the additional to get to that point to closer   to that 40 million to come down from the 43 is 
where ASM would come in to negotiate with the   county a restructure of our deal to properly 
incentivize ASM to provide that capital for   uh this project well but I'm trying to understand 
you need 13 million and just showed two projects   that were 30 million between the two of 
them yes sir those are within this total   project I'm just the 43 but not within 
the 30 the 43 includes the 30 the 30 is   part of the 43 so the two I understand that 
but what I'm saying is they've got to raise   somehow 13 million yes but now I've seen 
two projects on that board that total 30 million in other words I'm trying to get him to 
match 13 million against 13 million rather than so   the the total scope of the project is 43 million 
of these projects those two that I just listed   there's going to be some more I'm just breaking 
down the components of all of that 43 million of   how that goes into it and the ask is going to be 
30 million from the county for TDC and then ASM   would come in with 10 and we're working to that 
43 to get back down to that budget number of 40   we were we were tasked with trying to budget a 
number of 43 we asked populace to put everything   in and then we would take away what we had to 
take away to meet the budget and for example that   2.2 million in the loading docks that could be 
something that's taken off the table and but   we're you different cost estimations and how 
it changes through the project that's where   we would find that that stop Gap I think 
Greg will match that he says he will Mr   chairman real quick and yes M I don't mean to 
interrupt your presentation because it's good   and it's going well um I don't see anything 
here for the Acoustics or sound did did you   was there any plans for that so that is 
that's just a personal favorite of mine   cuz understood this the sound um system itself 
um it's only the second system in the existence   of the 40-year building um that is being done 
out of that 10 million so that will be there   will be a new PA system now the Acoustics 
you get into the redo the Acoustics in that   building you could be anywhere from three to6 
$8 million cuz right now currently it doesn't   have any baffles in the ceilings it just has the 
acoustic panels on the sides to just to replace   those is 3 million so then if you want to come in 
and add the baffles on the ceiling because of the   metal roof then you're getting into that higher 
expense and what we were trying to do was focus   on things that we could do to get to that Revenue 
neutral and generate revenue and I I believe that   that the sound system that we're talking about is 
going to be able to better engineer and balance   for the room itself that that's definitely been a 
hot button and lighting is is as well we're still   on the original lighting system with the metal 
highlights uh one of the differences like with the   the rigging we're if we take those down and put 
up the new LEDs we're going to gain almost 10,000   lbs of rigging capacity so there's there's a lot 
of things that are going to come into play to try   to strategically smartly put this renovation 
together not only will you have the Savings in   the swap from the metal haights to the LEDs with 
the reduction and demand but it puts less Demand   on your refrigeration system in the building 
absolutely we did that in our warehouse uh we   refrigerated warehouse and we swapped those out 
and had the scheduled Roi and we did it in half   the time yes sir and the Energy savings are going 
from the LEDs and the number of fixtures and the   lighting system that we're um putting out to 
bid to come back it actually covers the life   cycle of the the fixtures itself so we're not 
having to go out and buy parts and if a light   goes down it's covered they come in and replace it 
for the life expectancy of that life that's great so so we see what you're going to spend the 43 
million that's really only 30 million that's   really only 40 million which is your gold so all 
you're asking us to do is stick 30 million in with   the financing of the other facility so I mean you 
know this all depends on a lot of salesmanship so what I'm thinking is it's almost 
5:00 and I wouldn't want to sink a ship keep on talking about it I hear 
you pun in unless it was in Pensacola   Bay right any are you proposing I said you 
ready for a motion if you're proposing one sir uh I really want to be cognizant of the competition for this money is the 
promotion the other activities that that we   Undertake and um you know basically the fifth 
set we've never had the benefit of the fifth   set so that portion of it I don't see that the 
hotel or the rvers or anybody else could be too   emotional about because we've really never had 
it available to us but I would in the interest   of giving him time to read that 115 page report 
is I would move that we preliminarily approve   and recommend this $90 million to be paid 
in the fashion as outl by Mr Hall over the   period of time hopefully he will be wrong about 
the interest rate and then we can borrow more money well we have a motion on the floor 
sorry about that Mr chairman could you   restate the motion let's make sure the 
motion is that we support the proposed   $90 million in bonding 60 million to 
go to the new facility 30 million to   go to the Baye Center um and to be repaid in 
the fashion as as outlined by Mr Hall which is 2 million to come from the first two pennies 
and 4 million or 2/3 of it from the fifth Cent was that how you proposed it that is the proposal um now again when we do 
the bond it may be 1,979 or it may be 1.9 million   it may be 4,100 I mean it could be but ultimately 
you know that's wherever we end up is where   but it will should be very close to those 
numbers that's the numbers he set for what   he's saying is got have some flexibility in 
the Stephan let me ask I do not control the   bond market so and let me ask a question here 
well before you do we have a motion is there a second I'll second it all right so we 
do have a motion and we have a second   now discussion Ronnie and that's what 
the question was and that it was the   same question had early in the day was why 
can't we separate these to talk about it I   mean where're I guess I and I don't know 
that that that's been answered to me and   if you're telling me because we're trying to 
bond them together is it somebody trying to say okay any other comments questions yes we 
absolutely want to bond these together you   you will have additional Bond cost it' be extra 
cost to the T tdt if you did two separate bondings   so it would be one Bond one one yeah but but the 
notes got to be paid for with something that's   going to be in a deficit for sure we know that I 
mean we know that for sure what do you mean well   I mean I think Community Center is going to be 
maybe we shouldn't say we know that for sure but   but it feels like it could be something that's 
paid out goad but the operation is of concern   what is the deficit of the operation going to 
be that's one thing if you believe what Mr Hall   tells us every time we meet and I do uh thank you 
paying the debt ain't going to be a problem I mean   we have we have the ability based on history 
to pay the debt the question that I asked   earlier was if the operation was having trouble 
meeting their obligations where would that money   come from and I kind of got a half withd that that 
would be right back here so so so I believe um in   the study uh that Mr rhs is going to send to the 
council I think it does outline some of those OP   anticipated or expected operational costs so uh 
Council should receive that and you should be   able to see that information in there um I can 
assure you we will be working on a plan to to   cover that um hopefully without any additional tdt 
that that's ultimately the plan um not sure if Mr   caps is still there he is he was actually I would 
like for him to finish telling the council about   the updated management agreement so with ASM 
kicking in that additional Capital to make the   project work um he uh had some great information 
I think the council would love to hear on that   agreement thank you listen that company is 
fixing me paying for that that community   Center out there and I like it trust me I I 
like I like this well and ASM can help run   that facility we we do have that in our division 
and um but it it it does work with a partner like   is scambi County Parks and Rec um we do run some 
uh Recreation facilities across the country so I'm   going to skip ahead all the way down to the slide 
that I believe um Stefan would like me to address   and as the new operating model uh that we would 
propose and negotiate with the county um there's   a a lot of different variables and factors 
of how much Capital does the county really   want or need um we can adjust and fluctuate the 
the contribution and then the terms of How It's   repaid and and so forth so I do want to touch 
on uh announcement that was made this week um   where ASM Global um uh was acquired by Legends 
and this is some quick information that was in   your backup um and at the end of the day it it 
basically is a very complimentary uh Service uh   to ASM Global venue Management Services it's just 
going to make ASM Global better and bigger and be   able to provide things with bringing scale so for 
example with all the purchasing of food products   through all the companies we can reduce those 
costs locally here we get to feel that um booking   Services uh new Innovations we we're going to have 
access to all of that um ASM Global though local   here each building we're focusing on making 
sure our clients are are first scambi County   our residents our tourists that are coming in 
the guests that are coming into the building so   it's business as usual um so there's no real real 
change in that that Dynamic um I want to touch on   some other projects that we've done we partnered 
with I mentioned that I would touch you know get   into but ASM has has been part of over7 billion do 
of development 35 facilities in the last 10 years   partnering with with a lot of the major Partners 
in construction architecture um service providers   and and you name it these are just some examples 
of those projects uh that we have done um that   we have been involved with as far as actually 
managing the construction piece of it so that's   something that ASM can also do with this facility 
Renovations and so forth now the county facilities   has a division that can handle that and we're 
we're more than willing to help and contribute   in however way we're asked so this is the slide 
that uh we want to get to um and the what you see   here is is an example of uh a proforma of how it 
is currently running at a 1.3 million operating   deficit uh which is subsidized by the tdt dollars 
and the new model which is more of a p&l type of   uh uh management agreement rather than a fixed 
fee and then incentive fee which we're currently   under that structure um you see where we're 
going from 1.3 to a positive um so again that   puts more of the incentive on ASM to program 
to put the facilities together to increase the   premium options to to get the opportunity and 
realize what we're in investing in with these   Renovations so ultimately ASM comes in to make 
a capital contribution um to help uh the county   burden uh turns the management contract more to 
a performance-based uh with Revenue growth that   ensures the county benefits from investment 
of the Arena renovation and that bottom line   you receive the relief from the subsidy so that's 
why I think this slide is very important with how   that conversation goes with the other facility so 
maybe where there's some savings here there's some   help getting that facility off the ground CU it 
it's going to take some time before it gets the   revenue neutral um but I believe the teams that 
are here and the the investment and the partners   involved can make that happen um we're just 
trying ASM is trying to provide another means   uh to help the county and move this Vision forward 
because if if we do do nothing um we will get left behind and any questions for that does anybody 
have any questions for Michael I do yes sir   Michael do you guys have any sort of study 
that shows spending this money will how it   will generate this revenue or and then also 
do you have any sort of study that shows the   number of people that attend base Center events 
actually stay at hotels to see what the return is   on tdt we we do not currently uh the last study 
that we did on Hotel occupancy was in 2019 that   was in partnership with visit Pensacola we again 
because of cost visit actually covered that um to   help tell that story and find out that answer um 
the study for populace did come back with some of   that information but then what we did with ASM we 
went and looked at what happens actually in other   other buildings and similar markets to see okay 
if we put a walk Ando concession stand in this   is how much more Revenue it's going to generate 
if we put a bunker Club in this is the range of   sponsorship dollars that you can get out of this 
type of Market you know it's not New Orleans super   doome where you're going to get you know 10 
of millions of dollars in naming rights but   we can scale that and that's what we did we ran a 
complete performa we walked through it with Stefan   to show that um that's not part of the study that 
was what you know ASM did internally that was the   our our basically our proprietary um modeling that 
we went through but we we'll be happy to discuss   and and share and have any kind of conversation 
you like with that thank you good ey oh go ahead   my question was from earlier it was about the 
design will you speak into your microphone please   I can't hear you thank you it was about it's on 
I just couldn't hear you oh okay it was about   the design here I don't see the interstate ramps 
coming out did you all have plans to tear that   down or so what you're seeing in that picture is 
the front of the building so the interstate ramp   actually comes from behind but the interstate 
ramps that go over top of the parking lot those   would still remain um we did look at some studies 
before some of the renovation PL plans and options   that we got in populace did take that ramp out 
but that was getting into the 60120 $200 million   range um some of those plans also talked about 
removing the ramps and putting in an enclosed   um Atrium where you had escalators that to took 
you up um CU everybody knows those ramps are not   not fun anybody that's been to a high school 
graduation it's some of the some of the best   times of the year um it's it to try to get to to 
try to get those ramps out it the cost was just   too far through the roof last question yes ma'am 
Mr chair yes sir promise you last question what   about parking you got additional seats you need 
additional parking have you guys thought through   the process because when I looked at it today 
I thought man they're going to need some new   parking and this the first time I've thought 
about it yeah so you know we used to have the   tech park that's that's been there that that was 
that was about a th000 we we we did Park a th000   spaces cars in there right um I was actually 
at the building when we still had that and we   we used it quite frequently um we currently have 
1,038 spaces on property um so for a 10,000 seat   Arena that's kind of in the pocket we're seeing 
a lot more ride share Services of people coming   to the events uh I'll give you an example of 
a cheerleading competition that we do with us   finals and then with Emerald Nationals um at any 
given time they probably have about 3,000 people   in the building um including the participants um 
Spectators so for SE seating wise we cut it in   half and it works we only open up the front side 
of the building which is roughly half of that a   th000 the back lot is 465 so we're a little over U 
500 for for that front section with the front lot   and both trolley Lots um it does get congested we 
probably could add maybe another 100 150 cars but   when we operationally model and helping reduce the 
cost for the the customers coming in the promoters   we just don't open up the back lot I can't believe 
the city hasn't open up for par back there in that   Tech I mean that could be Tech right there you put 
that meter thing right there I think there's about   60 to 80 spaces on the street over there that's 
about it maybe there's an opportunity to partner   with um Miss Hess with her parking lot across the 
street since it's not operating right now until   it's operating I agree 100% um I'm sure she'd 
enjoy the revenue yeah yes let me ask on this Pro   fora you've got Premier seating 700,000 you got 
sponsorship that is 100,000 so you got really you   make up the whole deficit just on those two things 
um and then one of while I'm asking the question   I I want you to tell me that those two numbers 
are going to repeat every year a million five   and that tell me about the rent I don't understand 
the minus 100 and the minus 2000 so kind of tell   me that and then go backwards to the 1.5 million 
okay so um rent um we basically when we work with   promoters we rebate back to them um and to try 
to get their business what you're looking at   is going from 200 45 events to 270 events so 
that's where that difference is with the rent   so we extrapolated that out yeah but but I don't 
understand why it's a minus because we rebate the   so if we're going to charge a promoter um a flat 
all-in fee for $30,000 and we Pro put benchmarks   in there if they guarantee x amount of people that 
come into the building we're going to make money   on the food and beverage and the parking and the 
facility fees for the ticketing and all that stuff   so as we're growing that Revenue Gap we give them 
a break in their rent and reduce it so over the   the whole year through those events it's just 
to incentivize them to get more people into the   building so you're showing it as a negative 
Revenue because it's a discount off of the   correct off the revenue yes it's not necessarily 
an expense it's a expense line okay but we we   account for every dollar Which Way whichever 
way it goes gotta and so from the sponsorship   the premium seating and the sponsorship side 
it is very aggressive as I mentioned before   um let me back up it's aggressive cuz we did 
some modeling in some other buildings where   they were receiving more and looking at our 
Market what we've seen that's happened in the   past what we've talked with with Greg with the 
ice Flyers what we've seen that's happened with   the Wahoos and and buildings like this um we're 
trying to get to that more realizable number can   I guarantee that's going to happen every year 
I can't I can't guarantee that we're going to   have X amount of concerts every year when we do 
our budgeting we look at what's touring what's   best case and then we adjust from there but but 
it is reoccurring in your mind's eye yes sir all   these numbers are what we're looking at is on an 
annual basis year on year on so if the team had   a better record you could get more sponsorship 
I'll I'll let Mr Harris answer that one I was   told we'd have a championship we were promised 
same in the back he he just said we'd get one   all right any other comments to the motion we do 
have the motion in a second on the floor I would   like to make a comment I think I prefer to get 
the full study be able to look over that before   we voted on anything um and then just be able 
to see the numbers on on what's coming before we vote well we have a motion in a second if those 
who who made the motion in the second want to move   forward we'll call for the vote if you prefer to 
hold until we have um more information we can pull   ask you if you'd like to pull the motion resend 
I I just think at 5:30ish that we should move   forward if moving forward means doing nothing I'm 
okay with that as long as we're moving forward yes   I just I you know if if we want to have a special 
meeting and and consider things I mean I certain   I'm not being critical but I wouldn't put the ship 
in the bonds for $90 million so I mean I would be   interested in a substitute motion that says that 
we set a date for a special meeting and that we're   going to take up both of these matters if it takes 
all day you know okay we can do that I mean I'm   okay with that I'm I'm noty trying to deny anybody 
the right I'm not trying to deny anybody the right   to read the 152 page report I just think that we 
shouldn't try to cram it into two hours agree so   will you resend your original motion no I ain't 
going to send it I'll I'll accept the substitute   motion would anybody like to make a substitute 
motion sure I'll make a substitute motion to   to meet again at a later dime for special meeting 
just um but after after seeing that study both for   both both matters for both matters hold on I don't 
think there's a study I don't think Michael caps   has a study and he he was pretty clear about 
that and it I think it's generated generated   no no no I'm talking about both matters on the 
agenda okay I see what you're saying okay okay   I just make sure because I don't all right so we 
have a motion is there a a substitute motion do   you accept that substitute motion it's not up 
to me I think I don't not a parliamentarian so   I have to defer to you as a lawyer all I'm 
saying is you know let's let him restate   the motion I'd like to make the substitute 
motion for us to have a separate special   meeting to go over for both of those U the 
ask for Pensacola Baye Center and the sports facility and the S Mr chairman sorry and 
I hate to interrupt again but there and   I'm I'm not trying to split hairs here but but 
when you make the motion the motion is Michael   caps doesn't have a study am I correct I 
think what you said was it was yeah but I   think there's only one study it's one study 
but we're going to take both items up at the   meeting right and that's all I'm saying 
but but Matia said I I mean he wants both   studies and there's not but one that's all the 
study the fair enough okay that's your that's   your substitute motion yes all right I don't 
know how par how Parliament works I don't do   we have a do we need a second to this motion 
did somebody second The Substitute motion no   is there a second to the substitute I second 
a substitute okay thank you we have a second   to the substitute any way to move forward is 
there any further discussion on the motion uh seeing none please call the role James Reeves yes Shirley cronley yes David 
Bear yes Ronald Rivera yes matish Patel yes ten Bron so we didn't as part of the motion but I 
will send I'll have Daniel send out an email   to everyone to get a date a date certain and 
certainly asked that that post don't let them   confirm that everybody has the opportunity to 
have that 155 page report you make it sound   like it's going to be homework Ray said he was G 
to send it to us as soon as the meeting was over   or Michael excuse me was going to send it to us 
as soon as the meeting was over thank you could   I make one request if we're going to do this yes 
absolutely is that we get some specific questions   because understand I'm a Sports Marketing guy 
with no college degree I've never built a damn   building in my life I've never financed a building 
in my life and so there were some questions there   that quite frankly the consultant maybe we want 
to bring the consultant that put this down this   has built you know has recommended these all 
over the country maybe they need to be here   so if we could get some guidelines and you know 
because if the county going to tells us we have   to give it away six days a week and then we 
have to go make money on it I can't answer   that question until we know some management I 
mean Michael knows how to manage his building   he's a very good professional that's why he's so 
successful but if we could get kind of a list of   what it is specifically we'd like to address at 
least most of them it would be very helpful for   us to be a lot more productive and trying to 
get get to where we want to go I would suggest   bringing every resource that you have available to 
answer any of the questions I age that may come up   after the list comes to you right okay well of 
course but but the theory is you read the report   and then you get the questions so to speak to me 
yes the most beautiful thing about this is if you   could get the county to go to the local banks and 
Loan this $90 million it'd be the cheapest way out   for the taxpayers rather than spend all that money 
in New York yeah with the bond salesman so and Ray   real and my point to you is I get you that's way 
over here over my level of expertise my job is to   tell you we need this building and to tell you I 
can put business in it and Michael can run it you   you are of all the people whove spoken tonight 
you're the most emotional enthusiastic right   person that and you answered all the questions I 
don't know that there's a ton left I mean that's   why I didn't say a whole bunch I mean you I mean 
I peppered you with questions and you answered   each one of them so I mean you can bring the guy 
that's going to build the building and maybe that   makes everybody else feel more comfortable for 
sure but we want this done right our Legacy is   to do this right absolutely and that's the thing 
I think it's everybody's Legacy up there yeah I   think we talked about our you the integrity and we 
want this done correctly and but we we we want to   we want to go thank you but thanks R but one to 
his one point one thing that would be helpful is   to have a a lot of the major people that pay in 
meaning the motel hotel association to have them   on board because that's the competition for this 
money quite honestly right except for the fifth C   in my and and I H happy to you know we've reached 
with them for since 2009 because as those were   the hotel years that started the initiative 
for them us to do this for them be happy to   bring them and put them in whatever color shirt 
you want right all right well in light of time   uh we need to move on the agenda uh thank 
you for that great discussion obviously we   needed to take the time it's a 90 million ask so 
thank you everyone uh next item on the agenda is   Marine resource department request Mr T good 
afternoon everybody have a special meeting to   consider this not the mar no it was just those 
other two items the it was both matters on the agenda I I don't know if that 
was I understood the same thing   as Jim so you want to table the 
Marine resource request as well yes I thought we were just talking about 
the two items that we've just been disc   talk about both of the items on the 
agenda it's going to take a long time too I was just agreeing to 
his substitution uh motion   so I made that motion that he what 
exactly way he said it the two the   two agenda items meaning the USS United 
States and the as yeah the facility Well what are the wishes of the board the council 
hear the Marine resource department proposal   I know we're going to lose one at least 
one of our members so we lose well then   we lose Quorum and then we lose well if 
we lose two members we lose Quorum I I'm   up I'm up for anything I'll work all night 
long or we'll we'll table this whatever you   guys want to do I'm I'm up and I have a lot less 
questions as far as I'm concerned we've already T not a loss right now um well Robert 
why don't you just give us an update   please okay thank you U Mr do have a few 
people who are here in the audience who   have signed up to to speak to the item 
as well and and and to their to their uh   uh needs of their times I would defer my 
presentation allow you to hear from them   and if I need to come back at another time I 
would you know I would concede to their their   schedules okay thank you thank you sir thank 
you for your generosity to do that uh Eileen beard um well because yes yes please introduce 
yourself and remember we have three minutes each   thank you my name is Alene beard I'm currently 
a member of the scambi County Marine advisory   committee uh I have been working since 1985 
for the building of artificial wreaths and Bo   ramps the water environment to be taken care 
of we are a water community and artificial   reefs is a very very important point for us 
economically ecology everything and I'm just   hoping that y'all will support the SS United 
States that would the first really big one we   had of course is the ariscan the ariscan was 
uh now in the top 10 dive sites in the world   if we can get a second hit and of course the SSU 
United States would be the second hit it would   be a great economic Boon as well as an ecology 
Boon fishermen divers they will come here it was   proven with the ariscan that for every dollar 
that the county put in there was a return of $150 there is a study been done in regards 
to having second World Class Type Dives   which the SS United States would be it would 
double so the economics speaks for itself but   the public relations is another side of it 
when the ariskin went down the next day I   got a call from David Shepard with CNN and he 
says eileene you won't believe this I was so   surprised I was kind of uhoh what's going on 
but he says alen the sinking of the ariscan   was the number one news story around the 
world it blew off monarchs and governors   and presidents blew off the war blew off all 
the sports events everything Bill HTH with un   University of West Florida did a study in regards 
to the public relations what happened with the ariscan with the worldwide radio TV newspapers 
magazines all types of Publications if the county   had had to pay for that public relations one day 
it would have cost the county $6.2 million it   really made Pensacola noticed and to have a second 
hit would be phenomenal and I'm hoping that y'all   will support this our counties to the east of us 
their tourist development councils have been very   helpful to them and we wish that and hope that 
you will support us on this yes ma'am it's just   be a great economic boom yes ma'am well thank you 
appreciate it and thank and by the way thank you   for your personal investment into this project as 
well you put your money where your mouth is and   thank you for that well thank you does not go un 
and by the way you probably don't remember but you   certified me about 40 years ago you certified me 
you and Jean thank you all right next uh speaker   is Andrew Ross and I I don't want to be rude I am 
going to have to limit you to everybody to three   minutes so when I no I'm going to make it quick 
I know you guys all been here for a while and we   want to kind of get to the meat of some of this 
stuff here um yeah I'm Captain Andy Ross with na   we Dive Charters I've been running Charters here 
in Pensacola for for 12 years now um and I'm all   for the SS United States it'd be a huge Boom for 
to put us back on the map for uh dive destination   uh I've seen a lot I pretty much I think i' bring 
in maybe probably a thousand divers a year just in   my small business and that equals probably 3 or 4 
thousand people because they bring their families   the families are fishing and they're on the beach 
and they're spending money and they're doing all   that stuff while the husband is diving it happens 
all the time so we get more than just that many   people on the boat um but I've seen a big draw 
for that USS of risking it's been amazing how   much how much of our business the die business 
is focused on a large ship and there's been a   lot of talk about the um the United States the 
SS United States and I think it would just be   an amazing wreck um u in the last couple years 
I've seen a lot of our customers dive the arisky   but they tend to be staying over in okoa County 
because they've got I think they've sunk like 42   wrecks in the last five or six years they done 
an amazing job over there so there are already   drawing this G large group of people that normally 
die with me they're they're drawing them over to   Okaloosa County so if we get that ship here it 
would would be an amazing uh income for this area   out here uh for us but if we don't get it it's 
going to go right to Okala County and I'm afraid   that's going to draw a lot of what we have already 
got going moment momentum wise to another County   that's already got a lot going on we really need 
to have this in Pensacola um I'm going to leave it   real short and say we need to have this thing it's 
uh it's just a no-brainer that you know you spend   money on your on your gas and your car to keep 
the car running I think tourist development money   comes in from tourist I think we're a tourist town 
now whereas maybe 10 years ago it didn't feel like   we were too much but this ship will bring in 
tourist money so we can afford to pay for a   lot of other stuff too great appreciate it thank 
you so much uh next next speaker is Brady hail welcome good afternoon Council Brady Hill um 
ocean Strike Team founder uh I'm got to Li at   my comments I'll wait for the special meeting 
for the most of it I just do want to encourage   you to pay attention to the New Economic study 
that's come out uh Dr Bill Huth I believe he's   going to speak on it here in a few minutes uh 
talking about the new economic impact and a   lot better numbers than we had before um and 
just from a marketing tourism perspective we   will never get better there will never be 
a ship better in the entire world than this   recck right here um they're just there's not 
any that's this big that has this history um   it's ours it's ours to lose and it's going to 
hurt if we don't get it thank you great thank you uh Carrie Freeland or Jessica you can fight it over 
fight it out who goes first how we doing uh   thank you uh Mr chairman and thank you council 
members um my name's Carrie Freeland I'm on 30   six uh year uh president of dive Pros a 36 year 
Florida Corporation I'm also the chairman of the   esami County Marine advisory committee uh 
the committee as a whole is wholly behind   the acquisition of the SS United States I'm 
representing the diving community and we are   very excited about this project everybody I speak 
to in the fishing Community is also very excited   about this project I've had conversations with uh 
Mr rinky who thinks it's a great idea as long as   the reef is accessible by most divers I think 
this is a conversation that we've had and and   that's the intent the in free folks see value 
in it Mr Burns of the sri's value spoke with   representative Robert uh excuse me Alex andr 
he explicitly stated that we can say he is in   support of the project and he will be able to come 
up with some additional funding close to a million   dollar as of our last conversation we've received 
endorsements from Patty that's the professional   association of of diving instructors the world's 
largest diver training agency we've also received   endorsements from Nai Nai National Association of 
underwater instructors the second largest training   agency uh we're experiencing a lot of interest 
in the SS United States news travels fast in my   industry I've done three interviews regarding the 
reefing of the SS United States one of them in the   Delaware currents magazine we're already getting 
press on this uh when this opportunity presented   itself I was on my way to the Florida Keys with 
a group of divers uh we traveled there was about   22 of us and you'll hear a little bit more about 
that while I was doing some uh research on uh the   uh Financial gains of having these artificial 
reefs I did find out specifically that they uh   wanted to sink some wrecks in the Flor to keys 
to draw people off of The Fragile coral reefs   one kick can kill 50 100 years worth of growth 
so they sunk the Spiegel Grove in um kargo and   the Vandenburg in Key West with the idea of 
taking some of the pressure off the natural   reefs they actually increased numbers in Key 
West kargu has beautiful very shallow reefs   they did draw people off of the reefs and 
onto the wreck but in Key West they actually   increased the numbers totally by adding this 
large wreck down there um since returning we've   set up a couple of fundraising apparatus we've 
raised $2,600 in small personal donations I am   also holding checks for $133,300 for a total 
of about $116,000 in stakeholder involvement   in this project we're asking for the council's 
assistance to invest in our community Aquatics   our communities aquatic attractions for divers and 
fishermen this is an investment that will require   no maintenance once she's put out there and uh I 
thank you very much for your time thank you thank you uh Jessica Freeland please introduce yourself and limit 
your comments to three minutes please thank   you hi there I'm Jessica Freeland and today I'm 
here to speak with you on behalf of well I guess   in the way I have for the last eight years I have 
been and am the shair at Third Coast Divers we're   the largest and most active Dive Club in our 
area on the Northern Gulf Coast and perhaps all   of Florida we have uh locals and visitors alike 
we dive um we dive have dive events almost every   weekend to date Third Coast Divers has about 4,000 
members with 30% being non- Florida residents 177%   being over two hours away I know these divers 
because I planned the majority of the Dives   um I dive with them I organize meetings with 
industry experts plus I organize and lead out of   town dive trips the trip that Carrie was talking 
about was to the keys I organized that one um we   go about every year as a group 49% was spent 
on lodging of our $35,000 we spent $35,000 as   a group 49 was spent on lodging um we listen 
to the radio local radio and 23% of our trip   spending was on food Beverages and entertainment 
22% was spent on Charters um as a total we or as   an average we spent 1590 per diver for $35,000 
as a club our out of town divers once they dive   here they come back right because I see them over 
and over again and many times they come back and   they wind up buying homes here they buy primary 
homes they buy secondary homes and I know because   I sell them homes I'm a realtor also um as a 
whole the diving tourists are better educated   have higher household incomes than most and 
typically leave our environment a better place   than when they came these are tourists that we 
want thank you for your time thank you so much   so that was our last speaker public speaker on 
this item uh we have obviously lost Quorum and   I I don't know what happened with the motion and 
tabling this discussion to the next meeting but   um Robert we'll be back in touch with you 
and schedule when we schedule this meeting   this next meeting it'll be part of that thank 
youall very much we appreciate yeah thank you   for your patience and being here today thank 
you so we do have one last uh last item that   we added to the agenda is pensacon Andy thank you 
for your patience sorry we lost um I'm Andy with   pensacon and I don't think we can do this without 
a quorum correct correct correct okay I am happy   to come back if you can add me to the meeting with 
every everybody else sorry guys that's all right   thank you know what that is and um I do have a 
question if I may yes maam uh as we roll into   pensacon 2025 I am hearing about a hotel group 
and I am unfamiliar with that is this something   that you guys could point me in the direction of a 
hotel oh a group of Hotel your that work together   uh yes there used to be an organization uh that 
was sort of loosely associated but I I'll get in   touch with you about thank you thanks I TI got one 
though there is one there's AA yeah sorry there is   a like an AOA group of Hotel years that are local 
I'd love to speak with you about that afterwards   if you don't mind thank you thank you come on 
down last item on the agenda update on the DMO   designations correct I wasn't going to let y'all 
leave until until we discuss that just whatever   you would like to know but but essentially as far 
as those um the DMO designations are concerned so   our count legal County legal department uh have 
drafted three resolutions for Ace Pensacola   Sports Association and visit Pensacola um each 
of each of those respective uh uh uh TD Partners   uh pulled together their metrics um and how they 
reach and how they pull tourists into es scambi   County to spend those uh tourism dollars I thought 
everybody did a great job with that um that is   additional backup for that item I anticipate that 
being on the board's agenda for the September   5th meeting for consideration and potential 
approval any questions comments that's going through well we'll know after 95 it's moving 
forward moving forward moving forward to the   meeting that's the question okay 
it's going to be on their agenda   correct and Stephan maybe you you don't you can't 
answer this but I'll ask it anyway do you know if   let's say another organization comes and says we 
also think we are a DMO is is who how how does is   there stipulations is there like a list of hey you 
have to have you have to do this this and this to   consider yourself there are particular things that 
have to happen you have to advertise tourism not   just for your event you're advertising for lots 
of different things uh you know throughout the the   entire year not just a two we period not a month 
period you know that sort of thing so that's one   of the big things you are actively yearround 
advertising a scambia county in some form or   fashion uh to to be considered a tourist bureau so 
for instance uh the general tourism for the area   visit Pensacola handles that uh for Arts culture 
and entertainment so those are very event specific   um uh various U other organ ganizations that they 
partner with there's tourism and advertisement   going on with that um Ace has contracted vendors 
that are always doing Outreach supporting those   events that they do then you've got your sports 
tourism so those are very different uh tourism   aspects that each of each of those three entities 
are pulling those tourists in through through that   and and through the the professional things that 
each of those entities perform for us to bring   those tour tourists in and uh having been here for 
a while I remember when we used to generate about   4 and a half to 5 million for a very very long 
time for us to be hitting 22 and $23 million it's   pretty clear we're doing something right right 
and do you know is the clerk putting like that   list together or who's going to monitor or police 
that like if somebody else comes and says we also   want to designate ourselves as a DMO so that will 
not happen without them coming here first and it   would require my board's blessing of it uh so 
there are certain findings and determinations   so again to the point that I said earlier in the 
uh the metrics and data points that each of those   three organizations provided they all do very 
different things uh in that tourism it's year   round I'm not aware of anybody else doing that 
yeah the designation of a destination marketing   organization is the County's Authority uh but 
because of our policies and procedures they will   come to us the TD first uh and request that and 
then we will either make a recommendation thumbs   up or thumbs down uh but it'll ultimately then 
go to the County Commission and they can vote   whether we voted thumbs down they could still 
vote thumbs up if they believe because that's   their Authority correct and there is statutory 
reference uh what what a tourist tourist bureau   actually does so that is basically that's one 
of our guides in these determinations all right   thank you yes sir all right any closing remarks 
real quick uh I'd like to thank County staff   uh for always doing such a great job uh it it's 
certainly not their responsibility to get beat up   up here all the time so they do a good job thank 
you Stephan thank you guys thank you Daniel Tish   I know Ray's gone and um and Michael and I just 
want to say I know those guys do a great job I   know they've done a lot of work behind this I'm 
actually on Pensacola Sports board so I've seen   all the work that Ray does behind this I just want 
to make make sure that we have all our ducks in a   row and um yeah I appreciate all the hard work 
they do and I'm all for it I just want to make   sure that you know everybody in the community 
understands what this is going to require and   what risk we're we're taking together yeah thank 
you okay just two things when when is the next   meeting what date is the next meeting well our 
regularly scheduled meeting is the third Tuesday   of October but we're going to schedule a special 
meeting between now and then then to to have these   conversations oh okay well I'll just okay well I 
don't have a dat we don't have a date yet because   we just all right well I'll just we just made 
the motion to schedule it well I'll just say this   right quick before everybody leaves I wanted to 
announce um join us for a celebration of history   at the Pensacola Lighthouse I know the Pensacola 
Lighthouse is an attraction and it's out near   the military base it's on Saturday September 21st 
and basically what it is it's a um the developing   exhibit called heart's hammock in archaeological 
Park and to take a tour with the dosant to learn   about the community during Reconstruction and 
about Pensacola's black Lighthouse Keepers so they   found the the base of a lighthouse and so they 
um I mean of a house so they rebuilt the house   and they got the money from Impact 100 and um his 
the division of historical resources and so they   rebuilt the entire thing and they learned more 
about some of their early Lighthouse Keepers and   interestingly enough it was um Charles and Aaron 
Windgate and of course the family was is still   here and also Richard Morris of Joe Morrison's son 
so when they first came to the United States they   were Lighthouse Keepers and these people actually 
lived in the lighthouse but of course Pensacola   didn't think that they had this beautiful history 
until they uncovered it and so now we're telling   it and I went out there the other day and I got a 
sneak peek in fascinating please tell your friends   and family or whoever so it's a full day where 
they're going to have everybody out there that   Saturday and everything will be open and the 
second thing is I just want to thank you all   because as you know I was recovering from some 
health issues and I finally got permission from   my doctor to go back out even though I was still 
out and while I was out I was messing up but now   that I have permission to be out and um I want 
to thank you all for being patient with me and   for checking on me to those who did and um just 
let you know I'm back here ready to roll that is   if I it will be here after November so here we 
go well welcome back I'm glad your health has   improved and you're back thank you and I want to 
thank everybody for their patience today sorry   I lost control of the meeting a little bit but 
we had a robust conversation but thank you to   County staff uh yes sir can I ask a question 
we're closing up the meeting sir I'm sorry   well this will just take a minute I mean um how 
does how does this worked because it seemed like   you had an agenda and then you didn't finish 
everything and I wondered if maybe the time   wasn't set up right and maybe we need to start it 
earlier I'm just trying to understand how these   agenda things they get on the agenda and some of 
these things are important to some people maybe   not as much to others but as a concerned citizen 
there's things that probably need to be addressed   and obviously there's not enough people here 
now but if we started at 3:00 and we knew we   were never going to have enough time wouldn't we 
want to start at 1:00 or or come up with another   special meeting for some of these things and if 
we got to wait in a month or so then some of this   stuff goes go by the wayside I'm just trying to 
understand how your process works it seemed a   little bit a little bit out of time today and it 
was kind of disappointing for several people here   and I'm sure that maybe others feel the same way 
I'm just trying to understand how you guys worth   this thank you well and you can have a seat I'll 
answer your question but okay no more comments um   the meetings is scheduled they generally do not 
last more than 2 hours uh we had no idea how long   this conversation and this discussion of these 
different items would last uh and so there's no   way to anticipate that uh we could have stayed 
here all night if we had a quorum and continued   the conversation but we had two members that 
had other engagements that they budgeted their   time around the anticipated toour meeting so it is 
what it is unfortunately we're going to schedule a   special meeting to bring these topics back back 
up and have a longer window of time make sure   that everyone schedules their their time to have 
plenty of time for that so I I do uh apologize for   losing the schedule uh control of the meeting to 
to be able to try to keep it under two hours but   it is what it is and I thank everybody for their 
patience and being here tonight meeting adjourned