All right. Good evening everybody and welcome to the July 7th village regular village council meeting. Mary, will you please call the role? >> Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Hello there. Council member Deb Gillis,
>> yes. >> Council member Anna Richards, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, >> here. >> And Mayor Don Horton, >> I'm here. Steve is going to be joining us by Zoom tonight. He's not available in here. So, uh, let's see. Uh, Sue Wataski, will you please lead us in the
pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you very much.
>> All right, let's see. Council, are there any uh requests for deletions or emergency additions tonight? Anna? >> Nope. >> Vice Mayor? >> No. >> Steve? >> No, sir. >> All right. And Deb? >> No. >> Okay. The only thing I'm going to add on
is our birthday is on mayor and council. So, we'll wait for that. Uh Mr. Manager, do you have any emergency additions or deletions? >> No, sir. >> Mr. Attorney? >> No, sir. >> Wonderful. Then off we go. Let's see.
Why don't we start off with a presentation uh from Pete? Pete, you going to do a presentation on Are you >> our consultants? Mayor. >> Okay. Very good. So, we've got a representative from WSP
and uh you're more than welcome to come to the podium and represent. All righty. All right. So, good evening everybody. Uh tonight we'll [clears throat] be uh giving a basic overview of the village of Alam Marada storm water management
master plan a capital improvement program. Uh general overall purpose of this is to allow the village to identify u prioritize and to provide and figure out funding mechanisms for the various storm water projects uh throughout Alam
Marada storm water improvement to allow for uh increased uh drainage efficiency and for uh continued performance of our storm water systems uh going forward. >> Great. Can you do me a favor? Introduce yourself and tell us who you're with and then we'll go on from there. Yeah. Yeah.
Absolutely. So, sorry about that. Yeah. So, my name is Gary Q. I'm a water resource engineer from WSP. I worked on the uh overall, you know, capital improvement projects uh for the village of Alam Marada uh stormwater master plan. >> Thank you, Pete. >> And uh yeah, we can go forward from
here. >> So, >> thank you. >> Yeah. So, let's see. Clicker. So, next slide here. All right. So, as part of this uh slide deck, we'll go over kind of like brief project introductions. We'll talk
briefly about the water quality analysis that we did. Um level of service as it relates to uh flood flood uh related um um topics and then capital improvement projects associated with both the water quality and the level of service
analysis uh for u those flood projects and then the funding and policy approach as well as the the next steps here uh going forward um with the capital improvement projects. So next slide. Oh, sorry about that. Went a extra slide
too far. All right. So just a quick project introduction. Um Alam Marada has uh historically been um experiencing a number of challenges in relation to um stormwater flooding. um not just with
the typical traditional rainfall related uh flooding but also with um coastal flooding um tidal related flooding, high groundwater levels and then of course the future issue of sea level rise and um and that kind of thing. Um so this
storm water uh management master plan is based on uh it's a buildoff of u the watershed management plan that we previously did in July of 2024 which we completed a overall watershed model analysis and u also incorporated some
highle conceptual pros improvements for that project uh which we looked at further uh in detail as part of this master plan here. Um we built upon the WMP with additional water quality related um uh specific uh items as well
as roadway level of service um that we looked at for the flooding components. And then based on the water quality and the level of service uh for those flooding components, we provided conceptual highle um capital improvement projects. Um, and then of course we
looked at uh the regulatory review and then the the funding side of things um with that and then another key component uh that we're going to mention a couple times throughout these slides is the um the roadway vulnerability study which is a separate effort that's going on in
conjunction with the uh stormwater master plan. Uh that's like a separate study. So the two aren't linked as of right now but um are planning on it in the for future efforts. So there's that and then next slide here.
So high level basis uh we'll come back to this uh in the next few slides but this is the uh the cost snapshot for the uh the various projects that we were assessed as part of this um the stormwater master plan. So the total cost for all of these projects if they
were to be all implemented is a little less than $4 million. um total operation and maintenance around $7,000 average with about $42,000 in annual uh replacement and appreciation cost. And then just a another note just a um a
reminder that the roadway vulnerability study is uh is assessed as a separate effort here uh for that raising uh project. So next slide here I'll briefly touch on the uh the water quality analysis that
we've done. Um so just a high level the FK RAD document the Florida Keys reasonable assurance document uh basically shows that um the village is uh within the thresholds um for total nitrogen and total phosphorus as well as
dissolve oxygen. So we're within that um that under that threshold. So we're not exceeding those levels and those um um those discharge limits. Um and then but the the key thing is that um it's still important for us to consider the water
quality as part of um all these capital improvement projects going forward as it is a a key concern for the village and uh and uh the residents as well. certainly don't want to be seeing any, you know, excess discharge and algo blooms and and increased um increased
sediment build up in the canals and whatnot. So that's that's the reason for the uh uh water quality emphasis. Um we also performed a uh pollutant load analysis which uh looked at total nitrogen, total phosphorus, uh total suspended solids as well as BOD
as far as that analysis go. And um at the end of the day, a lot of these projects with uh higher concentrations and higher loading rates tend to correlate pretty well with um the u the projects that resulted from the roadways
that don't meet the flood protection level of service, which we'll talk about in the next couple slides here. So let's see, next slide. and we'll briefly touch on the existing and future roadway level of service. Um,
so the level of service analysis for flooding specifically touched on the uh the 25-y year 24-hour storm along US1, the 10-year 24-hour storm for neighborhood roads. Uh basically the level of service um that we use here is consistent with the watershed management
plan which states that there's no as long as the if the roadway exceeds uh 4 in of flooding along the uh the edge of pavement then that roadway would be considered deficient uh from a perspective of level of service. Um so that's the language that we use for
that. And then the results of this uh of this study shows that around 50 roadways in the 2025 scenario so the existing condition scenario do not meet that level of service requirement and then the 109 roadways uh do not meet that
level of service in the 2040 scenario. So it's it's really important to consider not just existing conditions flooding considerations but also um future implications of you know you know higher rainfall higher rainfall depths and also increase uh frequency for tidal
flooding and also you know sea levelized uh components as well. So there's that. And then of course we wanted to make sure that our efforts um provide you know substantial benefit um in terms of um you know the future for these capital
improvement projects. So we wanted to consider a number of different factors including um of course you guys had posted the uh the resident uh flood complaint database which there was a lot of uh appreciative efforts there of everyone collaborating and providing feedback on the the different types of
uh flooding issues. So we took definitely took that into account. Um as far as the number of imp impacted parcels we also took that into account uh for those roadways that don't meet level of service. Um there's also the maximum flood depth that we consider
along with the the length of roadway over topping and the increase in flooding under the uh the future conditions the 2040 uh scenario. So all of those things conglomerated um were considered as far as the prioritization of these different
capital improvement projects that we will see in the the next couple slides here. So, and I just want to throw a slide in here just emphasizing why the tidal flooding impacts the storm water system performance. Uh, it's really important
to consider the pending implications of rising um title elevations and then sea level rise as well. You can see in that uh in this figure that as the as the title elevation rises you have um decreased uh performance in terms of
allowing your storm water system to have positive outflow into uh the adjacent canal systems. Um with the increasing development you know you have more impervious area which results in increased runoff which also in you know results in greater quantities of water.
um if not managed properly could lead to uh um continued ponding and and issues with level of service there. And of course want to consider the backflow prevention as well to prevent any sort of tidal backflow into your system. So
that's why we recommend having basically flat valves or any sort of tidal check valves that make sense for the system. So that way you don't have water, you know, coming in as a result of increased title elevations and sea level rise. um there as well. And then of course, you know, added a I added a separator in
there for for water quality purposes. It could be any separator. Uh for some of the projects going forward, we had cascade separators and then traditionally we had oil and grease separators there as well. So just something to consider as well.
Let's see next slide. And so just a high level overview of the conceptual capital improvement projects. uh there was a total of nine projects that were assessed uh as part of uh this effort. There were three projects specifically that were selected unanimously to kind of push forward with
as higher priority uh which includes projects 1, three, and five uh colored in red there. I think the the third project is over on the left side. It's a little cut off. They're they're all in red so just to make it a little easier to see for you guys. Um and then the the
different types of uh projects that are being implemented include maintenance and monitoring, vegetative filter strips, yada yada yada. You can see over on the uh highlighted bullet point there and um yep. So there's that and next project or next slide there.
So we'll touch on a few of these projects uh one through five here or one, three and five. So project area one this is uh along I believe it's uh it's Royal and Palm. It's right across Royal and Palm Lane. It's like maybe 3 minutes away from here. So, this is um along the
intersection of uh Old US Highway 1 and US1 basically. So, this is that that little section there uh of roadway that receives, you know, quite a bit of flooding under the uh the 10-year 24-hour storm. Um, basically what we're proposing is just a vegetative filter
strip along that um the rightway there. Basically capturing that water, allowing that to to be treated prior to being discharged into a cascade separator system, which is basically a a method of storm water treatment that's underground, basically adjacent to an inlet or right next to an in
underground. And then after that's treated, it gets discharged uh across old US1 with a um a flat valve at the end of it to prevent uh backflow prevention. Um in the 10ear 24-hour storm, you got approximately, you know,
over a little bit over a foot uh of flooding along the edge of pavement there. Uh based on the modeling efforts and then um in 2040 conditions even it's even higher than that. Um probable engineering cost for this um engineering and construction costs for this project
is about $175,000 with about uh 2k operational and maintenance costs per year associated with this project. And then similarly uh for project area three this is upper plantation key area uh basically we're connecting two
existing xfiltration trench systems uh with basically an overflow pipe and cascade separator that discharges across the um the old highway there into the conservation property there. Um and then uh this project includes the vegetative
filter strip within that median along with a cascade separator for water quality purposes. Um and then of course got substantial amounts of flooding along uh that those sections of roadways especially right near where it says uh proposed type-c inlet um along uh old US
highway. Um and then the total probable engineering cost for this project is about $400,000 approximately $5,000 operation and maintenance cost per year for this project. And then we have project area five. This is uh uh probably definitely very high
on our priority list. This is um also in the kind of lower Plantation Key area along Polarmmo Drive and Venetian Boulevard. Um this area frequently gets uh hit with a ton of flooding uh and just is just standing water for long periods of time. Um so basically what
we're proposing is a series of valley gutters um along with uh connected inlets, cascade separators, and flat valves that eventually discharge out to the adjacent canal there. uh between Polarmo Drive and San Remo Drive um you're getting about almost a foot of
flooding along Venetian and over a foot along Polarmo in just the 2025 uh scenario existing conditions. So that's quite a bit there. And then total construction cost for this project about $600,000 with about $8,000 of operation
maintenance costs uh per year on estimated basis. Excuse [clears throat] me. Next slide here. Some key takeaways high level for the numbers. Um none of these projects exceeded over a million dollars um individually. Um the projects that are
most likely to proceed first are uh provided with a star on top. So projects one, three, and five there. As you can see, uh projects two and four are monitoring projects. So there's no capital construction costs associated with those projects.
Um and then some key cost limitations to consider. Of course, just to reiterate as previously mentioned that the roadway vulnerability study, uh takes into account the the costs associated with raising some of these roadways. Um so that those costs are not considered as
part of uh this effort, but will be considered in a future subsequent effort in uh according to uh the results of that study. So going forward here, here's the uh the funding structure. So the current rate
um for the village is about $32 per ESU annually. Uh this equates to about $2.66 on a monthly basis. Um, and if you were to fund these scenarios, it's it's most likely going to be more of a local type funding opportunity, uh, rather than
some of the the local grants and and phasing and other types of loans and stuff like that, which often times require matches. Um, a conceptual funding scenario, which we've done a little bit of numbers number crunching on, shows that uh, what would be more reasonable to allow some of these projects to be implemented would be
about $6.67 per month. um up from $2.66 per month. Uh this would be more in line with some of the neighboring jurisdictions. You know, we're talking Key West and uh Marathon, which are upwards of about $10
a month for ES per ESU. So $6.66 is really more in line with that and is honestly relatively um more reasonable uh compared to some of the other jurisdictions. So there's that. And then uh this uh funding strategy
conclusion slide. I think Elizabeth who might be on the call here might be able to provide a little bit of uh background data on this. So do we have any uh >> I am here. >> Okay, perfect. [laughter] >> If you'd like me to pick up just this one slide. What we did was look at from
a standpoint of local control and funding capacity, the recommendation that you evaluate your ESU uh that it could indeed need to reach that $80 per year. That was the $6
number that you saw on the previous slide. But annually to be able to evaluate your cash demand. So we looked at current cash flow. We looked at the phasing of a spending plan for
implementation and certainly to encourage that grants and grant opportunities be sequenced into the process of project implementation. Local revenue really is an effective driver
for implementing these. These are not uh significant dollar projects in comparison to what we typically see in the grant world that you would pursue, but we did look at that and we provided some significant background on how to
proceed. We know that um in order to move forward with local funding, you're going to want to do some amendment to your current u rate authority and rate resolutions on an annualized basis.
>> You can go to the next slide. >> All right. Thanks, Elizabeth. We have our policy approach slide. Um Erin, do you want to touch on this slide? >> I can give a brief overview if you Okay, go ahead. >> Um we we know that you're in the process
of updating your comprehensive plan now and so we suggested broad language that would incorporate current and future flood risk into the level of service for storm water management. We also looked at division 30 of your code. And just to
be clear, these are recommendations from uh the consulting team at this point. Um we've discussed them with staff, but there may be some more work to be involved with the with the adoption of some of these policy recommendations.
So what we have done is made those detailed recommendations about how to incorporate title flooding risk into the design of storm water systems to maintain system performance. One thing
to note right now is that your entire storm water design regulation and assessment program are focused around rainfall only driven flooding which is going to be more and more compromised over time as tidal flooding increases.
So we have proposed some elevations for design parameters for storm water services that uh look that are for residential properties, other development that's not discharging to a title water body, development that does
discharge to a title water body, and for village critical infrastructure. to account for these increases in title flooding but also the importance of the system to the overall functionality um
of the village overall. Next slide. Additionally, your storm water assessment provision in the code currently is con is also geared towards only rainfall driven flooding. And so we expanded the legal authority and basis
for your assessment program to be able to accommodate broader drainage. The reason for that is that the functionality of your rainfall driven system could diminish over time with increased tidal flooding. So we wanted to make sure that you had legal
authority to assess for that system to manage not only the rainfall components but any of the title flooding components that needed to be incorporated into the projects. Um so we have made those recommendations and as a companion the
storm water design criteria technical manual probably needs to be updated to be consistent with these recommendations as well. Um and we would recommend that those policy changes occur um in some concurrent fashion uh with the adoption
of your uniform collection resolution this year and any rate adjustment that you make. >> Right. Awesome. Thanks, Erin. Thanks, Elizabeth. All right. Moving forward here. All right. Right. So the next steps um
following the stormwater master plan we wanted to confirm project priorities the ones that we mentioned previously projects 1 3 and five along with any other ones um following that advancing design and permitting schedule for those projects. We wanted to uh of course
coordinate the stormwater improvements with a roadway elevation planning effort that's going on separately as we speak here and then of course evaluate funding strategies and complete um any potential ESU rate increases uh analysis uh going forward here and then return with
refined costs and options um going forward as well. So the recommended key dates and actions we wanted to uh coordinate annual uniform rate resolution sometime probably August of this year and then of course update the storm water management criteria uh
division six or division 30 and the storm water assessment updates article 48 uh hopefully by December of this year. So with that uh does anyone have any questions? >> Council any questions? Nope.
I guess not. >> All right. Thank you guys. >> Thank you very much, Peter. >> All right, let's next to uh move on to FKA transmission project update. Uh David, >> yes, >> welcome.
>> Evening, council. Stepping in for Aaron again. [clears throat] And uh >> hopefully we only got a couple more of these to go. All right, the team's the same. Seen it a few times.
And uh this is a big update because five of the six connection points have been completed and the last one is currently being completed this week across the street on Old Highway. Um so that one's expected to be completed at the end of this week. Water is flowing through the
new 36 and it is now flowing from the 36 to the old 18 as we interconnected with that. and through the the 32. Um we will have some transmission main flushing or some routine samples being taken over the next week and then even possibly
into the next month um as FKA gets everything u buttoned up and make sure that we have that last connection. And then for min uh we will be any work during the day that's on the road will be paused. DOT blackout, so shouldn't
have any traffic implications from this project um during min season. And okay, so that red circle down in the bottom of the screen, that is that last connection point, which is across the street from here. Um the traffic impacts
that we expect from this, you've already seen. Uh they don't expect to change any of the from what was set up today. Um there was no traffic impacts as far as I was aware. Um, no anticipated impacts to water service. Everyone will have water service has it now and will have it
through the entire connection process. Um, there's no businesses there to get to maintain access to, but we're going to continue to do that [clears throat] even as we do all the restoration and the paving. And then that's the last phase. So, you may have seen some of the concrete curbing cut out in Tavern.
That's part of this project, restoring that. And then through July and into August, they're going to be doing the final restoration and the paving. So, we've seen this all the time. We are now basically at step 9.99 as we are
just about to do the last connection point and be completely into the final cleanup in the project area. So, um, after July or the rest of July, all you should see is buttoning up, cleaning up, paving, getting this back to the way it was before. And hopefully no one will
have any idea we were there except for your water is a little bit more consistent. And that's it. >> Thank you, David. Uh, council, any questions? >> I have one. >> Okay. Um when you when you spoke of um
many season, you said specifically during the day. [clears throat] Uh are your crews going to be working at night during many season? >> There's there's no anticipation of having any crews working at night, but I did talk to the the contractor before this and um he was just clarifying that
the DOT blackout period is during the day. So there is a a very very very small chance that they may do something at night. But knowing the the subcon the subcontractors that would be working, none of them want to work during min season. So it would be an absolute last resort. Um
>> okay. >> And then even if there is anything going on, it's going to be way off the road. Um but for the next two months, do expect to still see guys out there with the bright vest and some possible cones as they wrap up this project. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Deb. >> No problem,
>> guys. Nothing. I got a question for you, David. We had um uh we had quite a bit of expense on pumpout of a a line that was hit over by the high school. >> Mhm. >> And maybe I should be asking AJ or Ron, but uh uh we're almost done with this
project. The contractor is going to move on. Has has a reimbursement been made for the cost that we had on on that spill and and uh uh and the removal of the effluent? >> Do you know? I I do not know if any
reimbursement has been made. >> Ron, >> Mr. Mayor, uh I requested AJ to tell him the cost. I was there the night that I saw the trucks bill. >> Yep. >> The amount of uh cost is about $120,000. Uh obviously significant. So this past
week, we got it all together and sent it out to the contractors and Aqueduct. So they've [clears throat] received and John reviewed it. So they've received our request for reimbursement. We have not been contacted as far as their response yet. At least I haven't been contacted.
>> Okay. AJ, and you're you're following up on that with them. They've received >> I will. Yeah. >> And I'll I'll take note of it. I know we're at the end of the project, so we're wrapping up close. >> Yeah. I want this guy to go back to >> Kentucky or Alabama or wherever the heck he's from and uh and and not make good
on the uh uh the cleanup that we had to do for something that we didn't do. Yeah, I can assure you that if that was sent over recently, um the FKA team will look at it, take a look and definitely provide a response or get it taken care of to make sure that Thank you.
>> All right. Uh let's see. On our agenda, we had a a uh presentation that was going to be from Dr. Steve Davis of the Everglades Foundation. I've been trying to get the Everglades Foundation, I'm not advertising for them, um here to do
a presentation for uh several months. Uh, of course, I know that uh Steve is really interested in that. And so uh and he's not here. And I I was going to try to get uh Steve Davis to change to Thursday, but he wasn't available
either. Thought today's agenda was pretty full. So it looks like he's scheduled for next month. in August. Okay. So, we will have a presentation and an update on the EAA and the Everglades Foundation in in August at
the move to the August 20th meeting. Um, so we're at mayor and council communication. Anna, do you have anything for tonight? >> Vice Mayor, >> Deb? >> Steve? >> Nope. >> Okay.
>> Good deal. Then what I'm just going to do real quickly is try to go through our staff birthdays because we had quite a few and I want to wish our staff happy birthday. So, we've got uh uh Joe Carmente,
uh Alexander Hernandez, uh Mike Hernandez, Elliser uh Rigores, uh Alicia Moat, Ralph Salvatore, Michelle Gier, uh Frank Muenberg back in
the corner over there. Uh, and um, we had Keith Engel Meyer, uh, Alexander Franklin, and Charlie Matherther. So, happy birthday to all of our July birthdays. Oh, did I miss somebody?
>> You know what I did? I missed Sheila. She's got the same birthday as me on July 2nd. So, happy birthday to all of our staff. Huh? >> I That's okay. I missed me on purpose. I don't need anymore. >> Yeah, I know. That's [laughter] it. All right, moving on. Now we got
something happy out of this deal. Um, village attorney, village manager, do y'all have an update for anything? >> I do not. >> Okay. >> Nope. Nothing from me. >> Welcome back, by the way. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Hope you had a good time away. >> I appreciate it.
>> Okay. Good deal. Now, why don't we open it up now to uh open public comment. This is comments on anything that's not specific to the agenda tonight. Marty, do we have any people signed up for tonight? >> Yes, sir, we do. We will start with Jamie Engel.
>> Hey, welcome. >> J Oh, Jamie, I'm sorry. >> Yes. >> Welcome, Jamie. >> Thank you. First, I want to say thank you to everybody who worked so hard to put the um holiday event together this past weekend for Independence Day. It
was so much fun. We were out on the water watching the fireworks and it it was great. So, thank you. And I know there was a lot of stuff going on at the park itself and I heard it was so much fun and I saw Don and Anna in their red, white and blue which was fun. Um, also
this weekend I took my granddaughter to the playground, the new playground at Founders Park [clears throat] and also the one over in back of the library. Um, first of all they're both beautiful so it's not a complaint about the playgrounds themselves but what we noticed was it was so hot. So so hot.
All the kids were like didn't want to touch the ground. Um, we went to Founders actually on Friday around 11:00 in the morning and you could not step on the area where the sun was shining and a lot of the equipment was really hot and
there was only one swing that we could put her on. She's a year old that was, you know, for her to be able to use. We went back later in the afternoon and it was cooler but not very much cooler. But then Sunday we went to uh the one in back of the library and that is a
different field that's like a rubberized field carpet. I guess the one at Founders is more like a grass kind of field. Um and that one we couldn't find any shade really to do anything with it. It was terrible at 3:30 in the
afternoon. Um and there was nobody there was one couple there with their kids sitting underneath the tiki. Um, so then David, my husband, went back with his little temperature gauge [laughter] over to Founders on Sunday around 4:30. It
was 135° on that carpet where the sun was shining, but 91° in the shade. So, if there's any way we could find some way to get some more shade, uh, the sail shades or something put up there so that we can get more use
out of them because they're awesome playgrounds, and I'm sure a lot of parents would love to be able to use them, but they are so hot. Like I said, couldn't do it. And finally, the freebie contract. I know nobody brought that up, but it hasn't been signed from what I understand, and it needs to be signed.
Um, and I also think that we need to start working on the advertising and marketing to let people know it's going to cost $2 per rider because that should begin as soon as the contract is signed because I believe that those fairs are worth around $8,000 a month, something
like that to us. So, I think that needs to get worked on. It's not on the agenda. I didn't hear any comments about it. I think it's a really really important uh discussion that needs to be had and I'm very surprised it wasn't brought up tonight. Thank you.
>> Thank you Jamie Marney. Who's next? >> Next up is Ken Thomas. >> Welcome back Ken. >> I'm Ken Thomas. Uh before I begin, I want to in honor of our 250th anniversary thank all of our veterans for their service, especially my uncle
George who died in 1944 on the Pacific island of Moretai preparing for the invasion of the Philippines with General MacArthur. The decision on Anglo Reef has been made. Construction's begun. They should erect a monument there, thanking the former mayor, now vice
mayor, who at the 121224 land use meeting declared she was the one working with their HOA on that project. That monument should also thank the two council members supporting her, but note council members Gillis and
Freeman for courageously opposing it. The parking lot will be a lasting reminder of how village council should not benefit special interests. Angler's Reef has probably received more special treatment than anyone. They were allowed to squeeze in 52 homes instead of a max
of 47. They were given a 600 ft rightway in front to build a privacy wall. Council first agreed to pay 500,000 for the right-of-way parking, but later agreed to lease it for a sweetheart $1,000 monthly rental. Our backup
ordinance was changed to accommodate them. Their site plan was given top priority with application fees and deposits waved. None of the required independent safety, traffic, environmental, valuation, or legal studies were done. There's still
unanswered questions regarding insurance liability and legal exposure. Because private parties primarily benefiting from public land violates our constitution, AG opinions and court rulings, village council cleverly called
it public parking. But their homeowners and overnight rentals are the primary beneficiaries. Their names on the site plan. They're paying legal fees plus up to 25,000 for construction and they'll maintain it. This is not a park, not a business
district or community facility for the public. It benefits one special interest. And why was it rushed? Because proposed charter changes in November would require a four-fifth super majority where it would be rejected. Ironically, the attorney for this
proposal is also the chair of the charter review committee. In conclusion, across from Angller's Reef sits Windley Key State Park, where our limestone natural resources help build the Keys for the public benefit. Across the
highway, this parking lot, approved by three village council members, will stand as a permanent monument of how our public right-of-way resources benefited private special interests. I only wish my historian friend Jerry Wilkinson was
here to help me fight this giveaway. like he did 15 years ago when we stopped the conversion of the Windley Key Park into a private dinosaur attraction. Maybe it's better he's not here. Thank you. >> Thank you, Ken. Barney.
>> Next up is Sue Miller. >> Sue Miller. Laura Matakumbbe. I think it's warm in here. Yeah, it sure is. >> I guess that's your way of getting us to speed up things.
>> Um I was concerned about freebie. I think that you passed a resolution in um June to get us started with a new contract with $2 fees to help reimburse
or to help reduce the taxpayers debt. And um I think that needs to happen as quickly as possible. Um it it's a budget issue. It's um $8,000 a month that we're
not collecting. And uh it's, you know, you put out an RFP that was supposed to be started July 1st. I think we're past July 1st. And um
I've heard quite a few uh excuses on why things haven't moved more quickly. And frankly, I think we all get tired of excuses on why things don't happen. I'd like to see
some reasons why things do happen. And I think that if we're not going to have a contract, I don't know why it takes this long to have a contract. Freeb submitted a proposal. It's a simple matter of
putting those parameters into a contract and um and getting all parties to sign. And I don't know why that hasn't happened. and um and it's really a
problem to every taxpayer. We've had several workshops which I thought were excellent and you all heard a lot of ideas on how the system could be improved for the writers, for the
taxpayers and um and now where is it? I just I don't understand why you approve something in June and it takes how long to to get a contract
signed and to start collecting the $2 fees. It's um it's past time. Thank you. >> Thank you, Sue. Morning. >> Next up is Lisa Graber. Welcome, Lisa.
>> Hi, thanks so much. Um, so I just we're asking the city council to perhaps go to the village and ask for clarifications on a few questions that we've had for five months with the city. We've asked
specifically their interpretation of a few things and we've asked for exemptions, provisions, the code or the legal authority for which they've determined and they've never given us those answers. Our neighbors put in a floating dock. We understand it doesn't
need to be permitted. That's not our issue. But if you look at 1541, the purpose of waterfront regulations are to protect navigation and neighboring property owners. I gave you guys a survey. This new floating dock is
in a completely different position. It's blocking two of our repairarian corridors and it's in a totally different footprint of the lift that they had removed. When we went to planning, planning said, "We don't care about the safety, the navigability, or
your property lines because we didn't permit it. They're allowed to do it." The next point is the 25% obstruction limitation. Everybody that boats down here knows the 25% rule. The last thing we heard from code was this code only
applies to mored vessels, not floating docks, but we were never given the exemption or how that was explained. We were just told it's irrelevant. Yesterday, our kayak lift launch was permitted with two exceptions. It said
it's not allowed to exceed 25%, which is the rule, and it's not allowed to cross a property line, and it's 5 by 2 feet. So, there was a rule for that. The third thing is the side setback requirements. There's a hardcore code of a 5-ft
setback from property lines. If you look at the survey, it's over 2 feet. The dock is 39 ft long. So, not only does it not apply to the five feet set back, but it exceeds the property line by 2 feet.
And they said that doesn't matter. And then the last thing on uh 1547B, the 15% 10% dock width, the canal is only 39 ft wide. So the 25% rule
their their dock is 11.8 ft wide. That's 30%. It's not 25%. And this part the 10% of the dock itself if you follow the 10% rule it would be a 4ft dock and it's
almost 12 ft. We just want the village to explain to us the definitions, exemptions, legal authority, how they're saying a floating dock is exempt from everything that is hurting us. That's
all. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Okay. Next up, we have Mr. Wish Meer on Zoom. Okay. >> Zoom in. Um, I do not appear to have the ability to give him the permission to
speak. If Frank could fix that in the back, >> thank you. >> Yes. Thank you, Joe Wishmire, Plantation Key. I want to thank some of my fellow residents uh for sitting up on the dis with myself when we were discussing uh
the freebie contract and how to add things that would benefit every resident in the community. I was somewhat shocked to see that there wasn't very many people from the public that showed up. Unlike when freebie was
talked about not being renewed at all, the community room was, excuse me, packed with people. I would hope that more of the public would get involved in some of these situations and contracts that we
definitely need to all be a part of. I wish it would be on the agenda so that the public could actually discuss it and some of the changes that we suggested and some of the good ideas that came up. The same thing is going to apply with
the budget. budget season is coming up and I know that tonight you're going to discuss about a millage rate, but not only that, but when other items come up about the budget, those who care about how their money is
spent need to show up to these meetings and show their support. I thank you for the time. I'm a little under the weather here, so I'm going to stop it at that. Thank you very much. Anyone [clears throat]
else? >> Uh, yes. Tom Raphanelo is also on Zoom. >> Okay, go ahead, Tom. Tom, can you unmute? You're still muted. Can you hear me now? >> We gota Thank you.
>> Okay. Sorry, I had to have my daughter help me. I'm I'm not very good with handhelds. >> And Tom [clears throat] Raphanelo Isa Marada in my experience with contractors and selections. just the source. If an individual or a company gets selected,
the parameters that led to their selection shouldn't change. And if they want to renegotiate them, then the entire process goes back to square one. If that's what we have going on where they're going to be changed, [cough]
then [clears throat] I think good business practices and common sense should send us back to the drawing board so we can take either the second person or they can decide to stay with the original uh the original proposal. Uh
thanks for your time. I appreciate it. >> I'm going to assume he was talking about the freebie contract. He didn't say what he was talking about. Martney, is there someone next? >> Nope. >> Okay. Uh, we still have open public comment. Is there anyone else that would like to speak?
Uh, let's see. Ron, uh, yeah, I want to give an update because things were happening as we were talking. So, if I have a minute. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Uh, since the meeting started, John, our village attorney and I were on the phone all day today with Jason Spiegel, a freebie, and we were going
back and forth to try to finalize it. And I think we came to an agreement today. So, we do have a contract, an answer to some of the questions. Uh, we sent it to him last week and he was out of town. He got back in yesterday. And when John came in today, we've been on the phone with him back and forth sending different versions. The reason
for delay was we were trying to make sure that whatever freebie uh is in the contract complied with their responses to the RFP. And so, we believe now we do have that uh we have a document that's ready to sign. I think there's one scrier's error, but I think we do have an agreement freebie. And we do want the
reason why we're not implementing the $2 right away is that we had discussion with freebie about uh educating the public or getting the word out. Uh but that will be a decision I'll bring back next month to the council as far as when it when you want to implement the writer fee. We had some questions about what the net revenues were, etc. And once
again, I appreciate John's input today from the legal perspective. I didn't bring it up tonight because it doesn't really have to come back to council for the contract, but will have to come back, I guess, for the implementation of the writer fee. Um, so I I think u I'll defer to John as far as legal perspective. Uh, we sent it to um our
grant person, see if it was okay with our DOT grant. Apparently that's okay, too. And so we didn't we made some changes that benefit both the village and freebie um with some public input. So >> all right, >> I should have it available tomorrow if anybody wants to see it. I want to make
sure it's the final version uh before we release it. [clears throat] But uh I think it was a good compromise and like I'll defer to John if he has any any other f further input on it? >> Thank you, Ron. U Vice Mayor, >> I didn't bring it up because I was waiting to see what you were going to do
about freebie. I don't really think we should wait another month to start doing what we said we were going to do July 1st. It's I know you have your reasons, but it's very irritating that we voted on something, the direction was given,
and it just wasn't done. And uh I I don't want to wait till next month to give you directions to start this now. It's you're you're costing the taxpayers money is what you're doing because whether anybody realizes it or not, freebie came in at $600,000.
It's a lot of money and the grants 265 275. So now this is on the backs of our taxpayers and I don't I don't accept your reasoning for waiting. Sorry. Ron, >> I'm more than willing to if the will of
the council is to implement it as soon as possible. Uh that's certainly we thought it would be good to implement it after some notice of the public, but we can implement it I assume according to John as soon as possible. [clears throat] So I know we had a back and forth that with uh with Jason uh but
if you want to implement it right away, I think we can probably move on that. >> Deb, do you have something you want to say? Yeah, I I [clears throat] don't mind implementing it right away, but at the same time, I I do think we need to give
the public notice and to figure out uh how we're going to do the uh the cash part of it. If they have their credit cards, that's already figured out. But um understand that there was some discussion about the
u the wallet. I don't think it's being called a wallet now, but that portion of it um if that's not figured out, I I think there's a lot of people out there that uh wouldn't know that they need the
money in their pocket when they arrive. So, I think there's some communication, but I'm willing to start it as soon as we can get that notice out to the public. >> August 1st. >> Thank you, D. >> August 1st, >> Karen. August 1st. That's three weeks.
>> Do you want to um I what I would say is um I would recommend a motion motion to direct the uh to start the $2 fair on August 1st. That way the the manager has uh formal direction. >> I would I would ask before that motion
is if that's enough time to finish working out that portion of the contract and how it will be implemented through the village. [cough and clears throat] The the money and notification to the customers. How How is that going to happen?
>> Ron, will you have enough time? I mean, it's already in the contract. Do you have enough time to make sure that we've got plenty of advertising that we get the word out to the people? You make sure that it's in your weekly newsletter and uh we can institute that.
>> Yeah. The complicating factor has been the cash. We've had back and forth on that about how to implement cash. At this point, the contract doesn't cover the cash because we had a problem with does with freebie collected would they have to come to village hall and do it and at this point uh we didn't include it because it's better to continue with
the credit cards and we'll figure out any details on cash but if you want to implement the TLR fee August 1st as far as I can tell once again John was on some conversation with Jason I wasn't involved in I think it's doable we were just trying to give a lot of advanced notice but if if we want to implement it right away August 1st I I don't see an
issue with that. Vice Mayor, I'll entertain a motion. Ex >> I still have a question. So you're saying that we will not once we implement this, we will not be taking cash anywhere so that they can get a I don't know what to call it, a debit
card, a a a some kind of card that they can use in the cars. >> Is that what you're saying? >> As you as was pointed out earlier in public comment, there has been a lot of back and forth and I didn't want to delay the contract anymore because we're past the June 30th expiration. So the
cash part is still ongoing. It's not part of the contract. We can still do it because obviously if we want to take cash. The problem is at the village hall there was some concern about us accepting cash and how we would count it and then freebie didn't want to collect the cash. >> Well, you don't want to collect it in the cars. >> So you don't want
>> the details on the cash payments are are out there. Could I make a suggestion in Thursday since we don't have a packed agenda, you tell us what's in the contract and we can work through it then because it was my understanding there's no cash. So
>> I I we got we've got between now and Thursday to hash that out. But >> I just I it's not that I don't it's how we get the customers that would pay cash a way to use freebie. It's [clears throat] John's got his hand
raised. So there's not there is not a uh there's not a cash component that's available under the contract, but there is a um like a a user profile that that freebie has. So they can go in and uh purchase credits for that. And I I think that's also how the um the local vendors
uh the local hotelers could purchase vendor uh credits if they want for for users could then go into that profile. So, it there's there's the ability for um for somebody to to pay with a debit card, but we're not involved in the cash
component of that transition. Why don't wait? Why don't between now and Thursday, you come back and make sure that even if somebody doesn't have a credit card, they can use Venmo or a cash app or something like that and that we can we can put the word out and
institute that because there's more than one way for those folks that may not have a bank account and don't have cash. They still are using a cash app or a Venmo or something nowadays. So, there's there's a way to do there's a way to do that for sure. Uh, so why don't we
>> Is Thursday long enough for you to get that info? Okay. >> Why don't we do that Thursday and then we'll entertain a motion to Very good. That's good. >> All right, Deb, you're good. >> Yeah, I Yeah, [clears throat] I'm good till Thursday.
>> Okay. All right. Good deal. >> All right, John, let's move on to consent agenda if we can. >> Sure thing. Uh, we're into the consent portion of the agenda. These items are of a routine nature and council members have reviewed these items in advance [clears throat] and sought the advice of staff as they felt necessary. There'll
be one vote on the consent items which today are items one through tabs one through three. If anyone would like to pull an item from consent, he or she should state so now >> council. >> Nope. Sorry, >> mic's on. I didn't know. Okay,
>> let's move on. >> I need a motion for consent agenda. I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> And I need a second. >> Second. >> All right, Marne. I got a motion in a second. We >> need public comment. >> Is there uh any opposition to council?
>> We need public comment though. >> Oh, we do need public comment. Let's do that. U is there any public comment, Marty? >> No, sorry, I don't have anyone signed up. >> Okay, second shot. Any public comment? All right, we got a motion and a dev.
Sue, you raise your hand. Please come up. >> I think we all know how Sue Miller Laura Matakumbi. >> Thank you. >> I think we all know how important it is to have air conditioning in the Florida Keys, especially in the summertime. And
I'd hate to waste $24,000 to put screens in windows that will never be opened. >> Thank you. Thank you, [clears throat] Sue. Um, okay. So, I got a motion and a second. Deb,
>> I just We're not supposed to do back and forth. I'm not sure that it's not code that you have to have screens in Windows. >> I'm sorry. What? >> I'm not sure that it isn't code that you have to have screens in Windows. >> There's no code that you have to have screens in a window. No, ma'am. >> There's no
>> Well, you can get written up for having torn screens. So, whatever. I'm just trying to respond. That's okay. I'm good. >> There's a motion and a second on the table. Is there any opposition? [snorts] Hearing no opposition. Motion carries.
Um that's the end of the consent agenda. John, we've got resolutions coming up next. >> Yep. We're in tab four. Tab four is a resolution, I'm sorry, a resolution of the village council of alamara [clears throat] village violence, Florida declaring the proposed mill rate for fiscal year 2026 to 2027
establishing the current year roll back rate and the date, time, and place for the first and second budget hearings as required by state law. Directing the finance director and village manager to properly file the certification of taxable value uh via er directing the village clerk to transmit this resolution to Monroe County property
appraiser pursuant to the requirements of Florida statutes and the rules and regulations of the department of revenue. the state of Florida and providing for an effective date. >> Thank you so much. Uh we got a presentation. Matt Hattie, are you coming up to talk? >> I'm sorry. >> Ron is handling.
>> Ron's going to handle it. Ron. >> Mr. Mayor. Council, as you know, every year we have to start the budget process with this meeting tonight. Uh we have to set out a proposed millage rate and then go from there. Uh last year we started three mills. We knew that wasn't the
final. It ended up at 2.65. So tonight we suggested starting the three just because that's with last year with the intention of having it lowered, but until we get some budget numbers in, it's hard to know how much we're going to need to operate. Uh we do know some certain costs are going up. Uh we know
that the uh the next item is from the sheriff's department and their contracts going up by 200,000 for example. Uh the firefighters [clears throat] have an increase that's built into their collective bargaining agreement. Uh we have insurance costs. We anticipate about a 10% increase in our insurance costs. We have F FRS the retirement
system we've not yet received their increase uh during and we have other CPI increases and some contracts like solid waste point being that we know we have some increased expenditures that balance that off that's the bad news the good news is that our tax roles went up and we anticipate uh you know of higher
value to have multiplied the mill rate against that'll probably be offset as it was last year by these increases so for tonight's purposes what we wanted to do is just start at the miller rate we have three budget um workshops next month in August and then two two at least I think one or two budget hearings in September.
So, we have a long process before we get to the final budget. I've asked our staff directors to identify cost savings. I've already u decided we'll probably have at least two or three things I'm not going to um the vacancies we're not going to fill for example or reorganize. So, we're already looking at cost savings but it's early in that
process. Uh and once again we have some outstanding costs and we don't yet know what they're going to be like the FRS increase. Uh but we are anticipating some pretty good cuts in the existing budget and once again that we we anticipate the millage rate will go down
significantly but not necessarily tonight. The will of the council once again once you establish tonight you can only go down you cannot go up but I think the three gives you a lot of cushion. I know and talking to some of the members they're not comfortable with the three. So I think as long as we're
close to the three we can that's a good starting point. So I'll be happy to answer any questions. Sharon, did you have anything you want to say? >> Nope. >> Nope. Anna. >> Anna. >> N. Nib,
>> how about if we take public comment before we go any further? >> You want to do that first, guys? Sure. Okay. >> Marty, is there any public comment on this item? >> Yes. First up is Henry Rosenthal. >> All right. Henry.
Welcome, Henry. >> Thank you, Henry Rosenthal. Lower Madakumbi. I see where you've scheduled public meetings in reference to the budget. I would certainly encourage
the budget to be where I left it and where I made it a couple years back. And I saved the taxpayers 21%. I knew it's the thing to do to start out with a millillage of three.
But I started out with a millage of three a couple years ago and I took it down to I'm going to guess 2.57. I like to go have gone more but the council would not allow me to do that.
My problem at this point is that it's important for the public to have access to disclosures amount with the budget.
Therefore, spacing the meetings out over two weeks rather than I think it's August 4th, 5th and 6th. This is very very important to the public.
And how can you initially deal with a situation? You'll come to a meeting and the next day you're back doing the same thing again. It just doesn't figure to do it that
way. Give the public the opportunity to come to a meeting, digest what they just heard, and then come back seven days later and do it again. You can't do it meeting after meeting
and expect everybody to be up to par as to what they're going to say and are going to say the right thing. So I am not going to belver the subject because I encourage everybody to have a shorter
meeting. I encourage everybody to have their comments written out and be on your way and everybody will go home sooner like it used to be I hope when I was around.
So that's what I'm encouraging you to do rather [clears throat] than have those meetings. But it's the most important thing you can possibly be doing at this time one after the other. Not everybody can attend all three. Maybe they can only
attend one, but give the public the opportunity to make a make their decision and hopefully they will attend. And with that, thank you for the time. >> Thank you, Henry. >> Marie, is there any other public comment?
>> Yes, sir. Next up is Sue Miller. >> Welcome back, Sue. Sue Miller, lower Madakumbi. I watch the taxes and the budget very carefully and I think that there are lots of opportunities for improved
efficiency and the state of Florida is trying to get all municipalities to become more efficient and they created the Doge, the Department of Government
Efficiency for that purpose. And um we keep hearing that they wouldn't be interested in Alam Marada because we're we run our government so efficiently. And I think that we should prove that by inviting them to come and see for
themselves why a 21% um budget increase is even being considered. $491 million increase in taxable value. And and that
should be more than enough to to give us a significant significantly lower millage rate. And when I hear that we have solid waste, we have wastewater, all of those are in
addition to the millillage. The millage rate doesn't cover the special assessments that are at the bottom of our tax bill. And so we can expect huge changes in in wastewater
assessments as we are doing a rate study to determine how are we going to pay for the millions. I I'm honestly expecting a $10 million fix for our wastewater
system and um and that doesn't come out of this. And so when I hear, oh, we we need extra money just in case. Solid waste is an assessment. Um wastewater is
an assessment. Storm water, we just had a report on storm water. That's an assessment. All of those things aren't involved in this. I think that we have shown historically
that we can find loads of things that can make our government much more efficient. When we first had our problem with wastewater, the engineers told us it was a $2 million
problem. Now they're telling us it's an $8 million problem and and it's because we didn't fix it a long time ago. The same thing with the swimming pool. It was leaked for many months before we decided to fix it. So I think we
[clears throat] can be much more efficient. Thank you. >> Thank you, Sue. >> Okay, next up we have Tom Raphanelo on Zoom. Okay, go ahead, Tom. Can you can you hear me?
>> Yes, sir. >> Very good. Tom Raphanelo, Isa Marada Community Alliance. And two things. Number one, I wanted to clarify this. The mayor brought it up. I was talking about freebie, but in my experience with the village, it could go for a lot of
the other bad contracts that we signed. We need to do a better job. The baseball field is out there. some of that contract is still is still in obeyance. We've renegotiated favorable contracts and we need to do a better job of doing
that. Secondly, I just wrote an article about what Sue Miller eloquently pointed out on how our taxes are done and and the doge factor. We have been existence for a quarter of a century and have
resisted a forensic audit for efficiency. There isn't another entity in civilization that would do that that we're doing it on a regular basis. What do you got to lose? They'll come in and they don't mandate. They'll come in and tell you where you can do things and
then you go from there. I think it's an opportunity and you owe it to the taxpayers to be able to do that. Take a look at the article in the A newsletter. spells the numbers out specifically and it can do nothing except inform the
citizens as to what's going on. And and as far as what Henry said about the budget process, I've been involved in many. It's much too short. It's pro- former. Get out line by line, explain it, and it takes as long as it takes. It
doesn't have to be Chinese arithmetic. Get out there and do it so everybody can understand it. I appreciate the time and thank you. >> Thank you, Tom. >> Okay, next up we have Mr. Wishmire.
Okay, go ahead, Mr. Witchmire. >> Yes, thank you very much, Joe Wishmire, Plantation Key. Many many years in a row, we have been promised transparency and going over the budget line by line
to try to streamline some of the things that have gotten out of control. Literally, even though we keep getting promised, we even had budget committees that made lots of excellent ideas. I think that
[clears throat] especially now with the way that inflation is and all that, I think we really need to pay real close attention to line by line items and see where we can actually cut
and not hurt our service. So, please make sure that you try to do that. And I believe that, like I said, we had a committee in the past that were making very, very good suggestions as well. So that might also be a way to go.
The last thing is I know that especially about uh the the wastewater. I'm still waiting to see what happened to this company that was going to go over the edus which is going to be part of our budget to find out how many of them are
not being how many businesses are not being charged the proper amount for the edus that they have on their property. That's just another example of how we need to make sure that we get together on this budget and streamline it. Thank
you. >> Thank you, Joe. Marty. >> Nope. There's no one else. >> All right. Second bite at the apple. Anyone else like to speak on the >> Nope. All right. Public comment is closed.
Council, any discussion, Deb? >> Sure, I'll start it off. Um, if I'm reading this, Hattie provided a a chart for [clears throat] us. And if I'm reading
the chart, uh if we go to 3 mil, uh we'll have more than um it looks like three three and a half million dollars uh above what we did last year. If I've
got that math right, it's about three and a half. Um there's there's no way that we need that kind of money. We need to do this uh
more efficiently than that. Um there's there there's there's always projects that we want to do. There's always things that we want to improve. Um but we need to do them
more efficiently as is referred to. Um I just tried to do the fast math here and at three that I said it was about three and a half. If we went to 2.8 8 there's 2.9 I 2.9 million rounding figures uh
that we have to work with that I would expect that to come down farther but I don't want to get it so tight that we can't do what we do need to do um I don't think anybody really wants us to cut services um but we need to find it somewhere that
some of it's it's like most of us have our own businesses we know that the the costs go up. We know that the costs are going up. The village cost is automatically going up also. So that needs to be taken into consideration,
but the consideration should be very strong on where can we figure out how to save. I've been speaking with Ron of how to condense and and save and and find some some extra
it's extra money uh that that we can save. Um at 2.8 8. Like I said, it's about two 2.9 more than we had last year at this time. Talking of of what we approved last year
um at um 2.65, which is where we ended up last year, it's still $1.7 million more than what we had last year. 1.7 seems to be a number that we should strive for.
That uh 2.65 seems to be a number we should strive for. Um [clears throat] 1.7 there's there's numbers that I've I've asked for that I didn't get hard numbers on um because they're difficult to to to
get. But tonight I would propose 2.8 as our starting point and direct staff to work point at least 2.65.
>> Thank you Deb Hannah. >> Uh well surprisingly enough I was at the same number as you were. I was going to be at 2.8 8. And I've already had many discussions with Ron also to work really hard to uh condense and save and figure out
where we're going to cut things to get back down to try to at least match last year's [clears throat] uh numbers at minimum, but I understand we have costs and I don't want to cut ourselves short to start with. So, this
is just our ceiling cap. We can go down from there. So, that's where I'm at. Thank you, Anna. Um, vice mayor, you want to go? There's >> all kinds of areas we can cut. I will go with the 2.8 and go down from there because I think we spend money like
little kids in a candy store and I think there's areas we can cut and I think there's things we could do more efficiently that aren't being done. Very good. >> So, I will start with the 2.8 and I'm going to get down to 247.
>> At a girl. Okay. Uh, Steve. >> Yeah, I I'm happy to hear uh the other council um uh realizing that we we don't need to set a high millage rate um because we're we're seem to be on the same page to wanting to cut costs and be more efficient as possible. So, uh I'm
happy to hear that that we might start the ceiling a bit lower than three. And uh I could I could u stand that 2.8 as well. >> I love it. Very [clears throat] good. Um I I'm
absolutely on the same page. I two like 2.8 was actually more than I was thinking and um but there's a consensus up here. I Ron, you talked about a insurance looks like it's going up 10%.
[clears throat] Uh what insurance are you talking about? Are you talking about our property insurance? Are you talking about our uh health insurance? What insurance is going up 10%. >> The the insurance, excuse I'm [clears throat] talking about liability, etc. the ordinary insurance,
but the other insurance is our health insurance for example. Uh we've been talking with our broker and trying to negotiate that. That's probably the that could be up as much as a 30% increase. >> You know, our our HR director has had a year now. Uh and I believe that's I
recall a year ago our HR director stood in front of us and said, "Give me a year." Uh, I will work on this and and uh we'll figure something out. Um, to to my understanding, our HR director at this point has not uh uh worked with
other brokers other than our normal broker. And if that's the case, I don't understand why. Um, and I'll give you the example that I gave you before is, uh, last year I lowered my automobile insurance on my companies, and I did
that by calling five different brokers. Uh, I think that we don't soul source anything out, and I think that we need to start hunting and packing and looking. Um, I I think that we we learned from the committee that Joey
Wishmeer talked about last year that um this the sheriff the the amount that the sheriff charges down in Marathon is less than the amount that they charge us. One of the rationale behind that was because
we have more seasoned um deputies that work for us and that's great for us, but at the same time if there's a a proby or a younger one that we can bring on board and our good sheriff's department can teach that younger person uh proper
policing like what our police do, then that ends up saving us some money. Um, so I think that I agree with the other council members that are up here and Steve who's zooming in on us that that there are ways that we need to start
digging into this budget and we need to figure out how we're going to uh uh you [snorts] know how we're going to cut these numbers. And I think setting the bar so high at 3.0 just is not the way
we budget at our own house. uh we budget at our own house by how much we're going to make in a year and then we figure out how we're going to be able to survive that and I think that government has a terrible way of saying well how much do we really want to get so that we know
how much we're really going to spend and I don't think we should do that so I think we should hold the feet to the fire without hurting anybody uh without hopefully losing any staff uh that we start off at the 2.8. So,
>> um, Deb, you got something else you want to say? >> No, I agree with the 2.8. I was just going to give what I think is some guidelines on that. Um, and we can either do that because staff does need time to work on this and figure it out.
Um, I I really don't have a a a desire to not give staff some kind of raises. something. >> I agree. >> Um they they have increases in their lives too. So, you know, I don't expect
the money to come solely out of um not giving everybody a raise. Um I do believe that I I I would probably suggest um some kind of split like we've done in the past. We used a $100,000
uh salary as a a a point in the past, but it wasn't I don't think it's a the right break now, but there there is a break where that might be. Um I think we need to look at consolidation. I think
we need to look at um how do we make the uh I was just talking with somebody about AI and and how it can it has to be reviewed. It has to be reviewed. You
cannot just turn it over to AI. You cannot do that. But it speeds up the process and it minimizes the hours. So maybe in the right departments at the right time. Um those are some of the
things uh I I believe that we should try to hold uh the number of people that we have where we are if not reducing them by shuffling people and in some cases you may have to not you may have to
this sounds like I want you to release people. I don't but um I'd like to see more of the tears stairst step system in place where this person is really overqualified for where they are and we move them up and we find
that that lower position is not uh an essential position. Some of the positions that we have open may be essential that we really need to have that position filled. And maybe we don't have anybody qualified, but maybe we
have to shuffle uh through nutrition, keep the numbers the same uh in order to fill that more valuable, more um essential position that we have.
Those would be some of my guidelines. Oh, what? >> You You had public comment already. >> What? >> You had public comment already on this. >> We did. Oh, I'm sorry. My mic. >> Okay. >> Do I Thank you, Frank. Do we have a
motion then if we've uh exhausted this conversation? I'll make a motion to um accept a 2.8 as our cap. Is that the right way to word that? >> Yeah. Motion to approve with the amendment of uh to reduce it from 3.0 to
2.8 ms. >> What he said? >> Okay. Do I have a second? >> I'll second it. >> I love it. Arie, will you call the role on this one, please? >> Just typing the motion. Okay. Um Council Member Deb Gillis.
>> Yes. Council member Anna Richards, >> yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman, >> yes. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, >> yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton. >> Absolutely. Yes. >> That motion passes 5. >> Let's Let's get to work.
>> I think that means we all have a lot of work to do. Tab five is a resolution of the village council of alamara village violence Florida approving the second amendment to the contract for local police services between Monroe County Sheriff's Office the Monroe [clears throat] County Board of County Commissioners and Alamata Village of Violence for fiscal
year 2027 authorizing the mayor to execute the contract authorizing the village manager to expend budget funds authorizing village officials to implement the terms and conditions of the contract and providing for an effective date. >> Thank you so much. Oh, hello Hattie.
>> I don't have much to say on this. >> Not anymore, do you? [laughter] >> You kind of already discussed it. So, um, it's a [clears throat] it's a much smaller increase than last year. It's around 200,000. Um, and just looking for approval to amend the contract.
>> May I ask May I ask what that percent of increase is? Do you have that figured? [clears throat] >> I do not have that figure. What is it based off? And I can figure it here. What's it based against? >> Um, you have the previous year which is around 3.6
and the new one I believe is around 3.8. >> You got it. >> I'm getting it. I had to open up my computer. >> Me, too. [laughter] The I think it's about a 5% increase. Okay. And that includes um >> it's pretty much just their personnel costs.
>> It it doesn't include uh the the cars or all the >> No, that's the same that's the same amount. It's salaries and benefits basically is what's been increased. >> Okay. So, it it similar to Did you get 5%. I didn't get that far. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So, it it runs about a 5%
increase. All right. Thank [clears throat] you. And the previous year was like I don't know two and a half times more that >> I think it was 11 or 12% last year if I remember correctly. >> Yeah, that was part of the negotiations they had
>> last year. >> Okay, Anna, anything. Steve, anything? >> No, nothing from me. >> All right, vice mayor. All right.
Why don't we hear public comment on this item? >> We have no one signed up to speak and there are no hands raised in. [clears throat] >> Is there anyone would like to speak on this item? >> Seeing none, public comment is closed. Can I entertain a motion?
>> I'll make a motion to approve. >> Got a motion to approve. >> Second. >> And a second. Thank you. >> Morning. Will you call the role? Council member Doug Gillis, >> yes. >> Council member Anna Richard, >> yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman, >> yes.
>> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, >> yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton, >> yes. >> That motion passes 5 to zero. >> Okay. [clears throat] Tab six is a resolution of the village council of Alamarda Village of Islands, Florida, approving work authorization number two between Wade Trim, Inc. and
Marada village of Islands pursuant to RFQ25-01 authorizing the village officials to implement the terms and conditions of the work authorization authorizing village manager to expend budget funds authorizing village manager to execute the work authorization and providing for an effective date
>> AJ good evening sorry [clears throat] uh the village is seeking CI services uh from weight trim for the MPK booster station upgrade project uh that that item would be coming up next uh they would be Uh, excuse [clears throat] me. They would provide on-site representation for the village
inspection services and project oversight. Uh, Wet Trim has been the village's representative for all things wastewater related from the beginning and to continues to provide professional services for the wastewater department. Uh the provo proposed work authorization number two with weight trim has a cost
of $767,000 36 or 767360 over the complete project uh for this project. This would increase the not to exceed amount of the existing work authorization number one from 731,380
to 821,380 uh with an increase of 90,000. Uh that would be for this year uh the for this year's remaining budget. The remaining cost of 677,360 will be over the next two fiscal years.
Um but this work authorization would be carried over through those fiscal years. [clears throat and cough] This cost would be funded through the wastewater utilities enterprise or sorry the wastewater enterprise utility fund and recorded within the MPK [clears throat] project MPK pump station
projects capital outlay account. um as these professional engineering services are an integral part to the MPK pump station project as a whole. Um and this cost would be reimburseable utilizing both FQUIP and stewardship grant funds. >> So what's the exposure to the village
with these other grants that we're getting >> for the costwise? >> Yes. >> Here let me go to the other tab. I have the more details on that one. If you're going >> if you're going to speak about the other tab, it's it's a little unusual. Do we
want to open both of them at the same time so we can discuss them? >> It's more just the budget numbers. So, I can discuss the budget stuff. I was just going to I should have put them in the the other order. So, I apologize for that. >> Yep. Um but the budget-wise um for the
MPK project which would include CI services and part of the design um the with the engineer of record uh we already have earmarked 4.125 million of stewardship funds with an additional 2.2 million available
for next fiscal year. We also have received 375,000 of state appropriations for this year. and uh have an additional 3.8 million available with FQUIP funding.
Now these funds outside of the the total basically of 4.5 million is earmarked for this project. The other funds are available for both water quality. So canal projects and wastewater projects. details specific to which percentage is
going to go to canal, which would be going to um wastewater will be outlined in the budget hearings, but those funds are available uh for this project. >> Can you rattle off those four numbers again? It's 4.1 >> 4.125
in stewardship >> with an additional 2.2 million for next fiscal year coming to us. And that's out of this year's or next year's stewardship? Next year's stewardship, >> it would be the 2627. >> Okay.
>> We for uh this year that was just signed uh by the governor, we received three 375,000 in state appropriations for this project. And then with FQUIP, we have 3.8 million available to to the village.
the funding for this project both the CI services and the construction of the project um will the village will be utilizing uh SRF loans and then we'll because [clears throat] the grants are reimbursible so we'll be utilizing uh SRF loans with a line of credit to fund
the project and then reimbursing it with the grants. So, AJ, are you saying that the uh the the the cost for the construction oversight of this is going to be 731,000?
>> That has Yes, that has um there are representative. They will have a project inspector on site documenting the project in whole. >> Um no, it would be a permanent >> a permanent position. >> And what's the length of time start to finish? >> Uh about a year and a half. And what
percentage is that? 731,000 [cough] of the overall [clears throat] project. >> I didn't write that that percentage down. Sorry. >> I misunderstood something. I misunderstood something. I just need to clarify it. I thought the 731,000
and change is for amendment one which we have already approved and that this project is 677,000. So, we're approving another 90,000 out of the 677 to go into this year, the
current year. >> The rest of it will go, not it's still money, but the rest of it goes into next year or the following year. >> Correct. >> So, about 570
590 I can't do that math quick enough. 590,000 will show up in the 2627 budget, >> right? >> And that the 731 is our existing budget
for Wade Trim to do what they're already doing and we're just raising it by 90,000 to cover the new project. Right. That's the way I understood it. >> Yeah. Right. Okay. Anything else, AJ?
No. >> All right. Is there any public comment on this item? >> I don't have anyone signed up. Let me check Zoom one more time. >> No, sir. >> Steve, you got anything? >> Uh, no, I don't.
>> Okay. All right. Seeing no no one standing up, comment is closed. Uh, do I have a motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve as presented.
>> I have a second. >> Just I'll second it. You're [laughter] being quiet. >> Okay. I got a motion in a second. >> Marty, we call the role. >> Council member Dillis. >> Yes. >> Council member Anna Richards. >> Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman.
>> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes. and Mayor Don Horton. >> Uh, only because it's part of the agreement that we have, I'll say yes. >> Okay, the motion passes 5-0.
>> Very good, John. Let's move on. Tab seven. Tab seven is a uh resolution of the village council of alamarda village violence Florida approving [clears throat] the final rankings and recommendations of the RFP 26-05 evaluation committee for selection of a contractor for northern plantation key
booster pump station upgrade project consulting and support services authorizing village manager and village attorney to negotiate an agreement for the project authorizing the village manager to execute the agreement authorizing village manager to expend budget funds and providing an effective date. Uh and before uh we turn over to AJ, I just wanted to mention there was
um there were two typos in the resolution. They've been replaced in your book. Uh you'll see it in the red line. Uh one was in the second whereas clause or the second to last whereas clause um removing the term the uh word annual and then the uh the other one was
in section four uh correcting the name of the uh the recommended uh selection. Um, obviously that's subject to your all approval, but it needed to match up with what was being recommended in the uh uh the rest of the resolution. >> Thank you, John.
>> All right. Uh, good evening. What you have before you tonight is the final rankings and recommendations of the committee for the Islanders wastewater and PK booster station upgrades. Uh, the RFP was published on April 24th for a total of 54 days. Um the village did
receive four proposals uh from Comtech Reynolds Construction, Bell Construction and Topino and Suns. Uh each proposal was uh reviewed for qualifications by the five committee members, the engineer of record uh with CPH and the vill's
wastewater representatives and with Wade Trim. On June 22nd in a publicly noticed meeting, Wade Trim provided professional review of the propo proposals and discussed the pros and cons of each proposal. The committee members asked questions and discussed uh the proposals
amongst each other. The committee used the following two days to complete the reviews of the proposals. On June 24th and another publicly noticed meeting, the committee discussed their rankings of the qualifications of each of the proposals. The po uh proposals were
required to score a minimum of 30 points out of 50 points in qualifications uh to be considered qualified. All four proposals were qu um received re had greater than 30 points and were considered qualified. Each sealed cost
proposal was then open and recorded. uh 50 points was awarded to the lowest bidder and a percentage of the 50 points available was awarded to each proposal relative to the compare or relative relative to their price compared to the lowest bid. Um the scores were totaled
and ranks and ranked according to the highest points received uh on that list. Compact received the highest points with a score of 457 out of the 500 and a with a price of 6.7
uh million and $500. The committee discussed the results and agreed that contact was a qualified contractor to complete the work and would be the recommendation from the committee. Um as a note, the engineers estimate for the project was $7 million.
So it was under under budget on the uh engineers estimate. Um and then um we discussed already the budget with the numbers and everything else. Um so if you have any questions, we can go over that again if need be. [laughter]
>> Yes. So, as I'm reviewing all the comments, the pros, the cons, the reference, um, and on the scoring sheet, 50% of the score was the cost.
>> Correct. And when reviewing that, Compost, but as far as project approach, staff similarities, references, strengths, references, all the other good stuff,
they were not number one. And I also noticed that they and nothing against them or or anything cuz I don't know them, but um they haven't done any wastewater projects here in the Keys.
And the other three I know have done. So I'm just curious of [clears throat] especially when I read their um the one reference was delays and
what did it say and the one strength delays and added cost attributed to gaps. Now gaps in drawings, true, but anybody can go and low bid a project and then they're going to change order us like crazy. And not to say that's what
they're going to do or not, but you know, we don't know at this point. So I just have some reservations when it comes to comes to that. >> Understood. >> Um I question some of that too. Uh but the other thing that I asked was
um where the money was coming from to pay for this. And um as we talked about a little bit in the last tab, um [clears throat] it and it it it really doesn't matter uh
which person it is. uh I come up with uh the the between the stewardship money for this year and next year and what the the governor granted um we need about somewhere between two
and 2.2 depending on who you choose from FQIP which is very likely very possible. So, in other words, this project could be fully granted. Um, but I was also told that there was a
and if I got this wrong, say that there's a matching of like 6535 for some of these. >> So, for FQUIP is 65 35 split. I'm sorry. >> For FQUIP is a 30 or 6535 split. >> Um, but the stewardship funds that we do
put towards it count towards that 35%. The stewardship funds are what? >> They count as our 35%. >> Okay. So, we've got 4.125 in stewardship, 2.2 next year in the stewardship, and we've got 3.8 for
Aquip, and 375,000 for state appropriations. Correct. And we we add all of that up with the 6,700 and um and then and then the CI
uh everything gets paid for. >> Correct. If if we utilize all of these funds, it's if you if you add it all up, it's it it exceeds the required cost. Um and the remaining funds would would go towards um canal restoration projects,
things like that. >> Do are you >> and and this is showing this upcoming fiscal year's money. Additional money would be available the following year, but it's it hasn't been presented yet. We won't know that until this time next year. >> So there's the potential with these
grants that it won't c it won't come out of the taxpayers money. >> Correct. Correct. >> Right. >> Correct. >> I mean I'm that's what I'm totaling it up to. >> Correct. >> Okay. Is that >> that is the intent of this project. Yes. >> Right. >> And of course that's part of our >> consent order
>> responsibility in our agreement with D as well. Right. >> Correct. >> Yeah. Okay. I'm sorry. >> Is there is there any restriction on the FQUI money that so much a percentage of it has to be spent on canals? >> Nope. It's at our choice. >> It is our choice. Yeah.
>> Those are just available projects that qualify for So Peter may not be able to be doing a >> Peter's not going to be happy with >> a canal project, but we're going to fix this money for it, but yes. >> Yeah. >> Right. Okay. >> All right. So that that's still that
just explains where the money can come from. That doesn't choose who we should pick. So we're back to >> So we've got money to choose whoever we want, but I hate to waste. It's not waste. hate to spend $600,000
[clears throat] more rounding them off if we think comp is qualified uh over the second choice which was I believe Reynolds >> Reynolds yes >> they were qualified for price they
weren't qualif they were they didn't meet they weren't number one for project approach >> staff and similar project and references >> do you have those who was number one for >> all their score sheets sheets. >> Well, if you look Well, I have they're all individual. We have all their individual sheets.
>> Yeah. You'd have to total them up. >> Did you figure out who was number one in those other categories? >> Who would have So, ranked number two would have been Reynolds, >> I think. So, probably that's what I would >> Yeah, they had 400 447 points. They were number two. >> And at some point, I think that there
should be some kind of local preference. >> I agree. >> And they're number two when it comes to >> I will say don't mention that these are state and federal funds. We cannot give any local preference >> but the other three have worked here and know the system that we're working on. Right.
>> Uh yeah, the the other three had uh uh related projects in Monroe County. >> Correct. >> Um those things were taken into consideration which is probably why by all the committee members they scored a little less on the qualification portions of it. um with when doing
wastewater projects, underground utilities, when you're doing miles of pipe, that makes a big difference on having that experience or not. This project probably has a couple hundred feet of underground utilities. So digging in the lime rock isn't a big portion of this project. Um that's where
I think depending on the committee member how they graded them >> um based off of that experience. But yeah, it's underground. The underground utilities digging on this lime rock the experience is goes a long way. >> Correct. [snorts] >> So,
um I hate to even bring it up. Uh this is this is just for the the pump station. We still are working on the um road crossing. What are what are we calling that project? The pipe replacement part. And I think that might
be um a different that might be a different call because that calls for a lot of the uh underground digging or the ground digging. Uh um
and I don't we don't know how much that is yet. Right. >> Correct. Yeah. Wait is currently doing an analysis. >> Yeah, we're still working on that. That's what I thought. Yeah, >> just thoughts. M. Steve, you got anything?
>> Thanks. I'll fill that part in. >> I'm sorry. >> It's all good. >> He was looking at me. >> Steve, you got anything? >> My question is more related to just the wording on the on the resolution in terms of um what we're going to be voting on here. It it it seems like it's
not just the selection, it's also uh you know the the approval of the funding. Uh I I think John maybe can clarify. I think we might be able to amend it so we could just give authorization to the manager to negotiate a contract or something to
that effect cuz I uh you know I don't want to approve anything. We don't have to at this point other than just the selection, right? John >> the right now the as drafted the resolution authorizes the it approves
the selection and authorizes the um uh the manager to negotiate with the selected person um and enter into a contract with uh with that vendor. Uh it also authorizes the manager if there is not um if they can't reach an agreement
with the the first choice then it would authorize the manager to then turn to the second choice uh the second ranked I should say uh vendor and and to do the same. So uh if you would like the contract to come back to you all um uh before it's signed then yes you you need
to amend it to uh to remove that uh that authority from the from this resolution. >> Very good. I would as as that statement was made, I would make that we are under the consent order and that our timeline is very strict on this as far as getting this project moving. So if it does if
you guys do want it to come back, it would be in August. So that would delay the project about a month >> then why didn't you give us this to us last month? >> This that we had to have it out for so many days u the project itself [clears throat] the RFP. So this was the quickest we could get it to you.
>> Okay. We just don't want to eat into that timeline. >> What's the council's pleasure? >> I'll make a motion to approve um the top ranking of Comp and the negotiation as I'll just make a motion as
um presented which gives the manager the ability to move forward. >> Okay. >> Right. >> Yeah. >> Right. Yeah, that would >> Yes, that would be correct. Do I have a second? [sighs] I have a second. Steve,
nothing from you. I'll second for discussion then. Are you are you we're having trouble getting a second and I second it so for discussion. So are you more >> I agree with Anna about the company. I
have an issue with what I've read about them as well. >> Okay. >> So you know >> when you did you read all the minutes from all their meetings and stuff? >> I did. And I've read all the strengths and weaknesses from >> with Wade Trim meeting with them and
>> Okay. >> I just have some reservations with it. >> I don't I don't think somebody should win out for price. I think they should win out for >> I agree. >> Performance as well. >> Performance and qualification. >> Yep. >> All right. >> So, what we did >> I and I u I agree. I do not want to end
up with another u generator building. >> I [clears throat] don't want to end up with that. No. >> Um, and so, >> um, there's a motion in a second. >> I'll withdraw my motion. >> And we've got a motion. Okay. Do I have a motion?
>> You want to make a motion to to approve ranking number two? >> I'll make the motion to rank to approve ranking number two. Reynolds. >> Okay, >> that's fine. >> Do I have a second? >> Can we do that? >> Do I have a second?
>> Yeah, you can do that. I was just going to jump in and remind you we haven't done public comment yet. So, um so but yeah, as long as it's based on um on performance and on the on the as long as it which is what I'm hearing, it's based on the actual proposals and the analysis of the proposals, uh then then yes, you
can go with the uh uh the uh the second ranked um over the first. Yes. Okay. >> But yeah, I was just jumping in to remind about public comment. >> All right. You want to open public comment? >> We can open public comment again. Do I have public comment? >> Did we have a second on that though? cuz >> we don't have a second yet.
>> I'll go ahead and second it. >> Okay, so I got a first I got a motion and a second. Public comment, please. >> Okay, first up is Sue Miller. >> Welcome, Sue. >> Sue Miller, Lower Matakumbi, you don't
often miss me on a wastewater issue. I um was really concerned about the first ranked because um anytime they come under budget, you wonder why.
And we have spent how many years pushing this down the road. And it really makes me nervous that you can sit here and um we talked in previous meetings about our
selection process and um and this is the one that I was the most worried about is selecting someone who is a really technical issue that we have been dealing with for five,
six, seven years and now you're sitting here in half an hour making a decision that was recommended to you by a selection committee of staff members that aren't really qualified
to do this. Fortunately, in my past discussions about this, I I talked about that, you know, how how can we have a selection committee that doesn't know anything about the subject?
And um and so gratefully they had some advisors there, people that were experts. So that gave me a little bit of reassurance that um that perhaps the ranking was better.
But I am grateful to Anna for pointing out that the qualifications didn't rank Comp first. And so that is a very positive thing to have
your board recognize that and go with number two. I just hope and pray that we don't get ourselves into another wastewater mess up to our knees in raw
sewage. And I am worried about the finances as I always am. And I'm concerned that we haven't addressed the entire issue. As
Deb brought up, we we haven't talked about malmarker 92, which according to some of the engineers that have looked at this is the problem, not the pump station. So, so there's a lot of issues
that you have to take into account. I really hate the fact that you're going to steal from Peter for canal restoration. This is just really expensive. My canals next. Thank you. >> Thank you, Sue.
>> Next up is Josh Vanderol. [cough and clears throat] >> Welcome, Josh. >> Mr. Mayor, Miss Vice Mayor, Council, thank you. Um I speak on behalf of Reynolds Construction and you'll pardon me for uh looking at some notes to keep it brief in the 3 minutes. So thank you very much. Uh first I want to compliment
the city and their approach with the proposal. 25 years of construction proposals all across Florida including the Florida Keys which we've performed significant work. The method of which um the engineering firm uh and the council chose to pursue this proposal uh is very complimentary.
Um, Reynolds observed and uh appreciates the opportunity to view the the scoring methods and approach. We have a few observations based on our review. Uh, we kept quiet throughout that. Reynolds is a local contractor. We simply listed a Jacksonville office uh for our contract.
We own an office in Marathon, Florida. We have two superintendent who live and own land in Florida that will be assigned to this project. and one of our management staff is a graduate of Coral Shores and is a local resident of Al
Marada. He will drive past this project every day and see the project as his family is also here local. Um he does intend to remain local and work on this project. Um I speak only of the alternate bidder not
by name. um with respect to them uh listening to the committee's discussions that other contractor listed one project manager with one project I'm sorry on three projects on one job site I from
taking the observations haven't had a chance to review their proposal which will be available after this from my understanding um the projects that were listed of those three none are in the Florida Keys as noted by council and none from my understanding of listening to council are listening to the
reviewing committee are near or associated with this. I don't disagree. Um there's not a significant amount of limestone, but the project is significant and it's important and there's a lot of pride to be taken in that project. It's a lot of pride for contractors who are local to to build
that project. Um with that, we are not lo contractor. We are a highly rated prepared contractor of which uh I understand the municipality works a lot with the
Florida Keys. I understand there was a call not to the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority. They are one of our references. We actively have four projects in with the FK right now. Uh but we are prepared to start this project immediately as we have crews
immediately available which we did not clearly state in our proposal and we should have. Um, with that, we understand there's a pricing discrepancy, but we would appreciate the opportunity to earn the confidence, to earn the respect, and to participate as an active member in the community. Thank
you all. >> Thank you very much. >> There are no other speakers. >> All right. Are there any other speakers? Seeing none, public speaking is closed. [clears throat and cough] We got a motion in a second. Marty, will you call
the role? >> Council member Doug Gillis. Yes. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes. >> Council member Anna Richards. >> Yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes. >> That motion passes. 5-0.
[clears throat] >> All right. Let's move on to something fun. Tab eight. A resolution of the village council of Alam Marada village of Islands, Florida, approving a baseball field license agreement with the school board of Monroe County, Florida, authorizing the village manager to execute the amended interlocal agreement and baseball field license
agreement providing for implementation, corrections, and an effective date. >> Ron, you got anything for us? >> Well, just pass notes. Um, let me give a little history just for the audience. uh back in 2001, I believe it was, we've
had a since then a 25-y [clears throat] year relationship with the school board where we provided the ball field and Coral Shores High School uh had the baseball team there. Uh that agreement expired and in 2024 this council and schoolboard entered into a new interlocal agreement and that's what we've been operating under where
designated the superintendent and the village manager to try to work out an agreement. Uh we had over a year ago I guess now I appointed a baseball task force. I think at least one of them is in the audience and we had a lot of hearings. Uh then we went to parks and recck committee had a bunch of public
meetings came to for council got a consensus and in a surprising vote of passed a license agreement by a 50 vote. That agreement went to the school board. They had a retreat and they basically made a lot of amendments which were not acceptable to the village. We were then
told their their attorney was supposed to be negotiating with us. We did that at the last schoolboard meeting. That agreement did come before the school board and Vice Mayor Mahoney was there. Council member Richards and then Mayor Horton was on the phone with me and I attended and at that meeting the school
board amended that agreement. So that's the agreement we're basically have now. It's just like a legislative bill. Unless the House and Senate have the exact same language, there's no bill unless the school board and village council have the exact same license agreement. there's no license agreement. So that's where we are tonight. Uh we
have the agreement before you that was passed by the school board and you have the alternatives of taking it up and passing in which case we have an agreement. You make any changes we go back for the school board. I will point out we have Pat Mafir who came up. He's here tonight. We also have Dr. Dr. Suansky who is a member of the school
board and they asked if uh their input might be helpful and I suggested it would be because there are some questions that have been coming up since the school meeting as far as uh some details and I thought it would be important to hear their side of the uh their reasoning of some of the things they wanted in that agreement.
We at my uh uh my suggestion we narrowed down the scope. Before there was there started out with two buildings but they reduced it by one and then this now only has the field the fence and the dugouts intentionally to reduce the amount of controversy. Uh but even with that
there's still some disagreements and so uh that's where we are tonight. Uh Keystar has already been in touch with us. That's the selected contractor from the school board and we have already started looking at their plans etc. Just to kind of get a head start in case we did have an agreement because we don't want to wait to not do anything. Uh so
we think that KStar is a qualified contractor. We don't have any problems with them because that did come up at the schoolboard meeting about whether we would reject their contractor. We're fine with them. We've had discussions since then about the the type of turf because that question was decided this this board this council and their board
both decided artificial turf. That was a initial question that's in both agreements. Uh and so they I believe have selected AstroTurf and to remind you that is the company that came before us again about a year ago and gave us some input on on artificial turf and
we've had discussions and the agreement with the school board is that it's going to be the best artificial turf possible. They have not spared any expenses. uh they the best environmental field, the best everything we'd ask for uh they put in there. So we at this point from our
standpoint, we don't have any problem with the field. I think the the questions are coming up about termination dates, uh about warranties, about what you can and can't do on the field. Uh one question did come up I want to address was the cost of maintenance. And I talked to Mr. Lefir today. our our current maintenance is
much higher than it will be because right now we our share we have to water the field, pesticide it, mow it. Uh that won't happen with the turf. So he's here today to go into more detail on that. Uh other than that, that's the most the input I have and I would uh leave it to
y'all how you want to proceed. >> Uh do we have a presentation for anybody representing the school? >> We have Mr. Lefir here and Dr. Rotansky who I'm not sure they have presentations, but I I asked them to come here in case they want to make any points or if they wanted to answer any
questions from the council or the public. All right. Well, let's do something the school board doesn't do and open this up to public comment. Is there anybody like to sign up for public comment? Is there anybody that signed up, Marty? >> Yes, sir. We'll start with uh Captain Ed
Davidson. Captain Ed, a few facts, a little truth, lots more karmic consequences. For the record, I'm Captain Ed Davidson, chairman of the IRS 501c3, Florida Keys Citizens Coalition, and former four-year Keyswide elected
member of this school board. School system facilities director Patair personally promised many times on camera in public and in significant detail that village of Island Marada officials and the taxpayer owners of the founders family nature park would have a strong
participating voice and final say in the astroturf ballfield planning process and ultimate design parameters. Yet he has publicly con admitted to meeting out of the sunshine with his 14 memberish uh founders baseball park field design
team for nearly 5 years. Pursuant to my Freedom of Information documents request, only three sets of meeting minutes were produced and no evidence was ever provided that any of these meetings were ever publicly noticed and open to the residents of Alamrada. Only
a few months ago, village manager Ron Saunders further reported that director Lefira told him it was time for another Bowfield design meeting, but Mr. Lefir refused to convene those planners in public in front of the citizenry who are the landlords
of Founders Park. And Ron let him get away with it. Sorry. Meanwhile, emails have recently surfaced documenting that village manager Ron Saunders has partnered with village counselor Don Horton to cut an out of the sunshine deal with the school board that
dramatically contradicts and extensively overrules the official ballfield license wording adopted twice 50 and 40. And you said you were going to stick by it after energetic council debate and extensive
public input. Yet in his 27 April 26 speech to the Adama parks and records committee on the record, village manager Saunders revealed as part of his attempting to excuse the school board's repeated refusal to sign the village ballfield proposal, he had been
privately carrying issue conversations between schoolboard members, conversations and possible vote polling, which the Florida sunshine law would seem to specifically prohibit. As an illustration of the actual issues impass, the school board's initial
response to the twice approved village ballfield license wording contain major redline strikethroughs, deletions, and alterations on 16 of the 19 pages. That's not agreement. That's impass. Yet at the recent 12th May Island rod
council meeting, some sunshine contradictions were repeatedly described with village officials adamantly claiming they could legitimately interact with school officials outside of public venues because they themselves were merely acting as private citizens. When it would seem, in fact, that once
elected or appointed to public office, they remain as public officials bound by the Sunshine Law 24/7365, whether it's convenient or not. and until they either resign or defeat it. Then at 2:49 on 12th May, council member
Don Horton specifically claimed he was entitled to lobby schoolboard members and the superintendent as a quote private individual. Then at 249 on 12 May, council member that no, that was it. At 301, uh,
councelor Sharon stated that the school board still refuses to grant the village authority as the property owner and that major mayor Horn Horton's documented communications with superintendent Tierney proposing contradictory concessions did ree like he was speaking
officially on behalf of the entire council and binding the entire community for the next 40-year giveaway of our authority over our own property. During the four years I was myself elected Keys White to the school board, I had many professional briefings on the applicable restrictions of the Florida government
in the sunshine law. And here are some possibly relevant quotes, excuse me, from the Florida Attorney General's Manual 2025. Quote, "The Sunshine Law is a both constitutional and statutory dimension."
Quoting from Reno County v. Pigeon Key Historical Park case. The Sunshine Law equally binds all members of government bodies. Florida Supreme Court, town of Palm Beach v. Gratison. Mr. Attorney, write it down. Gratison, the Sunshine Law is to be construed so as to
frustrate all evasive devices. That's pretty damn clear. Uh, final Paris v state. It's a warning about conducting private meetings through the use of surrogates such as friends, aids, relatives, and other government
officials, which is Ron Saunders avowed specialty is everybody's favorite lunch buddy. Um, the people missing out here are the public who are entitled to public process, not politicians cutting deals, the public who pays the tax bills.
>> Thank you. come in. [clears throat] Marne, who's next? >> Let me get back there. >> Uh, next up is Jamie Angel. >> Welcome, Jamie. >> Hi, Jamie Angel, Venetian Shores. I
support the baseball field project and want Coral Shore students and the village of Island Marada community to have a safe and beautiful field. As I said in my email that I sent to each of you last week, my comments are not about stopping the project, but about ensuring the village understands what has
changed, what it may be agreeing to, and the long-term responsibilities and commitments you are placing on the village before entering a 20 plus year agreement. This discussion is also important because the school board members who are hopefully watching need
to hear each of your views individually since the requested joint public meeting that the village has been asking for has not occurred. I understand that there has been several discussions going on behind the scenes between council members, schoolboard members, the village manager, and the superintendent,
but none of these have been discussed at a public meeting by any of the council members or the manager except for the comments after my public comments at the April meeting. I hope tonight's discussion brings these issues into the
open and lead to a clearer, more collaborative path forward. The village approved an agreement on January 8th and reaffirmed it on March 14th with no changes. The version before you now is different. Before any vote, I asked the village manager to review for the public
what was added, removed, or changed, how responsibilities, finances, oversight, and future construction is affected, whether each change benefits the village or the school board. I also ask each council member to share your understanding of these changes,
including which you support, which concern you, and whether any revisions should be made. Before voting, please explain the village's potential financial obligations, including maintenance, utilities, inspections, repairs, and replacement, security,
insurance, and storm related costs, any expenses passed back to the village. Specifically, has the village projected annual cost, estimated seasonal maintenance cost, reviewed turf maintenance requirements and cost, examined insurance policies and
warranties for coverage caps, calculated potential storm related costs not covered by insurance, identified funding sources or reserve plans. I'm particularly concerned about the language requiring the village to cover 50% of uninsured costs. Has the village
reviewed full insurance policies and warranties to understand what is covered or excluded, including storm damage and field components? If not, how can the village council uh hold the village responsibly agree to share those costs? The village should clearly understand
its maximum exposure before agreeing. Before you vote, can each of you say that you fully understand the long-term cost, insurance risk, warranty exclusions, and possible future expenses the village may be accepting under this agreement. Again, I support the field
and want it to move forward, but the community deserves a clear explanation of what has changed and why it serves the village's best interest. I respectfully ask that these questions be answered publicly before you vote. >> Thank you, Jamie.
Okay, next up is David Engel. >> Welcome, David. >> David Engel. Um, good evening. I appreciate the opportunity to speak here. I want to begin by saying that I believe everyone in the room wants the [clears throat] same outcome, a first class baseball field for the students of
Coral Shores as quickly as possible. The kids deserve that and I fully support getting this project done. But I [clears throat] also think it's important to keep the perspective clear. The school board is not doing the village a favor by building this field at Founders Park. Providing a quality
baseball field for Coral Shores students is the school board's responsibility to its students and parents just as it just as it is at all the other schools in the district. [snorts] What the village is doing is offering something of
tremendous value in return. the use of Founders Park, a village owned asset worth millions of dollars, that is significant contribution by this community and by the village taxpayers. If the field were being built on a schoolboard property and a hurricane or
other major event destroyed it, the school board would be 100% responsible for replacing it. No one would expect the village of Island Marada to step in and pay for part of the cost. So it's difficult to understand why the village should take on financial exposure simply
because the school board is being allowed to use village property for this project. The village contribution should not become the reason it is penalized for future liability. The school board should fully be fully responsible for the field
[snorts] for the field it is building just as it would be for the field with that were on their own property. Thank you. Thank you, David. >> Next up is Sue Miller.
>> Sue Miller, Laura Matakumbi, Coral Shores High School's biggest baseball fan. Um, I I just hope that this is over. I hope that you can figure out how to
utilize the offer of the school board to improve our field without having a dramatic impact on our community in so many other ways. There are lots of things I like about what
they're doing. There are lots of things I don't like about what they're doing. >> [clears throat] >> I want to remind you that um on June 20th, 2025, the interlocal agreement was signed that
said both the school board and the village shall meet and confer and mutually agree upon all items to be acquired and placed in or upon the Founders Park baseball field site. I
don't think that's happening now. I don't think you're conferring. I don't think you're mutually agreeing. You are just fighting. Um the the um baseball field is to be a
multiuse field. They keep telling us it's a multi-use field. What else is it going to be used for? We get the field in the summertime in the raging heat
when it sits absolutely empty and we pay seven of the 12 months of maintenance and utility bills etc. I don't understand what multiuse means
when I see the field sitting empty day after day after day, year after year after year. I wish there was a way that we could have the upgrades that the school board is providing for our kids,
but also a way that we can utilize that field for some other purpose. the the thing that in their scaled down version that really bothers me. Everybody knows this. I have trouble getting into those bleachers. I'm going to be the first one
that falls. It is not an ADA acceptable uh set of bleachers. I don't like I'm sorry, Anna, but I don't like the concession stand taking up the best view of baseball that
any baseball stadium could ever have. that that design. I think that we should have some say in the design. I think that there's a lot of good things that the school board is doing for us, but I
think that the um proposal tonight has some more work to be done. Thank you. >> Thank you, Sue. >> Next up is Alina Davis. >> Welcome, [clears throat] Alina. Alina Davis Plantation Key.
I hope that every single one of you have read both versions of the baseball agreement, the one that you all voted 50 and 40 for and what has come back from the school board that you are being
asked to approve tonight. Every single item that gives us the village the right to oversee, change, agree to, disagree with
has been stricken from that from this agreement and we cannot have that. This is our park. It is not on schoolboard property. The school board is asking us
to let them use it. We are agreeing to let them use it, but we still have to make the rules because we own it. There may be common ground somewhere else, but what I'm seeing on the
strikeouts on page four, page five, and page seven of the schoolboard proposal just cannot fly. This takes out every single
precaution, every single oversight that the village has. they take it all away and that is not right. We have to have that ability to have that oversight to
have that conversation to agree not just to the contractor but to the materials to the installation all of those things that uh come into being with this agreement. So, please take a good look and make sure that you
understand that even the liability, like Jamie so eloquently said, what this liability that the school board wants us to put, they want to put on us, should the field be damaged by a hurricane or
some other natural disaster, you know, who knows, lightning strike could ruin the field. Lord knows we have plenty of those during the summer. So, take a look. If you don't have the answers to all of the questions that Jamie and
David and Sue have proposed, you cannot in good conscience sign this tonight. Thank you. >> Thank you, Elena. >> Okay, next up is Doug Mingitz. [clears throat] >> Welcome.
>> Sorry. Uh Doug McCavage been a uh been moved here about two since 2007. Was the high school coach for almost four years. Spent more time on this field than [clears throat] everybody in this room combined. Um sorry you answered some of my questions already. That's what I was
coming up here for. Um I will say this. Yes, the village owns it, but if there's one thing they've proven since I've been a part of this since 2018, they cannot maintain the current field the way it is. All these things that are being brought up, maintenance,
there is none anymore. We're taking that away with the turf. Um, I can sit here and read off mound clay, dura edge clay, turface, labor, prep, field equipment, which was all paid for. We've actually used the school board's money before, which they've got us lesser product.
We've upgraded that through our own pocket, through my own personal pocket, through steady bats, which is out there almost every night. Water isn't free. All that stuff we've eliminated with going moving to turf, okay? Uh flooding. Key West deals with the same stuff we
have. They've had the same, they've had turf since 2018. They've never had an issue, hurricane, none of that. So, the actual field itself is way in much better preparation, much better condition. Um, I am a village taxpayer. Did any of the village taxpayers know about the infield grass they were that
was replaced 3 years ago for a $90,000 cost? I didn't think so. My point to all this, I have some sides I'm on the village, there's some sides I'm on the school board at the same time. Why can't we just sit in the same room and get together and cash this thing out? >> Amen.
>> And that's my biggest I've listened to both sides. I've been involved in this for seven years. I'm exhausted. I can't imagine what everybody else is. Yes, the turf will need a groomer. I can promise you the groomer will be a thousand% cheaper than the water we waste, the field we have, the pesticides, everything else we get. Our biggest
issue is going to be usage. I'm trying to speed up as fast as I can. Usage. Here's good example. Three weeks of practice, preseasons, 15 to 20 days a year. Three practices a week, which is roughly 36. 15 home games, which is a ton. We've never had 15 here at one
time. That's 71 days roughly. That leaves 290 to 300 days a year that it's not under Coral Shores's umbrella. So here's a good thing and all the things you're talking about how the field is beautiful now, there's no kids
out there. It's because it's in such a bad condition. I promise you when the facilities become better, we will have a influx of kids that you will never you cannot withstand. Key West, new building, new functions, new cage technology. They've gone from basically
50 kids to 130 since the the completion of their of their building. So, these kids will come out. My point to this is going to be usage is where we're going to split it off. I've had things about cameras and and locking the field up. I would love to have the field locked up. It's a I'm probably one of the only few, but I'm one of the only few that's had
their personal property stolen from this field with no cameras. So, um, if we can get all in the same room and get this thing finished for the kids, I think we'd all be happier and be be able to smile and enjoy a beautiful facility. >> Thank you. >> Next is Tony Hammond.
>> Welcome, [clears throat] Tony. >> Thank you very much, Tony Hammond, 246 Jasmine Street. Thank you, council. Um, really nothing new. Uh, you've heard everything I've had to say about this for months now. uh logged an awful lot of time on this
ball field and on baseball fields for 50 years. Uh I don't represent any official capacity. I don't get a salary from the school board. I don't do anything for the village other than serve on the OPA which is voluntary. Um but I think both
sides want the same thing. We want to get this [clears throat] field done. Uh the kids need to be our first priority. Um the some of the arguments that I'm hearing are the whatifs and then that's going to go on endlessly. I just
encourage you to make the vote tonight. The things that the school board I sat there the other night with the entire conversation. The things that they're requesting are not unreasonable. They went paragraph by paragraph, line by line. They agreed. We again need to
trust our attorneys on both sides. uh we need to give and allow our village manager to have the opportunity in the room to negotiate. That's why he's called village manager. That's his responsibility. Um we need to get it passed. Right now tonight, there are 20 kids over on the
ball field for steady bats. So to say the field isn't used during baseball season is just not true. Almost every time I go by, the ball field is in use. Sometimes I stop and ask, "What are you doing? Who are you?" And if it's legit, fine. and I get on, I move on. Um, but
we've got to get past all I just I just Googled a few minutes ago, you realize you can buy art, you can buy insurance for artificially surfaced baseball fields. I said, can you buy in Monroe County? The answer was yes, you can. So, I uh I also want to recognize the fact
that there are several pieces of property within the village that the school board owns that the village is using. Case in point, Alamra Public Library. You don't see any argument or fighting over who's going to do what or
fussing about the playground or any of those things. Let's stop it. It's time to stop talking and make a vote and be done with it and move on. We have ball practice starting January the 9th. We need to get this done so we we can have a good feel for when the kids step on
the field to practice. Thanks. >> Thank you, Tony. Okay, next up is Tom Raphanelo on Zoom. Go ahead, Tom. >> Can you hear me? Okay, good. Tom Raphanelo Isa Marada Community Alliance.
Very familiar. Can you hear me now? >> Yes, sir. >> Okay, good. Uh, very familiar with the issue. And just briefly, number one, Captain Ed, Sue Miller, Jamie, Dave,
Alina, the the point on this thing is it's been mishandled from the beginning. This could have been more transparent, but it wasn't. It was an insider job, which aggravated a lot of people. We all
want the field for the kids. I have two kids that go to to Coral Shores and I'm a Yankee fan, Doug, so I want everything to work out fine, but we have a history of signing the worst contracts in the
history of man. And this thing, I like Ron Saunders, but I don't think he's signed a lot of contracts in his time. And I think it really needs to have a lot more adult supervision, if you will, before we start doing things. And then
five years from now, we get an assessment for something we didn't figure out was going to happen. Tony Hammond, I agree with you. I want to play ball, but not under any not under duress. I don't want people to pay for it 10 years down the road because we
made yet another bad decision. So please, I ask you to look at this, not what's in front of you, but think about some of you have grandchildren. Think about 10 years, think about 15 years, think about the residents that are going to be stuck with a bill on a bad
contract. So work with us, talk to us. We're not as stupid as we look. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Next up is Mr. Witchmire. Okay, go ahead, Mr. Wishmire.
>> Thank you, Joe Wishmire. Plantation Key, >> you know, I remember when it this has been going on and on and on for years. We didn't even have an up-to-date interlocal agreement for a long time. And then there was lots of stuff behind
closed doors taking place that the public didn't even know about. Well, once we did find out and get involved, everybody wants the same thing. We all want a good, safe field for our kids to play. The school board had promised that
it would maintain the field. Yet over and over I hear, "We have the worst field and there's teams that won't even come to play on it." What happened to the school board's commitment then? So, we need to make sure that we go over
everything. What happened to the agreement that the council has voted unanimously on that said if they accept it that's fine and then it comes back where they changed 16 out of 19 pages but to yet nobody has met with the
school board. I think this has just gotten way out of control and we are the landlord and they are the tenant and we need to make sure that we remember that. Like I say, we all want what's best for our kids, but we also need to look at
the long-term ramifications. So, I highly suggest that you go back and look over this again. Thank you. >> Thank you, gentlemen. >> I have no one else signed up to speak. >> All right. Public comment is still open.
Is there anyone else that would like to speak? No one on Zoom. No sir. >> Okay. Public comment is closed. Council chair, >> you go.
>> You go. >> Nope. I I just I agree with everyone ex of course except for somebody that claims I broke the law which I'm not going to do and I would never do and I wish that somebody would learn how to read the law
instead of just recite things that are crazy. But nonetheless, I I I we asked we asked over a year ago [cough and clears throat] to sit down with this school board and I heard something that was really good the other night at the school board meeting
and I think it was probably >> I I don't know I don't exactly I think it was uh Mindy it might have been Sue uh that they are willing to meet with us. Uh and I heard two of them say that
And I think that we are so close and I think that the the the entire problem is because we haven't been discussing uh with with the school board. I think that there's been intermediaries and and
and absolutely yes. I' I've spoken to Mr. Tierney. I've spoken to uh Sue. I've spoken to John because I want us to get somewhere. I want us to find that middle ground. I want us to come to an
agreement. Um, and uh, that's not out of the sunshine. Uh, because I'm not talking to my board and I'm not allowed to talk to my board. And, uh, except in settings like this. Um,
I uh, uh, I I do think that there are some questions that need to be answered. I think that there are things that are are probably a misunderstanding. I completely agree with the gentleman that
got up and spoke and said we're actually saving a lot of money. That was one of the things I said when I was on the other side and not on this council is how much money we'll be saving on water and pesticides and labor to mow that thing and all of those things. We are
saving a ton of money by doing that. Um, and uh, and you know, I I've heard comments that that we're losing control over the the
design, but it specifically says here that prior to commencement of any construction or renovation that we that they shall submit to us for review and approval of the plans and specifications. It says it on page four. Did they get rid of some of the stuff on
page four that's red line? Yes. But those are things that had to do with the design and development of the structures that are out the door now because we can't do those that the we're we're still going to have control over a
review of what's being built there. Um, I I I just I I think that there are some questions that probably should be uh answered between the the two boards. And I think that that not having the
discussion between them has caused, you know, this friction or whatever it is that we're going to call it, these questions that are out there. I think that the public would be uh the better off being able to hear
from both boards being able to have just a conversation. I beg for that for months and months and months and uh it hasn't happened yet. Um I agree with other speakers that say
that there are open-ended items. There's there's opening in items on dollar caps and escalation limits. There's there's uh there's no clear allocation of some responsibilities that are on there and
we need to make sure that there's protections against unilateral decisions by the school board. Um it's it's public record. I sent an email to Ron uh back on I don't know when it
was exactly that that went through line by line the agreement that the last agreement that that came out of the school board and um I I just think it's just a matter of having a conversation and we can work
through this. That's all. chair. >> Well, some of these questions that have brought up I think can be answered. Like maybe Ron can sit here and answer some of these questions. Maybe Sue or Pat are willing to get up and speak and answer some of these questions that some of
these guys have brought up. Maybe. Yes. No. Maybe. So, >> huh. >> I'm going to speak on the item that's before you because that is what we discussed. >> I'm sorry. If you're going to speak, you need to come to the You're more than
welcome to come to this microphone. >> We welcome public comment. >> Speak speak about the changes so everybody understands the changes. >> I can't do that. I'm not prepared to do that. I'm a single I'm a board member here and if you have specific questions
about this item that we have fully discussed in public at the school board meeting, many of you were there. Um if there are specific things and I will correct a couple of things. One is I came here on my own accord. I was not
invited. And I also said that I wasn't here to speak. I [snorts] was here to watch how it went. And if I have to speak to clear things up for you, I'm happy to do that. But I can only do it on the item that's in front of you. Um
when we discussed meeting as a group um at this last meeting it was if there are specific things in this that's in front of you that you can't get to an agreement on specific things on this item we would be willing to meet to
discuss those items the things that we have disagreement on with this item. No. >> Okay. Specifically, there is maintenance reimbursement in section 8. The school board maintains that the field uh but the village must reimburse costs from
June to December period that which is the majority of the year without predefined annual caps, detailed budgets or approval process. It's become an open-ended in expense that grows over time. So, you're reading language that
is not in our item. That's not in our document. Correct. >> No, ma'am. It's not. These are my comments to you that you asked me to give to you, so I'll give them to you. >> Um to speak to me. >> Um I understand that the school board has unlimited funds, but as you just saw
our struggle with what we just had to do with our budget, we know these we need to know these costs upfront. So our question was my question is what are those costs so that we can work on that with a budget.
>> Pat Lefir can speak to the maintenance. >> Am I allowed to come forward and speak on the maintenance cost? >> Yes, >> I'm prepared to comment on the maintenance cost. The uh uh current estimate of what the village's share of maintaining the natural grass field is
$48,000 a year. That's the village's share of what we're currently maintaining. Uh if we move to an artificial surface, it's estimated that that annual cost would become $6,000 a year. >> Very good. Um uninsured casualty cost, which was in
section 11, there's a 50/50 split on the damage from storms, fire, etc. Not covered by insurance in the Keys usually. Um, so there's no caps or clear limits on the village's share. What are the deductibles on the school side and
what will be our responsibility? So I can there is no current policy in place for Founders Park baseball field. We are in developing a builder risk policy for the construction project itself. Uh but there is no school board
policy with currently on the property at Founders Park because it's not schoolboard property. >> But yet the school board is demanding that we share a cost of an insurance. So what would that cost be? >> Have you priced that out? the the builder's risk uh that is currently
being quoted uh includes a million dollar named windstorm sublimated deductibles are a $25,000 general deductible except for $100,000 for water damage, $100,000 for
windstorm, and $200,000 for a named windstorm. That's that's what the builder's risk pro builder's risk. That's the builder's risk that currently being developed >> that expires upon the the final inspection >> and and I can the only comparison I can
make right now again because we don't have a policy in place for for for Founders Park is that uh we we do have for other schoolboard properties we have property insurance that contains a $2.5
million sublim outdoor property uh outdoor property uh deductibles for those are $100,000 uh for all things other than flood or a named storm. And for flood, it it's a uh
5% of the total insured valuable up to a million dollars. And for a named storm, it's 5% of the total insur insurable value up to $5 million. So 5% of a proposed $4 million field,
>> yes, >> is what our exposure would be >> as shared. Is that 50/50 with the with the with the school board? >> Yes. >> Okay. Uh phase we we'll skip phase two. I I'll
skip phase two. The early termination the amortization section 4 in exhibit A. If the village ends the agreement early, it may owe amortization payments starting at 4 million. Is that what the cost of the field is? 4 million. >> I can't speak to that. That that that
was the school board's decision and I can't speak to the immortization. >> So, what is I'm prepared to speak only to I'm I'm prepared to speak only to the maintenance costs which we have and the insurance costs. The other changes were made by the school board and I I don't
have any further information. >> They have a final price yet. I think it's an estimated >> I'm sorry what? >> I think it's an estimated price. I think that they were just I think they were just estimating on the high side. I don't think that they have a final price because they haven't they were like just picked the turf the other day. So
>> So are we saying the amortization schedule is not something we're adopting tonight or it is because this document says that we're adopting the amortization schedule. >> I understand that. >> Okay. All right. >> Um
>> No, I wasn't. If you want to go, go. >> What was the answer about the Wait a minute. What was the answer about the demonstration? Are we voting on it tonight or not? It's part of the package. >> I don't have an answer to that. I >> I didn't hear what she said, so I'm trying to >> That's why I asked that question is what
is the cost to the field? Because then we can maybe work on the amortization schedule with a real number. >> I I understand. I you thought she responded. Go ahead. Didn't hear what she said. >> Mr. Mayor, I would say that amateurization schedule is in the proposed that um the one before you and
that was adopted by the school board. So that would be part of what is being considered. Yes. The the the 4 million that >> but it wasn't my understanding that that field was going to cost 4 million. >> Correct. I I mean we had tied it to the actual costs and we had also tied it to
the useful life of the um uh of the improvements. Um the school board came back with um uh $4 million and spread over 20 years, >> right? >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> That so that's something that we could sit down and talk to them about and
figure this out. They just swaged a number. I'd like to know the real number because we have taxpayers in this town that are responsible for that. We don't pay for it out of a half cent sales tax. We pay for it out of adorum
taxes. And so that number needs to be a real number and it's something that's explained in my mind and it's something that we can work with with the school board sitting with us and we can work through those things. >> Shar our recommendation would be that it
be tied to the actual costs and the actual useful life of whatever the improvements are. Yes. >> So we but the problem is is like Ron said if we amend this then we're you then we're going back and forth. Yes. My understanding cuz I I attended the score meeting was that what they
approved was a guaranteed maximum price. They weren't really a specific budget. And the exhibit if you look at is it actually says sample amortization schedule. So, I think that they were just use this as an example of whatever the final number would be, that's what they were going to advertise because
they don't have the actual number yet cuz they haven't, as Council Member Richard said, they haven't actually, I think, entered into the agreement with AstroTurf unless that's happened since I talked to them. So, I think what they were going to plan on doing was once they have the real numbers, not just a guaranteed maximum, they would plug that
into a real amization schedule. This once again says right on the exhibit, sample amortization schedule. So could this amortization schedule be considered a maximum? >> It would be well this is what I would
say. Although it says sample that is the amorization schedule if it's approved today. It could be amended um at some future date but if you're approving it that's what that's the one that you're approving and that's the one that we are we are tied to um unless it's amended.
So yes, it would be the maximum. This would be what you'd be agreeing to >> unless amended. >> Okay. >> Um excuse me. Um I um had a conversation with Mindy Khan probably the Friday
before your meeting. She's she's a very nice woman. We had a great conversation. We both agreed that the only way to fix this is for five and five to sit down with the public and have it in the sunshine. She did bring that up at the
meeting. you agreed to it and yet it was like we weren't even in the room and you guys saying things that we could have answered but yet I know it's your policy and that's fine but it was sort of
ridiculous that we never said 3 years I don't know where that came from and then when you started going line by line on what Hunter had written John never saw it we never saw it and yet it was the
village doing this horrible whatever you want to call what happened. Um there are a lot of questions and Tony Hammond I've known you my whole life. I I think you're a wonderful man. You're a great person in this community but this is a 40year
terms that is going to be binding and it's going to this is business. You can't just hope Ron knows what he's doing because he knows I've had problems with what he's done. And that's being honest. I'm sorry. It is. And we have to sit down and work this out. The fact
that you took bleachers out to me is the craziest thing in the whole world. Yet Ron explains it to me that afterwards we can pay to have them added in, which according to you guys would cost us, the taxpayers money. And then Mindy said
something to me that now doesn't make any sense. She said, "I'm so tired of hearing uh you guys talk about your taxpayers. We all have the same taxpayers." That's true in some ways. You guys pull from Key West to Keargo.
We're the village. That's it. Yet when you start talking about us being responsible for insurance, for the warranty not being violated, that's being paid for again by our taxpayers, not separate. In other words, we're
double dipping our taxpayers if something is wrong. I've got an issue with that. Um John Quick, I'm going to put you on the spot again and I want your and Deb, you remember I asked this last time. Is this the way it's written? a good deal for the residents of Alam
Marada for 40 years. Yes or no? >> I I have reservations about the the changes. >> And again, I'm imploring the school board to sit down with us and let's be rational, reasonable, and you sue at the meeting said
it used to be 50/50. We could all talk and get along and everything was wonderful. What's changed? Well, what's changed is we own this land and it's owned by the community. This is not schoolboard property. It's owned by the residents. So, the the the scales are
uneven where you guys want to rent our property at a whopping $10 a year. Yet, it'd be like if you owned a house and I'm going to rent from you and I'm going to tell you I own 50/50 of what is going to be done to this house. There has to
be a voice for this community. And so I'm I'm saying unless you guys want to sit down and talk to us, I don't see this being fair for the residents. And we all I went to Coral Shores. I love that school. Okay. I got lost at your meeting. I will admit that. It's
different now. But we want the kids to have a great field. But we also have to be responsible for the people that live in this community. Can I respond with a few things that had come up at our meeting? The reason to go
to 20-year amortization schedule is because we're doing more than just putting in a field. We're having to move uh the fencing and the dugouts and those at the end of 8 years will still have a lifetime. And so that was the discussion
of the full life of the improvements that are being made will be um the field which uh the warranty said you know they're saying it'll last 10 years and then at 10 years we will be replacing a
field but the rest of the dugouts and the fencing will have value throughout the whole 20 years and possibly through the whole 40-year agreement that we all agreed to a year ago. Um
the what's the other thing? Um you know interlocal agreements are two government agencies that make a decision about what's best for the community. And I hear us both saying that what we think is best for the
community is to have a great baseball field there. Um, that is not a landlord renter agreement. That is two local governments. You don't have endless money. We don't either, but
we can use the halfsent sales tax that the the um visitors mostly pay and we can make tremendous improvements. Oh, the other thing was the bleachers. The bleachers are a problem, but we cannot build
bleachers with what uh are is required now. We can't build new bleachers without building bathrooms. We don't have a timeline right now that can get bathrooms built for [snorts] this field. So that's
why we're not it's not a oneanddone thing here. We're building a field that the kids can play on. It's the number one priority of the baseball team is the the top three priorities are the field, the field, the field with the idea that we will come out back when there is more
time in the timeline to get more input and um build the amenities that are necessary. In the short term, we won't have new bleachers because in order to have new bleachers, we have to build bathrooms. and we haven't been able to come to an agreement of where those
buildings would be for bathrooms. So, this is an idea of um having a field that the kids can play on in January. And if we don't get an agreement done to together soon, I mean, many of the things the decisions on the the larger
uh paragraph um that were removed are things that we fully expect to be in a full agreement for amenities. But since the plans have already been reviewed, they're already going to uh you know to get permits.
It's my understanding they they're sort of already been looking being looked at by the process and the contractor is already chosen. Those paragraphs make no sense in this situation where we're ready to start the project. >> Doesn't the field have to be ADA
compliant to for people to play on it? I mean, without the bleachers being ADA compliant, you can't really use that baseball field is my understanding. Is that true? Does anybody know? >> Excuse me.
>> I'm I'm asking the question that they have to be ADA compliant. >> How does the field state now? >> Well, I don't know if it is, >> guys. We can't we can't just go back and forth with it. We just can't. It it it's just going to >> So then let's make a motion. >> It's going to end up being a
freefor-all. So it's open to sit down. >> We do have bathrooms now. >> Um I I would hope that those bathrooms are are still handicap accessible the way they were originally permitted, >> right? >> The the bleachers are not
>> uh handicap accessible. Um, >> there was discussions earlier that we could get the current bleachers upgraded and it not be a lot of money to get them handicapped accessible. I don't know
where that conversation went. [clears throat and cough] >> Those bleachers are pretty bad. >> I'm sorry. >> Those bleachers are pretty bad. The whole place is pretty bad. have been asking for 15 years for those dugouts to be redone and that field to be safe. So,
we need to figure out what we need to do because the number one priority is the safety of these kids and if if it's just these few items that we're down to, then can we just sit down in this next month and work it out so
that they can continue the process and get this field done for the kids for this coming season? What? What? >> Make a motion. >> What comments do you specifically have? Anna, >> you've already they you've already answered the ones and John's already
answered. I believe the amortization schedule will come down to the final cost, but I guess that just needs to be in wording to make it so that it says the amortization schedule will be the final cost of the field. Um, the field will not be locked
up. It will be open to the public at all times just as it is now. >> Right. >> Look, my questions were answered pretty much. I mean, if the maintenance reimbursement cost for us is going to be 6,000, I I still don't >> You're talking almost $40,000 less than current.
>> 100%. And I don't have a problem with with um as as long as there's clear caps on on our responsibility on the uninsured casualty cost, I'm okay with that. I we
can't go through the next budget cycle without having a number. That's all that's all I was looking for. I I um I I have no problem with anything else. It's just those questions that for some reason just aren't getting
answered that that we're responsible for for the taxpayers. And >> can we make a motion to see if they would sit down with us? >> Sure, you can. >> And what John said about this not being a good deal for the village bothers me. >> John, specifically, what is not the good
deal? Is there a specific something specific? >> There's a couple things I I um sent over to Ron. I could just mention them um what the issues were that I had looked at. You know, some of them might not be issues for you all, but but there are there's definitely one that that is I
think an unintended um uh it gives brings an unintended result that that I want to highlight for y'all. But I I can go through just briefly >> because I mean that's how this got that's how this got is line by line with their attorney. >> And so I think that it's the prudent
thing to do. So on page 3, section 3B, where it was changed from 36 months to 60 months. I just wasn't sure how that came about cuz that was a for the non-renewal that was um the school board's representatives. No, not the not the elected representatives, the ones
that we were um speaking with, they had agreed to the 36 months. So I'm not sure where the 60 came from. Um, so that was just a um just a question that I I had um because obviously you're going from three years to 5 years in terms of a non-renewal. >> Would you like it to answer?
>> If I can just finish and and then I' I'd like to go through I think it's just be easier if I go through because this is when I can talk with you guys, my my client. So >> we'll come back to you soon. Thank you. >> Um uh page 5, section 4D. Also, this was um
this has to do with the approval of the contract or this was also discussed with the representatives and agreed to. I don't know why it was taken out. And again, this this doesn't necessarily relate to the current contractor because we we all understand who the current contractor is. Um but we know that the
the lifespan of the field is about 8 years and we're looking at at least a 20-year agreement. So chances are there's going to be another contractor that's going to come in to play for the field which would be covered by this. My concern is if if we have if we're in
active litigation with a contractor, if we have experience with a contractor who we believe has done poor work for the village or on village property, those are people we we may not want to be be doing the work on Founders Park property for the baseball field. So that's I I
don't know. Again, I'm not sure why that was taken out. That was something that um the representatives had had agreed to when we spoke with them. Um page six uh uh at the bottom little I where it
talks about the um >> termination >> early termination that where it says it shall pay the license and this is where I was talking about with regard to the amorization schedule because it does say shall pay the license e and amortization schedule based on the useful life of the
improvements as as set forth in exhibit A. So, if exhibit A is truly just a sample, I think we need a footnote in there or something that says this is not the final exhibit A and this is not what's being referenced, I I would
recommend that it it be linked to the useful life of the um the improvements because if your useful life of an improvement is again, we'll just go 8 years. I I know that we're potentially looking at more than the turf, but if you if you have a useful life of eight years, but you have an amortization
schedule of 20 years, that means that the school board undoubtedly has their internal amorization schedule of 8 years, and they've zeroed out the value on that property, but yet at year 12, we're still paying out a portion if this if this gets terminated. Again, I understand this is an if, but our
accounting should match with what their accounting is being done internally, so it's tied to the useful life when we're talking about a potential early termination. Um, page seven, uh, this is the deleted section. It used to be section M. Uh, this relates to the environmental
issues. Uh, I I'm not sure why this was taken out either. This I would I would absolutely stress that this is something we should put in. And again, this is just ti this is just tied to environmental issues that are caused or potentially caused by the school board. It's not it's not if they go on there
and they find something and and they now have to to to clean it up. It's if they go on there, they find something and they continue doing the work and they exacerbate it, then then we want them to be responsible for that exacerbation of those environmental issues um as opposed
to us being potentially on the hook or fighting over it. um uh uh over over what who should be on that page 13. This is the one that I think was an I'm I'm not sure where this this is page 13 number 12 under termination. Right at
the very beginning, I'm not sure where this language comes from where it says upon expiration of the initial 20-year period. I that's why I said I think this might be an unintended consequence. But when you write under termination where you say upon expiration of the 20-year period, this termination may be
terminated as follows. That means you can't do that until after the 20-year period. And I I don't think that's what they were intending because why else do we have this whole provision about an early termination and amorization schedule and everything? But that makes
it it's either it either creates an inconsistency or it makes or it makes those irrelevant if that's if that's what's intended. So I don't think that language should be in there or I'm I'm happy to work with them to craft different language. I just don't know I
don't know what they're trying to accomplish with that. But I think if you read that what ends up happening is this termination provision doesn't trigger until after 20 years. And so at that point, you're guaranteed a 20-year contract. Well, really, frankly, unless
it's a material breach, I should say. If there's a material breach, obviously we have the right to terminate. But if if that language is in there, then the only way we can terminate is either through a notice of non-renewal 5 years before. So that's, you know, at the 15- year, we
notice a non-renewal and it goes 20 years, or upon the expiration of the 20-year period, we notify them that we want to terminate it. But that again is a 5-year termination period. So then that makes it 25 years. I don't think that's what they're intending, but I do
think that's what that's what the that is what could would result from that. Um, there's also a provision in there that talks about if if the school board removes any of the
improvements that um or that they they have the right to remove any of the the improvements at their cost. I think I I think that there should be language in there that if they remove the improvements that you don't need to pay the amorization schedule because
part of the reason you're paying the amorization schedule is you're paying them for the value of the property that that is being left behind. If they're taking it with them, why should the village be paying? like if they take, you know, if they take the
bleachers with them or whatever it might be, the fence, we'll say, you know, just the village shouldn't be have shouldn't have to pay for whatever the value of that is. I would also recommend exempting out the ability to remove the turf um because it just seems
to me like you you wouldn't want to just have a barren patch of grass um for for that. I mean, just listen, if they want to remove the fence or those other things, you know, I Obviously, I I mean I don't I I don't see an issue with agreeing to that, but um it's your guys'
call, but you know, it just it's something to consider about do you want to allow them the right to remove the the grass cuz then obviously we would we would need to um figure out what to do with the with that that patch. So those are really really it and then obviously the amorization schedule like I
mentioned before that it really should be based on the actual costs and and and then depreciated um based on the actual uh depreciation that they show on their um their accounting books so it's consistent. >> Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Sue, did you want to comment to that? you would >> it I can tell her her answer for the three years versus the five years came from the school board meeting and the the reason it was switched to five years is because they didn't believe that they could find a piece of property and build a new baseball field within 3 years.
That's why it was switched to five. >> Now Sue Sue, please. It's become clear to us during this process that there's no way to um have the a baseball field in the backyard of Coral Shores and have tennis courts and have practice fields
for soccer and lacrosse. So, we would have to restructure in order to continue baseball. If we were to lose um our field here, we would have to restructure not just the backyard, but we would h I
mean, not just to find a baseball field, we'd have to restructure basically every outdoor sport. Um and that will take longer than just building a baseball field. >> Understood. Well, I mean, I think that there, as I said at the very beginning, there there's
questions and there's I I think it's so minor that it's just a sit down and uh um and have a conversation and we um I'd be more than happy to call as the mayor a special call meeting. Um I don't know
what the school board needs as far as a a timeline. I know that y'all have specific guidelines. I guess >> I don't know what we needed as a timeline, but we need specific items of discussion from this document that need
to be discussed. We don't want it uh you know the problem the reason you know we have never this is the you know we have not heard you know what the disagreements are on items. I'm I mean the public has said it
but we have not heard from the bo from the village council what the specific items are and if we can find out those specific items and put that on an agenda then we'd be happy to discuss it [snorts] as a group. >> Can you speak for the other members of
the school board to do this? Because I just asked you about insurance about warranty. So those are questions that you can >> put that on. >> Yeah. that that so and can we can you speak for the school board that you'll sit down with the five of us >> if there are specific items
>> well that we have to have time to put them together but yeah >> from this document >> I think from this conversation this whole conversation I think John can write down all the questions and we can sit down and have a meeting air out these final things and get this finalized because
>> if there are if there are negotiable things within that agreement then we did discuss that at our schoolboard meeting that we could have a face-to-face meeting, but we don't want to. >> Well, then we'll put together a specific >> agenda >> agenda, >> and we'll and then the board will have,
you know, the board chair will have to decide whether it's specific enough for us to get together to have >> um I mean, we need to know what we the parts that we agree on and the sticking points that are keeping us from getting this agreement. >> And can we do that? I mean, is it
possible that the school board can meet in a week, two weeks? >> I have no idea. That that'll have to be the superintendent and the chair will have to do that. Do you know, Pat? >> Mr. Mayor, I believe the question previously was timeline regarding the
project timeline. Was that what you were >> No, meeting just meeting. No, the question is >> I can I can say that project timelinewise if there's there's not an agreement to move forward tonight, we will not make the next baseball season >> if it doesn't happen tonight. >> Right. That's not fair.
>> We're we're already well inside our our our execution timeline for the project. >> That's not what I was told. >> Well, it's already going through the permitting system and the turf has already been picked. So, it's still moving forward. All we're doing is
finalizing some wording in a document. >> We need to issue a notice to proceed to the the school district needs to issue a contractor notice to proceed tomorrow to keep us on on >> but you haven't been issued a permit yet. So have you have you would do that?
>> That's not fair. >> We have submitted the plans to the >> Have you made an application for a building permit? >> I have not. >> Has the school board made an application for a building permit? Has the contract started? >> Not that I'm aware of. >> Have you submitted the final set of
plans that's been approved? You have. >> They uh the Keystar has sent me something today that they want the status of a signature for the attached permit application. So they I haven't signed it because I wanted to get approval from the council before moving
forward. So, they do have a permit application uh submitted to the village, but they needed my signature and I haven't agreed to sign until I heard from the council. >> I mean, if if we went forward, I could sign I didn't want to sign anything
until we had consensus on the council. >> I mean, we're not disagreeing with anything they're building. >> I know >> we're just disagreeing with some We just have some tweaks in the language that need to be done. So, I don't understand how the field and everything else can be
stopped if we that should be able to still keep moving forward if we're just we just tweak the language. We're all in agreement. We all want this done, but we just have some language and some answers to some questions. >> Yeah. I don't think even the issues I
raised, they're they're workable. They're not I mean, but I mean, there are >> everything everybody here has said is just sit down and work it out. It's nothing to do with the actual project, >> right? >> Yeah. And I think I think that >> I think there's
>> always been a consensus on his council to get this done. >> Steve, I have not forgot about you. Would you like to please weigh in? >> Thanks, Don. I was uh I was just waiting for everybody to kind of get their points in and and um and I I agree. For
me, I'm hesitating moving forward on this agreement as is for everything that we've discussed. [snorts] >> No, now we lost >> you. You touched on really what my main
concerns were the taxpayers. So, um I I think that we are close. I think that John can um put out some of those uh uh changes for us and and really my baseline to try to answer uh Jamie Engel's direct question to us in terms
of how we each feel is um she could just uh look over at her husband's statement. That's uh almost verbatim in terms of how I feel that uh really this is um uh a school district project that is going to be utilizing land owned by the
village and um they should bear the brunt of the majority of the expenses. Um we can work with them on on termination and years uh amortization. Um but I think we really need to know some of those numbers on on on anything
that we might have. um liabilitywise in terms of uh of our expense and what we need to budget. You know, other than that, I think we can go let's get a let's get a the best feel that we can possibly get on there. And I don't think that we need to be involved in in really
all aspects of uh uh every single um door handle paint uh you know that kind of tail. I think what we really need to do is is come together on um this language that we can all agree on. I think that we can
um sort of uh stop the bickering and let's just get specifics down there like Sue mentioned that they can answer and we can get this done very quickly. That's um that's really where I'm coming from. >> Thank you, Steve. I agree. Hey, we've
only got one item on it's quasi judicial. We've got one item on July 9th. Maybe we can meet with them on July 9th, right after we get done with our closing judici >> that's probably not enough notice for for sunshine for them.
>> Okay, >> it's a good idea. It's a wonderful idea, but can >> go for it. Make a motion. >> How do we make a motion for them to uh John, how do we make a motion for them to agree when we put together an agenda?
sit down with them within like the next two weeks. Two weeks. Well, I don't know. I can't speak for them. So, whatever time this, you know, whether it's August, the end of July, I don't know. >> The week of the week of the 20th,
>> I don't come after the 21st. [laughter] >> The week of the 21st. But um I mean so cuz I I don't for you to say we have to decide tonight is totally unfair. That is not fair. That's putting us in a
position that's ridiculous that like Anna said, the project can still keep moving forward, but I >> we're going to come to an agreement. >> I want to sit down with the school board members and the public and let's solve this. It's not that difficult. And
so I don't know how do we make a res how do we do this? >> Yeah, I think you could uh you could do a motion to um renew the request to meet with the uh the village council or I'm sorry the the school board uh jointly um within I guess within the next two weeks
subject to um the village providing them with a at the school board's request a a list of items to be discussed at the uh at that meeting. >> Second. Somebody second that because I that's what I just said. >> That's what you said. >> Yes, I did. >> Do I have a second?
>> Can you repeat that? [laughter] >> John, does that certainly gives with the comments that were tonight that gives you enough time to come up with a very specific agenda on very
specific items that we're not going to vary from when we sit down and talk to the school board. >> Yeah. I would what I do is I would just pull the video from this and I would get the the comments from everybody here and then if there are any additional questions that you have I would just ask if you get them to me and I I certainly
would think I would be able to get it to them as long as the video is available you know frankly within the next 24 hours I'll say 48 just in case something crazy comes up but I would be I would expect that I would be able to transmit that to Ron who can then uh transmit it to uh the superintendent.
Okay. >> That would include the items that you recommended that we work on. >> Yeah. The items I addressed and then I'll listen to the what was discussed and then if you all can >> go ahead. I'm sorry.
>> And and looking and they're here. They can confirm this. It looks like the next schoolboard meeting is July 21st, 2026 at Marathon High School. My suggestion would be if we could some meet somehow meet next week in a joint meeting a work a public meeting next because we have
the questions. If we meet in a special meeting and then we can adopt whatever you want to do then they then it goes back to the school board then at their meeting on the 21st which is 2 weeks from now then they could adopt what we've already voted on. So it's only a twoe delay. If we don't do it that way
though then we we will have a longer delay. So, what I'm thinking is if we had a joint meeting next week. >> I'm not here. >> You're not here the whole week? >> No. >> When do you Monday? >> No, we can do it this week. I mean, it's I don't know what the school board schedule. My point is that their next meeting is July 21st.
>> And if we have something in front of them, let's say we make the changes at whenever we can make them this week if we needed to, but I'm saying if they want to have a joint meeting, the next meeting would be to approve what we did on the 21st. That's the schedule I'm
looking at. Do do we have any feel maybe Pat or Sue can answer this of whether or not we could u piggyback on your July 21st meeting and make that a joint meeting? >> You don't have a feel for that.
I can't see Sue. >> I'm sorry. >> Okay. I I just I didn't think so, but I thought I didn't at least ask. I'd also have to double check our code and charter to make sure there's nothing that uh prohibits us from meeting
outside the village >> since they're in marathon. >> Well, never mind. >> We require 7day uh notice for any meeting and the agenda and everything. Just to let you know.
>> Thank you. That helps. Can you can you >> could you get an uh a consensus of the school board by Thursday's meeting in two days for us? >> That way consensus from the school board. No, they want specifics. They
want specific. >> No, no, no, no, no, no. I'm asking when they can meet. She can >> Oh, when they can meet. I'm sorry. I misunderstood you. >> On their meeting, we'll we'll go down. I'll go down Marathon. Would you go down to Marathon? It's a bad night, but I'll figure it out. Sure, I'll go out. I'll
go to Marathon if John John needs declare that we can go to Marathon. >> Yeah, I'm just double checking to make sure there's nothing in our charter or code that prohibits us from meeting outside the village boundaries. Um, so I'll just double check on that. >> Okay. >> I'm doing that as we as you guys speak. >> Steve, would you be available if we're
able to meet with them on the 21st in Marathon? >> Uh, I believe so. What? Yes, I think so. >> It's a Tuesday. >> It's a Tuesday. Yeah. Anna, >> we will call our meeting. >> Yeah. Sharon. >> Yes. Yeah.
>> Okay. So, there's all of us are able to meet with them. If it's okay to go down to Marathon, we'll go down the marathon. We've been asking for this. We should accommodate that. Maybe we can just get it all taken care
of on the 21st. Do you want to public? >> I I would I would like to while John's looking that up. Is there any other public comment that we can keep kind of short that we can talk about? Jamie, >> your favorite. >> Am I surprised? >> Your favorite person. I'm going to just
go back. I appreciate everything Sue and Pat they were saying and I think I agree. Let's keep the field kind of going. this to me the questions I asked all of you a week ago which I'm really surprised nobody came back with the answers was specific I was very very
very specific in my questions that I asked of you guys I ran down those questions what's the warranty on the field what's the insurance coverage what's the deductible thank goodness Pat was here to give us that part of it but what's the village responsibility
because is that schoolboard insurance going to cover all year long or what happens 7 months if they have it for 5 months and we've got it for 7 months is that split all there there's details that have nothing to do with everything you guys just basically talked about
that I brought up to you over a week ago and the questions were very specific and they're really to the village manager and the finance department and you guys as council members what are the numbers and and I I know Sue um put it in the A
newsletter If anybody wants to read the email I sent to all of you, I know Doug got it. He was just here because he's in Venetian chores. I put it on our website. So, it's specific questions that can actually be answered, a lot of them by the village, not having I mean,
yes, definitely sit down, have a conversation. I think we could have had this done over a year ago if we could have got the school board to sit down and meet. I I agree with that. But the specific questions I sent to you guys a week ago were questions to the village
to find that information. Ron got copied on it. Very, very specific questions that had to do with money and our budget and our finances. And tonight, we're sitting here listening to all the money that's coming up. And don't forget, we've got a homestead exemption
situation that's going to be on the ballot in November that could affect us. Maybe not in 26 27 but it's going to affect us in 27 28 28 29 y >> and I believe that's going to pass. So looking at that we have to be very
conscious of what we're doing with our budget. And so I would say if you guys can get all of those questions answered that I sent to you and then go sit with the school board so you know financially where the village is coming from. Let's do it. Nobody's saying not to do this
field. We all want the kids to have that field. I really I've worked on this long enough. I want the kids to have that field, but financially we need to look at it. The other thing I'm going to throw in there besides the bleachers is what's not in that agreement, and I just
said it to Sue, are the security cameras on that field and the infrastructure for the security cameras and the monitoring system and the costs that go along with that. Because how are we going to know if we're responsible or we have to go to mediation to determine who was
responsible for damage because some stupid person rode a bike across the field or did something who did the damage. If we're going to be responsible for that, we need to know who did it. And the only way to find out who did it did it is if we have security cameras or
if I'm a taxpayer for the school board, I'm saying lock the field up. And I'm not saying that, but that would be the only solution to do that, to stop people from going on the field and damaging it. So, we need the bleachers and we need security cameras and the infrastructure
and the monitoring systems. You can add that to the list, John. >> Thank you. Thank you, Jamie. >> Cheryl Culver, Plantation Key. I had the misfortune of listening to this meeting while I was driving back from Fort Lauderdale and I just got here. This is
a joke. This is nothing that we told you needed to be done. You are taking no precautions to protect the community or what's going on and you know it. The bigger issue is my biggest issue has always been the ADA compliance along with not putting down the plastic crap
that goes on the ground. Get past that. I will go on. But the bottom line is you're not doing anything. The school board has yet to perform properly on anything they've done on this. I would be very cautious. Yes, you need a joint meeting. It should have occurred two years ago. We quit wasting
everybody's time and breath. But there are multiple things in here starting with everything they took out, but every single one of the protections that we put into the initial agreement that you voted on. You [clears throat] need to remember you voted to accept that with the protections for the community. You
represent the community, not the school board. And this the children will be just fine if it's done properly. But when you're sitting there taking out because you're trying to play cover yourself, then you've got a problem. go back to the original contract that we suggested to you that
you voted on. Put those protections back in. Get your ADA compliance and have it reviewed. Most importantly, you want the grounds to be approved by the National High School Association and make sure they're proper. And you want it done. And there's all kinds of places that get
that done. But you want to protect the community and our investment, not the school boards. So on uh page seven, item small K says ADA, all improvements hereafter made to
the property shall be in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 and same may be amended from time to time the extended required by law. I don't know how much planer you can get
in a contract that says all improvements hereafter made to the property which is that over there shall be in compliance with the ADA >> except that we haven't performed either. >> Well that and you may very well be right
but it's in the contract so I don't need to worry about that if if if this contract is okay. Captain Ed, except that >> we paid for the >> we've given way too much away. We're in danger of having to pay for that. Ron took the things out because they weren't in compliance so that he didn't have to
argue the compliance issue because he doesn't like to be a tough guy. >> And now we're stuck with it. He took them out. If they go back in, it's not in the agreement that the school board's going to pay for those. H we're going to have to we're in danger
of having to pay for it. Look, you guys are all good-hearted people, but you're sitting here apologizing for problems that none of you caused in in Maine. These are all caused because the school board never kept their promises. They never let any of
our people our people were only briefed 12 months ago. 12 months ago for the first complete briefing on this project. Okay. the one before in March. Pat came up here, my old Navy flying buddy Pat. But nonetheless, okay, he came up here
in March. The flyer required our citizens, the owners of the park in print, to submit public comment the morning before the briefings. The morning before the briefings, before they heard anything, they were required
to submit public comment. That's meaningless. It wasn't televised and it wasn't zoomed and Pat agreed to that unfortunately, but it wasn't. Only a couple dozen of our people had any
briefing at all in March. When he finally did the one in June, he came from a tempestuous schoolboard meeting at which Darren Haran said that they were two million bucks cost over on ready and that that he told
Pat to tell us when he came over to our meeting u that we were going to have to cough up two million bucks for starters and Pat somehow forgot to mention that. there's been a lots of lack of clarity
and lack of cander. Um and and if if if our citizens and the old council who wasn't briefed on this, didn't know anything about it, Sharon remembers that if we had a participation we should have
had from the beginning and that we were promised from the beginning, none of this would have been a problem. We'd have settled this a year, two years ago. This is not your fault. By and large, it's not your fault. We're all saying you need to be a little
tougher and safeguarding us because they have so clearly demonstrated a deficient attitude towards the rights of the citizens of Anna Marada who are paying the bills. >> Thank you. Commen
Doug Mavage again. Um, I'm just two questions. Where did you guys come up with the 8-year shelf life of the turf? >> I I don't know. I thought it was a 10 year, but >> I I mean, I don't mean to sound arrogant, but I'm the only one Hang on. I'm not talking to you. I'm the only one who's actually been on this stuff and
actually used this stuff and actually coached on this stuff and played on this stuff for over 30, 40 years. Key West went in in 2018. Am I wrong? They I coached there this past year. Their turf is fine. It's eight years. I promise you they get they're using it 365 days a
year more than what we will use it even if it's the Taj Mahal of baseball fields. And the only other thing I will kind of mention is where was this energy and concern before? We were wasting taxpayers money on fields that that was absolute garbage.
So, I don't mean this to be rude, but I mean I just don't want to get in the middle of this gang up on this side, gang up on that side when all this energy was coming from where was it before? Where was it before we had to go to turf or where was it before we had to bring the schoolboard in and the village
and all this stuff? That's my concern. Everybody's coming out of all this stuff. And it's for me, we've wasted over a half a million dollars. If if it's 46 to $48,000 a year for the school board to pay to make that field absolute trash, that's a lot of money. That's 500
grand since I've been a coach in 2018. So my only and it's not doesn't really make a difference, but the I guess I wanted to reiterate the traction of what this 8-year life is. There's more to it than that. It's longer than that.
>> It's been flooded. It's been under underwater for years. It's fac hurricanes. They played the UCF. I don't know if you even know this, but UCF and FIU played a college game down there. The day before they had kneedeep water. They played and they put D1 athletes on
that field in the fall. So, there it's definitely a lot cheaper in the long run. I said my I guess my point is the taxpayers talk about all this money and I get it. I am one of them. But I would much rather put it to something to protect us from just throwing it away like we have been doing for the last
since I've been involved since 2018. And that's only thing my question is where was all this concern before we started talking about this field 7 years ago before actually a lot of the people were even in this room. So and I want to say thank you to both sides of you. Thank you for both sides of you because I know
this has been hectic and crazy and the last thing any of us want is fingerpointing and whatever because I think when that happens the main the number one person that loses sight of that are the kids. So I appreciate everybody keeping a cooler head and going back and forth and respectfully
discussing this. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> 30 seconds. Mr. Chairman, for all you guys that are watching soccer, FIFA will not play on Astro Tour. >> Captain Ed, you're not being recognized right now. So please don't yell out. Please do not yell out. >> Thank you. >> We do have a speaker on Zoom as well.
>> Yes, John. >> I just wanted to let you know that um yes, we could meet um there there's no there's no restriction in terms of being required to meet within the village boundaries. Um in our charter, it's it says that the council shall specify
meeting locations by resolution. Um, as part of a resolution, we adopted our council procedures, which specifies meetings will be held here at Founders Park uh council chambers, but it also states that the council has complete discretion to um to change the dates,
times, or locations uh of meetings as well. So, I think I think we're okay um uh on this on this special occasion to to do that as long as the uh obviously we would need the school board's approval to uh >> Sharon, you've got a motion in, right?
You don't remember your motion? Yeah. >> Yeah. It was um it was a motion to renew the request for a joint meeting um uh between the two uh bodies uh subject to the uh the village providing them with a
list of uh discussion points uh for that potential meeting. Can we go on and make that a date certain or should we would you >> if you want to request it for the I think that would be better to >> Would you like to amend your motion to make it the the 21st?
>> Yeah. But I would like in the meantime is there any way we can get the financial questions answered through our financial department that Jamie has brought up that are very concerning? >> Yes. I mean, is there any way we can do
our homework and have that information be before, during, whatever? I'm asking you, Mr. Manager. >> I'm waiting to get recognized. >> No, I'll recognize you. Go ahead. He's busy. >> Yes, [laughter] please go P or Ron. Thank [snorts] you.
>> I forwarded the uh I did get the questions from Jamie. Unfortunately, a lot of the questions were related to information that we needed from the school board. For example, question about insurance. I specifically asked for example for a copy of the school board's insurance policies and I was
told that was more difficult than it sounds. So hopefully in the next few days we can get that information but it was hard for us to limit what determine our exposure without seeing the information from the school board. So that I think that's we have to continue that discussion because in order to
answer those questions it's not on us. The questions as I interpreted from Jamie were what happens with when you interact with the school board. It's not on our stuff. It's basically based on what information we need to get from them. >> Okay. >> Do you do you have the contact
information or do we need to ask Pat or or Sue who you call or talk to about? >> Can we hang on a second? I procedurally I think we've got a motion on and I'd like to have a second so we can continue. >> I thought we have a second. I'm sorry. >> We don't have a second. Do we have a
second? >> We did. I I believe so. >> We did. Who was the second? >> Who was it? wasn't me. >> Hopefully Martney's got the noted, but I remember somebody saying second. [laughter] >> I don't recall there being a second. >> Maybe we didn't. I thought we did. >> They There wasn't a second.
>> Okay. My apologies. >> That's fine. >> Okay. >> Do I have a second for a motion? >> I'll second anything to keep this project. >> Thank you. Okay. >> Can we just keep it going? And Doug, I meet I beat you on time. Now you can Now you're there. you're recognized. Thank you. >> Okay. Sorry.
>> That's okay. >> So, so do you have the names or the who you should contact to help get that information so we are prepared for that meeting and the school board can be prepared. >> I don't know whether Pat's the right contact. I don't know who you're
contacting. If not, maybe they can help provide some of that tonight. >> That's to you, Ron. >> I try to go to the chair. >> That's you. >> Okay, sir. I would say based on my information that I would would always have to go through the superintendent. In other words, he
speaks for the school board as I speak for the village that and in the ILA it specifically mentions the superintendent and village manager are delegated to the ability. I I think we have a good relationship. Uh he's bound by his bosses like I am by mine. And so but I
think for information per I'm not saying he has the ability to just make a decision without taking the board. But if you're asking for information, I would say between Mr. Captain Lefir and and the superintendent, they should be able to get the information we need. >> The financials that we were talking about
>> and if it if it's a financial thing, I also know that the financial officer for the school board, she's on the take stock board with me. So we we we I I have the context to get the information is the answer. >> Thank you. Anything else, Deb? Okay. So there's a motion and a second. Marne,
will you please call the role? We did have another speaker on Zoom. Would you like to take more public comment or just call roll? >> Let's Let's hear them. >> Okay, Tom, go ahead. You got three minutes. >> Okay. Can you hear me?
>> Yes, sir. We can hear you. >> Well, thank you very much. And I listen to all of the above. And and uh you know what? I I've had a a career in management. And just to tell you something, you can ask permission to comb your hair. You know, sometimes you
don't need a lawyer to tell you how to proceed. And if you do, then you need to work that stuff out from the beginning. Now, as far as the numbers go, we've been going through this with the baseball field for God knows how long.
If we don't have those numbers by now, then uh we're not doing this correctly. this. I couldn't agree more with Jamie and and Ed and everybody else. It's been mishandled from the beginning. We all
wanted to work. And I noticed tonight for the first time that I've seen the last two years, the council actually believes in money and how much money they spend. So maybe because it's an election year and it's coming up in the
next four or five months that we'll get a little bit more direction from what you guys are doing. But none of this stuff is difficult if you know what you're doing. If you don't, you'll continue to ask John whether or not you can tie your tie or sit down.
Act like you run this place, not like you don't. Nice talking to you. Okay. So, there's a motion on the table in a second. >> Okay. Um, Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney, >> yes. >> Council member Anna Richards, >> yes.
>> Council member Steve Freriedman, >> yes. >> Council member Deb Gillis, >> yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton, >> yes. [clears throat] >> That motion passes 5-0. >> Good deal. All right, let's move on to ordinances. [snorts]
We are on um tab nine which is an ordinance on second reading. This is an ordinance of Alamara Village of Vi Islands Florida amending chapter 14 elections article one in general creating section 14-2 vacancy and candidacy providing for severability providing for inclusion in the code and
providing for an effective date. Um this uh this uh closes the loophole um in terms of when there's a vacancy in in candidacy. Again, this is not this does not deal with vacancy when somebody has been elected to council. It deals with
when somebody is running um and this closes that loophole so that we have uh something in our code to deal with it. I know we talked about it um before and I'm I'm happy to answer any questions if you guys have any from uh since first reading. >> Move to approve. >> Okay, we got a motion. Do I have a
second? [laughter] >> I'll second, but we need public comment. >> Uh okay, let's do public comment. Is there any public comment on this item? >> I don't have anyone signed up. Let me double check Zoom. Nope, there is no public comment. >> All right, public comment is closed. We
got a motion in a second. Mari, will you please call a role? >> Um, I'm sorry. Who would who made the motion in a second? >> Sharon made the motion. Deb made the second. >> Thank you so much. Okay. Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes. >> Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes.
>> Council member Anna Richards. >> Yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes. That motion passes 5-0. >> Okay, let's do the next one. >> And the next ones all relate to the proposed uh charter amendments. So there's there's a small handful of them. So I'll read tab 10 is an ordinance of Mara Village of Islands, Florida,
calling for a referendum vote to be held with the general election on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026, providing for submission the electors of a proposed amendment to the village charter relating to three-year staggered terms of office with three-year term limit. providing for placement on the ballot, providing for requisite ballot language, providing for notice of election,
providing for authorization of village clerk and for village camping board, providing for separability, providing for inclusion in the charter/conformity of amendment, and providing for an effective date. Thank you, John. Is there any public comment on this item? >> No, sir. >> Okay. Do I have a motion? >> Motion to approve.
>> We've got a motion to approve. Do I have a second? >> I'll second it. >> Okay. Got a motion and a second. Morning. We call >> council member Anna Richards. >> Yes. Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes. >> Council member Deb Gillis.
>> Yes. >> And Mayor Don Harton. >> Yes. >> That motion passes 5-0. >> Next [clears throat] 11. >> 11. An ordinance of Marta Village of Islands, Florida, calling for a referendum vote to be held with the general election on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026. Providing for submission to the electors of a of a proposed
amendment to the village charter relating to council salaries. Providing for placement on the ballot. Providing for requisite ballot language. Providing for notice of election. providing for authorization of village clerk and for village canvasing board providing for separability providing for inclusion in the charter/conformmity of amendment and providing an effective date.
>> Thank you. Uh is there any public comment? >> No sir. >> I'd like to make a motion to pull this and not approve this one. >> What is this one? >> This is the one where for the uh raising the uh council pay.
Well, why is because number one, we've got >> it's not going to pass. >> Something else that's bigger that may happen that you say you feel like was going to pass, you said earlier, and that was >> um and that was getting rid of or increasing the homestead exemption,
which just puts another responsibility on somebody to have to pay for this. Number one. Number two, I don't think anybody runs because they're getting paid $1,000 a month. Then number three, I think Deb had a good comment earlier
in the last discussion about this that um you know when you've got too many on there, you're just going to go through here and say no, no, no. And I think this is one of those that's going to be an easy no on on these. And I'd like for some of these other ones to pass. So I'd
move that we do not put this one on the ballot. >> I'll second. >> There's a motion and a second. Barney, will you call the role? Did you? >> Okay. Um, Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes. >> Um, I'm not sure which >> I did. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, Council Member Deb
Gillis. >> Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman. >> I I'm sorry. I I heard the motion. It was changed. Um, so what does a yes mean and what does a no mean? [laughter] >> A yes would mean that we are not going
to put this on the ballot. So, okay. So, did we not change the motion originally from what's in the packet? >> Yes. Yes, >> Don changed the motion. >> Okay. So, can you read the motion?
The motion is to not have this particular item put on as a charter amendment >> to not not increase the um council salary. [clears throat] >> I wish.
>> Okay. Um I'll vote yes. >> Okay. Council member Anna Richards. >> Don made the motion. >> It doesn't matter. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we were halfway through. >> I'm sorry. >> You made the motion.
>> I made the motion. So >> Oh, you're Oh, >> Don voted. Oh, you're right. I already voted. You voted. >> It's getting late. >> It is. >> I'm voting no. >> Yeah. >> Do you have any call? So, just to clarify, cuz it's it's just I'm getting
a little hesitation here that Tab 11 um the compensation referendum will not go on the ballot. Is that correct? >> That will not go on the ballot. >> You want it there? >> Okay. >> Got it. Thank you. >> Your vote still stands.
>> Uh yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay. >> Anna, >> I vote no. >> Okay. >> Okay. And Vice Mayor Sher Mahoney? >> No. >> Okay. That motion passes 32. Thanks, Steve. >> All right, let's go to the next item 12
or tab 12. 12 is an ordinance of Alamara Village of Islands, Florida, calling for a referendum vote to be held with the general election on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026, providing for submission the electors of a proposed amendment to the village charter pertaining to council member vacancies. Providing for placement on the ballot, providing for requisite ballot language, providing for
notice of election, providing for authorization of village clerk and a village for village canvasing board, providing for severability, providing for inclusion in the charter/conformity of amendment, and providing for an effective date. >> Is there any public comment?
Yes, Tom Raphanelo. Although I believe it may be on the last item. >> Go ahead, Tom. >> I mean, it was on the last item, but again, I I would always question why you need a lawyer to read stuff that you can read and not have the clerk read it
because uh lawyers are used tangentially in any function that I've ever served on in government and I've served in the federal government. But uh I don't get it. I think you guys do it because lawyers intimidate you, but I wish you
the best. >> I don't know what that was. >> Thank you. Thank you, Tom. I I didn't understand what he >> I don't know. >> I don't know. Sounds like the objection was to me reading the title. So, the title has to be read whether it's by me or Marne. I'm I'm happy to do it. I'm I'm here. But if you want a great job,
she's got a lot on her plate with minutes. So, that's >> So, uh tab 12 is is there any more public comment? No sir. >> Okay. Is there a motion? >> And this is this is the one about the filling the vacancies once they've been elected just so we
know where we are. Yes. Right. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> Motion to approve. >> There's a motion to approve. Is there a second? >> I'll make a second. >> Okay. There's a motion in a second. Marty, will you call the role? >> Council member Anna Richards.
>> Yes. >> Council member Deb Gillis. >> Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman. Steve. >> Uh, yes. The vote. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes. >> And Mayor Don Horton. >> Yes. >> That motion passes 5-0.
>> Okay. We're off to tab 13. John. >> Yep. Last but not least, 13 is an ordinance of Alamar Village of Islands, Florida, calling for a referendum vote to be held with the general election on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2026, providing for submission to the electors of a proposed amendment to the village charter pertaining to supermajority voting. Providing for placement on the
ballot, providing for requisite ballot language, providing for notice of election, providing for authorization of village clerk and for village canvasing board, providing for severability, providing for inclusion in the charter/conformity of amendment, and providing for an effective date. >> Uh this is um this is one that we did
that there was a change made on first reading where the the um uh the lang the word acquisition was changed to purchase. Um, one thing I did notice when going through this, the the ballot question also uses the term acquisition.
The approval last time just dealt with the language in the charter. I would just ask if you would also give me direction, give us authorization to update the language in the ballot question so that it uses the the same terminology acquisition and and purchase
instead of um acquire. >> We'll make that happen. Is there any public comment? >> No, sir. >> Okay. Is there a motion to uh uh approve? Is there a motion to approve this >> with the changes also to the ballot
lang? I'll make a motion not to approve this to go on the ballot for the reason that I think there's important items and I don't think there's ever been a property purchased and we I don't think we've ever sold a property um
without a supermajority. We're already doing it. >> Well, so if we're already doing it, what does it hurt to mandate it? >> Do you? >> It doesn't. I just it's one of those things is that I don't think we need
things on the ballot that that aren't necessary. >> Okay, >> that's all. >> There's a motion on the table. Is there a second? [snorts] >> Okay, there's a motion. Is there a
second? >> Okay. Hearing no second. The motion dies. Is there another motion? A motion to approve it with John's language. >> Okay. There's a motion on the table to
amend this to where it's not acquisition, but it's purchase and to change the word acquisition on the ballot language as well. Is there a second? >> I'll second it. >> There's a motion and second. Mari, would we call the roll? >> Council member Anna Richards.
>> Yes. >> Vice Mayor Sharon Mahoney. >> Yes. >> Council member Steve Freriedman. >> Yes. Council member Deb Gillis. >> No. >> And Mayor Don Horton? >> Yes. >> That motion passes 4 to one. >> Okay, we're through with that.
Um, are there any other motions? >> I have one. >> Move to adjurnn. There's a motion to adjurnn. We're now adjourned. Thank y'all forever.