the CRA meeting to order. Before we get started, uh we need to make a vote on Okay, awesome. We need to make a on uh I guess to be technically board
member Nelson not being here to excuse. So, if we could have a motion for that. >> Did he say why he couldn't make it or >> Mayor Nelson just texted this morning that he had another meeting this evening at his church and he would be unable to make this meeting.
>> So, he just told you about it this morning. >> Yes, sir. experienced sound. All right. So, is there a motion or Yeah, >> for this meeting or for the next >> for this meeting.
>> This one for the >> This is just for the CRA meeting. >> Be here for commission. >> No, sir. But we will have to do that at the commission meeting. That's what I was just asking. He he found out just this morning that he had a meeting. >> He wasn't going to
>> He had a meeting at his church tonight. >> I don't know where the meeting's at. >> Oh. Huh. I'll I'll make a motion. Excuse the mayor. >> You make motion to what? >> Excuse the mayor from the meeting. A kind decent gesture. I will make the
motion. All right. Is there a second? >> All right, I guess uh motion dies for lack of a second. I hope I hope y'all don't do that to me if I get sick or anything. >> All right. Um moving on to public
commentary for the CRA. Mr. Walker, >> good evening. I'm glad you did that. I've been noticing that uh I either my bad hearing that you didn't excuse him from other
meetings. Um so I'm glad you're finally recognizing the fact. Okay. Um this has been brought up before. The discussion is going on on public commentary dealing with the tenure for the CRA. U this is
extension of the TRA for 10 years has been tried before many times. It's failed three times. It failed under the 7 950 acres. It failed under uh the island uh request to
go CRA and that was twice. It was refused uh because of Bay County and the mayor wouldn't accept 10% deduction. I had a meeting with a city manager and
CRA type. We discussed the extension and um what I said was and what you telling me that you'll lose $600,000. That's true. You'll lose $600,000. No.
possible. You don't know that is under impression that you get tiff from the county. The county doesn't have the right to give tiff not allowed. They give you $600,000 because of their
millage rate versus yours. That's going to change. Millage rate cannot be used as a bargaining tool. It's a variance that you can't even bond on. So, you're going to have to watch out in the future. You'll lose that $600,000
because they'll bring it down to $400,000, which is what you get tiff. It's taken us 20 years to get the tiff up to the point where we're making money. Your budget now is a million dollars in escrow for
CRA. CRA has extended itself further. It's finished its job. It's done it. state has asked to take a look at it and they're cancelling it around as best they can. They don't want to sponsor it.
It achieved its objective. It was milked of a certain amount of money every year by the main street people. We got rid of the main street people salary for the staff of the CRA. It knocks out a lot of money. you get that
back and the tiff that you supposedly get from Bay County will usually if you don't get it from them be returned to you in Bay County action to the city of Linhaven in roads and everything else that they normally would get and get the
money for tax. So take a good look at the CRA. It's finished. State recognizes it's finished. It's not going to serve its purpose. And that money, >> thank you, Mr. Walker. That's your gift will go into your tax funds and maybe be
able to pay your debt off. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> Good evening. Um, I just, uh, want to take a moment and publicly recognize one of our CRA advisory board members, uh,
Mr. Lloyd Ke. um has been a tremendous help in um working on um the pocket park at 17th Street. He offered his uh his help um by installing a trellis uh for a swing
that we had planned to to install there at the pocket park. So uh he went above and beyond and was very excited to install this uh for the city for the benefit of the residents of Linhaven. So, I I wanted to take a moment and publicly recognize him and thank him for
for his help with this. >> And if you all haven't had a chance to get over there and and see that, just ride by. It's he did a great job. >> Awesome. Thank you, Mr. Ke. Would anybody else would like to speak for public commentary?
All right, moving on to the consent agenda. Approval of the meeting minutes from September 23rd, 2025. >> Motion to approve. >> Second. Second. >> All right, we've got a motion to approve from Commissioner War and a second from
Commissioner Perno. Is there any further discussion on this? Anything from the public? All right, Mr. Lightfoot, if you'd call the RO. >> Mr. Ward, >> yes. Mr. Po, >> yes. Miss Tinder,
>> yes. >> Chairman Peoples, >> yes. Motion passed. Moving on to new business. Discussion and possible approval of the Kang Griffin Park playground equipment proposal in the amount of $194,39645.
You may recognize this this um line item. Uh we've been talking about this during our budget discussion for the CRA for this current fiscal year. Um this is for the uh purchase of the playground equipment. Um
um according to our budget for the fiscal year 2025 2026 the attached quote to the that the quote that I attached to the agenda packet is based on the source well purchasing list uh and it includes the playground
material and installation and um installing the new equipment will bring the playground uh into compliance with the ADA um standards. It's so the current equipment that we have here uh is is non-compliant and this will help
us to to get this playground equipment or this playground into compliance. >> Awesome. Uh, I also say that I'm around that park quite often and I would say it I would argue that it's probably the most used
park of all the ones we have in terms of uh playground equipment except for maybe this one right here um because of the events. But I mean we got softball over there almost every single day and family members are using it. So I think this is important. With that being said, uh is
there a motion for this? >> Motion to approve. Second. >> All right. I have a motion to approve from Commissioner War, second from Commissioner Pero. Is there any discussion from the public?
>> All right. Any further discussion from the board? Mr. Lightfield, would you call the role? >> Mr. War, >> yes. >> Mr. Pero, >> yes. >> Miss Tinder, >> yes. >> Chairman Peoples, >> yes. Motion passed. Discussion. Moving on to the fifth item.
discussion and possible action regarding the 10-year time extension of the Linhaven CRA. >> I did prepare a PowerPoint presentation uh for this agenda item can help me put this on the screen.
There you go. There you go. So I just wanted to give a brief overview over the CRA, the Linhaven CRA, the projects that we um completed that we have completed so far and the reason why I'm suggesting to
extend the lifespan of the CRA by another 10 years. Um so roughly the uh the CRA was established in 2004 and according to Florida statute, CRAAS have a lifespan of 30 years. So our sunset
date is or sunset year is 2033 um as of today. Um the area that was identified back in 2004 um encompasses about 695
acres. Um a feasibility study was uh prepared back in the early 2000s and they identified uh some conditions of slum and blight uh within that area. You have to think about storm water drainage
um or or storm water or flooding conditions um outdated water and sewer infrastructure. Um so we had a lot of deficiencies in um public infrastructure and also a lot of vacant residential
lots within the CRA. Those were some of the reasons why back in the early 2000s it was determined that um a CRA would make sense to establish a CRA would make sense in English. Based on this feasibility study, a CRA
plan was uh prepared basically a game plan. How can we m make some improvements to um get rid of these conditions of slum and blight. Um the CRA plan really identifies the
projects the projects that were recommended and this is really my those are my guidelines in terms of when whenever I have to come up with uh some project ideas how to improve the downtown area. I'm I'm using the CRA
plan uh almost on a weekly basis to to see does it really improve slum and blood conditions here in our community? Am I spending the money in the way it's supposed to be? Um, at the end of the day, the goal um
of our CRA is to improve its taxable value. Um, that that's the overall goal. Um, and how do we do this? It's funded through tax increment financing. So, we're we're building sidewalks. We're
updating um um old sewer lines, water lines within the CRA. We're going after some grant money that will help us with that. So, those are the the kind of um action items we've been working on over the last um couple of years.
So far, um this is kind of a a rough list of the a list of the projects that that we have completed um as of today um within the CRA. We started in the early 2000s with a design standards um and uh
started to offer different incentives within the CRA to encourage people to spend some money um within the CRA to improve the appearance of the CRA but also to help with to support the to
support infill housing within that corridor. Um, we made some improvements to Sheffield Park. Uh, we came up with the master plan for the park. We built the stage. Um, uh, did other improvements throughout the park. Um, I'm estimating
that we're we built approxim approximately 5 miles of sidewalks within the CRA. So, um, I see the results, the benefits of deploying these sidewalks on a daily basis. people love
to use them uh to get outdoors. Um and um we've been we developed a plan so we're not just randomly building some sidewalks. There's really a purpose behind it. We're really connecting um existing
sidewalk segments with each other and finding the and and also trying to find the connection to public places such as city hall, um Linhaven Elementary School, um the different parks that we have within the CRA.
We also worked on a master plan for Kane Griffin Park. uh actually started um the renovation of Kane Griffin Park in 2016 2017, so right right before Hurricane Michael. And then um the face of that
park kind of changed after uh the storm because we kind of had to um it was completely destroyed and we had to rebuild it from from from the bottom up. Um we successfully completed the rails to
trails project. This is uh in a in the southern portion of um of the CRA. Uh it was all rails to trails was also mentioned within uh is also mentioned in the CRA plan. So even in the early 2000s it was brought up that this should be a
project the CRA should spend should be spending some money on. Uh we completed the pocket park at 17th Street. I just mentioned it um a few minutes ago. Um, and also we uh we went after some grant
money and were able to secure some funding under the community development block grant um for improvements on Florida Avenue in Ohio Avenue as well as um utility infrastructure improvements
around the west west 10th Street corridor. Um the cyborg construction um that is uh scheduled to start in early 2026 is will
be funded through with FDOT funds. That's another $1.3 million grant that um we uh were able to secure. Uh and then also another $500,000 um under the safe routes to school
program for Linhaven Elementary Schools or for the sidewalk infrastructure around Linhaven Elementary School. So this is an outline of the the CRA values um the the tax the taxable value
of all the properties within the CRA. If you look at the blue line on the bottom, that was the projected value or the projected increase uh back in 2003 2004 whenever they did the study. They said
Linhaven if you make Linhaven CRA if you do all these improvements your taxable value of the CRA will gradually increase on average um at about 3% per year. um the the blue uh line with the red
dots, this is the actual value, the actual numbers. Um so you can you can see in the beginning it really took off but really in the in the early in the late 2000s um
it really took off because the entire real estate market took off. We if you recall in in 2007208 we had that real estate bubble and you can clearly see this on the graph whenever the bubble burst in 2007
um we actually lost some values and it um and we it took us several years to recover from this and then of course in 2018 if you look at this number I can
right here Um that was the moment when this those this is the impact of Hurricane Michael. We we lost several homes here in our community which means that this taxable value of those homes
that were destroyed was taking off the tax role. Um of course the residents have been rebuilding since then and um our values um are finally starting to to go up again.
The problem is we've basically our the financing has been delayed and so we're a little bit behind the curve and projects that I talked about earlier,
those were fairly small projects. We still have some projects in the pipeline that we didn't focus on on purpose because they're so expensive. So, the improvements on Florida and Ohio Avenue will cost us several million dollars.
Um, the extension of rails to trails to the north will be expensive. So, I'm I'm calling it the gap. Um, I thought the extension of Rails for Trails was going to be paid by Marina LLC when they when they build the road.
That's the promise they gave us. Yes. Um many years ago. And I >> But we don't approve their stuff until we hold them to the fire on that. That's That's what we've been negotiating the whole time. >> I wouldn't I wouldn't be I wouldn't be
iffy about it. >> That would require them to start building though. They haven't started yet. >> So So I went a little bit ahead um um in regards to the presentation here. I I
guess this these are the areas that I wanted to outline. This is the impacts of the the real estate burst bubble burst in in the in 2009 2010. We had hurricane Michael in 2018 and then
actually COVID was another um event uh that that put for a short period of time some some investments on hold or at least because people didn't know exactly were uncertain in which direction all this would go. So they they were holding
off on on some significant real estate investments. So at the end of the day, these um setbacks that we financial setbacks that we experienced over the last uh couple of years um
are um they created a kind of a a financial gap for the CRA and that's the reason um why I'm suggesting to extend the CRA by another 10 years that so that this will allow us to to secure some funding to extend the improvements on
Ohio Avenue all the way down to 17th Street, all the way up to Third Street. Um to make some more improvements on Florida Avenue. So, we talked about improvements Florida and Ohio Avenue, Highway 390,
um potentially rail trails to the north extension, and Commissioner Per, you're correct. We we talked to Marina Island about this that they they said they would um uh they would pay for the engineering and the construction of that. >> We circumvented the whole project for
them. They we were going to start the project at the on on that side, but we went ahead and did it from 231 on. So they they said leave it alone so they can so they can come in and build the road and then they would build they would finish the rails. >> That's correct.
>> We have to remember that. Those of us that might come off the commission and you people in the audience remember that too. >> So um other projects would include the improvement of um our storm water
drainage network, construction of a regional storm water system. We've been talking we've been discussing a a a potential site for this along the 11th Street corridor and uh this would be a tremendous benefit for us so um that we
can provide some storm water treatment for commercial properties along Florida Avenue. Um so in summary, there are still several major projects in the pipeline. Um and the extension of the
CRA lifespan by another 10 years would uh give us the required funding to complete these projects. With that, I'd be happy to answer any question you might have. >> Sir, you said the extension for 10
years. What what what would the the anticipated sunset is 2033? What would the anticipated sunset be if there was an extension? >> 43. >> So it would be 43. It would be >> So it's a 10-year extension from the sunset, not from today.
>> Correct. That is correct. >> Okay. >> I know one of the questions I asked was why are we starting this early? From what I understand, it it takes quite a long time for something like this to get approved and you have to start early otherwise you'll you'll miss it. So So
basically we got to go through a bunch of hoops to get it approved first through all the other hands that are involved. Okay, I understand. That was kind of my question. I didn't really understand why, but makes sense to me. Uh, I just wanted to say, Ben, that uh
when you started on the soldiers park or whatever you call it. >> Um, I was like, "Oh man, what are we going to do here? We're going to dig it up and >> Well, I got to tell you, it looks very
nice. It turned out very well. And I actually have a family that comes from Indiana or somewhere up north and they vacation through here just to go to that park just to see and and they'll be in this year too. I'll see them this
summer. I can't wait to hear what they say about all those improvements. >> Thank you. >> So, and I also appreciated the fact that um you were uh cognizant of the benches. >> I was concerned that we would have the homeless sleeping out there. So, I'm
glad you took care of that, too, unless they curl up really tight. But, yeah, thank you. >> I want to take a moment and really take a step back and look at the big picture. Um, and
you know, I started working for the city as a CRA director in 2009, and it really took us many years to as a CRA to get to a point financially where we can afford to spend half a
million dollars on a project. the first couple of years the CRA simply didn't um the tax revenue the the tax increment wasn't that much. So on purpose we focused on some smaller projects in the beginning.
Now we're at a point where we can actually focus on some larger projects um that that are still mentioned in the CRA plan. So we don't want to change anything on the CRA plan with the exception of that time frame. All right. Are there any further questions?
Is there a motion for this? >> Motion to approve. Second. >> We would need basically it's a motion to recommend the tenure extension to the city commission and then we'll send notices out and come back December 9th for a hearing. [Music] >> Okay. Thank you. All
right. I have a motion from uh Mr. Warick, second by Mr. Pero. Any further discussion from the public? Mr. Walker, you um you heard what I said at the
beginning back in 2000 when we sat with the man that given us the outline uh for the CRA. He promised things never kept. 90 80 to 90% of what you saw up on that
board have been a failure. Again, 90 80 to 90%. They came out with the original design that said in 2000 that it was for slman blight. Everybody looked around and said
about what's brand new building here. There was none. Then you had entered into this program to do it. First CRA director was taken from the dog catcher. He was a dog catcher.
Second one was the same dog catcher because he wasn't qualified to be the first CRA director. Third one wasn't even an American. Now what you're seeing is what you get.
They're asking you to extend this for the 10 years. The state is saying, "No, it's over. Done it. All the things that you did up there were destroyed. Hurricane.
So guess what? You're right back where you started and all that money was wasted. Do it again. If you extend it, you're going to get what you spoke for. First CRA director,
second CRA director, and maybe the third lackey of the scene city manager. He told him what to do and he did it. He used the money that was in the CRA to do projects he could not get through you on the C commissioners.
That's what he did. That's why it took so long. Storm water is a good example. CRA created in their zone a catastrophic damage to CRA area by passing a law that
says you can now put two lots on a corner lot rather two houses rather than one water from there and they raised that up six feet and into the houses that were
in the original CRA 2000. That hurt. It hurts still to this day. Think twice, maybe three times about this one. >> Any further comments?
>> Protemp. >> I'd like to ask Pat um what you were saying before because I couldn't hear you about the fuel depot project >> or not. Yeah, really stand up there. Yeah, >> Mr. Jenkee was speaking of the um rails
for trails north of 390 and he was mentioning that that's still a project in in you know in limbo in the future but we were assured in the negotiations with um Marina Island on
their end they said please um leave leave the rails for trails you know unbuilt from north of 390 because we need to We have the e they have the easement rights as well to the the road easement. They want to build a road into Marine Island from 390. And when they
build that road, they will they will um they said they will complete the engineering and construction of the rails for trails. So, I just wanted to make sure that that we all remember that because the way Ben was speaking is it's it's up in the air, but you know, we he
he's being a little pragmatic, but those people came to us and said that they would do the engineering and construction on the rails for trails as they built the road into that project or that that development. So, >> and do we have that in writing? >> Well, we have a development agreement
with them. So, uh, uh, when they go to do development orders, we we just got to be able to hang stuff on them, you know, that let's not let's be elephants. Let's not forget people. >> Thank you.
>> All right. Any further discussion? We've got a motion on the floor uh with a motion to approve from Mr. War in a second from Mr. Pero. Mr. Lightwood, would you call the role?
>> Mr. War. >> Yes. >> Mr. Po, >> yes. >> Miss Tender, >> yes. >> Chairman Peoples, >> yes. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned. That's