there uh the development comes through and so developers want to know how much they can budget for. So sometimes I put through proposed estimates to help them with that and the bulk of it is is making sure that the fees are in the
system as fast as possible. I love the free decor that I experience just how everybody team work together. I uh enjoy knowing that I'm can make a difference for the city. One position can have a positive impact. Oh, good. Oh, I love it.
City. I like the 500 way off. Yeah. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport. and we're going to talk about why it's important to have a go kit and what should go inside of it. It's important to have a go bag because if
you wait last minute to pack, there are definitely going to be items that you are going to forget in the scramble to get everything put together. So, it's important to have your documents such as IDs, insurance paperwork, titles for your home and your vehicles and your
boats just so that if your home does flood or your roof blows off, all those documents are with you and they're safe because you don't want to end up losing those and having to try to replace those later on. Also, in your go bag, you should think about what medications you might need to have ahead of time. under
a state of emergency, you are able to refill your prescriptions ahead of time, even if they're not due yet. So, it's important to do that. Also, in your go bags, you should have non-p perishable food, flashlight, batteries, a radio that is battery powered and extra
batteries. Should all power go out, we will be able to broadcast on 97.5 FM anything uh any emergency information. So, be sure to have your battery powered radio ready and tuned in to 97 points.
There are rules. Yeah, we'll figure it out. I mean, it's very important. Right. Right. We believe that the natural resources department will be an integral part for
the city's growth as we want to achieve a more balanced approach of development in the future. What we really want to do is see sensible development, sustainable development, a development that is um in line with what we already have here. So
we want to preserve as much as we can of the natural resources. So there is still place for our natural species, our our migrating birds and all the other species that live um and survive in our habitat. Natural systems
are a big part of the ways ecosystems function. An important part for our community, our listed species. They stabilize the soil. They provide so many different benefits including shade,
limiting the heat island effect within our city, providing habitat, providing shelter for these species and just uh also for our aesthetic enjoyments. As an arborist, uh a lot of what I do is
making sure that development conforms to the tree protection code. So, one thing we already have in place since April of 2022 is a tree protection code which is quite robust in the city of Northport that was adopted by commission and the city
through also a lot of community involvement. And so, we're very happy to have that tree protection code. So, what I a lot of what I do is making sure that development either residential or commercial conforms to that code. We are such a passionate team. We come from varied backgrounds. I think between
us we have over 100 years of experience and we are every day raring to go and we know our work is cut out here and we're happy to uh take the challenge through the division community involvement and leadership with the
city. We really hope to make great strides in protecting what we have here and finding that balance with development and environmental stewardship. I am excited to be a part of this team and I'm really seeking and
looking forward to the opportunities for us to be able to make a difference. I started with Charlotte County Utilities as a meter reader in 2004. So that's kind of where I got my foot in the door. Then once I reached a point in my life where things were more stable, I
decided to leave Charlotte County Utilities and I went and got my insurance license. It was very exciting doing that for a short period of time. But after a while, I started thinking about the utility. It was in my heart at this point. I had almost 12 just two
months shy of 12 years in. And so I realized during that time my heart was in utilities. And so I started looking around again. I seen an opening here to be a CN D tech. So I applied and I got in. Typically I get here at 7 in the
morning. I get my list of, you know, if I can get to this, this is what I need to do. And I get in my truck. If if I need any supplies, parts, tools based off of the work I was given that morning, I'll pick that up here at our shop. And then I head out and um my goal
for the day is just to get as much work as that was assigned to me done as possible. And sometimes that happens and other times there's a lot of first response calls that come in. My favorite part is the uniqueness. It's um not knowing what I'm going to be faced with every day. It could be different. It's
not mundane in any way. And it's exciting when you get a call and you're Good afternoon everybody. Today's Tuesday, July 8th, 2025. It's 400 pm. We're in city chambers and I call the uh
room drainage district meeting to order. Commissions present are Commissioner Dval, Commissioner Langden, Mayor Stokes, Vice Mayor Emerich, Commissioner Pro Squor present for the meeting. Uh, also present, city manager Fletcher, assistant uh, city attorney Coughlin,
uh, city clerk FA, board specialist Gray, and Deputy Chief Morales doing double duty for Fire Chief Titus. Um Trish, you want to lead us if you would be so kind 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. All righty. We're looking for a motion to approve the agenda.
Second. Got a motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden to approve the agenda. Let's vote. And that passes 520. City clerk, any public comments? Moving on to public hearings. Uh,
resolution 2025-R41. City clerk, if you'd be kind enough to read by title only. Resolution number 2025-R41, a resolution of the city commission of the city of Northport, Florida, as the governing body of the Northport Road and
Drainage District, authorizing the purchase of real property located on Zuber Lane and described as lot 36, block 332, fifth edition to Port Charlotte subdivision. Sarasota County Property Appraiser parcel identification number 0987033236 incorporating recital providing for
filing of documents providing for conflicts providing for severability and providing an effective date. Thank you very much city manager your item. Thank you Mr. Mayor. The department of public works is seeking to purchase property located on Zuber Lane currently
owned by Charles and Marie Gaspert. This property acquisition will provide access to retention ditch uh 160 and allow permanent access for future maintenance and rehabilitation of the stormwater conveyance system. We ask that you
approve resolution number 2025-R41 and we're happy to answer any questions you may have. Thank you very much. Commissioners, anything to this item? Commissioner Duval? Yes. Uh
price of this is what I what I looked at. 385. Um I did go to the property appraiser site and I looked up all the empty properties on that street,
you know, see if maybe there was a cheaper option. Um, unfortunately, a good share of these properties were bought during 2004 and 2005 when
the prices were up there. Some of these people paid 57 and $59,000 for these properties. Um, that's what they were going for back then. Um, you know, I looked at this, I said, gee, this evaluation at this current time of
385 seems a little high where you look at the property appraisers just evaluation of 18.1. Um, but it's what's available, who wants to sell, and unfortunately, you know, there's a lot
of people that aren't going to sell at that big a loss when they pay, you know, a higher price for these pieces of property. So, um, I'm hoping that, um, staff did
look at some of the other properties on the street. I I presume that the access needed is for uh mowing along the ditch. Um and I'm hoping that staff did look and
you know maybe investigate the possibility of you know buying one cheaper. Sorry about that folks. U looks like I'm going to get some answering here.
Hello, Anthony Freriedman, city engineer. So, we work with a property acquisition company that reaches out to all of the properties along the Ardich that we're looking to have access for. Um, of those, we only get some certain number of responses back and this is one
of them that we did have a response back for. Um, it's also worth noting the lot is a little bit larger than average. Um, which is why the price is a little bit higher, but unfortunately this is the only one that was willing to sell at the time. Thank you.
All right. Anything else? No. Thank you, Mayor Petro. Just a quick question. How do you go about determining the price? Who who gives the price first? So, we uh we receive appraisals for all
of the lots, but then it is a negotiation with the owner. Um so, it's ultimately the lowest price that is agreed upon by both parties. Um but we do base it on the appraisal of the lot value. And before the negotiation, who
does initiate the appraisal process and who pays for the appraisal? Um, the city is the one that reaches out to the other owner. In this case, like the lots are not listed for sale. We reach out to the owners to see if
they're interested in making the sale. Just wanting to figure out the the process. So once the owner uh answers you back, you initiate the appraisal and then negotiation starts. Correct. Yes. Okay, that's all. Thank you.
There is nothing else to this. Uh any public comment and then I am closing this public hearing. Requesting a motion. I'll make it. Mayor, I move to adopt resolution number 2025-R1 as presented. We've got a motion by
Commissioner Langen, seconded by the vice mayor to adopt resolution 2025-R41 as presented. There's nothing more to it. Let us vote. And that passes 520.
Moving on to resolution 2025-R2. City clerk, if you read it by title only, please. Resolution number 2025-R42, a resolution of the city commission of the city of Northport, Florida, as the governing body of the Northport Road and Drainage District, authorizing the purchase of real property located on
Ratcliffe Avenue, described as lot 16, block 295, First Edition of Port Charlotte subdivision, identified as parcel identification number 098929516, incorporating recital, providing for filing of documents, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, and providing an effective date. Thank
you, ma'am. City manager, your item. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, this property acquisition will provide access to retention ditch number 150 and allow permanent access for future maintenance and rehabilitation of the stormwater conveyance system. An appraisal report
was completed on April 14th, 2025, and listed the property value at $28,500. Public Works has worked with the Maran Acquisition Group LLC to purchase this property and an agreement has been reached by the seller to sell the property to the Northport Road and
Drainage District for $30,000. Uh we ask that you approve resolution number 2025-R2 as presented. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, commissioners. Anything to this one?
Going once, twice, three times. Any public comment? Then I'm closing this public hearing and looking for a motion. Move to adopt resolution number 2025-R42 as presented.
Got a motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Dval to adopt resolution 2025-R2 as presented. Uh there's nothing more to it. Let's vote. And that passes 520.
Moving on to resolution 2025-R47. City clerk, you're up. Resolution number 2025-R47, a resolution of the city commission of the city of Northport, Florida as the governing body of the Northport Road and Drainage District, amending the Northport Road and Drainage District
budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 for decrease in district funds for Price Boulevard widening project R15PW1 in the amount of 6,481,789. Providing for findings, providing for posting, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, and
providing an effective date. Thank you, city manager. Your item. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Public Works is requesting a budget amendment to transport 6,481,789 from the road and drainage district funds, specifically from Price Boulevard
widening phase one to the available fund balance in the road and drainage district fund account. The goal of this process is to replace the less restrictive district funds currently allocated to the project with more restrictive transportation impact fee funds. We're happy to answer
any questions you might have. Thank you very much. Commissioners, anybody got a question on this one? Commissioner, you didn't get up there, but I thought about it. Nothing. Okay, everybody good?
Metro. Thank you, Mayor. City Manager, can you clarify this that we taking to be less restrictive? Will does this mean that in the future we'll need it to be added again later on
for the project for the price project? No. So you have a item that's connected to this one that will be on your regular meeting regarding the transportation side of this equation but the funds that are being moved are going to be helpful
in another project later because you'll have more flexibility due as you increase the road and drainage um fund balance itself. So part of the situation that's being handled here is for us to meet the requirement for the minimum amount of the policy from where we had
to restore it from hurricane Ian and that deadline is here and this will help meet that deadline but it will give you a greater flexibility in the future for road and drainage project use. Okay. Thank you. The reason I asked this for the public with the recent rain and stuff they they might say oh they taking
away the money and then they're going to ask for more money. So that was fairly good explanation. Appreciate it. Thank you. Anything else? Any public comment? All right. Closing public hearing and
looking for a motion. I'll make it. I move to adopt resolution number 2025-R7 as presented. Second. Got a motion by Commissioner Dval, seconded by Commissioner Langden to adopt resolution 2025-R7
as presented. Let's vote. And that passes 520. Uh any general public comments? Well, then I'd say it's 4:13 and I'm
adjourning this road and drainage district meeting. You're on your way and you don't know what it is and you you have the experience and the knowhow and the backing to face whatever it's going to be. So, I feel very confident in facing these calls and I think that's my
favorite part. Hello, my name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics facilities manager with the city of Northport. And today we're going to be talking with you guys about our free swim evaluation. It's important that we do these swim evaluations so as uh kids are registering for swim programs, they get placed in the right
class. What we're looking at when we're doing the swim evaluation is every swim level has what's called exit skill assessments. So, what we do is we have your child get in the water and we'll go through a series of different movements. Can you go under the water? Uh, can you show us your front crawl? Can you show us back crawl? Can you show us
elementary backstroke? Different strokes within there. And what we're doing is we're trying to see where your child tests to before it becomes a challenge for them at that point. Once we assess that, then we'll let you know and you can go ahead and sign your child up for that appropriate level there. It's important that we have these so that way
when we're teaching a level one, we don't have kids that should be potentially in a level two and a level one class because they're not learning the appropriate skills that they need at that point in time. Right now, uh when we're in full summer operations, uh we ask that people come between 8 and 10 to do the swim evaluations just as you can
hear the water splashing in the background, slides and everything like that. But any day of the week, uh that we're open, you can come in at any point in time and ask for a swim evaluation. We always have a certified swim instructor on site that can uh have your child take a swim assessment. Franklowway's manager. I am here today
with Mario Van Diddi. Mario, tell people here how long you've been doing this job. I've been here five years. Five years. Excellent. Excellent. So, Mario, tell people what it entails, what you do. I'm a planner scheduler for solid waste the city and um I go around and I I
greet the new residents and I educate them on the recycle. Excellent. Sounds interesting. Very good. Y So, Mario, what do you find inside the recycling bins that shouldn't be there? So, let's try to tell the people how to recycle, right? Well, the most common thing I find, Frank, is plastic bags. Okay.
So, the plastic bags are not recyclable. I find them just tossed in the container or they bag the recycle with them. And they should This is inside the blue lid container. That's right. Inside the blue lid containers. Correct. And they should be either taken back to the grocery store or tossed in the trash. Very good. Do you see a lot of recycling
inside the containers? Uh I do. I come across a lot of that. Okay. We don't want to do that. So, okay. So, if you have any questions, you can always look at our website ww.northportf.gov/ /solidwaste. Welcome to the brand new Northport
Podcast Network. We're so excited to introduce you to our revamped lineup of shows created to keep you connected, informed, and inspired about everything happening in our city. That's right. With three unique shows under one network, there's something for everyone. First up is Northport. Now
Madison and I will rotate hosting this fast-paced news-driven podcast to bring you the latest city updates, event previews, and important information all in one quick listen. Think of it as your weekly guide to staying in the know about what's happening in Northport.
Next, we have Northport Stories. Laura and I will share heartfelt and inspiring tales from around our community. Stories that showcase the people, places, and moments that make our city special. And don't worry, Voices of Northport isn't going anywhere. I'll continue bringing you even more personal stories and
interviews with residents who shaped our city. And last but not least, Northport Living. Cody and I will also rotate hosting this show, which is all about tips, events, and lifestyle ideas to help you make the most of life right here in Northport. Whether you're
looking for family-friendly activities, ways to get involved, or helpful home and garden tips, Northport Living has you covered. With breaking news, heartfelt stories, or practical tips, the Northport Podcast Network is your go-to source for all things Northport.
Make sure to subscribe to the Northport Podcast Network wherever you listen and join us as we celebrate and connect with our amazing community. Northport Now will be released bi-weekly. Northport Stories and Living will be monthly. A schedule will be available on
social media and our website. Hello everyone, Devon Pulis here, aquatics manager. Welcome to my crib. We have fun here at the crib. Programs included. Become a pass member. Play all year long. Payer at the crib. We do have
rules. We take all payments here at the crib. Apple Pay, Mastercard, Visa, cash. You pay right here to enjoy the crib. So, enter through the gate. Childp proof, most adult proof.
Shade. What's that? Our newly installed sun shade available for rent all season long. Here at my crib, you don't have to worry about a place to find a seat. We've added more chairs than ever here at the crib. If you're coming to enjoy the
cribs and you got little ones, we got the perfect area for them. Our Pelican playground, newly painted, fresh floor, fresh palm tree. It's looking clean. Looking for a place to work your upper body? Take a shot at here at our
Stingray shuffle. Looking to relax? I got you covered here with our lazy river. Living more on the adventurous side. Check out the slides right behind me. Newly painted. All offer something
individual and unique. Check it out. Check out the main pool kept at a wonderful 84° all year long. I just want you to have a good time. We have safety covered. Lifeguards here,
staff all day, every day when we're open for you to enjoy. Concession is open. Pizza, pretzels, nachos, ice cream. We got it all. My crib is your crib. Looking forward to
seeing you here. Duty calls. I'm Stacy Losio. I am the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport and I'm going to be talking about having an evacuation plan. It's important to have an evacuation plan ahead of time. And it's very important
to write it down because that way you can have it somewhere present where everybody in your family can see it and keep it fresh in their minds. And you want to also share it with people in your family or your neighbors so that they know what your plans are ahead of time and how to get a hold of you or where to look for you after a disaster.
for your evacuation plans. Uh you should have multiple routes to get to the location you're planning to go to just because traffic-wise traffic on 75 might be gridlocked. There could be some very good back roads to get to where you're going uh that could get you there more
quickly without being stuck in traffic. When you're making an evacuation plan, we usually tell you four different things. You should stay home if you are not in a zone that's being evacuated and if your home is built to withstand the forecasted storm. If you can't stay home
uh and you evacuate, your next option should be to go to a friend or family's home that is outside of the evacuation area and is structurally sound to withstand the storm. Third option would be go to a hotel. They're much more comfortable than our evacuation centers. Fourth option would be to go to one of
our evacuation centers. Sarasota County has 12 evacuation centers. Those can be found on their website. I'm Stacy Loio. I'm the emergency manager for the city of report and I'm going to discuss first responders after the storm. So, it may take a while for
first responders to get to after the storm and that's due to a variety of reasons. One being we pull first responders off the roads when tropical storm force winds are sustained for their safety. That is a standard usually across the state and other states that have hurricanes as well. So, we will
have a backlog of calls that have come in during the storm that we will prioritize based on urgency and they'll be responding to those as well as the calls that are currently coming in if they're urgent as well. Also, the roads might be flooded. There might be debris in the roads. Our tactical first in
teams will be going out right away to clear the roads of any hazards so that our vehicles can get through and respond as quickly as possible. Just keep that in mind when you call after a disaster for assistance. We are coming You are very important to us. We care about our residents and their safety, but it may
just take a while for us to get to you depending on the conditions of the roads. Hello everyone, my name is Mario Van Diddi. I am the planner scheduler for the city of Northport solid waste. I got into this position um first I was a recycle driver for 5 years for the city
of Northport and then I became the planner scheduler after taking an interest in educating the residents on how to recycle properly. In my position, my day-to-day, usually I start out by visiting the new residents that schedule
garbage and recycle containers to be delivered and I will go see them and educate them on our solid waste guidelines. More or less, I'm more focused on the recycle part of it. After that, I will drive around the city and I actually inspect recycle containers
manually for contamination. And then I will take calls from drivers if there's any issues with uh repeat garbage in the recycle and I will go educate those people as well. What I love most about the city of Northport is their residents are from all over the
world and I get to learn about the solid waste guidelines where they come from as well as educate them on the city of Northport solid waste guidelines and how to recycle properly. I decided to become a firefighter. I used to work in uh hospitality and group
sales and I had always had friends that were firefighters and I decided one day that I wanted to change my job and serve people. So I went ahead and went through EMT and paramedic program went to fire
academy and then I saw Northport were hiring and I really liked what they had on their between their ISO rating and their beliefs and values and everything. So I applied they gave me an opportunity. Every day is different but
for the most part we start off the same. We'll uh get our gear onto the apparatus and um make sure everything's operational like our air pack. Then we also check the inventory. Uh make sure we have all our medical equipment. Um
everything's operational. Um that way we can respond to any emergency so we're always stocked and ready to go. I think the best part is that everyone's passionate about their job. So they come to work and they're ready to train and uh take care of each other and and teach each other. So everyone's sharp and on
their agame, so it makes the job fun. And I just look forward to coming to work. Yeah. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport. And I'm going to tell you the difference between flood zones and evacuation zones or in Sarasota County
we call them evacuation levels. So flood zones were generated by FEMA and they're used to determine the likelihood that you will flood and they're used to determine if you need flood insurance if you have a mortgage on your home. Now, the evacuation zones are based on storm
surge data that comes from the National Hurricane Center and they use topography as well as hurricane vulnerability for storm surge for the area and we use those to determine who needs to evacuate during a storm. So, it's important to understand that there is a difference. If you're interested in finding out what
evacuation zone you are in, which we highly recommend you do, uh you can use your search engine of choice and type in Sarasota County Know Your Level and that'll take you to the Sarasota County government website. Frank Lamas always manager of city of Northport. Uh here today with Mario
Vindetti, planner schedule for the city of Northport solid waste division. We're going to talk about bulk pickups today. Uh how to schedule bulk pickups, what should go out and what should not go out to the curb, where to place the items, and then what happens if you have more than what's allotted for you for the
year for a bulk pickup. So Mario, I know we call 941-24850. Talk to our customer service reps. That's correct. About how to schedule a bulk pickup. How else can we do that? Can also go on our website, northportfl.gov, click on solid waste, and fill out a bulk request form.
Excellent. Excellent. So Mario, what about uh if a person wants to place it out? What should they place out? What's the right thing? What's the wrong thing? Basically, Frank, anything that doesn't fit in the container that's garbage is going to go curbside. We're going to stay off driveways. What's not accepted
is tires, chemicals, stuff like that. You can put yard waste out. That's considered bulk, but just make sure it's separate from the garbage pile. Yard waste is a separate pickup. So, what happens if I use all my bulk pickups, right? Good question. So, you can have more,
but you just have to pay. It's going to be$,650 a cubic yard, and that's length time width time height divided by 27 is 1 cubic yard. Any questions, of course. Let us know. Give us a call. 941-24850. Water in a swale that's kind of the
ditch by your house is not flooding. within a after a storm event, water should be in that soil up to 72 hours after the storm. That allows the water to be filtered to get the stuff that came off our roofs and off the road out
of the water so that when it reaches the habitat, it no longer has those contaminants in it. It also provides an opportunity to slow down water so that the water doesn't go so fast that it erodess um the roadways or any other infrastructure. So when you see water in
a soil, if it's only been, you know, up to 72 hours since the last rain, that is not flooding. That is doing its job. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency manager for the city of Northport. And today we're going to discuss storm surge and flooding and how both of those
affect Northport during a hurricane. So storm surge is when strong sustained winds are constantly blowing over a long period of time over the Gulf and pushing water up onto shore. So when that happens, there is a lot of flooding along and beach erosion along the
beaches and the homes inland. However, the storm surge can also push water up the river. So it could push storm surge up the Maka River for instance from the Gulf and then the water coming downstream from the river has nowhere to go. that can cause water to back up along the rivers and cause flooding.
That along with a lot of rain that comes from these hurricanes can also cause an increase of water flooding into the rivers and into our water management systems causing flooding as well. Public works does a lot of work before the storm to make sure that our water levels are as low as possible so we can handle
additional storm surge and flooding in our water systems. If you want additional information about that, we have a great video about our water control structures and you can visit the public works as a full class TRX. X boot camp is a new class for me. Although I've been using TRX for many years uh with
personal training that I do or in other style classes that I've done, but an actual focus with just TRX, this is a new class for me. I love the camaraderie. I have to say uh with all the participants, I think we have a lot of fun. First of all, everyone gets to use the
bands, the TRX bands of course. And being that we have five stations. So when we have overflow or more than five people, part of the people are on the band, the other people are doing floor work, and then we'll switch. So everybody gets an opportunity to be in all stations. Just come in, have fun
with it, make it your own. It's not scary. It doesn't have to be intimidating at all. You're using your body weight. You're using the angles that you choose to use on the bands. And it just varies with how you're comfortable and how you're feeling when you're here.
Hello everyone. My name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics manager within our parks and recreation department. We're here today at the Northport Aquatic Center just to talk to everyone about our float for life program. We recognize that nationally unintentional drowning is the leading cause of death for children that are under the age of four.
So we have an awesome program here called Float for Life. Float for Life is a program that we teach that starts with the fundamentals of floating before we actually learn swimming. This program is targeted for those children ages 6 months to four. And what we want them to
do is we want them to get comfortable in the water. and if they accidentally fall in the water or find themselves in a trouble situation, they can roll over their back and float. When we launched this program, uh we were the only one in the state that was actually teaching this milestone program. So, want to give
a shout out to our Northport Rotary as well who sponsored this program here at the aquatic center and actually paid for a trainer to come in all the way from Nebraska where this program originates there. We practice and we go through what's called milestones here. So, as soon as the kids progress through the milestones, we can continue moving on
through them. And at the end of it, it's a pretty awesome program when they graduate. It's one of the final things that they do is they jump in fully clothed and they have to turn over, roll over on their back, and actually be able to scream for help at that point in time. It's just an awesome segment
program that leads right into our learn to swim program. So that way we can make sure we're keeping our kids safe in, on, and around the water. They're trying to get Oh my gosh, this is going to be great. So, I always get very excited when
anybody asks me about my job and where I work and what I do. It's not a secret that I love working for the city of Northport. I worked for Charlotte County and I felt that I needed to do something different and I wanted something more and I wanted to offer my skills. So I
told my friend I'm don't know what to do and I was thinking about my next steps and she said Maria did you think about applying to a job at the city of Northport? They have a different vibe here and she says I'd love it and I said oh I didn't think about that. So, I applied and I started my first position
in a planning and zoning in our development services department. I'm partnered with the building department because my my the fees are assessed off of the building permits and it's strictly for new construction, new
development. And uh the first thing I do is to check the spreadsheet to look at the permits and determine which ones need me to estimate their impact fees. And that's where I start with that. Then I go to numbers that I have to put
together and I put together the invoices for our developers. Oftentimes I'll get phone calls to give quotes before their um the development comes through and so developers want to know how much they can budget for. So sometimes I put
through proposed estimates to help them with that. And the bulk of it is is making sure that the fees are in the system as fast as possible. I love the aspree decor that I experience. Just how everybody team worked together. I uh
enjoy knowing that I'm can make a difference for the city and that my position can have a positive impact in for our city. Oh, you're swimming in the pool. Don't. I'm Stacy Losio. I am the emergency
management coordinator for the city of Northport. And we're going to talk about why it's important to have a go kit and what should go inside of it. It's important to have a go bag because if you wait last minute to pack, there are definitely going to be items that you are going to forget in the scramble to get everything put together. So, it's
important to have your documents such as IDs, insurance paperwork, titles for your home and your vehicles and your boats just so that if your home does flood or your roof blows off, all those documents are with you and they're safe because you don't want to end up losing
those and having to try to replace those later on. Also, in your go bag, you should think about what medications you might need to have ahead of time. If we're under a state of emergency, you are able to refill your prescriptions ahead of time, even if they're not due yet. So, it's important to do that.
Also, in your go bags, you should have non-p perishable food, flashlight, batteries, a radio that is battery powered, and extra batteries. Should all power go out, we will be able to broadcast on 97.5 FM anything uh any
emergency information. So, be sure to have your battery powered radio ready and tuned in to 97.5. We believe that the natural resources department will be an integral part for the city's growth as we want to achieve
a more balanced approach of development. ment in the future. What we really want to do is see sensible development, sustainable development and development that is um in line with what we already have here. So we want to preserve as much as we can
of the uh natural resources. So there is still place for our natural species, our our migrating birds and all the other species that live um and survive in our habitat. Natural systems are a big part
of the ways ecosystems function. An important part for our community, our listed species. They stabilize the soil. They provide so many different benefits including shade, limiting the heat
island effect within our city, providing habitat, providing shelter for these species and just uh also for our aesthetic enjoyments. Well, as an arborist, uh a lot of what I do is
making sure that development conforms to the tree protection code. So, one thing we already have in place since April of 2022 is a tree protection code which is quite robust in the city of Northport that was adopted by commission and the city
through also a lot of community involvement. And so, we're very happy to have that tree protection code. So, what I a lot of what I do is making sure that development either residential or commercial conforms to that code. We are such a passionate team. We come from varied backgrounds. Uh I think
between us we have over a 100red years of experience and we are every day raring to go and you know we know our work is cut out here and we're happy to uh take the challenge through the division and community involvement and leadership in the city.
We really hope to make great strides in protecting what we have here and finding that balance with development and environmental stewardship. I am excited to be a part of this team and I'm really seeking and looking forward to the
opportunities for us to be able to make a difference. I started with Charlotte County Utilities as a meter reader in 2004. So that's kind of where I got my foot in the door. Then once I reached a point in my life where things were more stable, I decided to leave Charlotte County
Utilities and I went and got my insurance license. It was very exciting doing that for a short period of time. But after a while, I started thinking about the utility. It was in my heart. At this point, I had almost 12 just two months shy of 12 years in. And so I
realized during that time my heart was in utilities. And so I started looking around again. and I seen an opening here to be a CN D tech. So, I applied and I got in. Typically, I get here at 7 in the morning. I get my list of, you know, if I can get to this, this is what I
need to do. And I get in my truck. If if I need any supplies, parts, tools based off of the work I was given that morning, I'll pick that up here at our shop. And then I head out and um my goal for the day is just to get as much work as that was assigned to me done as
possible. And sometimes that happens. And other times there's a lot of first response calls that come in. My favorite part is the uniqueness. It's um not knowing what I'm going to be faced with every day. It could be different. It's not mundane in any way. And it's
exciting when you get a call and you're you're on your way and you don't know what it is. And you you have the experience and the knowhow and the backing to face whatever it's going to be. So I feel very confident in facing these calls. And I think that's my
favorite part. Hello, my name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics facilities manager with the city of Northport. And today we're going to be talking with you guys about our free swim evaluation. It's important that we do these swim evaluations so as uh kids are registering for swim programs, they get placed in the right
class. What we're looking at when we're doing the swim evaluation is every swim level has what's called exit skill assessments. So, what we do is we have your child get in the water and we'll go through a series of different movements. Can you go under the water? Uh, can you show us your front crawl? Can you show us back crawl? Can you show us
elementary backstroke? Different strokes within there. And what we're doing is we're trying to see where your child tests to before it becomes a challenge for them at that point. Once we assess that, then we'll let you know and you can go ahead and sign your child up for that appropriate level there. It's important that we have these so that way
when we're teaching a level one, we don't have kids that should be potentially in a level two and a level one class because they're not learning the appropriate skills that they need at that point in time. Right now, uh when we're in full summer operations, uh we ask that people come between 8 and 10 to do the swim evaluations just as you can
hear the water splashing in the background, slides, and everything like that. But any day of the week, uh that we're open, you can come in at any point in time and ask for a swim evaluation. We always have a certified swim instructor on site that can uh have your child take a swim assessment llama sawways manager. I am here today
with Mario Vendetti. Mario, tell people here how long you've been doing this job. I've been here five years. Five years. Excellent. Excellent. So, Mario, tell people what it entails, what you do. I'm a planner scheduler for solid waste of the city and um I go around and I I
greet the new residents and I educate them on the recycle. Excellent. Sounds interesting. Very good. Yep. So, Mario, what do you find inside the recycling bins that shouldn't be there? So, let's try to tell the people how to recycle, right? Well, the most common thing I find, Frank, is plastic bags. Okay.
So, the plastic bags are not recyclable. I find them just tossed in the container or they bag the recycle with them. And they should This is inside the blue lid container. That's right. Inside the blue lid containers. Correct. And they should be either taken back to the grocery store or tossed in the trash. Very good. Do you see a lot of recycling
inside the containers? Uh I do. Bags. I come across a lot of that. Okay. You don't want to do that. So, okay. So, if you have any questions, you can always look at our website ww.northport.gov. /solidwaste. Welcome to the brand new Northport
Podcast Network. We're so excited to introduce you to our revamped lineup of shows created to keep you connected, informed, and inspired about everything happening in our city. That's right. With three unique shows under one network, there's something for everyone. First up is Northport. Now
Madison and I will rotate hosting this fast-paced news-driven podcast to bring you the latest city updates, event previews, and important information all in one quick listen. Think of it as your weekly guide to staying in the know about what's happening in Northport.
Next, we have Northport Stories. Laura and I will share heartfelt and inspiring tales from around our community. Stories that showcase the people, places, and moments that make our city special. And don't worry, Voices of Northport isn't going anywhere. I'll continue bringing you even more personal stories and
interviews with residents who shaped our city. And last but not least, Northport Living. Cody and I will also rotate hosting this show, which is all about tips, events, and lifestyle ideas to help you make the most of life right here in Northport. Whether you're
looking for family-friendly activities, ways to get involved, or helpful home and garden tips, Northport Living has you covered. With breaking news, heartfelt stories, or practical tips, the Northport Podcast Network is your go-to source for all things Northport.
Make sure to subscribe to the Northport Podcast Network wherever you listen and join us as we celebrate and connect with our amazing community. Northport Now will be released bi-weekly. Northport Stories and Living will be monthly. A schedule will be available on
social media and our website. Hello everyone, Devon Pulis here, aquatics manager. Welcome to my crib. We have fun here at the crib. Programs included. Become a pass member. Play all year long. Hey, at the crib, we do have
rules. We take all payments here at the crib. Apple Pay, Mastercard, Visa, cash. You pay right here to enjoy the crib. So, enter through the gate. Childproof, most adult proof.
Shade. What's that? Our newly installed sun shade available for rent all season long. Here at my crib, you don't have to worry about a place to find a seat. We've added more chairs than ever here at the crib. If you're coming to enjoy the
cribs and you got little ones, we got the perfect area for them. Our Pelican playground, newly painted, fresh floor, fresh palm tree. It's looking clean. Looking for a place to work your upper body? Take a shot at here at our
Stingray shuffle. Looking to relax? I got you covered here with our lazy river. Living more on the adventurous side. Check out the slides right behind me. Newly painted. All offer something
individual and unique. Check it out. Check out the main pool kept at a wonderful 84 degrees all year long. I just want you to have a good time. We have safety covered. Lifeguards here,
staff all day, every day when we're open for you to enjoy. Concession is open. Pizza, pretzels, nachos, ice cream. We got it all. My crib is your crib. Looking forward to
seeing you here. Duty calls. I'm Stacy Losio. I am the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport and I'm going to be talking about having an evacuation plan. It's important to have an evacuation plan ahead of time. And it's very important
to write it down because that way you can have it somewhere present where everybody in your family can see it and keep it fresh in their minds. And you want to also share it with people in your family or your neighbors so that they know what your plans are ahead of time and how to get a hold of you or where to look for you after a disaster.
for your evacuation plans. Uh you should have multiple routes to get to the location you're planning to go to just because traffic-wise traffic on 75 might be gridlocked. There could be some very good back roads to get to where you're going uh that could get you there more
quickly without being stuck in traffic. When you're making an evacuation plan, we usually tell you four different things. You should stay home if you are not in a zone that's being evacuated and if your home is built to withstand the forecasted storm. If you can't stay home
uh and you evacuate, your next option should be to go to a friend or family's home that is outside of the evacuation area and is structurally sound to withstand the storm. Third option would be go to a hotel. They're much more comfortable than our evacuation centers. Fourth option would be to go to one of
our evacuation centers. Sarasota County has 12 evacuation centers. Those can be found on their website. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency manager for the city of Northport and I'm going to discuss first responders after the storm. So, it may take a while for first responders to get to after the
storm and that's due to a variety of reasons. One being we pull first responders off the roads when tropical storm force winds are sustained for their safety. That is a standard usually across the state and other states that have hurricanes as well. So, we will have a backlog of calls that have come
in during the storm that we will prioritize based on urgency and they'll be responding to those as well as the calls that are currently coming in if they're urgent as well. Also, the roads might be flooded. There might be debris in the roads. Our tactical first in teams will be going out right away to
clear the roads of any hazards so that our vehicles can get through and respond as quickly as possible. Just keep that in mind when you call after a disaster for assistance. We are coming. You are very important to us. We care about our residents and their safety, but it may just take a while for us to get to you
depending on the conditions of the roads. Hello everyone, my name is Mario Van Diddi. I am the planner scheduler for the city of Northport solid waste. I got into this position um first I was a recycle driver for 5 years for the city
of Northport and then I became the planner scheduler after taking an interest in educating the residents on how to recycle properly. In my position, my day-to-day, usually I start out by visiting the new residents that schedule
garbage and recycle containers to be delivered and I will go see them and educate them on our solid waste guidelines. More or less, I'm more focused on the recycle part of it. After that, I will drive around the city and I actually inspect recycle containers
manually for contamination. And then I will take calls from drivers if there's any issues with uh repeat garbage in the recycle and I will go educate those people as well. What I love most about the city of Northport is their residents are from all over the
world and I get to learn about the solid waste guidelines where they come from as well as educate them on the city of Northport's solid waste guidelines and how to recycle properly. I decided to become a firefighter. I used to work in uh hospitality and group
sales and I had always had friends that were firefighters and I decided one day that I wanted to change my job and serve people. So I went ahead and went through a EMT and paramedic program, went to fire academy and then I saw Northport
were hiring and I really liked what they had on their between their ISO rating and their beliefs and values and everything. So I applied. They gave me an opportunity. Every day is different, but for the most part we start off the
same. We'll uh get our gear onto the apparatus and um make sure everything's operational like our air pack. Then we also check the inventory. Uh make sure we have all our medical equipment. Um everything's operational. Um that way we
can respond to any emergency so we're always stocked and ready to go. I think the best part is that everyone's passionate about their job. So they come to work and they're ready to train and uh take care of each other and and teach each other. So everyone's sharp and on their agame. So it makes the job fun and
I just look forward to coming to work. Yeah. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport. and I'm going to tell you the difference between flood zones and evacuation zones or in Sarasota County we call them evacuation levels. So flood
zones were generated by FEMA and they're used to determine the likelihood that you will flood and they're used to determine if you need flood insurance if you have a mortgage on your home. Now, the evacuation zones are based on storm surge data that comes from the National
Hurricane Center and they use topography as well as hurricane vulnerability for storm surge for the area and we use those to determine who needs to evacuate during a storm. So, it's important to understand that there is a difference. If you're interested in finding out what evacuation zone you are in, which we
highly recommend you do, uh you can use your search engine of choice and type in Sarasota County know your level and that'll take you to the Sarasota County government website. Franklas always manager of city of Northport. Uh here today with Mario
Vindetti, planner schedule for the city of Northport solid waste division. We're going to talk about bulk pickups today. Uh how to schedule bulk pickups, what should go out and what should not go out to the curb, where to place the items, and then what happens if you have more than what's allotted for you for the
year for a bulk pickup. So Mario, I know we call 941-24850, talk to our customer service reps. That's correct. About how to schedule a bulk pickup. How else can we do that? Can also go on our website, northportfl.gov, click on solid waste, and fill out a bulk request form.
Excellent. Excellent. So Mario, what about uh if a person wants to place it out, what should they place out? What's the right thing? What's the wrong thing? Basically, Frank, anything that doesn't fit in the container that's garbage is going to go curbside. We're going to stay off driveways. What's not accepted
is tires, chemicals, stuff like that. You can put yard waste out. That's considered bulk, but just make sure it's separate from the garbage pile. Yard waste is a separate pickup. So, what happens if I use all my bulk pickups, right? Good question. So, you can have more,
but you just have to pay. It's going to be$,650 a cubic yard, and that's length time width time height divided by 27 is 1 cubic yard. Any questions, of course, let us know. Give us a call. 941-24850. Water in a swale that's kind of the
ditch by your house is not flooding. within a after a storm event, water should be in that soil up to 72 hours after the storm. That allows the water to be filtered to get the stuff that came off our roofs and off the road out
of the water so that when it reaches the habitat, it no longer has those contaminants in it. It also provides an opportunity to slow down water so that the water doesn't go so fast that it erodess um the roadways or any other infrastructure. So when you see water in
a soil, if it's only been, you know, up to 72 hours since the last rain, that is not flooding. That is doing its job. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency manager for the city of Northport. And today we're going to discuss storm surge and flooding and how both of those
affect Northport during a hurricane. So storm surge is when strong sustained winds are constantly going over a long period of time over the Gulf and pushing water up onto shore. So when that happens, there is a lot of flooding along and beach erosion along the
beaches and the homes inland. However, the storm surge can also push water up the river. So it could push storm surge up the Maka River for instance from the Gulf and then the water coming downstream from the river has nowhere to go. So that can cause water to back up along the rivers and cause flooding.
That along with a lot of rain that comes from these hurricanes can also cause an increase of water flooding into the rivers and into our water management systems causing flooding as well. Public works does a lot of work before the storm to make sure that our water levels are as low as possible so we can handle
additional storm surge and flooding in our water systems. If you want additional information about that, we have a great video about our water control structures and you can visit the public works website. TRX as a full class. TRX boot camp is a new class for me. Although I've been
using TRX for many years uh with personal training that I do or in other style classes that I've done, but an actual focus with just TRX, this is a new class for me. I love the camaraderie. I have to say uh with all the participants, I think we have a lot
of fun. First of all, everyone gets to use the bands, the TRX bands of course. And being that we have five stations. So when we have overflow or more than five people, part of the people are on the band, the other people are doing floor work and then we'll switch. So everybody gets an opportunity to be in all
stations. Just come in, have fun with it, make it your own. It's not scary. It doesn't have to be intimidating at all. You're using your body weight. You're using the angles that you choose to use on the bands. And it just varies with how you're comfortable and how you're
feeling when you're here. Hello everyone. My name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics manager within our parks and recreation department. We're here today at the Northport Aquatic Center just to talk to everyone about our float for life program. We recognize that nationally unintentional drowning is the leading cause of death for
children that are under the age of four. So we have an awesome program here called Float for Life. Float for Life is a program that we teach that starts with the fundamentals of floating before we actually learn swimming. This program is targeted for those children ages 6
months to four. And what we want them to do is we want them to get comfortable in the water and if they accidentally fall in the water or find themselves in a trouble situation, they can roll over their back and float. When we launched this program, uh we were the only one in the state that was actually teaching this milestone program. So want to give
a shout out to our Northport Rotary as well who sponsored this program here at the aquatic center and actually paid for a trainer to come in all the way from Nebraska where this program originates there. We practice and we go through what's called milestones here. So, as soon as the kids progress through the milestones, we can continue moving on
through them. And at the end of it, it's a pretty awesome program when they graduate. It's one of the final things that they do is they jump in fully clothed and they have to turn over, roll over on their back, and actually be able to scream for help at that point in time. It's just an awesome segment
program that leads right into our learn to swim program. So that way we can make sure we're keeping our kids safe in, on, and around the water. They're trying to get Oh my gosh, this is going to be great. So, I always get very excited when
anybody asks me about my job and where I work and what I do. It's not a secret that I love working for the city of Northport. I worked for Charlotte County and I felt that I needed to do something different and I wanted something more and I wanted to offer my skills. So I
told my friend I'm don't know what to do and I was thinking about my next steps and she said, "Maria, did you think about applying to a job at the city of Northport? They have a different vibe here." And she says, "I'd love it." And I said, "Oh, I didn't think about that." So, I applied and I started my first
position in planning and zoning in our development services department. I'm partnered with the building department because my my the fees are assessed off of the building permits and it's strictly for new construction, new
development. And uh the first thing I do is to check the spreadsheet to look at the permits and determine which ones need me to estimate their impact fees. And that's where I start with that. Then I go to numbers that I have to put
together and I put together the invoices for our developers. Often times I'll get phone calls to give quotes before their um the development comes through and so developers want to know how much they can budget for. So sometimes I put
through proposed estimates to help them with that. And the bulk of it is is making sure that the fees are in the system as fast as possible. I love the aspree decor that I experience. Just how everybody team worked together. I uh
enjoy knowing that I'm can make a difference for the city and that my position can have a positive impact in for our city. Oh, you're swimming in the pool. Dad. I'm Stacy Losio. I am the emergency
management coordinator for the city of Northport. And we're going to talk about why it's important to have a go kit and what should go inside of it. It's important to have a go bag because if you wait last minute to pack, there are definitely going to be items that you are going to forget in the scramble to get everything put together. So, it's
important to have your documents such as IDs, insurance paperwork, titles for your home and your vehicles and your boats just so that if your home does flood or your roof blows up, all those documents are with you and they're safe because you don't want to end up losing
those and having to try to replace those later on. Also, in your go bag, you should think about what medications you might need to have ahead of time. If we're under a state of emergency, you are able to refill your prescriptions ahead of time, even if they're not due yet. So, it's important to do that.
Also, in your go bags, you should have non-p perishable food, flashlight, batteries, a radio that is battery powered, and extra batteries. Should all power go out, we will be able to broadcast on 97.5 FM anything uh any
emergency information. So, be sure to have your battery powered radio ready and tuned in to 97.5. We believe that the natural resources department will be an integral part for the city's growth as we want to achieve
a more balanced approach of development. ment in the future. What we really want to do is see sensible development, sustainable development and development that is um in line with what we already have here. So we want to preserve as much as we can
of the uh natural resources. So there is still place for our natural species, our our migrating birds and all the other species that live um and survive in our habitat. Natural systems are a big part
of the ways ecosystems function. An important part for our community, our listed species. They stabilize the soil. They provide so many different benefits
including shade, limiting the heat island effect uh within our city, providing habitat, providing shelter for these species and just uh also for our aesthetic enjoyments. Well, as an
arborist, uh a lot of what I do is making sure that development conforms to the tree protection code. So, one thing we already have in place since April of 2022 is a tree protection code which is quite
robust in the city of Northport that was adopted by commission and the city through also a lot of community involvement. And so, we're very happy to have that tree protection code. So, what I a lot of what I do is making sure that development either residential or
commercial conforms to that code. We are such a passionate team. We come from varied backgrounds. Uh I think between us we have over a 100red years of experience and we are every day raring to go and you know we know our work is cut out here and we're happy to
uh take the challenge through the division and community involvement and leadership in the city. We really hope to make great strides in protecting what we have here and finding that balance with development and
environmental stewardship. I am excited to be a part of this team and I'm really seeking and looking forward to the opportunities for us to be able to make a difference. I started with Charlotte County Utilities as a meter reader in 2004.
So that's kind of where I got my foot in the door. Then once I reached a point in my life where things were more stable, I decided to leave Charlotte County Utilities and I went and got my insurance license. It was very exciting doing that for a short period of time. But after a while, I started thinking
about the utility. It was in my heart. At this point, I had almost 12 just two months shy of 12 years in. And so I realized during that time my heart was in utilities. And so I started looking around again. and I seen an opening here
to be a CN D tech. So, I applied and I got in. Typically, I get here at 7 in the morning. I get my list of, you know, if I can get to this, this is what I need to do. And I get in my truck. If if I need any supplies, parts, tools based off of the work I was given that
morning, I'll pick that up here at our shop. And then I head out and um my goal for the day is just to get as much work as that was assigned to me done as possible. And sometimes that happens. And other times there's a lot of first response calls that come in. My favorite
part is the uniqueness. It's um not knowing what I'm going to be faced with every day. It could be different. It's not mundane in any way. And it's exciting when you get a call and you're you're on your way and you don't know what it is. And you you have the
experience and the knowhow and the backing to face whatever it's going to be. So I feel very confident in facing these calls. And I think that's my favorite part. Hello, my name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics facilities manager with the city of Northport. And today we're going
to be talking with you guys about our free swim evaluation. It's important that we do these swim evaluations so as uh kids are registering for swim programs, they get placed in the right class. What we're looking at when we're doing the swim evaluation is every swim level has what's called exit skill assessments. So, what we do is we have
your child get in the water and we'll go through a series of different movements. Can you go under the water? Uh, can you show us your front crawl? Can you show us back crawl? Can you show us elementary backstroke? Different strokes within there. And what we're doing is we're trying to see where your child tests to before it becomes a challenge
for them at that point. Once we assess that, then we'll let you know and you can go ahead and sign your child up for that appropriate level there. It's important that we have these so that way when we're teaching a level one, we don't have kids that should be potentially in a level two and a level one class because they're not learning
the appropriate skills that they need at that point in time. Right now, uh when we're in full summer operations, uh we ask that people come between 8 and 10 to do the swim evaluations just as you can hear the water splashing in the background, slides and everything like that. But any day of the week, uh that we're open, you can come in at any point
in time and ask for a swim evaluation. We always have a certified swim instructor on site that can uh have your child take a swim assessment. Franklowway's manager. I am here today with Mario Van Diddi. Mario, tell people here how long you've been doing this job.
I've been here five years. Five years. Excellent. Excellent. So, Mario, tell people what it entails, what you do. I'm a planner scheduler for solid waste of the city and um I go around and I I greet the new residents and I educate them on the recycle. Excellent. Sounds interesting. Very
good. Y So, Mario, what do you find inside the recycling bins that shouldn't be there? So, let's try to tell the people how to recycle, right? Well, the most common thing I find, Frank, is plastic bags. Okay. So, the plastic bags are not recyclable. I find them just tossed in the container
or they bag the recycle with them. Right. And they should This is inside the blue lid container. That's right. Inside the blue lid containers. Correct. And they should be either taken back to the grocery store or tossed in the trash. Very good. Do you see a lot of recycling inside the containers? Uh I do. And I come across a lot of that.
Okay. You don't want to do that. So, okay. So, if you have any questions, you can always look at our website ww.northportf.gov. /solidwaste. Welcome to the brand new Northport Podcast Network. We're so excited to introduce you to our revamped lineup of
shows created to keep you connected, informed, and inspired about everything happening in our city. That's right. With three unique shows under one network, there's something for everyone. First up is Northport. Now Madison and I will rotate hosting this fast-paced news-driven podcast to bring
you the latest city updates, event previews, and important information all in one quick listen. Think of it as your weekly guide to staying in the know about what's happening in Northport. Next, we have Northport Stories. Laura and I will share heartfelt and inspiring
tales from around our community. Stories that showcase the people, places, and moments that make our city special. And don't worry, Voices of Northport isn't going anywhere. I'll continue bringing you even more personal stories and interviews with residents who shaped our city. And last but not least, Northport
Living. Cody and I will also rotate hosting this show, which is all about tips, events, and lifestyle ideas to help you make the most of life right here in Northport. Whether you're looking for family-friendly activities, ways to get involved, or helpful home and garden tips, Northport Living has
you covered. With breaking news, heartfelt stories, or practical tips, the Northport Podcast Network is your go-to source for all things Northport. Make sure to subscribe to the Northport Podcast Network wherever you listen and join us as we celebrate and connect with
our amazing community. Northport Now will be released bi-weekly. Northport Stories and Living will be monthly. A schedule will be available on social media and our website. Hello everyone, Devon Pulis here,
aquatics manager. Welcome to my crib. We have fun here at the crib. Programs included. Become a pass member. Play all year long. Payer at the crib. We do have rules. We take all payments here at the crib. Apple Pay, Mastercard, Visa, cash.
You pay right here to enjoy the crib. So, enter through the gate. Childproof, most adult proof. Shade. What's that? Our newly installed sun shade available for rent all season long. Here
at my crib, you don't have to worry about a place to find a seat. We've added more chairs than ever here at the crib. You're coming to enjoy the cribs and you got little ones. We got the perfect area for them. Our Pelican playground, newly painted, fresh floor,
fresh palm tree. It's looking clean. Looking for a place to work your upper body? Take a shot at here at our Stingray shuffle. Looking to relax? I got you covered here with our lazy river. Living more on the adventurous side.
Check out the slides right behind me. Newly painted. All offer something individual and unique. Check it out. Check out the main pool kept at a wonderful 84°
all year long. I just want you to have a good time. We have safety covered. Lifeguards here, staff all day, every day when we're open for you to enjoy. Concession is open. Pizza, pretzels,
nachos, ice cream. We got it all. My crib is your crib. Looking forward to seeing you here. Duty calls. I'm Stacy Losio. I am the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport and I'm going to be talking
about having an evacuation plan. It's important to have an evacuation plan ahead of time. And it's very important to write it down because that way you can have it somewhere present where everybody in your family can see it and keep it fresh in their minds. And you want to also share it with people in
your family or your neighbors so that they know what your plans are ahead of time and how to get a hold of you or where to look for you after a disaster. for your evacuation plans. Uh you should have multiple routes to get to the location you're planning to go to just because traffic-wise traffic on 75 might
be gridlocked. There could be some very good back roads to get to where you're going uh that could get you there more quickly without being stuck in traffic. When you're making an evacuation plan, we usually tell you four different things. You should stay home if you are not in a zone that's being evacuated and
if your home is built to withstand the forecasted storm. If you can't stay home uh and you evacuate, your next option should be to go to a friend or family's home that is outside of the evacuation area and is structurally sound to withstand the storm. Third option would
be go to a hotel. They're much more comfortable than our evacuation centers. Fourth option would be to go to one of our evacuation centers. Sarasota County has 12 evacuation centers. Those can be found on their website. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency
manager for the city of Northport and I'm going to discuss first responders after the storm. So, it may take a while for first responders to get to after the storm and that's due to a variety of reasons. One being we pull first responders off the roads when tropical storm force winds are sustained for
their safety. That is a standard usually across the state and other states that have hurricanes as well. So, we will have a backlog of calls that have come in during the storm that we will prioritize based on urgency and they'll be responding to those as well as the calls that are currently coming in if
they're urgent as well. Also, the roads might be flooded. There might be debris in the roads. Our tactical first and teams will be going out right away to clear the roads of any hazards that our cables can get through and respond as quickly as just keep that in mind when
you call after a disaster for assistance. We are coming You are very important to us. We care about our residents and their safety. But it may just take a while for us to get to be working on the conditions of the road. I'm more likely. Hello everyone. My name is Mario Van
Diddi. I am the planner scheduler for the city of Northport solid waste. I got into this position um first I was a recycle driver for 5 years for the city of Northport and then I became the planner scheduler after taking an interest in educating the residents on
how to recycle properly. In my position, my daytoday, usually I start out by visiting the new residents that schedule garbage and recycle containers to be delivered and I will go see them and educate them on our solid waste guidelines. more or less I'm more
focused on the recycle part of it. Hi, if you record your name and reason for and I actually inspect recycle containers manually for contamination and then I will take calls from drivers if there's any issues with uh repeat
garbage in the recycle and I will go educate those people as well. What I love most about the city of Northport is their residents are from all over the world and I get to learn about the solid waste guidelines where they come from as well as educate them on the city of
Northport's solid waste guidelines and how to recycle properly. Testing Oh, it's um I decided to become a firefighter. I used to work in uh hospitality and group sales and I had always had friends that were firefighters and I decided one day
that I wanted to change my job and serve people. So I went ahead and went through a EMT and paramedic program went to fire academy and then I saw Northport were hiring and I really liked what they had
on their between their ISO rating and their beliefs and values and everything. So, I applied. They gave me an opportunity. Every day is different, but for the most part, uh, we start off the same. We'll, uh, get our gear onto the
apparatus and, um, make sure everything's operational, like our air pack. Then we also check the inventory, uh, make sure we have all our medical equipment, um, everything's operational, um, that way we can respond to any emergency, so we're always stocked and
ready to go. I think the best part is that everyone's passionate about their job. So, they come to work and they're ready to train and uh take care of each other and and teach each other. So, everyone's sharp and on their agame. So, it makes the job fun and I just look
forward to coming to work. Yeah. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport and I'm going to tell you the difference between flood zones and evacuation zones or in Sarasota County we call them evacuation levels. So flood zones were generated by FEMA and they're
used to determine the likelihood that you will flood and they're used to determine if you need flood insurance if you have a mortgage on your home. Now, the evacuation zones are based on storm surge data that comes from the National Hurricane Center and they use topography
as well as hurricane vulnerability for storm surge for the area and we use those to determine who needs to evacuate during a storm. So, it's important to understand that there is a difference. If you're interested in finding out what evacuation zone you are in, which we highly recommend you do, uh you can use
your search engine of choice and type in Sarasota County know your level and that'll take you to the Sarasota County government website. Franklas always manager of city of Northport. Uh here today with Mario Vindetti, planner scheduler for the city of Northport solid waste division. We're
going to talk about bulk pickups today. Uh how to schedule bulk pickups, what should go out and what should not go out to the curb, where to place the items, and then what happens if you have more than what's allotted for you for the year for a bulk pickup. So Mario, I know we call 941-24850,
talk to our customer service reps. That's correct. About how to schedule a bulk pickup. How else can we do that? Can also go on our website, northportfl.gov, click on solid waste, and fill out a bulk request form. Excellent. Excellent. So Mario, what about uh if a person wants to place it
out, what should they place out? What's the right thing? What's the wrong thing? Basically, Frank, anything that doesn't fit in the container that's garbage is going to go curbside. We're going to stay off driveways. What's not accepted is tires, chemicals, stuff like that. You can put yard waste out. That's
considered bulk, but just make sure it's separate from the garbage pile. Yard waste is a separate pickup. So, what happens if I use all my bulk pickups, right? Good question. So, you can have more, but you just have to pay. It's going to be$,650 a cubic yard, and that's length
time width time height divided by 27 is 1 cubic yard. Any questions, of course, let us know. Give us a call. 941-24850. Water in a swale that's kind of the ditch by your house is not flooding within a after a storm event. Water
should be in that soil up to 72 hours after the storm. That allows the water to be filtered to get the stuff that came off our roofs and off the road out of the water so that when it reaches the habitat, it no longer has those contaminants in it. It also provides an
opportunity to slow down water so that the water doesn't go so fast that it erodess um the roadways or any other infrastructure. So when you see water in a soil, if it's only been, you know, up to 72 hours since the last rain, that is
not flooding. That is doing its job. I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency manager for the city of Northport. And today we're going to discuss storm surge and flooding and how both of those affect Northport during the current. So storm surge is when strong sustained winds are constantly blowing over a long
period of time over the Gulf and pushing water up onto shore. So when that happens there is a lot of flooding along and beach erosion along the beaches and the homes inland. However, the storm surge can also push water up the river. So it could push storm surge up the Maka
River for instance from the Gulf and then the water coming downstream from the river has nowhere to go. that can cause water to back up along the rivers and cause flooding. That along with a lot of rain that comes from these hurricanes can also cause an increase of water flooding into the rivers and into
our water management systems causing flooding as well. Public works does a lot of work before the storm to make sure that our water levels are as low as possible so we can handle additional storm surge and flooding in our water systems. If you want additional information about that, we have a great
video about our water control structures and you can visit the public works TRX as a full class. TRX boot camp is a new class for me. Although I've been using TRX for many years uh with personal training that I do or in other style classes that I've done, but an
actual focus with just TRX, this is a new class for me. I love the camaraderie I have to say uh with all the participants. I think we have a lot of fun. First of all, everyone gets to use the bands, the TRX bands of course. And being that we have five stations. So
when we have overflow or more than five people, part of the people are on the band, the other people are doing floor work and then we'll switch. So everybody gets an opportunity to be in all stations. Just come in, have fun with it, make it your own. It's not scary. It doesn't have to be intimidating at all.
You're using your body weight. You're using the angles that you choose to use on the bands. And it just varies with how you're comfortable and how you're feeling when you're here. Hello everyone. My name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics manager within our parks and recreation department. We're
here today at the Northport Aquatic Center just to talk to everyone about our Float for Life program. We recognize that nationally unintentional drowning is the leading cause of death for children that are under the age of four. So, we have an awesome program here called Float for Life. Float for Life is
a program that we teach that starts with the fundamentals of floating before we actually learn swimming. This program is targeted for those children ages 6 months to four. And what we want them to do is we want them to get comfortable in the water and if they accidentally fall in the water or find themselves in a
trouble situation, they can roll over their back and float. When we launched this program, uh we were the only one in the state that was actually teaching this milestone program. So do want to give a shout out to our Northport Rotary as well who sponsored this program here at the aquatic center and actually paid
for a trainer to come in all the way from Nebraska where this program originates there. We practice and we go through what's called milestones here. So, as soon as the kids progress through the milestones, we can continue moving on through them. And at the end of it, it's a pretty awesome program when they graduate. It's one of the final things
that they do is they jump in fully clothed and they have to turn over, roll over on their back, and actually be able to scream for help at that point in time. It's just an awesome segment program that leads right into our learn to swim program. So that way we can make sure we're keeping our kids safe in, on,
and around the water. They're trying to get Oh my gosh, this is going to be great. So, I always get very excited when anybody asks me about my job and where I work and what I do. It's not a secret that I love working for the city of Northport. I worked for Charlotte County
and I felt that I needed to do something different and I wanted something more and I wanted to offer my skills. So I said to my friend, I'm I'm don't know what to do and I was thinking about my next steps and she said, "Maria, did you think about applying to a job at the city of Northport? They have a different
vibe here." And she says, "I'd love it." And I said, "Oh, I didn't think about that." So I applied and I started my first position in planning and zoning in our development services department. I'm partnered with the building department because my my the fees are assessed off
of the building permits and it's strictly for new construction, new development. And uh the first thing I do is to check the spreadsheet to look at the permits and determine which ones need me to estimate their impact fees.
And that's where I start with that. Then I go to numbers that I have to put together and I put together the invoices for our developers. Often times I'll get phone calls to give quotes before they're um the development comes through and so developers want to know how much
they can budget for. So sometimes I put through proposed estimates to help them with that. And the bulk of it is is making sure that the fees are in the system as fast as possible. I love the aspree decor that I experience. Just how
everybody team worked together. I uh enjoy knowing that I'm can make a difference for the city and that my position can have a positive impact in for our city. Oh, you're swimming in the pool. in the back.
I'm Stacy Losio. I am the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport. And we're going to talk about why it's important to have a go kit and what should go inside of it. It's important to have a go bag because if you wait last minute to pack, there are definitely going to be items that you are going to forget in the scramble to
get everything put together. So, it's important to have your documents such as IDs, insurance paperwork, titles for your home and your vehicles and your boats just so that if your home does flood or your roof blows up, all those
documents are with you and they're safe because you don't want to end up losing those and having to try to replace those later on. Also, in your go bag, you should think about what medications you might need to have ahead of time. If we're under a state of emergency, you are able to refill your prescriptions
ahead of time, even if they're not due yet. So, it's important to do that. Also, in your go bags, you should have non-p perishable food, flashlight, batteries, a radio that is battery powered and extra batteries. Should all power go out, we will be able to
broadcast on 97.5 FM anything uh any emergency information. So, be sure to have your battery powered radio ready and tuned in to 97.5 We believe that the natural resources department will be an integral part for
the city's growth as we want to achieve a more balanced approach of development. ment in the future. What we really want to do is see sensible development, sustainable development and development that is um in line with what we already have here.
So we want to preserve as much as we can of the uh natural resources. So there is still place for our natural species, our our migrating birds and all the other species that live um and survive in our habitat. Natural systems
are a big part of the ways ecosystems function. An important part for our community, our listed species. They stabilize the soil. They provide so many different benefits including shade,
limiting the heat island effect within our city, providing habitat, providing shelter for these species and just uh also for our aesthetic enjoyments. Well, as an arborist, uh a lot of what I do is
making sure that development conforms to the tree protection code. So, one thing we already have in place since April of 2022 is a tree protection code which is quite robust in the city of Northport that was adopted by commission and the city
through also a lot of community involvement. And so, we're very happy to have that tree protection code. So, what I a lot of what I do is making sure that development either residential or commercial conforms to that code. We are such a passionate team. We come from varied backgrounds. Uh I think
between us we have over a 100red years of experience and we are every day raring to go and you know we know our work is cut out here and we're happy to uh take the challenge through the division and community involvement and leadership in the city.
We really hope to make great strides in protecting what we have here and finding that balance with development and environmental stewardship. I am excited to be a part of this team and I'm really seeking and looking forward to the
opportunities for us to be able to make a difference. I started with Charlotte County Utilities as a meter reader in 2004. So that's kind of where I got my foot in the door. And then once I reached a point in my life where things were more stable, I decided to leave Charlotte
County Utilities and I went and got my insurance license. It was very exciting doing that for a short period of time. But after a while, I started thinking about the utility. It was in my heart. At this point, I had almost 12 just two months shy of 12 years in. And so I
realized during that time my heart was in utilities. And so I started looking around again. and I seen an opening here to be a CN D tech. So, I applied and I got in. Typically, I get here at 7 in the morning. I get my list of, you know, if I can get to this, this is what I
need to do. And I get in my truck. If if I need any supplies, parts, tools based off of the work I was given that morning, I'll pick that up here at our shop. And then I head out and um my goal for the day is just to get as much work as that was assigned to me done as
possible. And sometimes that happens. And other times there's a lot of first response calls that come in. My favorite part is the uniqueness. It's um not knowing what I'm going to be faced with every day. It could be different. It's not mundane in any way. And it's
exciting when you get a call and you're you're on your way and you don't know what it is. And you you have the experience and the knowhow and the backing to face whatever it's going to be. So I feel very confident in facing these calls. And I think that's my
favorite part. Hello, my name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics facilities manager with the city of Northport. And today we're going to be talking with you guys about our free swim evaluation. It's important that we do these swim evaluations so as uh kids are registering for swim programs, they get placed in the right
class. What we're looking at when we're doing the swim evaluation is every swim level has what's called exit skill assessments. So, what we do is we have your child get in the water and we'll go through a series of different movements. Can you go under the water? Uh, can you show us your front crawl? Can you show us back crawl? Can you show us
elementary backstroke? Different strokes within there. And what we're doing is we're trying to see where your child tests to before it becomes a challenge for them at that point. Once we assess that, then we'll let you know and you can go ahead and sign your child up for that appropriate level there. It's important that we have these so that way
when we're teaching a level one, we don't have kids that should be potentially in a level two and a level one class because they're not learning the appropriate skills that they need at that point in time. Right now, uh when we're in full summer operations, uh we ask that people come between 8 and 10 to do the swim evaluations just as you can
hear the water splashing in the background, slides, and everything like that. But any day of the week, uh that we're open, you can come in at any point in time and ask for a swim evaluation. We always have a certified swim instructor on site that can uh have your child take a swim assessment. Franklama, Sawway's manager. I am here
today with Mario Vendidi. Mario, tell people here how long you've been doing this job. I've been here five years. Five years. Excellent. Excellent. So, Mario, tell people what it entails, what you do. I'm a planner scheduler for solid waste of the city and um I go around and I I
greet the new residents and I educate them on the recycle. Excellent. Sounds interesting. Very good. Yep. So, Mario, what do you find inside the recycling bins that shouldn't be there? So, let's try to tell the people how to recycle, right? Well, the most common thing I find, Frank, is plastic bags. Okay.
So, the plastic bags are not recyclable. I find them just tossed in the container or they bag the recycle with them. And they should This is inside the blue lid container. That's right. Inside the blue lid containers. Correct. And they should be either taken back to the grocery store or tossed in the trash. Very good. Do you see a lot of recycling
inside the containers? Uh I do. And I come across a lot of that. Okay. We don't want to do that. So, okay. So, if you have any questions, you can always look at our website ww.northportf Florida.gov. GV/Solidwaste. Welcome to the brand new Northport
Podcast Network. We're so excited to introduce you to our revamped lineup of shows created to keep you connected, informed, and inspired about everything happening in our city. That's right. With three unique shows under one network, there's something for everyone. First up is Northport. Now
Madison and I will rotate hosting this fast-paced news-driven podcast to bring you the latest city updates, event previews, and important information all in one quick listen. Think of it as your weekly guide to staying in the know about what's happening in Northport.
Next, we have Northport Stories. Laura and I will share heartfelt and inspiring tales from around our community. Stories that showcase the people, places, and moments that make our city special. And don't worry, Voices of Northport isn't going anywhere. I'll continue bringing you even more personal stories and
interviews with residents who shaped our city. And last but not least, Northport Living. Cody and I will also rotate hosting this show, which is all about tips, events, and lifestyle ideas to help you make the most of life right here in Northport. Whether you're
looking for family-friendly activities, ways to get involved, or helpful home and garden tips, Northport Living has you covered. With breaking news, heartfelt stories, or practical tips, the Northport Podcast Network is your go-to source for all things Northport.
Make sure to subscribe to the Northport Podcast Network wherever you listen and join us as we celebrate and connect with our amazing community. Northport Now will be released bi-weekly. Northport Stories and Living will be monthly. A schedule will be available on
social media and our website. Hello everyone, Devon Pulis here, aquatics manager. Welcome to my crib. We have fun here at the crib. Programs included. Become a pass member. Play all year long. Payer at the crib. We do have
rules. We take all payments here at the crib. Apple Pay, Mastercard, Visa, cash. You pay right here to enjoy the crib. So, enter through the gate. Childp proof, most adult proof.
Shade. What's that? Our newly installed sun shade available for rent all season long. Here at my crib, you don't have to worry about a place to find a seat. We've added more chairs than ever here at the crib. You're coming to enjoy the cribs
and you got little ones. We got the perfect area for them. Our Pelican playground, newly painted, fresh floor, fresh palm tree. It's looking clean. Looking for a place to work your upper body? Take a shot at here at our Stingray shuffle.
Looking to relax? I got you covered here with our lazy river. Living more on the adventurous side. Check out the slides right behind me. Newly painted. All offer something individual and unique. Check it out.
Check out the main pool kept at a wonderful 84 degrees all year long. I just want you to have a good time. We have safety covered. Lifeguards here, staff all day, every day when we're open
for you to enjoy. Concession is open. Pizza, pretzels, nachos, ice cream. We got it all. My crib is your crib. Looking forward to seeing you here.
Duty calls. I'm Stacy Losio. I am the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport and I'm going to be talking about having an evacuation plan. It's important to have an evacuation plan ahead of time and it's very important to write it down because that way you can
have it somewhere present where everybody in your family can see it and keep it fresh in their minds and you want to also share it with people in your family or your neighbor. Good evening everybody. Today is Tuesday, July 8th, 2025.
It's 6 pm. We're in city chambers and I call city commission regular meeting to order. Commissioners present are commissioner Dval, Commissioner Langden, Mayor Stokes, Vice Mayor Emer, and Commissioner Proquam present for the meeting. Also present, city manager
Fletcher, uh, assistant city attorney Coughlin, uh, city clerk FA, board specialist Gray, I believe, police chief Garrison, and I believe fire chief Titus is in the house. There he is. Uh, let's
see who we got um wants to do. Heather, want to lead us? Thanks. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it
stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Righty looking for a motion to approve the agenda. So move second. Got a motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Duval to
approve the agenda. Let's go ahead and vote. And that passes 520. City clerk, public comments. Jill Luke. I have two parts to my comments. I'll preclude by stating that since serving on a prior commission, I
have worked with 10 to 12 nonprofits within our city since that point in time. My first point, I'm coming before you to request that you, the city commission, create a policy that handles nonprofits within our city in a fair and consistent manner. This would entail a standardized policy for all interaction
for with all nonprofits. This policy should be created before the leases are renewed by you for this coming year. The current measures within the leases vary from organization to organization. There is a lack of accountability and oversight because of this lack of consistency. This has led to lease
violations that are passed over without consequence. While accountability is expected from other nonprofits. Why? Because they are not held to the same standard. My second point, the city is not accountable to make sure nonprofits succeed. When incidents occur that cause the city to engage with a nonprofit in a
singular manner, leaving aside the viewpoint of the city as a whole sets up hard feelings and even potential lawsuits. An example would be the possibility of leasing government property to a nonprofit organization for 50 years. To avoid partially partiality or favoritism, what you do for one, you
must do for any or all the others. So, if Parkland Property is held in lease for 50 years while missing all other opportunities in that time frame, who's to say that any other nonprofit who needs a new home base would want to entertain the same proposal for a piece of parkland in the city. Your duty is to
give direction to the administration that serves the good of the city and its residents as a whole, not focusing on a singular project. Priorities, please, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. In person, I have Baldi Olander. Uh good evening.
I am Bobby Hollander. I come here in peace and I am not a criminal. As Stokes, I instructing you to order police woman off my back. She can go outside. Uh stop intimidation.
I have a dignity police respect mandate. It is people right in Florida to instruct the representatives whom you whom do you represent here if not the people no municipality around disrespect people
like you all over here I am instructing you to move podium to the middle and you can bring you know how many caps as you want I you have no concern to proceed any further Last for I hope you read the declaration
of independence. The consent is over there written very you should you should know that. Do you understand English language? What is your culture? Where did your people come from? Did you took out with the manager a
foreigner or with the people who elect you? Why Walmart, Home Depot and Publix all the corporation like city of Northport does not hold the annual budget meetings. These entities don't have a police
squad, metal detectors in the doors. They put up the prices and people buy it or not. Very peaceful. Not what's going on over here.
They're very friendly. So I instructing you to put up the prices at the door of the city hall and we will buy it or not. Let me say the governor of the Santis reduced Florida 202526 budget by $3
billion from 118 to 115. All of you take the pledge of allegiance to one nation under the gods. I am asking you what is your god? What is your god's name? It is one who create heaven and earth or
some other god. One who creates heaven and earth give us commandments. You should not convert thy neighbor's house. That mean no property taxes. Stop property taxes. I am instructing
you stop collecting people's houses. I am instructing you to reduce 2025 26 budget by at least 10%. And you know what? 252440 people voted. Stop going around the
people who voted. Thank you, sir. All right. Up next up's announcements, city clerk. The current vacancies for the following boards and committees include art advisory board, auditor selection committee, charter review advisory
board, citizen tax oversight committee, environmental advisory board, firefighters pension trust fund board of trustees, historic and cultural advisory board, joint management advisory board, parks and recreation advisory board, planning and zoning advisory board, and veterans park advisory committee. Sarasota County Advisory Council
vacancies include one resident in Northport to serve on the Metropolitan Planning Organization Citizen Advisory Committee. If anyone would like more information, please see the city clerk's office. Thank you. Thank you very much. Moving on to the consent agenda. City manager, any item
has been pulled? No, service mayor. All righty. Any public comment? There is none. Dan, I'm looking for a motion. I'll make it. I move to approve uh the consent agenda as presented.
Got a motion by Commissioner Langden, seconded by the vice mayor to approve the items in the consent agenda. If there's nothing more to that, let's vote. That passes 520. Moving on to public hearings. Ordinance
first reading uh 2025-14. I need a motion to direct city clerk to read by title only. So move second. Got a motion by the vice mayor, seconded by commissioner Langden to uh direct city clerk to read by title only. Let's
vote on that. And that passes five to zero. City clerk, you're up. Ordinance number 2025-14, an ordinance of the city of Northport, Florida, amending the code of the city of Northport, Florida, appendix A, city fee schedule, amending citywide fees, development services, development
review, planning and zoning, and natural resources fees, development services code enforcement fees, fire rescue district fees, police fees, parks and recreation general fees, parks and recreation facility rental fees, solid waste district fees, utilities fees, road and drainage district fees, and
social services fees. providing for findings, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, providing for codification, and providing an effective dates. Thank you, ma'am. City manager, your item. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um during the most recent city mission workshop on March
the 3rd, 2025, Dennis Oral, project manager with Wilderness Financial Services, provided a presentation on the Northport, Florida 2025 comprehensive user fee study and the comprehensive fee model, which identifies the full cost of providing services including overhead,
direct, and indirect cost. The recommended fees have been incorporated into the annual appendix A, city fee schedule. There was also a parks and reccks department conducted additional analysis of Warm Middle Springs that was included over regarding the emission
fees. Um I believe we have those few slides to just go over if uh that pleases the board and then we'll take any questions that you may have following that conversation. Thank you sir. Uh commissioners you're
up. Commissioner Langden. Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a couple of general questions. Um, with our fee structure, what's our intention? Is it to cover 100% of delivering that service
or is it 80%? Does it vary by department? Is is there any general policy for what we're trying to achieve with our fee structure? I would say that it does vary by department. Ma'am, uh the goal is to
receive a fair a fair amount of recovery for the fees that we charge. Um the charges that we um pass along are not designed to be 100% recoverable for the fees that we charge. Um, but we do want
to make sure that we reduce the burden that we put on to the city's finances. Therefore, the the purpose and the goal of the report was to update our number to make sure they were consistent with sort of the market rate at this time. uh
whether they went up or down was decided by the third party consultant, but our adherence to it will allow us to be in the best position to um be confident that we're recovering the proper amount per the different fees that are charged in our schedule. Okay. So, I I I do understand it's
driven by a study as part of our process. Um do we check and see what other municipalities are charging for similar kinds of services? Yes, I believe comparables are one of the main factors that we do using do we do use
when we're talking about our um fees, but at the same time, we also want to make sure that um the the market rate is in line as well. So, that's what you mean by the market rate, what other municipalities are charging. Okay, thank you for that. I do
have a a couple of comments on the Warm Mineral Springs Park. Are we going to have a presentation on that? Because I'll hold it if we are. Yes, there's four there's a several slides that are in this particular um backup for this document. Director Funheler is she'll come down and maybe
go through some of the changes that were there and why we want to sort of make Okay. So, I'll I'll hold my comments and questions for that time. All right. Uh Sandy Funhiller, parks and recreation director. If I could get the uh screen up for the presentation. Thank
you. Um so um in addition to the changes in the fee schedule that you have in front of you, we'd also like commission to consider some changes to the War Mineral Springs Park admission fees. Um we have
the current 2025 fee schedule um which is in appendix A um with the daily admission fees. Uh there's 10 visit passes, 30 visit passes, and an annual pass for both resident and non-resident.
What we'd like to do um is keep the daily fees the same. Um we've done some benchmarking um of of both springs in the state, but also local attractions because I see Warminal Springs more as an attraction um that people are coming
to. And we're pretty much right in the ballpark with the fees that we have now. Uh what we'd like to do is take the 10 visit and 30 visit pass which have some discounts that have been applied over the years. Um when we took it over from uh the management company uh before the
city was responsible for the operations um we kept the fees the same. So there's been no changes to this since we took it over. Um and currently the discounts um range um from if you saw on the other
slide they range from 25% to 66.67%. Um so we'd like to get it more in line. Um we're proposing uh to do um have a 25% discount on the 10 visit pass um and then in fiscal year 27 change that to 20
and then down to 15. over the next three years, we'd like to get it at a place where we think um it makes more sense. Um and uh we'd like to do that with the 10 visit and the 30 visit. We'd like to discontinue the annual pass. We've not
had any annual pass sales since we took that over. Um and then the same on non-resident um just to gradually change that discount um that they're getting for the multiple visit pass. We'd also are considering a new rate
category for Sarasota County residents. Um so what this is is when this year we put into place new definition for a Northport resident. That's the same definition that we use at our other facilities. you have to actually live in Northport. Um, previously it was any
Sarasota County resident and that was uh brought over from when the city and the county owned it jointly. So, we considered all of Sarasota County residents. We stopped that this fiscal year. Um, we've had some feedback from many of the neighbors that live very close by to War Mineral Springs but are
not considered a resident. Um, so we'd like to add this category. So there'd still be Northport, then there'd be Sarasota County, then there'd be non-resident. And so this where we placed it puts them right in the middle of those two categories that already exist
and applies the same discounts over the next three years. And this just to show you our um fiscal year 24 annual revenue about 1.5. We had over 127,000 visitors. Um annual expense
was about 1.2. and our cost recovery there 120%. Um, showed you a little bit of a breakdown on who buys the admission um, and whether it's resident or non-resident and who buys passes. Our
average daily attendance 350 patrons. Our average daily operating costs 34.85. So basically um, to break even we're looking at um, on that that we have to charge at least about $10. that's just to break even. That's not to have any of
the additional funding that we're looking to put aside in the fund balance um for improvements um and capital projects. So, as I said, there's been no increases to Warm Springs Park daily admission or pass fees since joint ownership with the
Sarasota County in 2012. And then the city purchased the county's interest in 2014. In fiscal year 25, the residency parameters were revised to apply the resident rates to Northport residents only, removing the broader Sarasota County residents from being eligible for
resident rates. This is consistent with practices at other parks and recreation facilities. The addition of a new Sarasota County rate category makes the park more accessible to nearby households while also encouraging local tourism. The proposed phase rate plan strikes a
balance between affordability and sustainability by keeping the base daily admission rate steady and adjusting the multi-visit pass discount. By adjusting the multi-visit pass fees, an additional 514,000 in revenue is expected over the course of the next three years based on
current um attendance levels, which we would look to reinvest into infrastructure improvements and long-term capital needs within the War Mineral Springs fund. And that three-year plan should take us right about to where we would be opening the new buildings on site. So, if um if you
have any questions, I'm happy to answer them. I've got our team here as well. Um but we would be looking to have this incorporated into the second reading um of the appendix A for the fee ordinance. Thank you for that, mayor. Um I saw that
Commissioner Petro was on the board before we kind of started into one mineral. Commissioner, what do you want to do? Your questions are are more generic to the overall ordinance. Do you wanna weigh and this way if anybody wants to weigh
in on the warm mineral springs and then we'll you good. All right. Who has questions on warm mineral springs on this commissioner? Okay. Thank you, mayor. Um just one
question. um on the slide that identifies annual visitors is is that visits or is it visitors? So if Barbara Langden goes to Warm Mineral Springs five times in the month of May,
is that counted once or is that counted five times? Five visits. Okay. So, it's really visits, not visitors, because my general impression is that the people who go there are really dedicated users of the springs.
Um, and I I'd be just very interested in that number. Can Can we get to it at all? How many unique visitors we have to the springs in a year's time? Any rough back of the envelope estimates? We
probably could. We'd have to set up the software a little bit differently. Um, right now the daily admission I don't believe is set up that way to take that information. It's a quicker pass through. Um, passes we we have that information, but I don't believe we have
it readily available. Okay. Okay. Because I I don't know about others, but I'd be really interested in how many people are actually using the spring. Unique visitors. Unique visitors. Yeah. One thing I can give you uh Trish just just for the
record is 49,000 individual admissions were paid last year and 77 were passholders. So that does speak to the multi visits are in the 77 and the unique individuals would be in the 49. Okay. Thank you. Oh, we can get that report.
That would be great. Thank you. Um, I'm very happy to hear you say that the intention of the changes to the fee structure is to make sure that we're covering not just the operational expenses, but also property maintenance
and RNR for the buildings. We're investing a lot in the new buildings out there and and I'd really love to keep them right up to snuff and and not have the situation we've had in the past 10 or 15 years. My my only other comment is
I really like the proposed fee structure um for 26 and 28 and I think the discounts are much more reasonable um and in line 66% is a really hefty
discount. So I really like the schedule you've put together for the next few years. Thank you for that. That's it for me. Um the only thing you know I'm I'm wondering is with the changes in fee structure I mean
we're looking at over a threeyear period a little under a half a million dollars thereabouts in excess going towards you know repairs may is it enough? Do you do you think it's it's enough? My my concern only is that the cost of labor is goes up, cost of utilities go up,
cost of materials, cost of you know everything goes up over the next three years. Have we built enough into this rate structure to compensate or or are we going to see that half a million dollars end up being just aundred 200,000 at the
end of three years because cost increases over the next three years have eaten that up. I mean, I I don't want to charge out of the, you know, out of the like so much that it deters people from wanting to go there. I get the value of
it for people's health and and and you know, especially since so many of the people are repetitive. I mean, they really, you know, there's a lot of dedicated people, but I'm just questioning is it enough? because, you know, once we
once the work is completed on the on the buildings and and that upgrade's done, I mean, there's going to have to be I don't see how there can't be some more dramatic increases in rates in order to properly reserve for repairs,
maintenance, and capital improvements over time with with just the Mineral Springs entity itself. So, I'm just wondering at did we do enough here? Are we setting ourselves up for in three years when we unveil all the upgrades?
Are we looking at a a a big bump in rate, which is what I see happening if we don't I this was designed to get us up to what we see as opening for the new buildings. Um I think once that happens, we
reevaluate. Uh but even though we're proposing this phase plan, we still need to come back to you each year with proposed rates through the ordinance. So if for some reason um expenses have changed dramatically, we're going to come back to you and and have some logic
on why we're wanting to increase that or or make a change. Sense. I don't have anything else on this uh particular item on the on the uh mineral springs. Anybody else want to weigh in
or are you guys good? Yeah, Commissioner Petros more on a general ordinance question. So, I guess Commissioner, you're up. Thank you, Mayor. Um Cindy, I have a question. in this or when you said you're going to incorporate in the second reading
more or less these fees what exactly are you going to incorporate because I have not found anything in this one that we are looking at now no it's not in there so we'd be looking for you to um acknowledge that when you make a motion um to incorporate this
into the second reading it would be the fiscal year 26 figures that we show in the proposed fee structure um slide and also the new rate category for fiscal year 26 for Sarasota County residents. So that does not eliminate Northport
residents. It's still going to be at they would still have the lowest rate and then Sarasota County would be 18. Yes, they would be between Northport and non-resident. Okay. So those people that live in close proximity, they're going to enjoy $2
savings per pass. Correct. Okay, that's for the warm mineral springs. Um, the other question I have because I'm looking at this ordinance and that is for a water park
and um what is the current rate for a child under 18 years of age to attend the water park? I'll have our aquatics manager come down
and speak to that. For the record, Devon Pulis, aquatics manager. So for a resident child, it is $8 to get into the water park and uh for the adult because adult have to be there. Correct. So for the adult is 10 for a
resident. And what are you proposing for the next year? So for resident rates, we're proposing they stay the same. It's only an increase to non-resident rates to the water park. Okay. Thank you. And I'm glad to hear that because we
don't want to be a burdensome for families who have one, two, three kids. And that adds up. I know Centennial Park charges, if I'm not mistaken, $2 per person, which is
if we're looking at the comparables and which are the main factor, I think that surrounding facilities speak for themselves. It's just $2. I don't know if there's any way to wiggle to lower that for the families
of three kids or just a thought. So, uh, Charlotte County has made a, um, uh, decision that their aquatics facilities are quality of life amenities
and they have purposely priced those where they are um, subsidizing a large amount of all of the pool budgets. We do have a proposed fee um, for the off season. You want to speak to that? Yeah,
we in the winter time we do tend to lose a lot um to our neighboring community because the Charlotte County Commission's um objective is that quality of life amenities are kind of what gets subsidized by the things that can pay for them. So it's $3 if I want to go to Centennial Park and swim and I
can swim all day for $3. Our, you know, $10 adult fee prohibits me as a Northport resident from doing that every day when I can go to Charlotte County, which is just down the street for the $3. So, we did propose this year that we we kind of mitigate that fee in the off
season and come down to like a three and a $5 rate for our residents who are just coming in to use that one amenity in the winter months. And is that going to be in in this ordinance? It is in the ordinance. You'll see that change. It's a new fee. Um but it just
kind of addresses it. We feel that we will we will attract more. So, at the end of the day, we'll actually have more people in the pool and we'll make more money because we won't be losing them to the neighboring communities. That was my point. We might charge less but get more people and make more money
whereas charging $10 or more just to cover the cost is not right feasible. It's not really Yeah. So, that one is in there. It's towards the end you'll see it as a new fee. Okay. Thank you. And just looking at the
line items uh 68, it says these are not more restrictive or burning some than current fees. So I'm glad to hear that. Um and the other question I had was and maybe city manager can answer this.
Are these all the fees? Are these exact fees that have been done by the consultant or we made some changes on our own or we just took whatever they proposed and did it translated into this ordinance?
I don't believe we made any changes on our side. You're saying there was something made on your side. You're right. excluding what we were going well based based on the discussion that commission had when the wilden presentation was done there was a desire to have non-residents pay a higher fee
and we have incorporated that above what had recommended and that is what you saw in the first presentation or I mean in the in the presentation tonight um and the last question from uh when I'm looking at line 134 of this
ordinance, it says solid waste district fees. Uh solid waste new residential structure fee and apprentices service initiation fee. I'm not sure what that is. Can somebody
explain it to? And it's a it's a big jump. 16% jump. Does it mean that if I'm building a house, I'm going to be charged that? Uh, good evening, Frank Lama. For the
records, always manager. Uh, what that is is, uh, when you move into your new home, we drop off totes. Uh, the three totes, recycling, and the garbage. That's what that is. That's a new construction or it's not a new move in. It's or because when people
move in, they inherit those current garbage cans. Correct. So if they have those, there's no fee. Correct. Correct. It's only if you're getting them. Correct. Okay. That's it for for now on the scheduled fees. Commissioner Langden.
Yeah. Just a quick comment um because folks might not be aware but uh Northport taxpayers are subsidizing the aquatic center to the tune of about a half a million dollars a year. So I think it's important that we recognize
that. That's it. Um Commissioner Duval. Thank you, Mayor. Um overall on all the fee increases um or the fee changes, they're not all
increases. I thought they were all reasonable with the one question on uh the fees for the police department seem to be you know some of the
increases for by if there was an officer uh requested on a special detail it was $61 an hour uh it's moved to a proposed fee of 85. That's an increase of $24.
Um, that's a hefty percentage. Does that represent um my my question is does that represent the fact that a new contract was signed?
you know, it was negotiated, you know, new fees were negotiated last last year and then we approved the contract earlier this year. Is basically, you know, that's my question is, you know,
why do those fees seem to be percentage-wise higher than most of the other increases for other departments? And I'm not saying these fees aren't needed. I'm just asking.
No problem. Uh Chris Morales, deputy chief, Northport Police. So, as you as you can see, those fees, sir. Yes. Um they were compared to our local partners in the area um including the state. But what you've seen from the 61 to the $25
increase is is a factor of officers pay increases have gone up. So that has to adjust as well. That's yeah that's one I suspect that I just and that's across the whole area that that's that's all been adjusted. So thank you very much. You're welcome.
Um all I would say is that while there are a significant number of increases in these rates, they are at least well documented and and supported. You know, it was not that long back when last year, I believe, we
took a crack at this and proposed rates that were based on market. Okay. what were our neighborhood communities charging for various fees? And and it was a concern that um
if we were going to raise fees, there should be more of an independent third party study and analysis done and that's exactly what was done here. So, you know, I find it interesting that when I did a little exercise and compared the
fee structures here in this first reading of this ordinance with what was proposed a year or so back, these are actually in most cases higher. So it it tells you
that while you know there wasn't as much substantiation perhaps or or or uh or independent study those rates would have been a little bit less than these but I'm happy to see that you know we did
the right thing which I think we did in in in going out to a independent company to to analyze these rates and make sure that there was some substantiation and justification for them. So, I'm in support of these rates. I think uh you know, the goal here isn't to make money
off them. It's it's to cover the cost of providing a lot of these services. You know, unfortunately, the costs just continue to go up. So, you know, unless anyone uh has some additional input on this, uh I'll ask if there's any public
comment. Commissioner the police detail. Um, do we give any breaks for the nonforprofits, churches or any other organizations
or or u food pantries or and I guess the next question I have is some busy intersections where the lot traffic. There's a almost impossible to have traffic without the police being present. Do they still have to pay for
the detail or the police determines and direct? Todd Garrison, chief of police. The um fee is the same for everybody whether they're nonprofit or forprofit. And um yes, if there's a traffic related uh detail to that, then it would still
be required to pay for that. They still have to pay. Yes. Okay. So, it's not like if there's a need and the police officer passes by. Well, you know, unfortunately, Commissioner, everybody's got a need. So, you know, we have to be kind of across the board and everybody's got to
pay it because if I take resources off the road to cover that, then I don't have those officers be able to respond emergencies with progress. Okay. Just information. Okay. Thank you. Anything else, commissioners, to this agenda
item? City clerk, we have any public comments? Then I'm going to close this public hearing and request a motion. I'll I'll make it, Mr. Mayor. Um, I move to continue ordinance number 2025-14
uh to second reading on July 22nd, 2025, incorporating the new rate structure for Sarasota County residents and including the recommended rate and discount structure for 2026 through 2028
regarding mineral springs regarding more mineral springs. Thank you. Have a second. Second. All right. Got a motion by Commissioner Langden, seconded by the vice mayor. Do
we need to have city clerk read it back? Everybody set and let's vote and that passes 520. Moving on to ordinance number 2025-16 I believe. Uh, need a motion to direct
city clerk to read by title only. So moved. A motion by Commissioner Langden, seconded by the vice mayor to direct city clerk to read by title only. Let's vote on this one. And that passes five to zero. City
clerk, if you'd be kind enough. Ordinance number 2025-16, an ordinance of the city of Northport, Florida, clarifying the qualifications for appointment as a hearing officer and alternate hearing officers, amending the city code of the city of Northport, Florida, section 2-11 and 2-505,
providing for findings, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, providing for codification, and providing an effective date. Thank you, ma'am. City manager, your item. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, this proposed amendment elocates qualifications of a hearing officer from chapter 2
article 9 code enforcement section 2-505 to chapter 2 article 4 officers and employees division 1 hearing officers and removes the requirement for a hearing officer to reside in or practice law in Sarasota County. Approval of this
ordinance will facilitate appointment of alternate hearing officers to help prevent cancellation of code enforcement and zoning appeal hearings, thereby thereby avoiding delayed abatement or correction of code violations that negatively impact uh neighborhoods and
ensure the city processes appeals and variances applications within the required statutory timelines. We ask that you approve ordinance number 2025-16 on first reading and continue to the second reading on July 22nd, 2025. Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir. Uh, commissioners, anything to this one? I seek Commissioner Petro. Thank you, ma'am. You're up. Um, question line 118
of this proposed ordinance. So support staff. The city commission shall provide clerical, administrative, and legal support to the hearing officers. Practically speaking, how does the board do this?
How does the board do this? Well, it says the city commission, which is us, the board, shall provide clerical, administrative, and legal support to the hearing officers. I believe well if I'm looking at it correctly line 118
um the hearing officer can he's at the hearing and conducting the hearing there there are staff that are related to that hearing that are provided so that they may perform their duties but I could be wrong. Good evening, Elena Ray, director of
development services. That staff is provided through the clerk's office um and the city attorney's office. There's support staff. Um so those since those are charter body or charter officers of the city commission, you are by virtue
and delegation providing that those services. Are we directly involved in this process of implementing line 118? You are not. Okay. It's it's by delegation to your to your charter officers.
Okay. And then the compensation will be determined by the board. Correct. There's a there's a schedule for that and it's essentially a contract that's entered into between the commission and the hearing officer.
Thank you. Anything else to this? Going once, going twice. Everybody's good. Any public comment? Then I'll close this public hearing and
request a motion. I'll make it move to continue ordinance number 2025-16 to second reading on July 22nd, 2025. Got a motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Dval to continue
ordinance 2025-16 second reading on July 22nd, 2025. There's nothing more to this item. Let's vote and that passes 520. Moving on. Ordinance number 2025-17.
Uh need a motion to direct city clerk to read by title only. So moved. Got a motion by commissioner uh who are either do I by commissioner Langden seconded by
vice mayor. Let's vote already. N senior moment and that passes 520. City Clerk. Ordinance number 2025-17. An ordinance of the city of Northport, Florida, amending the non-district budget and capital improvement budget
for fiscal year 2024 through 2025 for outsourced fleet repair services and increase in transportation impact fee funding for price widening phase 1 project R15PW1 in the amount of $6,681,789. providing for findings, providing for
posting, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, and providing an effective date. Thank you, ma'am. City manager. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, this is a two-part budget amendment. Uh, the first being the Department of Public Works is seeking an amendment to the current year fiscal year 202425 from the fleet
management division division to increase the outsourced expense account in the amount of $200,000. Uh the funds from the budget amendment will keep the division funded through the year to cover the remaining fleet services activities to support city vehicles and equipment. Uh the second
one is a request to add transportation impact fee funds to price widening phase one project in the amount of $6,481,789 from fund balance. This will allow public works to reduce the more restrictive road and drainage district funds and return that amount to fund
balance. The companion budget amendment discussed earlier today was resolution number 2025-R47 and the govern on the governing uh body of the road and drainage district meeting agenda. These actions will bring the road and drainage district fund
balance over the required 20% per policy within the two years required. Uh we ask that you approve ordinance number 2025-17 and move it to second reading on July 22nd, 2025. Thank you, commissioners. Thank you, city manager. Uh, commission,
anything to this. We're good. This is the companion bill to the ordinance to the previous one. So, all right. If there's nothing more, any uh public comment, then I'll close this public hearing and uh look for a motion.
I'll make it. I move to continue ordinance number 2025-17 to second reading on July 22nd, 2025. Dang it. Got a motion by Commissioner Langden, seconded by the vice mayor to
continue ordinance 2025-17, second reading on July 22nd, 2025. Let's vote. And that passes 5 to zero. Moving on to ordinance number 2025-18. Need a motion to direct city clerk to
read by title only. So moved. Second. Got a uh motion by Vice Mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden to direct city clerk to read by title only. Let's vote on that, folks.
Metro and that passes 520 to zero. City clerk, you're up. Ordinance number Oh, I'm sorry. Ordinance number 2025-18, an ordinance of the city of Northport, Florida, amending the non-district bud
budget for fiscal year 2024-2025 for purchase of items from federal forfeiture funds in the amount of $159,66, providing for findings, providing for posting, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, and providing an effective date. Thank you, ma'am. City manager.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This proposed ordinance number 2025-18 will be amending the non-district budget for the fiscal year 2042 uh for as a request for the expenditures of the Florida funds allocated to the
Northport Police Department during the current year fiscal year 202425 total $159,66. the items for which this forfeiture would be used for. Is it approved? We'll come back to you on July 22nd, 2025. We
ask that you approve the ordinance number 2025 18 as presented and move the second reading on the date of July 22nd, 2025. Thank you, sir. Commissioners,
anything to this item? Questions? only once, twice, and three times. Any public comment? Then I'll close this public hearing, request a motion. I'll make it move to continue ordinance number 2025-8,
the second reading on July 22nd, 2025. Second. A motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden to continue ordinance 2025-8, the second reading on July 22nd, 2025.
And let's vote. And that passes 520. Moving on to general business 25-2359. Uh, city clerk, you want to introduce this item? This item is regarding the memorandum
that was emailed to commission um regarding the historic and cultural advisory board significance and validation of suspected historical sites within the city of Northport. And this was just placed here for any possible commission discussion or direction on this item. Gotcha.
All right, commissioners. Who's got something to say on this one? Commissioner Langden. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I have a question of city clerk. Do we have a policy or any guidance on what constitutes a historical or cultural
site? Anything we can sort of lean on to make these decisions? I do not know. I believe that the staff lean was supposed to be here to answer any questions or I don't see her. Good evening, Trisha Wisner. Um, there
are not current guidelines for the city has not adopted any current guidelines for what constitutes a historic site. We had discussed this with the historic cultural advisory board, but have not quite gotten there yet. Okay,
I have um a couple of other questions, but I see city attorney on the board. Yes, and Coglin, assistant city attorney. I can add to that um briefly. So, we do not have a policy on the historical and cultural board. I believe what the staff leazison did here is used
uh Sarasota County's um rules that she had been a part of before. Uh my suggestion was potentially coming up with a policy or helping them create a policy based on either Kate Coral or somebody who has established guidelines um to help out. Currently the power and
duties are just in our city code section 4-192. Um and that just identifies what they're here to do, not necessarily a policy to break that down. Thank you for that. Additionally, in October of 2024, we did send a memo back
to the historical cultural advisory board noting that we were looking for information to substantiate the claims that these are historic items and they have been unable to provide us any of that documentation. Um, I have a question specific to the
tarpentine wolves or um I don't know if Miss Balia might remember this, but a few years ago we did have a gentleman come and speak to us about the tarpentine warf. I think it was a warf. And I I
thought at that time staff did go out with that gentleman and try to find that site and were unsuccessful is my memory serving me. Actually, some of that um the pieces and
parts from what was potentially a tarpentine dock or um others think it might be a cattle crossing or something of that nature um were actually detached. So they have been taken and they are currently at the public works
yard for evaluation. However, no one has come to evaluate those. For the record, Juliana Balia, assistant city manager. Uh about six years ago, Chuck Speak and myself uh we went out with Mr. English and we were searching for those. We spent probably more than a
half a day. We didn't find anything. That's about six years ago. Okay. Thank you for that, Missia. You're welcome. I'm really feeling the need for a policy. I I don't know how to evaluate these items and all I can think
about is the fact that we we have um our structure on warm mineral springs, the cycllorama, which I think by any definition um is a a structure of some historical
significance. And I just have to wonder why our historical advisory board is is not sort of all over that. Um maybe that's more of a rhetorical question or um you know
we have an incredible structure and incredible opportunity to rehab that building. Now, in the current work we're doing um at War Mineral Springs, we are spending some money to secure that
building so that it does not um be damaged, you know, any more than it already has been by weather and and just general deterioration. But for me, I would love to see our
historical and cultural board take a look at that and and make some recommendations of what we might do with that building. I'd love to see the community um who so passionately came out regarding what we did with the
buildings and the property at Warm Mineral Springs to take an interest in that structure. I have long felt that some type of historical or archaeological museum would be perfect for that structure. So I don't know how
others feel about that if we might want to give some direction to the historical board to perhaps look at that. Um in my mind it is the historical elephant in the room. Um, and I I'd really like to
see the community rally around it and help us figure out how to rehab it and what well what to do with it and then how to rehab it for that purpose. So those are my only thoughts on the topic. Um you know there my personal take is
that you know there's there is tremendous value in any municipality um identifying and and and uh for future generations the historical and cultural significance of our city and I think
there's real value in that. I think the first step might be before we go selecting specific locations or or artifacts or you name it, but to come up with a set of guidelines and criteria for for how we
define what's historical and cultural and um and and begin with that. I you know I I I certainly think that the the historical and cultural advisory board, you know, has the right intentions in mind here. I
think we just maybe need to take it step by step and and I think they'd be I would think they'd be happy and delighted to work on a set of guidelines and criteria that they could bring back to us at, you know, to review and and make a decision on and then move to the
next step after that. So, you know, I'd love to entertain a motion from somebody to uh from any of my fellow commissioners to do just that. If if you're so inclined, I'd give it a whack.
Um, I move to direct city clerk um to work with the historical and cultural board and their liaison uh to uh create a draft of a potential
policy that can guide future commission decisions um in this area. report. Uh oh. Before we take that motion under consideration, I would ask city clerk, do we have any public comment?
Thank you, vice mayor. Back to you. Do you need me to repeat that, city clerk? And the staff leaison to create a draft policy. I wanted to add regarding designating historic sites. Just so we know what the policy is for.
I'd like that. Okay. Got a motion by uh Mr. Langden, seconded by the vice mayor. We don't need to read it back, I don't think, at this point. So, let's Nobody else has anything to it. Let's vote. And that passes 520.
All right. Um at this point, the next general business item 25-2440 necessitates uh a hookup with our u our bond council and uh PFM advisor. Uh,
you need about five minutes, city clerk. All right, I'm going to take a quick recess of five minutes while she connects with them and then we'll be back here at 7:05. What? gentlemen here just submitted public comment. So
they're going to ask for public comment. So once this is all done, they'll close that out that well. It looks like you want to submit another one or you want to make an amendment. Yeah. Right. Ryan,
good evening. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I can ask. We We tend to I tend to look at things everyone is can you hear me? I can. Yes. Okay. I'm going to put you on hold. We're on a five minute recess. I just wanted to get you connected.
Thank you. Yeah. Um two cards. You guys submit one each. Three total. Okay. I will get with her in a second. to you guys in clarification. Hello, this is Jay. Hi Jay, this is Heather. I'm going to put you on a brief hold by try and merge
the two calls. Okay. Okay. Can you both hear me? Yes, I can. Okay, we're on a recess until 7:05 and then we'll start your item. Okay.
Very good. All right. Thank you. Thanks. Um, next item up on the agenda is 25-2440. Um, city manager, this is your item. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh this item
is titled discussion and possible direction regarding the public private partnership P3 conceptual proposal related to the police department headquarters facility solid waste transport station and wastewater treatment facility. The city of Northport has received an
unsolicited P3 conceptual proposal from Florida Development Solutions LLC accompanied by the required $15,000 review fee. The proposal encompasses three infrastructure projects. The police department headquarters, wastewater facility expansion and
renovation, and solid waste transfer station. Following the initial review, it has been determined that the unsolicited P3 conceptual proposal does meet the code requirements for commission consideration and is suitable for presentation to determine whether to
proceed with substantive review. The city commission is requested to decide regarding the P3 conceptual proposal. Commission has two available options. Option one is rejection rejection without substantive review. Should the commission elect to reject the P3
conceptual proposal without conducting the substantive review, city will return the $15,000 proposal fee to the Florida Development Solutions LLC. Option two is
acceptance or the substantive review. Should the commission accept the P3 conceptual proposal or the substantive review, the city manager will provide written notification to the private entity regarding the anticipated time frame required for the city to complete
the comprehensive review of the unsolicited P3 conceptual proposal. Um, we do have our team as well as, you know, uh, bond council and PFM on the line to answer any questions you may have in your decision-making process.
Point of clarification, city manager, do you want to are are we considering this P3 proposal uh, a a three project parcel or individual? Oh, I'm sorry, city manager, point of clarification. Is the um
is the objective here to look at this P3 proposal as a three project proposal or three separate P3s? Um I may have to ask for some legal assistance, but I believe you should review them individually um for what
they are. They're all included in one proposal to you, but the projects um are separate in how we actually view them and we'll actually take action on them in the future. But
I might need some clarification. Yeah. Good evening. This is Ken Arton um with Bryant Miller Olive. We're assisting the city in the review of the P3 unsolicited P3 proposal. And yes, you can consider
the project individually or as a group. There was in my review of the proposal. There was no requirement that it's an all ornone proposal. Good. Thank you. All right. And perhaps the best way to to do this is let's take
them one at a time and let's let's talk about you know does this P3 lend itself to initially up police department headquarters facility and and uh because at our last meeting I believe we did
have a variety of options. This agenda item speaks to the P3 itself. So, you know, uh, we should probably try to stay focused on that as to whether or not we think this the the P3 is is a direction
we we wish to we wish to move forward on, not necessarily to approve, but to direct staff to move in that direction and further explore because the book we received um on the P3 was extremely
general obviously and would need refinement. and and clarity as as to the specifics of what we'd be looking at. So, you know, open this up. Um, whoever has questions. Vice Mayor, you're up.
All right. To whoever may be, I'm looking at the backup material and I'm I'm going straight down to the financing um for the police department. It's talking uh annual renewal of rent paying it back
would be 6,500,000. Is that a correct figure on what we be paying yearly into this P3 under that financing guys? Yes, sir. Based on the proposal you're looking at? Yes. Um, and I know it really in in that
number, no matter no matter how far you go out, if you go 15 year, 25 year, 35 year, that 6.5 is pretty close to being constant because then it goes to 6.3, 6.2, all you're adding on is time and still making about the same payment each
year, but for more multiple years down the road. And the interest rate fluctuates up the longer you go to pay for it. So, if anything were to be done, the 15-year plan would have been about the best way to go. But
can you tell me honestly, we got $6.5 million to where we can pay each year to build this PD? Currently, do you have that money currently to Will we have that money? Oh, will you? Because I know construction's two years and then we make our first payment.
Correct. Yes, approximately. Absolutely. I believe the answer is it depends. It depends on several factors. You know, one, it depends on the financial
windfall from the UODC rewrite that occurred and BFM has given us some financial projections that would help that number be a reality. Um, it also depends if I think if you have an option to uh increase some revenue in this
scenario. if you were to add or increase a tax that would allow you to get there as well. So, I think it depends, but currently you do not. No. Yeah, I I got that. Um,
it's it's just a huge number. And uh I'll let somebody else ask a few questions. I may have another one here in a moment, but let me think on it a second. I have a feeling as as we talk more and more questions will pop up. U I have a a
more focused question on on structuring if you know from a commission standpoint we're trying to determine obviously how we would pay for this and my question is what what rules or guidelines are there
depending on the structure I mean there's a couple of options in doing a P3 how how it's structured how that lease option is is structure Ed, is it a capitalized lease? Is it a regular lease? How does that all work? And how
does that translate into what funds are available to be able to pay for this? Can general fund be used for capitalized lease? Um, you know, if not, is there a way to structure this transaction so that general fund monies can be used to
pay the lease? I mean, we lease stuff all the time, but I assume this is structurally somewhat a little different. So, I'm looking for help from either bond counsel or PFM on this if if possible to to shed some light on it.
If I may, this is Ken Art. Um, and that's a very good question. Um and it would be uh part of our review if the commission decides to accept the proposal and direct um staff to review
it and engage in um a process of uh with the with the developer. We'd have to explore all of those questions. We do not have those answers tonight. We know the charter limitations um and we would
have to determine um if the um commission had the legal authority given whatever structure we end up on um you know to enter into that transaction. That is all the work that we have to do
and that's in part why the P3 developer pays the fee for the work to be done by your outside consultants to analyze this given your legal constraints. Mayor and commissioners, this is Jay Glover from PFM. I'm on the line as well
and I am pinch hitting for Jeremy Netail. He's actually on vacation this week, but I'm another partner in in the firm. And I would just echo what what Ken had mentioned from a financial perspective. I think it was mentioned early on the proposal is kind of light on details and has some kind of big
picture figures. But I think in order to answer a lot of the questions that you all might have tonight, we're going to have to dig in and talk to this developer and get a little bit more information. I I will note one of the things that was mentioned was about the 6.5 or $3 million rent. The way I read
that, that's the renewal rent and the actual starting base rent is a little bit higher than that. But again, we just need more detail and would have to kind of review this and talk to the developer to address a lot of these questions about, you know, what revenue streams could be used to repay and how you might
repay this because it will vary depending on the structure. Thank you, Jay. Um, you know, in in connection with that, it it raises another issue which which opens up another door since since you would have
to undertake an analysis of of how and if this could be structured in a fashion that would allow us to use general fund money to to service this lease um or proposed lease. Um,
at the same time, if it were determined that a validation process or or or voter approval was necessary, how do you you two view the P3 proposal
as opposed to going uh uh certificates of of participation route all by ourselves? Um certainly the costs would be dramatically less than than than working with a third party. Um and if
the hurdles the legal hurdles and the approval hurdles were equally as great. So, I'm and the reason I'm asking this is I'm trying to wrap my head around I don't want to send you all out for exercise only to find that we have
certain regulatory hurdles or charter hurdles to overcome that make alternatives to the P3 a viable pathway. So, you know, I I I'm not quite sure where to where to go on this. I mean, we're going to have to
give you all some good direction as as to what you you look at because I think, you know, I was hoping we would have the answers to these questions this evening about is there are there ways to structure
this transaction, this P3, so that general funds can be used to pay a lease. I mean, you know, I Yeah. And if I might just kind of clarify one thing or ask Ken too, when when you use the word general fund revenues, are you referring to advalorum revenues or non-ablom revenues because I
think they would both be within the general fund and there's a bit of a distinction between those two and how they can be used to repay debt. Advalorum. Yeah. So Ken, you might want to comment on that. I don't
Do I always have to be the bad guy? speed gives us the facts, right? Just the facts. Um, again, Ken Artton from Bryant Miller Olive. Um, I make light of that issue, but in
certain cases, we've used advorum taxes to uh pay for capital projects. Um but there are rules where um you have to uh basically abide by the state constitution and the state statutes with
respect to using your non-edalone revenues such as franchise fees, sales tax. Those are nonpropy tax type revenues and advalone revenues. Um we haven't studied um their proposal. We
don't know what they're bringing to the table as far as the amount of risk they're going to take uh with respect to the things that we can and can cannot do. But this is the first step. Um we I am sure we're going to have more commi
uh conversations in front of the commission with respect to hey what we can do. Um we just need to know um today if this is something you want us to look into. ethanol. Um,
yeah, certainly from my standpoint, I I would certainly like a lot of legal and financial guidance on this as as well as as as well as quite honestly from our our our PFM financial consultants as as to their recommendations on the financial
viability of this and and how it how it how it fits in in the overall planning, the the financial planning for the city. I mean, you all put together a a a pretty comprehensive uh finance plan over a period of
extended period of years that lays out projected revenues for this city and we're looking at at, you know, somewhat significant project financially for the city. I I'd certainly want some hard in
writing opinions from from PFM with regard to their recommendations. You know, you all are our financial consultants and adviserss. I'd sure like to know whether you guys think this is a good idea, how this would best be done. I mean, we have a we have a need. There
is no question we have a need for a police headquarters. I at this point wouldn't take issue with two independent professional consulting studies that said the scope is is what's required here. So the size and the price is what
the professionals have said we need. That set aside doesn't mean that we just do it if we can't do it. And and I certainly as a commissioner don't want to be so presumptive as to think I can make that decision by myself. I want our
financial experts to weigh in and I want some real financial input like does this make sense? How does it work? If we're going to do it, how do we structure this in a way that makes sense? We're not looking at a financial uptick from the
ULDC rewrite and some of the other development projects in the works for a good five years. That's everything working right. So my question is if we're looking at structuring a
transaction that's significant in terms of annual obligation, how are we going to structure this over the next 5 years? Are we going to capitalize some of the interest? Are we going to push out the upfront payments? Are we going to gradually increase the
payments over years? I mean, I guess what I'm saying is, you know, all these things since the answers aren't here tonight and I wouldn't have expected them to, I would anticipate that going forward for the next goround, some of these questions will be answered because
I mean, at least speaking for myself personally, I couldn't possibly make a decision on this. I I have, you know, I I just have too many questions about how we're able to make this project financially fit into our long-term
financial plan. And I don't say that it can't be done. I just don't know how. And we haven't gotten enough financial input from our finance professionals to be able to answer those questions. So, um, that's at for this. I'll I'll I'll
defer now to Vice Mayor. Go ahead. I may have some more questions as well. Yeah, I'm pretty much coattailing on yours with um with the payments and these this goes to the voices in the sky here. Um on that 6.5 and that 8 million the
startup and 6.5 renewal when we go forward, if we were to go forward with this P3, are those numbers negotiable? I mean, are they set in stone? This is the rate it's going to be. Now we just got to come up with a fiscal plan on how to pay for it. Or are
those numbers can they be like mayor said, can they be pushed out? Can we decrease them? I mean, what are our options when it comes to that that section of the stuff? Yeah, this is from
Oh, go ahead, J. Yeah, if I might. Um and and again just to echo I think some of the comments that were just mentioned. I mean that's exactly what PFM would do as part of our review is look at all the different potential financing structures. Um there there are things you can do obviously
deferring lease payments, capitalizing interest, you know ramping up payments, you know, everything you want to do comes at some type of cost though obviously. Um but but that would be what we we would look at. Um and and in terms of whether the figures are negotiable, I
would suggest you that everything in this document is negotiable. Um you know, will it you know, cut the payments in half? Uh you know, no. But but I would suggest that this is probably a starting point and we can negotiate from
here if that's something you want to. But before we would even get into a negotiating position, we'd want to better understand what they're proposing here. Um, and and better understand the terms and conditions because there are a couple of different scenarios for the police station in terms of how they're structuring this and how that might
impact, you know, the various payments. And again, you know, we we haven't had a chance to dig into that or discuss that with the developer, but but would do so as part of the process really before you would make any decisions. And and yes, as was mentioned before, you know, we we would not recommend any type of
financing as your fiduciary that we don't think you could repay over the long term. I mean, just because it's a P3, y'all obviously realize, and it's good that you realize this is not free money like some people think, you have to repay it. um and and determining how that fits into your budget on a
long-term basis and doing some type of sensitivity analysis on that is is something that we would do as part of our analysis before we'd recommend whether you're financing this with a P3 or a revenue bond or anything. That's part of what we do.
All right. Well, I I I definitely appreciate that because, you know, it's either we cut and run or we move forward. And I wanted to know what our options were if if we were to move forward with this. But we also have other options out there as well like with the cops plan and and other types
of things. What scares me is when the mayor brought up about possibly using ad valorum taxes and uh that that's that's going to be a tough bite as well to be able to raise those taxes to be able to pay for this PD as it sits. So it's just
discussions we need to have and uh bring us back to your best homework. That's all I can tell you. Thank you, Mr. Lang. You're welcome. Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Vice Mayor pretty much covered what I was going to say, but but two
things come to my mind. I have absolutely no idea what we can afford. So, and I know that's really dependent on how we structure this deal, but I don't see the sense of
doing a ton of work on this without some idea if if the number that will come out of the pipe at the end is something we can afford. So I don't know whether my comment is sort of chicken and egg but
this is a big nut to swallow and um I I don't know where the money would come except for ad valorum you know so uh I don't know about you all but I would be very reluctant to propose a 20% increase and ad valorum to
fund this police headquarters. So, um, that's sort of one thing I' I'd like to have some sense of how we might structure this. Are there other sources of money we might use to lower the nut
going in um, in some sense of of what we can afford. The the other thing that makes me unsettled and mayor brought this up earlier is um a lot of this is
predicated on our financial revenue assessments as the result of our ULDC changes that show a a a significant uptick in city revenues five years out.
But that uptick is very dependent on progress in activities centers six and 10. There are no utilities out there. So I'm I'm nervous kind of saying, okay, five years out, five years out, we're
going to have that revenue. there are many hurdles for us to overcome and and many things that need to happen over those five years to begin to realize those financial benefits. So, um and I
just read today that my house property went down 20% this past year. So, you start adding up all of those indicators. Um, and while I would consider myself an educated
risktaker, um, I I'm getting very conservative on this because I think we're heading into some really tough waters. And, you know, a lease is a commitment. I mean, you
know, it's not like, okay, we'll pay it this year, we won't pay it next year. No big deal. Uh, you have to pay it. So, uh, yeah, I I'd like to have a sense of how would this be structured? Um, is 119
the number? Are there other sources of revenue that we might use to pair down that number? Is there an appetite for pairing down the project so that it becomes more affordable? And and what might we be
able to afford from Adalorum? and and what would the impact be in terms of our rate? So, and those are are my concerns. You know, listening to to us, I mean, it
seems like there's an appetite to want to know obviously more information than we've got. Um, I don't know that we want to automatically discount the idea of a certificates of participation approach to this project simply out of hand
because we don't have so many answers with regard to how the P3 would work. But, you know, I'm thinking maybe, you know, the right approach is to try to give direction to to a city manager to
direct our our financial adviserss and bond council to work to explore this P3 to look at not discount the possibility of a of a certificates of participation direction and to try to address as many
of the concerns and questions that we've brought up here on the deis today. I I know we're being pretty darn general, but I suppose it will take a series of meetings and updates to be able to get to the point where we can make any kind
of intelligent decision on this. But I I would say it it is in our certainly in our interest since the need exists. We can't just ignore it. We can't turn this police headquarters into a Price Boulevard. We cannot do that. Okay? We
just can't. The price isn't going to go down to build a police headquarters. So, we have to figure out how we're going to do this thing sooner or later in some way, shape, or form. So, I I would say it's in our interest to move forward
with further exploration and and and see where that leads us. Um, you know, I I I don't know that we can be any more specific than that. But I I I mean does you know does Ken and Jay
and and Jerome do you do you have a general feel for for what our general concerns are and what you all think that next step ought to be so that you know we can turn them loose to you know explore this.
Yes, Mr. Mayor. So if it if it is the will of the board for for us to cons continue with this process, there's going to be those questions you asked and probably a lot more that need to be answered. Um the goal tonight is just to figure out if
you want us to go forward and get some more detailed answer brought back to you or to go in a different direction. And the COP process that we talked about earlier, they're they're working um in parallel and simultaneously with each other. One is not going to stop the
other. The the other thing that I think is is is worth everybody being aware of is that the end of this month at our last meeting of this month before we go on recess, we have an agenda item to review the overall PFM uh CIP project list. And
that will also help to shed some light on on capital projects other than these three that have to weigh in our minds as we look overall at at our financial situation and what we can and can't afford where the best bang
for the buck is where we do the best for the most and the best for the city. So I think that by moving this forward for further exploration gives us the time to do that and allow things to work concurrently. So at some point in the not too distant
future we can make some more intelligent you know decisions on this because we're not anywhere near there now. Vice Mayor never mind. Cool. Commissioner Petro. Thank you mayor. uh just uh I'll be short not only we have many hurdles how
to repay I don't think we can do 20% hike I mean we making a city not affordable to live and yes we are selling the city but um the average person almost cannot afford to live in our city
I think the best way to tackle these projects in order of importance um and that is what uh we all know that is a wastewater project is the most important because we're going to get fines for that. Um I
do believe that the one that will make us money is uh transfer station and obviously I'm not discounting police station. We do need a police station. uh just the order of importance. Um but I
want to be realistic and um ask uh a question. Why are we exploring just one option as a P3? We from what I understand the
certificate of participation is the best way to go as far as savings. and u wise financial decision and I do believe it's a tenth of a percent
more than versus general bond and I think this is a viable option and probably the only option we should be talking about now I mean we can talk about it spend it how much is it $15,000 um to do more research get more answers
But I think we should be more focused uh and try to minimize and not not minimize the damage but minimize the expense as far as what's the best in the interest of the taxpayers. Um
as as I was elected I I made a promise to be financially fiscally responsible uh with the taxpayers money. I do believe certificate of participation is the best way to go. um as we've heard from uh our legislative panelist a small
presentation when we had that conversation about uh certificate of participation. So I think we should take that route. I'm not inclined to do the other ones and again I'm repeating myself. I would t tackle these projects in order of importance.
Um, as of right now, I don't know if anyone want to comment on that. Yeah, I would. I'm gonna hop hop the line a little bit. Um, I'm following
with you. My my question would be um if if we do a cops ourselves, it would be less expensive. I don't know how much a lot but but how much time is it going to take us to set up that process on our
own and go through all of those moves? Um I think we had a conversation about that a while ago. I forget if it was in one of my one-on- ons or if we had it here on the deis, but that 6 to 12 months
might it might take us that long to set up that cop's process. So that could result what are we estimating 8 to 10% construction cost increases. So the $10 million
I think part of the analysis we should do because I do agree doing our own cops once we set it up we would have that in place and and we can work with it but but what are the financial impacts of
that because of the delay? My sense is working with a P3, they have the processes set up and, you know, once we, you know, work through the details, it could start right away. So time is money
and um I'd like that to be part of the analysis because I agree doing our own cops seems to make the most sense. Mayor, there's a cost to that. uh reply to this um Commissioner Langden's remarks. We talk about six months, but then we
looked at the graph that uh vice mayor mentioned. 15 is the 15 years and yet we are concerned about six months to setting up our own cops. I mean this is logically speaking we saving in the long
run we're saving much more. I understand the construction cost will go up as everything goes up. um not at that rate that it used to be because the development is slowing down but at the same time we have to look at the
long-term financial impact on the city and thus the taxpayers money. Um I do believe it's fiscally responsible to look uh at cops and probably the only option I would explore and do it right away and
give a direction today to the staff to explore that option. I'm a little bit surprised that we got P3 only and I I understand that's the only available material and uh I did my homework. I read through this basically um not word
for word but I've done some reading. I just do believe it's much more expensive option which brings me very reluctant I'm very reluctant to go any further with this one and and I agree with you. We need to
look at the long-term impacts. I just want to make sure as we evaluate different alternatives, we're really looking at the financial impact of all of them. Um, and time to market is a significant piece. I think we we can probably do one
project um with cops, one project with P3 and see the difference in the impact, financial impact of a lesser project. Obviously, maybe transportation, but I know uh P3 is way too expensive for
the city. Just my opinion, this mayor. Yeah, that's for city manager. with all the discussion that we've had on the PD subject and with the the other ones that we need to discuss um the
transfer station and utilities. Are we still going to be in limbo on the answers that we're asking on those two accounts? Would it be best to group these all three in if we're going to move forward with getting that information? It is
it is your choice. I understand that. But I'm I'm just saying, are we still going to have the same non-answers that we've asked that they need to still work on? Yes. Is what I'm saying. Yes. Any pathway you choose is going to have to lead to a deeper dive into the
information that was received. I think Commissioner Pro said he just said he's you were disappointed. We're just looking at the P3 process right now. That's because you only have you have unsolicited proposal right now for this.
We haven't brought you the cops information back yet because we haven't we're not done doing that. But if you vice mayor with says well say well we want to look at the other three as well we would do the exact same three thing with all three which was to do a deeper
dive of information to bring you back answers to your questions that are most likely going to be consistent across all three projects. Right. I just hate to get into another conversation and go through the same stalemate. See what I'm saying? Because we don't have those answers presently. Correct. But but since you brought it up
about we have this unsolicited uh P3, right? It came to us. We did not go out to them, right? So anybody that came to us saying, "Hey, we want to do this for you. We're going to take that time and look at it."
Whether it's the right option or not, we didn't put out for the P3. That would be a solicited P3. Yes. So, I'm just saying that's why we're we're entertaining it is because it came before us. And you have the option, Mr. Vice Mayor,
to say you would like to go out for a solicited proposal and outline the terms that you want and the company that you got the unsolicited proposal could, you know, weigh in with those uh particular parameters that you are putting out to
the public and, you know, it doesn't exclude them from the process. I'm pretty sure they would still want to be included in that process, but it might sort of make sure that your questions are answered upfront as opposed to the process we're doing now, which is receiving information and then going
back and analyzing it that way. You could sort of turn it around if you would like. I see how sneaker you're getting because uh that may even scrunch them numbers down a little bit due to uh being competitive against the next guy. I'm trying to stay quiet, sir. I see you
make your decision. I got you. Thank you. Yes, sir. Mr. Petro, yes. I think it's premature to talk about one option and move on with this option without the other options on the
table. uh this will be probably an extra I don't want to say waste but staff work because they're going to be doing what we direct them to do right if we only
have one option but if we had three four five options at least two for the sake of an argument um then I would proceed to give a direction but right now I'm unwilling but thank Thank you for bringing this up to us so we can at
least get familiarized and get going, get it going as far as the projects. I appreciate it. But um again repeating myself more options then we can make more decisions. Commissioner Duval, participation sport.
You have anything you want to weigh in on sir? I'm looking at the numbers here and it just looks too expensive to me. If I'm looking at I look at the transfer station at a project cost of $14 million
and I'm looking at a starting base rent of $1,819,114 a year and I pay that in 15 years that comes up 20 over $27 million. If I charge 40,000 customers in this
city that have solid waste fees that get their solid waste picked up, if I charge them $50 a year, 40,000 of them, that's $2 million a year.
We could pay for this thing ourselves and it wouldn't hurt that much. Um, you know, I I key in on the transfer station. That's, you know, that's a We haven't talked to that one yet.
That's been a favorite of mine. Uh, I want to see that. I want to see that in in production. The one, uh, good thing I did see about this was on page 76, there was a statement that said, u revenue from such a thing would stay with the
city. Um, but other than that, I'm looking at these costs and it seems too expensive for me to say, "Yeah, let's do this right now." Perhaps
I'll see it. Perhaps I'm answering Commissioner Langden's questions. I hope. Um, you know, listening to it. Obviously, we're we're nowhere near ready to make a
decision whether uh P3 or cops or any other option makes any sense with regard to the PD headquarters. Not yet. But there's no way to make an intelligent, informed decision unless we
direct staff to work with our partners out there to move the process forward in terms of looking at how it would work, how it could be structured, what the actual costs might be, um, not just of
the P3 proposal for the police headquarters, but for a potential certificates of participation. As I said earlier on in my comments, I really believe those are the two viable options out there for us. And they both have
pros, they both have cons. They both may be way too expensive or they may be affordable if we can find a way to make this make sense. We're here tasked with what do we do next? And it seems to me,
you know, I would certainly entertain a motion from anybody to at least regarding this police headquarters to move forward to explore the details of what this P3 for the police headquarters would be about. At the same time, staff
is already working on certificates of participation, what that would mean, how we would do it. With regard to only the police headquarters, I think we need to or at least my personal opinion is we should move that process forward to learn more so that we can make a
decision. We're we're in no way, shape, or form can we make that decision at this point the information we have. So all nobody's I mean we're not saying we're doing a P3. We're not saying we're going to do a certificates of participation. We're saying we need way
more information on both of these to be able to make some informed decisions. And I would suggest that might be the nature of a motion someone might make with regard to this first piece of this partic particular agenda item. I mean,
why wouldn't you do all three to get info? We haven't got to the other two. We're getting there. You're missing it. That's all right. We're getting there because it may be the wishes of this commission not to
explore P3 at all for the other two projects. That's why we broke it down one by one because I have strong opinions regarding the other two projects and a potential P3. I don't believe anything other than cops and a P3 lend itself to the police
headquarters, if at all. I think there are options, you know, and I think I mean I don't see how you talk about all three together as one there. That's why I asked in the beginning is this just one big P3 for three projects or is it three separate projects? It is three
separate projects. Three separate items to be discussed and analyzed and thought about as to whether we do it and if we do it, how we do it. You can't talk about them all at one time. You just I don't see how because you know everybody's views on each one of these
is different. So I mean in order to get past this the police headquarters P3 proposal you know does anybody want to make a motion to do anything on on that portion of this agenda item.
Mayor, we have public comment for this item as well. Yeah. Before we make a motion. Yes. Do we have public comment? We do. Yes, we do. It's not separated based off of project though, so it will be all the public comment. I suppose we got to hear them then.
I have Kevin Riley followed by Ray Jerry's and John O. Lady first Kevin. Yes, sir. All right. My name is Kevin Riley. live here in
Northport uh since 2016. Um here to talk about I'm here to talk about uh Northport and where it's been, where it's going. Um I'm from Indianapolis
originally. I worked in a large uh pharmaceutical company for many many years and and um today I spent $20. Oh, I spent $20 yesterday and I will spend $20 every 365 days I'm living here
because my taxes are that high. And you guys are you guys have a can of worms here. That's unbelievable. General development didn't do you any real favors when you develop this company this this this town. There's there's no central development anywhere. Um, and
you guys have a real problem and and we recognize that the police have a problem. pain is a problem. We're not Naples. We're not we're not the fifth largest billionaire uh city in in the country. No, no way. Where where where the the billionaires are kicking the
millionaires out. We don't even have too many millionaires. I don't think I did pretty well in my life, but I you know, I'm having a hard time living here. I really am. and uh to to to maintain the
the lifestyle that we do. And you know, we voted down this last election your five things that you wanted to do and everybody unanimously voted down pretty much unanimously. Uh and here you are circumventing
uh with this P3 uh agenda that you have just going around what everybody didn't want to do. I'm president of the boat and beach club. Uh I came down here for the water like my parents did.
And before Ian, we had 250 members. That's a lot of members down here. And it's not cheap having a boat, but that's why we came down here. And um since Hurricane Ian came through,
about 30% of the people that belong here that have money, they uh they moved out because of the hurricanes and uh Helen and the last September storms. Uh they're not adding anything. Um
Commissioner Langdon, you said your house value went down 20%. Well, I think the average is somewhere around eight or 9% of uh of the valuation of houses. And here you guys are talking about uh adding taxes
of Lauren. Um you have the 104 square miles here that you're not developing to the east. Yeah, we need we need another U interchange from 75, but you're building like crazy and you don't have the
infrastructure to do it and here you are trying to figure out how to do it. Thank you, sir. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Yeah. Good evening. My name is Raymond Jarus. uh been a resident here for over 20 years and I want to bring you people back to earth a little bit. Remember
we've had two elections that have turned this both these all these projects down the funding for them. Um Mr. Stokes I kind of thank you for your meeting a couple weeks ago. Um you did want to know why people don't trust you guys.
This is a perfect re perfect example of why there's no trust here. you something gets voted down, instead of coming back to the people and explaining stuff, you try to go around the voters and do whatever you want to with it. Why have
elections if you're going to do that? Um, just a couple of facts now. Uh, Mr. Fletcher admitted that valuation dropped 8.7%. Actually, more than like 10%. Mr. Fletcher. The three worst areas in the
country right now for housing are Cape Coral, which is number one for vacant property and foreclosures. Number two, Ponta Gorta, which is close behind, and number three is Northport. So, we've got a lot of empty properties here, a lot of
buildings, a lot of places that aren't paying any taxes, um that are still getting fire protection, storm water protection, but there's they're not paying tax on it. Um I was here in 2007 2008 for the crash. I
was a realtor. In 2006, I made $70,000. 2007, I made $40,000. 2008 I made $12,000. The property values went from $150,000 average for a house here to $70,000.
Right now we're in the same 10-year cycle. Property is going to drop. It's overpriced. We know it's overpriced. You guys know it's overpriced. How far it drops, who knows? But growth has slowed down to where we're not getting the
growth we were last year or the year before. for some well for whatever reason people aren't coming to Florida like they used to. Uh maybe things have gotten better up north. Maybe it's because CO is over and they actually go to work now. But if you go through with
this and build all these three projects at one time, um where Mr. Fletcher has a $331 million budget, but couldn't cut $3 million out of that to give or break for taxpayers. What are you going to do when you've got $6 million here for the
police station? uh $2 million for the um waste transfer station, which I don't even know what it is. You never explained this to the taxpayers. You said the police department said they need a new police station. You said we're going to build this waste transfer station. To me, it's a garbage dump.
You're going to put a garbage dump in an area that you just reszone commercial and you're going to build a police station because the police department says they need it. The taxpayers don't understand that. I don't understand that. Well, thank you for your time and I hope you really think about this before you
spend our money on it. Thank you, sir. Hi, John O'Grady. Uh, thank you for this opportunity. I'm with Florida Development Solutions and it is our package that you are reviewing. Just a couple notes. Um, we have worked with your legal uh,
consultant and PFM around the state of Florida. We welcome the opportunity for them and your staff to sit down and go side by side just as you're discussing and look at if what is the right course of action. We have won a lot and other
times we've been told no and that's good. The other one I want to let you know about is it's at our risk. We're the ones putting up the money to have this evaluation done because we feel these three projects that we are the right solution and we do have flexible
lease financing that we welcome the opportunity for your staff to look at as well as your consultants as well as cops. It's already set up ready to go tomorrow. And so when you do that cost analysis, is it going to take 10 to 12 months? How much is it going to cost for
that structure compared to us going? We welcome it. We're going to be an open book. We look forward to taking the next step because these are baby steps. Uh taking the next steps, our risk and working with the city of Northport. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
Good. Again, so people realize, you know, this is a process. Nobody's voting here to do anything other than move the process forward
to solicit more information, more understanding so we can make a better decision as to whether or not we can do it and if we were to do it, how it's best to do it and at what cost. So with that, I'll entertain motion if anybody
wants to make it on the police T3 andor cops. You know, vice mayor, I'll make the motion. Uh like to make a motion to direct staff to
work with our partners with with P3 uh folks as well as our bond council and financial advisors to explore the P3 as well as certificates of participation
and to include the vast majority of the concerns and questions that have been voiced here on the Deis and bring back more information so we can hopefully put ourselves in a position to make some decisions regarding the police headquarters
project. We have a motion on the floor made by the mayor, city clerk. Can you read that back to us, please? to direct the city manager to work with PFM and Bryant Miller Olive to explore the P3 NCOPS and to include the vast
majority of concerns and questions expressed and bring back information at a future meeting regarding the police department headquarters. Do we have a second? Second. Seconded by Commissioner Dval. anything to that?
I have a a comment on that. Commissioner, I'd like to suggest an amendment to include a realistic evaluation of the city's ability to pay.
Whatever the result of that analysis is, we have an amendment made by Commissioner Langden. City clerk, can you read that back? To include a realistic evaluation of the city's ability to repay whatever the result of the analysis is.
Do I have a second? Yeah, I'd second that. That was seconded by Mayor Stokes. Anything to the amend amendment? If not, please vote.
And this is on the amendment. This is on the amendment. And that passes 404 to one with Commissioner Pro dissenting. Commissioner Pro, would you like to comment? Yes. I think it's too early in the game without the other option and I don't
think we do need a motion because the staff is already working to obtain more information on cops and also the order of importance of the projects uh specifically with wastewater uh location because it's a regulatory
and we are being we going to be fined on a daily basis if we don't do that. Okay. And on to the original motion. And to that'll be the original motion as amended. Oh, please vote.
That passes 4 to one with Commissioner Pro reads and stated or you got more? Same ones. Okay. Thank you, sir. There you go, sir. Nice job, Vice Mayor. Thank you, sir. All right. Um,
moving on to the second piece of this. Let's talk about the solid waste transfer station. And, uh, feel free. Commissioners, Mr. Langden,
Commissioner Duval, I really thought your finger would be on the button quicker than mine because I know how you feel about um the uh solid waste transfer station. I think of all of the
projects, uh, the vote of the community was the closest on this particular item. Um, also I think that staff did an excellent job of showing how
this particular project would pay for itself. I think another way of saying that if we choose to not do this project then our solid waste costs are going to increase and and we're going to pay it
anyway without getting the facility. So in in my mind I've just felt that this project of all of them and I understand the regulatory things and we'll figure out how to pay for that. But I think in
terms of proceeding with this particular project, it was in in my mind the perfect project to explore um cops or or different ways of making it happen because if we don't do it,
we'll wind up paying it anyway. Uh Vice Mayor. Yeah. Um just going by all the conversations that we've had about these three projects, we have always been pretty adamant on this dis about going forward with the solid waste transfer
station looking at options and the same with the utility. Um that's why I tried mentioning earlier I I believe this board is going to want to move forward with getting the information. We don't have all of the information right now. They're going to tweak it. They're going
to come back with more language. this that and the other. Negotiate this that and the other. We'll have the bottom dollar answers when they come back. That's why I said let's just group them all together and get all the information. Say it's at no cost to us.
They want to make the proposal. Let them make the proposal. Just give them the rock bottom prices and let's move on. That's what we're here for is to get information. We don't know that information till we have it in our hands. So, it's just speculative right now. So, we either move forward on these
projects or we don't. That's all I got. Thank you, Vice Mayor, Commissioner Petro. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, just a quick comment on this project. This is a very profitable project. It's actually
pays for itself. Um, if you look at this project, it's it's going to make city money. And it's not just a a dumpy yard. It's a transfer station. That's exactly what it says, transfer station. With that, we're going to save
the city money on transferring on the actual wear and tear on the trucks. It takes three hours for one truck to get to Sarasota and back. We gonna save money on overtime, on regular time. Um,
we're gonna be minimizing the cost of fuel and on and on and on. This project is common sense. And um, this was indeed the closest project that almost passed.
And um, why it didn't pass? Again, some people voted just to vote no. They voted no just to vote no. But I'm in full support of this project and I think it's a perfect candidate to be on cops trial
type of a pathway to to see how it's going to work out. So those are my five cents. Thank you, Commissioner. Um, yeah. I I
also uh I'm not sure at this point that a P3 uh regarding the solid waste transfer station is a coste effective way to do it. Um I think that um we leave too much on the table. This
project is is is so viable. The ROI return on investment is less than 10 years to pay this entire project off. Um, it saves us, if we don't do it, a couple of million dollars a year of increased costs in vehicles and manpower
that there's just no question this is a most sensible project. I think the most financially viable way to go is our own certificates of participation. You know, any third party, with all due respect, any third party is going to make money off of anything they do.
And I think that here to four we've not done a certificates of participation. We know it is a process. We know it goes through a validation. I think this is a a a viable project, the most viable of of all three projects to do a
certificate of participation on. And to me, I I would be comfortable given staff direction to proceed, you know, with in in that direction. I still would need P personally would need PFM and bond
council to come back and really go through the details of how the entity set up, who controls it, who manages it, who has input into it, what the obligations are to the board. I mean, there is a host of information, some of
which some of us have gleamed, some of us who have not. And I think that that's a much deeper dive, but I think the cops approach is much more viable for this project than a P3. I I don't see how
they can even cost compare. I I just don't. So, it it would be my inclination to um reject the P3 for this specific project, but to direct staff to explore the certificates of participation on
this project in as timely a fashion as possible because this is this is such a smart project and and I mean everything that was made available for this past election cycle, you know, I feel certain had had 30 40
50,000 people voted, people would have, you know, would have overwhelmingly supported this thing. I I you know, I just I mean, it's a no-brainer. It it it saves the city millions of dollars in taxpayer dollars by building this solid waste transfer station. And um not to
mention the pressure it takes off the roads and the ease off of vehicles, talking $450,000 for a garbage truck and we're grinding them into the earth, driving them up and down Route 75. So, I mean, it's just a extremely smart
project in my estimation and not to mention all the money we can make with neighboring communities and counties who might want to down the road actually participate and and buy our services. So, it's one of the only things I know the city actually could make money at.
So, that's my two cents on this one. Anybody else got anything to weigh in on, Commissioner Dval? Anybody? Mr. Mayor with what you just said. Cool. Speaker up above. Mr.
You've all you've all heard before. Speakers on. Yeah, Mr. Mayor, this is Ken Art and I was just trying to um make a point um with respect to the discussion of P3 and COP's
um the proposal that was submitted included certificates of participation as a part of the financing structure. So it's not necessarily um you know um P3 or COP. It's you know
let's evaluate the proposal to see what's the best structure. They have included coops as part of their project. So I I just wanted to make sure that the the commissioners understood that it it
doesn't necessarily rule out coops by considering um the project under the unsolicited proposal. Well, you know, and can I appreciate that? My only question is if if a third party does the coop,
um, how could that possibly be as coste effective as us doing our own except for the little cost of time in in in what it would take for us to set it up, which I don't think
would nearly cover the uptick we would pay in doing a coop through a third party. that that was, you know, what I gleaned from reading this book. I mean, you know, I'm no financial genius, but at the same time, if you're asking
somebody else to do it for you, like they don't do it out of the goodness of their heart because they love you. They do it because they're going to make money on you. And if we can do this project ourselves, that seemed to me to be the most fiscally responsible direction to go. And I think it's a huge
undertaking just to explore the PD building, let alone all three projects if if a P3 is not the direction we want to go on these other two. That's why we're having this conversation. I just, you know,
I'm listening. And and mayor, this is Jay Glover, if I might chime in on that point. Um, and not just related to these specific projects. I I think the the the benefit of the P3 is is likely in the potential construction cost efficiencies, timing
of getting the the the project completed, but I I would agree in general terms, you know, you financing something on your own is generally going to be more cost effective than someone as a third party financing it. So, you know, that's why we often look at these
public private partnerships in a way that decouples the actual design, build, construct, operate element of it from the financing element of it. So, just wanted to kind of and I'm not talking about these projects specifically because we've not spent enough time
reviewing them, but in general, you know, a a local government can finance projects in a more cost-effective basis than, you know, a third party, you know, developer can. Thank you, Jay. Commissioner Pro.
Thank you, Mayor. I I did see the on the financing part there's a graphs and for the certificate of participation yet they elect numbers uh but I wanted to bring one question to the staff uh to the city manager at least um we have not
been cleared on with the court if we can move forward with this uh certificate of participation have we no sir that would be part of the longer term in the process Okay, you have a little a few steps to get to
before you would get to that point in the part of the validation process. So there's homework to be done before we can actually compare and discuss all of that because if it's not approved, we cannot move it. We cannot move forward
with that. Correct. Right. You mean if the city itself decides to do the COP process versus someone else? Yes and no. We have to legally be
sure that it's legally allowed the board to proceed with certificate of participation. Am I correct? Correct. Well, that's all. Yeah, that commissioner would be part of the process if we were to decide that is
the direction. You don't the process doesn't involve correct me if I'm wrong anybody you don't go to the court for a validation before you submit the package the val determining whether or not
we can do the P3 um without voter approval which is which is the issue here. Okay, that is part of the validation process that the court will decide if a cop's package is put
together and brought before the court. It's just, you know, where some municipalities who don't have that. I mean, every other municipality doesn't have that stipulation in their charter. Makes that validation process easier, but in our case, that's an additional
consideration in the validation process. So, you can't get their approval prior to putting the cops together. It's it's part of that process as I understand it, unless anybody can correct me.
It's not. Um, so what do we want to do here, folks? That from listening to people, we got, you know, a a clear leaning towards wanting to do our own certificates of participation. Then there's some question as to whether or not, you know,
uh, a P3 cops might might make sense as an alternative depending on, you know, the the the charter issues at hand and and what the actual cost and timing would be in
trying to do this on our own versus having someone who's already got an entity set up and ready to go. I mean, do we Do we again urge staff to proceed down both those paths or do we want to discount the P3 or what do we want to do
here? If I can you can vice mayor. That's that's what I was saying. This is information. If they're looking at the P3 process, they're looking at cops. We would have those answers. At the same time, we could be looking in-house to
look at what those ramifications are if we did it on our own. But what would also it would give us is options to say, okay, it's going to cost us X to do it on our own. Well, this P3 is a lot cheaper to where we don't have
to raise rates. We don't have to do this. We can do it now. Maybe recoup the ROI a few years later down the road, but still recoup it, but we get it done now. Maybe the same in the opposite direction. It's better if we did our own
rather than the P3. But we don't know unless we have those numbers to compare and to look at, you know, to find out what our viable option is. By cutting this out, you're just taking out an avenue to look at. That's all I'm saying.
That's all. I'm ready to make a motion if commission is finished. And after public comment, we have any public comments on this one? You already just making sure. Yeah, you're good.
No, sorry. Sorry, sir. Sir, Miss Jerry's, I'm sorry. It's not appropriate, sir. Um, we'll entertain a motion. Okay, I'll give it a shot. I move to direct city manager to work
with B bond council, PFM and staff to bring back the details um for the solid waste station project comparing the costs, pros and cons
um utilizing a P3 process compared with the city um doing its own certificate of participation process as the financing mechanism and I'm sure a city clerk will
clean that up to direct the city manager to work with bond council PFM and staff to bring back details for the solid waste transfer station project comparing the costs pros and cons utilizing in the P3 pro process compared with the city doing their own
coop process. I'll second that. All righty. Any disc further discussion or are we ready to vote? Do you need the motion repeated, Commissioner?
Okay, we had a motion by Commissioner Lang. Langd seconded by Vice Mayor Emerich. Right. You want to read it back one more time for us? To direct the city manager to work with bond council, PFM and staff to bring back details for the solid waste transfer station project comparing the cost, pros and cons utilizing the P3
process compared with the city doing their own cop process. Thank you, ma'am. Yes. You ready to vote? Let's vote. That passes five to zero.
Uh moving to the third piece of this agenda item, wastewater treatment facility. Um, I would ask that city manager, um, is there any uh anything
staff would like to present or explain to commission that might weigh in on this particular item that's of value to us in trying to analyze what to do here? No more than the other ones, Mr. Mayor.
Are there no other options to addressing the solid or the wastewater treatment plant issue other than a P3 or cops on our own? Yes. All right. But is is the same as
the other ones? You could um the transportation and the the um fluent station both are designed to be done with rate assessments and increases due to the fact that the other
option failed to um procure it. Sir, there are no other details other than what we already know. And Vice Mayor, as much as I hate to ever agree with you 100%. We could have viewed them all as one big basket
apparently. So if anybody wants to weigh in on this, feel free. Otherwise, Gez, I aid when I have to do that. Anybody want to talk a little about the wastewater treatment or or we all of a similar mindset here?
I would just like to comment. Um, there are potentially a variety of ways we could pay for this project. It might be rate increase, it might be a cops, it might be grants, it might be something else. Um, so with this project in
particular, I'd really be interested in seeing an analysis of all the various funding sources that might be available for this. Um and and again my thought is
always how do we minimize the price tag on the project so that whichever way we go P3 cops I think we have to do something because of the potential um penalties that the city
could incur if if we don't fix this. I'd like to take a broader view of all the potential funding mechanisms with the intention of um reducing the amount of this project that would need to go
through either a P3 or a cops process. I might be dreaming, but but I've got to believe that with this type of a project, we might be able to access some other funds. City manager, I have a I have a
question. Um, do we have I mean in in in the May referendum we had inserted a number not to exceed $17 million for a cost of this wastewater treatment plant
upgrade. Has anything changed there? Is this a less than $17 million project? Is or is this a more than $17 million? What do we know now that we didn't know then? If anything, I may have to defer it to our team to
see if there's any new information, Mr. Mayor. I'm huddling. Don't let him run out of the building. I thought he was leaving, too. Be honest. Tie them to their chairs. Where's Army Knife? She's back.
Hi, Trisha Wner, interim utilities director. At this time, the 17 million is an accurate estimate for this project. Thank you. Well, thank you. Sweet. Mr. Duval, he speaks.
I hate to have to keep saying the same thing over and over again. Um, we like figuring. This has been said for months and months. And if people don't know it by now, this is an issue that if we don't fix it, the state is going to do something
about that. One of the things they're going to do is they're going to start penalizing us. I think the last number I saw was something about $1,000 a day. And for that $1,000 a day that we pay,
if we don't do this, we get nothing. That's just $1,000 a day we're throwing away. This is not a We want to do this. This is a Yeah. got to be done.
And if we don't get it done, the state will mandate it be done as well as the fines. That's all. Thank you, Commissioner. Uh
before we look for a motion, if nobody has anything more, we got any public comment on this item? Perfect. I just double check. Anybody want to work on a motion for this one?
Commissioner Barb, I'll do it one more time. Oh, no. No. You go. I saw you moving. Move first. In pertaining to the
um utilities, I move to direct the city manager to move forward with option two accepting the P3 conceptual proposal for substitent review providing written notification to the private entity regarding the part anticipated time
frame required for the city to complete comprehensive review of the unsolicited P3 conceptual pro proposal. Anybody want to I'll second that. Yeah. No amendments to that. Okay.
Just information. Oh, good. I you know my my only question is do we want to expand that motion to include any other financing options or is that just go without saying?
I mean, as Commissioner Langden mentioned, there are a variety of ways to tackle this particular project possibly outside of the P3. So, do we need to give staff direction to explore any of those at this point?
Caitlyn Coglin, assistant city attorney. So, what's on the agenda today is just discussion and possible direction regarding the P3. I want to make sure that we redirect for that. I think looking potentially at other options could be a part of the
outside council establishing what your next options are, but for purposes of today on the agenda is specifically this P3 that was unsolicited and brought to the city and now being presented to you. Yes. I appreciate it. All right, then we
got a motion out there made by uh Vice Mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden, and uh unless there's anything more to it or anyone needs a red back, let's vote. That passes 520. And you got a positive out of Demetri
this time. There we go. pretty uh we want to push through folks. We only got one left, don't we? Sure does appear that way. Sure. Don't want to continue to discuss
this agenda. It's moving on to see three more times for three more items. Absolutely. 25-2448. Um, city manager, this is your item, sir. Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. This item,
which is the discussion of possible action regarding sending a letter of support to Celtic Bank for the Bobcat Trail Communities request that the bank maintain the Bobcat Trail golf course was requested by Commissioner Lang. Righty, Commissioner Langden, you're on
the spot. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, couple of weeks ago, I was approached by Mr. McName who is a resident of Bobcat Trail um to talk about the condition of
the golf course and to request that the city submit a letter of support to Celtic Bank um encouraging them to maintain the property. Um the condition
of the golf course is such that it is attracting vermin. Um I I did I should state that I did visit the golf course and and met with Mrs. McName Burke and and Ball and um Mr. McName gave me a
tour of the golf course. Half of the golf course utilizes um wastewater treated water for irrigation from the city and the growth is such that they have to monitor their water bill and if
there's a spike they realize there is a leak somewhere on that golf course and they go through a search and and seizure process uh to find that that um leak. But even beyond that, what concerned me
even more is there are two outbuildings on the property. One of which uh contains fertilizer which is highly volatile. The other contains two different types of fuel. Both of those
are in buildings that um are are not vented. Uh, and with the heat, um, my concern was they might pose a safety risk to the residents of Bobcat Trail. Uh Since that initial
conversation, we were able to clarify that although the the property, the golf course itself is proceeding along a foreclos foreclosure process that the current
owner um is still Mr. Smith of and I I don't know why I keep Cloud9 Marketing is the name of his company. Um, and so my general sense is that a letter of
support is is really not appropriate with Cloud9. Um, and what I think would be more appropriate under the circumstances is to have code enforcement go out and evaluate the property and assess if
indeed there is a health and safety issue to the residents of Bobcat. um and then proceed along those lines since it would have more teeth. Um, in talking with both the residents and with staff
prior to coming here tonight to talk about this issue, um, we we also talked about the fact that it might be unwise at this point to quickly proceed um, to have the city do the work and then
attach yet another lean. The golf course already has four or five leans from the city um attached to the property. My understanding is there is a potential sale imminent um and attaching another
lean at this particular point in time might unhinge that opportunity. So, um although I'm recommending a different course of action than than was outlined in the agenda topic, um I think
it would be prudent to have code enforcement go out evaluate um the wastewater irrigation, the condition of the golf course and and more specifically the the potential or possible risk represented in those two
outuildings that are containing volatile materials. So, I would be very interested in what my fellow commissioners have to say about that. Yeah, I uh feel free to weigh in everybody, but I I
would like to know has staff done anything with regard to this pro this problem at this point? I mean, have we gone out there and here she comes? Good evening, Elena Ray, director of development services. There's a lot to
unpack there. I'm sure um other than seeing it from my lenai. No. Um however um I can tell you that the issue with code enforcement is that code
enforcement is not authorized under state statutes to enter onto private property. Golf courses private property. So without the owner's permission which at this time is cloud 10 marketing we have no authority to enter onto the
property. So irrigation is not a function of um code enforcement. There are no city codes that require irrigation and we don't enforce the irrigation. We cannot go out and inspect the interior
of those buildings because we have no authority from the property owner to access those. They are on private property. Um, the only thing that we can enforce are code violations that we can see from a public rideway
or public property. So that um that is what we are limited to. And in Florida, as far as high grass and weeds, abandoned golf courses are considered to be undeveloped property, and undeveloped
property is not required to adhere to mowing ordinances. So, we're kind of in a catch 22. Um if if there there may be some um I'm I don't know what fire marshall might have the
ability to do. Um but they did go through inspections of those buildings. um I believe it was last year with fire inspections and with the the building inspector and uh they completed repairs on their sprinkler system, the interior
sprinkler system and um revalidated those certificates. I think my partner is up here to give some more information. Yes, Scott Titus for the fire rescue district. Just just quickly and I don't have the date but I could get those for you. Um is correct. So, the fire
marshall did go out um and assess those things. The property owner was cited. My understanding is they brought those things up to code. Um we also went out because there was some concerns from the community on the condition of the golf course and whether or not that presented an extraordinary fire hazard to some of
the homes. We went out there um the operational group went out there and then the Florida Forest Service went out there as well. Um and they worked with them actually. They went out and had the property um mowed, cleaned, areas of of defense done. Now, that's been about a year.
And who did that clean up, sir? Actually, the community um the Florida Forest Service made recommendations on the areas to attend to and the community um got some help. We we were trying to help to see if forest forest service could do that, but in the meantime, they were able to
get help themselves. So, they had some people handle that. Thank you for that. I see Commissioner Pro um on the board, but I just wanted to ask a follow-up question um to Miss Elena.
I I understand the limitations to the city on entering private property, but that golf course is an integral part of that community. Um, and if the community
requests an evaluation, aren't there isn't there some mitigation in that those buildings are smack dab in the middle of a residential community?
So if we can see building code violations from the exterior of the property, from someone else's property or from a public right ofway, we can site based on what we see on the exterior of the property.
But entering into going into a building to see what's inside of it, we have no legal authority to do that. So if you I just want to make sure I understand. So, if we were invited by a resident of Bobcat to come in and from
their property view buildings or whatever, would that be allowable? It would. However, we would have to be looking at what is the code violation is the from from that property, can we see
a building code violation? So that would be our that would be the only way that we could we could do anything. We can't um we can't look in the building. We can't uh site anything based on contents inside
the building. I know you mentioned fertilizer there. There's really nothing the city can do about that from a code enforcement perspective. Commissioner Petro. Thank you, Mayor. Just a quick comment. I I just the last thing I want to see is
the government getting to the middle of the business transaction because I know it's it is pending sale and I do believe the financing fell through and he the buyer potential buyer is obtaining a new finances finance options.
So, and that was probably smart not to proceed with the latter because the more impact you buyer sees, the less chances he might
consider buying that property. So, thank you. City attorney Caitlyn Coglin, assistant city attorney. Just from the legal standpoint, I can let you know where the case, and I know I had pretty much updated everybody on this. Um, it is in foreclosure. There
was a summary judgement final order that was entered by the court. The sale was reset as you said. Um, right now Cloud 10 Marketing LLC is in negotiations with a potential buyer for the property. Um, I did speak with code enforcement
regarding the potential of them going out to the property. um it may surpass the time that we are able to get that sale done without any additional leans. Um so I just want everyone to be aware of that is that until the foreclosure
sale is done, the legal owner is Cloud 10 Marketing. I do know the CDD and the HOA have gone in and remedied what they could. Um, but at this point until that foreclosure sale happens, that legal owner is
unfortunately going to be the the person who is legally responsible to to do all of this. Thank you, ma'am. So, um, is there anything more to this item?
Appears to be no desire to make a motion or take any further action on it. Nope. Uh, any public comment on this one? Richard Burke. Richard Burke. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Richard Burke and I am the president of the Bobcat Trail HOA Homeowners Association and I've come to talk to you about the condition of the golf course. There's been some rebuttal in here about what
can be done about that and that pretty much takes a lot of the uh fire out of what I have to say. But I've looked at the golf course. I live on the golf course and in my opinion
the golf course no matter who owns the golf course is in violation of a municipal code 42-22 which is excessive and impending growth
and I have some pictures they settle up this growth isn't a few weeds here and there. The one of the pictures I have to show you is my golf cart. The weeds are higher than my
golf cart. So, just to give you an idea how bad it is in my opinion, and my opinion at when I wrote this was that the Celtic Bank did own the golf course, but I understand there was confusion in there, so we're
not going to go down that direction. But the condition of the golf course has become a public nuisance and it's detrimental to the public health and safety of the municipality. The overgrowth has attack attracted
snakes and rodents like we have never seen before. And also just something that maybe the police might be interested in. The back door of the clubhouse is open
and it would be available for anybody, any child, any homeless person to go in there. And I have sent a letter, an email to the bank to notify them of this problem. I have not had a response. And
maybe if it's not their property, they don't care. But the residents of Bobcat Trail are asking the board to direct code enforcement officer to inform the owner
that they are in violation of municipal code 42-22 and it is their responsibility to correct the violation and of the consequences for failure to do so.
I thank you for your time. Uh, I do have addresses of the bank. My own is on there and all the major
executives of the bank. So, if the decision is to send a letter, I appreciate your help. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. have Stephen Ball followed by Dave McName.
Good evening. My name is Steve Ball. I'm the chairman of the Bobcat Trail CDD. On behalf of the board and our residents, I'd like to express some of our growing concerns of regarding the deterioration of the golf course and specifically the significant safety
hazard that was addressed by the board and the property maintenance issues. The serious safety hazard. Next to the community center. So we talked about public eye. So if you sat on the tennis court and looked next to it is this
building that holds the fertilizer. It's supposed to have ventilation going in it. It hasn't had electricity in four years. So code enforcement could stand on a on our tennis court and see that that building isn't protected. Right next to that building is two large fuel
tanks. One containing gasoline, one containing diesel fuel. both been sitting exposed as of next month will be for four years. They've been sitting there. Next to that is this fertilizer shed. Again, we only know it has fertilizer in
it because about a month and a half ago, it was broken into. And when it was broken into, whoever the vandals were also discharged all the fire extinguishers in that area. So again, from the public eye, you can see there's no fire extinguishers. The door we shut, we had a police report was filed. So you
can go back to your records and see that police was informed of that. The last thing is the community at the golf course clubhouse that Vic spoke about. So we see that that's been broken into. The doors are open. There's windows open. It's still full of
materials. It's right next to our community pool. So there's kids running around a pool playing in the pool. Right next to it is this clubhouse that's falling apart and open to anybody who wanted to walk in. So these are really our major concerns. most specifically is
the safety hazards that I have concerns as the chairman of the CDD having community events in my community center every day in literally 50 ft from it are fuel tanks that have been sitting in outside for four years and a fertilizer
shed of fertilizer that's been untouched for four years. So you can see it from the public. So, we may have to revisit this those statutes and again, you know those better than I do, but it it doesn't take you can see that those fuel tanks are there that the shed supposed
to have ventilation in it. It's not working. So, I'd ask for reconsideration of that and see if we can do anything with it. Appreciate your time. Thank you, sir. Good evening, commissioners. I'm My name is Doug McName. Uh, first of all, I want to thank Barbara Langden for coming out
and spending time with us and being a very compassionate listener to the dilemma that we are faced. Um, I'm a resident of Bobcat Trail and former chairman of the Bobcat Trail Community Development District. I stepped down from that elected position when a
conflict of interest arose. My wife and I were among 13 couples alone Richard Reges Smith III, a total of $1.3 million um in 2017 to purchase the Bobcat Trail Golf Club.
At that time, Mr. Smith served as the CEO of the North Florida chapter of the PGA. PGA is not responsive either. They don't even want to touch this guy. I won't revisit the entire history of the mismanagement and deception that
followed, but I'll say this. Mr. Smith's actions led directly to the closure of the golf course, which was once the pride and centerpiece of our 550 home community. That course represents nearly 30% of the land in Bobcat Trail, and its
neglect is now a visible s symbol of broken promises. Before its closure in 2021, Mr. Smith collected an estimated $2.4 million from residents in exchange for lifetime golf memberships. That money is gone and
justice remains pending. Meanwhile, the damage continues. Home values in Bobcat Trail have suffered. Homes that for many of us represent the heart of our retirement security. Gail O'Keefe, a local realtor and Bobcat residents
resident has confirmed that the deteriorating course conditions are actively deterring buyers. In her words, fellow realtors have flatly said it will not bring clients into Bobcat Trail because of the golf course.
I know there's not much that can be done right now, but the reason for the three of us speaking was to enlighten you as to the expanse of time, four years that has gone on. Hopefully, the golf course will be sail and we can bring back our
our little portion of Northport back to what it was originally. I thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you, sir. So once again, I'll ask commission any direction we want to give, any motions,
any anything on this or um I'm reluctant to make a motion. I I don't think it's necessary, but I would just ask staff if any of the updated information that these residents have
shared um might cause us to consider code enforcement taking a look. Um I think that would be most appreciated. So, uh, city manager, I I don't think we
need to make any motion or any consensus about that. I I know that staff would be as concerned as we are about the condition of that property and the potential risks that it presents to that
community, 550 homes. So, um, that's all I'll say. Thank you, Commissioner. Um, all right. Moving on. Uh, any general public comments?
Yes. Just a brief comment, maybe just a suggestion. I have no clue what a waste transfer station is, so I voted no uh on on the ballot. If you would explain what these things
are, maybe a little better, maybe more people would vote um to approve some of this stuff. I would have approved the the waste transfer station. I still don't know what it is, but I understand it's going to be a break even at least proposition,
but I thought it was you dump the waste there, somebody picks it up and puts it in another trailer and you leave. So, but I've talked with your waste manager, solid waste manager, and I'm going to give him a call and find out exactly what it is, but just uh little
bit of criticism to maybe help a little bit. Thank you, Mr. Jur. All right. Uh, Commission Communications. Uh, Commissioner Dval, nothing to report at this time.
Commissioner Langden, I have been tardy in submitting my June report to city clerk, but I will get that done before our next meeting. Beyond that, I have nothing to disqualifies you. You'd have to speak at the commission now.
Commissioner uh Petro, nothing from you, Mayor. And vice mayor. All right. Um the only thing uh I have is I attended uh today in Venice a
little celebration for Venice's city manager Ed Lavali who's retiring and uh it was really a very nice ceremony to honor a guy who spent 50 years in public service serving uh his communities both
up north as well as down here in Venice. and uh we wish him well in his retirement. Um other than that, charter officers, anything from city manager? No, acting city attorney.
Nope. Thank you for having me, please. And city clerk. With that, it is 8:56. I win the pool. 9:00 I said and I am at 8:56 adjourning this meeting. No wonder you broke it down into three
segments to keep us here longer. Hey, there was a big kitty.