Good morning, Jess. Good, sir. >> Nice to see you. Thanks for having me today. >> Of course. Hey, we're going to go through our opening checklist for this morning to make sure that the facility is safe and operational. >> All right, sounds good. Let's do it. Before anything else, the team walks the entire area to make sure everything is
clean and in good shape. Our next part of our task is to make sure that our body of water is one clear. The water must remain clean. We must identify any possible materials that shouldn't be in the water. Then it was time to check the surge tanks. >> As you can see, the glistening of the water down there.
>> If the water is too deep and you hear a rushing of water, that means that this needs to be filled before we can begin operations for this. >> Okay. >> It's part science, part intuition. At the Relax Achie River, Jesse showed me the digital checklist system, the hydro app. As soon as I click yes on this
checklist that let's say the water is clear and I do not identify that the water is cloudy or any sense that yes goes directly to my manager and lets them know that at this exact time I checked that water to make sure it was safe and clear. >> That's technology being used at its best job.
>> Now our rotations we have evolved to having our lifeguards into a more of a roving position >> with the competition pool. We still maintain the chairs for the height eligibility. Um, but here we have to have a minimum of five lifeguards just to run this body of water.
>> Wow. >> And we actually have a lifeguard positioned in our catch pool over there to help our guests that are coming out of the slides at a barracuda tarp and twister. >> I've seen that person there. Then Jesse brought up something that most people might not think about. Pool skimming. >> Pool skimming is the sounds of the water
being properly flowed. So with those drains, all the water has to constantly filter throughout our pool at least three to four times a day. So not only is the water continuously being pumped in, continuously flowing out, being cleansed through our sand filters, then
being pumped back into the pool. It's a very long process, but it makes sure the water stays more. Today is Wednesday, June 10th, 2026. It's 9:00 a.m. We're in the city chambers and I call the city commission budget workshop meeting to order.
Commissioners present are Commissioner Dal, Commissioner Stokes, Mayor Emery, Vice Mayor Langden, and Commissioner Pro. There is a quorum present for this meeting. Also present are city manager Pletcher, city attorney Kuino, Deputy City Clerk Powell, Board Specialist
Linder. We have police chief Garrison, and Deputy Chief Hurley in the back. I am requesting that all commissioners, public participants, and staff maintain order into decorum throughout this meeting. City commission policy 2021-03
states that attendees shall refrain from engaging in personal attacks and boisterous, immaterial, inflammatory, obscene, profane, or disorderly conduct. Additionally, meeting attendees must refrain from obscene, profane, or
disorderly conduct, including hand clapping, yelling, and similar demonstrations. All of which disturbs the peace and good order of the meeting. Thank you. I'm going to call on Miss Sarah Lane. Will you lead us in the pledge this morning?
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you, ma'am.
City clerk, public comment. Baldi Oleander, >> my name Sorry. Uh, good morning. I am Bali Olander. I come here in peace and I am not a criminal and I have a dignity. I am instructing
you Ambridge at all to respect my dignity. Ambridge at all. I am instructing you to remove police woman off my back. Move it over over here. 90 degrees. Fiscal year 20 27 budget is up 30
millions. It is bad. Population grew only 1.69%. 12 employee less. I would consider it good. Each school district in Florida received $9,400 per student.
I wonder what they has been taught there. may be a criminality since Norwood Police Department wants now and in the future 181 plus millions more. Why
people rejected by voting new police concentration camp? What I come now what I will say now taken with grain of salt. Question who said it this and what is
mean? Number one all in. Number two nothing out. Number three nothing against. Answer it was Benito Mussolini call it El Duche
and he defined fascism. What I'm observe here we do not have a republican form of representative government or democracy. We resemble furship,
dictatorship, votes don't matter. What is written means something else. Ask the manager. Oh, he he's got he can take the loans without the people
approve or you approve. In Germany, fewer there was a Hitler have a private security called Gestapo. Are any private security here?
Who have private security here? Why so many policemen around here? Is it the concentration camp? Any policeman give you comfort to steal my
money? This is fleecing me. Make you make me poor. You are masters of the poverty. >> That is all, Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you. Moving on to general business, item 26-0846.
Mr. Fletcher, this is your item, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh we appreciate the opportunity to further discuss our budget for fiscal year 27 with you and the board today. Uh you should have a packet of the slide deck that was recently completed uh for us to walk through today. Um with your permission,
I'll go through the slide deck and as you have questions, we'll answer them as we transition from one area to the next so that questions don't get too far behind. But we're happy to answer any questions as we go. Uh first of all, let me thank the finance team for all the work that they've done, not only in the
last few months, but I believe this process began last fall as we got out in front of this budget process a little bit so that we could make that 5% cut that we've all talked about so that we could have that money approximately $2.7 to $9 million for uh the potential of a
borrowing opportunity. So, a lot of work has gone into this and I thank Director Kukarinko for her and her staff and their time and then also Jason Berlone and his team for putting it together in this way so that we could hopefully see it, understand it and answer questions that will help move the city forward
faster. Um, as we start with our mission and vision, um, nothing in that has changed. And even though we have the conversations about what may happen on the horizon with things that we can't control, such as a property tax, we talk about that and we keep hearing about it
often. But, you know, what we've done in this budget is the same thing we've done in other budgets, which was to leave several million dollars, you know, out of it because we couldn't pay for everything that we wanted in order to take the city to where we wanted it to go. Well, if the property tax changes,
then this city will adapt and do the same exact thing. We will provide the highest level of services and with the highest level of quality with the money that we have to do it. It sounds uh easy to say, it's more difficult to do, but it doesn't change as far as the mission
and how we conduct ourselves as professionals. When we look at the commissioner strategic pillars, uh these are the pillars that you adopted and they have priorities that are attached to them. So when we made the budget changes in this year's submittal, we wanted to make sure that we kept in
alignment with what you said your priorities were. We did not do just a flat cut across all of our departments because that's not the most efficient way to actually balance your budget. We took away things that were on the lower end of the spectrum of priorities and we kept things at the higher end as you
would have preferred us to do. So when we look at our staffing versus population growth, uh one thing that we did when we talked to you in March was we talked we showed you how when we apply the Doge techniques to ourselves, you know, the staffing levels and the
population growth need to be in some set of symmetry. And as you can see, as our population growth rises, then you're going to see our staffing levels rise accordingly. And they are in alignment to where they should be. and knowing
that uh if we do have some tax reform, we will have to adjust our staffing levels because we are about 80% personnel throughout our organization. And that is just a reality that we will have to uh have to have to live with. Well, um when you look at our employees per
thousand residents compared to our peer communities, we're right in the middle. I think that it's safe to say that, you know, we always try to be right in the middle. We never try to be too far up or down. Um, and I know that we've talked about this in the past and it's not in this particular slide deck, but it's the
same way that we we do and you have agreed to with our salaries. Our salaries are in the middle of where they are related to our peers. Our salaries are comparable to people who do what we do. So, when you hear and you see people questioning our salaries, you know that
they're validated by independent third parties because we bring you that information through compensation and pay studies. you know that we're going through one right now and that will that will be very challenging to see how we implement what the results are as we go into next year because again a lot of
things that we don't know but for the people who say that our salaries are too high I don't know what they're comparing them to but they're not comparing them to the people who do the work that we do and so for the team that we have and the salaries that we all have they are validated by a third party I just want
to remind everyone who is not sitting on the day that who might be listening um our government spending per resident again right in the middle again of pure um comparable cities um through population um land size and other metrics that we use to compare ourselves
to everything that we compare ourselves to can't be in our region because we are very unique here in uh southwest uh Florida um the mage rate has been steady for seven years uh and that is a testament to the ability to balance this budget uh
in that the growth that this city has experienced has been the strongest contributor to that. We have raised other fees and assessments and the time that the military has stayed the same. But this is the main the main amount of u revenue that we get in our general
fund is determined by this rate. And the proposed tax reform would allow us to only rise our millage rate 10% above the roll back rate on an annual basis. and that would take approximately 30 years to make up the revenue that we're going
to lose based on what the tax reform is going to cause. So, we are going to have to look at this milit rate, but we've been talking about looking at it for the years that I've been here and there's never been a good time and I don't think there ever will be a good time. But it's one of the things that we need to talk
about as we move forward and decide how do you backfill for revenue that may be lost if the if the tax reform does go through which I firmly believe that it will. Um when you look at our abilorum um tax on this slide you can see that we
had a 3% estimated growth in there because of course we wanted to be conservative. I believe our our fiscal year 26 growth number was in the 8% range and now we have a 5.67% growth for our budget that we're creating for the one that you're looking
at. Um the taxable value increase was mainly due to new construction. Had we not had our new construction as a city, then we would have been in the negative range uh like some some of our partners in Sarasota County.
Um, when you look at what we're doing, we are experiencing our growth. Our growth is going to help us. Our growth is going to bring revenue in this city. And I do want to make sure people understand that regardless of tax reform, the benefit of being one of the
fastest growing cities in the country is showing to you right here. We are going to be better protected than others around us. It doesn't mean we will not have to adjust what we do, how we do it, and how often we do it. It just means that uh help is on the way for us
because we're still building ourselves out. Uh our taxable value uh in history is still rising. Um when you see our taxable value that is due to uh a lot of the new construction and people are still coming here and that combination
shows you that revenue is going to continue to come into Northport. We just have to now uh wait for a lot of it to come in in a way that will be significant and we have to manage ourselves accordingly during that period of transition. When you look at our major general fund
revenues, uh property tax, we we can talk about that all day long, but the one is highlighted in the middle is the electric utility tax that was discussed and approved by the board to show that even though FPNL were raising their rates, we wanted to keep our rate at a net neutral. So, it went down slightly
by approximately half a percent and saved approximately uh half a million. When you look at our general fund as far as the budget overview, as I said, so $78 million of the $99 million in our
general fund is for personnel. And that's personnel across all of the departments that are funded through the general fund. And that's that's a lot when we're talking about roughly 80% of that. That's a lot. And when you look at
the main users of this fund, you're looking at fire and fire rescue and police, which make up 60% of the spending out of the $99 million. So if
you do some math that some people would like you to just well just cut all your departments in half, you still are and not and not touch public safety. You're still going to have a challenge and a problem and you know that your government cannot work with half of the
staff that it has right now. What you would do in that situation as we talk about how to strategically plan for in the future, what you would do is you would make sure that you keep the right level of people who are paid at the right level for the market value of their job. And then that's how you
remove the staff in order to keep the work going and providing the services that we provide as a city. Um, I'm sure we'll get into some more of those conversations as the year goes on. uh when you look at the source of the 99
million uh it's easy to see right from the top that you know 40% of that number is coming out of property taxes. There's no way to avoid a property tax conversation. Um so I hope people understand the impact of the property tax and what it means and while we
understand that everyone is struggling with affordability, your government has those same challenges as well. One of the questions that we got and feedback that we received is well how can our budget this year look like the same
bottom line as last year and that was the goal. The goal is to offset the annual increases that we know must happen, whether they're contractual from uh the CBA, whether they're non-marit increases, whether there's inflation,
the ability to offset that expense and to still have $2.7 million saved for you for your decision on if you want to have uh borrowing um projects is a tremendous success. This is what we set out to do
and this is what we said we would do. We said that we would cut it by 5% and when we cut the 5% every department head, every leader in our organization participated in in the the project and exercised and it was painful. It did
come down to how do we keep the people that we have employed while still meeting the merit of the assignment? And they did it and we did it and we're happy that we did. Um, and this was 5%. 5% which is uh it was roughly I think $5
million and some change of that number. The first number that we're talking about with this proposed property tax reform is over $8 million on top of this that came out the bud of your budget already. The next year would be $14 million out of your budget. There's no
way for us not to say um honestly to our residents that services would not look differently. Now, I don't think that that means we need to have uh scare tactics or putting fear into people, but we need them to start planning now. We need people to have good ideas and bring
them forward and have great conversations now as opposed to later. And if we get a jump on this as fast as we can and start having some serious conversations, I think that we can come up with some serious solutions. Uh when you look at the total budget by
department, uh our total budget is nearly $350 million. Um police and fire uh lead the way. As you can imagine, public safety is important there at the top. But then we also talk about the infrastructure and some of the other things that the city has to do that go
unnoticed. And I'm thinking about our public works, our utilities, and others that create a a huge impact on this city. Those are the ones when you look at this chart that shows them um broken out by funds. But this next chart right
here shows you exactly where all the funds are for this $350 million. So starting from the general fund to your top left, you're going to see the $99 million that we've been talking about. Every other fund after that, of course, is lower because it's going in uh
numerical um dension. And what you're going to notice is when you start talking about property tax and I know that people people say that we you know we talk about property tax a lot and the reason why we do is because it's so important to everything that we do. So
the people who are going to say well you are you're going to have to figure out what life looks like after the property uh tax proposal goes to ballot. That is true. We will have to do that and we will do that. Um, we just want to make sure that we're all on the same
page, that uh we understand, we empathize, and we support the the effort of trying to make sure that citizens have a better quality of life. We will just have to do the same thing as we put all of that into our calculations and
situations uh going forward to conduct business. We are always going to and since I've been here uh you know, look, we've gotten 30 nearly $39 million. We thank our grants manager Val Malinowski. She
has created a good team and they are always reaching out for more money. Um we have to thank our our friends at the state level whether it was Jane Buchanan or Joe Gruters. They helped us get I think $500,000 for our EOCC project that
is being built right now. They also got us $2.5 million for the transfer station that is being done as well. So uh Hayden Dempsey, our lobbyist, we all know him. He's out there fighting for us hard in Tallahassee as well. Th those people help bring in revenue to this city in
ways that we cannot do in ways that help support our citizens so that they know that we are not just leaning on them for the revenue that we need, but we're trying to make sure that we explore all avenues, all buckets of funding. And at the state level, the people who I
referenced are all very strong um champions and supporters of the city of Northport. and we want to be uh thankful and very grateful for them and their efforts. Um these next few slides, Mr. Mayor, they kind of show where the different districts and different funds are as it
relates to their budgets and their proposals. Uh what you're going to see is as everyone participated in the exercise. um they do have u some ne negative proposals and when we get to the slides on the departments we're going to talk more about what that what
our reductions mean to what you will see. I think that's the biggest thing that you're going to get from the conversation today is we all know what the bottom line is. We all know why we got there and we all know the intent of of the method of getting there, but we
all need to make sure we understand what it means and the impact of those changes because this year's budget, we are talking about um reducing certain items or eliminating other items. And this is what it looks like when you cut a government that is not already bloated
by 5% in order to get to a goal that you're trying to accomplish. So the solid waste um district um you can see as well base budget $20 million um budget proposals negative 1.1
building fund again 75 uh utility fund which is has their own revenue source which is great um and fleet fund is a 568 as well. So when you look at well what did you
what did we actually do as um the budget reduction efforts apply to this fiscal year budget um the city leadership they were able to prioritize um the services they are the subject matter experts they know what they need and they know what
they don't need better than anyone and they had to make some very tough decisions. Um, we do want to make sure that our goal is always to make sure that the long-term financial stability of the city is kept in intact. Um, we we
cannot say anymore how important that is in this day and age. We have to make sure that we are building a city with a vision and implementing that vision for not just today, tomorrow, but many more years to come. When you when you look at the general fund reductions in the
budget, you total $2.9 million. Uh budget reductions that were proposed but not included were $2 million. And again, we had to um preserve critical resources. And there there's no department head that's going to come
before you that says that they did not um struggle with how they were able to balance their budget this year. Um, we've included you along in the process, whether it was when we began our first meeting back in March all the way up to the one-on-one conversations that we've
had with you recently. We want to make sure that we are continuously in contact with you all because you have a lot of questions and rightfully so, we should be answering those questions. So, we try to make the process as efficient as possible and give you as much information. Um, but you know, we are
making sure that you have the opportunity to ask all of your questions. And just because today is here on June the 10th, doesn't mean your questions will stop before you pass the budget in September. So, we're going to continue to update information and give it to you so that by the time you get to your final budget, you'll know exactly
what is and what isn't in your budget document that you're accepting. Um uh as I talked about property tax updates, if uh the reform were to continue on the pathway that it is, it's going to rise the exemption from 50,000 to 150 in the
first year. Then it escalates to $250,000 in the second year. First year cost is approximately $8.8 million. Second year is approximately $4.5 million and it will come from our property tax. Um,
this is a this is a a tool that will you be used to undoubtedly help reduce the amount of funding in our police department as well as our fire department as well as parks and recreck
department. They are all going to be affected. Even if you say, "Well, we're not going to reduce the police department," it will hurt their staff growth structure to not have that revenue there. So, there is no way to avoid that. And I do believe schools
were exempted out of this process and public safety was not. So now we are looking at a situation where we went five years ago to protecting public safety at all costs to now we're looking at tax relief that has been proposed
that could and will affect our public safety staffing levels and their abilities to perform their services. Uh when you look at the positions that we talked to you about that we've been talking about for several months, the
goal in the budget that we created was to keep our full-time positions at a net neutral number. The positions that are normally added in our our year's budget. The main ones that we all think have to happen come from our public safety
safety, police, and fire to the tune of let's just say 15 or 20 positions. We are still collecting ones in our pool this year of jobs that we are not going to rehire. The goal remains the same is to make sure that we offset whatever needs those departments have with
positions that we have kept vacant and unfilled so that we cannot ask you for any more FTEES. The goal should be remain FTEES the same as we have stated and then next year if the reform goes through we will talk about what a reduction would look like in order to
accomplish that goal as well. Uh departmental and divisional details who um this is our uh great HR department who um they they have uh they have done extremely well. Uh I would say that you know they're they do they do a
lot with for 14 uh people there and we're grateful for how they service all of our 1,000 employees on such a a small team. Um you're going to see some of the performance metrics of each department as we get in here. I believe you might
remember that we share these on our transparency page for northport um fl.gov. That's where you can see all of the benchmarks, all the performance metrics, how we tie what we do in a very data-driven way. So that what we produce to you is not based on our opinions or
our emotion. Either we're meeting the targets or we're not. And then we evaluate why we're not meeting the targets. We meet quarterly internally so that we can share information, solutions, and techniques so that we can make uh our city the best place and we can prove it via data, not via um our
opinions. As I said, um, when you look at human resources and their their budget, their salaries are, you know, basically the same. And then, of course, they're they have our benefit package in their budget as well.
You'll see slides like this where we talk about the proposals or what was approved, what wasn't approved, and reductions, not approved, and approved. This is a quick and easy way to show you and to show people how everyone participated in the exercise. Um, and we're happy to answer any questions as we go through them to describe some of
the service level changes in detail. You're going to see a slide like this when we talk about the impacts of the changes. And this is where I talk about making sure that we understand what was actually sacrificed in this budget in order to get to that number. Uh, reduced training and development capacity.
You're going to see deferring of conferences or or professional development. there were there are mandatory professional developments that must happen and those are the ones that we focused on so that we kept people in their licenses and their certifications. Uh I know I know there has been
questions about you know the need for um accreditation officers and you know what they do and how they do it. But again those officer those staff members are there to ensure that we are doing things to the highest and best quality of of
what we how we can do it. The certifications that we get that show that we are accredited show a great value to this city and what we do and how we care about doing it. um in their in their um elim in their um level changes, you're going to see the
elimination of the annual holiday lunchon for us, which we felt was more of a duplicate area anyway. We don't feel like there's going to be too much loss there, but we also um they removed some funding for related supplies for non-essential spending and also uh major
employee recognition and uh morale building tradition. And there was some deferral of nonritical critical certifications and conferences. Um, as you can imagine, travel and travel, travel meeting, travel and professional development is somewhere
that you never want to completely eliminate, but you do want to make sure the right number of people are going to the right places based on what we can afford. Uh, our police department uh starting them uh where they left off from last
year. You might remember that I did not fund them. I think it was about 30 positions in this current year's budget and that was based on us balancing our budget last year and here we are in June and they're still moving along with most of the same team. I know that there's
one position in particular that the madam clerk has shared to me that must get filled because it is a position related back to public records request and now you're talking about something that might be getting jeopardized at a legal level and we can't have that. So there are positions that we feel must be
filled in police at certain points in time. So you're going to continue to see them grow through that area, but not in the way that they would tell you is optimal for the best level of service. I think we're looking at we're already looking at for the budget year that
we're currently sitting in suboptimal levels and the chief would tell you that that's where we're at. So we're trying to maintain that level of service and then when this up years up this upcoming budget is produced and we have the vacancies to add to what the M and FIRE will need for next year, we will have
those positions ready because again FTE net neutral is the goal of the project. Um and when you see their organization chart, we actually broke them down based on the finance director's um decision. They had one department, which was the
largest department in our general fund. I think it was like $43 million into one bucket. That's a lot to put into one bucket without having the divisions or the separation that allows someone to better navigate through those through all of that funding and all of those
people. So, we are working on getting them better organized. This has been probably a two-year effort at this point. Um, you know, we've given the chief a lot of good support whether it was from finance or HR to get his we're
trying to get his internal uh operations working as smoothly as his external operations work when they're out doing their business of public safety. Uh, so we've dedicated a lot of attention to the police and right sizing how their
operations are reflected uh financially. when you look at their performance measures, we're talking about being on target for um response calls and um property clearance rates and making sure that people believe that this is a safe place to live. If the tax reform
happens, people aren't going to magically overnight say, "Well, now it's not a safe place to live." That's just not going to happen. We just have to be more mindful and we have to look differently on how we deploy our resources, how our police department are visible throughout the city and they
still are able to remain that at a high level of feeling safe in our community. Uh I don't think it's lost on anyone in this room that if we lose the level of safety or the confidence in the community that then that means that this city will go in a direction that we none
of us want to go in. Uh when you look at this um page right here, you're going to see just how much of their their uh department is personnel. Once again, I gonna have to keep saying that, but it is personnel. You know, we are we're a city. We're a
city that provides services. So, we're in a service industry, and affecting people affects services. It's it's that simple. But there there's there's there's always going to be a way for us to get it done and make sure that we keep providing a high level of service. But as you can see, their fiscal year 25
actual was 49 million and look at their fiscal year 27 recommended is 43 million. So they are they are doing what they're supposed to do. They are tightening up to make sure that they are not being a a drag financially on the city while
providing one of the most highest um services we provide every single day. That we can never take that for granted. Um there were two uh $2 million in proposals that were not approved and we did approve uh over 1.5. So there was a
a good balance there. Um they submitted some reductions that were not approved and then they submitted 245 that was approved. So as we go we went through the exercise you know they had to make priorities and tough choices and then we had to come back on top of that and make
some even tougher choices. So, but the collaboration together have led to some of the impacts that you're going to see. Um, and some of the some of their impacts were uh reduced operational readiness, you know, tool replacement, food supplies, diagnostic systems, um,
the elimination of uh, community engagement events from the 5%. We're talking about the autism awareness, uh, shop with the cop, uh, explorer program, the ice cream truck. Um, these are things that we enjoy being out in the community and showing. Now, some of
these events might be offset by us and their ability to work with some of the uh sponsors in our community who I think are going to stand up and help some of our departments. And I think police is going to be one of the main recipients of that. When they see that when they see and hear that our property tax and
things are being affected, I think the city will step up. And so, I don't want to say that everything that we say is gone is gone forever. It just means we might need to take a different approach to see if we can find a better or a different partner with us to help provide a continuing um satisfying
service to our community. Um delays or gaps in staffing and service delivery keep positions unfilled. It weakens recruitment and heightens long-term long-term staffing and safety risk. That is uh that that is
real, but it's real for everyone. is everyone essentially seeing that same thing. Uh constraints on critical equipment and emergency response capabilities. We always make sure and we want to make sure that we maintain fleet availability for our police to be out in
the field. You know, they work with fleet very closely to make sure that the vehicles are operational. We're not going to put bad equipment out in the field, but we do look at different life cycles, times, um how we can use vehicles and equipment so that we can
get the most out of them while also making sure that the job is being performed um itself. Here you have a deeper breakdown of the police. We're talking about the investigations bureau um specifically um
specifically their proposals of not not being approved was $814,000. So we didn't give them what they asked for and then we took $122,000 from the investigation bureau is the easiest way to say that. Um and what they did was
they eliminated uh vacant positions. Um, we know that when you're asking for new positions, the first question is, well, how are you doing in the current positions that you have and how long have they been vacant and can you live without them? And you know, it's the same it's the same thought tree that happens in every department and because
we don't you don't want to sit on a lot of vacancies knowing that you have needs to fill. The first thing first has to be the fill of vacancies that you have. And we have to ensure that once they're filled, not only with police specifically where space is always a challenge, do they have the space for
those officers and do they have the space for the equipment and the needs of what the actual request entails. Um you also see reduced investigative quality here. Um which of course could help
could face delays and heavier workloads and uh it hurts with oversight which of course leads to human error which we always are trying to avoid. Um the weakened digital the weakened digital evidence capacity that is uh one that is
huge because we talk about the quality and the preservation of evidence and how it leads to the successful defense of what our police team is doing which is why you decided and thankfully so in the
borrowing effort of the $2.7 million of putting that aside so that we could help one of the projects which was the phase in and the first phase was an evidence room which we know that is needed uh based on the the property tax reform that we we keep talking about that
excuse me that I keep talking about. Um it would be very hard for you to take that 2.7 now and say yes I have the confidence that we're going to use that towards a borrowing effort. Um more than likely you'll decide that hey let's put that to the side but not use it. But the
first thing first is we still need to know to get clarification of what and how we can borrow in the first place. And then once you get the money based on what happens in the near future, you will make the decision on how you want to use that money or how to go forward. So a couple things are up in the air
based on um things outside of our control at this point. All right. Division um they submitted $2.6 million. We didn't approve uh reductions $366,000. uh eliminated vacant control positions
um reduce that means reduce patrol efficiency um and fewer pathways for future staffing. It says that you know not adding part-time community service removes an entrylevel pipeline for youth and uh reduces support for field and
administrative tasks. Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, one of the one of the um the main things that we encourage our police department is their connection to our youth and how they can be that role model and be that entry level open first door to our
community and getting and building a relationship with our our law enforcement that not only helps them navigate through the community in the world today that they're in, but they also create opportunities for those who want to join law enforcement at a later
point in time. Operations uh see the same thing. Not approved versus uh approved is 122. Not approved was 983. And here are the impacts of those changes uh in our operations. Again,
we're eliminating uh positions. This is a special op position. Fewer officers, fewer phone calls. Makes perfect sense. Um reduce operational oversight. loss of community engagement and prevention programs. And you see the theme here where we they had
to dial back from some of the non-essential services that they provide, but they're the the intangibles that we all are used to at this point. Um, but this is what reimagining and looking at your public safety and what it provides and how it provides it looks
like. Uh, and I will remind everyone that we did an actual 5% reduction this year based on our goals. The state has said next year you shall do a 10% reduction and put it online to show what that looks like to the people. It
doesn't mean you will adopt it, but they did say that we have to perform the exercise at 10% next year and put it online. Uh, you add that with some of the the property tax reform and you can we can all see where this is going. You're really going to have to prove to the world that you are using the funding
that you're getting in the way that it was designed to be used. Whether you're looking at core services and how you define core services or not, everything is structured so that you now have to show your work and prove that the funding that you have is going to the
places that um people believe it should. And again, I don't think it's anyone picking on the city of Northport. We're just a city in a large state that has to do the same accountability drills as everyone else and we should be able to defend ourselves in what we do. If we can't defend ourselves in what we do,
then we shouldn't be doing it. And I don't think that's the case for Northport. I think we have a very strong story to tell that we will keep telling. So I am taking a breath right now in case someone wants to talk about human resources or police.
>> All right. Any questions from the commissioners at this time? Just put in the queue if you're going to speak, please. So, vice mayor. >> Uh, thank you, mayor. Just, um, this is really painful and to see the service
reductions certainly does not make me happy. Um but but just a a couple of general observations as we put the squeeze on hiring. We just
really need to keep an eye on overtime. Um and and this goes across the board, I think, for all the departments. We're really going to need to control outsourcing and that type of thing. The other thing we might have to look at
when I look at the police detail is community outreach. Now, it breaks my heart because I do believe that having that kind of visibility in the community and with kids, with our
police, is a very effective crime prevention um strategy. But we at some point may have to look at, for example, and I'm making this up. I see chief is is joining us and he really he appreciates
the the impact of these things, but at some point we might have to think about shifting some of those assets to patrol, for example, um to continue to keep the community safe. So, I don't like anything of what I'm saying, but I think
as a community that's what we're looking at. >> Yes. Um, Madame Vice Mayor, I totally agree with you. And, you know, you might remember back from our conversation in March, we will be doing an agencywide deep dive into overtime. I am not a fan
of it. I know that some of it is structured into whether it's contractually or obligation that we have to do and that has to be done. But then there's discretionary overtime that I think has to have some sort of structure around it. And I don't know that we don't have that. I just need to be sure
that we have it across the board. >> Now, another thing that I'm looking at are take-home vehicles, which is not going to make me a fan of police. >> It's not going to make me a fan. >> Remember, city manager, he's armed,
>> right? But it's something that we need to look at. And I know we you know you know before we even say this and he knows that we know this. >> If we if we if we alter that structure we are going to be way behind everybody else because everyone else offers that
as a benefit for those who are traveling throughout our community from where they live to get there to have the best response time. I don't think that's a that's a easy or a light thing to touch. It's just a matter of doing your due diligence. We should be able to answer
the question if someone says is your take on policy solid and strong and do you stand by what you do and the answer should be yes and here are the reasons why and right now we can't do that and I can't do that with overtime because I don't have the scrubbing of the data to tell you that with confidence but we
need to do those things we have to turn over every stone and >> I know they are going if they aren't already there starting to feel like >> we just can't catch a break you know we we we can't get a new building we're running out of space. You know, now, you
know, our money is on the line and we weren't protected. As you know, we've been protected all this time and we're doing, you know, jobs that putting our lives online every single day. We we cannot minimize that at all, but at some point, this team is going to say enough is enough and you're putting us in a
point where you're jeopardizing our ability to do our job. I mean, one of the things I do like about the take-home policy, the minute that vehicle leaves the person's driveway, they're at work. So, I I like the visibility. I have a
couple in my neighborhood and and I like seeing them. >> Um, right. >> So, yeah. I mean, but we're going to have to give up things that bring us comfort and all of that. And and what what I what I like to think of it as as
we thought about this, you know, probably for like the last year is is is it's not all or nothing. That's what we tend to think. It's either it's either it's either all of it or none of it. There there are ways that as we and I when I say we the collective regional we
as we talk to the county administrator, we talk to the other city managers, we talk to other police chiefs and the sheriff, you know, these conversations and relationships that you've had and talk about how to do things differently are going to come come in very valuable when it's time to figure out well what
does this look like now or what can we do? I think that's where the the true value is going to happen. And my last comment if if I may, mayor, is we're really going to have to use our COGS meeting meetings coming up because we're not the only municipality in the county
or in the area who are facing this and if we can band together and do some things unilaterally. So if if Northport makes a certain kind of change, then they all make that change so that we remain
on a level playing field from a com if people are willing to do that. >> Yes, I I totally agree. I love those meetings. I love seeing our our our peer group, >> but I'm just more about problem solving as opposed to what kind of parade you're going to throw next week. It's we need
to talk about real problems. and that group the thought capital in that room is tremendous, >> right? >> We should be we should be picking people's brains and and figuring out what's working and you know learning from their experiences and it it can be a stronger meeting. >> Just one more that occurred to me. I'm
sorry, Commissioner Duval. I know you've been on the board. Um Oh, and I lost my thought. >> Oh, must not have been that good. >> It'll come back. >> It'll come back. Commissioner Dval.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um, before I get into the police department, my first uh comment was uh health insurance
for 2027. Um, no rate increase for 2027. I'm looking at my health costs that I pay for and and they're all going up. What is that?
>> What is the reasoning for them to predict >> no increase? >> Oh, >> is it because of our >> community health center? >> Good morning. >> Hey, good morning. >> Good morning, Commissioner. um Sandy
Nolles, um assistant director for HR. So, there was a twofold. Yes, part of us opening up the employee health center is definitely something that they're factoring in, but we did um have some restrictions put on some of the medications, which has also helped with
the 0% increase for the um GLP1s. >> Okay. Okay. >> Thank you for that. >> You're welcome. >> And so, normally when there's an increase, I think the city has absorbed it, I think, since I've been here. And this year for neither the employee nor the uh employer to have anything to
absorb is a is a first. >> Absolutely. >> So it's there are a few bright spots in this budget and thanks for highlighting that one. >> Okay. Thank you for that. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Now on to the police department. Uh at the beginning of the the
presentation, one of the first slides showed you know like the seven pillars and the very first one is safety. >> Yes. then they're not ranked in any order. But as I have said and I will always continue to say, I can make a very strong argument that public safety
is the very first pillar. If you don't feel safe in your home or your city, no one's going to want to be here. >> Yes. um so from that. Um really bothers me
to even consider any kind of cuts to our police and fire and what I will call our our boots on the ground. uh utilities. Um the people that are out there doing the work.
Um I noticed the difference between, you know, police department request of plus 28 positions and uh CM recommended minus 7. And you know, and I'm not criticizing either one. And I'm just saying um it's
really hard for me looking at my world that I see every day even with our budget constraints to consider any kind of reduction. Now maybe a shifting, you know, like
what uh you know the community outreach um maybe you know shifting those into patrol type things, you know, but but uh if anything, I want to see an increase
in our number of officers out on the roads. Um and then I had one question. Um there was a mention about you know uh reducing vehicle replacements.
Are we doing that? Um again you know that's to me that's you know boots on the pavement. Okay those patrol cars are are needed.
Um, you know, really o overall, you know, as my comments are when it comes to, you know, public safety, you know, those are the cuts that I want to see made last.
You got a comment or >> Okay, I got a comment. Um, so if if you think about when we had the CPSM study that came in and looked at us externally and they one of the things they said was, you know, you need to decide which kind of model of a department that you
want to have. Do you want to have a Cadillac model or do you want to have a Camry model? And in order to keep up with the cost of what you're talking about, we need money coming into this fund, not going out of this fund. We are we are headed in a different direction
than what we want or what we want to see. But unless we figure out a way to let me say it a different way because we're talking about this year's budget. This year's budget there was no way that was determined to bring more money into
this uh situation of our property tax general um general fund amount. It's money going out of it. So, we have to find ways to be able to do that. And then when you say, "Well, just, you know, cut everything else other than public safety." I hope that it showed
you on the chart that when you take out public safety again to 60%. You're looking at departments and things you could cut in half and still not be there to where we want to be. I think we all need to get very um serious about
understanding that we were on a trajectory based on a study that they brought us that said we needed to keep x number of officers going every single year to keep up with our growing population. Well, now they're about to sort of intersect and collide that they haven't to show that.
>> Thank you. It already has. That's showing that we're not keeping the staffing of our police is no longer keeping up with the staffing I mean the population of our city. That's we are going the wrong way. But the fund that pays them and supports them is not being
discussed to be raised. It's discussed to be lowered. >> Thank you for that. Um not related to the police department. Um I noted one thing about uh FEMA disaster
relief funds, you know, reimbursement, you know, of over seven $7.6 $6 million. We have a any kind of a projection or or >> plan for moving that up to get that money. So,
I can hear Val's footsteps. But what I would say before she gets here is I think FEMA's going in the other direction. I think I think there I think FEMA is going to give it to the state and then the state is going to say, you know, I I just don't think that the money that we've gotten in disaster
recovery is going to continue under the thought process of, well, they have to find money in order to pay for new obligations on their end. So, they're going to push that down and say, well, I'm not going to give you as much money coming back from your financial distress from the disaster.
But >> or maybe I didn't hear >> bell. >> Oh well. I'm sorry. >> She didn't move. >> These ladies over here just >> Yes. >> Thank you.
>> For the record, Valerie Mangowski, grants division manager. Um the short answer is we don't know yet. Um there there's some um federal laws and things like that that need to be changed before um we can even see what those changes are yet. Um there's policies on the
screen >> cuz he did the >> it just remains to be seen. Um there's a lot of talk about possibly doing like a block grant um type method for reimbursement. Um, and
my concern is just at the end of a disaster that we're getting reimbursed as much as possible. You know, like there's a way to true up those costs at the end. Um, but at the current moment, you know, this upcoming hurricane season for this summer right now, there's no
change, you know, there's nothing in writing that that's changed right now. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, you're welcome. >> That's all for me. >> Thanks. Thank you. Um, this goes go right back up there, Chief. This is coming to you, sir. Um, this goes
handinhand with Commissioner Dval's statement about the safety and the officers and we're going the wrong way according to our population. Um, if we're not going to keep the optimal staffing, you know, and we're not
keeping up with the population, then that just loosens our ground on public safety out there in my opinion. But when we cut officers, that that's enhancing that. But what I'm getting at here too, because overtime
was brought up, when you cut the officers, the work burden goes on to the officers that are still here, which creates overtime. So you're going to pay time and a half for an individual to work rather than regular time or straight time when they're regularly
employed. So, we're actually paying more without filling those positions in my opinion in the long run because you're not going to be able to control overtime on a daily basis because who knows what the situation is. So, in my opinion,
it's best to staff the police department with the proper staff. Then you can sort of keep the overtime under control because you have the optimal staffing. So, that's something that I think we definitely need to look at to see. We're putting away $2 million
into savings. How much of that savings would it cost us to be able to put the PD on optimal staffing and keep our citizens safe in my opinion? Because if that is our number one pillar, that's where we need to put our money at
and maybe take it away from the other pillars as we move forward. That's just what I've come up with to think about and we can discuss that further if you, you know, choose and give us numbers on how much of that 2 million would it cost us because we may not want to put that 2 million into savings. We may want to
spend a little bit. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think that there has to be an analysis done to prove one way or the other how much staffing uh full-time versus overtime staffing is being used. I'm sure that there is a a strong correlation in
there, but I can't say that hiring these x number of officers are going to reduce x number of overtime. In in theory, it sounds like it's straightforward and it's very linear, but I would need to do some analysis to confirm that. >> Well, I understand that and I appreciate that.
>> Go ahead, Chief. I'm sorry. >> Sometimes with more cops, you have more overtime, too. So I, you know, I don't want to correlate that just because you're putting those cops on, you're going to reduce over time. >> I didn't say reduce, but you would definitely have more with less with less officers.
>> The other thing you have to look at is is burnout, um, fatigue, um, morale, those are all big issues. Though, all these issues that we're talking about is everything that we've spent the last eight years building and working on. And, you know, that the struggle.
>> Yeah. I'm on your side here, Chief. So, >> I I'm sure you are, sir. >> Just so you know, I got purple socks on. >> Yeah. >> Commissioner Pro. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, just the Well, first I want to thank the finance
department specifically for the work they've done crunching the numbers. Um, and most of it they had no control over. They were just given the numbers. So they had to adjust and work the best they they could. Um it's a lot of work.
This budget is not easy to prepare. Um I have a question regarding um overtime policy. Uh and the it can be the um as far as the personnel for overtime for police department. Sometimes it can be u
it could be the largest controll controllable personnel expense or it can be uncontrollable if there's no policy. Do you have internal policy and I know you have your own finance um director if you will. I think it's called business >> manager
>> manager. Do you have any uh any policy uh that controls or specifies the overtime and that would include pre-authorization
staffing um minimum requirement of staff court over whatever court call time. Do you have that in place so you can determine if it's validated and because I know it can be the biggest
driver of your expense? >> All all of our overtime is identified. We can go back and and backtrack how every dollar was spent and why it was spent, whether it was correlated to a case, um a call out, court, whatever. So
all that is is correlated. Um you got to remember law enforcement, public safety is very fluid. You know, it's hard to predict overtime. It's hard to predict that you're going to have a uh homicide on a holiday and you have to call in an entire team to work that homicide. Uh
you have CBA requirements that you have to pay more for the overtime on holidays. So, you can't predict a lot of that stuff, especially in law enforcement. I can't predict when an officer on the way home sees a DUI and stops a DUI and makes an arrest and
spends the next four hours on overtime at the jail. Um, you know, it's just it's a very fluid operation. We keep very strict guidance on our overtime. Um, all overtime has to be approved and it
goes through the chain. So it's not just arbitrarily people just out there, you know, banking on overtime. We have very strict guidelines on how the overtime is used and it's monitored very very strictly. >> So there's some type of a policy that
internally implemented and adhere to. >> Right. >> Okay. That's all I wanted to know. Thank you, Chief. I'm going to go with Commissioner Stokes since you've already went and give him a chance and then you can >> Commissioner Stokes. >> Thank you, Mayor.
First, thanks very much for the hard work that went into this budget because uh I appreciate how hard it was to to make this work. Uh from the standpoint of the direction this commission gave you all, um we tasked you with, you
know, reducing the budget 5% covering increases and setting aside enough money so that in the event we're allowed to borrow um we would have the
funds available to service that debt. Additionally, we address some fee uh fee reduction. Um you know it's uh so in terms of the tasking you know you're there. I mean
for most departments the costs are flat. I mean there was a lot of work department by department that went into this budget and it should not be unappreciated by anybody, not by us nor by the citizens in this city. Um this
was a real tough exercise. I appreciate that. Um the one general statement I'd say is, you know, and I'll concur with what city manager and others have said. Um, while all pillars are necessary in this city, um, if you're not safe, if
people don't feel safe, you don't really have anything. And, um, you know, I said it the first year I was a commissioner, what happens when we planned our strategic planning? What happens if there isn't sufficient dollars to fund
the top one or two priorities under each pillar? Then pillars start to feed on each other. And that's where we are. And if you think this year was tough, you ain't nothing yet when you see what's coming with what the
state's done. And I'll be the first to say it. This state tax reform is just another way to say we're defunding police and public safety and first responders. That is what is happening here. Whether
anybody wants to have the guts to stand up and say it. And somebody should tell the state that. We tried. A lot of people did and it fell on deaf ears. So now we're all going to suffer with it. I would suggest between now and when we finally adopt
this budget. If there was any way we could shift some dollars out of other pillars into PD, I I would be supportive of that. I truly believe we are doing the citizens in this city a great disservice as Commissioner Duval has has
intimated by not keeping up. I don't think we can fully get back to where our studies show we should be, but we can make a dent. And if it means our other pillars are going to have to feel a bit more pain in order to do that, I think that's the right
direction to go. There are two things that people care about from a citizen standpoint, affordability and infrastructure. But that's only because they haven't felt the impact of a lack of public safety in this city. And
they're going to feel it. They're going to feel it not just here in Northport, but all over this state if this thing passes in November and they actually enact this kind of property tax reform. So, I would suggest if there's a way to
do it, I would shift some of those dollars over to public safety, first responders, so we can cushion this blow because once this changes, okay, it's going to be that much harder to do anything. >> Thank you, mayor.
>> Thank you, Commissioner. And what we do as our practice is the numbers that you see in front of you are the best numbers that we have today. as they change and improve public safety is always the first place that we are putting money
back in whether it's for people uh plans or >> outreach whatever it is that's where you got you have to start. So we will continue to do that and as we go from June till September you'll see some changes that'll happen and it'll
hopefully be better before we get to you adopting your budget >> for both police and fire. Vice Mayor. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, I'll be quick. I I remembered my thought.
Um, and to sort of reiterate some of what uh, Phil, I'm sorry, Commissioner Stokes had to say. We need to push back on the state in in a variety of ways. And some of the ways,
well, let me back up. certainly facing the removal of property tax as a way to fund um a number of services. Um we will have to make cuts, but part of the job will also be figuring out how
do we fund certain things and um the state in the past has precluded some things. And just a couple that pop into my mind is
why don't we take our EMTs and rescue for fire and push it back into the fire district. Now I believe there are state statutes that limit or prohibit that. I respectfully say we give the state the
bird and say we've got to do this. We have to fund this. And one of the ways is pushing some of this funding into districts. My only reluctance in doing that is we
need to understand that our districts are regressive taxation. So the beauty of property tax is if you have a million dollar home, you pay more than someone who has a $200,000 home. with our
districts, everybody pays the same. So, we need to understand the impact of some of these movements and shifts and what it's really going to mean for the community. So, we certainly can't do that lightly, but when it comes to
public safety and first responders, we may have to do some of those things. And again, if if we can team up with other municipalities and if they have half the state pushing back on on some of this stuff, the the
other thing is impact fees. So growth should pay for growth and infrastructure, utilities certainly you would want impact fees supporting growth. But I get concerned particularly with parks.
We have to use impact fees to build new parks, but we're unable to maintain the ones we have. So, why can we not use some impact fees in certain situations to maintain what we have? And parks is
one of those areas where we desperately need the money. I mean, I think we have about a um a million some hundred million dollars in CIP projects, most of which are unfunded in parks. I think I think I read that somewhere. We we got
to figure that out. So, anyhow, just some thoughts in terms of creative financing and I know there are all kinds of restrictions, but we we're going to have to push back on the state. >> Thank you, Vice Mayor. And I would I would think that as we go through this
process, there are going to be several whether they're state statutes or restrictions that are on us now that will need to be loosened to give us a little bit more flexibility to manage within the funding that we have since they are they are, you know, directly restricting what we can do now or what
we'll come into what we have right now. I I don't think that you're going to find the state too opposed to that. But that's got to be one of the the channels that we try to get through as we work through our partners at the state. >> Right. Right. Thank you. >> Moving on, sir.
>> All right. Thanks, Chief. Yep. >> Thank you. >> All right. Next, we have Oh, the clerk's office. Um, >> you can skip that one. >> If Madame Clerk were here, she she would tell you that she has the best budget in
the entire city. um the lowest compared to the commission of course but >> right she she says she's the best um so when you look at her or chart I think we're all familiar with um her team of uh eight people
um we talk about the performance metrics for her department uh as you can see she is on target for just about everything for 100% um and that's uh due to the due diligence I would say that she takes in her job and how she tries has to make
make and maintain uh her team to be the best and meet all of their goals. Uh when you look at her budget, as we talked about, you're not going to find much difference here. You know, she's she's very consistent and how she proposes her budget is is scary consistent how it is, but she hasn't
changed very much from uh fiscal year 25. um her service levels um there was no need for her to add anything and she did have a reduction of $35,000 which if I remember correctly was um moving a staff
member from full-time to part-time um which was u very well done and the impact manage records and public requests and meeting preparation um this is what puts
additional pressure on her remaining staff by her not adding any new staff to her team. All right, I will keep going to the city commission as Mr. Mayor just mentioned
and when you look at your budget summary, uh your budget summary um is uh 755 now uh for fiscal year 27. We did not make any I don't believe uh substantial reductions or recommendations for your budget. There's
not you guys only have salaries and uh travel and I think you have uh you tightened up your travel in the past. So I think that that is probably in alignment with what you expect for it to be right now. But we don't have any uh any questions or feedback on that unless
you do, Mr. Mayor. Well, the one thing that I had suggested and we had talked about was on the travel and stuff like that is, >> you know, not too many of us has been to DC, you know, and and all of our representatives are down here.
>> Yes. >> So, there really is no need to travel to DC to meet with them when we can meet with them in person down here. >> Yes, sir. So, and the other one was the Florida League of Cities. Instead of all of the commissioners going and
attending, maybe just start with the mayor and vice mayor as representatives. And if either one of them didn't want to go or didn't want to participate or couldn't, then you open it up to another fellow commissioner, you know, down the line to where you're not spending for
five people. And we're driving up there. Gas is horrendous when we get paid for our gas. So, I mean, that's a big key of the situation. So, those have been discussed to go ahead and do as a commission, but >> yes, Mr. Mayor. And I I believe the the
National League of Cities is what took you to DC. Yes. >> And I I don't I think if I'm not I could be wrong, but I thought you guys ended your membership with the National >> We probably have through through the clerk because I haven't gone in years. So, >> and and the Florida League of City for the Legislative Action Days. Uh, yes. I
I don't go every single year, but I believe that every year that I've gone, we've all sort of been there together. And the vice mayor and the mayor or two, as you just said, I think would be enough. That's just >> I'm just talking about Tallahassee. I'm not I'm not talking about the
committees, which are, you know, that's what all participative action dates, >> you know, is and they could have a meeting prior to going and get their talking points, you know, just like we always do. But >> Yep. you know, it is a great expense. So, >> well, and we do have a strong lobbyist
there. You know, having Hayden there to represent us goes a long way because he's building and maintaining those relationships on a daily basis, whereas we just go up there once a year. >> Yeah. >> Vice Mayor, >> uh, thank you, mayor. Those two things
were on my list as well as potential cuts for us to consider. Um, I also would would like to suggest that we forego our cost of living raise for this year. It's not a lot of money. I think
it's about $10,000 if if everyone else agrees. Um, also in line with travel, it's been our practice that whenever a commissioner leaves the city on um
certain events, we get mileage. some of the events and I'll just talk about myself. I have in the past done some things outside the city that were not part of my assignment as a city commissioner and I put in for mileage.
Personally, I'm not going to do that anymore. Now I'm assigned to team court and the EDC um and I have to go up to Sarasota for meetings. I will put in for mileage for those. But if I want to do something
that isn't a direct assignment of mine, um, where I'm representing the city at something, then I'm not going to put in for mileage. And I don't know if if we all chose to do that how that would impact our travel budget. But maybe
that's something that city clerk could look at. But those would be two additional areas of cuts that I certainly would be willing to make in addition to the suggestions the mayor made. >> Got it.
>> That's it. >> Okay. >> Commissioner Pedro. >> Thank you, Mayor. I'll be strongly opposed to cutting a Tallahassee trip um to other commissioners. Florida League of Cities, they present a lot of programs at Tallahassee, which I've
attended um on both occasions, both years. Um especially ethics course. Um I did my ethics course at this at the beginning of the year in Tallahassee which would satisfy me for this year and
I did the prior online um at the end of the last last year. But uh those programs are invaluable. They are giving a lot of insights and presenting the advocacy and
a lot of connections between municipalities. I would be strongly opposed to cutting. Um it's if I'm not mistaking the travel is is not
too expensive. It was mileage and hotel. Um that's the yeah that's that's the most expense we have as individual commissioners for the entire year. Uh as of as opposed to Florida League of
Cities um going to conferences um on two committees I think uh some of us are so we have to we cannot cut those expenses. As far as the travel um mileage,
I go to a couple committees every two months and it's it's pennies if you if you will. It's like $30 every two months. So that's I don't think we should cut that either. I'm not
uh in favor of that. Um, so as opposed to other departments, the commission budget is the lowest and um I'm not in favor of cutting much
for the commissioners as far as the, you know, all those programs because it would benefit the commission substantially and greatly and um I don't think we should cut any of that. Thank you, ma'am.
>> Commissioner Stokes. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, yeah, with regard to the city commission budget, uh, you know, I would be supportive of foregoing increase this year for, uh, this coming year for any increase for commissioners
salaries. I have no problem with that. Um, I take a little different perspective on Florida League of Cities. While uh I appreciate that their mission in life is to advocate for municipalities and local government, um
they get an F in my book. Um they've done nothing but um talk and uh the state has steadily preempted all our rights and every year they seem to be even more outrageous. So, I see no value
quite frankly and don't intend to participate in anything that Florida League of Cities has to offer up. As for ethics, that's a state requirement. And um I have uh taken my ethics training locally uh this past year in um
Sarasota, Longboat Key. Uh US local municipalities offer this. They bring in each of their uh city attorneys um at the city of Sarasota. They actually brought in um a fellow who did my first ethics training uh years ago who uh
actually is general counsel I believe or or city attorney for a city here in Florida. He does a great job. He's been doing this for years. So it avoids having to hike up to Tallahassee to take an ethics course uh you know through Florida League of Cities. So, uh, you
know, I I would slash everywhere we can. Like I say, I, you know, I appreciate that that that the Florida League of Cities mission is to advocate for us, but, um, you know, they sure have lost their way or at least have, as far as I'm concerned, are one of the most
impotent organizations I've seen. Um, if it were me and I had the brothers, I would be suing the state of Florida left, right, and sideways for all the preeemptions that have gone on. um you know we fight very hard on a local level to be fiscally responsible for our
citizens here you know even even though there there is at times people who don't feel that's the case but um you know to have a state that makes it more and more difficult and now after one arm being tied behind our back they attempting to
tie both hands behind our back I would say that um we need to find another way to advocate and to fight against what the state has been doing on a regular basis. So, thank you, mayor. That's all I have to say. >> Yeah. And the one thing I was going to add, when it's online, it's like 25 to
50 bucks, you know, to do it online, >> right? >> And compared to 700 in mileage, few hundred in hotel for Tallahassee, >> 50 bucks, thousand bucks. You know what's >> And it still works. You get a certificate that you've completed it.
>> Go ahead, Vice Mayor. >> My point exactly. Um, I did it online. I think it was about, sorry, $75, I think, to take it online. And I think the mileage to Longboat Key was probably in the same ballpark.
>> So, yeah, there are a lot cheaper ways uh to get your ethics training than hiking up to Tallahassee. So, >> that's it. >> Commissioner Dval, >> thank you, Mayor. Um, could I have that
slide put back up on the commission numbers? >> Uh, sure. >> Yes, >> that one there. >> Yeah. Um if I look at under personnel that's the five of us I presume
projected for 2026 483,000 20 recommended for 2027 uh $65,000 uh difference of $122,000 um with
our s you know I presume that that must that must include health some health care cost and retirement. Um if I divide that that difference that $122,000 difference it comes up to over
$24,000 a piece. Um I can't picture us giving ourselves raises to, you know, to account for that. So, how do we account for that from 26 to 27, that $122,000
difference? >> Well, actually, I I think we might need to look to see why that number of the projected personnel is 483. I think that's a typo. >> It It looks like the amended was 583.
>> Legislative aid was in our budget. you would want to look at the amended uh personnel budget of 583,000 >> the projected that was something that departments had to provide and that might have been >> an error or mistakenly calculated
because it's most likely it's going to be about 583 >> right so I think 735 to 755 is what you're comparing you should be comparing to um commissioner Dvau >> so so uh just for the record 2027 there's about 5,5500
in cola u adjustments. So if you're interested to know what would that look like that's about 5500 >> that sounds right right >> um along with my fellow commissioners you know uh travel expenses um you know if
like if I had to go out of town for you know a weekend or two or three days there is the option there are some city vehicles that are unused and we could use those instead of you know it it is it's It's a It's like an extra paycheck
when I travel out of town and then I you know I get the mileage on my vehicle and uh that's costing the taxpayers. Um the other thing and usually I go the other way on this but I'm going to give you
some reasoning um as far as foregoing any salary increase this year. I just want to uh kind of remind my fellow commissioners
that one of the reasons given for the pay raises, the recent pay raises was that um hasn't kept up.
Okay. And you know, we need to be real. Well, now the the pay is real. Um I just you know for one year to say okay we're not going to get any raise you know I don't have any objection to that
but to keep in mind that you know something along the CPI and you know each year so that we never get to that point again where the salaries you know where the commissioners aren't being compensated
the way they should uh something to keep in mind, but as far as you know, giving up any pay raise this year, you know, with things we're looking at, you know, I have no objection to that at all. Thank you, >> Commissioner Stokes. >> Yeah, I I did uh happen to miss one
point I had here. Um you know, uh there are certain parties that believe uh being a commissioner is a part-time job. So perhaps we might want to think about um dependent health coverage and the thought that perhaps um that's a cost
that should be incurred by commissioners themselves um rather than the city paying for it. Um you know that's a possibility. Um it would be a way to save some money. You know I don't advocate for that for city employees at
large because they're full-time people. They work, you know, uh, very hard and, uh, and and it is a nice, uh, perk that that helps, you know, balance out the fact that typically civil servants, public service people
don't get paid what private enterprise does. But when it comes to commissioners, um, like I say, commissioners decide how hard or not how hard they're going to work, how much time they put in, and, um, you know, you know, uh there might be some
consideration there that perhaps uh you know, they should bear the cost of their own dependent healthc care coverage if that's legally allowable. I mean, as a part-time classification, I don't know, you know, maybe it's allowed, maybe it's not, but it's food for thought anyway. if we're trying to save, you know, I I
want people out there to understand in this city that, you know, we we are facing some very very very serious times and everybody better look at the fact that we're going to have to give up on every level and I don't want anybody to think out there that we're not willing
to sacrifice, too. So, thanks, mayor. Well, can I understand what you're saying? You're saying dependent healthcare, correct? >> Okay. They cover our health care, but our dependents we have to pay for ourselves, but it's can't. Okay. I just
wanted you to be clarified on what you were talking about, but it's kept. Commissioner Dval, >> yeah, this is what Commissioner Stokes just brought up. Um, but this is tough. You know, it's hard
for me to say to the other commissioners, you know, you shouldn't be, you know, maybe this is people say this a part-time position, you know, maybe the city shouldn't be paying for your health care. Um, it's hard for me to talk about that because already I do
pay for my own health care. I do not use the city's healthc care services. Um, you know, but that's my personal situation. Um but
um I just don't know what to say about about that. Um you know it's you know healthc care is a cost. I know there's you know between uh 2024 and 2025 health care cost for the commission went down
by $11,000 just because I don't use the city's healthcare. Um, that's something I guess each commissioner would have to address himself. You know, not everybody's situation is the same. My
situation, you know, I'm so old. You know, the all this stuff was taken care of years ago. I'm sorry. >> That's it. >> Vice Mayor. >> Yeah. Just just a comment on that. I'm
in the same boat as you. Being a fossil myself, I pay for my own healthcare um through the typical ways, not the city. Um but I I think the issue of are we is it a full-time position or a part-time
position is a good one to have. Maybe not for today, maybe for another time. Um and and if we agree it is a part-time position then our benefits should you know any part-time employee of the city
what do they get and that's what we ought to get. >> Well there was part-time positions with benefits. >> Yes. Yes. So, you know, fair fair is fair and it's a big expense and uh yeah,
I mean it's a fair conversation to have. Maybe for another day we can make it an agenda topic. >> Exactly. >> All right. I see nothing else. Are you done with this section, sir? >> I am. >> All right. We're going to take a 10-minute break. >> Let's do it. >> All right.
>> Possible. >> Then Jesse taught me about the zones. It helps maintain that their body of water is theirs to protect anybody that's in their zone. So, lifeguard Brandon right now is actually scanning red one zone. So, red one zone is here. Any part of this body of water that reaches let's
say all the way from those stairs to the bulkhead and to the side of the corner. This entire zone is his right now to make sure that they are staying healthy and hydrated. We do have a 30 minute a rotation here for all of our lifeguards. And lifeguards are not meant to bypass
more than one hour of continuous lifeguarding. So after every hour, the lifeguards must take either a visual break or an actual break. After Jesse's walkthrough, I met up with Matt, one of the pool technicians responsible for keeping the water clean and safe every
single day. He started by showing me how they test the water across the park. >> Got comp pool, lazy river, kids pool. Each sample is dropped in the small disc and loaded into a device and in just seconds it gives a full readout on the pool's chemistry. >> And before this little machine was
created, this was a more of a manual model. >> Yeah. We um a lot of people will use tailored tests. So it involves like little different chemicals. You would fill up a container and drop them in like a certain amount and basically it'll calculate from there
>> um what your pH and chlorine is. >> And this is the daily task. Yeah, this is what we do at the start of every day >> inside the control room. He fired up the valves that get the entire water park up and running. >> When we have everything going, the water level will be back up, but since we're not running everything in the moment,
it'll drop it down a couple inches. >> Next, he showed me the daily checklist for the part. >> Then we have our chemical data sheets. So basically just making sure like that our comp pool, lazy river, kids pool are all where they need to be. Anywhere between two parts per million or 10
parts and then pH is somewhere between 7.2 and 7.8 for a healthy pool. There you go. Then came the back washing and wasting process. Flushing the filters to keep the water flowing freely or removing excess water from the system to keep the
water levels balanced. And then it'll start coming out in this pit. >> So this this whole pit will fill in about 3 minutes. >> Really? Over there? >> Yep. >> Next, we changed out one of the strainer baskets which helped catch large debris before it can reach the pumps.
>> I'll tra that one. Thank you. Then new one goes in just like that. And we usually let those dry out. I'll clean them later this week. Before joining the team in Northport, Matt worked as a lifeguard in Charlotte County under Trish Sturgis, our assistant director of parks and recreation.
>> So, I've known Trish a very long time. So, that definitely was one of the influences of wanting to come work at the aquatic center. Had me go out for an AFO course recently, which is aquatic facility operator course. Basically, anything and everything relating to a
facility, like water chemistry, safety rules, that, this and that. So, I went there. I just passed that class. So, it's a little little bit of knowledge under my belt. It was definitely useful. >> Well, Matt, we're we're grateful for your time and your experience and all
you put into your career here and congratulations on your certification and you do amazing job here at sir. >> Thank you for joining me today at the Northport Aquatic Center. It's a great facility. I want to thank Director Sandy Funheller, assistant director Trish Sturgis. I have learned so much amazing things today. I would like to say that
the technical expertise that goes to keep the water safe as well as the people safe is an amazing combination. See you on the next job. Thanks for being here. Hey, city of Northport. My name is Sandra Budro. I am with a
representing this city of Northport on this glorious Price Boulevard project. We are here on Price Boulevard at the Blue Ridge Waterway in which we are building the box culvert. Um, as we've talked in the past, we're doing a double barrel box culvert here
and we are currently pouring the second wall of the structure. That wall's got to cure, the concrete has to cure, and then we can strip form. So, it does take some time for the walls to cure and then for us to start building the top. After that, we're going to build uh the
earthwork and then the roadway. So, at this point, we are currently early on in the process. If you want further updates, you're going to go to the Price Boulevard web page. Hello, I'm Jerome Fletcher, city manager of Northport. I'm on the job with the solid waste division of public works.
Let's go. make yourself at home. >> Oh, I love the duck. Look at that. >> Yes, >> that got passed down through a few co-workers and then now it's ended up in this truck. So, I was like, I want to keep it. What's up? >> Well, well, maybe it's for the uh
two-time driver of the year. How about that? >> Yeah. >> Oh, congratulations. >> I appreciate it. >> Yeah. You You only been here for two years, right? >> Two and a half now. So, >> all right. >> Recognition is nice. But what he really values is the simplicity of the work. Meet Cole Sigley, a solid waste driver
for the city of Northport. >> You can put me on the same truck and same route, leave me alone for 30 years, and I'll be it'll be done. You don't have to worry. You don't have to worry about it, >> right? It's very low stress. Let me do my job. Yep. >> I'll do it right. Come back tomorrow. >> Yep. And then you go on to your next
route. And then you just keep doing that. And then eventually the weekend comes. You enjoy the weekend. Right back to it. >> Right. That's that's how life should be. >> It's a career he planned for early on right after high school. >> I went and got my CDL after I graduated high school and my goal is to get here
eventually. So >> All right. >> So I sound like a man with a plan. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Well, we appreciate it. We appreciate everything you guys do. He even shared a little bit about where he grew up. Far from the Florida heat >> because we we're from West Virginia. >> Okay. What what part of West Virginia?
>> Uh so it's north central so like Clarksburg. It's about 40 minutes from Morgantown which is where the university and the schools are and all that stuff. >> I've been to Wheeling West Virginia a couple times up in the mountains. >> Yeah. >> I I I'm going to tell you driving up those streets when the streets are like
really narrow >> and you got to wind up those I was like oh my And I was young. And I was like 23. >> Yeah. >> And I was like, man, this is going to be a problem. >> There are some of those mountain roads where it's just we like to call them kiss your butt turns where you're
sneaking through >> and then you got to do that in the winter when it's icy on the road. >> I don't want to think about it. I don't even want to think about it. >> No, I'll take this over that up there. >> Any day. >> And when the talk turns to hobbies, the trucks don't stop at work. In his spare time, it's all about monster trucks and RC cars.
>> Nice little basketball court right there. My son would like that outside of our house. >> Oh, yeah. >> That's nice. >> Great place to run your little RC trucks, too. >> Right. Oh, yeah. >> I got a bunch of those. I like >> Do you? >> Yeah. >> Oh, man. Do you have the gas powered ones? >> I have the electric. I don't have the
gas. I've seen them. >> I I just want like the ones that go fast. I mean, it can be electric or gas, but >> how fast can yours go? >> I have So, I have a couple that can go 40 plus. >> Oh, yeah. >> So, they're the brushless motors. So, >> you go race them somewhere like on the track? No, I just race around my yard.
They're monster trucks, so they you just take those things anywhere >> and >> they can jump over anything. >> Oh, yeah. Right. >> I rip them through the sand and the grass and hit big jumps with them. I break them more than I do plate. >> You take a big jump, you're like, "All right, let's do this." And then you land it and it's like boom, it's done. You just broke the wheel off or
>> But when the work day starts, the focus shifts to keeping the city running smoothly. Every collection has a plan. And behind the scenes, people like Mario Bendi, planner and scheduler for the city, help make sure it all runs like clockwork. >> So basically, I'll and I will check them one by one.
>> Right. Do you really? >> Oh, yeah. I'll get out at every one and I'll check >> I might take a section and do like three or four streets, >> right? >> For the entire city. >> Yeah. So, here we have contamination, our first tote, >> right? >> We have yard waste which does not belong in there,
>> right? and we're going to end up tagging this and they're not going to collect it because of that. >> Okay. But but as I'm familiar with, you write on there exactly what the problem is. >> I can check off. There's a spot for yard waste on there that doesn't belong in there and I'll show you that. >> The goal isn't punishment. It's
education. Making sure residents know what belongs in the bin and what doesn't. >> So, here we have these are um it's a recycling notice. It's not a violation. It's not it's just a warning. is just saying that, you know, oops, you had something in here that didn't belong. >> Right.
>> So, I'll date this. Today's the 24th. And there's a spot on here. We noticed your recycle container that had >> All right, we're back at it. We have a quorum. Uh, Commissioner Pro and Vice Mayor are still in disposed at this
point, but they'll be right back. Carry on, city manager. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, so next we have the city attorney's office. Uh, very tight office, very tight budget. Um, as you can see, they have nine positions in their office. They are not requesting or asking for any new
positions in the next fiscal year. Uh, they are on target with their goal of making sure that they minimize the risk and exposure of uh, the city's operations. I can attest to that as he guides me daily on how to stay away from risk and I'm grateful. Um, when you're
looking at their budget, their budget is very in line and consistent with what it has been and what was submitted. They are very uh close to the fis fiscal year 26 amended number just barely um in with a barely small increase uh no proposals
or reductions uh due to their office and no impact they will keep on with their services as usual so I'll go right on to IT is one of the departments that uh we have uh already met with you individually to go over
some of their um their major issues for this upcoming year. Um, as you can see, we talk about people and what that means to it. It is staying very stable with 32 individuals in their division. Um, they do very well with their metrics. The
goals that you see here are all on target. Well, maintaining the uptime of our equipment, maintaining the um, information systems uptime and service level agreements as well. When you look at their budget as it
relates to their personnel, you can tell I mean their personnel operating capital and transfer. Uh they do have a strong mix, but the bottom line is you can see that their fiscal year 25 actual but 5 million uh 6 million for their uh 26 and
their 27 recommended is seven. And it does include as you can see capital in there of $1.3 million. And I believe we've talked about the equipment needed to keep uh us safe, whether it's through cyber security or the operations of our
IT department that we're grateful for. When you look at their proposals, we did approve $335,000 uh in approvals for them, but we also approved uh $471,800 in reduction. And here are some of the
impacts of their service levels. And you know they again like everyone else is trying to do reducing uh discretionary and non-essential spending for travel and professional developments. Um they are reallocating existing spenders shifting Starlink cost to benefiting
departments and sort of taking out of their budget. That cost allocation is important. um maintaining the operational continuity and security uh by performing preserving all core IT services uh cannot be stressed enough because at the end of the day we have to
make sure that it is running sound and solid based on what they provide. Uh next, Mr. Mayor, I'm going to transition to the non-dep departmental uh department, which is a small collection of funds that does not change
very often. Uh, one of the things that we had in here, you might remember, oh, I'm sorry. Oops. Oops. Um, you you might remember was where we had the um the contingency accounts where we were trying to prepare for things that we didn't see for before the budget was
done. And we've sort of removed that because again when you're looking at everything to take out of your budget, you want to make sure that you don't have anything there. And if we do run into those challenges that happen in the non-EP departmental, we figure those out within the other department so that it
doesn't make a huge impact on our organization. Um, and as you can see, the $50,000 was removed out of this from last year to this year. Um and this is uh this amount reduces the plan non-emergency transfer as I'm saying
from the general fund to meet our budget constraints. Um which again shows everyone is participating. Parks and Rex department um quality of life pillar number one. Um, as you can
see, they had a 76 position budget amended for fiscal year 26, and now it's 74 through two reductions, as we can see right there. Um, it also talked about submitting two
part-time positions for reduction and the reclass of one FTE to part-time as well, which is how they are helping to manage their current staff load. Um as you can see by some of their performance metrics uh being on target for cost
recovery they're going to exceed the 25% as we've outlined uh with them briefly in the past. We met with this department if you remember a few weeks ago as we were trying to answer questions for parks uh communications and social services. So, some of this information
you've already seen and we've already discussed, but as you know and as we talk about, parks is our biggest quality of life um pillar as it relates to how they provide the amenities that draw
people into the city. There's a direct correlation between drawing people to the city through parks and wrecks since we don't have other opportunities and activities for people to want to be here and the economic development impact that is provided to the city overall. So I don't want that to go uh unnoticed. But
as again I can't I can't mention parks without saying that the tax reform would have an impact on what we do and how we do it. And we would have to have those discussions as to what's the priorities and the will of the commission as we sort of reimagine what our parks
providing to our community would look like. Um they did participate in the service level changes. They did get approved for 204 and they were reduced by 97,200. Um when you talk about well what impact
does parks um reductions will have we're talking about you know some events that we provide some of which we scale back some of which were eliminated when we think about the ones that were eliminated we're talking about movies on the green concerts in the park the egg hunt and the rocking road and this goes back to the conversation that we've
already had which says should we be doing these events is there another community um partner who could do some of these events uh we scale back only on the ones that we knew we would not remove. And those are, you know, three of your your biggest ones right there. But they also happen to be probably
three of the biggest cost drivers, too, for um non-personnel or non-aquatic center related um expenses. So, you know, the the multip the multiple programs would shift to lower cost operating models relying more on community partners, nonprofits, and local performers. As I mentioned, the
facility operations and staffing would be adjusted to align with usage patterns resulting in reduced operating hours and the reclassification of certain positions and targeted investments would address aging equipment, expand services such as the fitness center. So, they they always do a very good job with
their budget and this year was no different. Um but they are uh very well aware that reform and um adjustments will mean that parks will have reform and adjustments as well.
Uh the aquatic center specifically um approved reductions of $87,032. Um and when you look at the aquatic center and what its level of changes means, we're talking about reduced operating hours. Um, we're also talking
about um decreased staffing flexibility for the part-time staff that I mentioned. And there's also going to be strain on supervisors who might be pulled into frontline coverage. One of the things that I feel we need to mention right here is, you know, with
the reform, you may want to re redesign our model for the aquatic center. You might want to expand the hours or charge more for cost recovery or you might say, you know what, we want to close it during the months where it's not as heavily used.
But there's all kinds of conversations for you to have in the very near future on this. One of the other conversations that we're exploring is we are exploring special districts out in activity center 6 and 10 and we're adding the the exploration of a parks and rec district
to that conversation to bring back to you at a future point in time to see if it's something that you would consider. Um it's my understanding that Sarasota I think Sarasota city uh created a model for a special district. They went through a lot of the processes. They just didn't get it over the finish line.
So there might be something out there that kind of shows us that this can be done in the city. And if we're thinking this, you got to believe that the other uh are thinking the same thing about this. So it would not be a effort that the city of Northport be on its own. We
would be with our partners as we continue to all go through the same journey um together. Uh parks maintenance uh approved reductions uh were $145,000. Some of the impacts of the parks
maintenance changes are the reduced capacity for repairs and field maintenance. Um, and that means that we are talking about, you know, just reducing the the repairs and the ability to handle some of the routine services, whether it's addressing vandalism
and leaving uh sports and park equipment unrepaired or unreplaced. There will be a decline in the park amenity conditions. We're talking about reductions for benches and picnic tables and other amenities mean aging or damaged items will um be removed without
replacement. Uh lower landscaping and court maintenance standards. Uh this is talking about reducing mulch and tree work and other things that we see around our city. There will be a visible impact when you talk about parks and sort of changing their budget construction
because they're every they're they're everywhere that people see and that's what they notice and they're going to notice that grass is higher or this looks differently and we've got to be able to answer those questions and say that this is what it looks like now based on what we're trying to do now. um
we can't expect uh us to react in a way with the level of service that we are doing now if we make the changes that I refer to as potentially on the way. Um parks administration um they lowered
their budget by $3,575. Um they reduced some of their advertising for their marketing reach um and that could affect our event attendance and program enrollment. um they will have a lower community visibility. That means cutting some of the promotional items for outreach
opportunities. Um shifting to digital only communication. So that means less printing of brochures and u um um physical paper that would still give residents oops requiring access to what
we have to offer just in a different format. And we do know that through our um our older population in the city, they do like the physical printed items, but again, the world is changing and we have to um make our changes with it.
Uh Warm Miller Springs. Um we talked about this uh as well when we had our conversation with parks and we talked about $22,900. The biggest thing that I'm going to mention here with Warm Mill Springs is
that you will have the opportunity to talk about a budget amendment that's coming forward for the repairs and the renovations that you have already approved as a board. You have put us on that pathway, but now there is approximately almost $10 million in
certax that is attached to that renovation and repair of this project. you might just want to stop and take a second look at that and say, "Hey, let's make sure we're all on the same page." Or is there a middle point somewhere where we could not spend all that $10 million on this project? Or does this
project rise to the level of due to the age and the community input and um how important the asset is? Do we continue on that path and then we still handle what's coming after that? The only reason why I would stress that you um
you pause on it just for another conversation is because the sir tax that is being used is not restricted to Warm Mill Springs. You can use it anywhere within the city. And based on everything that we know today that we didn't know when this project started, I think that
it's valuable just for you to have a conversation just to make sure you're all on the majority of one page. Um, all right. I am going to continue on this. Yes, >> we got some questions. >> Go right ahead.
>> Um, the one thing that I was going to bring up was when we get to the park maintenance, there's couple different air different types of maintenance. Now, if we have a park that's out in the woods or whatever, that's that's one type of maintenance. But when we have a
playground with equipment and families are going there, that maintenance needs to be upkept. And and I'll tell you why. Because if you let the grass grow, let's say for a foot, you're not going to be able to see the 40,000 red ant mountains that are out there to be able to take
care of them. And then you have children out there, they get stung, they get bit, and it becomes a miserable trip for them. So, we need to really take a deep dive on what type of maintenance and where and you know, and when it comes down to Warm Mill Springs, since you
brought that up real quick, maybe we can have an agenda item brought back to discuss the the exact parameters on where we want to go because what I'm hearing from the citizens out there is all they want is a place to change with some showers and we're going to have to
have an admin building up there. So maybe in the time that we're looking at it is demolish the buildings, clean up that area, and have just small amenities there going forward until we can actually look
into the rebuilding of it. I know we wanted to keep it for historical purposes, but we did have that option to remove the buildings and rebuild. We can remove the buildings now, rebuild later just to clean it up and make it more
safe and secure and more eye appealing. >> Yes, Mr. Mayor. So when we there's a budget amendment that's going to be on your agenda upcoming that's going to allow us to have this conversation and we'll bring back some of that historical information that parks and the consultant I believe developed so that
you can sort of see what are the other options and some of the prices that were attached to those cuz it's been a while since you've looked at it as a board but it'll be I still think it'll be healthy for us just to take a a good little pause on that item just to make sure that let's realize how we got here what
are the options as you just outlined them and what is the current um GMP that's in front of you as a proposal to make a decision on, >> right? And we'll have that discussion with Yes. at that time. I just wanted to bring that up as options. Commissioner Stokes. >> Yeah. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you
for touching on War Springs. You know, my mind was going in that same general direction and we'll we'll be able to revisit that. Um, with regard to to the events um that are cutting back, um, um, I like the ones that I think we're
cutting out, trick-or- treat, uh, the Freedom Fest points. I assume we're we're the cutbacks we're talking about are in the area, the bounce houses, and some of the amenities that are on the green that take place. you know, those kinds of things. I would just encourage
Farts and Rex to try to maintain by outreach to nonprofits, private businesses that might want to sponsor these things. you know, I I don't disagree that we need to save them, but I would hope that, you know, there there would be organizations out in the
community that might be willing to fill some of those gaps so that these, you know, some of these, you know, things can hopefully be, you know, still be perpetuated, but not at the taxpayers's expense. And I'm going to
say it because, you know, I have been one of the greatest advocates for the aquatic center. I love the aquatic center. I said it before I ran all during while I ran. I think for the folks in our community who do not have their own pools, who do not live in
gated communities or HOAs where there's all kinds of amenities, you know, the people most in need in this city get to enjoy the aquatic center. But it's unmistakable. It loses over half a million dollars a year. It is just that simple. If we're facing what we're going
to face, and I don't say for this budget cycle, but if we're going to face what we're going to face in November, if this passes, nothing is not on the table. And I think we need to start thinking about whether or not this city should be
operating anything that loses that kind of money and whether it's sell it and let someone else operate it. I have to say if this thing passes in November, there is nothing in this city that isn't subject to scrutiny except in my opinion
public safety and infrastructure. Thanks, Mayor. >> Uh, Commissioner Dval. >> Thank you, Mayor. I just have one simple question uh on the slides there that made mention of uh replacement or
maintenance of a sand pro. Just exactly what is a sand pro? uh that is used for field grooming and and leveling of the the field. >> All fields >> all fields. >> Thank you.
>> That's all I have right now, sir. >> So, if I can address the special events, Sandy Funheller, parks and recreation director, >> uh for the Freedom Festival and the um Poinsetta Parade and Festival, those reductions are getting rid of the
entertainment. So, the the live band, the sound services that go with that, and the um kids inflatables activity area um still offering those things, but they would be um through organizations,
clubs, um local performers that will do that at no cost. So, um that's what we proposed there, but still having the rest of the event format um with the trick-or- treat um signature event that is removing the um provision of candy.
Um we were very successful this past year in having I believe 50 different businesses that signed on uh to provide booths there that also provided candy. So this would be removing that um from the city providing it, letting the businesses, expanding that option for
businesses to participate and also removing the uh funding for the staff um provided displays and booths there. I would think that hopefully there would be some outside groups from the chamber
and the businesses throughout this area that might be willing to step up and contribute even more with regard to some of the inflatables as well as like the candy and that sort of stuff. I mean, I think, you know, I certainly personally
am going to advocate for it with all those folks that I know because I think that it's it's going to take everybody stepping up and helping, >> right, >> when it comes to this so we can minimize the impacts. And for the aquatic center, I just want to remind commission that
when the pricing was set when we first opened that building. Um there was um a a business plan that was put together um and commission was presented with the cost, you know, what the fee would need to be um and a a decision was made to
keep it an affordable rate knowing that it was going to lose money. >> So um it is >> Yeah. And it is um we certainly can look at the seasons and um tightening up not being open on shoulder seasons like we
are now. We're one of the only facilities that's open year round. Um certainly would impact our ability to staff um the facility, but there are options on how to not only reduce the hours um but also we can look at those
price the price points for that as well. Yeah, we'll have to. I mean, if they do what they're going to do, we're going to I mean, there's nothing we you know, we're just going to have to take a fresh look at everything. Thanks very much. >> Are you back in there, Commissioner Deval, or did they not erase it?
>> Um, no, thank you. Um, you know, when you cutting out the candy and stuff like that, that's going to be a very disappointing time for the kids, especially along the parade route. Just a suggestion is everybody can go out and buy it the day after Halloween and put it in totes and let it all melt together
and then we can separate at Christmas time. So we will sacrifice our cups the candy as a contribution. >> All right. Thank you. Moving on, sir. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh our
next topic is uh social services. uh they were also part of the group that we we talked to you about um a few weeks ago. We did not get to go over their full uh conversation because we had another meeting that was uh budding up against our time, but we have met with
you individually and shared with you the information that our team has ga gathered the innovative housing solution slide deck. If you if you remember, part of what we're trying to um look at is what does the future of social services
look like? And we talk about affordable housing. We talk about transitioning housing. We talk about um what does the county do? How do we quantify that? And you know, we still have not gotten you can put that one up there if if you can. we have not not gotten, you know, the
information uh in the way that I think that we should that shows exactly how much of the contract is social services from the county is coming to Northport. I mean that it's just we just have not been able to get those thought numbers yet, but we're going to keep trying. But
as we look through and go through what the staff presented to you, what they did was propose, okay, when you look at how we address our people who are experiencing homelessness. And that's been a topic of conversation with the
committee uh commission since I've been here for four plus years. And there are some models out there as we shared with you that shows and talks about those people who are experiencing uh the hardship of still working but yet still not being able to um use as much um
discretionary income for things that are not sort of rent burdened on our population. And not only our population, when you look at the population of the entire county, I believe it's like upwards of 35% that are in the Alice category for the
asset limited income constrained employee households in our entire county. That's a huge number. So based on uh based on models and um information that we shared with you, I'm not going to go into this extremely deeply because
we've already talked about it, but you've seen some of the different shelters and sort of the different kinds of programs that are being offered in this state that if we say you say at some point in the near future, we want to re we want to um rework and redesign
how our social services team works. This is something for you to definitely digest as we move forward. Um it's a great program. Our team uh team led by um manager Janet Will did a great job of
gathering this information. It was gathered of course pre uh property tax reform where we are right now. But it was still our obligation to give you this information so that you could have it and see it. And I know we met with you all one-on-one and went went over it
with you. So, um, we did want to make sure that the public had it as well, which is why it's included in this information so that they can see it, um, knowing that we are a provider of social services and we do want to help those in need. So, maybe it just doesn't look the
same way that it has traditionally and maybe now it's time for a change and then we will we'll have this discussion with you in a deeper um, manner in the future. But, it's it's a lot of great information. She went and saw the actual location in Tampa and was very impressed with it. I think that we've talked about
small and tiny homes here in our community and done I think done the right way, we could make an impact on those people who are experiencing homelessness uh in our city. But I'll stop right there. And
when I say stop, I mean stop going through slides, but I'm still going through them. Anyway, I'm going stop right there. But thank you if you would. I appreciate it. And uh you got a copy of that. We've got a copy for the clerk so they can put it into the record and we'll go from conversation from that as well. But as they are currently
constructed, you'll see six employees here on their org chart. That six is actually now five. They had a um they had a vacancy come open lately and we did not refill that vacancy. So now they're at five positions as we move forward in the budget process. That's
they're an example of, you know, rearranging their work schedule and how they engage with the public so that they could keep that vacancy and put it towards uh the pool that we talked about earlier. Um, as you can see, these are some of their goals and targets. You
know, dispersing the 100% of the MP squared funds. You know, we're always looking for people to make sure that those funds can be dispersed. We have lowered that amount, if you remember, uh to uh a different level, but we know that nonprofits are out there that need our help. Um we try to advertise and try
to engage as many as possible. Um we we also wanted them to participate in 24 outreach activities and they're on track to do that and providing life skills to 25 residents. They are anticipated to exceed that as well. uh when you look at
their actual department, their total of fiscal year 25 was just more than $677,000. And when you look at this year that we're recommending, it's uh closer to $753,000. uh as you can see right here some of the
reductions that were approved the 35,875 was a lot for their department because they are truly personnel and don't have a lot of operating and maintenance costs um so there is a going there would be an impact on u their reductions you know cut into the NP squared um the closet
and you scholarships will limit assistance to nonprofits they won't remove them we did not remove those services they just were adjusted in the process um the removal of the uh some programs for the community baby shower and the preschool expo. Um lower
engagement through fewer printed materials. Same way is with parks, less brochures and more um digital contact and the loss of emergency housing assistance. You know, the we are a last resort um funding for housing crisis
where we do provide those in need. And again, it's part of what we've always provided. Well, when I say always provided since I've been here and now, like the mayor said, you know, everything has to be looked at and you know, we're going to make sure that we do and social services is a is a big
part of that. >> Yeah. before you move on with with the social services and I see where you're cutting certain programs this that and the other. What I would suggest is >> having a meeting together with all of the nonprofits out there
>> and see what we're doing away with. See if they wish to pick up on it because I seen that there were youth scholarships this that and the other. You know, maybe a Rotary club would pick that up and say, "Hey, we can give this out." nest because right now a lot of the
nonprofits out there are just going and repeating and performing. This could be new activities that they could be focusing on with their groups which gives them a little bit more excitement and more continuity within their groups to where hey we got something that we can work on and move forward with and
have a meeting with them all of them and just say hey this is where we're at. This is what we're looking at. What do you think you all can pick up and take off of our hands and help us out with? because there is that need still out there in the community, >> right? >> But we just may have to pawn it off and
allow somebody else to take over and say, "Hey, thank you very much. Partnership, whatever the case may be, and and go that route." >> Okay. >> Hi, I have your social services manager for the record. We've actually already
had um those discussions prior to the um budget um reductions because we do highly um rely on our partnerships with our nonprofits. So we've actually had that meeting specifically with the um community baby shower. We partner with
the Northport Kanas Group and so we've already reached out and said our you know um grant prizes are going to be limited. we will be looking for um more donations or um support in that area. So, yes. >> Right. And and that's awesome. And and
again, back with the city as well if it is a true partnership because they're going to hold the event, you know, maybe through, you know, our facilities out there that can be handed over from the city with no charge or whatever the case may be to where it is a true partnership
to still have this event. We own the building. We're paying the air for it anyways. So you just wouldn't have staff involved except for letting them in, letting them out. >> Yeah. >> You know, stuff like that. And and and just work through it. You know, it can be done. >> Yes. Those would be like events that
where there's no out of pocket costs for the city. Just like you said, you're you're the building is your building and your lights or your lights on anyway. So there's no harm to the city in those partnerships, >> right? And it just makes it easier on the nonprofits as well to be able to help the city with what we're not going
to be able to do anymore. So it works out. Yes, sir. >> Community. >> Vice Mayor. >> Oh, I'm sorry. I meant to remove it. >> Well, Commissioner Stokes. >> Yeah. Uh just a brief uh comment with regard to what city manager said about
the county uh seemingly inability to tell us what dollars flowed down to Northport with regard to social services. Perhaps a public oped in the paper. um making an appeal might catch
their attention a little more. I think we need to ratchet it up a little bit with our friends at the county. While we certainly value our relationships with the county and all they've done for us, there's certainly a number of areas where uh they fall short. And seeing as they've got their own set of problems
right now, the last thing I'd want to see is them showing even less attention towards the largest city in the county that helps support them. So, um, I say we ratchet up the pressure because I sure would love to know exactly what our
citizens are getting for their money. >> Yes, sir. >> Yes. Um, I I appreciate the strength of that approach. Very, very strong. Um, what I would say is we you have an upcoming joint meeting with them. I believe it's in October and we're
creating a list of items that would be mutually beneficial. Hopefully by then we'll have some actual information that we can put in front of you. I think what the direction that we may end up proposing is it might be it might be time for the model that they used to
change because when it was established I don't think that we were the size that we are. I don't think that the relationships are what they are. And so having that conversation with them publicly because I I am almost 100% sure that they want to have the same impact
of their services in in Northport than in the entire county. >> You know, generally speaking, I would say that's true. And certainly with regard to our South County representatives, I certainly think that Commissioner Kuster has shown over the
years he's sat that he is clearly focused on trying to help South County. I also appreciate that Commissioner Knight who has a piece of Northport primarily in the Welllet Park area but nevertheless but because of their single
districting there are three members the majority of that commission that quite frankly couldn't give a hoot about South County. It's not in their interest. We don't vote for them and frankly I don't see that they care about us and it's time they heard that. I intend to tell
them that. If you don't so choose to do that, that's your, you know, that that's you're entitled to, but I certainly intend to because I'm quite tired of our citizens paying twothirds of their dollars to the county and I don't see a whole lot coming back our way and we are
the largest county. We make the largest contribution. So, when you got here, there wasn't the greatest relationships between the county and the city, nor were there between Venice and the county. And when we got dumped on with our parks and had to incur a million and
a half dollars worth of overhead to maintain those parks that the county were, we did nothing as a city. Okay. Venice sued and they're building new parks for Venice, new pickle ball courts. I see all kinds of new stuff.
And we got the short straw. So I intend to voice my opinion. And you know, maybe those three who sit up there and worry more about North County than South County will pay some attention and maybe they'll actually listen to our meeting here and hear what I have to say.
>> And and just to add on to that, I thought he was quite subtle, city manager. >> I tried to be I did try to be. >> Yes. >> Vice Mayor. >> Yeah. Um you sort of stole my thought. I really do think social services and maybe a broader conversation
about how the county supports the city of Northport maybe where we have experienced really good collaboration. I think the SRQ uh resilient SRQ funding I I'm very
happy with the allocations to both the city of Northport and some of the nonprofits here. But at the very least, yes, I agree the social services conversation needs to happen. Um, and perhaps a little broader conversation.
Um, again, I I think people aren't really aware of the fact that we pay almost as much in county taxes as we do in city taxes. And I I do think collectively it's our
responsibility to make sure we get our fair share for that. >> Done. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Carry on, sir. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. All right. Let's talk about the money.
Finance department. This is uh another uh tight department. They actually have 24 positions with none being requested for this particular year. Um, now I I won't go into the overall
finance philosophy, but a lot of you do know that we have a decentralized system where we have business managers that represent the financial um obligations of the departments located outside of finance. While that physical um
that physical issue is not needing to be changed, I do want them all to have a stronger connection to our finance director because she is putting processes in place that we want to be consistent throughout the entire city. So, she's been wrapping her arms around that. And
I think police is a very good example of how it has been going well and identifying areas of improvement and then helping get Chief Garrison in this example what he needs to make sure that his team gets up to speed and then of course they will be right there working
underneath him which is the ultimate goal because he needs them in a closer close proximity and we respect that. Um performance measures for um finance are these three goals are all in alignment of preparing documents and submitting invoices uh monthly reporting um by the
the 9th business day of the next month as well as purchasing requisitions process are submitted within 3 days of time. Um when you look at their budget as you can see they are very very heavy in personnel because uh because that's
what they provide. They provide services and they provide them the best way they can through the system that we have. And we've already talked to you about that system and what it means and how it needs to be updated. And we're working on a plan for that so that we can have a new system that is not 30 years old, but
at the same time does not put a undue financial burden on the city. That is a tricky sort of situation, but we're going to keep working on it and we will keep you updated to our progress on that. Um, when you see their service level changes, they didn't have any proposals that were approved, but they
did have $24,080 in reductions that were approved as well. So, the impacts when you talk about finance and what they're doing. So, they're scaling back again on trainings and conferences and making sure that the certifications that they have to do are still being done. Um but
it is a reduction to access the industry resources and you know we're trying to make sure we find that proper balance. Um and the cuts to software subscriptions and supplies and communication tools and uniforms are all also part of what they contributed to to
make sure that their service level request was met. All right. Now I will transition to the city manager's office. handsome guy. And now we we have 26 positions in our current
office. Uh the one that was requested, I believe that was through our EMT, if I'm not Yeah, I'm not. Yes. And I I do I do support that position because as they get their ELC, which is under current construction, as they get stronger and, you know, better with their team, we
want to make sure that Stacy has, excuse me, Miss Alissio has what she needs in order to keep us safe during those those times of need. We have been in some blue skies for a while, but let's not forget what it means to have herself and her
team ready and able when needed uh under those times. So, you know, we're always, you know, very careful about how we do that. So, I don't want us to lose track of that. But the performance metrics, um, the Tommy um, the timely and complete agendas, um, I will tell you
that I have a regular conversation with the madam clerk and I promise her that we are trying to meet those as much as we can. But I'll use today as an example. When you talk about the power deck that you're looking at now, there's a lot that goes in there and we never
want to have something slide to two weeks later just because we didn't get you a deck that could have been given to you a few days in advance. So, we we we are trying to limit the amendments that I know you see uh all too often. So, you you know what I'm what I'm talking about. Um the city manager's office,
you'll see been 25 uh actual uh 1.9 million. The recommended for 27, you're looking at a small increase to 2.046 million. Uh again I think we've talked about what the main concern I would say that you probably hear about
which is which are salaries and how they are they are created and not just pulled out of the air but they are created through third party comp studies and pay structures and we should be able to defend how our philosophy of paying in the middle of the road is still in the
middle of the road. Uh, what I'll also say right here is one thing I didn't mention earlier was that our our merit structure for next year changed where we cut it almost in half and that was a big part of what we did to lower and make the budget work as well. There's a
there's a balance between paying it too low which I think a 3% across the board is where we ended up on um in this budget package that you're looking at which was half. But you also have contracted rates that are going to go up and you don't want to have your
non-contracted staff see the contracted staff get rates that they're not getting. So there's always um a careful balance there that we tried to make sure that we adhere to. Um you can see that we provided reductions of $113
million for those service level. Oh, I'm sorry. What I said >> you said million. >> I'm sorry. I could use 13 million. Yes. I'm sorry. $113,950 in service reductions. Uh and this was uh we eliminated um some of the
appreciation activities uh with the holiday lunchon and we also implemented data reductions supporting leadership and prioritizing core services and other budget maintaining city long-term financial stabilities.
Before we move on, are you moving on? >> Yes, sir. >> Commissioner Pro. >> Yep. Thank you, mayor. Uh, we skipped the discussion on finance and >> Oh, yes. Do you mean go back to finance? >> Yeah. Well, that's what I want to talk about. >> Yeah. Go.
>> Um, and this is primarily and I pointed out vividly that last year that how did we justify this cost allocation of into general fund um from special districts? Do you have a methodology? How do you
how is it done? Um and I've noticed some of them are have consistently been driving for example from fire department fire we do 20% hike
uh road and drainage 57 I know and I'm well aware of all of those special district rely on general fund uh operating expenses. My concern is um
how do we allocate? Is there a specific formula or policy or how do you do that? And I'll have more questions depending how you're going to answer that. >> Yeah. And you're referring to administrative allocation. Well, in
general like uh if I look at road and drainage it's 57, solid waste 56 um utilities pilot 83. Um
my question to you is how do we how do we do that? How what's the um logic behind that? >> Yeah, there there is a methodology. >> Yes. So the districts collect the money to support themselves and then yet
majority of that money goes into general fund. Um so basically it's siphoning money from the actual district or >> whatever you want to call it but can you explain the logic? >> Yeah so the methodology is based on past
budgets. Um, so there's a percentage allocation to each district utilities and all those other funds that you're talking about based on their past budgets. So all of our administrative costs are collected and then gets distributed
based on the percentage. So general fund of course still gets a portion of it because it is being utilized as well um in the general fund but then every single uh fund gets a portion it based on their budget. So you're saying that
it's it's being put back to general fund and then general fund kind of give them back based on their budgets. That's what you're saying. >> There's an allocation based on their Yes. budget budgeted expenditures. >> And your methodology is really their
methodology because what what they request that's how much they get from general fund. Is that correct? >> They're not creating it from general fund. They're The general fund is receiving funds from those districts and utilities
as a reimbursement. You kind of view it as a reimbursement for administrative services that are currently in the general fund. You're >> talking about PE law. >> No, I think it's the administrative allocation. almost all of it. My question is uh >> it's a lot of money that going into
general fund and that's why we can say hey we're not raising a military but those districts are supporting um the city through the general fund through those districts and districts are basically contributing a lot of
money. I don't suppose they contri uh they're using that much money um that they are transferring to general fund. >> Yeah. No, but that's there is a methodology in terms of the proportionate share. If you don't do
that, that means your property taxes are actually subsidizing um your districts and utilities because all of the administrative costs are in the general fund. So you do need to allocate those costs otherwise your tax
payers are actually paying for all of the administrative costs. >> Okay. And what do how do you so your methodology is strictly applied is based on the budgets. >> Yeah. And that's been in the past and we followed that methodology but we are going to be looking at that methodology
this year um to make sure that that is still the best methodology. >> Um so we will be reviewing it. Um I know prior to my time there was like a complex um uh allocation uh was done where we actually hired uh a consultant
to actually calculate. Um we don't want to go that extreme but I think we can find a balance. >> Okay. >> That's it for now. Thank you. >> Go ahead sir. >> All right. Thank you Mr. Mayor. We will
move on now to communications. Uh communications has a team of 12. Uh they were also part of the discussion we had a few weeks ago where we outlined how we got to that 12 not 12 new positions but um many of those positions were um came from departments that were
pre-existing. as you look at their their targets and their measures. We've talked about some of their um awards they've received recently, but being just on target with their percentage of calls handled through the call center, whether we're talking about the um the Northport
University, which has gathered a lot of good attention, um community engagement hours and you know, our social media followers. I think they're doing excellent as they have increased our communication outreach for the entire city. When you look at their their total
budget, their 2025 actual was 1.2 and amended this year was 1.3 and their recommended next year is slightly more than that at 1.38. Um they did have uh actually uh one proposal or proposals that total
38,500 approved and they had reductions of $39,930 and the impact of those service level changes reduced back to the printed outreach capacity. We talked about that in some other places as well. Here we're talking about postcard mailings, internal printing, internal printing and
binding services. um decreasing uh advertising and public visibility, limiting print, radio and digital. Um it will lower some of the public awareness of our services, but we will use some other channels to keep information going out. And the need for vehicle
replacement, maintenance, operation, um replacing the aging vehicle, they received a vehicle that was actually passed down to them. So that vehicle does have a certain life cycle to it that is probably coming up for review here in the very near future.
All right, we will now transition to the emergency management division. Uh again in our office, thank you um Miss Stacy Lisio for her leadership of this um division. This division is um very exciting. I'll just say that just
building the new EOC is going to give us a new uh outlook on how we actually uh approach emergency management. Um I'm talking about hurricanes, not earthquakes. So when the hurricanes do come, uh we will be prepared for those.
I I cannot prepare you for earthquake. I'm I'm sorry. Um but the goals that they have when we talk about having the training courses, they are preparing our staff right now. the the worst thing that we can think of is if we think that well they only are there or they only
react during the emergency. There's so much that goes into getting us all ready before then. Um that takes up a lot of their time and they're a small but mighty team. Um they are looking at conducting five emergency exercises
instead of two and they are on target for four external outreach events um for disaster preparedness awareness. Um, as you can imagine, the biggest thing in their cost right now is that little ELC project. And, uh, we do have it funded.
And again, we want to thank our partners from the states and our lobbyists that found us some money to help pay for some of the, um, final final cost needs for the project. Um, they did have one proposal that was
approved for $4,000 and they actually reduced their budget by $47,000. And the impact of that were to again cost of training and travel funding for certain courses and conferences. Um
there's a 50% decrease in uniform and materials. uh elimination of health and readiness screening, removing life scan into advanced uh medical evaluations that help ensure emergency management personnel can safe can safely meet the physical and cognitive demands and the
operational tools in the EOCC. Um that was may limit the acquisition of a copier and Starleague terminal um reducing the ability to print critical documents but we will we will figure that out. I promise.
>> All right. >> All right. We got Commissioner Stokes. >> Okay. >> Be very brief on this one, but I just want to beat my drum one more time. Um, emergency operations. Um, had the Yeah. had the had the county been providing the services that uh should have been
provided during Ian, we wouldn't after that hurricane have come up with the realization that we're pretty much on our own when it comes to that. So, I'm fully supportive of of this group. I'm I'm supportive of the building we built or building. I'm supportive of the team.
I mean, you know, when it comes to public safety, especially after an emergency like a hurricane, we need to be able to take care of our citizens. And for that, I am proud to see we're doing what we're doing. But I would love to see the county uh remit back to us
some of the money that they spend on EOC at the county level that we don't seem to be the recipient of. So, once again, another item I'll be happy to talk to them about when the time comes and we sit face to face. Thank you, mayor, >> vice mayor.
>> Um, basically a pile on um if if you look at any of the other counties, their county EOCC's takes care of the county and yet we have legitimately felt a need to invest in our own. And I'm not going
to rehash that, but I also um agree with Commissioner Stokes. It's one of those things that I would expect to get for the 3.2 millillage we we pay to the county that
we're not getting. So, at the risk of u being redundant and boring, I do want to say that this is part of the conversation we need to have with the county. We're spending a boatload of money to protect the citizens in this
city. Wellocated. I support it all 100% but I look at it as redundancy with the county and we need to have the conversation um some offset of operating expenses. I don't know what form it takes but we need to
have the conversation. Thank you. >> Go ahead, sir. >> Right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh next we have public works. And there is a lot to unpack here because it is such a big department. But as we begin, we're going to start showing you the org chart. And
as you can see, there's 107 positions in the road and drainage division. There are 54 with two being requested in our solid waste division. Public works and facilities maintenance
has 18 positions with requesting no new positions. fleet has 22 positions with no new increases in it as well. Um their performance metrics uh look
very good. They are on target with their work orders um with the fleet um as immediate replacement keeping it below 20%. Uh which is something that we did look at and we continue to sort of stretch our vehicles as long as we can
as much as we can. Um that is another area that we is a continual place of uh conversation and Kenny Rapone and that team do a great job with our fleet with the volume of vehicles that we have in this city and the specialized people that we have to
take care of them. It's it's it's a lot harder than it looks. um the maint maintenance of the work orders. They seem to be on target with that as well as serving at least 800 cars at the annual waste collection event which uh
we believe that this year's anticipated number will be over a thousand. When you look at the total budget overall, you can see that there is some fluctuation and when you look at the capital in the actual department, it
does sort of go up and down based on the annual needs. But I would like to highlight that fiscal year 27 is one of the the lower years uh as it compared to fiscal year 25. So, it's going back in the right direction of spending knowing
that they do have other places that get in revenue, not just from our general fund at all. So, road and drainage division, they had uh approve approvals of $3 million, but
they also had reduction of $2.4 million within their budget submitt. and the impact to those service level changes. We're talking about removing the uh reducing the lower mo lower mowing frequency. Um reducing roadside weed
control and cuts to non-core services. Um replacing aging high priority vehicles equipment needed to support storm water and strategic additions to support additional essential operations. Adding a traffic control technician and a
project engineer addresses growing demands in traffic system maintenance and position eliminations and operational constraints removing two positions within the engineering and operation divisions staffing for that particular division. Uh solid waste, you
will see that we approved proposals of $680,000 and we approved reductions of $1.48 48 million. And some of those impacts are delayed replacement of critical equipment, um
staffing addition to support growth in collection services. We added two solid waste to address to address increasing garbage and recycling service needs driven by our growth, which is very logical. Uh service reductions for yard
waste and bolt pickup. This is eliminating the equipment operators and removing citywide yard waste and bulk pickup services will shift to to waste disposal to a resident paid drop off model and discontinue our bulk pickup
which we're currently providing two per year per household. Um we are also reducing future service capacity due to capital deferrals and we are cutting capital purchases for vehicles equipments um disrupts the commission approved
multi-year replacement plan which is something that you have seen. So we are making some adjustments to solid waste. Uh you go to the facilities maintenance division and you see that there were no proposals to be considered and
reductions were $628,000. Some of the impacts of this are limiting non-emergency repairs and deferring routine maintenance and eliminating new holiday decorations and we'll reduce the overall facility upkeep requiring staff to focus uh resources on the most
essential and safety related needs. We are prioritizing uh the critical repairs over routine work um with fewer resources. This division will reduce a total amount of uh volume of work completed each year concentrating efforts on core building systems and
urgent repairs. And there's also suspension of long-term facility renewal funding. We pausing the annual $500,000 transfer to the RNR that shifts focus from future capital rehab and replacement planning to immediate operational sustainability. It slows the city's long-term ability to build
reserve for major facility needs. The fleet I'm sorry I'm show you that now I'm showing it to you. Fleet is our next division and you can see that they were approved for $156,000
in proposals and reductions amounted to $568,000. And the impacts of those level changes are reducing preventative and non-essential fleet maintenance, deferring replacement of high priority equipment, and increasing staff
development and training capacity. That's the end of public works. I know that was a lot in public work. So, I'm going to pause right there. Mr. Mayor, >> are these new or these old? >> Mine's new. >> Is yours new? No. All right. There you go. >> Yeah. Thank you, mayor. Uh, public solid
waste. I have some questions and observations. Um, when I was sort of thinking what can we do for efficiency here, the two things I looked at was reducing the recycling. I think we talked about that
in in public before, you know, picking up paper once a month versus twice a month and and I didn't see that. I' I'd like to suggest that you still um consider that. I I also said, gee, we do these two free
bulk pickups per year. Um what percent is that utilized? So, two free bulk pickups per house. If it What percent if everyone did two a year? Like what
percent is do we really Oh, boy. The purple shirt both >> I thought Frankie had had loaned it to Chuck, but now now there's the dream team. I think I may have just abstained with his purple shirt where his loyalties lie
>> because I have to tell you the two free bulk pickups were like my first thing and then I thought you know we have so many rental units in the city and my observation empirical
data my observation in my neighborhood is every time someone moves out there's a pile of household debris agree and so I backed off it and I said, "Gee, maybe we need to keep those two free bulk pickups, but I see it was on your list
and I'm concerned about it." So, just a little bit of conversation and what you think the impact of that is going to be. >> That's the first one. >> Okay. >> So, Chuck speak public works director. Um, in order in order to reduce our
recycling to once a month pickups, uh, we would have to provide more more totes. People would overflow their recycling containers, which means they're going to put it in the garbage. And then we're not paying 30 or, you know, 20 to $40 a ton. We're paying $60
a ton to get rid of it. So, you're not going to find a savings there. uh just just because it's either going to cost us more in totes or disposal. >> Yeah. You know, it's interesting. Again, just empirical data in in my neighborhood, I never see the recycle
bins overflowing. I do see the trash bins overflowing. So, um that's why I kind of thought just based on observation, we could cut it back and not have some overflow costs. But you're
closer to the data. So >> yes, ma'am, those containers get pretty full in that time frame. >> Okay. >> It doesn't weigh much, but it's there. >> Yeah. Okay. Trust your data versus my sort of observations of my neighborhood. But >> I'll let Frank speak to the other
>> much. Frank was always manager. >> Uh doesn't weigh much. So it doesn't look like it's so full, >> right? >> But when it's compact in the trunk, you get a lot more. >> Yeah. >> Okay. So the bulb pickups I'm worried
>> So the bulb pickups about 65% >> percent of people utilize our households. >> Is that both or just one? >> It's both. >> Okay. >> For both. Okay. And so we're recommending having people bring their bulk pickups
to a certain area. Help me understand what the recommendation was. >> Sure. So your your free bulk pickups would go away. Mhm. >> Uh but what we would do is we would then pro you would pay for that service >> and we buy the yard. So we would recover our costs,
>> right? What would we save? >> Okay. >> Okay. >> And you're still going to need those trucks and those operators, right? Because the bulk is still going to be there. It's still going to be a service that we're providing. >> It's just going to be a paid service.
So, I I I'm concerned um again because I see a lot of household piles of household debris in front of homes. Um I lack
confidence that that people are going to pay for it. So again, you guys have the data, but my request would be I really want to monitor that closely and see what happens. Um, and I'm going to be
keeping my eyes open as I drive around the city. You know, are those piles disappearing? Are they staying there for long periods of time? Are the owners of rental properties really going to take care of that debris? Uh, big question
marks. in my mind. So, so long as we monitor that closely and we have a conversation after a year or so to see how it's going, I'm really concerned about that. >> So, Vice Mayor, there's a few things that we we looked at um regarding that. It looks like the savings are about
387,000. >> Wow. >> Uh to solid waste, there's now the the other solid waste drivers on the routes, they report those piles back to the office. So, we're aware of those piles as soon as they soon as they go out. >> Um, we typically then will make contact
with the property owner and try to arrange that pickup. That's our normal procedure. Just if if this was adopted, we would there would be a cost of that. We would do an estimate, provide them an estimate, uh, and then they would have to pay for that pickup. Um, one of the other things that we're going to monitor
closely, it will be illegal dumping. uh if people can't get rid of it on a free bulk pickup, they may decide to take it other places and dump it, which we've had to deal with in the past. Um that will affect the road and drainage district because when it's dumped in the rightway, they're required to pick that up,
>> right? >> So, we will address that if it happens. We also work very closely with PD to find where those come from >> and make sure the right people pay for them. >> And again, my concern isn't with city staff. I know you guys are on top of
your stuff. My concern is more the community response and what that's going to look like. Um, and you're monitoring it. We'll talk about it again in a year and see how it's going, but I have big concerns about that. And then just one
comment, I'm really looking forward to the transfer station because I think overall this is really going to help us contain um our costs in this area. So I just want to make that statement so that
the community is aware that that's going to have a huge impact um on our costs for solid waste and recycling and all that good stuff. So, um, you guys do a great job and, uh, I just worry that one area,
>> but we'll keep an eye on it. So, >> thank you. >> Yeah, just adding on to that, when you're talking about getting rid of the bulk pickups and going to a pay as you go type effect, what if somebody doesn't pay for their bulk pickup? The thing about it is is now you're going to
create a situation for code enforcement. Then it gets into the lean process. So basically, you're not collecting any money for 20, 30 years. So I'm not seeing the real savings when it becomes a hassle going from one department to
another department. It's just like circumventing itself. So have you got plans for that? You know, if that were to take place, because you know the homeowner that was say, she was talking about rental people, they dump everything out, they're gone. Falls back
to the homeowner, they're out of state. They have no clue what's going on. The stuff sits there and sits there and sits there. You send them a bill, maybe they'll pay it, maybe they won't, but it's still sitting there until code enforcement gets involved or like you said, illegal dump dumping happens, this
that and the other. I just think it's just going to get into a whirlwind of >> shifting. >> Well, yeah. To one department to another, and and I'm not seeing a savings there. Now, you had mentioned the uh transfer station. Now, would that
be open to the public to come out and dump that stuff at a cost at the transfer station? It's It'd be just like up north, they go to the dump, you know, and take it. So, if I had a recliner that I wanted to get rid of rather than putting it out front, can I roll that down to the transfer station, pay 5, 10
bucks, whatever, to get rid of it and then be done with it, right? >> Whatever the cost is. >> Yes, sir. mayor and that's that's something that we're going to work through from now until it's built. Um because we would like to be able to take that we'll have to set we will have a scale house there so we'll be able to to charge and build them accordingly. Uh
but that's definitely something we're looking at when the transfer stations opens. >> Correct. >> We wouldn't do it at a commercial level just yet but it would be for residents for household >> and and that would be awesome. But then again, then I wouldn't look at getting rid of the bulk pickups until you have
that option available because I'm, you know, and I know you're trying to cut your budgets and I know you're trying to do this, that, and the other, but some of this just I don't think is in the wheelhouse right now because one, the citizens are already accustomed to it. You change it automatically. They're
still going to put the stuff out there >> and and they're going to say, "Well, why didn't they pick it up?" What do you mean it's going to cost me $300 this time? It didn't last year. So an education process definitely needs to take place along with all of these cuts and changes and services that we're
doing. So I just wanted to bring that up. Commissioner Dval, you're up. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um Gar briefly I saw on the slide uh citizen paid option.
Does that mean citizens call and say, "Come and get it." And now the public works comes and gets it. Or is it like the transfer station thing where
a a facility will be open five days a week, six days a week, and a citizen can bring their yard waste any time. >> Correct. and five days a week they can bring in any time. >> That works for me. >> Or they can they can call for a bulk
pick up for yard waste and we'll go out there and pick it up and we charge them. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> Well, for both. >> Thank you, >> Commissioner Pro. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, yes, the bulb pickup. I I was going to touch on that
because at first it seemed very great idea and I have not used my bulb pickup for years. And that's a savings to the city even though they do budget it for. But as more I was thinking um and trying
to figure out how it's going to be solved, the more problems started to come up. Um well, first of all, if it's a paid service, you're still going to have, like you just said, paid operators and all that stuff. I'm not sure if that was taken into account
to cut that cost because there is a cost still. Um but another thing is a shifting of a cost. Um well first of all some people got to put it up move out if it's a rental then there's a dispute then there's a process
the homeowner will say this is not mine I shouldn't be paying and on and on even though it was you know legally it was not really the homeowners uh because you can really identify who's who is who. But then another shift of caused a next
door empty lot. They just going to toss it over at night or dark time and it's going to rot the then there's a safety um issue, you know, rats and all that stuff. So that that creates community um
broke broken window theory, if you will. Uh so it's going to create more unintended unforeseen consequences. Um then there would be u you know eliminating of a recycling if
we same thing and this is this is good that you said it's going to be garbage is going to be overflowing but especially with a bullet pick up pickup. I don't think we should mess with that now. Um because um it is going to be a
big issue and road and drench people going to toss left and right uh you know pack up the neighbors garbage totes. I can see that people would be doing that. Uh creates all sorts of legal
issues um operational issues and safety issues. I would be very opposed to that. And uh if it's 65% used, we're already saving 35% off of it. So we're not really using to the fullest extent. Uh
but I think our citizens should be feel appreciated that you know uh solid waste and you know public works is you know we we raise their fees and when I say we as as a city uh I think this should be left
alone without any amendments as of right now for sure and I can microphone >> uh just to let you know the 35% is mostly well in part because they're all new homes so they don't have much to put out. So don't let that number fool you.
>> Okay. Nevertheless, there is a 35% of not being the funds that are not being used but I see a lot of problems from practical standpoint and I'm really against it. Um and I don't know if we have to say it now was a consensus or
what but I'm I'm against it because we're going to get calls and uh um you know the similar issue arose uh that um I forwarded the email to the city manager's office. Very similar situation. Um, there was a house for
sale and the woman closed on the house at the lunchtime, but the boat pickup was picked up in the morning. So, technically, she is uh she's not responsible for that. And they
put a lean on her house because it's attached to the lean. And this is just a a shadow of what might come up. And this is a real straightforward situation, but I'm gonna predict it's going to be a lot of issues with this elimination of a
bulk pickup. Just my two cents. Thank you. >> And commissioners, as you're evaluating this, we would ask that you provide input on yard waste, that is budget proposal 3226, and the elimination of bulk pickup, which is a separate budget proposal of
3485. just so we're clear as to what the direction would be going forward. >> And uh one thing too is you're cutting out two, maybe cut out one, you know, >> as far as bulks. >> Yeah, as far as bulks, you know, that's
that's a happy median to where you would have some savings, but you know, it's just an option and it Yeah, you know, go ahead, Vice Mayor. >> Yeah, just two quick comments. Um, one is with the recycles, what we do in our
household now, because we don't fill our recycle bins, it if they're half full, we don't put them out. We put them out when they're full. So, to try to save a little bit. And the other thing that tends to happen in my neighborhood, and I don't think we're unique, so this is
why I'm sharing it. When it comes to those bulk pickups, it's the three cubic foot thing. Sometimes we might have one or two items and so I kind of get in touch with my neighbors and say, "Look, I'm putting out a couple items and I'm
going to call for a bulk pickup. If you have some small things to throw in, here's your chance." And and so that happens too as sort of a a way that just in a neighborhood way we try to be efficient.
>> We also do donations too. We have so far a hundred have been completed. So >> donation stuff you pick up if it's >> so like say Mr. Commissioner Petra wanted to give five or 10 yards to yourself he could do that. >> Right. Right. Yes. Yes. >> I'm donating the pickups. >> Donating the pickups. Yeah. That's it
for me. >> Do you want to go again? >> Yes. So quick question. When while the public works is here when we retire trucks um who is our buyer? How do we sell those trucks? >> Well you talking solid waste >> solid waste trucks big. So, we have an
auction company that picks up all our vehicles and they auction them off. >> So, primarily auction. >> They're all auction. Yes, sir. >> Okay. Okay. Thank you. >> That's all we have up here. Sir, were you ready to move on? >> Yes, sir. Thank you. >> So, we're ready to do lunch?
>> Yes, sir. >> Because it's noonish. >> Yep. Yes, sir. Let's do it. >> All right. Well, yeah, it's exactly noon. We'll be back at 12:30. >> Works for me. Thank you, sir. spot for yard waste, >> right? >> Any kind of branches, trees, plants,
anything like that does not belong in there. It's not recyclable. The collection center won't take it. So, basically, I just leave this notice on top of the lid like this. >> Leave it closed. Like that, yard waste, and that's it. And the
driver knows not to collect this. And if there's ever confusion, there's even an app that takes out the guess work. >> So the Recycle Coach app, it's easy. You just put in your street, your zip code, and it will it will notify you the day before on your phone. You get a notification and say, "Hey, tomorrow's
your trash day, and you put the tan lid out. >> It'll give you notifications so you can't mess it up." >> I like that. >> From drivers to planners, each role shows the same thing. Pride in their work and pride in serving the community. I do the best I can for y'all. Learned a
lot today. Had a great experience with the gentleman from solid waste division of public works. What I learned today was that we have a lot of programs I don't think citizens are aware of to take advantage of. Whether it's cardboard collection, whether it's tote cleaning or also just the fact that we have one gentleman, Mr. Mario, who goes
out through the entire city making sure that we recycle properly. Please make sure that we recycle properly so that we can get the best most efficient use of our solid waste throughout the entire city. It was great to be here today and thank you for tuning in. See you on the next job. >> Residents may begin to see some changes
taking place here at Fire Station 81 on Sumpter Boulevard. And here to tell us more about it is Deputy Chief Nick Hurley. Thank you for being here. >> Thank you for having me, Madison. >> So tell us about what's going to be going on at Station 81 in the coming months. So, in a few weeks, uh, we will see the station being torn down and the
crews that normally respond out of this station are moving into the temporary fire station, which you can see in the background, and our fire admin will be moving into city hall. >> So, it's being torn down completely and being built back up, right? Not being retrofitted. >> That's correct. The project started out
as a remodel and our design was more to just add a little bit of square footage. The the building's not that old. was built in '98, but after the hurricanes, we had to bring the building up to current code. Different codes existed in 1998. So, that process led to a cheaper
option, which was to tear down and rebuild. >> Sure. So, is there a general timeline for how long this project is going to take? >> Yeah. So, the tearown should start in December. So, by the end of the year, it should be all flat ground. And then we
are being told anywhere between 12 and 14 months before the new station is complete and ready for our crews to move back in. >> Gotcha. Okay. So with a project like this, what does the cost look like and where are those funds coming from? >> So the majority of the funding is through Certax. Uh the total project is
around 17.5 million. >> So since a brand new building is being built, what kind of improvements can be made by taking that route? >> So one of the biggest is we are a critical infrastructure building. So, our crews are expected to respond as soon as the storm clears. The new
building will be rated up to a category 5 hurricane, and that meets the code for our wind load this far inland because we we get a little bit less intense winds as we get away from the coast. >> Sure, that makes sense. So, we're coming up here on some beautiful trees.
>> So, tell me about the plan for these. Are some of them sticking around? What is your plan? >> Yeah, absolutely. So, one of the things we did very early in the project is we recognized that to the best that we could, we wanted to save as many trees as we could, but especially the mature oaks. Sure, >> they provide a lot of shade and they're
beautiful and, you know, native to Florida. So, we worked with the contractor to design the parking lot in a way that we could really maximize the ability to keep these trees. So, a large amount of these uh more mature oaks that you see that were standing under the nice shade canopy, we were able to keep
a lot of these trees. some of the smaller oak trees and some of the older palm trees uh we won't be able to keep. But we worked with the city arborist to ensure that you know we we did the best we could with how that design can be and found out that honestly some of the palm trees are at their end of life as is.
>> Got it. Okay. Well, that's great. I know a lot of the residents are going to really appreciate that as well. So to cap it off, service is staying the same. Everyone's getting the the same level going forward. >> Yeah, Madison, you're right. So, the crews that normally operate out of this fire station are just going to be a
little ways down the road in the temp station with a temporary apparatus bay. And all of our administrative staff from Fire Rescue are moving into city hall, which is right down the street. And if you need anything from Fire Rescue, you can go in the front doors of City Hall, turn to your left where Economic Development just moved into, and you'll
see a friendly face from Fire Rescue ready to help you out. >> That's great. Continuing to provide that exceptional customer service. So, I really appreciate all the information, Chief. Thanks for joining us today. Thank for having me. The city wakes before you do. Quiet work already in motion.
Work continues even after you've gone. The way forward kept Ready. Every step, every turn, prepared long before you arrive. When your day ends, others begin theirs. Every hour, every act quietly connected.
Most of us don't think about how our city works. We drive on maintained roads. We call when there's an emergency. We assume someone's keeping it all running. And they are Northport University gives residents a chance to step behind the scenes, to meet the people doing the work, to see how
decisions are made, and to understand how we as a community can be part of it. It's not just about learning the facts. It's about learning where you fit in and how you could shape the city we call home. Uh the most surprising thing would probably be the opportunity to get
taste, which is really cool. Understanding how that feels. would recommend for everyone unless they have a heart condition. I think another thing would probably be how many people it takes to run everything >> is how well all the departments work together and how well each of the
departments know about other departments. So in the case of a big emergency, they already know what other departments are already supposed to do and they all work together. >> This is always a dance. There's always moving parts. There's always things that
are that can impact a decision whether it's state, local, federal, revenue, all these things come into play and it and it's just amazing all these things that of how how the city is impacted for the variety of things that can occur.
>> I feel more confident in the city in the way it operates. I don't see wasteful spending. I see a lot of uh proactive thinking way outside the box of what I thought a city does. >> Well, I was already in love with Northport. Um I think everyone knows
that I got to meet the people who work here, their love for the community, how hard it is to run a whole city, um the intricacies of it, and the why. It answers so many questions about the why
things are done the way they're done. So it does it empowers you to love where you live more and to get more involved. >> And I think the important message here is the confidence that I've really feel now of the people running each each of
these departments. You know, they are running multi-million dollar businesses all separately but coming together with tax dollars that that come through. And that is by far not an easy task. departments that we've been to seem to have improved with the growth in the
city. So, the mere fact that we've grown such a major amount, department has have grown, the staff has grown, the offerings have grown, and the um need for involvement from the residents has also grown. >> I think parks and wreck really showed up
and did an amazing job. They had a bunch of staff people. They kind of brought us around, had different speakers. I think they take the prize for the best uh overall display. >> Places that I didn't think I would enjoy as much. Like I didn't think I'd enjoy public works as much as I did. I loved
it. And it seemed to me that there were the more questions that were asked. >> The economic development council. I think that is just a a again it all points to uh live, work, and play within our community. >> I think there's a lot of misunderstanding out there about really
how these departments work, how the city really works. And I think by offering a class like this, you get such an exposure to so many different departments and meet so many different people. You can't help but want to be a part of it. >> If you plan on living here and living
amongst the community and understanding the growth and understanding what we need, definitely join the Northport University. You're going to be pleasantly surprised. >> I would absolutely say do it because you don't know until you know. And you can go online and you can read all these
things, but a lot of it is the experience and sitting across from from whether it's the the chief of police, the the chief of fire, rescue, utilities, all these, you know, administration, all these departments are absolutely you want you meet the
leaders. You can look into their eye and ask pertinent questions that are important to you. to understand of where they're at, where they're going, what are their constraints, and how we can be as residents, try and give them the resources they need to provide the services that we're asking them to
provide. >> I'm more in love with Northport than I've ever been. >> Hey, Brandon, what are you listening to? >> Just listening to my CPR playlist. What's on that? >> Staying alive. >> I'm Zach and this is Travis from
Northport Fire Rescue. And I'm Brandon. And this is Brett from the Northport Aquatic Center. >> Did you know a lot of the songs that you listen to on a daily basis follow the beats of CPR? 100 to 120 beats per minute.
>> CPR saves lives. >> Hey, Northport. I'm here with Ryan from our engineering division in public works and we're in an area that is experiencing some drainage concerns that were brought to us by some residents. So Ryan, what are some things you do when you get onto a scene like this to see
what the issue may be? >> First thing we do is we start at the bottom of the system, the outfall, how it connects into the uh canal. Then we start working our way up. We go through the cross drains, the culverts, the under drains, and we look at every way the water flows downward. And we look for blockages, uh sumped uh dirt pile
up, and even sometimes potentially collapsed uh covers underneath. And you got to remember, you can't report your uh water being an issue until we have 72 hours of no rainfall. And let's say it rains on Tuesday and a couple days go by and on that second day it rains again,
you got to restart your 72 hours. We have to spend time of our water inside the system in order to clean it and in order to slow it down. Otherwise, we're going to end up washing out our neighbors below us. >> Absolutely. So, tell us about what's happening here. >> Right here, we have a rather large uh
blockage inside the system. This is clearly a um a legal dump of some sort, uh a tree obviously, and this will slow down the water. If we could see on the north side of it, or north as in the upper part of the uh drainage way, it's full of water. But when we look at our
footage from down below, it's dry. So this is a huge point of collab collecting water. These systems really fail sometimes with like a a death by a thousand cuts. You get a um a sump here, a collapsed uh covert pipe, a blockage like this and it slowly adds up.
>> That makes sense. So if anybody out there is seeing issues like this or experiencing it in your neighborhood, you're welcome to report it um through our Northreport system which is at northportfl.govnorthport GV/northports or you can give the public works
customer service a call in Northport. Families are finding more and more places built just for them. We opened um this past June. We are an indoor play center for children ages 0 to 7. We do open play sessions, birthday
parties, special events, and classes here at the play center. for me. Um, you know, being a Northport resident, there was really not a whole lot in Northport for children. Um, besides the local parks, so it was super important for me to have something in the community to be
able to offer to families with young children. You want to have that option to be able to still get out of the house with the kids, get their energy out, and not have to hike all the way up somewhere with traffic. and you can just go to a spot near you and just make
those special memories that are close to home. >> Playtime Paradise isn't the only new spot making Playtime local. Do the Beach is a immersive indoor adventure park. We are primarily an inflatable based attraction. We have over 14 different ride attractions scattered throughout
the park. with growing young families pouring into Northport and growing the city, we just knew there was such a need for families to have an outlet and some some good entertainment, active entertainment for children. One of our core beliefs as a as a company is encouraging kids to get involved in
active and social play, getting them away from their screens and using their imaginations. >> From slides to inflatables, dance classes, birthday parties, Northport is growing and so are the options for young families right here at home. The community has welcomed us with open arms.
>> We are thrilled to be here. >> It shows families that there's a place for them um to grow as a young family in Northport. There's a place in Northport that invites you to slow down to see, hear, and feel the world around you.
Inside the Garden of Five Senses is Boundless Adventures, a playground where every child can play, no matter their abilities. Just beyond the playground, the story stroll turns a simple walk into an interactive adventure. Each step reveals a new page or
activity, sparking imagination, curiosity, and conversation. It's a walk, a story, and an adventure all in one beautiful setting. The Garden of Five Senses, Boundless
Adventures, and the story stroll, where every visit is a story waiting to be discovered. >> While you're watching me run away from this hurricane, you could be signing up for emergency alerts. Sign up at alertsacount.com today.
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. Hello, my name is Jerome Fletcher, city manager of the city of Northport. I'm at the Northport Aquatic Center. I'm on the job today. Let's go. Good morning, Jess. Good, sir. >> Nice to see you.
>> All right. Thanks for having me today. >> Of course. We're going to go through our opening checklist for this morning to make sure that the facility is safe and operational. >> All right, sounds good. Let's do it. Before anything else, the team walks the entire area to make sure everything is clean and in good shape.
>> Our next part of our task is to make sure that our body of water is one clear. The water must remain clean. We must identify any possible materials that shouldn't be in the water. >> Then it was time to check the surge tanks. You can see the glistening of the water down there. >> If the water is too deep and you hear a
rushing of water, that means that this needs to be filled before we can begin operations for this. >> Okay, >> it's part science, part intuition. At the relaxi river, Jesse showed me the digital checklist system, the hydro app. As soon as I click yes on this checklist that let's say the water is clear and I
do not identify that the water is cloudy or any sense that yes goes directly to my manager and lets them know that at this exact time I checked that water to make sure it was safe and clear. >> This technology being used at its best job. >> Now our rotations we have evolved to
having our lifeguards into a more of a roving position >> with the competition pool. We still maintain the chairs for the height eligibility. Um, but here we have to have a minimum of five lifeguards just to run this body of water. >> Wow. >> And we actually have a lifeguard
positioned in our catch pool over there to help our guests that are coming out of the slides at a barracuda tarp and twister. >> I've seen that person there. Then Jesse brought up something that most people might not think about. Pool skimming. >> Pool skimming is the sounds of the water being properly flowed. So with those
drains, all the water has to constantly filter throughout our pool at least three to four times a day. So not only is the water continuously being pumped in, continuously flowing out, being cleansed through our sand filters, then being pumped back into the pool. It's a
very long process, but it makes sure that the water stays the clear as possible. >> Then Jesse taught me about the zones. >> It helps maintain that their body of water is theirs to protect anybody that's in their zone. So lifeguard Brandon right now is actually scanning red one zone. So red one zone is here.
Any part of this body of water that reaches let's say all the way from those stairs to the bulkhead and to the side of the corner. This entire zone is his right now to make sure that they are staying healthy and hydrated. We do have a 30 minute a rotation here for all of
our lifeguards. And lifeguards are not meant to bypass more than one hour of continuous lifeguarding. So after every hour the lifeguards break for an actual break. After just walk through medical
every single day we started by showing how they test the water across the park. We got comp pool, lazy river, kids pool. Each sample is dropped into small and in just seconds it gives a full animal on the before this little
machine. This is more of a manual model. >> Yeah, we got >> that radio activity. Fire up the valve water. >> When we have everything going, your water level and I'm running everything at the
moment. It'll drop it down a couple anywhere between two parts per million or 10 parts. And then pH is somewhere between 7.2 and 7.8. I ate for a healthy pool. There you go. >> Then came the back washing and wasting process. Flushing the filters to keep
the water flowing freely or removing excess water from the system to keep the water levels balanced. >> And then it'll start coming out in this pit. >> So this whole pit will fill in about 3 minutes. >> Really? Over there? >> Yep. >> Next, we changed out one of the strainer baskets, which helped catch large debris
before it can reach the pumps. I'll tra you that one. Thank you. Then new one goes in just like that. And we usually let those dry out. I'll clean them later this week. >> Before joining the team in Northport, Matt worked as a lifeguard in Charlotte County under Trish Sturgis, our
assistant director of parks and recreation. >> So, I've known Trish a very long time. So, that definitely was one of the influences of wanting to come work at the aquatic center. Had me go out for an AFO course recently, which is aquatic facility operator course. basically
anything and everything relating to a facility like water chemistry, safety rules, that this and that. So, I went there. I just passed that class. So, it's a little little bit of knowledge under my belt. It was definitely useful. >> Well, Matt, we're we're grateful for
your time and your experience and all you put into your career here and congratulations on your certification and you do amazing job here, sir. >> Thank you for joining me today at the Northport Aquatic Center. It's a great facility. I want to thank director Sandy Funheller, assistant director Trish Sturgis. I have learned so much amazing
things today. I would like to say that the technical expertise that goes to keep the water safe as well as the people safe is an amazing combination. See you on the next job. Thanks for being here. >> Hey, city of Northport. My name is Sandra Budro. I am with AECOM and I'm
representing the city of Northport on this glorious Price Boulevard project. We are here on Price Boulevard at the Blue Ridge Waterway in which we are building the box culvert. Um, as we've talked in the past, we're doing a double barrel box culvert here and we are
currently pouring the second wall of the structure. That wall's got to cure. The concrete has to cure and then we can strip form. So, it does take some time for the walls to cure and then for us to start building the top. After that, we're going to build uh the earthwork
and then the roadway. So, at this point, we are currently early on in the process. If you want further updates, you're going to go to the Price Boulevard web page. Hi, it's 12:30. It's back at it. And uh come to find out, the city manager or
myself had no clue that we were done with the presentations before we took lunch. So, I'm going to turn this over to uh the city manager. I know you had some stuff that you wanted answered, so go right ahead. >> Absolutely. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, the information that we provided to you today, we did hear a lot of good
feedback and yes, so we are done with where we wanted to stop the program for today and the feedback that we've heard that I've heard that we want to make sure that everyone's on the same page. We stated in the book, as you read it, that the um the 0% for the health
increase was received after the information was created. the amount of the extra funding for the general fund that came in over our budget was after the document had been created. So that leaves a small pool of funding that as I
mentioned before naturally the number one source going back to be would be public safety because that's at the top of the ladder. >> So the the the negative positions that you saw in there where you all made a comment on that would be the very first place that we would put that funding
back. So, we would scratch that one off for the board. You also have not seen yet, but we're going to talk about fire tomorrow where we didn't fund their ask for this coming fiscal year, and we would put that in there as well. They were not affected as a reduction in their budget, but they do have needs for
next year based on Chief Titus, Deputy Chief Hurlehee's projection of their opening of their stations. So, I'm telling you now that you would see that one addressed as well. And then we also heard about the bulk pickup. I think you all collectively have expressed a concern that that would be something
that might be more harmful than good. We would put that one back in as well. Um the other conversation that you you all had was regarding your own budget, whether that's FLC, whether it's travel, uh COLA, and that's something that that's the only other thing that you
might want to have a little bit more conversation on to get to maybe some closer sense of a consensus that we can address. Again, I think you all know and agree your budget is not that big. Um, we can we can handle it any way that you
want, but seeing you you all go through the process is a lot of what we go through the process on, but you only have one time to do it because you're in a public meeting for the first time. So, if you want to talk about it some more, fine. If not, we can take care of it on our end to make sure that you're not
wanting or missing anything and take those precautions. Um, but happy to follow whatever the board direction is, Mr. Mayor, on your own budget. >> Right. So, would you suggest that we put that as a regular agenda item in a meeting or rather than just having
consensus? This way, we can have a vote, we can have motions, votes, and lock it in place on what we wanted to do with our own budget. >> Yeah, that would be fine to us. You're that amount that we're talking about that's in question is not going to stop us from moving forward. But if you do
want to have some more conversation about it so that you can make it official, I think that that would be a great idea. >> Well, I know that we were a little divided up here on the different topics and and what what we may want to save, what we may want to cut, what we may want to, you know, do without. So, if we
could go ahead and put that on the agenda between now and the next presentation, not tomorrow, but the next presentation of the budget, this way you may have more clarity on what we're looking at. Absolutely. >> Okay. Anything else? >> Well, aside from the things that I
mentioned, was there anything else that um the board wanted us to look at between now and the next time we meet? Otherwise, we'll make the changes that I just discussed, we'll keep moving forward with getting more accurate and update information. And we'll keep uh as we said earlier, we're open when you if
and when you want to meet one-on-one with uh myself and finance so that we can answer more questions. I think the cost allocation uh question from Commissioner Pro needs some more um defininity as we move to the methodology
study that will defend what we do or or raise changes in what we do. Um but if there's anything else that we're missing as a team, >> I'd love to know. >> And and also we still have tomorrow's presentations that may have some adverse
or whatever effects at the end of that day, too. So, whatever monies have come in may dwindle even more tomorrow. So, >> and I have Commissioner Pro. >> Okay. >> That has questions or comments. >> Okay.
>> Conclusion speech. Thank you, Mayor. >> Mhm. >> Um, but in conclusion, I want to say this. Last year's budget was increased by, I believe, 25% if I'm not mistaken, without amendments. Uh and even though the mayor talks then
uh when he was a mayor, he did suggest it and we supported 3 million cuts, $3 million cuts or cut uh which was not was followed up. We did not do many cuts, but this is a good start as a as a
exercise from this. >> Wait a minute. >> Are you saying that we didn't do cuts this year? >> No. No. last year's last year last year's budget cycle. >> Okay. >> Um >> which is this year's budget, right? >> It is, but the exercise last year,
ma'am, was the $3 million and we did not do that the way that the exercise was proposed, but we did it this year. I thought it >> this is a good start. Yes. Um that we did this year uh because we'll have to do it again with 10%. >> Uh which would be interesting to see.
But um in last year's budget cycle discussion, I did warn about this tax reform that seemed far off, but yet it's one step closer to the reality. And from talking to many people
that have some say in this, and I mean politicians, they thinking that it will be passed with a vote, which is a reality. And we have not for we have not forecasted that um and
kind of dismissed. I was dismissed when I first um brought it up as and I was told we'll worry about this later once we get there and we're not going to be the only city affected which is true. Uh
but each city is unique and I consider our city to be exceptional city because well first of all I'm part of the city um and I do believe the city of Northport is very exceptional in many ways because we want to be an example uh
but I do believe we need to do more in this uh budget and u I know it's very hard to to do to do that. >> Go ahead. >> What would you like us to do? You We We
need more. We No, no, no. We need specific areas that you would like us to cut in this budget. If you want us to do more, we need It can't be that broad. You have to drill down and say, "I want to cut the city manager's job. I I I want to
cut this. This is what I think needs to be cut." It can't be this broad cut. We've outlined and explained that we all I think we all collectively believe that if this ballot question makes it to November the way that it's written, it is going to pass and it is going to have
an impact on us in the upcoming years. This budget is tighter than it's ever been. And you have $3 million almost over to the side in this budget that you can put in the fund balance if you choose to do so. But if you want more
cut out of this budget that is currently presented to you, I need to know where. >> Sure. Sure. Uh but what I want to say is uh we did uh receive notification from health benefits that it's going to be
flat. Um so that's a big plus. Uh so in reality we gaining uh revenue of 6% if I'm not mistaken. the difference in advance tax alone. >> So the difference in tax and the difference in those items are o uh just
over $2 million and putting back what we're talking about for public safety that I just mentioned is going to eat up a lot of that. >> The bulk pickup going back is going to eat up a portion of that. Um, I I I appreciate you and being able to follow
the math of what we're doing, but your focus and what we're trying to get you to tell us is where do you believe the areas that should be cut? We know where we're going to put the money back to in addition to keeping the $2.7 million,
but you said you thought the budget needed to be cut more. Where do you think those cuts should come from? Well, if we to look and I like this discussion that we can be very sincere about this. uh when I read your
introduction in the budget book uh you're saying that we preserving 2.7 million but we we from the addition because the market values that were assessed you
projected at 3% they came back at 5 uh whatever 67% >> right 567 >> yeah so if we if the city took looking 5.67 in increase of taxable values and
we cut 5%. Um I do understand what what we are really cutting but what exactly are we cutting because our revenue has gone up so is our expenses. I understand that. Um, but what I'm trying to say is maybe we
should be uh doing more cuts and the commission budget came up for the discussion and we're not going to take that inflationary CIP whatever it is 1 to 2% um increase from the from the consensus
I've heard. >> Well, we haven't voted right. That was the agenda item, >> right? That's part of later conversation. And I I understand what you're saying. And the reason why that the extra money that you're talking about, what your your point is, why is
that extra money not going into the fund balance as well with the $2.7 million? And what we're telling you is that when we cut the 5%, it includes people. It includes not giving public safety people. So the first step is to make
police whole back to the way they were. So you don't see the negative in there like you saw in the book. And tomorrow you're going to see that we didn't fund seven off seven um firefighters going forward. And I think that you're all going to say put give them those firefighters so that they can service
those fire stations that are coming on board. And then like we talked about bolt pickup will take a little piece of it and there'll be another little piece of it left for however we balance this $350 million budget. But you said you think more things should be cut. You need to tell us what they are so that
your colleagues can say yes or no. It can't just be go cut. How much do you want cut and where where do you think it should come from? >> I understand any cut or any savings. It's a painful because it
affects our comfort. Um I completely understand it's like a diet and that's what I said last time. It's not a very pleasant process to be on the diet. It depends which diet you're talking about. But overall,
I I think what we're going to face and this is my just the reality of what I see and foresee when we and I was told many times, you know, balance is the key to life. If we don't do a little bit more now, when we're gonna face this 18 million
shortage, uh I do believe it was budget session when we had you said that we going to have to lay off people and it will be hundreds of people. Now, we not at this level and I'm not asking to lay off anybody, but if that reality comes,
we will have to do that. that's going to be much more painful to be done in a big step as opposed to small steps. Um, and always small steps are important. What I'm proposing maybe we should take a deeper look
and you're are very fair in asking what where would you like to cut? I'm thinking maybe salaries um if we do our salary fro uh freeze um and we have not voted on it but if we do
it which is very minimal uh to say the least and last year I said it as well our salaries are the least salaries in the city >> right >> and we yet we represent the city so and
again it's better to take a cut of a salary than to lay people True. >> So, and this is to be honest, this is not my job and say cut this salary or that salary. This is the job of the staff. So, I'm turning that question
back to you and maybe you can identify where we can cut. Well, as I stated to you earlier, I would not cut the salaries of our staff because we're having a compensation and pay study done right now to say whether they're not or they are not in alignment with the
market. I would not cut them before doing that. >> I'm not even asking to cut. I'm asking to look at the salaries and maybe we can reduce the salaries. >> No, wait a minute. We are looking at the salaries through a third-party independent study that will verify if
they're right or they're wrong. That is looking at the salaries. >> Correct. It's just, you know, it is what it is. We're going to face that reality in 6 months or less. Um and then then it's going to be very hurtful. Uh and
it's not just salary section where we can look. um asking maybe where you can identify and maybe doing a deeper dive of where we can say that's all I'm saying you know I'm I'm saying and painting a picture of a reality because
once that reform passes and there's a chance a big chance that they will pass uh what do we do then? Well, that's what my question to you is. We need to start planning for that now. And that's a that's a commission choice, not a staff choice. You have to look at your
priorities as they are stated right now. And that's what we balance our budget to on those priorities. You are going to have to come back and say our priorities have now shifted based on this tax reform. And now these are our priorities
of our pillars in our plan. I can't do that. I follow what you tell me to do as your priorities and that's why we need to start that planning now. But you say that you think we need to look at our salaries because I know that the people
out there are saying the same thing. And I say our salaries are made up and composed of and it's just not mine. It's all of our salaries are based on market and comparable >> salaries. They're not just high salaries just because they're higher than the
people who are reading them or compare themselves to. You need to compare them to the people who have the education and experience to get those salaries. Now, when you say look at salaries, how much money in the budget are you looking to cut that is displeasing you right now?
Are we talking about 2 million? Are we talking about 10 million? What's your number? If you can't tell me where to get it from, at least you can tell me how much you're trying to make this budget. What number would make you happy with this budget? >> Oh, you're getting me into operational. I'm just laying out the
>> No, no, no. You You said that you didn't you couldn't tell me where to get it from, and I respect that and I understand that. What's the number you're trying to get to that's too high in this budget? I'll turn this question back to you and maybe consult with the staff and
identify the areas where are >> No, sir. We've already done that. That's how we got here today. I there I think you have a very sincere lack of appreciation on what it took to get to this point today. We've
explained to you that the 5% cut actually cut into people who are in their jobs right now. And I told you and I will tell everyone our number one priority is to protect everyone who has a job in this city to keep that job in the city. Knowing that if the reform
happens the way that it happens, we are not going to be able to do that. We're not. But in this year's budget, based on what we know now and what the assignment was, we were able to cut 5% out of this budget, well, that was the target and
create a pot of $2.7 million for you to borrow for something that we needed as a city. And now you're saying that you you want us to go cut more than that when we explain department by department for what we did today on how painful that
was in addition to the normal natural increases of contract increases. We cut our merit raises in half um pension inflation and everything that we deal with. And you and you want us to go cut
from somewhere that you can't name and a number you don't know. >> Sure. With all due respect, I just feel I'm going to feel terrible when we're going to get to next budget cycle or when that reform comes that we have to lay people out. >> Sir,
>> that's that's my >> the state is going to feel terrible. We all going to feel terrible. >> It won't just be you. It's going to be all of us are going to feel terrible. But guess what? It's going to pass. The main problem in this world is
affordability. And the the hand that's been dealt to us is the state says that we believe that the tax relief is something that is going to help that. The I do believe it's not believe our state officials think that defunding the
police or the fire is the right thing to do, but it's a reality. They're too big of our general fund unless we're going to backfill that money with other revenue sources. your mill rate is only can be so much based on what they put in there as well. You can assess fees and
assessments, but we don't know what those will be or what those look like. And I think the public deserves us to put a more thoughtful um approach to it and just saying, well, we're going to they're taking our money, so we're just going to raise fees on assessments to you. That's not the right way to do it.
It's going to take a lot of thoughtful conversation, but for you to say that we need to cut this budget more than what it's been done based on the effort that went into this is not very reflective to us as a staff
>> as a as a conclusion statement. just want to say that you know it's better to do in small steps and I just to make a comment on I do realize and appreciate how much effort it took uh being an
accountant you know that and I do have a I do happen to have accounting and finance degrees I understand it's not easy especially being in finance to do this um what I'm talking was more than
operational. But thank you for your report and for your budget. Um, this is just a rhetorical question, if you will, if we can do anything more. >> Thank you, mayor.
>> Yep. I just wanted to add something, too, just for the record. When you're discussing salaries, it's not an even playing field across the board. You have unions involved. you have people that are already contracted for this, that, and the other. When you freeze salaries, the only ones you can actually freeze
are non-union employees, which is a very small percentage of staff here. And uh you're really not going to do anything but decrease morale because 3/4 of the workers would get compensation and a quarter of them may not. So, you got to
take that into mind, too, when you're talking about freezing salaries. So, um, go ahead, Vice Mayor. >> Yeah, just a couple of quick thoughts. Um, in in my mind, this commission asked staff to really dig deep and cut. Um,
and we did challenge you with 5%, but we also said no layoffs as part of that. And so, we got to 2.8 or 3%. So, staff did what we asked. Thank you
very much. Um, I for one would never consider a layoff or any tampering with salaries until it was absolutely necessary and there was no other path
forward. To do it in advance is just not sound business practice and I would never support it. >> I'm done. >> All right, city manager. I don't see anybody else up here. Was there any final thoughts that you may want to put
forward? >> See you tomorrow. >> Yes, sir. It's 12. >> Mr. Mayor, we do have public comment. >> Oh, sorry. >> Uh, so this one's an e comment. Yasine Rosani. I own two Burger King locations
in Northport, 1071 South Blade Boulevard and 14928 South Tammy Trail and five comparable properties in Pasco, Charlotte, and Valoosa counties. I have raised these concerns with staff since August 2025 with no resolution. As this commission adopts the fiscal year 2026
27 budget, I urge you not to approve another road and drainage rate increase until the methodology is reviewed. Four issues. One, rate escalation compounds on commercial properties. Enhanced road rates rose 80% $40.74
to $7342 ERU in 3 years. Tertiary drainage more than doubled. Residential homeowners absorb one unit of each increase. My commercial parcels absorb it many times over. The Stantech report projected 0% increases after
fiscal year 26 through fiscal year 33. Rates have not held flat. Two, the 2014 methodology changed created this problem. Before 2014, residential and non-residential drainage rates were separate. The 2014 consolidation into uniform edus shifted disproportionate
burden onto commercial properties. A specific origin this commission can fix. Three, all QSR is not equal. Same ite trip rate applied to all fast food regardless of volume. A McDonald's at $3.9 million generates double the trips
of a Burger King at $1.6 million. Yet both pay the same ERU rate. Lower volume QSR operators are overcharged. Four. Encap structural inequality within Northport. Duncan 4915 White Ibis Drive pays $3,117.
Starbucks 1595 Grand Venture Drive pays $4,968. My standalone Burger King pays $16,965 and $19,21. Same use, same city, five times difference. NCAP eru split across the
center. Standalone parcels bear the full count. The result. My Northport properties pay $42,000 plus versus $17,133 for my Charlotte County Burger King. Staff confirmed next review is not until 2027. Florida law requires fair
aortionment. The current methodology fails that standard. I ask the commission to one accelerate the review to fiscal year 2026, two freeze rate increases until complete, and three allow actual traffic counts in lie of it estimates. Next e- comment is from
Debbie Mcdal. Commissioners, you really have your work cut out for you this budget cycle. The email I sent each commissioner goes into greater detail than I could during public comment. Yes, you made my day when I saw the extensive budget cuts. It's definitely a step in the right direction and overdue. You
won't be surprised when I say you can find more, a lot more. Where is the methodology to justify charges for services? Line item number 349.01. There's a 3.6 $.6 million chargeback from road and drainage into the general
fund. That's a 57% increase year-over-year. Maybe that's why the road and drainage assessment increase is increasing 15%. Other funds have shocking chargebacks, too. All total over $18 million. PIO and
PI LOF contributions continue to soar too. All to benefit the general fund so the city can can continue to say we didn't raise the millage rate. Don't you see the taxpayers still pay regardless what fund you take the money from and put the money into? Last year, the
Northport Police Department asked for many new positions because studies show the department staffing levels were behind industry standards. It was agreed to revisit the Northport Police Department staffing levels every quarter. That never happened at the Deis. Here we are. Another year has gone
by. Our city continues to grow and staffing levels continue in a downward trajectory with more cuts this year at Northport Police Department staffing levels. The mandated 5% general fund budget cut equals about $2.7 million. The savings is slated to build the CEC and cultural center. Just stop. Those
buildings are not a priority. Those buildings are one at taxpayer expense. Use that savings for the needs of the city and taxpayers. Here's an idea. Use the money to bring relief to the taxpayers's wallets. Double dog the area. Good luck today and tomorrow. That is all, Mr. Mayor. We have no uh general
public comment >> and none in house. >> Correct. >> All right. Thank you. >> It's 12:57. See you tomorrow.