days, 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 and 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 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. >> Morning. >> Today is Thursday, June 11th, 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 Dval, Commissioner Stokes, Mayor Er, Vice Mayor Langden, Commissioner Pro is absent this morning due to a family obligation. There is a quorum present
for this meeting. Also present are city manager Fletcher, city attorney Felino, city clerk Fost, board specialist Linder, we have police chief Garrison in the back is Titus Becker or is we got deputy chief Harley up front and center
this morning. So I am requesting that all commissioners, public participants and staff maintain order and 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 deserves deserves the peace and good order of the meeting. Thank you. I'm going to call on Mr. Hurley to lead us this morning. >> I pledge algiance 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, sir. City Clerk, public comment, please. >> Yes, Debbie Mcdow. Please do not take
this public comment as me being angry. This public comment is made out as disappointment and frustration. The city manager presented his recommended budget. These workshops are for you to talk it out, get consensus, and make changes to his recommendations. On the first day, you spent less than
four hours discussing the city's $350 million budget. Really, why wait for another agenda item to discuss items in the commission budget? This is the agenda item. Yes, skipping your salary increase is the right decision. Yes, cut each commissioner's travel and training budget by 50%. This freeze of $18,000.
You're in budget workshops. Discuss away. Get those consensus on the record today. Regarding the bulk pickup, I heard commissioner's disapproval, compromise, and agreement to the idea. Get a consensus today. In my opinion, cutting them entirely will create more headaches and eat up any savings in no time. Everyone made it clear how
difficult cutting 5% from the general fund budget was this year. The reason that directive was given was to use the 2.7 million in savings for the CEC and cultural buildings, which seems to be their newest priority. For two years, I heard each of you say public safety is the number one priority. You cannot have
both. This budget clearly indicates the CEC and cultural building are more important than public safety. Get a consensus to use that 2.7 million to fill those gaps in public safety areas today. But wait, there's more. Communications BP 3576 and finance BP
3495 both cut one position. Both department heads, aka subject matter experts, decided these could be cut. The CM didn't recommend those cuts. Commissioners, you can reverse the CM recommendations and free up $200,000 for public safety. I've got plenty more
ideas, but there isn't enough space. This year's painstaking efforts to cut the budget will look like child's play compared to next year's if the November referendum passes. City Watcher. During yesterday's budget discussion, the city manager correctly pointed out that if additional cuts are desired,
commissioners have a responsibility to identify where those cuts should come from. A commissioner simply stated that more can be cut without providing specific recommendations is not leadership. Nor is it fulfilling the role taxpayers elected commissioners to perform. Then to close the meeting, a
public comment mirrored the vague statement of more can be cut. This reoccurring pattern of a commissioner comment being echoed by specific community members is coming off as coordinated messaging. The public has also seen evidence of controversial social media posts being shared by a commissioner with certain community
members seemingly to generate reaction and engagement. Given those circumstances, continued claims of little or no interaction with these individuals become increasingly difficult to reconcile with the facts. At some point, the public deserves honesty about these relationships and influences. The unwillingness to provide
direction when directly asked was disappointing but expected. Budget decisions required specific priorities and accountability. If a commissioner believes additional cuts exist, then it is their responsibility to identify them and explain the impacts to the residents. Anything less shifts the burden onto staff while avoiding
responsibility for the actual decisions. Residents deserve commissioners who are willing to lead, make difficult choices, and stand behind their positions. Repeating broad criticisms without offering solutions serves no one. anonymous. As a father of children, I have never had to call the police to my
neighborhood. That doesn't mean public safety isn't important. It absolutely is. But what is essential to me and the more than 10,000 school age children in our community is having a strong parks and recreation system that provides opportunities for sports, swimming camps, playgrounds, special events, and other quality of life services that help
make Northport a great place to live. During these budget discussions, it sometimes feels like the message being sent is that the only thing that makes a community successful is public safety. While police and fire are critical services, they are not the only thing that define a city. Families choose where to live based on many factors,
including parks, recreation programs, trails, community events, and amenities that improve their daily lives. I would like to thank city leadership for highlighting the importance of public safety, but I would also encourage them to recognize the value of quality of life services. There are many thriving communities that invest heavily in
parks, recreation, and community amenities while also maintaining safe neighborhoods. In fact, one doesn't have to look very far to find an example. Well Park has become one of the fastest growing and most desirable communities in our region because it has focused on creating a high quality of life through parks, trails, recreation opportunities,
gathering spaces, and community engagement. A great community was not built solely on police cars and fire trucks. It is built on safe neighborhoods, strong schools, vibrant parks, recreation opportunities, and places where families can connect and create memories. If we want Northport to continue growing and attracting
families, we need to invest in all those things, not just one. in person. I have Valdi Olander. >> Good evening. I'm sorry. Good morning. I am Bollander. I came here in peace. I am not a criminal
and I have a dignity. Emage and rest of you, I am instructing you to respect my dignity and I will ask Mr. Cohen to sit here. Just a 90° move. I did check four attachments which you
have in the uh sheets over here. First one recommended budget. I counted from page 411 to to last one and add up to $1.4 billion CIP spending. Please verify that. and
BTO that's this is this amount is 14,000 per capita detail work uh worksheet I didn't have time to check number three fund balance reports
that on September 30th 2026 so it's 3 months from now end of fiscal year fund balance will have $158 million that's lots of money proposals and reductions is actually
very good because it total 32 million plus in savings. Then proposed budget is up by 27 million from the previous year which represent 9.3%
from previous year and 85% increase is fled to get older. However, population grew only 1.69% from last year and 17% since Fletcher take over.
So clearly we are suffering under his and your leadership whatever it's called. Vote no to B to uh budget 2027. One more thing, your retirement
contribution is 37332 per person. This this is Mr. Emage more than you receive and sell when you get here. don't know and last thing I check meaning of fur princip I mentioned
yesterday and what it says that furer which is mean adult Hitler his word was about the written law did you get it ech constitution
that people have a right to instruct your representative Are you a furer? Please read carefully. >> Thank you, sir. >> Attachments. >> Thank you. >> Moving on to general business. Item
26-0846. City manager. This is your item, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, I don't have the actual title in front of me to read because I don't >> discussion and possible direction regarding the city manager's recommended fiscal year 2026 2027 budget and 5-year
capital improvement plan. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> You're welcome. >> We we will start off our >> What a team. >> Yeah, team work. Now, we will start off today as we usually do annually by having uh our Stantech team led by Mr. Peter Napoli go over a few of our meth
methodology assessment studies for fire and then we'll get into fire's budget as well. >> Okay. >> Good morning everybody. Just getting the slideshow up. Thanks D. Good morning everybody. Mayor, commissioners, Peter Napoli, Stantech. Um, here to give you a brief
presentation summarizing the results of our assessment study for uh the city's fire district. Uh, it's an annual process that we've continued to do over the years for the city where we look at the financial forecast for the fire district and um help the district with
its recommended rate increases to the uh assessments that fund their operations. So, uh, our presentation today goes over, uh, the background on the assessment program. Just a brief refresher on, uh, what the assessment
program is, how it funds the city's fire district, a recap of where we left off last year in 2026, so you can kind of compare to to that. Uh, the summarizing the updates that went into this year's model and this year's forecast, and then some customer impacts.
So, a little background on the assessment methodology and the assessment program that's in place that funds the fire rescue district. Uh, this methodology and rate structure. It was implemented back in 2014 uh by our team and has been updated uh in 2024. Just to
uh if you'll remember back in that year, we had to take a reallocation to look at the tier one and tier 2 rates. Um, tier one is supposed to be designed to recover 70% of the cost and that's based on the response readiness of the fire
rescue department. So, essentially saying every property owner in the city benefits from fire rescue services whether or not they pick up the phone to call them just their watchstanding and their availability at any point and any time. And then tier 2 is based on the
protection of structure loss. So it's a scaling charge whereas tier one is a fixed charge. Uh currently residents in the city, property owners in the city pay 187 fixed fee per household or per parcel. Uh and then on the tier 2 side
if they have a structure on their parcel that's um that has a value that's associated with it that's assigned by the property appraiser and this is the replacement value of that structure. they'll pay $3.3 per $5,000 of value.
So, the more valuable the structure, essentially, the more benefit they receive from the protection of loss. Uh, kind of like insurance. That tier 2 side of the assessment program recovers 30% of the cost. So, 70% of the revenue comes from tier 1,
30% comes from tier 2. So, since 2014, we've assisted the district with forecasting. We do a 10-year financial forecast of the assessment rates of the revenues, the expenses, the anticipated additions of new stations, personnel associated with
those stations to help them uh course correct and ensure that they have sustainable funding into the future. U in 2026, a 9% rate increase was adopted to the assessment rates. Uh the average single family home value in
2026, this is just the structure, not including the land underneath it, was 240,000, uh which equates to 48 of those EBUS for tier 2. So tier 1, you'll see for this average single family home, they'd pay
187 for tier one. And then you add in the $3 per EBU. So $3.3 times 48 EBUS gets you with to an additional 145 for a total annual assessment of $332 to fund
fire rescue services. Just a little recap of the financial plan and the forecast that we presented last year. Uh the 9% increase in 2026 can be shown there in that middle um chart or middle table.
You'll see in the blue blue bars there. And then in 2027 onward, we were projecting an 8% uh annual increase to those assessment rates. Uh the bottom graph there shows the endofear fund balance for the fire district and
projected out for a 10-year forecasting period. Um those lines there show the various targets 30% being the top end of their target for their endofear fund balance and then 20% being the very minimum. Um so for most of the
projection period this provided for a sustainable forecast with the fund balance tailing off in the um the latter years of the projection period. Of course, with our current practices of annual updates and revisiting this,
we're not too concerned about the last three years, four years of that projection period. Uh especially because there's so much unknown with that and no one can really forecast what's going to happen in 2031 onwards. So, we feel we felt very fairly comfortable with this
projection last year and the plan was to continue on with 8% increases. So uh one more kind of historical and then uh an update on our assumptions here with the tier one and tier two. Uh
the revenue in the fire district assessment program can grow from two things. It can either grow from these assessment rate increases that you adopt for the rates tier 1 and tier 2 like the 9% that was adopted last year or it can grow from growth in the city. So every
time a new house is built, that's new structure value that's assessed. New uh uh a new house that's assessed the tier one charge. So that adds revenue to the city's uh assessment program. Every time
a large parcel, say it's 100 acres, gets split up into many individual lots for a residential, you know, plan development. that large parcel before was was paying a certain assessment and now the all the individual lots will pay more in
assessment. So that's just another example of how the growth affects the assessment revenue and it offsets how much the uh the district has to request in rate increases because it provides for that funding. So in tier one this is
the that first chart at the top uh shows you the history from 2023 on the growth in tier one. um these units in tier one are parcels in the city. So as the amount of parcels goes up. So as um these bigger parcels are split up into
smaller parcels and there's these splits or annexations uh tier one units go up and the tier one revenues increase. Uh so in 2026 the tier one revenue or EBUs grow by about um 1%. We're projecting in
the orange there for 27 a half percent increase. And then on the tier 2 side, uh this is the the side that's been pretty unpredictable. So this has to do with the property appraiser assigning value to structures in the city. Uh they
have a methodology for how they assign value every year. It's part of their annual process. And when the economy took an upward swing in 2023, in addition to the growth that the city was uh experiencing, you saw those EVUs go
up drastically to 50%. Uh that really is what shook up that allocation of the rates and that's why in 2024 we came back and did a reallocation between tier 1 and tier 2. 2024 was also a strong growth year, 15%. Uh but then it just
shows goes to show it's it's so hard to forecast things like this because we could have never seen the the two years 25 and 26 at almost no increase to the uh tier 2 EVUs. And that's because with the property appraisers updates a lot of
those structure values came down u based on their methodology for assigning value to the to those structures. So in 2027 in the orange on the right hand side we're projecting a 1% increase to be conservative for the tier 2 EBUs and as
we incorporate the updated uh property appraiser data will have the real numbers to show the commission uh before the eventual rate increases are adopted this year. So uh for our financial forecast just some of the data points that we incorporate into the forecast every
year. So we have your 2026 amended budget for the district. And then we have the 2027 proposed budget for the district baked into these numbers. After 27, we do our best to project how cost increases affect the district. And then
uh we also project the revenues on the revenue side. Um a big component of the cost increases. Of course, every year there's annual increases to salaries and benefits, but there's significant increases in the district because there's planned hiring for these new
stations over the course of the 10-year period. And there is one 2 3 four five new stations planned over the course of this 10-year forecast. So, as that hiring is layered in, there's a phased in approach that the district has taken
by hiring six employees at a time to get up to that 18 required for a new station. Those costs are layered into the financial forecast. Uh we also have uh the continued funding for the renewal and replacement fund so they can replace their vehicles and and purchase uh new
assets. This is the updated financial plan. Uh this is our uh screenshot of our financial forecasting model. So at the top part of this screen here, you see the programmed rate increases for tier one and tier 2. Uh so you see that 9%
that happened most recently in 26 followed by 8% for the rest of the projection period. Then in the next section, you'll see average single family EBUS. That's what I showed you before based on the average value of a house currently at 240,000. and we have
that growing over the course of of the projection period. And then you can see the impact on an annual basis of those rate increases to the average single family home. So in that first year, then 8% increase brings the average single
family bill from 332 to 359. That's a $27 annual increase. And it's around that ballpark throughout the projection period. Of course, uh we're also factoring in the value of those homes grows. So, uh that's an
important part of the uh forecast. I believe the the district is coming to you today to request a not to exceed of 10% increase for the rate plan. Uh but we just wanted to show you the forecast based on the plan that we had previously presented in 2026 and we hope to
continue on this plan of 8%. Um the charts on the bottom part of the screen on the left hand side is the operating fund chart. So that's the end ofear fund balance we're projecting uh for the district. So this shows healthy fund balances at least up until 2032. Um out
there the just the compounding increase of personnel costs really starts to uh outpace the revenue increase. But I also want to point out that we're very conservative with the growth in those EBUs in the background. So as if that
occurred and more favorably, if there were more tier one and tier 2 growth, that would help the uh outer years of the forecast. And then finally, yeah, this just reviews the customer impact. So the top chart is the chart from last year where
we were projecting the same rate increase and the same customer impact for single family homes. Um the updated plan is below and really there's no change between these because we're just according to plan. So we're not really asking for anything outside of what was
uh previously presented to the commission. And that's the conclusion of the presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions commissioners may have. >> Commissioner Stokes. Thank you, Mayor Peter. Thank you very much. That was uh
for me raised some questions. Um you did say that your your revenue projections per the EVU increases are extremely conservative. I I do believe they are. I mean, you're talking what, a half a percent. Like, and yet costs, you
say, go up as we plan for these stations over the years. Why would we spend more money? And correct me if I'm wrong. Why would we spend more money than we're bringing in here? Like, well, you know, I have a problem conceptually. I'm just
trying to understand it. I I'm not sure I understand. you know, as growth continues, okay, we're trying to provide safety for that growth and the revenue generated
through new EBUS should cover it without having to raise rates. So, I'm struggling with that. So that that's a great point that you
raised and I just go back to this chart here. I think I want to point out that it's important that we continue to do this on an annual basis and update it annually instead of saying okay this is the plan 8% a year for the
next 10 years. We're we'll step away and revisit it at the end of two years. because we're doing this annual update, the we incorporate whatever is happening currently for the city. So currently for the city, there's been this stagnation
of the tier 2 growth there. The the past two years has been an average of a half% increase because structure values have fallen so far. So right now under this situation that's why an 8% rate increase is necessary to provide sufficient
funding for the fire district under a scenario where you go back to 23 24 we actually in 23 we had a rate decrease because that growth was so high. So as in as the forecast is the forecast and I think I see your point in saying all
right if we're going to forecast forward 1% growth each year you wouldn't need five stations because that's the five stations are based on a significant amount of growth occurring so it should provide more revenues. I think our forecast is definitely conservative and
that we have growth down at around the current levels. We don't want to put in 10% growth a year showing revenues go like this and then tell the commission you don't have to adopt any rate increase and then growth comes in lower and then you have to have a a rate increase that's higher than 8%.
>> I buy that for tier two. I see that. I mean the 1%'s not not out of line in my mind. But I look at the tier one that's really based on new EBUs each new structure. So I look
at that and I go from 26 to 27, 78 253 to 78644. That's like how could that possibly be with the development that's going on residentially in this city? A half a point just doesn't make sense to me.
It's been 15 and 23.7 and 24 1.8 and 25, 1.1 and 26. Now you're at a half a point and then you're saying we need to raise the rates. I don't see it. I don't I don't see it. I just think the forecast's not realistic. >> Uh, Commissioner, if I could jump in and
answer the question. We put the projections in based on trends and we evaluate the plan as Peter said every single year. So when we have uh discuss the plan with you guys in the past, we uh stress that when the role comes in in
June, we always evaluate what the actual growth is when the June roll comes in and then we reevaluate there's an update that's in July. So those projections are projections to be conservative until the answer is known which we should get that information very soon. Uh and then we
adjust that number to what the actual is. So right now what you're seeing is a projection based on last year's plan. Last year that's the best guess from the data provided and then we see the role come in. So, we make all of our adjustments for the scenarios and the plans that we'll put in front of
commission um uh next month based on what the actuals are. >> Have you ever looked at the comparisons retrospectfully between what in the budget cycle you projected like right at this moment
versus what actually came in for the last three or four years? We we do. >> And have you found that every year we've well exceeded the percentage of growth that was estimated here versus what actually came in? >> I wouldn't say well exceeded. So the the
numbers are very uh it's very unique because it's based off of growth and the timing of the growth and when it comes into the role. So, we've had years in the past where we know there's growth, especially in the Wellen Park area, but if those parcels
aren't cut in a particular period of time, then they don't make the roll for the next year. So, we see a little bit of a spike when a new development comes up and then it might level off and then we see a spike and then it might level off. It's really dependent on how those parcels are cut. The rest of Legacy
Northport, as you all well know, the parcels are already cut. So, we see less growth on that side. So when we take an area that's not seeing a lot of new cut parcels along with an area with a lot of new cut parcels, we project and then we explain to the board and to the city
manager's office of we project and then we wait and see because we always adjust the rate once the data is in. >> I'm glad to hear that. I will tell you since I live there and since I watch it, there are way more parcels going to be cut this year. There are so much more
properties literally ready to pop than there were last year. >> And you're 100% correct. And that's that's something we keep. I mean, that makes me feel better that when these numbers come in, they're going to support a higher tier one growth, which
is going to >> ease the pressure on having to raise >> rates at all or certainly less than being, you know, we're talking about not to exceed 10. I would love to be in the 6, seven, 8% range. That would make me
feel better. And I think that's where we're going to be. That's just I just wanted to get a feel for it and and and I wasn't focused on the fact that you do adjust it to actual before we approve this budget and any rates. So, I'm good with that. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. It's all I have. Mayor,
>> thank you, Vice Mayor. >> I have a related question. Are we estimating the impact of the Winchester annexation? >> Not >> what kind of impact will will that have on the formula? So, what we'll what we're anticipating that we'll see is a
continuation of the added cut one I'm sorry, tier one parcels being cut and added to the role. Again, that goes to the developer on the timing of when they open up those developments, but we certainly have an eye for that being in the future. >> We know that based on data provided from
the developer, that's going to span many years into the future. So, it's something we do watch, we do account for, and then as uh commissioner stated, we always go back and look at the actuals and then we make the adjustments from there because we always look for
opportunities to bring that rate down. >> And refresh my memory, um, how do we handle higher density residential properties? >> So, all of our >> and commercial. >> Yeah, all of our assessments are applied uniformly across the board in the manner
stated with tier one. So if you go into a trim notice or a tax bill, you will see an assigned structure value whether it's a commercial box store or res whether it's a residential dwelling, but it's a universal application through the aortionment of tier one which is everybody pays the tier one and the
structure value which is assigned to tier 2. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Yeah, you have something else. Yeah, just one point I did want to make is what to your point uh vice mayor on uh on Winchester, there are significant
parcels yet to develop in the existing West Villages area. That puts the beginning of any actual development other than probably some infrastructure work off a bit into the future, which also creates a window of time for the
infrastructure on River Road to be widened. So for people who are concerned about that, you know, there's a timeline here that's scheduled out so that, you know, things kind of fall in line the right way. So there'll be plenty of time for One River Road to get probably
widened, if not finished, but certainly enough before any significant developments there, and that'll push off a little bit our concerns about, you know, how that's going to impact these rates for at least a few years. >> Thank you. Welcome.
>> All right, moving on. City manager. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, we're going to now move forward to the budget presentation as we were outlining yesterday, and we're going to go right into the fire rescue department. So,
when you look at their team, and this looks a little off. >> Yes. Um, we will continue. Um, they currently have 163 position. Thank you, ma'am. 163 positions uh in their budget and they requested seven positions that were not included what you're seeing.
And to piggy back off of the last conversation that we had yesterday, this is where the funding that we have on hand will be used to put these seven positions in to make sure that they're ready for their assignment as they um the fire stations come online. Um, and
of course with the police that we talked about yesterday, adding them back in as well, we'll get police and fire back to where police back to where they were to begin with without giving them more and getting fired to back to what they requested for what they needed for the actual fiscal year 27. as far as FTEES
when you look at their targets uh you will notice and always appreciate and they are very highly accredited but their their rate of the bystander CPR rate to exceed uh 50% they're on target to do that um the increase out of
hospital cardiac arrest survival rates they're anticipated to be at 50% state goal is 30% um conducting public education events to build community partnerships uh 140 of those shows their
impact uh throughout our city and the goal of 100% businesses um to be in expected uh at 100% as opposed to a 99.8% goal. So they are by all means doing extremely well in servicing our
community. When you look at their budget for the last few years, you will see that they do have a very um tight budget operation and you know we going through their budget this year. The reality that just so much of what they do is
personnel driven is just amazing to show that they have so much little in operating expenses that they actually have control over and they still found ways to help out and do what they could do in order to meet the exercise of the
reduction to help the entire city. And while I'm saying that, I would like to point out that, you know, in some places, public safety would exclude themselves and not say, "Hey, we can't participate in that." And neither one of our public safety leadership teams chose
that. And they all were very participant uh participatory and active in trying to help us solve a problem for all of us that we're experiencing. Um when you look at emergency medical services, you will see that there was uh 302,000 not
approved, 817,000 was approved. Uh reductions, we didn't take nearly 500,000, but we did approve 370,780. uh some of the impacts of those reductions um you know operational readiness reductions you know we we start cutting equipment and gear and
training and tools and overtime that all leads back to the response activity and ability of this team and their quality and it's not something we take lightly when we have to look at those items as to areas to reduce um the training and community engagement impacts um the
training courses and conferences we've all sort of been subject to that I think we've we've hit that pretty well. Um but they also scaling back the annual openhouse um reduces outreach for our public. If there is a department that is probably the face of uh uh kindness and
outreach, it is our fire team and we will continue to try to make sure that we can have those events and opportunities every chance we get regardless of whether today we have the money or tomorrow we find the money. Uh sustainable vehicle and equipment planning. Uh again, police services, you
know, you give them credit. You know, you give them um a lot of uh a lot of kudos for making sure that the vehicles that we may take for granted by looking at them because we think that they're all going to work well all the time, but they actually are being serviced to a
high level for our public safety officials, you know, to get out there. And it's important that we find that proper balance of the longevity or the life cycle of the equipment, the replacement cycle of the equipment and um how we purchase new vehicles. Um
maintaining operational readiness. We're here. We're talking about the replacing that end of the ser those in the service vehicles uh and the impact of not funding the new tool blade station of 75. when I open with advocate staffing and that's the staffing that we're talking about replacing so that they are
not harmed in the process district fund um you can see the proposals approved were $3.1 million um reductions that we actually approved as well were $447,000 and some of the impacts on that
equipment for our district fund relate back to vehicle and equipment reliability sort of what I just talked about the replacement of the aging facilities, the assessment, compliance and funding stability. That's what you just heard from from Stantech and Mr. Peter Napoli and thanks to him and his team for always providing us good
information and as deputy chief said the actuals will be updated at the proper time. uh training division effectiveness. There we're talking about um dedicated vehicle for our training officer enabling him to be able to recruit and on board and have skills
training that relates back to his role. Operational efficiency and workforce capability. This um supports logistical needs with the new van and preserves essential training opportunities and overtime capacity. As we talked about overtime yesterday, you know, overtime,
structured overtime, same way in fire, you know, they have an amount that they need to use, must use based on their scheduling and with their different shifts of various hours that's built in not only to their contract, but to their scheduling. But that still doesn't mean that we need to all get that same level
of comfort that whether it's a standard operating procedure, correct policy or something that sort of puts everything in writing in front of us so that we all know exactly what we are dealing with and looking at as it pertains to fire. Um, I will pause right there, Mr. Mayor,
as we transition to see if you have any questions or comments. >> Commissioner Stokes, thank you. Um, Deputy Chief, could you just speak to the challenges you see when it comes to the lead times on equipment purchases
and hiring cuz you know that's always a challenge and and it speaks to the issue of new stations opening and the kind of lead time you need. So, if you could kind of shed a little light on >> Yes, I'd love to. Uh, appreciate the
question. our suppression apparatus. We're still looking at uh anywhere between three and a half and four years before from ordering point to delivery. Um we're receiving a few fire engines at the uh beginning of the next fiscal year
that were ordered several years ago in anticipation. So we have a very robust planning cycle and we evaluate that so we can meet all those targets. But it is very much a challenge. Um, for our ambulances, we run typically about three years. Uh, but, um, our, uh, chief of
EMS has sought out alternatives and we're looking at other options that we have found a lot better lead times in. So, we're kind of excited about that opportunity. So, we're looking at kind of changing course to maybe a different manufacturer to try to shorten those lead times. Um, so there's a little bit
of a light at the end of the tunnel for our our rescues, our ambulances. for recruitment. I would say overall there is uh less interest than there had been in the past for uh young men and women to get into public safety or into
public government. And for us, our recruitment um we've been putting a lot of effort into that process to try to uh let these uh young men and women know that it's a fantastic career. It's a very fulfilling career. Um so with the support of commission last year, we
started a cadet program. We're going into year two of that. Very successful. We're trying to build through our strategic plan a couple other pipelines to kind of keep that going. Um but at the moment, uh we've the days are behind us where we get 200 applicants for five positions. We we don't see that level of
interest. So we are being very proactive on on how to kind of improve the system. Um so as bit was mentioned before we we look to strategically hire uh a lower number annually and build up um the success story is fire station 87. We
open that station on Tuesday when you all approve the the use agreement and the conveyance process will happen later. Um but we've talked with our finance team and the city manager's office in this fiscal year. We didn't have to ask for 18 firefighters in one year.
Through a strategy effort, we were able to hire those slowly over time. And when we opened the station, the personnel were already there. So, we found a lot of success in that. Uh, it keeps us from having big spikes in the raid as well. But it also solves the problem for us of
we're not going to find 18 firefighters all at one time to fill the station. Um, there is a lot of hiring going on across the state. um we're just not seeing the numbers we used to. So, we've adjusted to the environment in order to meet those goals for the city to be able to bring those personnel on.
>> And I and I asked because obviously it requires advanced planning and budgeting and that's why when we come forward with the need to invest upfront a little bit, it's because it's some of these lad times and and the fact that we have to
prepare for it. So, I I get that. Is there I mean is it offthe-wall to think that in this process there's any room for a a voluntary a volunteer type group out
there that could supplement or help in in the area labor. I mean I you know it's just I mean from a layman's standpoint yeah people ask the question even I wonder could a volunteer force we have so many folks who have histories
career histories in in public safety and first responders who who may be able to lend some assistance maybe not at the front line but but in a way that might help cushion us as we as we face the challenges of trying to staff going
forward. not just for fire rescue but for PD as well. >> It's a great concept and a great idea. I started out as a volunteer firefighter. We do internally evaluate um the potential of uh incorporating volunteers. We started off with a cadet program to start generating some
interest. The volunteer fire departments that are found throughout the state are are suffering in the same manner. They're not getting the same amount of people coming in their doors. So, we know that we would run into the same problem. um we will always look for ways to improve that. The other side is the
training level of a volunteer uh there in the past 20 years the requirements for them to be included in what we call our effective response force as reliable staffing to fill those roles is not there. So the level of training required is different from a volunteer firefighter level to a certified
firefighter. Um but we we have talked about in the past of of is there potential in the future for doing that? will always explore future opportunities. >> Appreciate it. Thanks for sharing a light, shining a light. That's all I got. Mayor, thanks, Vice Mayor.
>> Thanks, Mayor. First, thank you for the page numbers on the slide deck. I know that was a request last year. I'm very happy to see it. So, um, just a a couple of thoughts. One one of the things I really like about the
fire model is the two tiers and then the second tier is based on value property value. So, one of the places my mind has been going
um assuming big assumption but assuming that the property tax cuts happen as they're laid out today, we we really need to get ready for that. And and one of the things I've been
talking with staff about in my one-on- ons and agenda briefings is considering moving in in addition to some cuts we might have to make, moving some of those cost into a district type structure. So
specifically, might we move our EMTs into the district? And I'm sure there are all kinds of state statutes and I know our attorney would would have to take a look at the legalities, but I think we need to start stretching
the state and the time to do it is before D-Day. Um, and I would suggest that all of our districts in terms of their models consider
altering those models. So some or all of it is based on some type of property value like the fire district is because as I mentioned yesterday, my one concern with shifting costs into a district
structure is that it's regressive because everyone pays the same um and property values just have a nice way of sort of uh stretching that out. So, I just want to bring that up. Um, because
again, I think now is the time to get ready and do some of that work and see what it looks like and you know, if it's not voted in, great. We just keep rolling. Um, but I think we all believe it is going to be approved and when that
happens is not the time to get ready. We need to sort of be ready now. So, I just wanted to uh share that thought. I I I really like having part of the models as more of a scale based on property value.
Anyway, that's my thought. >> You're lucky you have >> I do. I just want to make sure the the terminology and there's a legal definition difference between property value and structure value and it's it's important for the conversation. So property value is distinctly different
than a structure. infrastructure value is >> for ease of term is more of the replacement cost not the value >> so we're careful when we describe the methodology to stress it's not a property value it's an assigned structure value >> right but but the concept it's so
>> I hear you there yes absolutely yes >> thank you >> welcome commissioner Dval thank you mayor uh first of all I have a question on the first slide 133 there's a little statement uh sentence there
that says that there's one position. It's in that lower lefthand corner. One position reporting to um one general fund fire rescue district fire rescue position
reporting to it. So my question is that person are they being paid by the fire department by it or just out of the general fund?
>> It's it's out of both. So we have >> Yeah. So that position is in the reporting structure to uh the IT manager Eric Ryan. The district specifically district funds fund half of that position. The other half of that
position is funded through the general fund. So for the collaboration that we have with it, we recognize that one system analyst that we have with the amount of facilities 87 opening and more people uh was being stretched too thin.
So we worked last year for that position was added and uh the reporting goes under their org chart but we partially fund it because it's mostly dedicated to uh assisting fire rescue. >> Okay. Thank you. So the so it doesn't pay for that position. It's not in their
budget. >> Okay. Um my second question is a kind of a a generality. Um, as we got to the near the end of the slides, you know, like on 139, uh,
there's a statement here about cutting overtime and PDO buyback funding weakens the department's ability to maintain adequate staffing, fill vacancies, blah blah blah.
I see the the word overtime placed in there a lot. Um, you know, and you know, just in general generalities, you know, it's it's kind of well known that, you know, like police and fire departments, they don't work 40hour weeks, you know,
they work shifts. Uh, have we done a study of overtime versus I hate to say this in this times
creating a position for like a relief person who's regular staff and that person's job is to fill in for those when overtime is needed. You know, when someone calls in, you know, their their
wife's having a baby, okay, you need a relief person, would it be cheaper to have to use the overtime or cheaper to have a a relief person whose job it is to fill in those?
You know, that that's my question is overtime versus a position to fill in when overtime is needed. So for fire rescue, we work on a minimum staffing model. So if if we're at minimum staffing and somebody calls out
sick or any other reason go family emergency, they had to leave, we we then fill the position with available personnel. Uh and that will incur overtime. uh there is overtime that is built into their salary because like you
said they work shift work and anything where they exceed 53 hours in a 7-day period per FSA they're required to receive the overtime. So when we look at our overtime there's a lot of fragmented impacts to it. The city manager had mentioned in his description of it's not
all just hiring back to fill minimum staffing requirements. Um, some of it is built into thresholds and requirements through FLSA. Some of it is contractual through a buyback program that's in the CBA. Some of it has to do with reimburseable expenses when we do
standby, let's say, for the Atlanta Braves. Um, our personnel are receiving overtime to do that, but then we have a fee structure to recoup some of those costs as well. And then some of our overtime is preparatory. We know that hurricanes happen, large brush fires
happen. So, some of the funding in the overtime budget is to account for a very real possibility that we have to double shift or triple shift to be able to provide services to the city. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Okay,
that's it. Moving on. >> Okay. All right. Thank you, sir. >> Thank you, ma'am. >> Okay. We will now move to utilities. Uh again, large department, lots of people,
lots of money. So 113 is their staffing numbers for their amended budget of 26 and they are recommending to keep that number the same for 27. Uh here are some of their goals uh and
measures that we would talk about. the increasing of the ebill customers to be more efficient exceeding the target rate right now and we anticipate it to be 67%. We want to provide uh 66% of the water
demand. We are anticipated to provide 73% of that demand. We want to clean and televised 10% of our gravity sewer mains and we are on target for that. increase our percentage of new homes constructed on public water services to 66% and 83%
is our projection there and increase of new homes being constructed on wastewater versus onsite septic 62% we're exceeding that at 77 and a half%. When you look at their budget summary, uh you will notice that the capital in
this department tends to fluctuate based on the nature of their business. Um you can see from 48 to 66 to 30 to 21 there are always uh improvements in capital that will happen
in our utilities department including the building that we know that they are erecting now for their new home but their budget is stable for the most part as it relates to the staffing and them carrying out their duties. Um when you
look at their service level changes in the water systems division and administrative division, you will notice that they were approved for $275,000 and there were no reductions approved, but their impact to their
fiscal year 27 service level changes. U they mainly revolve around improved operational mobility and efficiency. Uh that's new vehicles, um planner schedule roles for faster site access, better equipment, enhanced security monitoring and regulatory compliance. Um this
revolves around funding for cloud-based access for control licensing, remote wetland monitoring systems and other software that strengthens system security, a greater infrastructure protection and reduced downtime. Um, they've invested in a sunshade system
for chemical storage, upgraded on-site storage capacity and a mobile welder to reduce chemical degradation risks. Um, and stren strengthen asset management and training capabilities and industrial engraver for asset tagging and PLC
access tool support their asset management plan. the wastewater division. Uh you will notice that we approved $102,000 in proposals and there were no reductions for the wastewater. Some of their
impacts for this particular year um also include improved operational efficiency and safety. Um adding a dedicated pneumatic lift truck enables safer handling of heavy materials and eliminate delays. They also had enhanced
access and maintenance capabilities. That was installing new headwork hatches, providing safer and more efficient access to influent channels, improving staff working conditions, and better process stability and water quality. Um, again, sun cover over the
clear well reduces algae growth and biological activity. When you look at their field operations division, you'll notice that we approved $483,000 of proposals and there were no reductions in this division. And some of
the impacts of the fiscal year 27 service level changes uh are are improved field operations and efficiency as in the other divisions, replacing the F350 and upgrading from a backhoe to a loader, increasing load capability and
material handling capability. uh the enhanced meter reading reliability and workload management. Um adding a Ford Maverick ensures each meter reader has a dedicated vehicle, reducing delays, improving route efficiency, uh streamline relocation and warehouse setup. This was utilizing professional
logistics services for ConX box relocation, enable a safe and timely and organized transition to the new utilities admin building. and they maintain reliability of critical infrastructure equipment. Funding for crane truck repairs, ensures essential vehicles remain safe and
operational and supporting timely maintenance of lift station hydrants etc. Uh engineering division uh their proposals they had 17,000 that were approved and no reductions to note. Um
their impact changes will be labeled as enhanced field efficiency and reduced operational downtime. So purchasing a pullbehind trailer enabled engineering staff to transport the Gator vehicle and carry essential parts and tools directly to job sites improving fuel readiness uh
reducing return trips for supplies etc. And that is the end of our utilities presentation and we're happy to answer any questions as we transition. Mr. Commissioner Stokes, >> one real quick one. As
as we plan and build towards increasing capacity at our plants up in Oak West Villages area because that's where the growth is coming and we're going to see water plant capacity growth. What kind of challenges cost related challenges
are you feeling you're going to experience if any in order to service that? In other words, if all of a sudden we're going to double our capacity from 2 to 4 million gallons, like is that going to put a pressure from a cost
standpoint on bodies on that or are we able to like run that operation with what we've got? And and if we do need to feed operational costs into that equation,
are we making sure that our that the additional revenues that'll be created from that growth will cover it? You see where I'm heading? I want to make sure that in this sense, growth is paying for growth. That we're
not looking at having to bite the bullet on operational expenses while we wait to catch up. Cuz I don't want that to fall on the backs of any taxpayers other than the taxpayers that are going to be benefiting directly from that increase
in operational capacity, which are the people in in basically the Winchester and remaining Wellen Park areas. So yes, Mike Bulo, acting utilities director. So yes, we we have our master planning. We do uh Wellland and Park separate master planning uh versus the
legacy city master planning because that is developer driven. And with the expansion of that facility, the developer is paying for those expansions to cover those costs. We do include all those costs as part of our master
planning as far as chemicals and uh you know the uh dosing and treatment stuff but we are also you know involved with the master plan heavily with the developer on that aspect. We do our master plan planning on the legacy side as well because we
have a lot of developments coming in in different areas of the city that those plans are taken into a place that those that are benefiting from that services will pay for those services. >> Appreciate it. That's all I got. Mayor, thanks. Commissioner Dval,
>> thank you. Hey, ma'am. Um, I noticed a statement in there about buying a Ford Maverick for a meter reader. Is that one Ford MA Maverick or buying one Ford Maverick per meter reader?
It's one Ford. Uh we're we replaced a Ford Maverick, but we had to hold on to a old uh Nissan that we had. So, we did a memo to keep that Nissan Frontier for a year just so we can get caught up on
the staffing. And this would be to make it whole for the meter reading department. So, so it's just one vehicle. Just one vehicle. >> Just one Ford Maverick just to make the department whole for for all of them to have vehicles.
>> Just uh sometimes if I leave here in the evening and I see the parking lot on the east side of the building, I see a lot of pickup trucks. Uh so far the only Ford Maverick I've seen that
belong to the fire department. I believe uh I own one 40 miles a gallon. You will love it. >> Yes, we currently have two. >> I'm getting a new one, so you never know.
Uh yeah, that's that's something you know I you know is is looking at you know the efficiencies of of of the vehicles and for something like a meter reader you know where he's not going to be carrying uh you know five tons of
equipment along with him uh those hybrid vehicles. >> Thank you. >> That's it sir. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. >> Absolutely.
>> Uh, our next and I believe last but certainly not least department is development services. And I believe there will be questions. So, Director Ray, please make make your way down. Um, but take your time. Um so
this department sir has 83 positions in it and they are currently not recommending or requesting any new ones for next year. It will remain at 83 for for um fiscal year 27. Good morning. Uh when you look at their performance
metrics uh they are very very well um scrutinized and heavily looked at as we try to make sure that we meet these marks. One is processing and reviewing 90% of single family residents permit applications within 30 days. We anticipate that to be 95%. Maintaining a
rate of at least 90% of active cases brought into compliance. Uh we believe that we'll meet that at 90% 90 or more businesses business attraction contacts made. We believe that that will be 125 and a goal of plant or donate 200
more trees throughout the city. We believe that will be 400. When you look at the next slide, this is a graph chart uh per the conversation I believe that Commissioner Dvau has brought up as to where are the trees to
be planted, how many trees are going to be planted. I think the last time you said you had asked about this three times publicly and had not gotten what you needed. So, this chart was made for you, sir, to show you that there are tree plantings happening. When you look
at the right side of it, you will notice that fiscal year 25 was 158 that were completed. Fiscal year 26 is 26 with uh 270 more planned to be completed before the end of this fiscal year. And for fiscal year 27, we have 732 trees that
are planned to be planted. Uh, as you can tell by the map, you can see where they're located throughout the city and the v variety of spaces through the different three-year window that they will entail. And this next slide is a better breakdown of it, so you know
exactly where they are. um not just commissioner develop but the entire board where you can see that where the 158 uh trees were planted in last year the ones that we planted this year including Sumpter as well as uh the city hall retention pond where where are we
going in this year we're putting more in Bokeh Chica Kirk Park Sumpter the playground in city hall the garden of five senses that's how we got to the 274 and when you look at next year the 732 you'll notice that there is uh a big chunk of that is in the jockey club um
rewalding. You see Dallas White Park and Warm Middle Springs uh city hall grounds as well. So you we hopefully we hopefully think and believe that you can see that we are planting the trees as the fund and the efforts have been
stated to happen over the course of this year and next year. The summary of those trees plantings is shown in a graph right here. It talks about the tree giveaway program. Um 330 trees donated to date. 580 expected by the end of this
fiscal year. Um the landscape compliance program is another 311 additional trees anticipated in this fiscal year and it's going to increase like I said over the next year. As we go through the budget summary of
this department um you will notice that it's relatively stable. Uh fiscal year 25 was an actual of nearly $14 million and fiscal year 27 is a recommended of nearly uh $17 million and again capital flu fl fluctuations happened in this
department that allow for it to go up and down. You look at our planning and zoning division, um they did get $95,000 of proposals approved and $35,000 uh $660
removed. Uh some of the impacts uh for the planning and zoning division are one, you know, supporting a long range infrastructure and development planning. Um this is the consultant for an infrastructure master plan for activity 6 and 10 that we've been talking about knowing that we have to improve our
capital planning for the future economic development of that area and we know how important that is. uh improving workforce efficiency and reducing uh overtime reliance. Uh overtime again, you know, we just talked about it with fire, we talked about it with police, we talked about I mean overtime is not sort
of isolated to any department and I do think we just need to have a structured review of it so that we can answer questions with confidence about what we're doing. you we heard from fire and I think theirs is probably the most complicated overtime structure just based on their shifts but everyone is
trying to do their best to reduce that and development services is no different uh and maintain ret maintains reliable field operations through vehicle replacement that's something again that we're looking at you know agencywide and as we look at our replacement and our
take-home policy I think that that will just bring us all in a better enlightenment of what we do and why we do it and to be able to defend and our continued processes. Uh when you look at the economic development division, they had no proposals and they had a
reduction of $39,800. And this $39,800 was from professional services, shipping, rentals, and advertising. Uh but it will limit the the division's ability to maintain its website, market the city at trade shows, promote special
events, and target industry recruitment. um which again is related back to our overall visibility and economic development outreach. The building division had $100,000 of proposals that were approved and reductions that were approved of $75,000
and the impact of those service level changes um maintaining the reliable inspection operations through vehicle replacement. This is the replacement of two end of life fleet vehicles. They help to ensure that building division have safe dependable transportation for
daily inspections and reducing overtime again increasing workforce uh flexibility. This is expanding multi-certifications among inspectors distributes a more workload evenly and reduces skill bottlenecks, lowers overtime and contract labor costs.
Our code enforcement division um had a proposals approved of $157,000. reductions were accepted of $76,000 and the impact of the 27 service level changes includes maintaining reliable
transportation. They're replacing three three aging replacement qualified vehicles ensures code enforcement will have safe dependable transportation. They are also reducing overtime for better workload planning as I mentioned earlier in the other divisions and
decreases capacity for hazard abatement and alliance training costs. A 25% reduction in hazardous tree and grass abatement funding lowers the division division's ability to address nuisance vegetation while shifting training and travel costs into the code enforcement
budget ensures clearer alignment of operational expenses. Our natural resource division um received proposals approved of $620,000 and a reduction of $2500.
The impacts of these changes are one replacing the division's aging replacement qualified vehicles. We see the pattern there. We also see the pattern of lowering the overtime usage for better scheduling to balance workloads and strengthening the environmental stewardship and future
project capacity. Uh, expanded water testing enhances data-driven sustainability planning while increased grant match funding improves the division's ability to secure external funding and advance key environmental initiatives in 2027.
And that is the end of development services, Mr. Mayor, and we will pause right there for you. >> All right. Yeah, I have a question and I want to discuss code enforcement a little bit if I could. Um, and this is not in a negative way. I just want to know what the process is because
currently I'm involved with a homeowner that's having issues and public works is working on that. Once they're done, it's going to go over to the um construction company and that's going to be a code enforcement issue. approximately
how long once code enforcement gets involved into a case, they find a judgment that needs to go forward into the court systems to figure out how to get this fixed about how long is that process? Because the homeowners, they
want it done yesterday, but I know it's timely. I know it takes time and you have to come up with decisions, times, this, that, and the other. Is there an average time span on what that may take? Good morning. Elena Ray, director of development services. So, it depends uh
on whether we get voluntary compliance or we don't. If we get voluntary compliance, you will usually see that change within 30 days. Um, if we don't get voluntary compliance, it could be three, four months and sometimes never
because if the property is homesteaded and it's a condition that we can't go onto the property to correct, then all we can do is put a lean on the property. Um, so we have properties in the city. I
know I know of one. there is a um a vehicle that is uh derelct unlicensed on a property. We've had a lean on that property for years. It's homesteaded. We can't go onto the property to remove it.
Um and there's there's literally nothing that we can do to fix that situation um other than that the fines just keep acrewing on the lean. Well, >> this instance has been going on for a few years, I gather and and this is new
construction that's going on now and >> it is a construction company. It's not humpsteaded and uh I just wanted you know roughly about how long it took you you answered that but right now with code enforcement are we proactive or
reactive? So, we have been reactive because for most of 2026 budget year, and you see this reflected in our current uh uh our essentially what we've spent so far this year, our expenditures, we were down to two code
enforcement officers for the entire city. So, we have had no opportunity to be proactive. However, we are as of right now fully staffed in code enforcement
uh today as of what time is it? Um so we are moving to a proactive footing especially on construction sites. So, one of the things that we had asked for and the the commission approved last year was a position to handle
specifically construction sites and we have hired that person. Um, and they have uh we're moving them into that role. Uh, they will be going after all of the construction sites that we have spec primarily the single family
construction sites. There's a lot of them out there that have debris. They've got dumpsters that are overflowing and haven't been uh emptied. They've got portaotties that are turned over. Um high grass, trash,
silk fences, lots of problems. So, we've got a person who is specifically going to proactively go after those. So, we are very hopeful that people will start to see um some cleanup of those sites, especially as those builders get word
that we're targeting the sites. We're hopeful that that will help some of them go ahead and uh clean up their sites proactively as well. >> Yeah, that that's awesome. But I was getting in and and that's great, don't get me wrong, but as we're growing, you know, a lot of the stuff out there by
being reactive, you get and we're sitting up here getting the complaints from citizens and it's like, oh, they're always picking on me. Well, you may always be out of compliance, but that's being reactive. They may have a very bad neighbor that just doesn't like them and
they keep calling in and calling in. Whatever the case may be, but moving into like a proactive system, granted definitely you would need more staff, this that and the other. I'm not trying to say any different, but maybe in that
proactive status, you did a grid type system to where so and so takes care of this area to where it's not a repetitive complaint to the same person, but everybody's treated equally because they'll say this person, you know, their their stuff looks like trash all the
time, but I'm the only one that's getting a notice, you know, this that and the other. And and it's just a bad optic out there. And I'm not blaming anybody for it. I'm just saying that I think it can be done differently in the future. I'm not saying any better. I
think they're doing a great job with what they have and what they're doing out there. And I commend them. I It's probably a tougher job than being a commissioner. We only take it we take it online. They take it in person. So, I mean, you know, so I understand the problems, but it was just a suggestion
on what we may be able to better ourselves with. That's all. >> Absolutely. And now that we are as of this moment at full staff, I can share with you some of our plans. First, we do have a grid system. So, we do have each code enforcement officer is assigned to
a specific grid. Unfortunately, because we've been so short staffed. Um, we haven't been able to dedicate an officer to each of those uh inspector to each of those grids. Now that we're fully staffed, we do have an inspector for each grid. Now, they are large grids
because the city is so large. Um, but one of the things that we have, now that we're at full staff, I keep caveing that >> you keep saying that you're gonna introduce yourself. >> I think it's because it's just so hard to wrap my head around.
>> Um, but we are going to start targeting specific areas with sweeps by the entire staff. Um, so I've asked our code enforcement manager to work first with communications to develop some
educational material that we will distribute uh to neighborhoods. So let's say we identify a specific neighborhood and we have some on our list that are high offenders. Um, we will target that neighborhood first with educational
material and to let them know we're coming. Um, when I've done this in other cities, if you let them know in advance, you're going to be sweeping their neighborhood. A lot of people tend to go ahead and clean some things up before we
get there. So, then we will set a time, let everybody know when we're coming. We will have all of our officers on that neighborhood for say a week, and we will write as many violations as we see during that week.
um and then we will move to the next neighborhood that's identified. Um when you do those sweeps, you tend to get a lot of u um initial uh compliance from people who will say, you know what, it's time to clean out the garage and move some of this stuff
into my garage instead of it sitting out in the yard or, you know, whatever the case may be. They'll go ahead and mow uh so that we don't have as many mowing violations. So, we're hopeful that that will help. Um the education will be put out, communication will be put out, and
then we will proactively target those um neighborhoods that have a history of a high number of violations. >> Well, thank you very much. I'm glad that you have a plan going forward. Those were just my suggestions and I wanted to
say thank you to that whole department for everything that they do. So, thank you very They do a lot and um it it is I I've always told them it's a thankless job. Somebody has to do it and I'm glad they do. >> Commissioner Duval, you're next.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um, director, we've had this issue with a developer, you know, whether it's a and I presume these are mostly uh
individual developers. They start building a home, homes partially built, they go bankrupt, okay, leans are on the pro, you know, code enforcement leans and they can hang. Now, we did we had a discussion
and I thought we had come up with the idea that we were going to have a program where we would basically get rid of those leans if we could find somebody to buy that property and, you know, put it back on the tax roles, get it built.
And I just happen to have, it always seems I have an example for every problem we have in this city and it always seems to be where I live. Um but like right on my street it was a home that was partially built abandoned >> for years
after we had that discussion about what we were doing. All of a sudden people showed up porta potty dumpster people they actually put a you know a shingled roof on on the home and then they disappeared again and now there's a code enforcement sticker on it. Um
and I don't know that just that's just basically a comment but are we working on are we seeing >> we are first we've got a couple of different approaches. one, um the commission did pass a change to our code of the city that allows us to do
administrative lean um waiverss or reductions uh for properties such as that where we have somebody that comes in and they want to purchase the property and uh bring it into compliance, start restart construction. We've done several of those lean
reduction programs and have homes that have been completed and and are under construction for that. Um, as far as the uh the building permit itself, state statute regulates when a permit expires.
Uh, so and when you can renew a permit, so someone can come out, do some work, get an inspection, and their permit's good for a certain period of time. And then they can do a little work,
get an inspection and let it sit for >> Okay. Thanks for that explanation because that's, you know, I was trying to think what happened with this. You know, it started and then it just died. I guess that's >> that and that is a state statute and they have even um extended that period
of time with recent state legislation that was just approved. >> Okay. All right. Second thing, you know, I really do appreciate this, you know, these charts that are made up for me about the trees, and I hate to be negative, but I got to be negative in this one. Uh, don't quote me on this
number. You know, I'm old. My memory isn't that great anymore. But if I go back to the 2025 budget book, uh, it was a plan for out of the tree fund back then to
plant, I believe, either 300 or 500 trees for the year. I don't remember the exact number. Uh, it's it's not important. You don't have to look it up. So >> yes, we did we did project 500. You're
absolutely right. We had a couple of problems. >> Okay. I had problems and yes >> and you know development services. Okay. You know and our new environmental fund. Okay. You know kind of took over the tree fund. Okay. Now
things develop, you know, like uh recently, you know, our our last city meeting, we talked about, you know, using tree fund money for helping to if we can purchase those properties, you know, to conserve that area around, you know, Little Salt
Springs, you know, and I have no objection to that. But if I look at this chart, I'm looking and see that 26 the year, you know, the the 2025,
300 or 500 were planned, 158 planted. Uh for 2026 planned, 274. We're almost at half of the year and we got 26 planted so far. Uh um and then I look forward in
2027 and we move up to 732, you know, and it that's >> so I can't explain. >> It's great to have a plan, but we kind of have to carry through with the plan, too. >> I can explain >> and I understand that u
not all plans just happen. You know, things things are complex. There's a lot of things going on in the city. Uh but there's a lot of >> so I >> kind of keep some emphasis on some things.
>> Absolutely. And if if it's okay, I'd like to address that because I know it has been a concern. Um so if if commission will recall the natural resources division was implemented at the very end of um 2024.
We interviewed, hired, got everybody on board by the beginning of last year. It took a year to get all of the purchasing documents completed. Um so all of the contracts for the landscape companies, the irrigation companies so
that we could ensure these trees stay alive. Um it it took us a year before we could really purchase anything of significance. Um and that was simply a matter of the formal bid processes that we have to go through all of the
contractual requirements um ensuring that these companies met all of the um government purchasing requirements. Um so that as I said a year the other issue that we have had is that the drought has it put a significant
um delay on being able to purchase the right type and number of trees that we were looking for. So specifically for the a lot of these projects that we're doing for instance Bokeh Chica we want large mature trees of native species. We
can't get those from just anywhere and they are um they have had a the growers have had a real problem being able to supply them to us because of the drought conditions. Additionally, planting them in the middle of a drought is a problem.
Um, so we are now that we are approaching our rainy season, that's why you will see a ramping up of the number of trees that we can plant between now and the end of the fiscal year because we will have more rain and we're able to get those trees from the growers. But
between the the contractual purchasing um timeline that it took to get those in the contracts in place and then the u just the sheer lack of supply from the drought, those have been the driving factors as to why you have not seen many
trees planted this fiscal year. >> Thank you very much. >> You're welcome. >> Appreciate it. >> Commissioner Stokes. >> Yes. Uh thank you very much, Selena. Uh my question got maybe two but one
revolves around you know during this present fiscal year uh our budget had about $2.5 million in there for environmentally sensitive land purchase and I appreciate the work that goes in and the lead time. There are always conditionals that, you know, affect the
timeline, so to speak. And, you know, as we put together this 27 budget, I'm interested to hear what my fellow commissioners think and what we might do in adding to that fund. You know, I appreciate that, you know, we couldn't
buy $2.5 million worth of environmentally sensitive lands during this year. So that number is rolling over and I you know believe when I asked this question before I was assured that 2 and a.5 million still there. I'd like
to see us add another million or two out of the environmental fund towards this because there are quite a number of properties that need purchasing and protecting in this city and it's going to be harder and harder to find the
financial resources to do this. This tree fund is or this environmental fund has environmentally land environmentally sensitive land purchases as part of the mandate and we need to do it and we need
to start pushing it and we need to start addressing this because you know I mean what are we waiting for you know I mean I assume we know where these properties are especially on the makahhatchee and then there's you know there are the
areas we spoke the other day that you know is an area of concern but I mean there are properties that need to be acquired and you know and if it's frustration not just for me but for a lot of people as to why we are not doing this where do I don't see this coming
before us I don't see us being asked like is it okay to go purchase this the tier one properties for a long time there was resistance on this board to acquire tier 2 and it's time to start doing this stuff regarding environmentally sensitive land
purchases. I I mean it's just >> the commission adopted this this year they adopted uh the surplus list of properties. It's been a few months since that happened. Um it took a while. We brought it back a couple of times because the
commission wanted to see some changes in that surplus list of of of the properties that were owned by the city. um that that list has been used to help identify where we could maybe make some property swaps. And then in conjunction
with that, we brought a list of identified properties that the natural resources team analyzed and felt would be worthy of purchase. And we had um a very large presentation that we gave to
the commission, a slide deck with each property had its own slide and identified sort of the area where it was in. We didn't really want to specifically target the property in in the public sphere because it can impact um asking prices. Um but the commission
did authorize a few months ago for us to go forward with that list of properties that we wanted to target for acquisition. Um we have as the commission directed we have uh sent letters to those property owners. We are
actively working with several of them who have contacted us back and are interested in uh the city acquiring their property and we are working with the the um public risk real estate coordinator to do that. things that we have to do in advance of you seeing it
are things like surveys, appraisals, those types of things. Working out a deal with the property owner that um the city can abide by because of the the um restrictions that we have with with acquiring property and that they are able to abide by. We've also had an
opportunity to look at a couple of other properties that we didn't think we were going to get a bite at and we are working with those as well. So, um those are things that you will see. It it doesn't certainly doesn't happen overnight. Sort of like with an economic
development deal. We know for a long time it's coming, but we can't really bring it to you. >> That's why I bring a squeaky wheel, you know, >> and that's why the, you know, setting that money aside is so important. Um, we never expected to be able to spend the $2.5 million in that first fiscal year.
It was to give us the program and the ability to go out to owners and say, "We have money. We'd like to talk to you." And and that is that is the key. When they know we have the funding, they're more interested in talking with us. >> Got it. >> Thank you so much for that. The only
other thing is, you know, I'd be curious to see how what your perception is and and maybe how you might grade the Asella program and how it has helped and do anticipate any cost
savings there and in connection with the automation of that whole process. um how are we addressing some of the concerns some people have had some you know citizens out there have had with regard to like the human touch okay because you
know I've heard myself as I know other commissioners have like the frustration sometimes with the inability to talk to a human being and so you know first the grading of a seller I mean you know did this make sense did we do the right
thing here you know So if Asella is um working as it should, there is a big learning curve with Asella both on the city employee side, contractor side, public side. Um we do have people who
are available all day, every day to work one-on-one with our customers when they come in. If we have somebody, especially the typical homeowner who may only pull a permit for themselves one time in their entire life, um we have a we have
a kiosk there in our building division where we will walk them through that process. We have met one-on-one with homeowners for an hour, two hours, and actually entered the information in for them. So, we are we are always willing to do that and and ready to do that. Now
the way Asella is working, I can tell you that because of the automation that's involved and the uh plan review cycle, we went from it taking us 30 to 45 days
to issue single family home permits to it taking less than five. That is a success. um zoning permits are almost 98 99% of them are being issued in 3 days.
So the the benefits are measurable and obvious. Now, it doesn't mean a reduction in staff um unfortunately because well unfortunately or unfortunately however you look at it but um there are also
state requirements that have been passed that actually put more work on our staff and we have to do that work in less time. So the efficiencies that we have seen with Asella will help us in dealing with some of
those changes that have been made at the state level. Um, as far as the dealing with complaints from people who maybe don't like the system or don't understand the system or are having trouble using it, um, or even, you know, if something has gotten caught up in
what we, you know, a review cycle nightmare and it just doesn't seem to be going anywhere. And we do have a position um, in our budget that we have reclassified an existing position into called a permitting and policy liaison. um we have interviewed for that
position. It its intent is to be that person, that go-to person that if we it if something gets escalated to you um to the city manager, that is the person who's going to dig in, figure out what happened, why it happened, what we can
do to fix it, and to make sure that that type of an issue doesn't happen again if it's something on our end that we're able to fix. So that is that is um there are this is a type of position that's um out there in other jurisdictions. It works because
people have somebody a touch point that they can go to. Doesn't mean they're going to handle every complaint and every problem because then they would get nothing done. But those issues that have either been escalated or that are so complex that they need somebody who
can spend a significant amount of time to dig into it. You know, one of the complaints and one of the concerns I've heard not just once but multiple times from folks has been, you know, I go into city hall, I I go in, I talk to the building department,
I'm told what I need to do, I head out, I go do my thing, I have come back, and the next person I talk to tells me I have to do a whole bunch of other stuff that I didn't know. Why didn't someone tell me the first time what I needed to
do? And it seems like repetitively this occurs, not once or twice, but multiple times on the same development project. And people are like, "Doesn't anyone know what the other ones doing?" And you know, when I call like um my insurance
folks or I make a call to certain other services I get, I mean, it doesn't matter who I get, but by God, they literally can recite back to me almost what I said the last conversation I had. There's like technology out there that
assures that there is a continuity of information flow so that the next person you talk to doesn't you don't have to go back to to square one and re-educate them on your whole story again. And you know again this just adds to the
frustration people have. I don't know if a cell provides for that, if that's a separate kind of system or or if if if there's something new that's needed, but it it is a it is a frustration on on the part of not just an isolated party here and there.
>> So there is um there there are there are software programs that you can get that will track conversations like that. um we we don't have that. Asella does have a place where we can put notes, but
it's certainly not going to capture an entire conversation that we have with someone. Um the a lot of the issues that we have is that uh when we talk with someone specifically, we may or may not have all of the information
that it we need in order to give them every answer to every question they may have. um plans change. You know, sometimes somebody will start out with one type of of project that they're doing and then they'll expand it and find out that it trips a whole bunch of
new requirements. Um we we will not ever make everyone happy. We issue 20,000 over 20,000 permits a year. You hear from maybe 0.1% of those. The rest of them, they're
issued, they're the inspections are done, everything's fine. there are no problems. It's that 0.1% that you're going to hear from and a lot of times it's because those are the ones where um it's it's the person who doesn't pull a permit very often. Um there can anytime
humans are involved there can be communication uh lapses or gaps um in part in in uh partial information. Um, so it's it's hard to solve every one of
those things with a blanket approach, but that's why that's one of the reasons why this position is important. Uh, because it can help us identify if we start to see patterns. I
if if we start to see, okay, this wasn't a one-off situation. This same type of thing is occurring more often. that person can help us identify it, write a procedure, standard operating procedure for that issue, and we can see if there
are any uh technology fixes that we can put into place to prevent it from happening and training that we can make sure it doesn't happen again. So, we are actively working to help solve those types of of problems. Um, every every
building department that issues a lot of permits, it's always going to have some complaints. we are not going to get it right 100% of the time. Sometimes it's going to be our error, sometimes it's going to be the applicant's error, and sometimes they both may have errors. So,
um we we will do everything we can though to make it um as easy as possible. >> And I appreciate the indulgence. you know, this conversation and and some of my fellow commissioners conversations aren't budget spoton, but we don't
always get the opportunity to talk about especially your department which is as broad as it is and affects the citizenry as much as it does. So, thank you very much for the indulgence. >> Commissioner, if I could add into that though, too, you'll see in the communications budget, there's three-fold. This is a uh customer
relationship management process that we're working on. So on the sidelines, we have communications and IT working on an overarching program to help not just development services, customer service, but really across the city. >> Appreciate that. Thank you again.
>> Yeah, I want to bring back up something that Commissioner Stokes had asked about in the beginning on the uh acquisition of the properties and we have two and a half million sitting in there. in your current talks right now on the properties that you may be acquiring
about how much of that 2 and a.5 million are we looking at expending because he was asking about putting more money in there if it's a small amount I may not be inclined to want to put more money in there at this time. So, if you have an approximate number on what you think's
going to be expended in what you're already currently talking about, >> I I can tell you that one property in particular that we are talking with the property owner would be a significant portion, multiple hundreds of thousands of
dollars, probably approaching a million dollars by the time we get finished with um all of the surveys, appraisals, title work, everything else if we are able to acquire Okay. And and that's what I just needed to do a ballpark figure because yes, we
may want to put more money in there. So, >> we are we do have a million dollars that we have asked for for this year uh to add to that 2.5 and that is because of the known properties that we are targeting. >> Yeah. And I I'd be good with that. I
have no issues with that. we need to move forward with acquiring these sensitive lands, especially for our environment and, you know, species out there and stuff. Uh, Vice Mayor, you're up. Sorry. >> Uh, thank you, mayor. Just a couple of quick things. Um, I I'd really like to
request, particularly with the abandoned buildings that are half constructed, that we apply a lot of that to District 2. Um, we might recall back in 2022 when we redistrict
the city based on census information, there were two districts that were growing faster than the average. One was district five, most of that driven by Wellland Park. I don't think we need to worry about Wellen Park. The other was
district two, which is Toledo Glade East. Um, we have, I believe, more than our fair share of those abandoned half constructed single family home lots. So, I would just respectfully request that a
commeerate level of attention be given to the east end of the city because it is endemic out there and I know you'll do that. So I >> well and Aella allows us to run reports and one of those things that we can do is look and see when how long it's been
since properties have had an inspection, >> right? >> And target those properties. >> That's wonderful. Thank you. Um and then my other comment is for the poor belleaguered code enforcement folks. It it just um occurs to me that our code
enforcement staff share some similar characteristics as our police folks, particularly our patrol folks in that they are interacting with city residents
under extremely adverse and stressful situations. Um, and and I know that our police have done a really good job with the chest cameras and with sort of deescalation training, you know, how to deal with
people who are just ramping up and how do you sort of bring them down if there's an opportunity for our code enforcement folks to share in some of that. I'm not requesting any budget attention, but I think it would be so
helpful for them to have those chest cameras. Um, and I know it it's more of a on the police side a protection for our police force and and I think our code enforcement people kind of share that
same kind of dynamic and and then if there's any training that happens on the police side that code enforcement might be able to take advantage of and those deescalation techniques that might be well worth looking at. >> Thank you. Yes.
>> I would also suggest maybe a taser. >> We'll cut that out of the recording of this meeting. >> That's it. >> All right. That's it. City manager. I know you're going into the CIP next. So, you were done with the departments. >> We are.
>> So, we're going to take a 10-minute break and then we'll come back and you can dive into that, sir. >> Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. 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 to 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 listen 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. So 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 could 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 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 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.govnorthreport /northreports 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 fastpaced news-driven podcast to bring you the latest city updates, event previews, and
important information all in one quick listen. >> Think of it as your weekly guide to staying in the know about what's happening in Northport. >> Next, we have Northport Stories. Laura and I will share heartfelt and inspiring tales from around our community. stories that showcase the people, places, and
moments that make our city special. >> And don't worry, Voices of Northport isn't going anywhere. I'll continue bringing you even more personal stories and interviews with residents who shaped our city. And last, but not least, Northport Living. Cody and I will also rotate hosting this show, which is all
about tips, events, and lifestyle ideas to help you make the most of life right here in Northport. Whether you're looking for family-friendly activities, ways to get involved, or helpful home and garden tips, Northport Living has you covered. With breaking news, heartfelt stories, or practical tips,
the Northport Podcast Network is your go-to source for all things Northport. >> Make sure to subscribe to the Northport Podcast Network wherever you listen and join us as we celebrate and connect with our amazing community. >> Northport Now will be released bi-weekly. >> Northport Stories and Living will be
monthly. A schedule will be available on social media and our website. Hello everyone, Devon Pulis here, aquatics manager. Welcome to my crib. We have fun here at the crib. Programs included. Become a pass member. Play all
year long. Payer at the crib. We do have rules. We take all payments here at the crib. Apple Pay, Mastercard, Visa, cash. You pay right here to enjoy the crib. So, enter through the gate. Childp
proof, most adult proof. Shade. What's that? Our newly installed sun shade available for rent all season long. Here at my crib, you don't have to worry about a place to find a seat. We've added more chairs than ever here at the
crib. If you're coming to enjoy the cribs and you got little ones, we got the perfect area for them. Our Pelican playground, newly painted, fresh floor, fresh palm tree. It's looking clean. Looking for a place to work your upper
body? Take a shot at here at our Stingray shuffle. Looking to relax? I got you covered here with our lazy river. Living more on the adventurous side. Check out the slides right behind me. Newly painted. All offer something
individual and unique. Check it out. Check out the main pool kept at a wonderful 84 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. >> City manager, CIP. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, now we go into
one of our more heavily funded areas of conversation, and that's our CIP conversation. Oh, sorry. Uh when you look at the overview of our CIP, you see that the $318 million is our number of existing
appropriations with proposals that came in of nearly $67 million on top of that. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Thank you, ma'am. I'm sorry. Uh let me go back for just real quick. All right.
So, beginning our CRP overview, Mr. Mayor, the existing appropriations as shown reflects nearly $318 million and our CIP proposals are nearly $67 million of that. Uh the CIP overview by pillar.
The main pillar in this one will always be infrastructure and facilities integrity. It is how we maintain our uh primary infrastructure. You'll also see the environmental resiliency and sustainability of $14 million and the other uh good governance quality of life
and safe community have smaller amounts as well. When you look at the CIP overview by fund, as you can imagine, the general fund is going to be your lightest because that's not where we pay for our capital improvements out of. But we have road and drainage district. We have
solid waste. These are some heavy drivers of CIP, including our utility funds and our wastewater capacity fees. These are the buildings and facilities that we use to take care of ourselves. Uh we do know that a lot of these funds have different revenue sources and
streams that allow them to be paid for that do not include millage rate um impacts, but definitely different impacts on the citizens of our community. When you look at by department, our utilities department uh having 19
million in public works having 41 million are going to be your largest drivers just based on the type of industry and the work that they provide. Uh they are always going to be again the highest drivers of your CIP.
uh sir tax uh sir tax in Houston how it's distributed you look at the public works of you know $3 million utilities of $2.7 million and fire rescue of $2 million uh I know sir tax is something that we all sort of think about a lot
there's time to vote on it but it is an annual source of revenue that we can't sort of forget about as the um passing of that and the approval of that helps the city out and not finding money and revenue sources for those particular
items. Uh I will transition to the next one, Mr. >> Yeah, go right ahead. >> Question now. Um >> yeah, let me think for a minute. Um >> no, go ahead. Go ahead.
>> Okay, >> wait till the end. >> Okay, we'll go to the end. Sure. As we break down the different uh departments and what their CIP looks like, you can see a more granular detail here that talks about um public works uh for instance and the solid waste transfer
station. Uh you can see that's at $12 million of this. And knowing that you've talked a lot about that one, that's a good example to highlight of one that you publicly discussed and publicly saw for and we've received grant we have received as of today grant approval for it. We do know that again our state
people um have uh supported us very well but the governor is still the final call and final decision and we we got our fingers crossed that it'll stay the way that it is. But you know if it happens uh out if something happens outside of our control then you know it is what it is. But I think that our team and our
supporters have done a great job to get us to this point. um road rehabilitation, $5.5 million. There there's always going to be roads and you know the miles that Chuck would say of how much we have to improve upon and the status and the quality of our roads is something that we all always take very
uh seriously within the public works department. When you look at parks and wrecks, uh what you see is the Langley Park development for a million dollars. uh the boat improvements at Dallas White Park for $300,000 and the replacement of playground equipment at Highland Ridge
Park for $300,000 as well. >> Don't you dare stop. Um utilities department uh as we look at their breakdown in a little bit more detail, what you will notice, uh Mr. mayors, when you see uh the neighborhood wastewater line extensions, another project that we talked about this year
and the need to make sure that that continues to happen. Uh the advanced metering infrastructure, that was a project that is still very important to make sure that the metering is up to date, accurate, and reflects the the the most um current usage of the citizens.
uh $1.1 million you'll see is for raw water intake structure rehab wastewater force man replacement on Sumpter for $3 million and the inflow and infiltration for $1 million are just a couple items that highlight the
utilities party utilities department um CIP for the year. So when you look at these particular areas, JC Fire Rescue Department having uh um the fire the future fire station apparatus for nearly
$2 million development services that is the environmental sensitive property acquisition that we just talked about um from the commissioner's comment earlier for a million and the IT division their infrastructure replacement. I believe you have all been brought up to speed on
their $1.3 million needs as well. Um, but that is the end of the presentation for this CIP, Mr. Mayor, and we will be glad to answer any questions. We have a lot of CIP experts around the room. >> Thank you, sir. Commissioner Stokes. I
mean, I'd just like to first make a general statement, then talk about one other item, you know, so that and and and this really is is not so much for us as it is for those who might be listening or watch it back later.
All the CIP projects that are before this city, both funded and unfunded, are priorities of this city. They all are serious priorities. They wouldn't be on this list if they weren't important.
Over the last couple of years, this city leadership has spent a lot of time scheduling out and and and really analyzing all these projects from the standpoint of pathways to funding.
Some of them have pathways to funding for virtually the entire project. Some of them are partials. Some of them have no funding. As we attack these and and and attempt to address these infrastructure needs,
those areas where the funding pathways exist, those move right along where there are district or utility funds or certex funds or whatever, we go ahead and we move forward. But there are many, many projects that don't have funding, partial or full funding. And it's
important everyone understand out there that we don't simply cherrypick them. We don't switch from one to the other. We try to focus on where those projects that lack funding are and and challenge
ourselves to find pathways. The others take care of themselves. And even with all that, there will be some we just don't have all the money for. That said, it leads me to there should be and perhaps not for necessarily this budget, but at some point we're going to need to
evaluate our sir tax revenues and our projects. We're a couple of years what 22 the tax list got approved by the citizens and that passed referendum. So we are now 4 years roughly into it.
>> No, it's 2025. >> 25 was it? when it's yeah certex 4 started in >> okay so you know we're in the early stages of those first five years and the bulk of that money's gobbled up by Price Boulevard widening we appreciate that
servicing the the debt on on those bonds but we do need to look at what projects are in the pipeline to be funded by certax and take a look at where our priorities lie especially in light of the challenges we may face after
November so I just throw throw it out there. It's something we're going to need to look at. Um there are projects that have certax attached to it that we may need to re-evaluate. And I just want people to understand that it needs to be done systematically. It needs to be
thoughtful, but it does need to be addressed on a priority basis and and there are an awful lot of priorities that we have to look at. So anyway, that's really all the comments I had, mayor. So thank you, >> Vice Mayor.
Thank you, mayor. Um, I think of all the areas we've reviewed over the yesterday and today, the list that gives me the biggest headache and
heartbreak is this list. And what really jumps out at me is the fact that we are unable to find the money to maintain our existing parks
and parks. it in terms of maintenance and current asset enhancements is reliant on Certax and as Commissioner Stokes just mentioned
we're going to really have to take a look at Certax and be very very smart in terms of how we allocate those funds. So, I am particularly concerned about parks and I have two thoughts or things
that I' I'd like to discuss with staff and with with my fellow commissioners. One, for the foreseeable future, we have to stop building new parks. We don't have a mechanism for maintaining them,
and I'm seriously worried about that. The second thought that I'd like to toss around is using impact fees. I don't see why we can't make the case
that our increase in population is causing the overutilization of our current part resources and why we we let me be positive about it. Can't we make a
case for some of our enhancements, particularly for example, our playing fields that because of our population increase, those fields are getting more utilization than they did 5 years ago or 10 years
ago. So why can't we make a case to utilize impact fees? We're going to have to get creative here, folks. using impact fees to address the impact growth is having on our current park resources.
So, let me throw that out. I don't know how pie in the sky that is. I know there are all kinds of state imposed limitations and I think yesterday I I made a statement on what I feel about that. I think number one, we need to get
creative and see if we can't make a case to help parks out. And the second part of that, we need to start working with the state, particularly if these um
um tax reductions happen, how they they're going to have to loosen up some of these restrictions and how we use other funds and give us that flexibility. So, thoughts
reality check. I would like to propose to the city attorney that possibly is there some wiggle room to be able to do that. >> A case to be made. >> Yeah. Just just off the cuff without
having to do, you know, deep deep research right now, but what what do you think about that proposal? And the re reason I asked real quick is because when the stuff does change with come November, we are going to have to have different avenues like possibly creating
districts this that and the other for this type of financing. Would you think that it would be a good case to bring to the state? >> So I think they're we're talking two things. One is, if I may understand what the vice mayor
said, is using impact piece collected >> to revitalize existing parks. >> Correct. >> And I'll have to look into the answer >> because clearly their utilization is increasing. Our jungle gym equipment,
for example, is getting more use. Um, and and I think there's a case to be made that we exhaust that equipment more quickly than we did 10 years ago because of the increase in our population. So
again, I I think for parks there is a case to be made that it's not just new parks that address population growth. its usage of existing assets and why can't we use some of that money to
enhance and improve existing assets because of that >> I'll say it's not impossible >> worth looking into >> I don't know if you've ever you know impact fees are generally tied to capacity to expanding the system so you
you're going to you know there's new development coming in you want to road that's not there. You use for that. Um >> so I guess my my short answer is I I I'll have to look into it. >> Right. >> And then the special district is is
would be a separate issue is where you create a district and then you could possibly assess within that district utilizing the methodology not do like what you saw today, right, >> for the fire districts. And those are two separate issues at least in my mind.
We can we can cross that bridge in November when we have to for for districtricing and stuff like that. But thank you for looking into it. That'd be awesome. >> Thank you. I appreciate it because I am very very concerned about our park assets and our ability inability to keep
them in the condition that they need to be. We need to get creative. >> Thank you. All right. I had one question at the end where you had the fire department development services and IT division. Those numbers and those monies, are they already included in the
budget >> going forward? So, so there's no action on our part for those. So, that's already included. I just wanted to double check on that. >> I think we've touched on them in the various department. I know it was mentioned, but I just I didn't know if it was an ask to put back in or a
proposal for us to approve >> or it's already existing in the budget. So, >> everything that you've seen is in our fiscal year 2027. >> Thank you very much. I don't have anybody else in the queue up here.
So, do you need anything from us? Well, yesterday there was a conversation regarding your own budget and after speaking to Madame Clerk. She reminded me that recently you passed um a ordinance or what >> a policy
>> that allowed you to take a consensus, you know, during these type of conversations that would give us direction by the majority of that consensus to move forward. And I know whether it was your travel, whether it was your, you know, your increase that was on the table. It's not
time-sensitive. And I know one of your members is missing today. So I would probably ask that you defer it to one of the upcoming meetings so that you that that member can participate, but you do have the authority to have that conversation during this type of
workshop, have a consensus, take that majority, and then give us direction to act on that. >> Right. And I understand that. Um, but like I said yesterday, in my opinion, I would much rather have it as an agenda item in a regular meeting. Yes, we could
have done it here and hashed it out, but I would much rather have it broadly advertised to the citizens out there to where they may be able to give public comment this that and the other at a future date. And of course, Commissioner Pro is not here. I would like his input
on this subject matter as well which he gave yesterday but to make a decision today would be in my opinion unfair to him. So if we just put that out on an agenda item in an upcoming meeting like we had asked yesterday I think that's the proper way
>> sir. Yes sir. And particularly also, if I may add to that, sir, the um the discussion about is this a full-time position or a part-time position because that could very well impact how we look at cost reduction.
>> Sure. >> In our own budget. >> Anything else, sir? >> No, sir. I want to thank you for your time over the last day and a half. We've gotten a lot of feedback and given you a lot of information. This is not the end of the journey, but this is a big step in it. So, we appreciate your time and
your patience, >> and we we appreciate everything that you've done for us and staff. We know it was painstaking going over this last few months in bringing this to us. And, you know, ultimately, it is our decision and hopefully that conversations that we've
had over the last few days have been beneficial not only to us, but also to staff and showing how we still want to support as best as possible. within our means. >> Absolutely. Yes, sir. >> And I think Commissioner Dval has something to say.
>> Oh, >> I just want to say Adam, I really am thankful for the slides on the on the on the trees. I really do appreciate that. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> City clerk, public comment. >> Yes.
>> Justine Rosani. On June 9th, I emailed all five commissioners a detailed methodology report on the road and drainage district. I submitted a public comment at the June 10th workshop. The district was not discussed. I remain available to meet with any commissioner directly. The restaurant industry is Florida's largest
private sector employer. The Wendy's at Sumpter and US 41 permanently closed in late 2024. Now Chick-fil-A and Texas Roadhouse are building at Cranberry Commons on the Northport border just inside Charlotte County. Franchise operators model total cost occupancy.
The message is clear. My two Northport Burger Kings pay $42,000 plus in total taxes versus 17,133 for my Charlotte County location. Four issues. One, Stantax model calls for 0% in FY27. The city followed Stantex
projected increases of 25% FY24, 15% FY25, and 15% FY26. Precisely, that same report projects 0% from FY27 through FY33. Any further increase overrides the city's own consultant. Honor that
projection and use FY27 as the trigger for a methodology review. Two, the 2014 consolidation shifted burden onto commercial pre204 non-residential drainage rates were higher to reflect greater commercial impervious surface. The 2014 EDU consult consolidation
removed that distinction. Rates have since more than doubled. A differentiated structure distributes costs more equitably equitably. Three, QSR brands are not interchangeable. The same IT trip rate applies 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 allowing actual traffic counts in lie of it estimates would produce fairer assignments for endcap operators pay a fraction of standalone parcels. Chipotle at 17019
Tamiami Trail pays $3,139. Mike Burger King at 14928 Tamiami Trail, same road, same district, pays $19,021. Chipotle generates comparable or greater daily traffic, a 6% difference for the
same road impact never modeled in the Stantech report. Place the methodology review on the June 23 agenda. Debbie Mcdow, I heard you briefly address the new norm of amending commission meetings and workshops at yesterday's meeting. I'm glad to rec you recognize there is a
problem. Citizens monitored the agenda when it's posted only to find out it was amended not once or twice but sometimes three different times. This is unfair to the elected body as they try to prepare for the meeting. It is also unfair to the citizens. If it's not ready for prime time, hold off for another meeting. Another problem with the agenda
are the lack of backup materials being included. Everything related to that agenda item should be included for the citizens benefit and historical reference. It gives the entire picture to what the agenda item is. The more information the better. It's more transparent too. Using these workshops
as an example, I'm positive the city manager sent a memo maybe even two to the commissioners relating to discontinuing the bulk pick services not included in the backup. Where's the other memos that give clarity to the budget? Even the slide deck wasn't
included in the backup. staff spent an extraordinary amount of time preparing those documents. Why not show Northport taxpayers the information they contain? They did a great job. There are no excuses for missing information and consistently amended agendas. I'm sure there is an easy
I don't have the rest of it cut off. So, I don't know if that was Oh, an easy fix. That's all, ma'am. >> All righty then. Thank you. 11:20 I adjourn this meeting. 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.