WEBVTT METADATA Video-Count: 1 Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=Cbdf6lIjWdA Part: 1 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:14.799 of the community. >> The interesting part about this station is not only a commercial station, but we also have residential with the apartments here on 41. That all feeds here, too. >> A lot of what causes problems here is what goes down the drain. Fats, oils, 2 00:00:14.799 --> 00:00:30.240 grease, things that don't belong in the system. >> We see a lot of um doggy bags end up in the station. >> What seems harmless at home can wreak havoc here. >> What happens with those in particular is the plastic gets hot. It sticks to the inside of the pump and and just as you 3 00:00:30.240 --> 00:00:46.320 would uh have damage with something hard coming through, it packs to the inside of that impeller and it reduces its capacity to actually pump or it stops it all together. Anything that goes down a sink or a toilet, >> right? >> Um it's all going to end up here, which 4 00:00:46.320 --> 00:01:01.120 we try to catch it before it gets any any worse, >> right? >> But just something as simple as a t-shirt and a towel will wreak havoc on this pump. When a pump fails, the costs add up for the station and for the plant downstream. 5 00:01:01.120 --> 00:01:18.159 >> The biggest repercussion is it it's more operational cost for us. Um, not only does it cost us money in pumps, um, a lot of times that happens. We got to send the pump out if we can't take care of it ourselves in house. Um, that's usually more electronical, but what 6 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:34.960 happens is it it drives the cost up of everything. um >> your pumps aren't working as much or as easily as they could. So that drives your electric bill. So it costs more to run the station by the time it gets to the plant. If the plant doesn't know what's they're treating, it makes it harder for them because now they got to 7 00:01:34.960 --> 00:01:51.439 think about what's coming into the plant a little more. >> These crews are usually the first ones to catch something wrong. >> So we're their eyes and ears of what's going on out in the system. And it's just like a nervous system in your body. >> The system depends on people who've put in hours to learn and get certified. The biggest problem that we're facing is uh 8 00:01:51.439 --> 00:02:08.319 staffing. Trying to find good qualified people that want to come and learn this type of work. A lot of it, some people don't know it exists, >> but trying to get people educated and come out and, you know, see what this job, their career has to offer is huge for us right now. >> We're getting a lot of new younger guys 9 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:24.560 coming in that are excited about learning a new career or just coming in and, you know, getting their hands dirty. Through being a mechanic, I had a lot of uh nut andbolt science. So, this really came naturally. >> Right naturally into it. >> It's the kind of job where you're never doing the same thing twice. >> But, it's been a great place to work. 10 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:41.280 I've been here seven years, learned a lot. I'm still learning every day. One of the greatest thing about the job is it's it's a lot of different career paths in the same job. We're never doing the same thing. A lot of it's plumbing, construction, grabbing a shovel, getting 11 00:02:41.280 --> 00:02:58.400 on a piece of equipment. it dayto day it's always different always keeps you busy keeps you thankful >> yes >> thank you for joining me today on the job here with our utilities department at lift station 113 now I want to say two things we learned today one water is dry going in and wet going out also want 12 00:02:58.400 --> 00:04:42.160 to highlight the 2 plus hours it takes to get certified for our technicians in their profession most of them are done proactively and not statemandated I will see you next time on the job Morning. >> Today is Monday, July 6th, 2026. It's 10:00 a.m. We're in the city chambers, 13 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:57.680 and I call this city commission workshop meeting to order. Commissioners present are Commissioner Dval, Commissioner Stokes, Mayor Emerich, Vice Mayor Langden, and Commissioner Pro. There is a quorum present for this meeting. Also present are city manager Fletcher, city 14 00:04:57.680 --> 00:05:12.560 attorney Fuino, deputy city clerk pal, board specialist Linder. We have Captain Fussell and Chief Titus in the back. I am requesting that all commissioners, public participants, and staff maintain order and decorum throughout this 15 00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:29.600 meeting. City Commission policy 2021-03 states that the attendees shall refrain from engaging in personal attacks and boisterous, immaterial, inflammatory, obscene, profane, or disorderly conduct. Additionally, meeting attendees must 16 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:44.240 refrain from obscene, profane, or disorderly conduct, including hand clapping, yelling, and similar demonstrations, all of which disturbs the peace and good order of this meeting. Thank you. I would like to call 17 00:05:44.240 --> 00:06:06.720 on Mr. Nico Fino if he would lead us in the pledge, please. >> I pledge of 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 18 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:25.120 justice for all. >> Thank you, sir. See court public comment sir. >> Uh we'll start with we have one e comment. John Krebach one of the primary reasons to approve the new uldc in 2024 was to be able to generate commercial 19 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:42.479 tax revenues from the approximate 9,000 vacant lots in eastern Northport now known as AC6 and AC10. Do any of the city commissioners know how many construction projects have been submitted and approved by the Northport Development Review Committee? As of June 2026, the amazing total is zero. No 20 00:06:42.479 --> 00:06:57.360 wonder why numerous general contractors have told me they will not construct anything in Northport. Too many unnecessary regulations, red tape, and costs that do not add value to a construction project. Here is a novel concept. If you want to be businessfriendly, create a business 21 00:06:57.360 --> 00:07:13.039 advisory group. You already have an environmental advisory board, art advisory board, historic and culture advisory board, and many other boards staffed with activists that ultimately increase building costs and delay construction schedules. Do not tell the citizens that you want to have 22 00:07:13.039 --> 00:07:36.880 affordable housing and then put as many financial roadblocks up to eliminate even the prospect of affordable housing. And one in person from Baldi Oleander. Uh good morning. I am Val Hollander and I come here in peace and I am not a criminal. 23 00:07:36.880 --> 00:07:56.319 Don't treat me as one. I have a dignity. Please respect it. Emir, I am instructing you to remove policeman off my back. Tell him to sit over here. This is 24th time I am instructing you Emir 24 00:07:56.319 --> 00:08:12.720 to do it. How many times you violate Florida constitution and you owe 24 times? Keep in mind since Fletcher arrive here budget is up 85%. 25 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:31.039 Why are the population only 17%. Because of that you are create a poverty in Northport uh uninflation split infla inflation cost in half. 1% 26 00:08:31.039 --> 00:08:49.519 will pay half and 99% pay another half. We the people in Northport do not create inflation and trees charge lot owner who develop 27 00:08:49.519 --> 00:09:05.600 property for house etc fee for each tree he approves or cuts. Second one, offer a lot owner free taxation and promise that he will not develop property for let's say 20 years 28 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:22.880 or something again under fascism how to look at on small scale number one all in in the city number two nothing from city nothing against the 29 00:09:22.880 --> 00:09:42.080 city that's the Mussolini definition um fiscal year 27 budget spending must be at par with population growth. What I observe here is the cult of personality. 30 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:59.200 Manager definition is managing for less. Anyone can manage with more. Check and balances is the only way manager propose people conser consent or 31 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:18.959 not. I don't consent to your 2027 budget proposition. Take it with grain of salt when I'm saying it and verify. I read I read that the unemployment 2025 in the Florida is about 4.7% 32 00:10:18.959 --> 00:10:38.800 up from 2024 where it was 3.9 and 2026 is 5.8 2% up >> that is all Mr. Thank you. Moving on to presentations. Item A26-0921, 33 00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:56.000 presentation by the economic development division providing a quarterly economic development update to the city commission. City manager, this is your item, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to turn over to Michael Mirman, our economic development manager for the >> Thank you, sir. 34 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:11.839 >> Good morning. >> Morning. It is indeed a pleasure to be here this morning. Michael Mirman, economic development. This is our quarterly update where we will bring you as current as possible to the activities over the last 90 days since I last 35 00:11:11.839 --> 00:11:27.920 appeared here before this group. And of course, we'll have the opportunity to answer any questions that you might have. I wanted to start by letting you know that our division focus has not changed. We have three primary areas of focus 36 00:11:27.920 --> 00:11:44.640 that include business retention, business attraction, and then workforce development. And in each of these areas, which I will elaborate on in a few minutes, um, in each of these areas, I have to say to you that I am well supported by a fantastic staff. And I 37 00:11:44.640 --> 00:11:59.440 don't want you to ever think that it's just me and me alone. I seem to get a lot of the u uh public praise and criticism when they are issued, but I I want you to know that we are well supported by a fantastic team of four 38 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:18.399 and uh we work together to accomplish these three primary objectives. The key themes that I wanted to address today are our business metrics, our economic development in action, what we're doing around advanced manufacturing, 39 00:12:18.399 --> 00:12:34.639 and our development pipeline. The pipeline was something that was addressed by the commission to me last time I appeared and you had asked if we could provide some sort of a funnel mechanism to give you better insight and we're 40 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:52.720 going to do that today. Let's start with some metrics about what's going on in our city since we last talked and the news is fantastic with respect to the ongoing growth of our community in the business sector. 41 00:12:52.720 --> 00:13:09.120 This metric that's on the screen right now shows that we had 186 new businesses up 7% since 2005. Those are year-to-ate businesses and that metric is true for the time frame in which this was developed. But I've got some updated metrics for you that include the month 42 00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:25.200 of June now as well. And that number of 186 has risen to 218. 218 new businesses here in our community in this fiscal year. That's just outrageous growth that most communities would die 43 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:42.800 to see or be able to publish and talk about. The interesting component around that 218 number is that we're seeing more commercial enterprises enter into our community as well. And so you'll see here that we had that growth rate of 17% 44 00:13:42.800 --> 00:13:58.000 year-over-year commercial businesses. And and just for edification when we talk about commercial businesses, we're also talking about the fact that a large number of our businesses are homebased, right? And so we distinguish between the 45 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:13.120 homebased and the commercial. Not to suggest that homebased businesses are businesses that are part of the old gig economy. We're talking about very structured multi-million dollar companies being run out of residences here in our community. But we're seeing 46 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:27.920 new brickandmortar commercial entities as well. And we're seeing a growth in that area. Um, just since this metric that's published on this slide, we have seen an additional 32 businesses, seven of which are 47 00:14:27.920 --> 00:14:46.440 commercial, in the month of June. 4% of those businesses are in our targeted growth area. Specifically, in this case, we're seeing that growth in healthcare. No surprise, but nonetheless, that's where it's coming from. 48 00:14:46.800 --> 00:15:03.040 We measure a great deal of what we do based upon the business tax that we collect here in the city, infamously known as the BTR. The BTR season has started. Uh while people can renew and apply throughout the course of the year, 49 00:15:03.040 --> 00:15:18.800 the official renewal season begins today, July 1 actually, and continues on through September 30. I mention that because we have made a number of significant technical improvements to the Asella operating system that we all 50 00:15:18.800 --> 00:15:34.639 use to make it simpler for our businesses to renew their BTRs or new businesses to register with the city. And so compliments to the economic development team and the IT team for 51 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:53.360 implementing these new and simpler to use tools in Asella to accommodate our citizens and our businesses. Business tax receipts function as an economic development tool. It gives us a 52 00:15:53.360 --> 00:16:08.880 record of what's going on in our community. And by way of recordkeeping, an example of that would be the job growth grant money that we received a few years ago that allows us to complete and finish out and add to the 53 00:16:08.880 --> 00:16:23.759 infrastructure in the Toledo Blade I75 area. Those job growth dollars that came from the state supported that project and that is enabling development along that corridor because of that job growth 54 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:39.360 money. But through our BTR process, we're able to help track businesses in that region and report the growth of new jobs to the state where we are required to show them that their money was well 55 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:54.800 spent here in Northport. Additionally, you'll see here in the text, we make mention of the fact that we have recently partnered with the Northport Area Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce's foundation itself 56 00:16:54.800 --> 00:17:11.520 score and and put out the new version of the Northport Next Business Academy, which kicks off this month. It's free to those who have applied and been accepted into the program. We've capped it out at 57 00:17:11.520 --> 00:17:29.120 35 businesses. They'll be participating in an 8month course that results in a certificate being presented by SCORE. Uh a status level that we'll recognize here at the city and this is going to be our 58 00:17:29.120 --> 00:17:50.480 first graduating class. What are some of the strategic economic development activities that have taken place? Well, our inbound activity is very strong. When we say inbound, it's bringing people to the city or at least having conversations where they might 59 00:17:50.480 --> 00:18:08.400 entertain coming to the city. It could be a Zoom call. It could be in person. It could be a telephone call. It could be where I am out as by way of the first bullet point here at the maintenance and repair operations of America trade show. 60 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:23.600 And while there I was meeting airline and aviation, aerospace executives from all over the world. And we talk about that inbound mission. We talk about why Northport is properly poised to accept those type of businesses. We 61 00:18:23.600 --> 00:18:38.400 participated in the ICSC, the International Council of Shopping Centers Trade Show, the world's largest collection of folks engaged in the retail and the re real estate investment marketplace in Las Vegas. 25,000 people 62 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:55.600 there for a number of days. We had an an exhibition. We were an exhibitor. We had a booth there. And much of the inbound activity that we have seen over the last two years here in our city comes from trade shows like the two I just mentioned. We meet people there. We get together 63 00:18:55.600 --> 00:19:12.240 and we talk about the opportunities that exist here in our city. I'm real excited to share with you about the third bullet point here. We're calling it the Northport Q&R Council. Q&R standing for quantum and R standing 64 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:28.080 for resilience. The Quantum and Resilience Council is hosting its first meeting next week here in the city. We have 40 regional businesses, manufacturers, tech companies, 65 00:19:28.080 --> 00:19:43.120 entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and educators coming together to talk about the quantum and resilient manufacturing environment that we're establishing here in our community and how we can grow 66 00:19:43.120 --> 00:19:59.840 that along the entire Gulf Coast with Northport being its hub. And that happens next Tuesday here in our city. From a workforce perspective and the initiatives that we're following through on, we hosted the city's first and the 67 00:19:59.840 --> 00:20:17.120 region's only healthc care exposition. With the growth in health care here in the community, it came to our attention by the health care providers where we have our health care council whom we meet with and they made it very clear to us it's not just about the nursing 68 00:20:17.120 --> 00:20:34.559 trade. It's not just about physicians. It's about all of the professions surrounding health care. and they suggested let's have an exposition where we educate not only citizens and job seekers but the members of the health care trade who are looking to change out 69 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:50.240 the role that they currently have in the industry. They may go from a bedside caretaker to a sterilization technician just by way of example. And so at the healthc care exposition, we had more 70 00:20:50.240 --> 00:21:05.120 than 60 vendors participate showing the health care professionals and career seekers the options that exist in the health care industry. Th those showandell booths and exhibits ranged 71 00:21:05.120 --> 00:21:22.400 from dummies to real live demonstrations and it was extremely wellreceived. We are working on our next iteration of that exposition. I've already mentioned to you the Northport Next Academy. And lastly here 72 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:37.280 under initiatives, I want to let you know that we're continuing our efforts to attract and to solidify the relationships we have with folks in both the semiconductor and healthcare workforce industries by bringing members 73 00:21:37.280 --> 00:21:53.360 of those industries together here in city hall and as far away as the West Coast who participate on Zoom calls who are providing us with guidance and counsel on how best to grow our workforce. to educate our workforce in 74 00:21:53.360 --> 00:22:11.760 these silos. Our team continues to become well engrossed in what we do in economic development and in order to do that we have continuing education and by way of example I'm giving you one of those examples. The Florida Economic 75 00:22:11.760 --> 00:22:27.440 Development Council had their Ignite conference back in May and we did have staff members attending at that event. Commissioner Langden, thank you for asking us to create some sort of a funnel that we could talk about economic 76 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:42.240 development in a bit more detail than what we have in the past. This slide is our first attempt at getting us closer to those discussions and we will continue to refine this and get you more information. But if you look at the top 77 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:59.919 right side, you'll see that year to date, we have generated well over 800 raw leads. Raw, and I mean raw, people wanting to know things about Northport or us reaching out to people, wanting to share things about our community. And of 78 00:22:59.919 --> 00:23:16.480 those 823 raw leads, take a look, we got down to 43 qualified opportunities. If any of you were ever in sales, you know that you have to generate a lot of activity to get down to that one or two% 79 00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:31.600 of people that will actually bite or take an interest. And this is a terrific example of the amount of activity we have to generate just to get to 43 qualified opportunities. I must add that those 43 qualified opportunities don't 80 00:23:31.600 --> 00:23:49.120 necessarily all pan out. I must add that those 43 qualified opportunities could have the long game. And we're going to talk more about the long game in a couple minutes. That could be well beyond any of us getting to see those projects come to fruition. But with 81 00:23:49.120 --> 00:24:05.200 those 43 qualified opportunities, we thought we would break it down a little bit more and help you understand what it is we're doing with them. And so that next line across the middle of the page represents what it is we are actually doing in economic development. And a 82 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:23.279 heavy portion of what we're working on is around site selection and land acquisition. Commissioner Stokes once asked me here in chambers, "This is great, but the city doesn't own land, so what is it you're doing? Who are you 83 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:40.159 talking to?" and and he was absolutely spoton in his assessment because we can invite any kind of a retailer, any kind of a business we want, but if we don't have a place where they can go, where they can build, where they can lease, it doesn't do us any good. And of course, we have 84 00:24:40.159 --> 00:24:57.120 been actively engaged in the site selection and land acquisition process with many individuals, site selectors specifically, real estate investment people specifically, um, and a host of other types of organizations that do these type of 85 00:24:57.120 --> 00:25:12.400 things. We show them properties. We tell them about owners who have parcels that they'd like to sell. We tell them about owners who aren't interested in selling. I can think of a property along 41 over there in the retail district not far from Sumpter that's been sitting there 86 00:25:12.400 --> 00:25:29.600 for a few years that a lot of people would like to buy and the seller or rather the owner is not interested in selling. And so sometimes that's where we end up. A property that seems prime for development that seems appropriate for a 87 00:25:29.600 --> 00:25:45.120 certain type of a development and yet the owner isn't interested in selling. Sometimes property owners are interested in specific applications for their property and until they find that right development firm, they're not going to sell it. And it's not about money 88 00:25:45.120 --> 00:26:02.559 either. Money goes a long way, but a lot of times you'll be surprised to find out that it's money is not the driving force behind land acquisition all the time. We're engaged in pre-development activity. We we have folks that come to us in economic development and they need 89 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:19.039 to have a little help how to get through city hall. How do we get our project started? How do we know if what we want to do is going to fit the zoning? How do we know if there aren't going to be these problems or those problems? And so 90 00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:34.559 we actively engage and we're we're not zoning specialists, but fortunately I work in a department where I have peers that can answer those questions. And it's not just about zoning. It could be about building, could be about permitting, could be a hundred other things, could be a completely different 91 00:26:34.559 --> 00:26:51.279 department here at city hall. But we aid all of these folks in that pre-development process. We help get them through. We help get them to the table, which then results in what we're noting here as development filings, right? where we get these development 92 00:26:51.279 --> 00:27:08.000 applications that come in, formal applications being reviewed by our planning folks. And then there are other groups that have been through that entire process already. They own the land. They've decided what they're going to do with it. They understand our 93 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:23.760 zoning. They understand our DC. And now they're down to brass tax. Who's going to occupy the space once we build it? Who are the tenants going to be? Where can we find tenants that want the kind of space that we want to build? Where 94 00:27:23.760 --> 00:27:40.960 are the tenants that the citizens of our community would like to see come to this town? And so we aid in that process of tenant sourcing. It might be retail, it might be business or anything in between. And more recently, I can tell 95 00:27:40.960 --> 00:27:58.320 you I've been engaged, much to my surprise, into what I would describe as joint venture activity, where we have people who own property and now we've got somebody else interested in that and it's about bringing them together to have them talk 96 00:27:58.320 --> 00:28:13.760 with one another to see if they can do something together with that parcel, with that building. And so I'm surprised how much joint venture activity we're helping bring to the community. Now in those 43 qualified opportunities, that 97 00:28:13.760 --> 00:28:30.880 bottom row gives you a sense of where that activity level has been. We're we're saying that 14 of them were retail oriented. Uh we don't really chase much after the retail community. We do some in in certain instances for certain 98 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:46.399 things. Uh, but a lot of retail growth is organic. It's market driven. It's going to happen whether we do anything or not. And so some of that stuff we don't engage too heavily in. Um, I would give you an example of of retail that's 99 00:28:46.399 --> 00:29:02.480 also the last circular item you see in that line called lifestyle that we chase. things that that that support what our citizens are looking for around entertainment, recreation, hospitality, wellness. 100 00:29:02.480 --> 00:29:17.279 That's that's a type of retail that we're actively engaged in. And I think probably the best example for our community is that fact that we continue to pursue child care and earn early learning development opportunities here in our city. We put that in that 101 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:34.320 lifestyle category. And some of you may see that as retail. It's maybe an offshoot of our mixeduse activity. There are plenty of folks out there that want to do mixeduse development around the nation. They they look at Northport and they say, "That's a great place to do mixed 102 00:29:34.320 --> 00:29:50.880 use." Well, the reality is mixed use continues to be a strong play. Uh but it has become softer. Uh the Federal Reserve did not move the the prime rate most recently. They're already signaling that it's going to 103 00:29:50.880 --> 00:30:07.120 remain stable for the coming uh year. We'll have to wait and see what happens. And that drives a lot of the decision making around mixeduse development activity. We see rent rates softening. We continue to see a strong level of uh 104 00:30:07.120 --> 00:30:22.480 housing inventory. And of course, interestingly enough, when it comes to housing issues, the the the housing marketplace by itself is not a strong indicator for our community. Yes, there are new housing starts 105 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:40.640 planned, but it doesn't necessarily uh uh provide us with a benchmark for understanding the commercial marketplace. And I must tell you that we don't chase after the single family development in the economic development division. We do engage in the the 106 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:58.320 u integrated mixeduse residential but not in the single family area. Healthc care providers and services related to uh all the growth we've seen here. A couple weeks ago we had the groundbreaking for the new veteran administration clinic out 107 00:30:58.320 --> 00:31:15.679 front. We continue to receive queries on a daily basis about how they can put up act active level of support for the new hospital going up at the corner of Sumpter and I75, whether it be diagnostic centers, physician housing, 108 00:31:15.679 --> 00:31:30.799 um all sorts of related medical components coming our way. And lastly along that line I wanted to share with you that I have active engagements uh on four different technology projects that are very exciting. As I've said we're 109 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:47.600 pursuing aerospace, aviation, semiconductor related industries to all of that and the tech community is extremely interested in us. The meeting next week on Tuesday with our Q&R council is a strong example of that. By 110 00:31:47.600 --> 00:32:04.960 the way, members of that Q&R council include globally based firms that are interested in Northport. Be happy to answer any questions you have with regard to this presentation. And then I afterwards, I have one more thing I'd like to share. 111 00:32:04.960 --> 00:32:26.960 Commissioners questions my button. Vice Mayor, >> um, I just wanted to thank you, sir, for the numbers. Um, I really do appreciate seeing how much activity it takes to identify such a relatively small pool 112 00:32:26.960 --> 00:32:44.320 of, uh, qualified prospects. So, um, and I really love the documentation of how many active conversations you have going on in sort of different business arenas. So, thank you for that. I do appreciate it. >> You're welcome. 113 00:32:44.320 --> 00:33:00.159 >> Yes. Very good presentation. Thank you very much. >> Very in-depth and uh very knowledgeable. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Anybody else? >> All right. Back at you. All right. Well, uh you've heard me speak about the long game that economic development is. You 114 00:33:00.159 --> 00:33:16.640 know, there are projects that you start and as I said, uh I know there are projects I'm working on now that I'll never get to see come to fruition during my tenure here at the city. And that really is and truly is about the long game. And then there are those intermediate 115 00:33:16.640 --> 00:33:34.240 games that that all of a sudden happen. And and I'm here to talk to you about one of those today. Uh when I came to the city, one of the very first opportunities that I had was to meet an Orlando based development group, investment group. 116 00:33:34.240 --> 00:33:51.440 I can remember chatting and getting interested in what they were thinking about and shortly thereafter there were tours of the city and showing real estate and parcels of land. Let me fast forward 18 months. In the last 18 months, this investment group has bought 117 00:33:51.440 --> 00:34:09.359 key parcels here in our city. Both properties on the north side of I75 and Sumpter, each running approximately 30 acres in size. Northwest quadrant and northeast 118 00:34:09.359 --> 00:34:27.679 quadrant of Sumpter and I75 totaling approximately 60 acres. the northwest quadrant of I75 in Toledo Blade, roughly 15 acres plus or minus. 119 00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:44.240 And more recently, with your approval, a two plus acre parcel along Toledo Blade Commerce Parkway. Those same developers have been active and working aggressively on developing 120 00:34:44.240 --> 00:35:02.400 those properties. And I'm here today to bring an announcement to the city that they not only have submitted plans for the north west corner of I75 and Sumpter Boulevard, but they have a list of prospective tenants that is a who's who 121 00:35:02.400 --> 00:35:17.920 list organizations that our community would love to have here. And in that plan there is an out parcel component in excess of 50,000 square feet where they 122 00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:34.079 have secured the commitment by debtweilers farm market to move to our community. This has been a long time coming, right? When I go when I go around and talk about what do our citizens want and I meet 123 00:35:34.079 --> 00:35:49.119 with the citizens and I get to do that regularly, by the way. Um, debtweilers is always at the top of the list. Bring us Debtweilers. Get us Debters along with a notable national steakhouse. 124 00:35:49.119 --> 00:36:05.839 Um, which I can't do anything about that one. I promise that's that's that's that's not going to happen. Uh but Debilers has been at the top of the list for a long long time. Um we're not scratching it off the list yet because we're waiting for this store to open. 125 00:36:05.839 --> 00:36:22.160 But I don't want to say a whole lot more and steal their thunder today. We're very lucky to have with us um the development team of of Tom Harvey and Tai Shen who represent an investment group who bought those properties and have been instrumental in in helping bring Debtweilers here. And we also have 126 00:36:22.160 --> 00:36:46.079 two executives from the Debtweiler team with us today. And I'm going to ask uh Mr. Shin to come on up and say a few words. >> Thank you. Uh, Mr. Mayorman, Mr. Mayor, I apologize for the outburst of applause. I know that's in violation directly. >> Slide once in a while. 127 00:36:46.079 --> 00:37:01.839 >> Once in a while. Thank you very much. So, you're going to need a lot more room than 107 square miles for the economic boom that that gentleman, Mr. Mirman, is going to bring to your city. And and and he gave a wonderful 128 00:37:01.839 --> 00:37:18.560 presentation, but I want to tell you that this is how it really works. So, in 2023, I was at ICS in Vegas, a trade show for retail uh developers and tenants. Uh I passed by a booth uh hosted by the city of Northport. Miss Ray was in attendance there. I said, 129 00:37:18.560 --> 00:37:34.960 "Where's Northport? It's in Florida. I've never heard of it." She then proceeded to educate me on all the benefits and the growth and and the dynamic growth of Northport. And she said, "Clearly, I still remember there's no retail, there's no dining, we need a 130 00:37:34.960 --> 00:37:50.079 bunch of services." is and I said that can't be someone has to be here already. So right after the show I went down I came I paid a visit I believe I met with you Mr. Fletcher uh Miss Ray took us on a tour we visited some sites we did the homework on the demographics we were 131 00:37:50.079 --> 00:38:06.000 probably one of the 823 raw leads right that Mr. spoke about and ultimately the numbers did show a huge population boom uh almost 100,000 residents uh 2 or 3 years ago now you're probably over 132 00:38:06.000 --> 00:38:22.800 100,000 and just a desert from I75 along that I75 corridor a retail desert no grocery stores no no restaurants no shopping uh existed so we said oh there is an opportunity here it is real and 133 00:38:22.800 --> 00:38:40.640 and that's how I think you get from economic development to actually getting businesses on the tax role, getting the tax revenue, employing citizens of Northport. So that that's this is a great success story of how uh economic 134 00:38:40.640 --> 00:38:58.320 development commission's efforts lead to debters coming into your community. So I I think all the credit I think would have to go to economic development team that you have here. Um, so since we've, you know, we've Tom and 135 00:38:58.320 --> 00:39:13.839 I have visited Northport numerous times and I think I know a fair bit about Northport and I certainly we certainly appreciate that you all consider I75 and Sumpter to be the gateway into your city, right? And so 136 00:39:13.839 --> 00:39:28.640 taking that into consideration and understanding the importance of that geographic location, uh we're happy to announce that we're planning a familyfriendly dining and shopping experience on the northwest corner of I75 and Sumpter 137 00:39:28.640 --> 00:39:42.079 Boulevard for all the citizens and residents of Northport to enjoy. I think that our center is going to complement Sarasota Memorial Hospital's economic impact in Northport by creating 138 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:59.440 hundreds of jobs and by helping to keep Northport dollars in Northport. So, the citizens aren't leaving Northport to spend their money for family entertainment, for dining experiences, that they they're going to stay here and it's going to help the economy here in 139 00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:14.880 the city grow. Uh in addition, as the gentleman earlier uh mentioned, our center is going to generate a lot of tax revenue to fund uh programs and services for Northport residents, whether it's fire, police, 140 00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:30.400 and certainly, you know, as a disabled veteran. Uh I'm I'm very happy to drive by this morning and see the new uh VAC box, the clinic that's being built. So that I think that that's a great thing for veterans uh here. Um, finally, I'm 141 00:40:30.400 --> 00:40:48.000 proud to announce that uh the anchor for our center is a grosser with what I can only call a cult following among West Coast Flityians. And so without further ado, uh, the gentleman you really want to 142 00:40:48.000 --> 00:41:12.160 hear from today, Mr. Sam Deweiler. Well, it's an honor to be here and we're as the Debtweather family extremely excited about this and thank you Ty and Michael Saunders for making this a reality. I will say when you talked about 143 00:41:12.160 --> 00:41:28.640 Northport money going elsewhere, we are a fender of that. So, I apologize. Um, Northport has been the number one most requested site for Dweilers to come for probably 144 00:41:28.640 --> 00:41:44.800 7 to 10 years. It's been since we started um, every time we post something, we have quite of a c following of social media. And you know, if we say, "Hey, we're expanding to Palmetto. We're expanding to West Bradington or whatever those locations 145 00:41:44.800 --> 00:42:00.079 were, we'd have about a thousand people. Northport, Northport, you forget about us. You forgot about us." And we're like, "We promise we haven't forgot about you." But we needed the right location. And we weren't able to find 146 00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:16.480 that up until now. So, we are stoked to be able to come here. And I would just say one of the things that's that's great about it. Datweilers here is not only will it provide 147 00:42:16.480 --> 00:42:31.440 lots of jobs, we employ this site, which is going to be our largest site to date, which is even more exciting, about 125 to 150 new jobs. So, and yes, I'm the president of the company and a family 148 00:42:31.440 --> 00:42:48.720 member of the Debtweilers, but I think we pay really well for our jobs. Currently, we bonus employees four times a year. So our goal as a family is not to come to a community and make it 149 00:42:48.720 --> 00:43:05.359 see what we can take, but it's to see what we can give. And not from a, you know, look what we're doing type of a thing, but just normal, simple, as my dad says, we should be proud to be humble. 150 00:43:05.359 --> 00:43:21.920 Um, our mission at Dweilers is to glorify the Lord and all that we do and to give customers the world's best farm market experience and we hope that we can do this for this community. So, that's all I have. Um, Ty, anything else I need to 151 00:43:21.920 --> 00:43:38.800 add? >> Pardon me. >> When is it? >> That's a good question. Lord willing, we are hoping to be open in 28. So, we're we're really excited about that. So, I 152 00:43:38.800 --> 00:44:02.480 think that's all I have. Thank you. Definitely exciting news. Thank you very much for coming. We We appreciate it. We really do as a community. Anybody else up here? Anything? >> Yeah. >> Go ahead. It's in there. Go ahead. 153 00:44:02.480 --> 00:44:20.400 I've been waiting for this for a very long time. And while I would love to think that you're being here is the result of every time I'm in your store in Venice and I ask to see the store manager and I ask him when Northport. 154 00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:35.440 I'd love to think that was the reason why. Um, but I know I really owe the debt of gratitude to the investors and the developers and debters leadership. I understand that sort of building new is 155 00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:52.000 is not your business model. So, I appreciate you keeping an open mind and working with the city and working with our investors and developers to make this happen. I have no doubt. I have been to every store in Sarasota County 156 00:44:52.000 --> 00:45:07.920 and I'm sure the Northport store is going to be by far and away my favorite. So, I could just do it while I'm still on the commission. I roll off in November of 28 and I'd love to be to your groundbreaking and to your ribbon cutting. So, just factor that into your 157 00:45:07.920 --> 00:45:22.880 planning and thank you so much uh for being here today. I think I speak for all of us. We are delighted to have you here. Thank you. >> Thank you. Can I add one more thing? Um, >> can you go to the microphone, please? 158 00:45:22.880 --> 00:45:39.040 >> So, I I missed uh thanking the economic development because they were the best hound dogs south of the Mississippi and continue to hound us over and over again to bring us site here. So I great 159 00:45:39.040 --> 00:45:55.680 presentation and you know I'm proud to be a part of a great country called the USA. We just celebrate our 250 years and it's people like this and like you that make communities work. So I'm honored to be just a simple citizen here. But I will say theyounded us over and over 160 00:45:55.680 --> 00:46:11.520 again. We need to get a site. We need to get a site. And we were like we started in on a little tent beside a road. We don't have big big pockets. We're just we sell our food maybe too cheap. I don't know. Um, but it was because of that that made a big difference. And and 161 00:46:11.520 --> 00:46:28.960 I will say our family is expecting this location to be I said the largest, but it will be the biggest I'm going to go out on a limb. I think it'll be the largest most successful grand opening the state of Florida has ever seen. So, our Palmetto location 162 00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:46.079 when we uh when we open, which everyone told us don't go to Palmetto because it was bad location. Uh we did because we're not the smartest people. Um but when we opened Palmetto, we seen 1,600 people waiting in line to shop our 163 00:46:46.079 --> 00:47:02.760 store. There was people that showed up the night before to start camping out to shop our brand new store. And it really humbled our family. But our family is totally expecting Northport to smash that record. So that's all I have. Thank you. 164 00:47:05.280 --> 00:47:21.440 Commissioner Stokes one, I wanted to echo the vice mayor's feelings. We are delighted to have you join our community here. And um but I want to take the opportunity to really make a a a special note to to really 165 00:47:21.440 --> 00:47:38.800 thank all the people who worked hard behind the scenes to make this happen and really to help this city move in the right direction from an economic development standpoint. from our city manager on down to our economic development people, 166 00:47:38.800 --> 00:47:57.040 our building and planning folks, um, to everyone in this city who's worked so hard as a bedroom, residential bedroom community for so long. This city's future is dependent on a balanced commercial and residential tax base, 167 00:47:57.040 --> 00:48:12.319 especially with the challenges we're going to be facing in the near future, I would think. So kudos to you all because the general public I don't think fully appreciates the amount of work and and the amount of upfront and and behind the 168 00:48:12.319 --> 00:48:28.720 scenes that go on in order to nurture this kind of development. Keep up the good work. We love all the work you do. We support it. I support it. I believe everyone sitting on this diet supports it and hopefully our entire community support it. So, thank you everybody for 169 00:48:28.720 --> 00:48:46.640 making this such a special day for the city of Northport. >> Commissioner Pro. >> Thank you, Mayor. Just want to express my gratitude to all of the efforts you are putting into the city and to bring 170 00:48:46.640 --> 00:49:03.920 this component for the people, especially that Wilders family and for the investors and developers. And I apologize for my voice. Um had a a lot of celebration of 250 uh around our 171 00:49:03.920 --> 00:49:20.880 nation. And this is a good coincidence that we are uh here presenting this news to the city. And um somehow this news got out before people were aware of this because we were getting emails saying u 172 00:49:20.880 --> 00:49:38.480 let's open up the deadlers store. And uh here we are and I really appreciative of all the efforts um the city did and all of you. Thank you. >> Commissioner Dval. >> Thank you, Mayor. 173 00:49:38.480 --> 00:49:58.480 On behalf of the residents who elected me, I want to say thank you. It's a great day in Northport. Once again, Vice Mayor, >> I'm sorry, Mayor. I I neglected to say when I was giving credit I did not give 174 00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:15.680 credit to our economic development team and the rest of staff that I know firsthand worked so hard to keep this conversation alive um when things looked particularly bleak. So, I really appreciate that and this is indeed um a 175 00:50:15.680 --> 00:50:33.839 wonderful day. I think next to Sarasota Memorial, finally breaking ground here. This is probably the most exciting uh announcement we've had in my 12 years of living here in the city. So, thank you everybody again. 176 00:50:33.839 --> 00:50:44.760 >> All right, city clerk, public comment. >> No public comment, Mr. Mayor. All right, it's 10:46. I adjourn this meeting.