And then I became the planner scheduler after taking an interest in educating the residents on how to recycle properly. In my position, my day-to-day usually I start out by visiting the new residents that schedule garbage and
recycle containers to be delivered and I will go see them and educate them on our solid waste guidelines. More or less, I'm more focused on the recycle part of it. After that, I will drive around the city and I actually inspect recycle containers manually for contamination
and then I will take calls from drivers if there's any issues with uh repeat garbage in the recycle and I will go educate those people as well. What I love most about the city of Northport is their residents are from all over the world and I get to learn about the solid
waste guidelines, where they come from, as well as educate them on the city of Northport's solid waste guidelines and how to recycle properly. [Music] [Music] [Music]
[Music] [Music] [Music] I decided to become a firefighter. I used to work in uh hospitality and group sales and I had always had friends that were firefighters and I decided one day that I wanted to change my job and serve
people. So I went ahead and went through a EMT and paramedic program, went to fire academy and then I saw Northport were hiring and I really liked what they had on their between their ISO rating
and their Good morning everybody. Today's Tuesday, October 14th, 2025. It's 10:00 a.m. We're in city chambers and I call the city commission regular meeting to order. Commissioners present. Commissioner uh Duval is absent today. Uh Commissioner
Langden's here. Mayor Stokes, Vice Mayor Emerich, and Commissioner Pro. There's a quorum present for the meeting. Also present, City Manager Fletcher, interimm city attorney Goolan, city clerk FA, board specialist Lindner, Police Chief Garrison, and Deputy Chief Herurleah.
um like to recognize uh retired commissioner Jim Blucher and ask him if he'd be kind enough to lead us in the pledge. [Music] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. Looking for a motion to uh approve the agenda. Some move. Second.
Got a motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden to approve the agenda. Let's vote. And that passes 420. City clerk, public comments. Yes. Good morning. This is Gary Thalman of
5042 Greenway Drive, Northport, Florida, a 23-year Northport resident. I'm calling in reference to ordinance number 2025-28, the Central Park pattern plan. I'm unable to attend today's meeting, but
asking the commission to vote to uphold the planning and zoning advisory board's recommendation of last month on this issue. This is the best solution for all city residents. I am the president and treasurer of the Sable Trace Alliance
which represents over 2,800 people who live around the Central Park housing development. My phone number is 941-961-9724. Thank you commissioners for making this decision. Good day. Brock Mitchell, development master plan
amendment PMCPA-24- 000000114 to the Northport city commissioners. We will not be able to attend the commission meeting being held on October 14, 2025. However, we do want to express my views regarding the request to amend the Central Park development master
plan. We live in the colony at Sable Trace and we are very much in favor of the requested amendment. Plea, we have been informed that Central Park developer is also strongly in favor of the requested amendment. The lake adjacent to the colony has been there since the colony was built. There has
always been a clear view of that adjacent lake. We as owners backing onto said lake and as a community would like it to remain that way with no additional new trees or shrubs blocking our view. We purchased the unit based on it backing onto the lake with a view of the lake. Blocking the view will unfairly
affect the enjoyment of numerous unit owners currently enjoying the view. It will also unfairly affect the resale value of numerous units. As long a as longtime Northport taxpayers, this is extremely concerning. We don't understand the purpose for trees or shrubs blocking the view. Originally, we
backed onto a golf course which was shut down, but at least we were left with the beautiful lake and view that it brings. The lake has been enlarged a bit and looks extremely attractive. Our shoreline remained the same, and we would like it to stay that way. With all of this in mind, please approve the
requested amendment and grant waiver one to the development master plan amendment, Brock and Margaret Mitchell. In person, I have Joan Morgan, followed by Chris Johnson. Good morning, commissioners. Hey, Jim. All right. Okay. Here to uh do some
congratulations and thank you for some of the things that are going on in Northport. Everyone wants to complain about the bad. Let's say some things about the good. Uh teen court is phenomenal. You have no idea how many people you're helping. It is just unbelievable. Northport University,
thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And the Northport University teams is going to be incredible. That is going to be such a great ad uh advantage to so many. If you learn, if you find that you have something you can do in life, guess what? The future is yours. And and that
is just a brilliant plan. So happy we have Devin Eps, Jane Atkins from this city working with them and that on the teen court university. Want to thank you all. I've never done it in person for Kevin Mace, our DI
coordinator. You have no idea what a great great great opportunity this is for so many students in Northport. It's going to do so much for that program. It's going to save lives. I mean basically he is phenomenal. He's doing a
good job and really want to thank you for him being here. Uh want to thank you all for some of the things that hopefully will happen today. One of the things that I miss about Northport for Halloween is remember when we did the trickor treat inside city hall. That was
crazy, man. That was unbelievable. And frankly, with the population today, you couldn't do it. But I'm glad on some things we are keeping our hometown community. If we lose that, we're done. Um, Kuanas, do the right thing. Kuanas
working on the Christmas stuff. And on the agenda again, 25-2904, Kuanas getting a chance for another portable at near the Dallas White Park near Sam Shapos Drive. And I hope everyone on the commission knows who Sam
Shapos was and what he did for Northport and Dallas White for the Dallas White Park. Anyway, Quantis does so much. I believe the Quantis members get 50 hours in the day to be able to do all that. It's not their fault that they need another trailer and everything else. I
mean, you know, the hurricane did all that. That's for sure. Uh, want to also say um 25-2813, the Bokeh Chica Park, that's been long time coming. That's going to be a great great great uh uh new addition to
Northport and I'm so glad that's on the agenda and that's hopefully going to go forward. Uh thank you for everything. Thank you for last week. Really wanted to make sure the senior center and the awakened food drive somehow whatever. Uh
good luck figuring it all out. But that's Northport, okay? We are a community that cares and if we lose that, we lose everything. Thank you. Thank you. [Music] Good morning, commissioners. My name is
Chris Johnson. I'm the chief operating officer at the United Way of South Sarasota County and we are the local lead agencies for both the long-term recovery group for hurricanes Ian, Helen, Milton, Debbie and Idelia as well as the lead agency for the co-ad our community organizations active in
disaster and most recently our disaster case management program through volunteer Florida at the state um funded ultimately by FEMA. I wanted to give you a quick update on some of this ongoing efforts of the long-term recovery group and the disaster case management program this morning. I wanted to give you a
thanks as well uh for Stacy Louisio and for Mike Nez. Both of them have been actively involved in our co-ed and long-term recovery group uh since its inception and we appreciate their involvement. They're a great resource and a great support. To date, our long-term recovery group
has completed 120 rebuilds on homes in our area, helping families that have been impacted by the hurricanes return to safe, secure, and functional housing. We continue to actively raise additional funds for reconstruction, and we currently have three funders at our unmet needs table reviewing and funding
cases, making meaningful recovery possible for more households. We're thrilled to share that we have secured continued support from World Renew for another two years. Old Renew offers skilled volunteer laborers who have already contributed over $1.2 million
worth of labor over the past two years within our community and we are truly blessed to have them continue to support that recovery for those impacted by hurricanes Helen and Milton. In addition, we've secured partnerships with several other volunteer labor groups including Menite Disaster Services, Praying Pelican Missions, and
the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, which greatly expands our capacity to rebuild homes. The long-term recovery group has also secured the purchase of a 16 ft box truck which is now being used to transport building materials and appliances to work sites. This is a significant step forward in increasing
our logistical efficiency. However, we continue to have an ongoing need for warehouse to store construction supplies and donated goods, a critical piece in streamlining operations in the future. Currently, our long-term recovery group is actively working 78 cases with
families uh spanning Hurricane Ian through Hurricane Milton. And our case managers are in the process of making the first 540 outreach calls to impact the residents from Helen and Milton. These efforts reflect our unwavering commitment to ensure that every household is in need is reached and
supported. On the case management side, United Way has secured the the disaster case management program for Helen and Milton. This is a first of its kind program uh where an LTRG is actually administering the DCMP directly, a model that's never
been done before and required approval at the federal level and we are proud to be one of only two counties in Florida alongside Collier piloting this innovative approach. DCMP does provide case management but case management only. No construction cost is included. So we are continuing to research those
funding sources so that we can rebuild homes and we are responsible for outreach to the over 70,000 FEMA registrants on the ISA list to make sure they're returned to rebuild homes. So we thank you commissioners for your continued support and for these efforts to restore and rebuild these lives.
Thank you. Thank you. That's all there. All righty. Um moving on. We got announcements. Uh city clerk. The current vacancies for the following boards and committees include art advisory board, auditor selection committee, charter review advisory board, citizen tax oversight committee,
environmental advisory board, firefighters pension trust fund, board of trustees, historic and cultural advisory board, joint management advisory board, police officers pension trust fund board of trustees, parks and recreation advisory board and veterans park advisory committee. Sarasota County Advisory Council vacancies include one
resident in Northport to serve on the Metropolitan Planning Organization Citizen Advisory Committee. If anyone would like more information, please see the city clerk's office. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on. Consent agenda. City manager. Any items been pulled?
Yes, sir. Two items this year. Item D, 25-2532 and item E25-2813. Righty. And who pulled those? Uh, both. Commissioner Langden. Okay. So, I am looking for a motion on the
consent agenda. I'll make it. Mr. Mayor, I move to approve the consent agenda pulling items D and E for further discussion. Second. Got a motion by Commissioner
Langden, seconded by the vice mayor to approve the items in the consent agenda, accepting uh items D and E for discussion. If there's nothing more to that, let's vote. And that passes 420 to zero. Uh,
Commissioner Langden, let's start with D25-2532. Uh, yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. This item um is a memo of understanding with the Northport Art Center uh to provide a
ground lease. Um my concern is uh in our last meeting, we had a conversation about our need to tear down the building that currently houses the awakened food pantry and the senior center.
We also have an item on this agenda um from Kowanas to place a trailer on our property. Um I support these organizations. I think
they provide services that are vital. They are the heartbeat of Northport. My concern is we need to make sure that we're balanced and fair and consistent in what we are
willing to provide and do for our nonprofits. So, it would be my preference to have all of the items that touch our nonprofits. So, the Awakened Food Pantry, Senior Center, the Art Center,
Kowanas, and I also understand that our director um Janet um is also taking a look at our leasing policies, you know, the rents that we provide to our nonprofits. Um,
again, I just really think that we need to address all of these in a fair, balanced, and consistent way, and that we do it together. You know, that we sort of address all of these asks together. But I I'm really more
interested in how my fellow commissioners feel about that than saying anything more about my thoughts on the matter. Commissioners, anybody want to weigh in? Vice Mayor, you're up, sir. Yeah, I agree with Commissioner Langden
on how everybody needs to be treated fairly. And the one thing that stuck out to me when I was reading through the memorandum was about the lease for three years. And um I know that it's hard raising money and and going forward and
stuff like that. Other groups are doing it thus far, but to tie up a piece of property for three years in a lease is a little difficult, especially if there's no headway in raising funds, fundraising, this that and the other. I
would much rather see it at a yearly lease if we were to go forward with it with, you know, certain parameters set in place for progress. This way, it's on both entities. The city's offering the land, the organization is going forward
trying to seek funding for projects um like possibly the containers or the portables or this that and the other if they have agreements. And I know in grant programs you have to have certain signed agreements moving forward. That could be part of the progress that is
made like at the end of the first year, hey, we're in a grand agreement. We're doing this, that, and the other. Okay, well, you got another year. It's just situations like that because I don't want to hold a property for one individual if another organization is
moving forward faster and is ready to be able to sign a lease with a building coming in or whatever the case may be. So that's where I was stuck on the memorandum was the three years versus the one year possibly with parameters. So I I mean to be on the same page with
all the organizations, maybe we have to have a meeting with whoever's concerning, you know, those areas that they want to be able to take part in and maybe they can work as a group together to achieve their goals together as well.
I mean, the more the marrier. So that's where I was at on this one. I'm not against it. It's just I think it just needs to be done properly going forward. That's all for all all parties involved. That's all I have. Mayor, thank you, Vice Mayor. Anything else to
this item? Um, my comments, couple of things. Um, one, I agree with Commissioner Langdon. I mean, we have to have we have to be very careful that with all our nonprofits, we treat them equitably. Um truth is
they provide incredible value to our community. Um you know whether it's Kowanas, whether it's Awaken Food Pantry, whether it's the senior center, whether it's the art center, they all contribute to this community and help us
be who we are, which is this kind of a familyfriendly community. And I think it's important that we do everything we can to assist and support those nonprofits as long as we do it in a way that's fair and equitable and takes into
account, you know, the fact that that we are the stewards of the citizens tax dollars and we have to be careful how we spend them and where we spend them. That said, with regard to this specific agenda item, um, on the memorandum of
understanding, can I ask who drafted this? Which? Uh, I'll ask this of our acting city attorney, sir. Who d my office worked with staff to to draft it? Okay. So, we drafted it. Yes, sir. Okay, good. Um on
where it cites terms on page one it talks about term the term of thisou memorandum of understanding is from the effective date through and until parties execute a ground lease unless otherwise terminated by mutual written agreement
of both parties or as otherwise set forth in this memorandum of understanding. Then when I go down to the bottom of the last paragraph on I don't know last page there where it's I guess page three miscellaneous
it talks about the parties acknowledge that neither party shall be bound to the other by thisou by for damages blah blah blah either party may terminate thisou upon written notice but search termination does not relieve Northport Art Center if responsibilities incur
prior to termination. So on the one hand it's talking about thisou is terminated by mutual consent but down at the bottom it talks about by either party. Am I missing some here? I mean I'm not a lawyer so I don't know but
that that could be cleaned up a little bit better maybe. Okay. One way or the other, cuz the reason I say if if if the intent is as specified in section 4 there under miscellaneous, then providing a three-year window for the
art center to try to raise the money isn't that big a concern since the semi can be terminated at any time by either party. If it's the intent that this three-year window be solid and immovable, so to
speak, that the city, if all of a sudden someone came in and offered $50 million for that property, you know, and we wanted to do something different, we couldn't. If this binds us for three years, then I might suggest we talk about how we can create some sort of a a
progress, some ability to gauge progress. And the reason I say this is the art center, as valuable as it is to this community, had at least two to three years notice, if not more, that this was coming and
they've really been unable to mount any kind of a fundraising plan. So, I'm a little concerned about locking this property up, as vice mayor said, for three-year period, but I'd very much like to see them be able to build something there if they have any capability of doing it. And I appreciate
that. Going out to find money is hard enough. Let alone if you have a moving target as far as where your location's going to be. It's not going to happen if they don't know they have a home that they can build on a piece of property. So, you know, I I I don't know where we
go on this, but I got a problem with the agreement as it is. And beyond that, just making sure that everything's equitable among all the nonprofits that we work with. Um, you know, I don't know if he does give it does give either party the authority to terminate the contract for
for no reason and no reason. So, um, if the intent was that it wouldn't wouldn't be terminated unless for mutual uh agreement, but does it paragraph 4 does give that authority to the Yeah, I mean, you know, we we want them to to to be able to go out there and and
and try to fund raise, you know, and be able to represent to those folks who might want to invest in in in their project that, you know, they they've got a place to actually build their building. So, I don't know how we can how we can do this. If if the way it
reads is fine and we just clean up that first paragraph, I'm kind of I guess good with that. But I certainly do think that as a city, we really need to address our nonprofits and and how we work with them. We want to help them. We want to support them, but we also have to be careful what we do with our
taxpayer dollars and how we spend them. And we also have to be equitable. I mean, just because, you know, a couple of us might think one or two of these nonprofits are so critical and there are others that aren't, everybody feels differently and we don't want anybody to
be, you know, put out of sorts or feel as if they're not being treated fairly. So, um, with that, I don't know where we want to go with this. Anybody want to take a stab at it? I I hear potentially a couple of motions.
You want me to? All ears. Um, I move that city manager work uh or I should say maybe acting city attorney work with staff to
clarify the cancellation clauses in the memo of understanding. Is that specific enough? Do you want the city to be able to terminate? You want either party to be able to terminate rather than mutual termination. Is that what I'm hearing? That's what I heard. I think that makes
the most sense unless it causes a problem from the standpoint of the art center's ability to go out and try to fund raise. I don't know. Maybe the staff can weigh in on that. So, I'd like to gather their input on that. I mean, they obviously would like
to know we'd lock up this property for the next 10 years for them, but that's, you know, I don't know that how realistic that could be, but so, you know, if it's 3 years, yeah, best for the city would be that way. Otherwise, I think we need to really think about how do we track this? I'd hate to go three
years at the end of three years find they haven't raised any money substantially and an opportunity may have come and gone because, you know, we had the inability to do anything with this property. So, um, the best way to
give either party the ability to cancel, but I'd certainly get with them and see if this makes sense. That's why I asked who drafted it because I didn't know, you know, I'd be happy to withdraw my motion and give it another shot based on that
communication. Yeah, it hasn't been second. Okay, city clerk. I would Okay, so let me try it again. Go ahead, Vice Mayor. Um, just one thing real quick. Maybe if if we had like that meeting with the nonprofits,
you know, and and set up a parameter over there and let's just say this amount of property we're going to go ahead and set aside for, let's say, nonprofit row this area. It could be a couple acres and then they could fit in
as they move forward with their stuff. but we blocked off x amount of property for the next five, 10 years, whatever the case may be for all of the nonprofits. And as they get their funding, first come, first serve, they
could move in there. But, you know, we're looking at, you know, possibly up to 10, maybe nonprofits that would be looking at a building, maybe five. I think we have plenty of land over there and and we could do it that way. But I think the main thing is having a meeting
with all the nonprofits before we do anything. And I think before you have a motion, you got to do public comment, sir. Oh, that's good, too. So, that's all I had. Um, all right. You were going to try second. Do we have any public comment on this?
All right. Thanks, Vice Mayor. Um, go ahead there. Um, let me try again. I'm I'm going to go to my second one before I do the first one. Um um I I move um to instruct city manager
to work with um the following nonprofits, Awakened Food Pantry, Senior Center, Kowanas, and the Arts Center to identify
um their needs and expectations. ations and to bring back to a future meeting. But as quickly as possible an agenda
item where we will discuss how we approach the space, building and other needs in order to retain these nonprofits within the boundaries
of the city of Northport. I'll sign you up. Anything to it? Um, I'd feel more comfortable if we didn't identify the specific nonprofits and rather boy, I don't want this to turn into
three- ring circus. I'm again concerned about the equity. I mean, what makes this this group of nonprofits worthy of singling out, so to speak? I'm probably not picking the right words, but why these I mean, are there not other nonprofits that are that equally
contribute to this community and should be included in the conversation of this sort, Vice Mayor? Yeah. The way that I look at it, these are the four neediest nonprofits at this point right now. We've already taken away one building from the art center.
We're looking at the end of life of the building for two other nonprofits. And for Kowanas, Kowanas has been working for quite a few years getting their nonprofits together to put a building there. And they're sort of in the lead
right now on where they've progressed on their fundraising. So I think to start with these four being the most neediest at this time, we always are opening up the door for others to come in down the road. But I think these are the four
neediest ones because it wasn't the senior center and awaken over there, but it was Kowanas and it was the art center over there in that area. So maybe we make a conglomerate and get
them all over there in time. You know, with the senior center and stuff, we still have a little bit of time on trying to prolong the life of the building. So maybe within a year or two, they'd be able to move over into that
area or start now to be able to move over to that area. I think the conversation needs to be had rather than us picking and choosing and this that and the other. But these are the four mains right now that are the most neediest that have come to us already. So why not include them? That's the way
I look at it. That's all I have. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be in our best interest to have um staff along with legal work on a policy, a comprehensive policy as far as how we
interact with our nonprofits. Um what our position is on city-owned property being made available at some price to nonprofits. Um and any other issues really any other
issues of interaction between the parties? I mean I to me you know there are certain things the city can do legally and it can't do legally. I mean it it it can spend citizen tax dollars only on certain things and my concern about having a
meeting with either a group of or all nonprofits to talk about what their needs are. I'm not sure is is as appropriate upfront as having the city come up with what makes sense as a logical policy and
approach to nonprofits. I mean, every city, every municipality has nonprofits. So, it's like there's plenty. We're not going to invent the wheel here. I mean, all we really got to do is some due diligence and figure out like what the best way is, what the best approach is, what the most equitable way is to
interface with our nonprofits with regard to a number of areas of interaction. And to me, that makes more sense. Before we have a meeting, then perhaps some sort of a meeting where we get with them and explain where the where the city's position is on this,
get their input, pull that all together, and then bring it back before commission. It just seems as if the city needs to get its act together in terms of what is its position, how what can we and can't we do with regard to nonprofits? We want we we certainly
don't want to send the wrong message, which is that we want to make it difficult for them. Nonprofits are invaluable. They do things that our city government does not do. They are invaluable to this community and we want to do everything we can to keep them here and support them, but we got to do it legally and we got to do it fairly
and equitably. So, you know, just if I might respond to that, I I would just remind us all that's what unique what is unique about these four nonprofits is they either currently or in the past
operated out of buildings provided by the city that have had to be d uh demolished because of their age and condition. Um, and certainly my intention with the motion,
it's for this commission to set some policy direction on how we engage with nonprofits. I mean, all four of these organizations have serious space needs because they have been displaced.
Um, so are we willing to spend some taxpayer money or not? Do do we want to partner with the nonprofits? We'll do this if they do that. I I think before
we ask staff to work up a policy, I think we need to talk about it. Need to know what we legally can and can't do. I have no idea what we can legally spend citizen stats dollars on. I mean, I assume we can refurbish or
rebuild a building that the city owns that it happens to lease at a dollar a month to a nonprofit. I think we have the ability to do that, but what about all the other things? There's a lot of, you know, a lot of devil in the details
here. I don't know what the city can or can't do. I also don't know what common practices throughout the surrounding areas. I'd like to be somewhat consistent and know that we're doing at least as much as everybody else is doing out there and maybe come up with some
interesting ideas. So, you know, I'm just questioning does the cart go before the horse or the horse before the cart in this case. That's all. I think ultimately both meetings have to take place. But, you know, I feel like if we get together with either a select group
of nonprofits or a whole group of nonprofits, there's not going to be a whole lot of parameters on it. The conversation's going to be wide open and we're not going to have all the answers for them as to what we can and can't do, what we might want to do or not do. Seems to me that the city ought to have a position
and a policy based on some foundational knowledge, experience, research, study, and then come back and say it looks like this is what we think we should be doing. We want your input, get your input, tweak it if we need to, and then
make a decision. It just is a question of what order. I I'm just I don't want to waste everybody a lot of people's time. So, city manager. Oh, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, we've talked about this before and I know we're sort of getting off of the consent
agent items into a larger conversation, but our team has been working on the lease policy revision and it does include a recommendation for how the nonprofit language should be structured inside of that global policy to allow for the best form of consistency
throughout the city. We just got some information back over the weekend for it. We are planning to bring that to you on the next meeting which is October 28th. Oh, good. Um, we have a motion. You have a motion on the floor. Um, if
there's nothing more to it, I guess we can go ahead and vote. And that passes 3 2 1 with me uh with me in the in dissenting. Um again, it's only for the reason of of you know which goes first or second. So I'm good with
this. I support the majority and let's go forward. Um anything else to this item? Guess not. We potentially had a second motion. Uh, regarding theou specifically. Yeah.
Did you make it? I did, but it was based on your comments. Do you want to pass the gavl and give it a shot? Uh, all right. Um look to make a motion to direct uh
city attorney's office to um review theou and uh create some consistency with regard to uh termination um to asssure that either party has the right to terminate
theou for any reason. Good. You got that. City clerk, can you read it back, please? To direct the city attorney to review theou to create consistency regarding termination to ensure either party has
the right to terminate for any reason. I would second for discussion. Um if if it's okay with the motion maker, I'd suggest that we also add in annual milestones.
I think that was another good point that you made rather than three years and finding out at the end of three years that it's a no-go that we have some milestones. If either party can cancel for any reason,
the milestones don't seem that necessary. I don't want to I my intention wasn't to create obstacles for them or goals. If they come up $1,000 short, if we set a number and they fall short, then we're back at gee, do we cut them some slack because they came so
close. I would like to avoid the entire issue by simply making this something that either party can cancel at will. If that's enough of an agreement for them to be able to go out and attempt to fund
raise, that's all. and uh probably going to have to to set milestones of of fundraising. I mean, and also maybe when we have our secondary discussion when it comes back, we can look at the updatedou and make
tweaks to it as as well. Yeah, because that'll be coming back to us. I don't know if city attorney's office can bring it back to us within a week's time. They're fully staffed. They should be able in a week's time. It's probably unlikely. We have to go back and forth
with the art center to Right. That's have discussion. All right. As soon as we can. Well, we got a motion on the floor. We got a motion on the floor. Anything else to it? No, I think we should vote on the amendment first.
Did you make an amendment? I did to add milestones. Did you hear an amendment, city clerk? We're making official one now. Has that amendment been seconded? No.
I'm waiting for the city clerk to go ahead and read it back now. To include language regarding milestones. Yes. And was that second? Not yet. Yes. Do we have a second? We have a second.
We have a second by Commissioner Petro. Anything to that? Anything else to it? All right, let's vote on the amendment. And that passes 3 to one. And the main motion as amended.
Clear it. Sorry. And the main motion as amended. And that passes four to zero. Thank you, sir. All right, struggle past that one. Moving on to uh item E, which also was
pulled by Commissioner Langden. You got the floor, Commissioner. Okay. Thank Thank you, Mayor. In our last meeting, we talked about our need for an emergency operations center.
And we had a fair amount of conversation regarding whether or not in today's economic environment and the city's financial situation whether now was the best time
to entertain building another city building for me. Um, I will just say when I first ran for city commission, I wanted the city to have the best of everything. The best staff, the best programs, the best
buildings, the best infrastructure. And now in my fifth year in, it's light is finally dawning on Marble Head that we don't have the money to do the best of everything and we're going
to have to choose. we're going to have to make some really, really hard decisions where we put our available money. So, when I saw the item approving the
construction of I think the 30th new park west of Toledo Blade, which is the center of the city. I I just wanted to pull it and give this body an opportunity
to reconsider that. Would it be more wise to delay the construction of another new park until we get through the next year or year or two and have a better idea of
what's happening at the state level regarding our taxing authority? what's happening in the um economic environment. There's a lot of flux. Um
and and I also want to point out that we have $1.7 million of investment on this agenda on park maintenance and park improvements.
So, I mean, we're we're looking at everything. We need to look at everything and decide what is the best timing for making these investments. Where
where can we have the most beneficial impact for the residents of this city? because we're really going to have to make some tough decisions this year and next year I suspect for the next couple
of years and none of us are going to like the decisions we have to make. So for me it's it's just a timing and a balance. If we're questioning the need for an emergency operation center, we're
unable to fund a new police headquarters because we don't have the money. Do we need a 30th park right now west of Toledo Blade? Commissioners,
Sandy coming up to give us a little brief. Sandy, good morning. Good morning. Sandy Funher, parks and recreation director. Uh so just want to make sure everybody's aware that this park um it is not the 30th park. Um we talk about
having 28 parks and facilities. So for example at Butler Park that is a park but it includes the aquatic center, the Morgan Center, uh kayak launches. So there's that number is more of a marketing term for the expanse of the
park system. Uh the funding for this park, for the construction of this park, all comes through park impact fees. Park impact fees can only be used to build parks and facilities related to parks. Um the we have done um we've taken a lot
of care in uh putting the plans together for this park and that it's not impacting the general fund because it's being built through with park impact fees and our estimated cost um to operate is about $750 a month once it's
built. It's very low impact passive park. Um we worked with the neighborhood u putting that in place. Uh, and we also as a city, we do have an obligation to spend the park impact fees that we collect uh from new development. So, I
just want to make sure that's on everybody's radar. Um, we've collected almost $6 million in impart impact fees in a threem area around this park in the last five years. Question. Vice Mayor,
I don't know if I read it pertaining to this item, but hasn't there already been like u playground equipment and stuff purchased and it's ready to be shipped or it is shipped already? There has. There's been um $220,000 in expenditures already on this project. Um
we had the um uh uh Seymar u pre pre-construction Seamar put in place. Um we've been working on this for about a year. Um and the the playground equipment was a direct order because that is a savings to the project
by not going through um that semar and us us doing it directly and that is on order to be delivered in November. Right. And I thought I had read that. So if we were to put the kibash on this program then we would have a quarterly built park possibly
potentially. Yes. All right. That's all I needed to know. Thank you, Commissioner Petro. Thank you, mayor. Just a quick question, two questions for clarification purposes. So, the impact fees cannot be used on maintenance of
current parks. Correct. And that's what I thought. So, we cannot really restrict anything on this project as far as the designated funds that are being collected by the impact fees. Correct. park the park impact fees that are collected cannot be used for other
general um city projects. For example, you you're speaking about the EOC park impact fees cannot go towards that. Not on maintaining or renovating current no maintenance um only only in increasing capacity.
And how much did we spend um besides the buying of the equipment the playground equipment on this project so far? So, so far we've spent 220,000 on the project so far. And that includes um our playground equipment, which it's
not a um a usual playground that you would see. We've we've made it very low impact, so it's a little bit different than the average playground. Um we've had design services for 71,000. Um pre-construction services, which I mentioned with the Seymar. Um, and then
we've had some permits which are non-refundable uh with Swift MUD and uh Florida Fish and Wildlife. And I guess my other questions my other question is to my fellow commissioners specifically to Commissioner Lenon. What
would you um recommend based on the information we've heard from Sandy? What would you I would recommend two things. I I think that money spent on the design of that park isn't wasted. Um I'm not suggesting
we cancel the park. I'm suggesting we delay it. Um my other thought is soon I think um Miss Sandy will be bringing a master plan to us regarding the buildout
of parks infrastructure east of Toledo Blade including Italy A and a new community center there. We've already had community conversations about that. So it would be my preference
if for whatever reason we decided to not pursue Bokeh Chica that we allocate that almost million dollars to the buildout of parks infrastructure east of Toledo
Blade. So I'd just add that the Italy Avenue Park the service area is separate from the service area for this park. There are no parks on the other side of Southford except for Atwater currently. Um so this is um a little bit northeast
um of um that area. And then we have the Italy Avenue that would be in addition to the Atwater Park. It's very um close to that. Um, so it it is serving a completely different population of the city and I just I just want to make sure that
commission is aware that there is the potential that we um could have to refund park impact fees if we don't start spending them. It is in city code that that can be requested. And what's the timeline of that refunding process if it gets to that
point? So it is um it's within five years from the date the impact fees were paid. And where were we at? Uh we um through the new Asella software we were able to go back um five years
and look at what was paid in a three mile area. We just took that as a sample and over $6 million have been collected in that area. Anything else to this item?
I have one more question if I may. So, um, we calculated the impact fees collected in the area of that park. Is there any requirement that we spend those impact fees within that geographic area?
There is not um because we don't have districts is my understanding. Okay. Thank you. Um, the only comments I' I'd have with regard to this one is, you know, I I
get, you know, Sandy's stake that the um the impact fee dollars need to be spent on certain things and you know, I hate to delay this cuz time is money and the potential of having to give back
some of those impact fees, you know, I I I doubt we would have to know. Um, you know, and I and I do appreciate we've got a master plan coming before us hopefully in the next couple of months, next month or two, which, you know, we
have to take a hard look at. But I mean, this is a park that's been thought about for a long time, and you know, there's no doubt that that's part of what makes this city is as special a place as it is. Um,
you know, the reality is that as Commissioner Langden said, over this next handful of months into this next year, we're probably going to be facing decisions that nobody wants to make about where we spend our dollars. And there is no doubt we are not going to
have anywhere near enough dollars to do the things we need to do in this city. you know, infrastructure being the supreme priority in this city and uh you know, trying to focus on needs rather than wants, you know, um
I don't know. I don't know it what would happen if we were to postpone making this decision until after the master plan was available for us. Sandy, what potential impact might that have on us both from a standpoint
of cost delays as well as obviously the impact fee issue escalation? Yeah. Uh so there' be construction escalation costs. um we'd probably have to go back out um through the uh SEMAR process um because they they are not
going to hold their um fees um for an extended amount of time. Uh we would have playground equipment that either would have to sit on a site that's not developed or we would have to rent space um to store that equipment. put that out. Um, and I I just the master plan, while
I know that's coming in December, this park has already been accounted for in that master plan and it has been identified as a um what we call park desert where there is no services in that area. Um, so the when the master
plan's come, it it's going to ask for a park to be in that area. regardless of what what decisions make today, it's still going to be looking for a park in that area. All right. Appreciate that. I have nothing more. We got public comment on this item.
Um, entertain a motion. I'll make a motion. Move to approve item E25-2813 as presented. Do I have a second? Second.
Any further discussion on this? Are we ready to vote? Let's vote. And that passes 3 to one with Commissioner Langden. Anything to that or reasons stated? Reasons stated. I just think right now
is not the proper time to evaluate the construction of a new park. All right, moving on. Public hearings uh ordinance first reading uh 2025-28.
Um this is a quasi judicial hearing. Um, I'm going to need a motion to direct city clerk to read by title only, please. So moved. Second. Got a motion by Commissioner Langden, seconded by the vice mayor to direct city clerk to read this item by title
only. Corrupt city clerk. Got a vote. Oh, let's vote. And that passes four to zero. Now you're Ordinance number 2025-28, an ordinance of the city of Northport, Florida,
amending the Central Park at Northport Activity Center 9 pattern plan to revise the buffer plan amending articles 3, table 3.3.1.2 two, dimensional standards and article 4, development standards of the uni unified land development code to
reference the amended central park at Northport pattern plan providing for findings, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, providing for codification, and providing an effective date. There are no agreved party status requests at this time. Can everyone wishing to provide testimony
please stand and raise your right hand? [Music] Wow. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to provide is true and accurate to the best of your knowledge to help you God? Thank you. Thank you. Uh looking for any experte
communications. Commissioner Pro. Um I met with Williams Parker and the other representative regarding this and we talked about this briefly. What's the plan? What what is the plan? Vice Mayor, I have not
uh just my uh conversations during uh one-on- ones with city uh city manager. Uh yes, for me too. Very minimal conversation on the item in my agenda briefing.
We got presentations. Applicant install that. This time right here that's it. Yeah. She said there were none. [Music]
Is that Is that it? Is that it? Yeah. Oh, hit that button right there. Yeah, it will take you to Oops. Now I just hit something. Hold on. Try to get
that one. But there you go. Okay. Um, good morning, Mr. Mayor Commission. Now that I've got my presentation up and my timer going, I'm well set. Um, I'm Peter Van Busker with Kimley Horn and Associates. I have been sworn.
Uh, today I'm here to, uh, present the amendment to our current development master plan for Central Park. Um, here's the I think I've got the wrong one. That's here. That's right. Okay.
Where did you put yours? It's right here. There you go. Okay. Are you seeing just one slide up there or are you seeing two? Not seeing any. Nope. I hope it's on the way. Go back here.
It to the rescue. Just be there. We go. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Now we have the right one and I'm in good shape here. Sorry about that. Again, I'm Peter Vanbos from Kimling Horn here to present this uh applicant
to amend the DMP for Central Park and I haven't sworn. Again, I'm a currently I'm civil engineer licensed in the state of Florida. I'm also a certified planner with the uh American Institute of Certified Planners.
Uh a request is to amend the DMP for uh Central Park. Basically, what we're asking for is to not have plantings on the back sides of lakes that are adjacent to our neighbors. And this is um a request by our neighboring properties. Um we've been we've been
talking with our neighbors for a long time as we went through the whole process of concepts and developing things. So, they've been very involved with us. We did have the neighborhood meeting at the Morgan Center on May 14th. It was well attended. Um no one there had any objection to this. There was a lot of questions about a lot of
things. Um mainly they want to know what was going to be in their backyard and we explained what they would see. Um you will see in the request that we will continue to have a lot of open space and and a lot of planted areas. Um currently with the zoning here you very I know
you're all familiar with the area but we have the colony link side and sable trace on our west side. We have villas and villas 2 on our north and northwest sides. We have Country Club Estates on our northeast side, Sumpter Green on our
west side, and Fairway Villas kind of nestled in the middle there. Again, I was talking about the the planning that we've gone through and concepts we've developed with our neighbors. This is January 2018 concept. The one thing I want to point out here is that you'll see that the the green
strips along the outside are a little thinner than the next one you're going to see. We started out with about a 35 foot wide green space um and and and some lakes adjacent to our neighbors and then in discussions with alliance members who are groups of the HOAs that
surround this property, we then had a July concept which now went to a 70 foot wide green strip around the majority of the property except where our legs are. Um and basically I was in response to a request to have bigger green space
around the project. So we accommodated that. This was early on. Um the other thing I'll point out too is you'll see our mixeduse tracks here in this purple and and red color. They're now lakes down both sides of those on the outside. That was at the request of Lakeside and
Fairway Villas. They said, "Hey, why can't we have some lake adjacent to us?" We accommodated that. Um, as we went through the original process looking at required buffers, you'll see that single family and two family against single family and two
family, there's no buffer required. But we have that 70T buffer around the majority of the property. When you have single family, two family against multifamily, you're required a type B buffer, which is 10 foot wide, one tree every 50 ft with shrubs. where you would
have commercial which we might see where we have our mixed use against multifamily which would be linkside or fairway villas that would be a type C again 10 feet wide one tree every 40 foot with shrubs I point out that we have a lake and 35 ft of open space
already between linkside fairway villas and our mixed use so the required landscape buffers per the uh ELC at the time and we're looking at that that that section 21 would be a buffer between the colony. You'll see
that in the blue here on the left side or the west side and fairway villas which would be the majority of that because they're multifamily against our single family on this side. And then we've got our mixuse tracks where they would have to be buffered um based on
the use. We don't know what those uses are yet because there's a number of things that could be developed there. Now, I want to show you this is where we will have buffer per our amendment. So, you've got all this green strip all the way around the property will all get
buffered landscaped um open spaces. Um Fairway Village, as you can see, will still have a large amount of 70 foot wide, not 10 foot, but 70 foot wide landscape buffer open space along the culde-sac here. The only place they
wouldn't have it is this 225. So line then flood along this lake and then the colony would have a buffer or it's against our open space in here but they wouldn't have it on the back side of the lake there. So really we're
eliminating this required buffer and that piece of required buffer there. It's about 450 and 225 ft of buffer. So in our current plan, basically we have a type B buffer on the back sides of the lake which was 35 ft with some
plantings. And this is the current buffer plan. And and here we call them A, B, and C, not to be confused with city A, B, and C. And we have changed that now to 1, two, and three. So in the new amendment there's no confusion of what buffer
we're referring to. So the the typical buffer along the lake would have been the type B and it would have been again 35 30 feet wide and it would have had trees um three canopy trees, 300 story trees and 30 shrubs in a typical 100
foot and of course it would have been on the back side of the lake would have a blocked view of the lake uh from our neighbors. So, the proposed revisions to the plan are in the areas that I have um highlighted here on the on this plan and
it shows you where these buffers would be affected by our amendment. And I will point out the areas next to link sign and fairway villas. What we're really doing is moving the required buffer to the edges of the lands of the mixed use
tracks so they won't block the lakes from fairway villas or linkside. And again, the amended buffer plan now has pulling in those buffers from our mixed use into the mixeduse properties, giving Linkside and Fairway Villas open
views of those lakes. We'll still have all our green buffers wherever we have our, you know, multif family or I should say two family villa product or single family up against adjacent single family or villas. They will still get that 70
foot wide landscape buffer. They will not have plantings along the back of the lakes. However, they'll still have the 30-foot green strip and the entire lake to buffer them from any of the activities of this the villas or single family homes in Central Park.
And then the amended plan where we now have one, two, and three. Um our our buffer three would be what they'd seal on the back of the lake, which essentially would be sad. Buffer two and buffer one would stay the same or you have 30 feet. And this is there's a there's ditch and I'll show you in a
second up along we'll back up here. This ditch area here that protrudes into country club estates that still gets um a 30 foot wide buffer with plantings. We're not treating that as part of a lake. So that was what the amended buffer plan
will look like. Now um again still have the 70 foot with all the trees, the 30 foot with all the trees. And I might point out even with this amended buffer plan at buildout, there'll be over 2,450 trees planted in this project. Between what gets planted in the lots, there's
street trees, some of which have already been planted where there's open space. The developer plants those uh street trees will be planted with all the home construction. And there'll be trees in addition in the mixed juice that aren't even in that 2,450 ft because we don't know what's going there. So, we don't
know how to count those trees yet. And then now here's our amended buffer plan where I'm pointing out where we've requested waiverss. So you'll see there's a waiver requested along colony here and there's a waiver requested along for fairway villas and that's
because that's where we have villas or single family abuing a multif family which would have a required buffer and we're asking not to have that buffer. I'm also going to point out this area along Lake 13 because in the staff report they suggested that that should
not that should be buffered and should not be um approved as proposed. Here's the Lake 13 location and you can see there's a few of the villas. This is um villas disabled trace. I'll call it villas one to separate from vas 2 and
this is a lake 13. This lake is here only because the gentleman who lived in one of these villa units and I met on his lai one day and it was going to just be some green open space with a mound and he said why can't I just have a lake and I said okay we'll put a lake there
and that's what we ended up doing with the plan. This is an area of that area and you can see our lake 13 and you can see this is a 6 foot high wall that extends the length of the entryway. So it basically
blocks the activities you see the gates and so forth here from these these adjacent villas and that purposely was extended that far for that reason. Here's a couple pictures. Um this is standing at that intersection looking
over Lake 13. You can see the couple uh units in the back behind the wall there. And then this is one that you'd see past the lake. And you can see street trees are already been planted in that area. And here you can see some of the low shrubbery in front of the gate.
Just another picture looking more directly across the lake. And again, you can see our street trees planted, our shrubbery. And they're already our trees in the backyards of these villas that have of have grown fairly mature. This is waver one. This is along the
colony. This is like five. Um the waiver one is where we are against multif family. And then we have our villa units here. And again, this is requesting just to not have to put in a 10-ft buffer. The folks in the colony have told us again and again, this lake was it's been
here. We like the way it looks. We don't want to see trees. We don't want to see shrubs. So, that's what our proposal is um requesting. And again, it's approximately 450 ft of per perimeter buffer between the colony uh and Central Park. Um I have letters from the colony and I
I have a copy of the colony letter because this is a recent one. It's not in your packet because we didn't have it at the time we submitted our application. Um I'll provide hard copies to the clerk so you can have those for the record. Um but basically this rec um
letter from the colony um their association is is asking to please approve waiver number one uh as part of this request. We also had um a letter from Linkside Condominiums Sable Trace asking to approve the request and from
the uh single family homeowners association in um in Sable Trace as well. So here we have an area of the colony and one thing I wanted to point out here is so this is our lake five. This is where we're asking for waiver one where
we wouldn't plant between the lake uh and these these colony units here. But I wanted to point out the colony on the northwest side. It abuts a lake and on the other side of that is single family homes. There's no buffer there. They look across a lake and they see single family homes. This is the other section
of the colony which also is on a lake overlooking a lake with single family homes on the other side. No buffer between them and the single family homes. It's, you know, it's all part of the neighborhood and we really want Central Park and these adjacent communities to be part of an overall
neighborhood. Here's a picture of what the colony looks like today. U this is Lake Five. It was a reshaped a bit. It's a little larger than it was. And um you can see um nicely maintained lawn down to the lake. Uh they do have some palm trees in
the backyard that would remain there. um they would not be disturbed as part of this plan and they wouldn't be disturbed regardless. But just want to point that out. And again, here's what the colony sees on the other side when they look across the lake into the lots within the Sable Trace single family units.
So here's our waiver two location. This is against Fairway Villas. Again, we've got multifamily here, but you have single family on the other side. And this is where we we required to put the city's type B buffer. and we're requesting a waiver from that approximately 275 ft so that we wouldn't
have to plant there uh and allow the view uh from the villas over to the lake. Now, we'll point out there's a group of large oak trees right there that we were asked to keep, which we did, and I'll show you a picture of that. So, they actually have a pretty good buffer, but they don't have the
ground shrubbery that would stop them from seeing the lake while they're sitting in their lai. We have a letter from um their administration, their association, from the president supporting that the alliance and the development of the latest buffer plan for the landscaping
which is what we're hearing today. So this is a picture across what is lake 8. So I'm standing on the bank other bank of lake 8 looking at fairway villas and you can see that section of fairway villas along the lake is already pretty well buffered with oak trees. And then
if you continue to look down, this is where now we're picking up near the end of the culdesac and we've already planted some of our uh buffer landscaping there. So that that area gets buffered because there's there' be the culdeac backing up to those units.
Um we find that um we we meet the comprehensive plans and we're consistent with it. um from goal one the development framework um you know the residential infill product projects are um what what we'd like to see and they they have
distinctive attractive communities strong sense of place which we have here and again we want to be part of this overall neighborhood now it's combined neighborhoods of the villas um SER green and um sable trace units with the
condominiums um it's revitalization of a redevelopment of a closed golf course. So, it's, you know, planning for existing development. So, we had a golf course that wasn't open. It was a a brownfield. Now, it's been taken care of. Remediation is complete now. Um,
we've got letters from D accepting the remediation. So, we're we're in pretty good shape there. Um, complies with the findings and the available review criteria. I'm not going to read all these to you because I probably don't have enough time and I don't want to bore you anyway. But we do
meet we are in compliance with the review criteria that you need to look at when you're approving this type of amendment. Again, more of the criteria. So, in closing, um we respectfully request that the commission approve this uh request as it has been presented to
you, including waiverss one and two. Um, I think there's been very strong sentiment from what I'm hearing from our neighbors stating that they want this um, approved uh, the way it was presented. They want a clear view of these lakes. Uh, I've been out there on
site number of times. People have just walked out to me and said, "Hey, am I going to be able to see this lake? What are we doing on the backsides of these lake?" And I explained with in this amendment process which which took us over a year um and the only complaint they had is like well when's my lake
going to fill up cuz it's kind of dry which it was you know during the winter at that point and so they weren't seeing a lot of water in it but since we've had rains in the summer the lakes have come up and you saw the one behind the colony I think they look great but anyway I'm here to answer any questions you might have. Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you sir. staff. [Music] Can the clip do the overhead screen, please? It's not showing up on the screen. Oh, okay. Thank you.
Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Good morning, commissioners. For the record, Sherry Wlette Gronen, Planning and Zoning Division. I have been sworn. I am a planner three a senior planner within the planning and zoning division.
In two days I will reach uh starting my 20th year in the planning and zoning division. So I have 20 years in the planning and zoning division. I've also lived in the city of Northport for over 30 years and I am a resident of the city of Northport.
So the petition that we have before you today is the amendment to the central park pattern plan. Um, I'm going to touch on uh the applicant has touched on some items. So, in so in order not to duplicate all the information, I know my
staff report was very lengthy at 35 pages and I just wanted to make sure it was thorough for the commission and as well as the public. So as as we had said it is themending the central park at Northport pattern
plan to revise the buffer plantings and along the backs of lakes adjacent to neighboring properties. In addition, there are two waiverss requested from the 2010 chapter 21. So a little bit of a history
of this project. This is a ongoing project with the um the city of Northport. Um it's the formal tra uh former Sable Trace golf course which um well it it it stopped their operations
back at that time. I um is also um located in activity center 9 which promotes infill development with a mix of low to medium density housing, senior living, retail storage, medical offices, and neighborhood commercial spaces. Uh
Central Park is an active site since uh its inception. It's gone through several approval processes. I uh had this project has had numerous planners. I was not the planner at the time of the inception of the project for the reszone
or the comprehensive plan amendment. I I took over this project in 22 to complete the uh inf master infrastructure plan subdivision plan and the three plat phases that came before this commission.
In addition, since there is no formal procedure for modifying a pattern plan other than if it's located in the villages, we're treating this as an amendment to the development master plan via ordinance via ordinance. And because the original pattern plan was adopted in
2019 2020 through ordinance number 2019 09. Also with the uh unified land development code, it does reference the pattern plan. So we also need to amend those sections of the unified land
development code. The current land use is activity center 9 and the adopted zoning is activity center 9. The uses have not changed with the recently adopted unified land development code amendment. So the
existing land uses within the site currently are single family homes and are presently in the development stage. The mixeduse development has not gone undergone any review or there's no development or construction at this time.
So, as the applicant has has stated, they want to remove the plantings along the back edges of lakes 1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 12 13 14 16 and 17. These changes would affect the adjacent existing
developments including the single family homes, the two family homes, and the multifamily residents. The applicant also is requesting two waiverss from section 219 table one of the unified land development code and
the perimeter buffing b uh buffer abudding the mixeduse area one and two um the applicant has requested that it follows the 2010 unified land development code regulations. So this again the applicant had touched
upon. So lake five and lake nine are going to be a lot of the topic of discussion uh for staff because the proposal is to eliminate the the buffer there with uh planting that's called sod to put sod there to um so that the view
is not obstructed. So lake five here you could see on your screen and also the applicant had showed the current plat plan that shows to the eastern side where I have the star these are all
proposed single family residents here very close to the edge of this lake in addition down below where the colony is that is the multifamily adjacent to where Riviera Court single family. The
waiver 2 for Lake 9 is uh where the Fairway Villas is located. So there the applicant is requesting to eliminate any required plantings within the buffer area proposing that existing mature oaks in the buffer area provide needed
buffering between the uses. So it's important to note what is purpose of buffers? What why do we have buffers between unlike uses? It's to create a transitional zone between different land uses to reduce negative
impacts. They're used for visual screening to provide privacy, block noise and hide new nuisances. They also serve an ecological function um for the wildlife to support wildlife,
birds roosting in trees etc. approving aesthetics also for erosion control. That is a big important note for that. Now the waiver request that they're having currently if you have two different uses then there are specific
buffering requirements in the old and the newc. So if it's like to like there is no buffer required. So I want to keep that in mind with the uses. You're looking at multifamily compared, you know, with single family.
What is the required buffer? In addition to where Lake N is, it's multifamily compared to where the single family is. You could see the close proximity. If you look at the on the right hand side where Lake Nine is, where the proposed
single family development for Central Park is, it's very close to that. So removing those buffers, I understand that those that are living on the other side, they want to have the aesthetic, the tree, uh, no trees. They want to be able to enjoy the lake. However, we need
to keep it in perspective as well because those single family homeowners without that buffering are going to be looking in their backyards, especially with the colony. It is a condo. I know that there are some oak trees that do provide some filtering between the view
with the fairway villas. But those are two important points that I I want to understand um to to bring up. So the pattern plan that was adopted uh for the central park, it regulates the
framework for the site's development including lot size, aesthetics for building requirement, setbacks, open spaces, buffers, and landscaping in accordance with their master plan. the
central uh park pattern plan. As the applicant stated, the original included uh buffer categories A, B, and C, which is very confusing because our unified land development code labels our specific buffer plans in the same
manner. Now the buffer plan that was originally approved by commission city commission special meeting May 2nd 20209 had undergone a lot a lot of public community outreach. A lot of public
input was brought forth at the time because the site is a brownfield and the residents at that time wanted the asurances. I know that that was a big topic of conversation. Could the applicant at the time of
development build or supply the buffers in accordance with the 2010 Unified Land Development Code? Yes, they could have, but they chose the enhanced buffers to help with some of the mitigation, um some of the uneasiness because it is
a brown field site, etc. Uh the central park buffers, they serve a vital function by separating the different land uses. And I'm talking about the different land uses. I'm not talking about like for like and as the applicant has provided to
you, these are the central park approved buffers, the A, B, and C. You could see where they have the and they do have open space. Staff is not disputing that at all. And you could see how the B and
C where they have the buffers and the shrubs. And I like pictures too. A lot of times when we look at words, they don't mean anything, but if you could see at the pictures of what the proposed buffer types are. So here we have a map and it correlates
with the A, B, and C buffers based on what was approved back in 2019. In addition, I know the applicant has provided this overview, but the proposed buffer type three um it is a 30foot open
space and it's featuring sod and a burm. So sad is um grass basically and um that buffer type has been eliminated with those plantings. Here is the legend of the proposed changes.
And you can see where it's outlined in yellow, that's where the two waiverss are being requested by the applicant. And then of course you see the bubbled area with the no planting area that's red.
Okay. So the analysis of the buffer changes. It's nice a the original a to the new type one. There's no changes proposed with the buffer design with plantings, the fence in the wall or the burm. No change proposed to former type
A buffer locations. Uh type uh B or the new two is uh there's no change proposed with the buffer width and plantings. However, the burm is optional but the design detail is provided. B uh type B
buffer along multiple lakes have been modified to that type D uh excuse me the type three buffer which is the sod. The type C3 the buffer design is modified to remove all plantings and substitute it
with sod. There is an optional wall and substituted with a burm. So the type B buffer along multiple lakes and modified to a type three. there's no change to the former other type C buffer locations.
So there are four locations where plantings are required per the 2010 unified land development code as I stated previously adjacent to lake five where the colony which is a multifamily also uh adjacent to lake nine which is multif family and is known as the
fairway villas uh adjacent to lake 7 and lake 8 which are the proposed um mixed use areas. So if we look here at lake five, as I stated, um staff is not supporting that.
The approved pattern plan includes an enhanced buffer for added protection between the different densities and heights. Retaining the enhanced buffer is essential regardless of of the type how commission approves. They do need that for the
compatibility between the current and then future uses because they're two separate and distinct districts. The same would apply to where lake 9 is located and the request to change the t uh
buffer type B to SAD. This is the area opamodics and that was uh proposed. This is the original buffer type. It was the type B buffer and as the applicant has stated there is a wall. However, we're requesting that to
you removing those screening commitments would it would create noise nuisance for the adjacent residents. Staff is recommending retaining the enhanced buffer in this location. And not only that, Appamodics, you know, living here
for a long time, I see there's a lot of traffic, especially at lunchtime. A lot of people use Appamodics to get down to Northport Boulevard and also to Pan-American because they want to avoid US 41. I use it all the time. I use it as the back way to Lowe's. So with that
and of course with the development of the cars going in and out create keeping that buffer would help potenti you know reduce that noise also you know just as an observation I live in the Lamar elementary school area with all the
building in construction when I first moved there 10 years ago I did not hear the highway so without that buffering type and all that building I can have my house enclosed and of course I can hear the highway I'm Just using that as a personal example. Not that it would be
to the extent that opamodics is I75, but it's still the the premise is the same. Um, so the re review process this go went through the proper review process. There was a pre-application meeting for the project. Oh, I have five minutes.
And natural resources has expressed the following concerns which are in detailed in the staff report. But by balancing regulatory requirements and the visual interests of residents, it's possible to create a functional and appealing landscape while adhering to
the uldc and the pattern plan. And that is from our natural resources division. So the DC does require the um you have the option for the modification of regulations which is what the
applicant has requested. The notice requirements have been met and are detailed in section 10 of the staff report. The petition uh for Central Park Northport pattern plan amendment is with the requirements of Florida statute 166. And I want to hurry
up. So in the in the um staff report, staff has reviewed at length the goals and the consistency with the city of Northport comprehensive plan. And if the screening is provided between all incompatible land uses, the petition
will be consistent with goal one of the comprehensive plan. In addition that is um the same within the other policies that are noted see the page up also to a policy 2.17
the city shall maintain or enhance the quietness of neighborhoods etc here and then overall if the landscape screening planning is retained between all incompatible land uses adjacent to lakes 59 13 the petition will be consistent with
this policy policy. Um, it's consistent with chapter 53 of the unified land development code as discussed in uh section five of staff report. So, I want to make a couple of notes. So
while the applicant knows that the request is made at the behest of surrounding property owners who would like to enjoy the unobstructed view of the lakes, it's not consistently supported based on the uh public comment received which can be found in exhibit F
to the staff report. So there's both both sides. So there's more it's not all you know 100% are in support and 100% are not. So there um everyone has their input. So, it's not um unanimous.
Staff also believes that the intent to provide reviews of the lake can be met by simply updating the type three buffers to exclude the required BMS and shrubs. Three canopy trees and three understory trees every 100 linear feet will not create visual barriers and may
in fact create more scenic views of the lake, provided that the planting style is staggered and randomized to provide a less curated appearance. Uh, the applicant did comply with the neighborhood meeting. Public notice has
been met. Legal review. The city attorney's office has reviewed and approved the proposed ordinance as to form and correctness. A no business impact statement is required. and the planning and zoning advisory
board held September 18th, 2025 voted unanimously 70 to recommend approval of the petition as presented uh by the applicant without the grant of waiverss 1 and two and the change proposed to buffers adjacent to lake 13 and buffers
adjacent to lakes 5, 9, and 13 shall meet the planting screening specifications of a type 2 buffer. staff is uh three options have been provided to the commission with pros and cons for each. Option one is to approve
the amended buff uh buffer plan as presented by the applicant without grants of waiverss one and two. The proposed changes to the buffer adjacent to lake 13 buffers adjacent to lakes 5, 9, and 13 shall meet the planting screening specifications of a type two
buffer. Uh the second option that was presented to commission just want to refer to my notes is to approve no further changes to the
buffer plan as it was approved via ordinance 2019-09 or option three approve the buffer plan along with waiverss as presented by the applicant. This is staff that is staff's recommendation is option one with all of
the analysis that is stated in the staff report and also on the record. And that concludes staff's presentation. Staff is available for questions. Thank you, commissioners. Thank you.
Uh guess we're looking for rebuttal. Yeah, thank you. Peter Van Busk Creek again. Um just a couple things. Um on the brownfield, the the plantings on the buffers really would have nothing to do with that. We've capped all that and actually the sod on top of the buffers
on top of those burns in those areas that we're talking about here actually add a little extra protection and that that's all been planted and it's growing very well. Um landscape buffers don't really reduce noise. I know that's set a lot. Walls reduce noise. That's why we have a large noise wall along um Sumpre
Green on Sumpre Boulevard. I believe that's a 12ft high wall that that will help reduce sound. Um you know they talked Sherry talked about support and there obviously is a lot of support for this request and there are some people that don't support it. I mean as
commissioners you deal with that daily. You have a lot of people that support things you do and some that don't like it and you have to make a decision as to you know what's the best thing to do. So um these HOAs in this alliance group u they've provided letters of approval
from their groups because the majority of the people approve it and they want to see this approved as requested. Um one thing I did want to point out Sheree mentioned single family homes against the colony that's actually the villa
homes in there. Um, we treat villas and single family the same and the buffering in the city. But I wanted to point that out because an important thing is um, at least something you might want to know that the state is currently looking at how multifamily and single family villas
are actually compatible and there may be state rules coming out that will state that when you have multifamily versus adjacent to single family and villas that would be a compatible use and you wouldn't need a buffer to separate them. they wouldn't be considered
incompatible. So, I just wanted to bring that up to you. Thank you, you staff. Thank you. Um, just to address Mr. Van Buskerk, there is uh no legislation that has been adopted to look at the
multifamily and the single uses. That's in the future. It could happen. It can't happen. We have to look at the regulations as they are today, not something that's in the future down the road that might not come to pass. Um in addition um yes where the the area
where he's talking about where the villas are at Lake Five that is true that would be considered single family to single family if they're um two dwelling units. However, where the area is where the condominium
association is clearly multifamily in that area. So staff wanted to address that. Um, when staff evaluates all of this, we base it on facts. What are the facts? What does the unified land development code say? What does the comprehensive plan say? If it's in
compliance or not in compliance. And the 35page staff report is very thorough in each of these items with the supporting uh documentation and also whether it complies with the unified land development code and the comprehensive
plan. But ba but and just to put it down for unlike uses a specific buffer is required. If it was like to like there's no buffer. There are different uses and a buffer is required. And um that's all
that staff has. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Now we have no grief parties. So I'm looking for any public comment. I have James Murphy followed by Steven Scod and then James Blucher. My name's James Murphy and I have been
sworn. Um I'd just like to say that we've been looking at this piece of property, the original um stable trace golf course that was closed about 11 and 1/2 years ago. We've been looking at what's been going on since at least 2018
with what was proposed. We've heard many different um presentations over all this whole period of time. It just seems to be an ongoing issue. I don't really know whether or not these waiverss that they're looking for really have that
much to do with what's going on. I understand that they're talking about the buffers all the way around the whole uh property. Um, I really believe that it's leading to something else. They're looking, I believe, as setting this as like a test
case so that they can come forward with some more waiverss and everything else down the line. Um, I believe that the developer is floundering there. They're not able to sell too many of these homes. Uh, everything seems to be going
very, very, very slow over there. There's not too much progress being made. Um, it just looks like it's going to be a neverending thing. I think that, uh, they're setting a precedent here with looking for these waiverss. And I
believe that we know where this is headed because in, um, I believe March and May of 2027, there's going to be something else that they're going to be pressing for not to do. And that was the real lynch pin of the agreement
uh, for the building of that development. And I think that this is just something that they're just throwing out there, seeing how this is going to go and then they're looking to put the kibash to what was eventually in
their minds down the road. And I just feel that uh they just uh are not doing too much there. That's all I have to say. and I I hope that you take a good look at this. Thank
you. Thank you, sir. Morning, commissioners. My name is Steven SCOD. Uh I'm also known in the community as Skip for for a lot of you that uh I've addressed in the past. Uh I have been duly sworn. I am a member of
the Lakeside Condominium Group at Sable Trace. Uh I've been there for 14 years. Uh I've been the president of the association there. Also, uh actively participating now with the Sable Trace Alliance.
We have 76 units at at uh Lakeside. We are condominiums. Of those 76 units, six of those buildings actually run the course of lake number seven. We have 48 lenai
facing the lake and our we have uh pulled the people in our organization and they are definitely uh opposed to having the trees block our view of that lake right now. That is a very pleasant view. There's a lot of
waterfall. There's a lot of nature that we see there and trees are just going to obscure that view. Uh, I'd like to also mention that uh, of those 48 leni that are facing out into that lake, I've
pulled those people recently again and the majority of those people are with me and want to see those the lake as it is now. We uh, we respectfully ask the commissioners to approve this amendment as it was originally presented. Thank
you very much. Thank you, sir. [Music] Good morning, uh, city manager, commissioners, city clerk. Um, first of all, let let me make something very,
very clear. And I, and I think Peter did that, but I just want to make sure the commissioners understand this has not come from the developer. This came from your citizens. We're the ones that were asking for this. And let me tell you how that came about. The the
as vice president of the alliance, I was getting a lot of feedback from the neighborhood from different individuals and all of our members were. So at our at the the uh one of our meetings, we brought it up and we said, you know what, guys, to to do this, we understood
enough that we knew it would have to come to commission sooner or later because of the changes. So I said, you know what? We need to make sure that the homeowners associations that we work so closely with are involved. So, we sent our members back to each homeowners
association and we asked them to hold a meeting, put it on their agenda and vote on it, which every one of them did. I believe you have letters from each one of the homeowners associations stating that. Then those then our members came
back to us. We had our meeting at the alliance and we voted and each homeowners association has one vote. So they they came back and again it was unanimous. Since then there's been a lot of talk and I know you guys hear it. You're
going to hear the pros and the cons and the uh and and some that you don't want to hear but but you have to listen to it all. I can I can tell you very honestly and I've been around here 25 years and living in that community for 25 years. I
was trying to listen to those people and talk to those people as Skip has and as as some of our other members have to those people living on the water and I can honestly tell you that I've had two
that live on the water that said, "Yeah, we'd probably like to see it landscaped. all the other ones do not want it. So, I really thought being in your seats at one time, I I we didn't really push this too hard at the beginning because we thought this was almost like a
no-brainer that it was coming from the citizens. It wasn't costing the city anything and that we knew that there had to be some changes made that you that you would approve those because it was coming from your citizens with very little push back on the other side. So,
so with that, I would just hope that you I think you have a golden opportunity. You know, so many times that that commissioners get beat up for some of the things that they have to do as as as commissioners. Here's one of those cases that I think is a win-win for you that you can make a lot of people happy by by
doing this. Um, that's it. But thank you. Thank you, Ron Bear. Morning. Ron Barrier have been sworn. I am the president of Villas and I have to agree with Jim. There are
two gentlemen or families that live on Applomatics that do want trees between them and the pond and that's on Lake 13. So, we've pulled our people several times, many meetings for I don't know
how many years, but it's come down to that they want no trees or bushes between them and the pond because we're all villas and we're on one story. And uh these two that live on Applomatics would like to see it. They
also requested a pond which they got. And if they get their trees now, they'll get everything they want. And that's what all I have to say. We agree with the planning board as to what we would like done. Thank you.
Thank you. All right. Um, commissioners Commissioner Langden. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. I have a question for staff, may even be our our natural
resources people. Um if in those areas that are proposed for buffering and landscaping we simply do saw
what are the environmental impacts of that. Good morning commissioners. Uh Stefan Kaiff natural resources manager and for the record I've been sworn. So from an ecological perspective,
salt in the environmental field is known as an ecological desert because there's minimal wildlife support due to the lack of habitat of that specific environment. So from our perspective
any vegetation such as shrubs or trees is better than saw from the perspective of providing ecological value to the site and to um in part addressing the heat island
effect as well. I'm all set. Thank you, Commissioner Pro. Thank you, Mayor. Not sure how to start this, but I know the trees near water help filtering pollutants, sediments, stabilizing banks,
specifically stabilizing the bodies of water, banks, and provide shade to keep water cool. I know that the roots are anchored soil which prevents erosion and that's my
biggest concern is because it does reduces flooding by slowing runoff and allocating water to to absorb into the ground. So the roots are the major component that prevents
flooding. And it might look very nice and fashionable to have a lake view when the storm comes. Um the trees provide a buffer for the natural
disaster or natural phenomenon that might occur. and then great damage would be done if there's no if there are no trees. I can see two different sides. I I understand two different presentations. Um but it also
comes down to the money. Money is the bottom line. I know and maybe if I can or cannot ask this question, how much money will the developer saving will be saving by opting or getting those waiverss?
um that I don't know but I'm in favor of having some type of uh vegetation as our natural resources team said that you know it not only strengthens the banks but it
gives the cool and shade for minimal habitat. And we're not proposing a big lavish buffer zone but at the minimum what is required. Um I just have to say this because from my
experience if there are no roots by the bodies of lake or bodies of water sooner or later the banks would be eroding and the storm water management is diminished. um flooding will occur
and all of these there's a purpose of that for that all of those vegetation that would be required if it's if it if we vote on it will prevent from
deteriorating the natural landscape because um putting so much lakes around properties. I just feel uneasy. Um, but I understand both sides. So, I
just wanted to to throw this out because I know that the roots are the main reason that holds the banks. And if natural resources uh team can add to that or test to that, you're more than welcome to do that. I'm not an
expert on natural ecology or if you can affirm or discreet my Stefan Caleiff natural resources manager and I've been sworn generally uh myself and my team agrees
with this um although salt does provide soil stabilization and can establish extensive root structure. In my opinion, the benefit of trees and shrub in attenuating the effects of these
rainstorm rainstorm events is uh better as um leaves they they capture the energy of the raindrops for example before they hit the ground. So they slow down that
impact and um generally the root structure of a tree or shrub can be extensive and stabilize the soil better in addition to
the salt that's also present usually. Thank you, Commissioner Langden. Uh thank you, Mayor. I have one question for staff, Miss Sherry. I think it would be for you. Um, it seems to me that the staff
recommendation is sort of a meeting folks halfway kind of position. Has staff had an opportunity to have a conversation with the various resident groups in Sable
Trace about the staff recommendation? No, staff has not had any uh one-on-one. However, throughout the course of uh me managing the project, there have been a lot of emails that come forth with communication.
Um, some of the public members that are purchasing property wants to wanted to know what was approved for the buffer, but as individual one onone with the HOAs, no, staff has not had that conversation.
Okay. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Yeah, I don't have a question. I just have a comment. Um, I've heard both sides. Um, and I appreciate Commissioner Bler or former Commissioner Blucher coming up and stating how we get beat up all the
time. I mean, seriously, we do get beat up and and one of the main reasons we get beat up is because we do not listen to the citizens according to their terminology. We always take staff's side. We do this and we never listen to the citizens. Right now, I think we have
a prime opportunity to listen to the citizens, to listen to the homeowners of that area. Um, I can understand all the other stuff that's going on with ecological stuff and everything, but I
mean, I don't see a huge difference of not having trees and having sad and having the green space. I I think it is warranted for this project. I'm not hoping that in the future that they're trying to use this as a leveling field
to do something else. I I don't foresee that. Uh we've already stood pretty strong on those repercussions that they've tried to bring to us before. So, this a different subject. So, I just wanted to put that out there to say that we can listen to the citizens. We can
listen to the homeowners over there on what they're looking at getting. That's all I have. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Commissioner Pro. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I have a question for the staff. Um, there are three options, but on the
presentation, it's only listed option one. Um, which options are you meeting in between? I I don't remember the other two options as a zero edit from your paper. Yes, sir. Um in the in the staff report
on the excuse me the staff summary sheet staff provided those three options as well as the staff report on staff's presentation. Staff is recommending option one. Um, as we stated that it would be approved as presented by the
applicant but not approving the grant of waiverss one and two and not approving the change appro uh proposed to the buffer adjacent to lake 13. In addition, option two was to approve
no changes to the buffer plan but keep the adopted 2019-09 ordinance with the existing buffer plan. Or option three is to approve the buffer plan along with all the waiverss as
presented by the applicant. Thank you. Anything else, commissioners? Okay. Uh, looking for closing arguments then. Grieve parties don't exist. Staff.
Yes, commissioners. So after evaluating and staff's recommendation of option one is simply that like uses to like uses do not require buffer. That's why staff was supporting
the elimination of the buffers in those areas. However, the unified land development code so it's the development of sable um excuse me central park. they have to abide by the code regulations when uses are abuing other uses that are
unlike. So it's it's not with the other on the other side. This is to the central park development and staff is standing by their recommendation um for option one. Thank you commissioners. Thank you
applicant Peter Vanist again. Um, so I just want to say that staff did a great job in preparing the report. Um, Sherry did a lot of research. Um, she talked about the code and facts and she, you know, I
think gave you a spectacular report to read there. Um, so thank you very much for her and staff's help with that. Um, I would like to point out in the code it does allow for you to review requests for waivers and these landscape buffers are one of the things that can be waved
from the code. So, you just have to evaluate them based on what's been presented and you've got, you know, input from the residents, our neighbors who we've been listening to for a long time. Um, and tried to accommodate them every time we could. Matter of fact,
there's one area where there's the 70oot buffer where we actually went and planted some additional trees because the neighbors were requesting um a little bit more buffering there. Uh, as for the one person that talked about the probing and floundering and so forth, I think if you've been out there, you'll see this is a beautiful neighborhood
now, it's pretty much 100% complete of construction. It construction did not stop partway through because housing slowed down a bit, completed. The roads are all done. The storm water is complete. Um, we've got the utilities in place. We're in the process of turning
those over to the city at this point. you'll have 500 new homeowner customers and and a mixed and used customers for it. Um, you know, we've done the majority of the plannings, lighting is in. I I if you haven't gone out there and you see it, the amenity center has been built already, which usually you
wouldn't do that right up front. You want more people there to support it, but they've got that completed. Tennis courts, pickle courts. So, just want to point out this is there's nothing floundering going on there as home sales pick up. They'll be selling lots and they'll be building homes. Um, as far as
erosion and flooding goes, um, SAD is the standard practice of stabilizing lake banks, um, you know, that's what the water management district looks for. That's what city looks for. That's how we stabilize. The the trees are actually on the outside of the banks anyway. So
whether they're planted or not, the side is what's providing the stabilization um, and preventing erosion in into the lake. So, um, again, I respectfully request that you approve this, um, as proposed. And again, if you have any
further questions, I'm here. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Uh, at this point, um, I'll close the public hearing and I'm looking for a motion. I'll make it. I move to continue ordinance number 2025-28
to second reading on October 28th, 2025. I have a second. I'll second for discussion. Um, which option? As presented, including all the waiverss as presented.
Okay. So, option one as presented. No, they're they're asking for waivers. This is to approve those waiverss. Not option one. Not option one. Okay. Thank you. Option three actually.
Correct. Got a motion by Vice Mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden to continue ordinance 2025-28 to second reading on October 28th, 2025. There's nothing more to it. Commissioner, is she ready to vote?
Yep. And the vote is 2 to two. So, this motion fails. Uh, Commissioner Petra, I'm sorry, Vice Mayor, the city attorney. What happens with a 22 vote? Motion fails and you'll have to have a a
vote move either approve or deny one way or the other. You'll have to keep going until you got till you can get an agreement. Okay. Um, so, Commissioner Pro, you and I dissented.
you want to weigh in partially. I stated my reasons that I respect the citizens um approach and uh their opinions. Um but I'm more concerned about the the actual
overall picture of the design and the ecology and the trees that that will provide much better shade and um benefit for the overall ecology of this development.
But I respect both sides and thank you for both presentations. Thank you, Commissioner. Uh as for me, I mean, I I I do tend to agree. Um, you know, I I think it's a good thing when we listen to our citizens and um and in
this particular case, uh, one might not see the downside, but sometimes there are unintended consequences. Um, you know, I don't think option one is an unreasonable option that staff has put forth. It
still provides for plenty of view of the lake. um you know, state law, if I recollect, um doesn't provide a guarantee for any citizen, any property
owner to have a view of anything. So, um you know, but but I do appreciate that in this particular case, it doesn't appear that there really is anybody that's that terribly opposed um to this. and and it seems to me there ought to be
some uh option in the middle. Um I think there is the need for some landscaping. Um plus, you know, I'll bring the elephant up in the room. Quite frankly, I I have a problem making a decision on this regarding a project regarding an amendment to a mass to do development
plan with a with an applicant who, as far as this commissioner is concerned, is in default. And as a result, um, you know, I got a problem supporting any request they make. Um, I I hate to say it, but you know, I do I I am
uncomfortable with this situation. And, uh, and 50, if I believe the last conversation regarding this client came up or this applicant, there were 50 certificates of occupancy. I believe there were 500 homes that are going to be built here. So, um, you know, there's
quite a distance to go and I have grave concerns over the future of this project. Um, especially in light of the fact that this applicant seems reluctant to meet its commitments per its master development plan. And that is my opinion
and I'm sticking with it. So, um, you know, I I I feel for the people who live in and around the area, but, um, you know, I I would love to hear more what those people really have to say, uh, about the overall big picture because
there's a lot of issues here with regard to this project and and I have some grave concerns. So, at this point, that's all I'm going to say on this matter, but, you know, I'm not supportive. May I the board does not have to decide today whether to move
forward with the waivers or no waivers. It's just we can continue to second reading and then you'll have a full board to cut that tie should you have one. That's when you adopt it. So that's when you have to approve or disapprove the So it'll just stay at a two two vote
until then or we have to get a motion to continue to second reading but it does not have to include the waiverss at this time. if the board chooses so choose to do it that way. I have a quick question real quick for um I'm on the board
on the board. Yeah, I'm sorry, Commissioner Lang. I'll be polite though, sir. If you have a question, please go ahead. I'm And this could go to either staff or the developer. I'm not sure. But let's let's say we relooked at what is planted in the buffer out there.
What if they're just low-lying shrubs and no trees? Would that be a possible solution for people to see the lakes or, you know, whatever they were trying to get their goal out of it? Can it
is is there a common ground? If you're going to continue discussion, you might want to reopen the public hearing as well since it's already closed. Oh, I'm sorry. I had a question, but that's fine. We can save that for second reading. I withdraw.
So figure out what you want to do, mayor. I'm entertaining motions. We have a two two tie that failed. And uh so I'm looking for any motion anybody might make.
If we're going to continue this second reading, we need a motion. I'll make the same motion. I mean, with the waivers or without the waivers, we still got to go to second reading. I move to move to continue ordinance number 2025-28
to second reading on October 28, 2025. Do I have a second? I'll second for discussion. Mr. Langley. After reviewing the materials, um,
I came here fully in support of option one, which was staff's recommendation for the waiverss and and the buffer um, situation because I agree I I think potentially
there are significant significant environmental al impacts to a lack of some shrubbery or plantings of some type. I am not an arborist, so or an environmentalist,
so I'm concerned about that. Um, my friends are amazed that my electricity bill is as low as it is. I have a goodsized house and I credit it all to the three oak trees in my backyard.
So again, personal experience. Um I really believe in trees. I totally get wanting views. I'd love to live on the Gulf, but I don't want to be evacuating every summer. Um, and and I really believe in my heart
of hearts, if we ultimately approve this ordinance with no modification, at some point in the future, the residents of these communities are going to have to landscape
um along those lakes and they'll do it on their own dimes. So in my heart of hearts that's what I believe. Um I I also accept the fact that
I have a reputation with a number of people in the community to believe that I know better and staff knows better. Um, but it seems to me that the people
living in this community today want the view and and aren't demanding um some of those modifications. So, I'm still leaning toward that,
but I would also So, I would support the ordinance moving forward, but if I make the motion, I will instruct city manager to work with staff to engage
um with the communities there and with the developer to see if there might be some give and take to perhaps, you know, identify some of those areas where we think the environmental impacts might be the
worst. Um, and if there are areas that the view would really be blocked by any supplemental landscaping that maybe we identify those and back off it a little bit. So I guess
what I'm saying there are people in this room a lot brighter than me who could perhaps figure out something um that would be acceptable to the communities maybe minimize view blockage
but in my heart of hearts the view is not the only thing happening here. So there are other considerations, some serious ones. Um, environmental impacts, erosion, runoff. I mean, what do we
require in the ULDC around a lot of our retention ponds? We do want to see growth all around those retention ponds. Why? because it helps filter runoffs before it goes into our retention ponds which
ultimately wind up um in our canals and and and our wastewater in our uh water treatment plants. So, that's sort of how I'm leaving it. I' I'd love to
make a motion and require a little bit of um additional work among the parties involved before second reading. Um but I see Vice Mayor is on the board. Yeah, we already have a motion on the
floor right now, but I mean we could vote that and then do another one. But the one thing that I want to remind everybody about this development here is I used to golf the golf course many years ago. Loved it. And then it became
defunct and the residents there had to live in a jungle. It was horrendous. I mean the overgrowth, everything was just I didn't really appreciate it either. But when this developer came on board,
they have done nothing but break their backs to appease all of the residents in that surrounding areas. They have worked due diligently to meet with the community to ask them what their wants and needs are. And here they are coming
back to this commission explaining exactly what their wants and needs are for the community. So, if we're working on bending a few rules or approving a waiver, it's for
the community's benefit. It is not necessarily for the developers benefit. You can look at nickels and dimes on what they're going to save by trees. And this they've widened the path. They've made it bigger. They've they've gone to extra lengths to get this accomplished
for the residents. And that's why I would like to keep this on the motion going forward. If we on the second reading, if there's such a big outcry from the public saying we need these trees, we need this that and the other, let them show up at second
reading and give us their opinion. We've got the community's opinion with letters, with backup, with everything saying this is exactly what we want. And for us to say no, then we're not listening to our citizens again.
That's all I got. I'm not withdrawing my second. I ain't withdrawing the motion either. Could we have that motion read back, please? To continue ordinance number 2025-28 to second reading on October 28, 2025.
Same motion. We just got to move it on to the second reading. Is there anything else to this? Anybody? Then we vote and the vote is 2 to two. Motion fails.
I assume Commissioner Petra reason stated. Stated as before. Uh I don't know if you want me to repeat those but uh I do believe truly believe that trees and shrubs we can meet in between they will
provide a shield from wind from not to mention I know they're not going to be right on the water bank but they will provide a lot of benefits for the community which they're not aware of this right now. Um the roots anchors the soil which
prevents erosion, reduces flooding by slowing runoffs. Storm water, the canopies provide uh management for the storm water as we just were confirmed by the resource center uh the uh the staff
presentation uh or testimony. So again, I respect both sides, but I think we can probably meet in between somewhere. At this point, I'm not ready to have
those trees to be removed, so to speak, from the plan. Thank you, Commissioner. I echo his sentiments. where we are. Can't move forward without a motion that
at least three of us support. So, I'll make one. Let me give it a shot. Um, I move to instruct city manager to work with staff to work with the developer and the
community groups to see if there might be some negotiation and movement on both sides to minimize ize
any disruption of views for the adjacent properties and yet mitigate some of our most serious environmental concerns of having no landscaping.
and that we move the ordinance as presented forward to second reading on October 28th. I'll second. Any discussion on this motion?
It's too long. I know. I know. Epic motions. Direct the city manager to work with staff to work with the developer and community groups to determine if there can be negotiations and movement on both sides to minimize disruption of views and environmental concerns and to move
as presented to second reading on October 28, 2025. Do a great job. The other side would be community groups or the staff staff to work with community groups and the developer
but primarily community groups. That's your motion. That's my motion and I'm sticking to it. A second. Yeah, I seconded it. Okay. Let's vote. Anybody want to fat on the outcomes?
And that passes 4 to zero. Good motion, Commissioner. Thank you. All right. Break. Lunch. Yep. It's 12:23. Um going to break till 1:00 for lunch, then pick this back up.
Does that give everybody enough time? thing. So, I applied. They gave me an opportunity. Every day is different, but for the most part, we start off the same. We'll uh get our gear onto the apparatus and um make sure everything's
operational, like our air pack. Then we also check the inventory, uh make sure we have all our medical equipment, um everything's operational. Um, that way we could respond to any emergency. So, we're always stocked and ready to go. I think the best part is that everyone's
passionate about their job. So, they come to work and they're ready to train and uh take care of each other and and teach each other. So, everyone's sharp and on their agame. So, it makes the job fun and I just look forward to coming to work. Yeah.
[Music] I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency management coordinator for the city of Northport. And I'm going to tell you the difference between flood zones and evacuation zones or in Sarasota County we call them evacuation levels. So flood
zones were generated by FEMA and they're used to determine the likelihood that you will flood and they're used to determine if you need flood insurance if you have a mortgage on your home. Now the evacuation zones are based on storm surge data that comes from the National
Hurricane Center and they use topography as well as hurricane vulnerability for storm surge for the area and we use those to determine who needs to evacuate during a storm. So it's important to understand that there is a difference. If you're interested in finding out what evacuation zone you are in, which we
highly recommend you do, uh you can use your search engine of choice and type in Sarasota County know your level and that'll take you to the Sarasota County government website. [Music] [Music] [Music]
Frank Lamos always manager of city of Northport. Uh here today with Mario Vindetti, planner schedule for the city of Northport solid waste division. We're going to talk about bulk pickups today. Uh how to schedule bulk pickups, what should go out and what should not go out to the curb, where to place the items,
and then what happens if you have more than what's allotted for you for the year for a bulk pickup. So Mario, I know we call 941-24850, talk to our customer service reps. That's correct. About how to schedule a bulk pickup. How else can we do that? Can also go on our website,
northportfl.gov, click on solid waste, and fill out a bulk request form. Excellent. Excellent. So Mario, what about uh if a person wants to place it out, what should they place out? What's the right thing? What's the wrong thing? Basically, Frank, anything that doesn't
fit in the container that's garbage is going to go curbside. We're going to stay off driveways. What's not accepted is tires, chemicals, stuff like that. You can put yard waste out. That's considered bulk, but just make sure it's separate from the garbage pile. Yard waste is a separate pickup.
So, what happens if I use all my bulk pickups, right? Good question. So, you can have more, but you just have to pay. It's going to be$,650 a cubic yard, and that's length time width time height divided by 27 is 1 cubic yard. Any questions, of course, let us know.
Give us a call. 941-24850. Water in a swale that's kind of the ditch by your house is not flooding. within a after a storm event, water should be in that soil up to 72 hours after the storm. That allows the water
to be filtered to get the stuff that came off our roofs and off the road out of the water so that when it reaches the habitat, it no longer has those contaminants in it. It also provides an opportunity to slow down water so that the water doesn't go so fast that it
erodess um the roadways or any other infrastructure. So when you see water in a soil, if it's only been, you know, up to 72 hours since the last rain, that is not flooding. That is doing its job. [Music]
I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency manager for the city of Northport. And today we're going to discuss storm surge and flooding and how both of those affect Northport during a hurricane. So storm surge is when strong sustained winds are constantly blowing over a long period of time over the Gulf and pushing
water up onto shore. So when that happens, there is a lot of flooding along and beach erosion along the beaches and the homes inland. However, the storm surge can also push water up the river. So it could push storm surge of the Maka River for instance from the
Gulf and then the water coming downstream from the river has nowhere to go. So that can cause water to back up along the rivers and cause flooding. That along with a lot of rain that comes from these hurricanes can also cause an increase of water flooding into the rivers and into our water management
systems causing flooding as well. Public works does a lot of work before the storm to make sure that our water levels are as low as possible so we can handle additional storm surge and flooding in our water systems. If you want additional information about that, we have a great video about our water control structures and you can visit the
public works website. [Music] Hello everyone. My name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics manager within our parks and recreation department. We're here today at the Northport Aquatic Center just to talk to everyone about our float for life program. We recognize that nationally unintentional drowning
is the leading cause of death for children that are under the age of four. So we have an awesome program here called Float for Life. Float for Life is a program that we teach that starts with the fundamentals of floating before we actually learn swimming. This program is
targeted for those children at ages 6 months to four. And what we want them to do is we want them to get comfortable in the water and if they accidentally fall in the water or find themselves in a trouble situation, they can roll over their back and float. When we launched this program, uh we were the only one in the state that was actually teaching
this milestone program. So do want to give a shout out to our Northport Rotary as well who sponsored this program here at the aquatic center and actually paid for a trainer to come in all the way from Nebraska where this program originates there. We practice and we go through what's called milestones here.
So, as soon as the kids progress through the milestones, we can continue moving on through them. And at the end of it, it's a pretty awesome program when they graduate. It's one of the final things that they do is they jump in fully clothed and they have to turn over, roll over on their back, and actually be able to scream for help at that point in
time. It's just an awesome segment program that leads right into our learn to swim program. So that way we can make sure we're keeping our kids safe in, on, and around the water. They're trying to get you. [Music] Oh my gosh, this is going to be great.
[Music] Oh, you're in the pool. [Music] [Music] [Music] I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency
management coordinator for the city of Northport. and we're going to talk about why it's important to have a go kit and what should go inside of it. It's important to have a go bag because if you wait last minute to pack, there are definitely going to be items that you are going to forget in the scramble to get everything put together. So, it's
important to have your documents such as IDs, insurance paperwork, titles for your home and your vehicles and your boats just so that if your home does flood or your roof blows up, all those documents are with you and they're safe because you don't want to end up losing
those and having to try to replace those later on. Also, in your go bag, you should think about what medications you might need to have ahead of time. If we're under a state of emergency, you are able to refill your prescriptions ahead of time, even if they're not due yet. So, it's important to do that.
Also, in your go bags, you should have non-p perishable food, flashlight, batteries, a radio that is battery powered and extra batteries. Should all power go out, we will be able to broadcast on 97.5 FM anything uh any
emergency information. So, be sure to have your battery powered radio ready and tuned in to 97.5. [Music] We believe that the natural resources department will be an integral part for
the city's growth as we want to achieve a more balanced approach of development in the future. What we really want to do is see sensible development, sustainable development, a development that is um in line with what we already have here. So
we want to preserve as much as we can of the uh natural resources. So there is still place for our natural species, our our migrating birds and all the other species that live um and survive in our habitat. Natural systems
are a big part of the ways ecosystems function. An important part for our community, our listed species. They stabilize the soil. They provide so many different benefits including shade,
limiting the heat island effect within our city, providing habitat, providing shelter for these species and just uh also for our aesthetic enjoyment. Well, as an arborist, uh a lot of what I do is
making sure that development conforms to the tree protection code. So, one thing we already have in place since April of 2022 is a tree protection code which is quite robust in the city of Northport that was adopted by commission and the city
through also a lot of community involvement. And so, we're very happy to have that tree protection code. So, what I a lot of what I do is making sure that development either residential or commercial conforms to that code. We are such a passionate team. We come from varied backgrounds. Uh I think
between us we have over a 100red years of experience and we are every day raring to go and you know we know our work is cut out here and we're happy to uh take the challenge through the division and community involvement and leadership in the city.
We really hope to make great strides in protecting what we have here and finding that balance with development and environmental stewardship. I am excited to be a part of this team and I'm really seeking and looking forward to the
opportunities for us to be able to make a difference. [Music] [Music] I started with Charlotte County Utilities as a meter reader in 2004. So that's kind of where I got my foot in the door. Then once I reached a point in
my life where things were more stable, I decided to leave Charlotte County Utilities and I went and got my insurance license. It was very exciting doing that for a short period of time. But after a while, I started thinking about the utility. It was in my heart. At this point, I had almost 12 just two
months shy of 12 years in. And so I realized during that time my heart was in utilities. And so I started looking around again. I seen an opening here to be a CN D tech. So I applied and I got in. Typically I get here at 7:00 in the
morning. I get my list of, you know, if I can get to this, this is what I need to do. And I get in my truck. If if I need any supplies, parts, tools based off of the work I was given that morning, I'll pick that up here at our shop. And then I head out and um my goal
for the day is just to get as much work as that was assigned to me done as possible. And sometimes that happens and other times there's a lot of first response calls that come in. My favorite part is the uniqueness. It's um not knowing what I'm going to be faced with every day. It could be different. It's
not mundane in any way. And it's exciting when you get a call and you're you're on your way and you don't know what it is and you you have the experience and the knowhow and the backing to face whatever it's going to be. So I feel very confident in facing
these calls and I think that's my favorite part. Hello, my name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics facilities manager with the city of Northport. And today we're going to be talking with you guys about our free swim evaluation. It's important that we do these swim evaluations. So, as uh kids are registering for swim
programs, they get placed in the right class. What we're looking at when we're doing the swim evaluation is every swim level has what's called exit skill assessments. So, what we do is we have your child get in the water and we'll go through a series of different movements. Can you go under the water? Uh can you show us your front crawl? Can you show
us back crawl? Can you show us elementary backstroke? Different strokes within there. And what we're doing is we're trying to see where your child tests to before it becomes a challenge for them at that point. Once we assess that, then we'll let you know and you can go ahead and sign your child up for that appropriate level there. It's
important that we have these so that way when we're teaching a level one, we don't have kids that should be potentially in a level two and a level one class because they're not learning the appropriate skills that they need at that point in time. Right now, uh, when we're in full summer operations, uh, we ask that people come between 8 and 10 to
do the swim evaluations, just as you can hear the water splashing in the background, slides and everything like that. But any day of the week uh that we're open, you can come in at any point in time and ask for a swim evaluation. We always have a certified swim instructor on site that can uh have your child take a swim assessment.
[Music] Frank Llama, Sawway's manager. I am here today with Mario Vendidi. Mario, tell people here how long you've been doing this job. I've been here five years. Five years. Excellent. Excellent. So, Mario, tell people what it entails, what
you do. I'm a planner scheduler for Solid Waste of the City. And um I go around and I I greet the new residents and I educate them on the recycle. Excellent. Sounds interesting. Very good. Yep. So Mario, what do you find inside the recycling bins that shouldn't be there?
So let's try to tell the people how to recycle, right? Well, the most common thing I find, Frank, is plastic bags. Okay. So the plastic bags are not recyclable. I find them just tossed in the container or they bag the recycle with them. Right. And they should This is inside the blue lid containers. That's right. Inside the blue lid
containers. Correct. And they should be either taken back to the grocery store or tossed in the trash. Very good. Do you see a lot of recycling inside the containers? Uh I do. I come across a lot of that. Okay. We don't want to do that. So, okay. So, if you have any questions, you
can always look at our website ww.northportf.gov/solidwaste. [Music] Welcome to the brand new Northport Podcast Network. We're so excited to introduce you to our revamped lineup of shows created to keep you connected, informed, and inspired about everything
happening in our city. That's right. With three unique shows under one network, there's something for everyone. First up is Northport. Now, Madison and I will rotate hosting this fast-paced news-driven podcast to bring you the latest city updates, event previews, and
important information. all in one quick listen. Think of it as your weekly guide to staying in the know about what's happening in Northport. Next, we have Northport Stories. Laura and I will share heartfelt and inspiring tales from around our community. Stories that showcase the people, places, and
moments that make our city special. And don't worry, Voices of Northport isn't going anywhere. I'll continue bringing you even more personal stories and interviews with residents who shaped our city. And last, but not least, Northport Living. Cody and I will also rotate hosting this show, which is all
about tips, events, and lifestyle ideas to help you make the most of life right here in Northport. Whether you're looking for family-friendly activities, ways to get involved, or helpful home and garden tips, Northport Living has you covered. With breaking news, heartfelt stories,
or practical tips, the Northport Podcast Network is your go-to source for all things Northport. Make sure to subscribe to the Northport podcast network wherever you listen and join us as we celebrate and connect with our amazing community. Northport Now will be released bi-weekly.
Northport stories and living will be monthly. A schedule will be available on social media and our website. [Music]
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, we got it all. My crib is your crib. Looking forward to seeing you here. Duty calls. [Music] I'm Stacy Losio. I am the emergency management coordinator for the city of
Northport. and I'm going to be talking about having an evacuation plan. It's important to have an evacuation plan ahead of time. And it's very important to write it down because that way you can have it somewhere present where everybody in your family can see it and keep it fresh in their minds. And you
want to also share it with people in your family or your neighbors so that they know what your plans are ahead of time and how to get a hold of you or where to look for you after a disaster. For your evacuation plans, uh you should have multiple routes to get to the location you're planning to go to. just
because traffic-wise, traffic on 75 might be gridlocked. There could be some very good back roads to get to where you're going. Uh that could get you there more quickly without being stuck in traffic. When you're making an evacuation plan, we usually tell you four different things. You should stay
home if you are not in a zone that's being evacuated and if your home is built to withstand the forecasted storm. If you can't stay home uh and you evacuate, your next option should be to go to a friend or family's home that is
outside of the evacuation area and is structurally sound to withstand the storm. Third option would be go to a hotel. They're much more comfortable than our evacuation centers. Fourth option would be to go to one of our evacuation centers. Sarasota County has 12 evacuation centers. Those can be
found on their website. [Music] I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency manager for the city of Northport and I'm going to discuss first responders after the storm. So it may take a while for first responders to get to after the storm and that's due to a variety of
reasons. One being we pull first responders off the roads when tropical storm force winds are sustained for their safety. That is a standard usually across the state and other states that have hurricanes as well. So we will have a backlog of calls that have come in during the storm that we will prioritize
based on urgency and they'll be responding to those as well as the calls that are currently coming in if they're urgent as well. Also, the roads might be flooded. There might be debris in the roads. Our tactical first in teams will be going out right away to clear the roads of any hazards uh so that our
vehicles can get through and respond as quickly as possible. Just keep that in mind when you call after a disaster for assistance. We are coming. You are very important to us. We care about our residents and their safety, but it may just take a while for us to get to you depending on the conditions of the
roads. [Music] [Music] Hello everyone. My name is Mario Van Diddi. I am the planner scheduler for the city of Northport solid waste. I got into this position um first I was a recycle driver for five years for the
city of Northport and then I became the planner scheduler after taking an interest in educating the residents on how to recycle properly. In my position my dayto-day usually I start out by visiting the new residents that schedule
garbage and recycle containers to be delivered and I will go see them and educate them on our solid waste guidelines. more or less I'm more focused on the recycle part of it. After that, I will drive around the city and I actually inspect recycle containers
manually for contamination and then I will take calls from drivers if there's any issues with uh repeat garbage in the recycle and I will go educate those people as well. What I love most about the city of Northport is their residents are from all over the
world and I get to learn about the solid waste guidelines where they come from as well as educate them on the city of Northport's solid waste guidelines and how to recycle properly. [Music] [Music]
[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I decided to become a firefighter. I used to work in uh hospitality and group sales and I had always had friends that
were firefighters and I decided one day that I wanted to change my job and serve people. So I went ahead and went through EMT and paramedic program. Went to Fire Academy and then I saw Northport were
hiring and I really liked what they had on their between their ISO rating and their beliefs and values and everything. So, I applied. They gave me an opportunity. Every day is different, but for the most part, we start off the
same. We'll uh get our gear onto the apparatus and um make sure everything's operational like our air pack. Then we also check the inventory. Uh make sure we have all our medical equipment. Um everything's operational. Um that way we
can respond to any emergency so we're always stocked and ready to go. I think the best part is that everyone's passionate about their job. So they come to work and they're ready to train and uh take care of each other and and teach each other. So everyone's sharp and on their aame. So it makes the job fun and
I just look forward to coming to work. Yeah. [Music] I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency
management coordinator for the city of Northport. And I'm going to tell you the difference between flood zones and evacuation zones or in Sarasota County we call them evacuation levels. So flood zones were generated by FEMA and they're used to determine the likelihood that
you will flood and they're used to determine if you need flood insurance if you have a mortgage on your home. Now, the evacuation zones are based on storm surge data that comes from the National Hurricane Center and they use topography as well as hurricane vulnerability for
storm surge for the area and we use those to determine who needs to evacuate during a storm. So, it's important to understand that there is a difference. If you're interested in finding out what evacuation zone you are in, which we highly recommend you do, uh you can use your search engine of choice and type in
Sarasota County know your level and that'll take you to the Sarasota County government website. [Music] [Music] Franklas always manager of city of Northport. Uh here today with Mario Vindetti, planner schedule for the city
of Northport solid waste division. We're going to talk about bulk pickups today. Uh how to schedule bulk pickups, what should go out and what should not go out to the curb, where to place the items, and then what happens if you have more than what's allotted for you for the year for a bulk pickup. So Mario, I know
we call 941-24850, talk to our customer service reps. That's correct. About how to schedule a bulk pickup. How else can we do that? Can also go on our website, northportfl.gov, click on solid waste, and fill out a bulk request form. Excellent. Excellent. So Mario, what
about uh if a person wants to place it out, what should they place out? What's the right thing? What's the wrong thing? Basically, Frank, anything that doesn't fit in the container that's garbage is going to go curbside. We're going to stay off driveways. What's not accepted is tires, chemicals, stuff like that.
You can put yard waste out. That's considered bulk, but just make sure it's separate from the garbage pile. Yard waste is a separate pickup. So, what happens if I use all my bulk pickups, right? Good question. So, you can have more, but you just have to pay. It's going to be$,650 a cubic yard, and that's length
time width time height divided by 27 is 1 cubic yard. Any questions, of course, let us know. Give us a call. 941-24850. Water in a swale that's kind of the ditch by your house is not flooding. within a after a storm event, water
should be in that soil up to 72 hours after the storm. That allows the water to be filtered to get the stuff that came off our roofs and off the road out of the water so that when it reaches the habitat, it no longer has those contaminants in it. It also provides an
opportunity to slow down water so that the water doesn't go so fast that it erodess um the roadways or any other infrastructure. So when you see water in a soil, if it's only been, you know, up to 72 hours since the last rain, that is
not flooding. That is doing its job. [Music] I'm Stacy Losio. I'm the emergency manager for the city of Northport. And today we're going to discuss storm surge and flooding and how both of those affect Northport during the current. So storm surge is when strong sustained
winds are constantly blowing over a long period of time over the Gulf and pushing water up onto shore. So when that happens there is a lot of flooding along and beach erosion along the beaches and the homes inland. However, the storm surge can also push water up the river.
So it could push storm surge up the Maka River for instance from the Gulf and then the water coming downstream from the river has nowhere to go. that can cause water to back up along the rivers and cause flooding. That along with a lot of rain that comes from these hurricanes can also cause an increase of
water flooding into the rivers and into our water management systems causing flooding as well. Public works does a lot of work before the storm to make sure that our water levels are as low as possible so we can handle additional storm surge and flooding in our water systems. If you want additional
information about that, we have a great video about our water control structures and you can visit the public works website. [Music] Hello everyone, my name is Devon Pulis. I'm the aquatics manager within our parks and recreation department. We're here today at the Northport Aquatic
Center just to talk to everyone about our Float for Life program. We recognize that nationally unintentional drowning is the leading cause of death for children that are under the age of four. So, we have an awesome program here called Float for Life. Float for Life is a program that we teach that starts with
the fundamentals of floating before we actually learn swimming. This program is targeted for those children of ages 6 months to four. And what we want them to do is we want them to get comfortable in the water and if they accidentally fall in the water or find themselves in a trouble situation, they can roll over
their back and float. When we launched this program, uh we were the only one in the state that was actually teaching this milestone program. So do want to give a shout out to our Northport Rotary as well who sponsored this program here at the aquatic center and actually paid for a trainer to come in all the way
from Nebraska where this program originates there. We practice and we go through what's called milestones here. So, as soon as the kids progress through the milestones, we can continue moving on through them. And at the end of it, it's a pretty awesome program when they graduate. It's one of the final things that they do is they jump in fully
clothed and they have to turn over, roll over on their back, and actually be able to scream for help at that point in time. It's just an awesome segment program that leads right into our learn to swim program. So that way we can make sure we're keeping our kids safe in, on, and around the water.
And they're trying to get [Music] Oh my gosh, this is going to be great. [Music] Okay, we are on to under ordinances first reading 2025-31. one. Uh, need a motion to direct city
clerk to read by title only. Move. Second. A motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden to request uh or to direct city clerk to read by title only. You're up.
Oh, why do I always do that? I don't know. I'm the only one that voted. I was up there. And that passes four to zero. Now, ordinance number 2025-31, an ordinance of the city of Northport, Florida, regarding sales of alcoholic
beverages in proximity to churches and schools, amending the code of the city of Northport, Florida, section 6-1 and 6-4, providing for findings, providing for conflict, providing for severability, providing forcation, and providing an effective date. All righty.
City Manager, your item, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, ordinance number 25-31 proposes to amend section 61 and 64 of the code of the city of Northport as follows. Provides that distance requirements apply to alcoholic beverages,
alcohol beverage establishments, which are defined as establish establishments that align with the definition of standalone bar per the Florida statutes. It also clarifies the definitions of church and school and it provides for an exemption to allow for the continuation
of non-conforming uses provided use is not discontinued for more than one year. Um today we ask that you approve option one which is to approve ordinance number 2025 to31 on first reading and continue the second reading on October 28, 2025. Thank you sir.
Thank you sir. Commissioners, vice mayor. Yeah, city manager, I got a question and I believe I read this in the backup. This is just basically for standalone bars is would not include a restaurant
that would have a bar in it. Our team is going to come down and make sure. I knew you wouldn't have the answer, but I wanted to. Your confidence in me is amazing. Sir, you're it's massive, sir. Yes. Good afternoon. Lori Barnes, deputy
director of development services. The current regulations, as written, do regulate any place of business that serves alcoholic beverages for consumption on premises. That's primarily the reason why economic
development sponsored this um amendment to the code to relax those regulations so that so that establishments like restaurants uh commercial recreation and the like would not be held to that
strict standard. So, we have made the amendment with the input from the commission to change the distance from 800 to 600 ft and to apply that requirement only to those establishments that meet the definition of a standalone
bar. That's what I thought I read. So, thank you very much. Don't go. [Applause] Commissioner Lang, you're up. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I know I asked this question in my agenda briefing, but
I'm going to ask it again. We have two parcels within say they're 400 ft apart. One is zone commercial, it's empty. One is government, church,
whatever that zoning thing is, it's empty. Okay. The church decides to build. They build. At a later date, the commercial property starts building up and lo and behold,
there's a pizza joint that wants to sell wine and beer. That is not included. That is not a problem. Only if said church builds and said vacant commercial parcel wants to build a standalone bar,
just a standalone. just a standalone bar, a pizza joint, uh popstroke golf, uh um uh the the new everything else that also serves, right? The new do the beach has um limited alcoholic beverage service. So,
anything like that would not be precluded from relocating, just a standalone bar as defined in the statutes, which you know is based on food service generally. Right. Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. I want to add a question.
Same same pipeline if you don't mind, sir. Um, let's say that it's typically a standalone bar, but then they decided to up their food sales. What percentage of food sales would they have to have?
Could they just bring in, let's say it's a standalone bar, pool hall, and they bring in a food truck. Would that constitute a non-standalone bar once they have a food truck there or does it have to have a restaurant within
the pre premises cooking the food? It defaults to the definition in the statute. Um, which I believe and I I apologize I didn't bring my laptop down. Um, I believe it's 10%. Um, generally when you have a standalone bar and then
you have a food truck there, they're operated by two different business owners and therefore the food truck coming on site would not create a condition where that bar is a standalone because it's operated by two separate entities.
What have to do with licensing as well? There are different licenses issued for different types of currently currently there is a bar that has a food truck that is theirs. So that would constitute as their restaurant then
if they are licensed by the department of business and professional regulation as a restaurant for that facility. Okay. And there's varying different types of alcoholic beverage service licenses. Um it's, you
know, for just alcoholic beverage sales, for consumption on premises, for um a fullervice restaurant, for a special service restaurant, it it does get pretty complicated. Um, so that type of
scenario, we would really need to dig into the statute and even potentially to um, you know, to the definitions of each of those types of licenses through the state to make a determination as to w
whether they would qualify under our regulations as a standalone bar or not. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, Commissioner Pedro. Thank you, Mayor. uh help me to understand this. Uh I'm I'm reading this
um ordinance and the line 47 line 47. Well, first of all, the change that we are proposing is reduced from 600
from 800 to 600. Correct. That's that's main change. Correct. That is one of the changes. The second change Yeah. is definition and line 47 says alcohol alcoholic beverage establishment
which is a business that is licensed to sell for consumption. My question is line 49 the primary purpose of which is the service of alcoholic beverages rather than the service of food. That's where I get confused is that how is it
different from a restaurant or a pizza joint? Okay. So, so we've got we've got two primary changes. One is the distance, but more overarching is applying this regulation only to standalone bars. As
our regulations are currently written, it doesn't matter if you're a restaurant. It doesn't matter if you're a commercial recreation facility. You you are required to abide by those distance requirements regardless
under the proposed regulations. those types of facilities, restaurants, commercial recreation type places will be able to locate within 600 ft of a church or a school. Right now, they can't. And that limits the commercial
the available properties, commercial properties available for those types of uses that we want to see. We want to see restaurants in proximity to our residential neighborhoods for ease of access and convenience. Right now, we're limited because of these distance
requirements and all the churches and schools we have on all of our collector roads and even arterial roads. So, the standalone bar definition and the statute essentially speaks to the primary purpose. So, think of the best
way I can the best way I can give you an analogy is to talk about when um the state smoking regulations changed. used to be you could smoke in restaurants. State regulations changed and they tied
that to to food service. So if you had a standalone bar, you didn't serve food. You weren't a bar and grill. So your primary purpose was to serve people alcoholic beverages, period. You might have some bags of chips and some bags of
peanuts that people could buy as an accessory use, but you didn't serve food. You could still smoke in those type of places, but you couldn't smoke in a restaurant. This is very similar. So, if you're a standalone bar, you're
primarily serving alcoholic beverages, you might offer people chips or pretzels or something like that as a snack, but you're not a food service establishment, then you need to abide by those distance requirements. I hope that helped. So if
it is for I'm not against restaurants serving alcohol with that that distance but what if it's just a bar can they still fall into that uh definition of alcoholic beverage establishment? Yes.
So any bar can be opened within 600 feet of church or No, no, no, no, no. A standalone bar, a bar bar, okay, cannot be opened within 600 ft of a church or a school per the definitions. Okay. But if it's a restaurant that serves
food down, right? If it's a restaurant that serves food and they serve and they have a restaurant license and they serve more than 10% of their um income is from
food, then they could locate there. If it's less than 10%, they're a standalone bar and they can't be within that proximity. So, if you're thinking if you're thinking um Applebee's Bar and Grill,
that could be within 600 ft of a church or a school. I don't really know any standalone bars around here, but think um think a neighborhood pub that doesn't serve food. They're just serving beer,
alcohol, wine, and again, not serving you a meal, not serving you, um, as a general rule, not serving you cooked food, bags of chips, that's it. So, that's where you get into that, you know,
primary purpose. If their primary purpose was to serve food and they had a bar there, fine. If their primary purpose is to serve alcohol with limited or no food service, then they're not to be within that 600 feet.
So I guess my question is next question is I understand the change from 800 to 600, but even with 800 ft, the the sit down establishment that serves food would not be allowed to open within 800
ft of of a church that serves alcohol. No. No, that's not correct. That's how it is now. Okay. What we're trying to change is to allow those food service establishments and commercial recreation to be allowed within those proximities. That is what
we're trying to change now is to go to any type of business that doesn't meet the definition of a standalone bar doesn't abide by these distance regulations. That is what is in in front of you today. Okay.
Thank you. Okay. Is that correct? Legal. Can you confirm who in that? Yes. If if it's helpful, as I mentioned before, the state issues different types of alcohol beverage licenses at different types of establishments. A
standalone bar has a specific kind of license. A restaurant that serves alcohol have a specific kind of license. So, it's easier to identify. We don't have to make those calculations of what 10% is. The state does that for us when it issues the licenses and make sure that they stay in compliance with those
license requirements. Okay. Thank you. Good. Anything else? Commissioners, any public comment? Lynn Hutcherson to the Northport city
commissioners. I will not be able to attend commission meeting held on October 14, 2025. However, I do want to express my views regarding request to amend. This is not for this item. I'm sorry. Should have been under general public comment. I apologize. No public comment. Um, that's two off of the evaluation.
[Music] All right. Um, there's nothing more. I'll close this public hearing. Request a motion. I'll make it. Go ahead. I move to continue ordinance number 2025-31
to second reading on October 28th, 2025. Second. A motion by Commissioner Langden, seconded by the vice mayor to continue ordinance 2025-31, second reading on October 28th, 2025. There's nothing more to that. Let's
vote, folks. And that passes forward to zero. Moving on. Ordinance is second reading. Uh ordinance 2025-30. Uh city clerk, if you'd be kind enough to read by title only. Ordinance number 2025-30,
an ordinance of the city of Northport, Florida, amending the code of the city of Northport, Florida, appendix A, city fee struct city fee schedule for utilities fees, providing for findings, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, providing for codification, and providing an effective date. Thank you, ma'am. City manager, your
item. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh this is a second reading item and during the city commission regular meeting held on September 23rd, 2025, the commission voted to unanimously continue this ordinance number 2025. This will be the second reading uh with no changes on
today, October 14th, 2025. We ask that you approve it via option one, which is to is to approve it on its second reading. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. commissioners.
Anything to this item? Seeing nothing. Any public comment? And then I'm closing this public hearing. Request a motion. Move to adopt ordinance number 2025-30 as presented.
Second. Got a motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden to adopt ordinance 2025-30 as presented. Let's vote. And that passes for a zero. Moving on to resolutions 2025-R52.
Uh, city clerk, if you'd be kind enough. Resolution number 2025-R52, a resolution of the city commission of the city of Northport, Florida, authorizing the city commission to participate in a joint meeting with the Sarasota County Commission to receive, discuss, and act upon matters of mutual interest, incorporating recital,
providing for severability, and providing an effective date. And this is for the January 2026 convocation of government meetings that we have annually. It's in January, did you say? Yes. Yeah. Okay. Uh, commissioners,
you all good? Yep. Any public comment on this item? Not. And then I'm closing this public hearing, request a motion. I'll make it move to adopt resolution number 2025-R52 as presented. Second. Motion by the vice mayor, seconded by
Commissioner Langan to adopt resolution 2025-R52 as presented. And we're voting. Bless you. That passes 420. Moving on to general business. 25-2904.
Uh discussion possible action regarding the request from Kuanas for placement of a portable. City manager, your item, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. U I'll read the uh entire title. A discussion and possible action regarding the request from the
Kowanas Club Incorporated of North Carolina Northport, excuse me, for placement of a portable building on city- owned property at Dallas White Park located at 5900 Greenwood Avenue, Northport, Florida 34287. Uh on September 4th of 2025, the city of
Northport received a request from the Kuanas Club of Northport to place the portable on city-owned property at Dallas White Park across from the site of the former city lease space that was destroyed during Hurricane Ian. Um related to this request, the Kanas Club
has submitted a grant application to purchase a portable building. The grant requires an agreement with the property owner, which is the city of Northport, authorizing placement of the portable building and completion of a site visit. The Dow White Park property has a public
institutional future land use designation and a government use zoning district designation. The Kowanas Club is a social service use, which is an allowable use in the government use zoning district. Uh there is a robust history between the city of Northport
and the Kuanas Club and we ask for you today as you consider this to provide direction with staff related to the request from the Kuanas Club of Northport for the placement of the portable at Dallas White Park uh located at 5900 Greenwood Avenue. We're happy to answer any questions you may have as
Thank you sir. Uh, commissioners, Commissioner Langden. Uh, thank you, Mayor. I I think Kowanas does great work. Um, and I love them. I think they're awesome. Um, but to my
comments earlier in the day, I really think we need to look at all four of these displaced or about to be displaced nonprofits and sort of figure out what's our policy. Um, what are we willing to
do and to what degree so that we can be fair and consistent against all of them with all of them. So, um, city clerk, I do I need to make a motion to put something on a future
agenda or can I just I can just request it. So, that's what I would like to do is to take a look at all of um those requests and sort of use them as a basis for saying,
you know, what's our investment strategy in our local nonprofits? And again, I think the four that I mentioned earlier are special because they were in cityowned properties that were torn down or are
about to be torn down. What do y'all think here? Yeah, I got a question for staff. Maybe Chuck has the answer. I don't know. Um, is there any issues with that section of
property that they were asking? I know where the old portable was, they're asking directly across. It's not up to the front where we've already put in new buildings and stuff, I believe, for parks and wreck, maybe. Are you up there?
No, you're in the back. Okay. with utilities, but I knew that there was a lot of underground stuff up there that might not have made it feasible. I just want to make sure we're out of that area if they're going directly across from where they used to
be. Uh Chuck Peak, public parks director. So, I believe it was utilities that had a portable trailer over in that section. Okay. And that that they already had all the hookups are already there to sustain that trailer. So, there's no conflicts that we're aware of.
Okay. that I that's because they were sort of sight specific because I know they didn't want to go after the arts center area this that and the other but we may have to go forward with this but the and thank you that's all I needed but the one thing that we're looking at
here and this is to go with commissioner Langden I I understand the dealing having to deal and and sit there and talk with other nonprofits and I'm sure when we have public comment.
Kowanas has been looking for a new building since it was destroyed by Ian. They've gone and done the leg work. They're in their final stages. So, what they really need is permission. I believe they've already had a site visit
from the grant people stating, "Okay, this is where it's going. We would need a, you know, memorandum of understanding with the city and Kowanas for that land." But they're at the endgame. They're ready to place a building out there if the money is approved and it is
timesensitive. They're going to find out I believe in November on one grant and December on second grant and then the money gets doled out in February. So this is sort of speeding up the process quite a bit to where we either say yes, we would like to possibly lease you land
if everything goes through to keep with that timeline. um to put it off and six months down the road that possibility could have changed and uh I'm sorry we didn't have an agreement, we can't give you the money. Now you got to wait two more years for the next
grant process or whatever the timeline is. So it is indicative of us to either make a decision to say, "Hey, we're in agreement to where we would love to discuss a lease option with you at this time." Uh because they've come asking. I mean, the other nonprofits have not. And
I do know for a fact that they are looking to help other nonprofits with this building. So they're already in the works of trying to establish an area for the nonprofits of the city to be able to come conjure up and possibly just share
the space going forward as well until there's more permanent structures going. I just wanted to get that little tidbit out there. We they've been working hard due diligently trying to get this money to get this building there and it's up to us to figure out if if it's
okay or not. So that's where I'm at. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Commissioner Pro to vice Thank you, mayor. To um kind of I want a clarification from the vice mayor. Are we talking about the same thing, a building or this portable?
Is it I believe it's a portable and they would be they're supplying it. The city is not paying one dime for the portable. They're supplying it. We would give them a lease of land renewable, you know, yearly as long as that portable is there
or Kanas dissolves or whatever. And if it does dissolve, then it come goes back to the city. So if they walk away from that building, the building's ours. Mhm. So, so currently there's no financial impact
to the cities as I understand. Correct. Correct. Okay. That's all. Good. Commissioner. All right. Commissioner Langman. Yeah. I'm without power, so I'll I'll be rude because I can't see what's going on and I can't vote. So,
um, my only question and and I I totally understand all that and I'm very supportive of Kowanas, but if if we agree to allow them to park their
um trailer there and we don't charge them parking fee, are we ready to do that for the senior center? Are we ready to do that for Awaken Food Pantry? Are we ready to do that for the art center?
See, that's my only issue and question. What do we all feel is appropriate for the use of taxpayer money in support of our nonprofits? And again, I'm not against it at all, but we need to look
beyond this one instance. How how do we want to engage with our nonprofits and what's an appropriate investment level particularly in light of the fact that
we're not rolling in dough? Are you asking me city? No, I'm not. It's well for everybody. That's the conversation I would like to have at the next meeting. All right. and and I would like to be
able to respond on that. That's what we had discussed with looking at lease options down the road. I believe in the earlier uh backup material, the art center was looking at a dollar a month. I mean, is is that really something that
we would want to entertain as a dollar a month per lease at 12 $12 a year for that nonprofit or would it be $10 a month? would it be? You know, th those are the discussions we need to have and I'm sure it has to stay within legal confines
on on how we would do that. I know you hit your button. You want to say something, sir? Yeah. Yeah. Just to piggyback on that, I would say that the the unique uniqueness and how you compared it to the art center is that they are providing their own sort
of facility, which is the portable. We're not required to provide pay or any maintenance, any cost. There's nothing out of our pocket that would sort of generate the need for a rental fee above the dollar. If the art center in this example comes back to the table and they
are able to fund their own building on our land, the premise was well if you pro if you provide the building then we'll provide the space for it and then they're required to upkeep and maintain the building. Uh the other thing I'll say is that that is correct. There's a time sensitivity here to this solution
because they have been gone for so long and they are literally in front of the grant board probably as we speak in order to get this grant sort of pushed through. Uh and that based on the the prior practice that we've had whether it was with the art center or somewhere
else sort of led us to believe that it was worthy of your consideration. I mean, I would say that I mean, the suggested motion by staff here is to direct city manager to identify options to offer the Quantis Club in Northport space at Dallas White Park. So,
we're not approving anything as much as we are directing staff to sit down and present some options and move this process forward. So, if that helps anybody, it does. Okay.
Um, anything else, sis? Commissioners, public comment. I'm ramping up. Public comment. Nonprofits, commissioners. For more than 50 years, the Kuanas Club of Northport has partnered with the city. It began with Kuanas building the Scout House for
Boys and Girls Club, Boys and Girl Scouts, and then we built the pavilion at Dallas White Park. Both were turned over to the city. Kowanas paid for swim lessons at the pool to ensure Northport kids didn't drown. In 1991, Kuana's Club partnered with social services manager
Zelma Salero to create the children's community clothing closet. For years, the old social service building was used by Kuana's volunteers to give families five free outfits for their kids. The club helped when a family suffered a fire or if a woman was fleeing a domestic violence relationship and
needed clothing and household items to start all over, and when foster families needed clothing. After the war in Ukraine broke out, dozens of families came to Northport without clothing and other furnishings. Kuanas helped them. The closet was a drop off site for donations and distributions. Kuanas
operated on San Chapo's Way for three decades until Hurricane Ian destroyed the portable building. Since then, the club struggled to help residents at the same level prior to 2022. One immediate solution was to apply for grants for a new portable to once again collect donations, give clothing to families, and help those in need in the poorest
neighborhoods of the city and all 11 schools. The club made it to the final fa phase of a grant to purchase a portable. The club is requesting to allow a portable to be placed across from the old closet on San Chapa's Way. This will allow the club to serve over 15,000 residents annually. The club
isn't asking for funds for the portable, just an agreement. It would be where the city temporarily placed portables after the hurricanes. It's an ideal site to serve at risk population. The C partners with the police for the do the right thing program and parks and recreation when possible. We want to keep serving
families here. Thank you very much. And in person, I have Jacqueline Sislo. Hi there. I'm Jacine Sisol. I'm the president of Kuanas of Northport. And while I understand, you know, with all the other nonprofits, the one thing is
we've been without our home the longest. It's been 18 months that we have been working so hard to get this far. I'm sorry, but we have done so much and this grant is so close to coming to an end and it looks like it's really in our
favor. The thing is we do have to lock this land in. If not, we may lose the grant and it it's such an issue for us. We have our building. There's other nonprofits that need meeting places. They can use our
building for meeting places and that that location is one of the best locations for the people that we help within this community. They can walk, they can ride a bike, the homeless, the it's just the perfect spot for us.
Everybody knows us in that community. Um we have done fundraising. We do um expose that help us raise money. We work the Brave Stadium to raise money. Um we have been applying
for grants right along to raise money. So we haven't been ignoring the situation. We've been fighting like crazy. We're running We're using money to pay for storage that we could be using for a building and we could put
towards community versus storage and we're running out of storage. We need a lot because we help in so many different ways. We're not just about clothes. If they need food, if um they need cleaning supplies, beddings and things, we help
with that. We work so close with the school. We have humongous amount of shoes right now that we have, you know, socks and underwear. We've been collecting this, but we're running out of storage and we need to come up with something soon. And like I said, I wish you would take in consideration, please,
that we have already been out of home for 18 months and we need a home and we're asking for your help. Thank you. Thank you. Now, there is one other thing. We do have another um foundation in um Sarasota, I believe, that is willing to
help us get started in that. Um they would partner with us to outfit us and everything once we got the building. Okay. Thank you. That's all. Thank you very much. Right. Uh
looking for a motion. Delighted to make it. Oh, go ahead. Okay. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I move to adopt resolution number 2025-R52 as presented. What? You're on general business. Wrong item.
I must have browned out just for a moment. Okay. I moved direct city manager to identify options to offer the Kuanas Club of Northport, Inc. space at Dallas White Park. Second. And I'm not going to let her
take another motion away from me just for that reason. I'm not worthy. Anything else for commissioners? Let's vote. And that passes 420.
Moving on to B 25-2903. Uh this is discussion possible action regarding city of Northport state and federal legislative priorities. City manager, your item, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh the city of Northport monitors state and federal
legislation throughout the year to identify funding and other opportunities uh to ensure that the needs of the community are met. The city commission reviews and adopts legislative priorities in preparation for the state and federal legislative sessions. Uh in
the packet, we've included what you provided for 2025 legislative priorities. Uh we ask that you are today to have a conversation about 2026. Um, just to go over 2025, the four items that we listed for support for infrastructure included regional
development of upstream reservoir and related improvements for storm water management, the new city police headquarters, the widening and extension of Cleo Blade Boulevard, I75 areas along local roads leading to regional evacuation routes and construction of
new I75 interchange at Yorkshire Rainree Boulevard uh in Northport. Uh the rest of your supports included environmental and natural resources, um supporting all county priorities, opposing limitations,
uh home rule, opposing cost shifts unfunded mandates or preeemptions of the Northport city charter authority and facts as well. But we're looking for a discussion today on what you would like for your 2026 priorities to be.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, sir. Commissioners wants to weigh in on this. Anybody? All right, I'll take a swing at it. Um, so I guess we're here to talk about what items we want to put on these two lists,
right? Okay. Um, looking at the 2025 state legislative priorities. Uh, first one up there was regional development of upstream reservoir and related improvements to storm water management. You know, I'm I'm a big advocate of that. I think we ought to leave that one
in there as uh you know, as as an item for a legislative priority. Uh new city police headquarters. I mean, not sure about this one. I mean, I I don't see again, we we've gotten
feedback from our legislators telling us that until we had a finance package put together that made sense, they couldn't help us. So, I don't see any reason to put this on. Even though I would love to get money from somewhere, anywhere other than our our city's taxpaying citizens
for this, but you know, I I don't see how it fits anymore. Um, widening Toledo Blade, uh, Boulevard, I75 areas. Um, I mean, I I guess maybe better way to approach
this would just be to like, you know, it it it how can I say this as delicately as possible since most of ours and and and our neighboring municipalities across the state legislative priorities
have have had a hard time being heard perhaps in Tallahassee. And um right now we're facing a single biggest impact to all our abilities to operate our local governments and that's property taxes. I I would advocate for the only
legislative priority I would put on here other than maybe the you know the the um work on infrastructure for storm water management would be to send a clear message to the our legislators in Tallahassee that um we would hope that
they would spend a lot of time given a lot of thought to how it is um we as local municipal municipal governments would would actually pay for important services, especially safety related services. Um, if our property
tax revenues were seriously impacted, I think that's a major priority and it ought to clear the deck of everything else that might get in the way of that. Hopefully, if every city and municipality in this state spoke out loud and clearly to our state
representatives, perhaps um we could come up collectively with some better approach to how to cut costs and do so without sacrificing public safety. All I have to say on this. Anybody else? Commissioner Langden.
Uh yes, Mayor. I um support everything that you said. Certainly restricting municipalities ability to raise money to fund essential services
is um very likely to happen in this legislative session in some way or another. Um, I love your idea of teaming up with other municipalities perhaps in Sarasota County and see if we can speak
with one voice. Um, and I would add in addition to please don't monkey around with property tax, there is also legislation being proposed that the FLC thinks is
highly likely to advance and that is further restricting municipal mun municipalities ability to assess impact fees which for a city like Northport would be catastrophic. Rothkick. Um the
limitations they put in I think acting city attorney I think it was our interim city attorney it was like 22 2022 I think they implemented some constraints on our ability to assess impact fees. Um
there is another bill likely to go through to abolish community redevelopment authorities which for cities in Northport I mean I'm sorry in the I'm really not doing well cities in the state of Florida who had their
growth spurts 50 and 70 years ago. They depend on those funds to revitalize their older sections. So there are just a lot of things happening at the state level that could be catastrophic for cities and towns um
in this state and I would be hugely supportive of reaching out to our fellow municipalities to see if we might speak with one voice on these items. Commissioner Petro down there. Thank you, Mayor. I would like to
introduce something maybe it was talked about before but supported legisl legislation to address rising insurance premiums or rates and improve resilience to this to the sea level rise. Well, specifically the insurance
rates because people are cannot afford insurance. They're forced to sell or just go without insurance. can't argue that that's an issue. That's for sure. Um the last time we did have
conversation to help a little uh Demetrius so you know uh when this matter was discussed a couple of years back um you know the feeling was that the legislation the state passed with regard to um mitigating the ability to
sue um was going to be the answer and the solution to the insurance market that um if people couldn't just indiscriminately sue and and it it became much more difficult for people to sue insurance companies then you know that would save insurance
companies all kinds of money and somehow like that would enure it to the citizenry in lower insurance rates. I'm not too sure how well that worked out. Um, I would say probably not at all, but um,
but it from what I've read and tried to gather, I mean, it's certainly not a bad idea to send the message, but um, I'm not sure our state legislators seem to think that it's a problem. Maybe because they're not paying the premiums.
I don't know. Um, anyway, good point. I don't have a big problem with that one. But, you know, the question is philosophically, how do we make this, you know, we're not unlike other municipalities who, you know, put together their their state and federal
legislative priorities. And, you know, the question is h how do we use this vehicle to really make an impact? Um, you know, I don't know. May maybe it is good just to to to list the laundry list of a half a dozen items that we are
concerned about. it kind of goes in lock step with a lot of the Florida League of Cities initiatives and what they believe is important for local rule and and unfortunately, you know, I'm not so sure how well like
this all seems to be working because the state continues to preempt and municipalities and the state government seem to be at a greater disconnect than ever before. Um so I I scratch my head and wonder how effective all this is
actually. But um and whether or not you know simply all speaking with one voice on one item which is which is the real bottom line issue which is the preeemption which is the state deciding that one sizefits all that that
legislatively out of Tallahassee decisions can be made that affect municipalities across this state. And you know, to me, that's the elephant in the room. That's the issue in the room that to me is the one item I'd like to
see on here to be hammered away with our state legislators so that they understand that's our priority. You you're you're taking away our ability to operate our municipality in the most efficient way possible. And the fact
that there are areas of our state m municipalities who who who may have been wasteful, who may not have spent their citizens tax dollars in the most efficient way, is is not a reason to carb blanch make rules that affect us
all and that in effect come back to bite us in our ability to do just that, which is be the best stewards of citizens tax dollars. And to me, that's the one legislative priority I want to see. All the rest, I think, fall on deaf ears in
my opinion. Anyway, that's my opinion. Um, I don't know. Where do we want to go with this? Do we want to come up with a list? I mean, that's what you all want to do. I mean, on the state legislative, we've
got four items here. You know, do we want to I mean, what do we want to do with the police headquarters? What do we want to do with widening and extension of Toledo Blade construction of I75 interchange? If Commissioner Dval was here, he'd say, "Absolutely. I want this one in. We need to hammer away." And
rightfully so. I mean, so I have no problem if we want to add to this list, delete from this list. City manager, you got to have a buzz or something. Make some noise so I know. I can wait patiently. What I would What I would say, what we're looking for, Mr. mayor is the four items that are on here. All of them
still need a certain level of attention and they're at different phases in their life cycles uh to get your consideration. U the reservoir and storm water management that's going to be a need for a while. The police headquarters even though we all remember once we submitted this last year, what
our representative told us is you needed to have a funding plan for it before we would contribute to it, which would sort of relieve some of one of the funding sources that we had identified. We know that we have not done that yet, but keeping that on there keeps it top of mind so that when we do get there, it
won't be a new surprise. If we take it off of it, if we don't give attention to it, someone will say, "Well, what happened to it? I thought you got it. You you went you went a year or so without it being on there." So, leaving it on there provides a visual and then the construction of the I75 interchange as well. as it relates to the uh
insurance comment and the property tax comment. I think that would sort of be like a new section that we would add in there because they're really not funding resources that go into this particular column. we would add a new column in there of uh both of those items if I heard correctly regarding the position
of the the property tax and its impact so to speak as well as the insurance and what can be done so that it's sort of monitored and um hopefully regulated at a rate that is better than what it is now. Um, one other before I know I have two
in the queue I would throw out. Um, perhaps and for all of us to think about is Bill 180 who a number of municipalities and counties have joined in legal action against the state on.
perhaps a more appropriate place to voice our opinion regarding that bill might be here. So maybe there's some value in a discussion about that particular bill
cuz that certainly has had some unintended consequences. What was built originally as a as a piece of legislation to help folks recover from from storms and natural disasters has turned into a uh a shield that that many
developers can use to work their way through some of the development plans they have in mind and and make it extremely difficult for municipality to to to prevent vent certain types of
development which leadership in the community may feel aren't in the best interests of its citizens. So, you know, that might be an item worthy of discussion as far as priority. But anyway, I'll let Commissioner Langden uh thank you, Mr. Thank you for indulging me.
Um just a a couple of comments on the current list. Um I'm on the fence with the police headquarters for all the reasons. We don't have a financial plan yet and even if $25 million dropped into our
laps, we probably still couldn't afford it. um widening and extending Toledo Blade. The Metropolitan Planning Organization voted down about a half a year ago voted down um even initiating a
study to see how it might be done to minimize the impact on any sensitive land, conservation land, it would go through. So I think without their endorsement, it wouldn't matter. So I I would take it
off. Um the new interchange vitally important for us in in a lot of ways the ball is in our court again to do some infrastructure improvements and implementation in that
area. I my sense is I hate to take it off because it's so vitally important and we pushed so hard for it. But again, I think the ball is in our court. Um, I I wouldn't mind keeping the police
headquarters on funding requests. Maybe it's not really a legislative priority, but but perhaps keep it um just to say we know we haven't forgotten it. So, um, that would be my input on the four that are there, and I'm taking
notes on all the other topics that, uh, others are bringing up. So, we can go through them again when you're ready. That's it for me. Vice Mayor, yeah, the one thing that I wanted to say, and this is before the city manager
spoke, was exactly what he said was I didn't want to take the PD off of the table because that looks like we gave up. We've quit. That's not We're not asking anymore. But we don't have the funding options, but we still have a fight. We're still looking for it. We
may have to make concessions, but we're still looking at. So, I would not take that off. And Barb had brought up or Commissioner Langden had brought up about Toledo Blade. I was going to say the same thing that there was no progress on taking that any further than
what it is. The vote was however many to one. Yes. and and uh it's it's that's not in the near future anyway. So maybe if it does spark its head again down the road, we can say, "Yeah, we want to discuss
that." But at this point right now, it's a mute point in my opinion because without the backing from no or do or anything like that, it's it's not getting done. So those were the two things I wanted to bring up. I definitely want to keep the PD on there just just for conversation sake. And you
never know if we'd be talking to somebody up there and they go, "Hey, do you know about this?" Oh, no, we didn't. And at least it's there, you know, whatever it may be. So, I just didn't want to, you know, if we're a few years down the line and we still don't have
any progress, then that may be the time we punt the ball. But at this point right now, I don't see it. I want to keep it on board. That's the only thing I had, Mayor. Anybody else? Okay. So, if looks like the first item
we're leaving, second item we're leaving, Toledo Blades, the only one we're looking at pulling, right? Yeah. And I75 interchange states. Do we want to add anything? I mean, want to add insurance? We want to add a
statement with regard to property tax. Do we want to add anything else? Well, I I I s I I believe less is more. Um, so the fewer things the better. Unless you wanted to put in discussion
about bill 180, you know, just to have a discussion and then the taxing um, you know, some kind of statement. don't monkey with our our taxing
authority. And then we could put sub bullets um under that. Two or three of them could fall under that. I had a different word than monkey, but yeah. Okay. Well, yeah. I mean, with regard to that item,
I mean, you can't deny the fact that the citizenry wants lower taxes. So, the state's going to do something to simply say, don't monkey with us, don't mess with us, don't screw with us, whatever you want to call it. I mean, those are all messages we can send, but I'm not
sure that, you know, that matters as much as being able to try to make them aware of how huge a percentage of property tax goes to provide for public safety and
high-end quality of of life amenities. things that our citizenry cry out for all the time. This is what they want in their cities. They want it to be safe and they and they and they want to feel that their city or town offers them, you
know, the the quality of life that they'd like their family to enjoy. And, you know, it's it's up to them to figure out how they do this in a in a way that makes sense. and and and doesn't leave
citizens short. And and I don't think I I you know, with all the politics that that's being played here, you know, the response to don't mess with our dollars. First of all, they're not our dollars. They're our citizens tax dollars. And
our citizens don't want to pay them. So, they want Doge. They want lower taxes. They want cuts. They want all these things. and the state is looking at an, you know, a variety of ways to do it. We
need to make sure that in their discussion as they try to come up with some magic bullet to solve this problem and and lower people's property taxes that they do it in a way that doesn't compromise public safety. And maybe
that's the kind of message we want to send. They need to be continually reminded because not all of them or even a lot of them have worked their way up to local government and may not necessarily truly understand. Look at how long it's taken some of us to figure
out how our tax dollars get spent, where they can, where they can't, what they can be used for, what they can't. I'm not so sure that the majority of our state representatives have a clear understanding about how what an enormous impact
this would have. Not to say that we shouldn't collectively find a way to be more efficient, save tax dollars, cut costs, spend our money only on those things that are the most important things, but you know, we'd have to come up with something crafted appropriately
that wasn't punitive in nature, but rather suggestive in terms of, you know, hey, don't forget how important it is that these what these dollars go to. and and so maybe there's a way um somebody
might be able to do that acting city attorney in I mean got three more hours of me there you go anyway vice mayor you're up um
yeah uh what I was going to say was you got to remember when we go up to Tallahassee we're shuffled through like cattle So, we basically have 20 to 30 minutes per representative. So, I mean, when Commissioner Langden said three is better, but I understand where the
mayor's coming from. So, maybe this could be the fourth category once we get down past the three that we're keeping is just discuss our basic community needs and and just go into detail with the remainder of our time to say, "Hey, our community wants less taxing, wants
this, that, and the other." and just have that conversation. This way it's it's not a single topic. It could be any topic on basic community needs. Just throwing that out there for you, mayor. It's I mean it really has you know it's
not like we haven't had this conversation with some of our state representatives and and any any talk in the media um by any elected officials you know politic in this issue. You know our electeds have have
at least expressed their feelings that you know until somebody comes up with an actual real plan for how to replace that revenue nothing's going to happen. So, but you know, they're certainly moving ahead on a number of different initiatives that are going to have
impact. And what worries me is what always worries me with government is that decisions are made and if they're not carefully thought out like the unintended consequences come back to bite you, you know where and that's what worries me with this one. So yeah, I
think Vice Mayor, you probably got the best idea here and just uh work it into our conversations and you know, put it on the list basic community needs and and we've got from now until next spring to figure out what may be the hot topic of of that moment
is and and I do think our particular legislators, they get this. They've been around long enough, most of them, that they hear us, but I'm not sure that anybody's come up with any solutions. So, it doesn't hurt to continue to just
keep it in front of them. So, no. Um, city manager, are we giving you any kind of direction here? Any? Yes, sir. I heard a lot. I didn't hear anything. I didn't hear the final uh landing point on the insurance and the
uh the property tax conversation of just putting a statement on there because I agree with the vice mayor when we do get there we are sort of on a time limit but this year um when we go I plan on having sort of a condensed cheat sheet especially for the mayor since he's the one who starts off that conversation and
that'll be um Mr. Emer so that it sort of keeps us in line with what we want to focus on because the main thing they ask us is how can I help you and what do you need and we need to have a very tight script together so that that can sort of help drive that conversation. But you make very good points about the items
that you do want to include on there. I think that the more that they see it would be helpful um because all of the conversations might not make it to every single conversational piece. So, I think it might be helpful to at least have it on writing.
And and that's why I I I know you wanted to do insurance and everything like that, which that's what the mayor was discussing. That's why I gave it a roundabout title, basic community needs. Who knows? Stuff may fail between now and then. And we it's not part of the discussion anymore. So, if we wanted to
put insurance and they did nothing, it's still on our list, but let's just leave it broad. That's that's why I put it that way. Yeah. Barb's going to argue with that, but that's okay. Who's up? Commissioner Petro, Commissioner Pro, you're up.
Yes. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to make it concise and brief. Support legislation to address rising insurance rates. One, two, three, five, six, seven words. you support it for them to look into the legislation
that would address rising insurance. Support for rising insurance. No, no. Support a legislation to address rising insurance rates. Got it. I think I think we're good on our end, Mr. Mayor, but I think
Commissioner Langon may have wanted to chime in as well. Yeah. Um, as soon as I get the floor left the floor, ma'am. Thank you, mayor. Um, just sort of listening to what folks are saying. What
if we did something educational without being educational? I don't know how to broach it, but something like basic community needs. What do people here in Northport need and want from their government? We
want a safe community. We want a clean community. We want an affordable community. And so I think all of the other things we've been discussing, you know, legislation that addresses
high insurance as part of the affordable community, etc., etc. So, I just wanted to throw that out as maybe a frame for that kind of a conversation. That's fine. That's it. So, you feel we need a motion or you got
a general feel for where we're going with this? I think we're good on our end. We'll bring you back something that will sort of crystallize everything that you talked about um in as few words as possible and sort of tie it together.
Uh got any public comment on this subject? No, he's not. Nothing there. Okay. And we're not going to we're not going to put a motion together on this. Um, so we can move on. Let's move on to C2-2709.
This is discussion possible action regarding projects for 2026 state and federal legislative funding considerations. City manager, your items, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I am going to have our grants division manager, Miss Valerie Malinowski, come down and speak
on the topic. Good afternoon. Uh Valerie Molangowski, grants division manager. Um this is our annual um agenda item about uh state and federal appropriations. Um to get your input on what types of
projects we should um be requesting in the upcoming year. Um just a little bit of background about each. Um state legislative awards typically uh provide about a million dollars per project. Although higher amounts are usually possible, um priority should be given to
those that are urgent and shovel ready projects. Um federal funding uh usually involves stricter requirements, but the funding amounts can be higher than a mill million dollars typically. Um and then
um both state and federal uh requests require a match. So, I do have a list for you um of some different projects to consider uh for state and federal funding. Um the state projects um I generically have a subject called emergency services building and
equipment and this is things like our police headquarters, the emergency operations center, um possibly a um fire station in the Toledo Blade area because I've heard that there's been some conversation about that. Um, and that also includes equipment for that fire
station. I also have on there for state where mineral springs water and sewer or buildings, uh, water control structure improvements, which we always need money for, um, Price Boulevard widening, um, phase 2 design, uh, bridge improvements,
water and sewer expansion, solid waste transfer station, and preservation of environmental lands. And that was from last year a priority. Um under federal we have um water control structure improvements, warmer mineral springs water and sewer buildings, bridge improvements, water and sewer service
expansion, Price Boulevard widening phase 2, and emergency services buildings and equipment. So I'm here to get any kind of feedback of um you know whatever other types of priorities that you think we might need this upcoming year.
You're pretty loaded up as it is. It's pretty busy. [Music] You think two of this commissioners? I think we're good. I think we would stay the course. That's just my opinion, you know, and and try
and get what we can for whatever we can and then then we can prioritize from whatever money we got to getting the solution going. So, yeah, I think you got your hands full. Okay. Just my opinion. 105
four. Oh, that's right. Anything else, commissioners? Public comment. There is not. All right. I'll request a motion. I'll make it. Move to approve the list
of projects for 2026 state and federal legislative funding consideration as presented. Second. A motion by the vice mayor, seconded by Commissioner Langden to approve the list of projects for the 20 2026 state and federal legislative funding consideration.
If there's nothing more, let us vote. That passes 420. Another great job, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. Moving on to D25-2798. [Music] Discussion, possible action regarding a
proposed ordinance establishing stricter residency clustering activities for registered sex offenders. Uh clar introduce this item. This item was this item was requested by Commissioner
Dval. I did speak with him and he said he was just looking to see if we could get direction for the um city attorney to review what the city can do regarding this item. Commissioners, anybody got anything to say on this subject?
I would ask the attorney what he has to say since it's directed at him. Depend on what the commission wants to do. Mayor, if you if you have direction that you want researched or something that you are looking to uh go beyond the
state statute, we're here to to hear you. Thank because what we would be asking here is if we go down this path is to enact with the with the plan in mind would be to
enact legislation that is more restrictive more restrictive than the state statute already inquires and penalties that go along with that and what that looks like and how to enforce it and um I myself would like a real strong
legal opinion on that from our legal department as to whether or not you know they think this makes sense. If so, why? If not, why? Is there any better course of action with regard to addressing this concern
without changing legislation? I don't know, you know, but I certainly would, you know, defer to our legal department for guidance here because I don't know what we could do. This could be fraught with all kinds of
Mr. Mayor, do you mind if uh chief and deputy chief speak to this item? There's a lot of activity at the county level that may be relevant to the conversation. Chief Gris with the police department. Uh the sheriff is looking into this matter right now and we'll be um making
the decision um shortly. So, we probably should we support this 100%. Uh, but we're we're looking for the sheriff to uh set the the guidance on it. Sounds good.
I'm good with that. I'm good with that, too. Uh, Commissioner Petro, thank you, Mayor. Uh, couple meetings ago, we had a public comment regarding this proposal.
And uh I guess my question is to legal. How restrictive are we looking to do from this comparison from the state versus local level? I do not know sir. That's not a question
for me. That's a question for and I guess I can direct this question to the chief. um how restrictive is um local county is proposing this or looking into this? I don't know what they're going to decide on, but I do know they're looking
at the Putinham ordinance and the Miami date ordinance. So, um you know, I think in order to protect our community and our children, we need to be as restrictive as legally as possible. Okay. So, with zero room for uh forgiveness.
I support the vice mayor. Yeah. No, I agree. I said we need to do a deep deep dive in this to see because under emergency situations, we can't make things stricter this that and the other. So, um that depends on if that
pertains to this issue or not. So, definitely need need some background on that because if we're allowed to do it, that's one thing that we can look at. If we're not allowed, then we need to look at, okay, maybe if if the emergency
status dwindles away or is gone, then at that point, we may be able to do it. But we need to know what the legalities are on on where we could go. And I'm glad that the sheriff's looking in on it. We might be able to peg back on some of their
information, but again, it's up to our legal team to go ahead and do the research and come back and give us the yays and n. I I think the hopes is that all the municipalities in Sarasota County are are in unison on this. That's where I'm at on it, mayor.
So, do we want to give any specific direction or make any kind of a motion here or do we want to uh wait on the county to set general direction? If we need a motion, if there's going to be a countywide
ordinance that would affect the city anyway, we might want to see what they're going to be proposing before we That's what I was just going to say. Yeah. Yeah. I hate that. I was going to suggest that maybe we do a consensus to instruct um city manager and our police
chief to come back um once they know what the sheriff is proposing that you get that information to us and that we put it on a future agenda as soon as Does the sheriff have a timeline?
Okay. I I didn't think so. I just want if if they said they know by January, then we'd say come back the end of January, you know, whatever. Yeah, I I think it's in progress. I I don't think it's going to be that long. I know it's I know it's in progress. Okay. Well, it's in process. So, only
time will tell. I say we peg you back with the county at this time. See what they bring back. Okay. So, I gather we need to not take any action unnecessarily this time. table it.
Thank you. Wait on what we see. Right. All right. We have public comment there. We have public public comment. Yes. Casey Brewer. Thank you, Commissioner Dval for bringing this forward and to Hannah Crosby for standing up for our community
safety. I've lived in this neighborhood for 23 years. It used to be a safe place where parents felt good letting their kids ride bikes and walk to the bus stop. That sense of safety has been gone for a long time. There's a convicted pedophile living at the end of my street. He's been there for over 10 years. My wife made repeated calls about
him sitting outside every morning and afternoon watching children at the bus stop. Eventually, the school district moved the stop. But now those same kids have to walk right past his house and I've seen him talking to them. What doesn't make sense is how someone like that is even allowed to live near a bus stop. When my son got in trouble once at
a bus stop years ago, we were told it was considered school property. But when we called about this, suddenly it wasn't. The system shouldn't work that way. It's time to close these gaps and put real restrictions in place to keep our neighborhoods safe. Please support this ordinance and make protecting children the priority it should have
always been. Eric Henderson, I'm writing today as a Northport resident who is deeply concerned about the growing risk of multi-offender housing within our city. This issue is not hypothetical. It has already happened in other Florida communities. Our community shouldn't have to wait until a similar situation
unfolds here before taking action. Adopting an ordinance like this would not only protect our children, but also send a clear message that Northport prioritizes public safety and responsible community planning. I strongly urge city leadership to review the presented ordinance and take steps to implement a comparable policy here in
Northport. Danielle Santoro, I want to thank Commissioner Dvau for bringing this forward and Hannah Crosby for championing stronger protections for our neighborhoods. I've lived in this community since 2002. I raised my son here when it was a safe, family-friendly
neighborhood. But that sense of safety has been gone for over a decade. For more than 10 years, a convicted pedophile had lived at the end of my block. I made repeated calls asking for help to no avail until I reached out to former commissioner Joel Luke, who stepped in and got action taken. The school district then moved a bus stop
because this man sat outside daily watching children get on and off the bus. Even now, the new stop forces kids to walk right past his house. And I've seen them stop and talk to him. And he has had no qualms about approaching me and my granddaughter to ask about what we were selling when putting out yard sale signs. My granddaughter has never
known the freedom my son had growing up here. Riding his bike, playing outside, and feeling safe. That basic sense of security has been taken from her and from every family on the street. This ordinance is long overdue. It's time to put stronger residency restrictions in place and make sure no other family has to fight this hard just to keep their
children safe. Thank you to Commissioner Dval and Hannah Crosby for taking this seriously and standing up for our community. In person, I have Hannah Crosby followed by Trisha Gibbs. Good afternoon, commissioners. My name is Hannah Crosby. Um I've lived here in Northport for over 20 years. Um, earlier
this year, I'm just going to read much easier for me. Earlier this year in Putham County, an out of town investor purchased property and advertised specifically and directly to offenders and predators. Within weeks, more than 40 new individuals moved in, many from other parts of Florida. The only reason the county was able to remove them was
that the trailers were condemned due to significant code violations and the fact that the properties couldn't be brought up to the 2025 code. Without those violations, officials hands would have been tied and those individuals would have been left to stay. The Putham County ordinance was modeled after the Miami Dade ordinance. That Miami date
ordinance has been challenged all the way up to the Supreme Court and was upheld as just and constitutional. We're not immune here in Northport. While we don't have condemnable trailer parks, we do have other properties, older hotels, small apartment complexes, and multi-tenant buildings that could attract similar investors. Currently,
there are several multi-offender houses in our city. One specific house, which I provided a map overview for, currently houses four registered individuals. two offenders and two predators. Three of the four are repeat offenders. This house sits on Price Boulevard with one
bus stop just 350 ft away and another about 770 ft away. The sidewalk that children use to reach these bus stops runs directly behind that house. Statewide data shows that roughly 20% of registered offenders in Florida reaffend. In that Northport house, 75%
have reaffended. That's not a statistic. That's a danger zone in neighborhood full of families. While this ordinance would not be retroactive, it would prevent new offenders or predators from moving in as current ones leave, allowing these high-risisk areas to phase out safely over time. Research
shows that clustering offenders together increases the likelihood of new offenses, especially when supervision is limited. Whilst schools are often protected zones, the unmonitored areas, bus stops, parks, and playgrounds are where our children are most vulnerable. This ordinance makes communities less attractive for out of town offenders to
relocate and prevents housing markets designed to cluster offenders together. If implementing or enforcing this ordinance creates operational cost, pass those costs along to the offenders. If they want to live here badly enough, they can contribute to the cost of maintaining community safety instead of
those costs being passed on to law-abiding citizens. Putnham County has already done the hard work of drafting this legislation, which means our local government could adapt it quickly without starting from scratch. take action to protect Northport families by being proactive instead of reactive. Thank you.
Thank you. I'm Trisha Gibbs. I'm a longtime resident. I've lived here since 1974. We had one stoplight. I grew up on these streets. I'm going to read. Ladies and gentlemen of the Northport
City Commission and esteemed residents, thank you for the opportunity to speak on agenda item 25-2898, the proposed ordinance to establish stricter residency clustering and activity restrict restrictions for
registered sexual offenders and predators. As a concerned community member, I strongly support the measure to enhance public safety, particularly for our children. In the next few minutes, I'm going to outline a proposal
compared with our current laws, those in Miami Dade County, Putnham County, and Florida State statutes and explain why this is essential. First, let's review Northport's current framework. Like many Florida cities, we adhere to state
baseline reg residency and restrictions under the Florida statute 70775-215, which prohibits certain sexual offenders and those convicted of crimes against children under 16 from living 1,000 ft
of schools, daycarees, parks, playgrounds, or bus stops. This is a minimum standard, but it lacks provision against clustering and additional activity limits, leaving gaps and protection. Our city has no local
ordinance exceeding this meaning exceeding this meaning offenders can reside closer together in multif family settings without oversight potentially creating an unsafe potent potentially creating unsafe
circumstances. In contrast to Miami Dade County, Lauren Bookchild safety ordinance sets a higher bar prohibiting sexual offenders from residing within 2,500 ft from a school,
daycare, parks, playgrounds, and any place where children regularly congregate. This 2500 foot buffer more than doubles the state and has been in place since 2010 and includes broader
prohibitations or lotterying in child safety zones. It is proh it is a proven model that prior pritorizes prevention over reaction. Putnham County, which passed a similar ordinance
just last month in September 2025. And I'm going to cut this short just by saying that we do have a way to make it 2500. Our commission has a way to do that. There's a chain of command and
we'd like to follow that. Thank you for your time. Thank you. All righty. going to do a motion on this. Yeah. Okay. City manager,
we'll get once you guys hear from the county, we'll hear back. So then we can take this up. In the meantime, we can table this. So yes, sir. We'll keep you posted. Okay. Moving on to looks like our final item E25-2915.
Uh, city manager, your item. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, this item is the discussion and possible action regarding suggested agenda items for the 2026 Convocation of Governments. U, this is the item that you just approved
earlier for the resolution to be able to attend it all together. Now we're asking if you have a list of topics that you would want to discuss between you and your interlocal partners. Um as you most of you remember who have already attended it is a meeting where we're
able to submit one or two items uh for the discussion of the group. It's not mandatory but it is allowable if you so desire. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, is this school board related or anything related?
uh the school board is the primary uh leader of it I would say. Um but I would say you you have an audience of not only the school board but every other jurisdiction in our region in the room. So I would not own the school board if I
were you. Commissioners looking for input. Commissioner Petro. Thank you, Mayor. When is the deadline to submit the list of um agenda items to be discussed at that?
I believe it's for early November. Uh Mr. Petro, let me make sure. Uh by November 14th, can we have some time to elaborate and to come up and maybe present it for the next meeting?
or or or we can bring it back to the first meeting in actually we have two meetings in November but uh yes sir you can do either the 28th which is our next meeting in October and in November you have a meeting on the 4th as well which
the 14th of se November do we I don't know how many of my fellow commissioners are aware do we want to um do we want to weigh in on the subject that right now the school board is
wrestling with over charter schools uh being able to uh basically take over uh space in public schools um to the extent capacity isn't breached um I believe
that is you know yeah it's it's I mean it's a ticklish subject But it it the reason it does have some impact in import is that if charter schools exercise that ability and take over a percentage of an
existing school, the overhead that goes along with providing all the services are dollars that come out of our taxpayers pockets. And so there
might well be some value in in thinking about it and deciding whether or not we wish to even offer up an opinion or perspective on this because um I I dare say in each of our counties, Sarasota, as well as the surrounding, there are
going to be a handful of schools that are going to be occupied by charter schools which are forprofit, which are privatized, but who will reap the benefit of services that are paid for by
our citizens and you know maybe we as electeds ought to have a position on that but if you want to learn more about it there's certainly information out there. Um, I don't know. Is there anything else people want to bring up at
this meeting? Looking at what I mean, basically, uh, city manager did a presentation on recent upcoming events, accomplishments, goals, partnerships, and programs. And some of the things we've done in the past, Mr. Mayor, like remember we were
going through the conversation regarding the school light that built out there. You know, I think that one um we talked about it with the um the board at that meeting, but ultimately we decided to go ahead and do it. I think it's turned out to be very favorable for us. Uh they give they only give us a presentation,
they gave one last time regarding Wellland Park and the high school out there. So, we know that that'll be a big uh topic. They're also putting in I believe it's $100 million to renovate and update the current high school. So from the school standpoint, they are
investing a lot of money in the city of Northport right now and you and I were in a COD meeting where they were talking about their financial troubles, but yet they were giving us like almost $300 million. So we were very well taken care of in that conversation by the school. So that is for sure. Yeah. So uh maybe maybe uh showing a
little bit of appreciation for that at that meeting would go a long way. I think so. Cool. All right. So you have a general feel for since you're going to do the talking. I'll turn it over to the mayor who will do the talking at the time. Turn it right back on.
There we go. I think at that time it'll be him. Right. Good. All right. Do we need to um I'll bring it back as Pedro said. I'll bring back something maybe a little bit more formal structure that we'll show
and you can either provide me your input as to what you want for then or you can wait and talk about it at the meeting. Yeah. When's this coming up? Is it Jan When's the meeting? It's January 16th. January 16th. Thank you. All right. Yeah. I put in for that day off
as opposed to any other day. Yeah. Okay. Specifically that day. All right. We're on to final public comment. Lynn Hutcherson to the Northport city commissioners. I will not be able to attend the commission meeting being held
on October 14, 2025. However, I do want to express my views regarding their request to amend the central park development master plan. I live in the colony at Sable Trace and I'm very much in favor of the requested amendment. The lake adjacent to the colony has been there since the colony was built. There has always been a clear view of the
adjacent lake. We as a community would like it to remain that way with no additional new trees or shrubs blocking our view. The lake has already been enlarged a bit and looks extremely attractive. Our shoreline remained the same and we would like to stay that way. We had to take down a large rubber tree that was on the pond at Colony at Sable
Trace because swift mud was concerned about the root system and would have caused the properties to flood during the hurricane. The next thing is there is less than 16 feet from the shoreline to our properties and plantings could cause erosion issues and damage as we have already determined due to the removal of that rubber tree we had to
do. Any plantings would also cause us to lose air flow and block our view. With all that in mind, please approve the requested amendment and grant waiver one to the development master plan amendment. Thank you. And that's all. Thank you. All right. Um to commissioner communication commission communications.
Um Mr. Langon, I'll take a pass at this meeting. Uh, vice mayor. Yeah, the only thing I got is Daniel better hurry up or he's going to be the last person here again.
Commissioner Petra, I went to the Minnesota League of Cities um on September 30th. That's it. Okay, we can get more, sir.
I didn't mean it that way. I just meant said, "Hey, um, let me see if I got anything here since the last." And I think that's about it. With all due respect, sir, speed it up.
Yeah. Well, I have a bend down 245. All right, that's a note. Oh, good there. Then we're on to uh just administrative illegal anything out of city manager. No, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Acting.
That's my last commission meeting as interm city attorney. Thank you very much. And uh let's hope we don't have to do this again for quite some time. We'll see you. Thank you for everything. We'll see you soon, sir. Yes, sir. City cler. All right, with that, if there's no
further business, it's 2:37. I turn this meeting.