In Northport, families are finding more and more places built just for them. We opened um this past June. We are an indoor play center for children ages 0 to 7. We do open play sessions, birthday parties, special events, and classes
here at the play center. For me, um you know, being a Northport resident, there was really not a whole lot in Northport for children um besides the local parks. So, it was super important for me to have something in the community to be able to offer to families with young children. You want to have that option
to be able to still get out of the house with the kids, get their energy out and not have to hike all the way up somewhere with traffic and you can just go to a spot near you and just make those special memories that are close to home. Playtime Paradise isn't the only
new spot making Playtime local. >> Do the Beach is a immersive indoor adventure park. We are primarily an inflatable based attraction. We have over 14 different ride attractions scattered throughout the park. With growing young families pouring into Northport and growing the city, we just
knew there was such a need for families to have an outlet and some some good entertainment, active entertainment for children. One of our core beliefs as a as a company is encouraging kids to get involved in active and social play. getting them away from their screens and
using their imaginations. >> From slides to inflatables, dance classes, birthday parties, Northport is growing and so are the options for young families right here at home. The community has welcomed us with open arms. >> We are thrilled to be here. >> It shows families that there's a place
for them um to grow as a young family in Northport. There's a place in Northport that invites you to slow down to see, hear, and feel the world around you. Inside the Garden of Five Senses is Boundless Adventures, a playground where
every child can play, no matter their abilities. Just beyond the playground, the story stroll turns a simple walk into an interactive adventure. Each step reveals a new page or activity sparking imagination, curiosity, and
conversation. It's a walk, a story, and an adventure all in one beautiful setting. The Garden of Five Senses, Boundless Adventures, and the story stroll, where every visit is a story waiting to be
discovered. While you're watching me run away from this hurricane, you could be signing up for emergency alerts. Sign up at alertsacount.com today. Welcome to the brand new Northport Podcast Network. We're so excited to introduce you to our revamped lineup of
shows created to keep you connected, informed, and inspired about everything happening in our city. >> That's right. With three unique shows under one network, there's something for everyone. >> First up is Northport. 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 familyfriendly 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. Morning. Today is Monday, April 6, 2026. It's
10:00 a.m. We're in the city chambers, and I call the city commission workshop meeting to order. Commissioners present are Commissioner Dval, Commissioner Stokes, Mayor Emerich, Vice Mayor Langden, and Commissioner Pro. There is a quorum present for this meeting. Also
present are city manager Fletcher, city attorney Fuino, Deputy City Clerk Powell, Board Specialist Linder, Police Chief Garrison, and Deputy Chief Hurle is in the back. I'm going to call on Deputy Chief Hurley to lead us in the
pledge, please, sir. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
>> Thank you, sir. City clerk, public comment, >> Tim Doyle. Well, I'll keep talking what I did left off on last time. I don't know if you guys seen the news, but they're going to spend $1.5 trillion on a defense package
for this country. $1.5 trillion. Last time there was a trillion dollar spending bill. I got a cable company down my road. I paid for that. You paid for that.
Where are our air raid sirens? There was over a hundred little girls killed in Iran. Do you know why? Because of your data centers and your spy centers and they use all these computers
and they thought it was a military base and they blew it up, but it wasn't. It was switched to a school. You have a Coast Guard station in this town. That's a federal facility. It
should be protected with that $1.5 trillion. I should be protected with that $1.5 trillion. Where are the systems in this town to tell me that if that place is attacked, I know I have a place to hide. Where are
the fallout shelters in this town? Where are any underground shelters in this town for anybody? No one has basements, right? Well, you already had discussions about footings and stuff. You poor slabs. Are you going to allow the people of
this town to build shelters in their backyards underground without permits, without following any anything with the town is anytime you follow anything with this town, it's in a computer somewhere. And Russia knows where that fallout
shelter is. Everybody in the world knows where that is and they can come and kill me. That's what you guys have done with our society with these computers and these stupid I don't know what do you call them? What do you guys call these spy
centers? They're not called spy centers, but that's exactly what they do. They're all spy centers. And Lion has figured it out and he's starting to blow them up. I'm sorry that you don't want to hear this stuff. You don't want to be in
charge of a town with a facility that the federal government's going to use to protect the international coastal waterway from foreign attacks, then you need to do something in this city for the people who live in this city so we have a shelter to go to or we can build a shelter on our own property which we
own. Which I don't know how you have any right to tell me I can't build a shelter at this time when we're at war. When are you guys done that's going to wake up? When are you going to smell THE COFFEE? THIS IS RIDICULOUS. You should
be on the phone with Stewie and Scott right after this meeting trying to get some of that $1.5 trillion to protect us. >> That is all, Mr. R. >> Thank you. Moving on to item A 26-0471.
Mr. Fletcher, this is your item, sir. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um this is 260471 presentation by the economic development division providing a quarterly economic update to the city commission. I will turn it over to our economic development manager Mr. Mike Mir Miller to lead us
through the presentation. Thank you sir. >> Good morning. Michael Mirman, Economic Development Division. Happy Monday to everybody. The economic development division has three primary purposes and objectives when we look at our daily tasks. And
I've got them listed here, not in a particular order, but just to review so that we clearly understand the roles that we perform on behalf of the city leading to today's presentation which is highlighted in green which is workforce development.
But by and large we perform these three functions on a daily basis. The first of which is retaining the businesses here in the city once they've moved here. And it's really a very exciting component. We get to um support the existing
business community. We spend a lot of time in the community itself helping businesses understand why the city values them. We provide support services all in the name of retention. Last year in the city, we had 250
plus businesses move into the city and year to date, we've had already over 100. And so once they get here, we want to make sure that we can keep them here. Secondly, we work on business attraction. We spend a great deal of time trying to
figure out where the needs are, what the citizen base would prefer to see here for businesses, what we need to support our general fund revenue. And so we have active campaigns around attracting businesses to our community with very
specific components in place to get the right mix of businesses. And then of course today I'm going to present to you on the third component of workforce development which is an equal component to the other two.
You long hear about what came first the chicken or the egg and we have this conundrum in economic development. Do we develop the workforce in advance or do we bring the businesses first? And people are split on what you do
first. Can you bring one before the other? And the reality is it's very difficult to answer the question. And the right thing as economic developers is to do both. And so we have active campaigns to not only retain what we have to attract new businesses, but to
develop the workforce concurrently. How do I define workforce development? It's it's a strategic approach to preparing folks for employment while ensuring businesses have the talent that they need in place. It's been brought to
light more recently with the onset of more and more medical positions being necessary in our community to support the health care trade. And what's interesting about that is even the health care trade itself doesn't
necessarily agree on what they need. I made a note to myself to remind us that we keep hearing about the nursing shortage. Nurses, nurses, nurses. We hear this regularly. We need more nurses. Well, there's a lot of different types of nursing. Let's start with that.
And not everybody can agree on what exactly the nursing shortage is and what specific type of nurses are necessary or needed. If we talk to the educators who are training nurses, they have programs
around those types of things. If we talk to the employers, they have different needs. And if we talk to folks that are building like SMH, they're projecting what they're going to need. And so we have to come up with a methodology to
really understand how do we develop the workforce around the needs of a community and how do we address the specific needs within in this case by my example healthcare. I've got a couple of graphics that accompany this slide. You
can see the the the scrubs representing the healthcare industry. But to the right, you also see what I'm defining as advanced manufacturing, which is another component of the workforce that we need to develop around the notion of health care.
I was reminded not long ago that we can't copy somebody else's model and be successful. We can learn from it. We can take the best of. We can look at what they did wrong. So, I can look at Chicago, LA, New York, and any major met metropolitan community and decide what
they've done for workforce development and say, "Oh, well, if it worked there, it's going to work here, too." But we've learned that that's not the case. We know it's not the case because what works in Chicago probably won't work here. I could go to Sarasota or Bradenon, Fort Meyers, and and pattern
ourselves after their models, and I'm not sure that that would be any better for us either. And so what we decided to do was to create an alliance of professionals where we could sit down and talk about what does Northport need around
healthcare. And we created this alliance. We had our inaugural meeting in February. I've got a listing here of some of those that were in attendance. You can see they're all prominent representatives of the healthc care industry from the region. includes HCA, Sarasota Memorial,
Northport Behavioral, um um the educational community as well. Since this first inaugural meeting, since our first opportunity to get together and talk, we have already had our second meeting, which was last week on Friday.
And this list of esteemed alliance members has grown. In fact, it's doubled. The most important thing that came out of those meetings was that there was a lack of agreement
about what is needed in Northport. You would think that all of these alliance members would be unified on what they think we need or what they need even. And it was the most interesting component for all of them. As the
educators would say to them, what are you going to do with all these people that we're training? And the healthcare provider said, we're going to hire them, but we need more specific types of training, more detailed training, types of training you're not providing. And it got the
attention of the educators to realize that the programming doesn't necessarily match the need. The demand for the workforce hasn't been accurately described in terms of numbers. And it's far greater than what
we all realize. And no, it's not about, as I started, nurses, nurses, and more nurses. It's about the nurses that got burned out during COVID, who left the trade, the CNAs who want to advance their
nursing careers to other opportunities, not necessarily in nursing, but they want to stay in healthcare. And as I learned during these roundt discussions, as the members of this alliance learn, there are opportunities within health care for people to cross over into other
things. Example might be a CNA who could then become a sterilization clinician for which there is a huge demand in our area. Sterilization techs. And that's just one small example of crossover
health care opportunities. And so the discussion theme centered on the need for expanded clinical placement capacity, the the importance of creating visible pathways, persistence, and I love the word
persistence in hiring challenges, the financial and logistical barriers, and to have a cohesive methodology in place to make all of that happen. We did that in the first meeting. We did that in the second meeting which we had last
Friday. The result of which is that on June 6th there is going to be a career exposition and hiring event hosted by the city managed through all of these partners
that I just mentioned. And the career exposition component of this is to educate the health care community, the health care workforce community that there are various opportunities to stay in
healthcare, to come back to Northport where you live and work here, to move to Northport and work here and pick up a healthc care career. And so what they're going to do is they're going to bring to this exposition, they being the alliance
members, they're going to bring laboratories, dummies, buses with health care technologies for the health care workforce to explore
alternate health careers to make them aware. You'd think that if you worked in a hospital, what an assumption that you would know that there was opportunity abound in other types of health care sectors. Yet, it's not the case. Like so
many people, they go to work and they do their job and they go home and they don't realize they could cross over into something else. And this alliance has decided that they needed to educate the healthcare workforce community of opportunities that exist in healthcare
today. One of the silos of attraction that we are working on is this quantum technology. And I've given you the specific industries in smaller text underneath the title. It relates to
the aerospace, aviation, semiconductor, and advanced manufacturing areas of technology. Quantum Technologies is a targeted component of the state of Florida's
economic development plan. We are the leaders in this nation as a state in the aerospace and aviation community. We are rapidly becoming a leader in the
semiconductor trade in this state. In fact, we are already number five in the nation, only behind Arizona, California, Texas, and I'm missing one, but we are fifth in the nation in the area of semiconductor. And as a result of those
things, the advanced manufacturing components continue to grow. We have been working with folks in these quantum technology silos to attract them to Northport. And we have gained a tremendous amount of interest in
businesses either starting here or moving here. And just to give you an example of the timeliness of this, just this morning I received an email from a world-renowned design firm up in Sarasota who's wanting to come down here and meet with me because their design
and technologies are being deployed in I wrote this down. High precision machining for missile and fire control. Wouldn't have been too many weeks ago that none of us would have paid any
attention to those kind of things. And here we have an engineering and design firm in Sarasota reaching out because they heard that we were pursuing quantum technologies here in Northport and now they want to meet and find out how they
can be part of that Northport growth component from this perspective. And so I find it highly interesting that the traction the has has been strong that we've had good amount of interest. People are coming to us without us even
chasing them. Two weeks ago I happened to have the good fortune of being in Miami at an aerospace trade show. And while there I had the opportunity to meet with two other aerospace aviation companies that are very interested in Northport. One of
which is a tire distribution center. Yes, aircraft tires. You can imagine that if a plane lands at any one of the seven airports along the west coast here along the Sun Coast and blows a tire or needs a tire repair, you say, "Well, where do they get their rubber?" Well,
it comes from the east coast. And now that east coast tire distributor is talking about putting some sort of a warehouse and distribution component here in Northport to supply the seven airports along this coastline. Another example that I can give you from that
trade show was a gentleman who has advanced manufacturing capabilities for the aero and aviation industry and he coats metal parts for the industry. It's a coating business. He's looking for 40,000 square foot facility either to
build or lease to expand his business to this coast so that he can do metal coatings right here in our community. Much like the healthc care alliance, we have built a workforce technology
alliance around quantum technologies. I'll back up a few slides here to this one and take a look at the advanced manufacturing. The gentleman there in what's known as a bunny suit. Not the kind of bunny that was hopping around over this past weekend and certainly not
the kind that Hugh Hefner had in his mansion. But in course they call this a bunny suit. And this is clean manufacturing, advanced manufacturing. This is this is the kind of industry that we're talking about attracting to
our community where we have these highly skilled individuals. An individual like this working in a semiconductor environment uh with a certificate program coming out of high school can earn as much as $70,000 per year.
Just to put it into perspective, these are workforce initiatives worth pursuing. Our technology workforce is also made up of a very esteemed group of folks. Our second meeting of this
alliance will be meeting later this month. Again, this list has also doubled and you can see that we have the University of Florida, we've got UF, we've got the the manufacturing association and a host of others that
are engaged. Our phone is ringing. people wanting to participate in the workforce development because just like health care, they too are realizing the need to have a ready and able workforce. Again, similar to healthcare, the
discussions have focused around attraction and retention strategies, as you might expect, technical and engineering components. And we're very fortunate here in our area to have a lot of great engineering programs. And the
educational system has reciprocity and articulation agreements with other engineering schools like Embry Riddle up in the Daytona area where students over here on this coast can go to local schools even at the high school level through the Sarasota County system where
they have articulation agreements with the likes of UF and Embry Riddle. And so we called it here stackable credentials building that pipeline and then have ongoing coordination with these members as we develop that workforce.
All right, that's a brief overview of some workforce initiatives and I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have. >> Thank you. Nice presentation. Commissioners questions. Vice Mayor Lang. >> Thank Thank you, Mayor. A couple of
questions. Um, we've been relying or maybe I've sort of been relying in my thinking for training with our technical college here in the city. Um, even once they expand, they have a fairly limited
bandwidth um of students that they can handle and move through. So my question is have have we been doing anything to attract some of the other training organizations to locate
here? Galen School of Nursing for example um any of those kinds of companies. >> Thank you commissioner. The answer is yes and your assessment of the technical colleg's capabilities is accurate. I'm
I'm proud to say that I sit on the advisory board for the school as well and so I do get to have updates on a regular basis and executive director ND uh over there at the college also sits on our community advisory economic
development board and so we've got nice reciprocity there and and good communications. They do have a limited bandwidth. They have an expansion program which has not yet been fully funded. Uh so they have limitation on classroom
space. Classroom space equates to limitations with respect to their ability to offer more programming or enhanced programming or new programming. And so it's been very difficult and you probably saw over this past two or three
days that the Sarasota County school system has uh recently um uh laid off a large number of employees due to budget constraints and the college is impacted by that. We have worked with Galen School. We've had active conversations
with Galen. Galen is a nursing school. uh Galen's students who graduate principally go to HCA related facilities. HCA and Galen have a relationship which I'm not here
to um tell you I can perfectly describe but they have some sort of a um um agreement between the two that their students go to the HCA facilities. Um I
am working with the technical college to the south of us as well in Charlotte County and in fact um he was listed as one of the advisory board members. They do have healthc care training and we are reaching out to work with the universities and colleges. In fact just
this morning um FGCU sparked some interest for us with regard to that same thing. So we are reaching out and yes the local college has limitations. >> Okay, thank you for that. Um a very
interesting lineup of providers on the workforce alliance. Um my question is is there any interest or do any of those providers have an appetite for providing some of that very specific training? Um,
I was fascinated to hear that there's such a thing as a sterilization tech. That's a new one. Um, on me. Are they having any conversations about doing some training themselves? very proud as an employee of the city to
tell you but for the city's leadership in this area. These organizations didn't realize that they could do these sort of things and delve into their needs and more specifically in the case of healthcare and sterilization technicians. They didn't realize that
there was funding available from private and public sources, but more so private sources that could help these employers pay for the training of these new employees. And so, but for the fact that the city had
engaged them all to introduce them to the fact that they could provide training cost-free or on some participating level, uh they probably would not be pursuing it and would focus more in the areas of on the job training
and now their minds are open to the fact that there could be very specific development and certificate programs. Okay, thank you. Um, one last question. Um, are we doing anything with the National Science Foundation?
Um, you can pay me later. I think I'm setting you up. >> You are setting me up. Thank you. Um, >> they provide funding for very promising technologies. >> The NSF has is a is clearly on our
radar. The NSF is funding very specific initiatives around semiconductor advanced manufacturing. Um the folks that are sitting on our alliances um specifically the national or the Florida Semiconductor Foundation just received
uh uh a grant in the order of $25 million from NSF and there are other NSF grants that are coming through to those specific providers. For those who have not followed the the technological technological advancements of recent
years, we we we're we're easily tripped up by things like artificial intelligence and web design and all the things we hear about every day, day in and day out. What we are focusing on as a community are what I'm calling foundational technologies.
We're we're rooted in the technologies that power the things you hear about. It's the semiconductors and the chip trade and the advanced manufacturing and the engineering that go into allowing people to develop websites to harness
the power of artificial intelligence. So, we're working in the arena of foundational technologies and the National Science Foundation provides funding to those sorts of organizations. Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. I'm all set. Thanks.
Thank you, Commissioner Stokes. >> All right. Thanks for presentation, Michael. Um, question on on business retention. Let me ask you, what are what are you guys finding to be the I mean, I don't know that there's an exodus of
businesses, small and midsize businesses from this city. Um, it seems like there's a net positive every quarter, you know, to the tune of 50, 75 new businesses a quarter coming here. Granted, a lot of them are not brick and mortar, but is there why is there or is
there even an issue with business retention in the city? I mean, what are people unhappy about? What is what is there that I mean, you know, >> Well, if you're saying is there a negative trend, you've you've already answered it in your question. There's no negative trend. We're seeing positive
results quarter over quarter, year over year. It's somewhat leveled off more recently. Um, I think it's primarily lifestyle that keeps people here. I met with an entrepreneur just a week ago who's been doing business here for 10
years in a rented facility and and and is struggling with the idea of growing the business because we don't have what's known in economic development and and commercial real estate as flex space. She needs flex space and flex space has not been something that developers are willing to put up on
speculation. Historically, flex space in the last 10 years has seen a a small smaller demand and so the development community doesn't want to put flex space up and that's what a lot of small businesses use is flex space. We have a need in our community. In fact, I met
with developers two weeks ago, a group of them and and they all asked me what what does Northport need and on my shopping list was flex space. Um, so we don't have an exit of the small business community. They by and large love being
here in our community. They they enjoy the programming. And for those of you that don't know the programming that we offer, we have many things. We everything from a Toastmasters club to to regular monthly education, training, and development opportunities to help them be successful through the SBDC,
through the through the Chamber of Commerce, through our own Northport Next program. Uh we're providing them with uh many resources. Uh you'd be surprised how many entrepreneurs walk in the front door every week, come over to economic development and just want to sit down
and talk with us because they don't know where else to go. And we sit down with them. Um they they like us. We have we have a very strong small business community which is supported by the local chamber. Um we work well with
them. Uh there there is not an adverse component to being here. It's all positive other than the opportunity to grow. >> Well, there you go. That's what I'm pointing to. It's like there's no space. They don't have office space. They don't have
>> warehouse space. They don't have I mean there are more warehouse space now out off of Toledo Blade with Bendersons. I don't know whether that's all Danny, but space is the single biggest problem. Yeah, the Benderson business park is not a great example of the kind of flex
space. The >> smaller I get. >> Yeah, it's it's a much larger component for larger concerns. It's more expensive and more sophisticated. >> And switching to business attraction, which was the second category you folks
in economic development work on. I mean, can we point to and I mean this in a positive sense. I'm not trying to be accusatory in the sense can we point to specific businesses that
our efforts in economic development have brought to this city? I I mean, you know, there's there's a ton of small mom and pop businesses that are attracted to this city, but what about the midsize
businesses? What about the larger businesses? Are there specifically targeted businesses? Are there specific like plans to go after and attract? Because I mean, my problem is it's a big
country. There's lots of economic diversity state by state. Granted, the weather's pretty good here most of the time, but why why would any of these businesses
want to come to Northport? >> I love the question to get here because it's been a lot of years, 10 years I've lived in the city, which isn't anywhere near as long as a lot of people. We seem to put a lot of attention and a lot of resources on growing our economic
development in this city. But frankly, the only area I see us exploding in is health care. And that's because hospitals took it on their own to decide that they're going to build here. And so that's great. I see us being a medical mecca because it's going to be the me
too, me too. More and more businesses are going to want to locate close to the hospitals and the medical centers and that's going to in spite of everything else will grow that area. But why would a you know why why would an aerospace
business or any of those businesses want to come here? We have no shovel ready space who's ready to say hey here's 40,000 square ft for you to move into or here's a trained labor force. So, how are we really doing this? Or is this
just is is this a a a a philosophical and educational exercise we go through? Because we desperately desperately need businesses, bigger businesses in this city that not only bring their tax dollars to us, but
provide jobs. You know, out east with all that empty land, there's no infrastructure, there's no nothing. Hopefully those land owners understand the only way that's going to happen is if they frontload the infrastructure and start to create industrial parks and
other areas to attract businesses. So what can we as a city do? We don't have tax dollars to spend there. We're not going to spend tax dollars to do that. So what are we specifically doing to make them want to pick Northport over
anywhere else? Because I I don't I don't see it. Nobody's told me, you know, and and and frankly, you know, I know you guys are working hard. I know you got some very talented people and you're very focused on trying to do this, but
I'm I'm trying to see my way to how it actually gets done because you know, we are spending dollars on EDC and you know, I've been on this commission four years. I start to like to see some businesses I could point to and say, "Yep, we brought
that one. We brought that one, we brought this one, and you know, >> all great points and I I'm in complete concert with your assessment. So, if we talk about the lifestyle category, um, which has been a big focus
for the community, right? Uh, pleasing the taxpayers, the uh, we can talk about early learning academy, daycare, and other types of lifestyle components that have been brought to the city recently. But in terms of scale projects, which is
what I think I'm hearing from you, that that contribute to the general revenue fund. To give you an example of an exercise, last week we completed a request for information for a firm out of France who makes um um a specific fabric
product that goes into the aerospace industry. They are looking for on the order of 30,000 square ft. We submitted u um today it'll go out uh the proposal that had all the
information as to why Northport and it wasn't as though we were selling them. The request came, can you provide natural gas at this volume? Can you provide electricity at this volume? Can you
provide transportation sector metrics and statistics and so forth? And we checked all the boxes on this RFI. And among them, of course, is the logistical location, which is something that we've been working on from a marketing standpoint, which is to
identify our community as more than just an exit off the highway. And so we've been we've been using the component, the description that is Northport. Next, we are next. We are that next inland
gateway along the West Coast. We are that next inland port. And that's the way we're describing it. inland gateway, inland port based on our logistical position along the Sun Coast,
which is midpoint between Tampa Bay and Naples, if you will, but far enough off the coastline and right on the highway for instant access. And hence this is why the aviation and aerospace industry has an attraction point to us. I didn't
bring it with me today, but there's a map that shows aerospace and aviation in Florida. again the leading state in the nation for that and it's all along the east coast yet we have all of this aviation on the west coast and so we're
positioning Northport as that spot that location that can service the west coast of Florida with all of these aviation products so it's an example of this French concern in the aero industry looking to
find a new home a new location in fact one of the prerequisites was they needed to have access to international airports not further than 1 hour away. So you're saying why Northport? I'm giving you examples of the things that we can check the boxes on. We've got Tampa
International to the north obviously and the Fort Meyers International to the south. In addition to all the utility metrics that we needed to satisfy to give them um site selection advantages, we were able to do those things and that
request for information will be sent back out to them today. Again, there are French concern and I'm not sure what's fully attracting them. I can tell you that there are four other sites that they're considering besides ours. one is in Alaska and and I I don't quite
understand that but for some reason Alaska seems to be strategic to them. We are in fact targeting the industries that I mentioned earlier, aerospace, aviation, anything in advanced manufacturing, semiconductor related.
And yes, you mentioned out east where we don't have an infrastructure and we uh utility infrastructure, typically roadway infrastructure. Um um how do you develop land out there? How do you get developers to do something out there?
Well, you have to be innovative and we are being innovative and I am working with developers to develop the properties out east. We are we are putting forth very creative solutions around our infrastructure, around the need for sewer, around the need for
power, electricity, um roadway development, and we're doing that in concert with the long-term FDOT plan that plans to put highway access in the eastern part of our city. How much are we I don't mean to cut you off, but I do
um mean to cut you off. um and try to focus on bringing, you know, if I'm a business a a Fortune 100 company and I'm looking for where I'm going to put a new warehouse or a new production facility somewhere and I'm
looking around, there's there's no limit to the opportunities I may find in a multitude of states depending on what my criteria is. how involved are we getting our land owners since the city really doesn't own
any land. So, it's not like we can turn around and say, you know, here's what's so great about Northport and come to our city. Well, that's good except that where exactly in your city like should I
go? And how do I build a 35,000 square f foot facility when you don't have the land to sell me or lease me? And what are we doing about brokering and collaborating and bringing
together our property and land owners who own these parcels and these potential business interests? like are are we getting into that end of it or are we simply trying to sell Northport? Because, you know, having
done deals half of my career, like you got to grab people by the arms, the ears, and everywhere else, get them in a room, lock them in, and not let them out until you get your deal done. We need to get these deals done. We need to make these things happen. And we don't have
shovel ready property in this city. So to me, >> the solution is is to put these people together. And I I don't know if we do that. I I I don't see it, but then that doesn't mean it's not happening. It just maybe not. >> Yep. No, it's Thank Thank you for your
insight. It's it's spot on. We do do that. And in fact, just two weeks ago, I did that with a group of 30 of them, and we met and we talked about what what does the city need and how can we make that happen? And this would include site
selectors, developers, land owners, and realators. And I can tell you that I am in weekly contact with all the major land owners in our city. I say all, as many as I know about. Um, I invite them to speak
with me on a regular basis, and they do. Typically, if you were to come visit me in my office, we probably would be interrupted by a phone call from one of them. Um, I even schedule meetings on weekends. I can tell you that last Sunday, a week ago, yesterday, I had two
developers both asked me to participate in a Zoom call between the two of them as the city to be there and to help engage further development in their projects. So, I do speak with them with regularity. Some are known to you, others are not. Some of them we have
non-disclosure agreements with and so we don't talk about it. Um, some of those projects are coming to a head rather rapidly and they'll soon be unveiled. But we do have and we actively engage with land owners, site
selectors, developers, and we have acted in a capacity as Cupid in bringing them together, which is necessary. I can tell you that on Friday I received a call from a major landholder here in the city who also happens to be a broker and we talked
about um 10 different parcels that they represent and or own and how they would like to have those properties developed and they are seeking guidance from the city and and mind you I can't tell anybody what to build right it's private
property and as you said we don't have many city properties that we and engage on. But as Cupid, we are here to introduce people to one another, whether it be an investor, a builder, a broker, whatever it may be. And and that's a big
part of what I do on a daily basis. I bring these folks together. We talk shop. We talk about needs. We talk about infrastructure. Obviously, I have to guard their business and so you wouldn't hear a lot about it. >> Appreciate that. I'm glad to hear that.
Fine. I'll just touch and then then I'm done on the workforce development. I mean, I know that's your wheelhouse. That's your thing. I know that is a real long-term pro. I mean, it takes a lot to lay the groundwork and build a base to
develop workforce, you know, to to address the issue of workforce development. So, I'm I'm all in. I know that's your thing and like, so I'm not going to dwell on it. Thanks for the efforts there cuz I I know how important it is and and that to me is the answer. It it has ripple effects throughout this
community. If we can get people if we can get 5 10 15% of the people who get in their cars and drive out of this city every day to stay here and work here, we will have there will be huge benefits to that. We just it's not something you can
flip a light switch and make happen. So I appreciate that, Michael. Thanks. I yield. Thanks, Mayor. Commissioner Dval. >> Thank you, Mayor. Uh, as far as what comes first, chicken or the egg? We actually have both.
>> We have SMH Hospital building a hospital right now. That's the chicken. The eggs are the jobs that are coming with it. >> Yeah. >> Okay. and the opportunity for us to capitalize on that by getting
together with that other chicken we have right here STC. Okay, for training, okay, we can become a mecca for training for all these services all over Florida. All you see is uh HCA care, you know,
cancer care center, you know, it's it's our elderly population, you know, pretty much has a surplus of needs for care. That stuff all works together. Now,
this is just a personal thing of mine that, you know, I just don't understand. Uh this is the sunshine state. Doesn't it say that on our license plate someplace? Florida and the sunshine. And and
Northport is one of the fastest growing cities in the country, they tell me. And I spent some time out with a gentleman in in Wellland Park just the other day, and he's telling me about their plans for, you know, building this, building that.
Why are we not building solar on top of every h new house that's built? Why do we not have solar being built on any new city building that's coming here? Okay. And I know some people will say like, well, you know, you put solar on your
roof, your insurance is going to go up. Well, the money you're going to save on your electric bill and electricity is something that's going to be at a premium in the future. Data centers are coming all over the country. They
use a lot of power. Okay, we could have a self-feeding cycle. We get a builder and have him agree that he'll put solar on.
Now, we get a distributor that sees how many solar things we're putting. Maybe he'll put a distributorship here in Northport and we'll train people at our STC, okay, in the electronics, you know,
trade. Um, it it all works. It all works together. um you know the the schools, the workforce, as Commissioner Stokes mentioned, you know, those thousands of people that
leave this city every day to go to work. We can keep some of those people here. And I'd really like to see as far as the city owning land, you know, maybe we don't own any very large tracks.
But we do have some properties all around the city, rights of way in places where solar could go in. Uh that could cut costs in the city. Plus, it's another factor of the the solar trade that might attract a manufacturer to
come here. Um those are my comments. Thank you, sir. >> You're welcome, >> Vice Mayor. >> Uh thank you, mayor. really quickly. Um I'm kind of a metrics gal and what I
would really like to see in future presentations um is among other things. For me, the primary ones are for non-residential projects. I'd love to see the life cycle of those projects and how many we have
in the different phases. Um, and get a sense for what projects are actually moving forward. Um, because again my general sense is we have a lot of early stage projects and
then there's really no movement. So that's what it feels like. But we don't need to know what what industry I know a lot of this um you sign non-disclosure agreements but I but I'd love to see that kind of view of our um
non-residential projects. I'd also like to see how and if our tax revenues from the non-residential sector is progressing. I know when I talk to people I talk a
lot about increasing tax revenue from commercial because it eases the b the burden um on you know residential property owners. So I'd really like to see how we're doing and and if we haven't establish some goals and then
job growth. So I don't know if if um my fellow commissioners agree. I'm only one of five. willing to consider um not a motion a consensus
uh if others would like to see those kinds of metrics captured and reported on. So mayor with your leave I'm happy to float one. >> Sure. But do you have any comments on what she's asking for like on the next presentation?
The three things I wrote down commissioner were life cycle of projects >> that are nonresidential >> right >> the number of >> uh tax revenue projections >> based on that activity >> y
>> and then job growth advancement or decline whichever it might be. >> Yep. Same thing you know projections what are our goals and then what's progress toward those goals. So, city manager, I don't know if if we
I need to do a consensus on that or if if we're good. >> I'm good from my end. >> Okay, we're good. >> They're reasonable. >> That's what I wanted to do. >> You can have a consensus if you just want to put it on the record and that's
fine, but I think he's very amoical about doing that. Yeah. >> Yeah. Okay. Thank you very much. I really appreciate that and thank you for the presentation. >> Commissioner Pro. >> Thank you, Mayor. >> Uh, first I want to thank you for the presentation. It's very informative and I really want to thank you personally
for your interest and advancement of our city in economic development. I really do appreciate that. Um, have a couple questions. Um, how much do we spend in the area of economic development? And I mean this question to be phrased in a
positive way of how much is being used. Maybe we need to use more. Um I'm usually more of a negative as far as how much we spend. But this is a this question is um my my question is really
do we spend enough of the money in economic development area to attract new businesses and uh what's your how much do we spend last year for example or if you have a tracking record of a quarterly expenditure?
>> I've been waiting for this question for over a year. Thank you. Um >> well at least what is your budget? >> Yes. So it's it's a two-part answer. The first is do we spend enough and the answer is clearly no.
We are severely handicapped as a municipality um in the area of economic development on what we can do because of the lack of hard cash, money to spend, things to do.
We we actively look to do things between the lines. I don't mean illegally. uh uh between the lines meaning where we can where opportunity exists when things avail themselves. Uh we're very very active in doing everything and anything we can do. Um I
have a very unique job here at the city which is to promote economic development without being able to spend the kind of money I should be spending to match what we would like to see done. My budget is among the smallest in the
city. Uh it's it's a bit over a million dollars. It includes of course staff personnel, wages and benefits and the like. And then our operating costs, everything from uh office supplies to
attending conventions where we exhibit and promote the city and everything in between. memberships and professional organizations that we're aligned with where I don't have money in my budget. And I I don't mean to bring up sore
subjects. You've asked the question to be to be transparent. Unlike most communities, I have no incentive money. I can go to a show and I can get somebody tell me that they're very interested in our community or they'll come right up to me and the very first
question is what kind of incentives do you have for us to move there? Because you see there are other communities whom we compete against that are offering incentive monies.
um my hip pocket is empty in terms of hard incentives. The two incentives that I can bring forward are administrative approval process during the development cycle. Time is money. Um and they all appreciate that because many communities don't have the
administrative approval process. Uh and the other item that I can bring forward on occasion if it fits all the right parameters are deferrals on impact fees. It's since I've been here I have not seen a single development project take
advantage of deferral of impact fees. Um I have proposed it to a few but to my knowledge nobody has ever done it. It typically in projects of scale doesn't amount to a lot of money. By way of example a deferral on a 50,000 square
foot retail facility somewhere along Toledo Blade. Let's just use that as an example. It's my breadandut example. 50,000 square foot retail space to be built on Toledo Blade, the impact fees might be on the order of $600,000
approximately. If you defer those fees for a period of three years and you apply some uh mathematic equation about the time value of money, it might save the developer somewhere around 60 to $80,000 depending upon
their investment capabilities. $60 to $80,000 on a, you know, 20 30 40 $50 million project doesn't move the needle a lot. They're all gracious when I mention it to them. They're like,
"Thank you. We appreciate it." But it doesn't move the needle when we talk incentive. So, it's really a deferral of impact fees. And the commission has been very clear on where we stand on that particular issue. The the uh money that
we need in in economic development to attract businesses isn't necessarily all rooted in incentives. I will tell you that it is not. It is the icing on the cake though. When you got a hot deal and you're competing with somebody else and they're offering
the incentive money and you're not, it could be the deciding factor. And you say, "Well, what kind of incentive money do you want, Mike? You know, we can't just give you $20 million and tell you to start giving out money. First of all, we don't have the money. And secondly, is that really effective?" And and I
would agree it's not. But to Commissioner Langden's point, I hope to uh let's see, this is the month of April, May, June. I hope in the month of July that I'll be able to make an announcement that's not yet public about one of the businesses that she's wanting
reports on. And I'll actually be able to go public with um uh a new business coming to town that I'm aware of. And um that business's CFO called me two weeks ago said, "Are you aware that we're going to
Yes, I'm aware you're coming to town." And his question was, "Do you know that the last facility that we built in city Y, they gave us X dollars in incentive money?" I said, "No, I was not aware of that." And so, what are you offering?
Now, they've already agreed to come here and on a post commitment basis to move here, to build here, they're now asking for incentive money. What are you going to do? Knowing full well that I didn't have
any, I danced and I asked, "How many employees do you plan to hire to run that operation?" And the answer was 125. Could there be incentives built around job creation,
which is an economic development tool? It's it's it's a common practice around the nation. It has some drawbacks. Yes. Um, would this particular business like the idea that they are moving here,
didn't ask for incentive money upfront, but might get something on the backside? Would they not feel really good about coming to Northport if they knew that we had something for them, something in store for them? Now, I've not worked up
a job creation incentive plan. I don't have one to present to you and they can be very complex but I throw out the idea as an example of how incentive monies could possibly be used to be creative to serve many purposes more than just
giving as people might say the developer a handout or just by giving them a deferral on certain monies that they would ordinarily have to pay. Or we might say they would come here whether we deferred the impact fees or not. They would come
here whether or not and they would still employ 125 people. Um questions become will they stay? Will they expand? Will they hire all 125? We don't know those things. And so
incentive dollars can't be emphasized enough for your consideration as a tool that could be carefully managed appropriately guided under the right conditions for the right businesses. I would like to
see my budget change in that area. Yes sir. >> Thank you. Thank you for that. Um what are your marketing processes of following up with the prospective businesses that might come to the city? Do you have a strategy of following up
and you know like called the call calling? What what do you do to follow up? We do we have a full-time staff member Mike Mlullen known to many of you. Um he was our employee of the year.
Um when I introduced Mike to receive his reward, I made the likeness that he was like my big brother because no matter where I go in Northport, he's already been there. He's already done it. And many of you have seen Mike. He doesn't miss a ribbon
cutting. He doesn't miss a groundbreaking. He doesn't miss an anniversary. He has an active um regimen of visiting our existing business community members, calling on them, reaching out to them, offering services.
He's excellent at what he does. That is his role to retain businesses. So, sometimes it is a cold call and sometimes it's visiting somebody who's new to the business or new to the city. Their business is new to the city.
Sometimes it's I never saw that before and he just pulls in the parking lot and goes and knocks on the door. Yes, we and Mike's not the only one, but that he's primary. >> We we actually participate in an active way on every Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. Anytime you'd like to be a guest, we'd
love to have you. uh the local BNI chapter. Um we attend that meeting every Wednesday morning at 7 a.m. It's a group of approximately 75 local businesses and we stand before them and meet with them and greet them. Obviously, we're very
active in the local chamber as well. So there's there's hardly an opportunity that comes up in the community that's public that we don't engage in. Okay. >> I'm so glad the commissioner our vice mayor
mentioned the metrics uh because I was going to ask um and my interest or the area of interest was the progress of commercial base and the actual tax revenue from commercial base once it's
built uh and the life cycle um and also I would like to know if you can include in those metrics um the proposed businesses that would be developed not just you
know the traction of the life cycle for example today you would say hey there's a this business coming on corner of this and that street it would be nice to get the community excited the realtors the investment community uh and the people
in the city um like one restaurant or you know coffee shop and those those sorts of uh specific speific in those metrics if you in if you can include and also >> I'm not completely clear on the request
metrics on businesses that are coming that >> the new businesses >> the new businesses >> yes for example there's a business that is planning to be opened such and such business at that >> intersection or that street so we can
get the investment community excited uh you know the community itself self and so on. Um and also and Commissioner Dval touched on the area of solar panel. This is a sunshine state. Have you had
any requests on distribution or actual facility for uh solar panels? >> So not for distribution uh a business focused on solar. I will tell you that alternative energy formats are a hot
subject in my department in our division. We are actively talking to developers who have active initiatives who are pursuing on an active basis alternate forms of power
particularly out east where the power grid is not yet developed sufficiently. And so I can tell you that there have been discussions around turbine power uh gas power uh and other forms of power generation
including battery. And you say how do they do battery? Well battery is a stored medium. Um during off- peak cycles, the grid provides power to battery banks,
stores up that power, and then the end user would be able to use those battery banks as a source of powered by off-grid power. And so it's it's it's a it's a newer design now that batteries
have advanced efficiently at the commercial level to do that. So there are manufacturing sites, I mean like smoke stack manufacturing sites, major facilities around the nation that are using alternative forms of power. Um gas
has become extremely strategic. Um Google has recently announced the conversion of facilities that they are managing and going to gas power as primary. And so, um, I do have one
developer who owns substantial properties and they have talked about putting in solar fields and their property holdings are substantial enough that the word fields is appropriate, arrays of solar to
supplement the power generation that they envision needing for the development of their initiative, but not a solar business itself >> and have you been approached by any um
developers to do a spy data centers data centers and what are your thoughts about those data centers uh and are those how beneficial they can be for the community? >> Thank you. So my thoughts on data centers first are that the the landscape
has changed dramatically from what you'll see in the press. Um, when I talk about advanced manufacturing and the semiconductor industry, you can't hardly talk about those components of technology today without understanding
the infrastructure that supports things like data center uh data centers, particularly the ones that we're familiar with in the in the Virginia area where that is the mecca of data centers in our nation or the ones that have been going up in Arizona and some
of these, you know, vast landscapes out in the southeast of the country, Texas as well. Um, they took up a lot of land. They use a lot of energy and a lot of water. Um, that's because the semiconductors that power all the computers inside get
hot and they have a heavy draw of electricity. Therefore, they heat up and they need to be cooled. Well, that's a big piece of the semiconductor trade. Why we're so interested in it. Semiconductor advancements now reduce the electrical draw, reduce therefore
the heat that's generated, thus putting a temporary, if you will, or smaller impact and footprint on the electrical grid and on water sources. And so the semiconductor components play
right into data center components and the actual technologies around data centers. And this is where this word quantum has come into play. Um the typical data center build if you imagine
massive square footage say 200,000 square feet of nothing but racks of computers and every one of those computers has a chipset and all those chipsets get very hot. They draw heavy electricity and then they have to be cooled. The quantum technologies in
semiconductor are such that these chip sets are now made with silicon wafers that have resistance to heat. Therefore, they draw less electricity. Therefore, they need less cooling. And they package them and
stack them in layers so that what one computer was doing now or what Yeah. what one computer was or 100 computers were doing now one computer can do and that's where that word quantum comes
into play. So the footprint of the data centers is shrinking. The demand on the electrical grid is shrinking and the consumption of water for cooling has changed. Equally having alternate sources of power, not electric
but maybe gas and not necessarily water but closed loop systems. And yes, we have investigated this thoroughly. And so I'm giving you a little bit about my opinions. The future of data centers is very bright in this nation. We won't live without them. You should know that your demand for use of your personal
telephones alone will continue to make the need for data grow exponentially beyond our ability to imagine. Not to mention every Apple Watch, every car system, every facility that exists in our nation needs data of some sort. The
data center thing doesn't go away. It's the way in which data will be compressed, compacted, and distributed. I think it's a good thing. I like the direction and what we're seeing are scalable data centers and that is the current trend. Scalable meaning instead
of putting up 200,000 square foot of data centers you'll build 25,000 square ft using quantum technologies and then when you peak out or max out you'll put another 25,000 square foot next to it. And so the footprint in all
areas of data center technology is changing very rapidly. The second question that you asked was have I been approached uh countless times. I can't tell you it's countless. Um it's a hot subject. The state has
very specific guidelines as well. Uh the governor has outlined what he believes is appropriate. the the utilities have programs that uh um are almost restrictive in encouraging data
center development. It's very expensive to get the electric grid connected to a data center. We're talking about tens of millions in in financial obligatory and and and committals to power that would
discourage most people from participating in data centers. >> Thank you. Thank you again. And I do really appreciate the presentation and I think personally that you're one of the greatest addition to the economic development.
>> Thank you. You make me blush. >> No, I really do. Thank you. >> You're welcome. Commissioner Stokes. >> Yeah, I'll be brief. I just wanted to we obviously tomorrow incentives are one of the items on the agenda. So, I'm not going to go down that rabbit hole except
to say that I'm very pleased that you're looking at job related incentives because I I think that's an opportunity for us. I think the deferral program obviously hasn't taken hold and so it'll be an interesting conversation tomorrow.
The only other thing I want to mention, I would have earlier but I didn't think of it was how are you finding the county when it comes to hitting the three categories that your you know economic development in our city focuses
on. Are you finding big assists from our partners at the county EDC and even the visit Sarasota folks? Because ultimately, while they're attracting and and are focused and their
mission is on tourism, very often that repetitive tourism translates into residential and business growth here within Southwest Florida. So, I'm interested to hear how are you feeling
now that you've been here a little bit and you're working with those groups I know. Are you finding value? Are they helping? Are they making your job easier? >> Well, I don't know they make my job easier, but they are working. Yes. Um,
let let's uh back up and say that their focus has not been aligned with ours in the past. while they were focused on, as you said, tourism, health care primarily in the in the north of the
county. Um, we piggybacked and said that's what we were doing, too. We added corporate headquarters and um um a few other things to our list, none of which were panning out for us. Life science, another good example,
one that hasn't panned out. Um, the Sarasota city market has focused heavily on tech sector that was related to what I'm calling secondary tech. And as I mentioned to you, we are pursuing
foundational tech. Big difference. They're talking to web designers, web developers, artificial intelligence uses. We're talking about the things that make all those things work. So big difference there. More recently, in the last 12 months, as we have pursued
aviation and aerospace and advanced manufacturing, the county has begun to follow suit. Yes. Um, when I was in Miami two and a half, three weeks ago for an airline industry show, the Sarasota Economic
Development Corporation was invited and did participate in our city booth, which was really exciting. Um, I recently attended a meeting with them at the Venice Municipal Airport where we hosted Space Florida
and Space Florida folks came over from Cape Canaveral to visit with us to talk about growth and development at the Venice airport and it was a combined effort. Obviously, I had a a vested interest in our city um and and hearing what the folks from Space Florida had to
say and how they could help us. And we did that along with the county. So, that's another big plus. In um two weeks from today, I will be in Orlando at the world's one of the world well it is the world's largest uh maintenance, repair,
and overall hall shows in the aviation industry. Happens to be in Orlando this year. It happens all over the world. Someplace this year it's Orlando and I will be in Orlando with the county and select Florida and I'll be manning that
booth um talking to executives from all over the world about aviation and aerospace. And so yes, they are now latching on to what we're doing. Um um the city manager hosted a meeting about a month or so ago and invited the EDC
from the county to the city. We sat down and we talked about our shared and mutual goals. They are revising some of their milestones and mile posts that they would like to get to uh so that they are in sync with ours. they're
starting to see the validity of what we're doing and how that is beneficial for the entire county and so yes it is working. >> Thank you sir. >> Mayor thank you. >> Very good presentation. Thank you very
much and thank you for taking all of our questions and explaining them as best as possible. We really do appreciate it. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> City clerk public comment. >> Tim Doyle. That's Mary. >> What? >> They weren't finished. >> Oh, you weren't punished. Okay.
>> There was still another piece to it. >> Didn't know that. >> He just asked if you had any questions. >> Okay. Go right ahead then. >> Good morning. Lori Barnes, deputy director of development services. Um, my presentation is brief. Um, Michael is a
hard act to follow, especially when he's talking about all these grand plans to bring business, jobs, etc. Now, I have to bring you back down to the ground. Uh, so our current development uh applications we wanted to highlight
today. Advent Health Northport uh has submitted a formal site plan application for a freestanding ER at Salford in US41. I believe in one of Elena Ray's previous presentations she mentioned to you that
they do have a long range concept plan to build this facility out into a fullervice hospital in the future. uh Price Crossings out parcel at the Publix shopping center at Toledo Blade and Price Boulevard. Uh we have a site
development plan that's been approved for a dental office and a fifth bank with a drive-thru. The Heron Creek VA clinic, their site plan has been approved. We are still awaiting word on the groundbreaking dates.
Well, in parks downtown hotel site plan has been approved. Construction has commenced. That's 148 room um boutique hotel that includes event space
and a rooftop dining and bar area. We have received a pre-application for a retail center including restaurant at Tuscola and US41 right across the street from Los. Uh, as always, you can see more
information about our active development projects at our current development map. Um, just go to the city website to to planning and um, our map portal and you will find that current development review map. We also have a development
review committee page where you can see all of our DRC meeting agendas. Those meetings are open to the public, but public participation in the meeting is not permissible. Love to answer any questions that you might have. >> And again, my apologies. Did not know it
was a two-part mission here, but uh Commissioner Duval. >> Yes, thank you. Um, as far as that space across from Lowe's, uh, now it's listed as, you know, some sort
of commercial development, you know, office space, dentist, who knows what. Um, but in the past I've heard that um, first of all, I think that that property was owned by the Salvation Army
and that the hope was that we'd have a another hotel here in Legacy North or um, and I guess my question is do we still have possibly hopes for a
hotel. And the question is, would we be getting more revenue out of a hotel or commercial office space? And I know that's kind of a difficult question to answer all at once, but >> okay. So, I can answer the first
question. The first question is yes, we will be seeing more hotels coming into the city. Um, as of right now, we do have an approved uh Holiday and Express at Aiden Lane, south of 41. Uh, they have not picked up their building permit
at this point, and I am unsure of their construction commencement plans, but we do have an approved hotel um in Legacy Northport. Michael Mayman and his team have been working with a number of um
developers that work with several different Flags hotels. Um they have shown some interest in the area in Heron Creek near the new VA clinic um as well as Sumpter Boulevard and I75.
Okay. Okay. Now, as far as tax revenue comparisons, what we receive from retail versus hotel, that's a more complicated question. Um, the county taxes non-residential development based on
land use code. So we'd have to do some research to come back to you with a response to that question as to whether there is any difference whatsoever between a shopping center or a hotel as far as revenue is concerned.
>> Thank you very much. >> That it sir it for me. >> All right. Are we done now? City manager. >> Yes Mr. Mayor. Thank you for your >> Thank you very much city clerk. Now, do we have any public comment? >> Tim Doyle.
>> Boy, this is an important subject. It really is. Is there's a lot of houses in town and people have to work. So, going along with some of the questions and things were talked about, how do we get businesses here? How do we
attract them? Our housing, our housing prices, our police department, our fire department. we keep those things strong, people will want to come here and live here. If we have a good structure in town, business will see that their employees have a safe place to be. So,
that's one point. Zoning. I don't know how you guys really go about zoning, but we're talking about businesses. I don't know, maybe you need to look at zoning in town. I don't know. You guys are putting a lot of faith in the healthc care industry.
I think too much to be honest with you. Let me ask a question. I'm just throwing it out there. You think about it. Would Sarasota Memorial Hospital be building out here if I haven't been paying taxes since 2009 that get
funneled to them? Are they finally building a real hospital in Northport after I've been paying taxes to them since 2009? And I'm supposed to feel good about it. I should get free health care when I walk in that hospital if I'm subsidizing
it. Everybody in this city is subsidizing that hospital and they have been for years. I think the technical schools are very important in this country. One of the most important schools we have. The colleges have failed this
nation. I don't care what anybody says. If you're not a lawyer or a doctor, there's really no reason to go to college anymore. You you so we need to do something about the technical part of this and they are right about that. We need to do
something about the workforce. The other thing is we allow a lot of businesses in town to do business. Meaning, you know, one company owns 50 locations, okay? And they come to Norport and they want to build two locations.
That's good. But that's where all the minimum wage shops are. We want the headquarters to that that company. We don't just want their little stores to take their money to send it to another city. We want their headquarters here in
Northport. So any of these franchises in town, any of these big corporate companies, I think we should go after them. Why don't you move to Northport? Move your corporate headquarters here. And when you take over more land from the county, you might not want to build
any more housing. And you might want to take all that new land you're going to take from the county and make that all industrial or commercial. That might help us, too. Thank you. >> That as always, mayor. >> Thank you.
We're going to take a 10-minute break and then come back and finish up. So, 11:35ish somewhere. Hello everyone, Devon Pulis here, aquatics manager. Welcome to my crib. We have fun here at the crib. Programs
included. Become a pass member. Play all year long. Hey, at the crib, we do have rules. We take all payments here at the crib. Apple Pay, Mastercard, Visa, cash. You pay right here to enjoy the crib. So, enter through the gate. Childproof,
most adult proof shade. What's that? Our newly installed sun shade available for rent all season long. Here at my crib, you don't have to worry about a place to find a seat. We've added more chairs than ever here at the
crib. If you're coming to enjoy the cribs and you got little ones, we got the perfect area for them. for our Pelican playground. Newly painted, fresh floor, fresh palm tree. It's looking clean. Looking for a place to work your upper
body? Take a shot at here at our Stingray shuffle. Looking to relax? I got you covered here with our lazy river. Living more on the adventurous side? Check out the slides right behind me. Newly painted, all offer something
individual and unique. Check it out. Check out the main pool. Kept at a wonderful 84 degrees all year long. I just want you to have a good time. We have safety covered. Lifeguards here, staff, all day, every day when we're
open for you to enjoy. Concession is open. Pizza, pretzels, nachos, ice cream, we got it all. My crib is your crib. Looking forward to seeing you here.
>> Duty calls. >> Hello, my name is Jerome Fletcher, city manager of the city of Northport. I'm at the Northport Aquatic Center. I'm on the job today. Let's go. Good morning, Jessie. Good to have you. Great, sir. >> Nice to see you. >> All right. Thanks for having me today. >> Of course. Hey, we're going to go through our opening checklist for this
morning to make sure that the facility is safe and operational. >> All right, sounds good. Let me do it. Before anything else, the team walks the entire area to make sure everything is clean and in good shape. >> Our next part of our task is to make sure that our body of water is one
clear. The water must remain clean. We must identify any possible materials that shouldn't be in the water. >> Then it was time to check the surge tanks. >> You can see the glistening of the water down there. >> If the water is too deep and you hear a rushing of water, that means that this needs to be filled before we can begin
operations for this. >> Okay? is part science, part intuition. At the relaxi river, Jesse showed me the digital checklist system, the hydro app. >> As soon as I click yes on this checklist that let's say the water is clear and I do not identify that the water is cloudy
or any sense, that yes goes directly to my manager and lets them know that at this exact time I check that water to make sure it was safe and clear. >> This technology being used at its best job. Now, our rotations, we have evolved to having our lifeguards into a more of
a roving position. >> With the competition pool, we still maintain the chairs for the height eligibility. >> Um, but here we have to have a minimum of five lifeguards just to run this body of water. >> Wow. >> And we actually have a lifeguard
positioned in our catch pool over there to help our guests that are coming out of the slides at a barracuda tarp and twister. >> I've seen that person there. Then Jesse brought up something that most people might not think about, pool skimming. >> Pool skimming is the sounds of the water being properly flowed. So with those
drains, all the water has to constantly filter throughout our pool at least three to four times a day. So not only is the water continuously being pumped in, continuously flowing out, being cleansed through our sand filters, then being pumped back into the pool. It's a
very long process, but it makes sure that the water stays the clear as possible. Then Jesse taught me about the zones. >> It helps maintain that their body of water is theirs to protect anybody that's in their zone. So lifeguard Brandon right now is actually scanning red one zone. So red one zone is here.
Any part of this body of water that reaches let's say all the way from those stairs to the bulkhead and to the side of the corner. This entire zone is his right now to make sure that they are staying healthy and hydrated. We do have a 30 minute a rotation here for all of
our lifeguards. And lifeguards are not meant to bypass more than one hour of continuous lifeguarding. So after every hour, the lifeguards must take either a visual break or an actual break. After Jesse's walkthrough, I met up with Matt,
one of the pool technicians responsible for keeping the water clean and safe every single day. He started by showing me how they test the water across the park. >> We got comp pool, lazy river, kids pool. Each sample is dropped into small disc and loaded into a device and in just
seconds it gives a full readout on the pool's chemistry. >> And before this little machine was created, this was a more of a manual model. >> Yeah, we um a lot of people will use tailored tests. So, it involves like little different chemicals. You would fill up a container and drop them in
like a certain amount and then basically it'll calculate from there >> um what your pH and chlorine is. >> This is the daily task. Yeah, this is what we do at the start of every day >> inside the control room. He fired up the valves that get the entire water park up and running.
>> When we have everything going, the water level will be back up, but since we're not running everything in the moment, it'll drop it down a couple inches. >> Next, he showed me the daily checklist for the park. >> And we have our chemical data sheets. So basically just making sure like that our
comp pool, lazy river, kids pool are all where they need to be. Anywhere between two parts per million or 10 parts and then pH is somewhere between 7.2 and 7.8 for a healthy pool. >> There you go. Then came the backashing and wasting process. Flushing the
filters to keep the water flowing freely or removing excess water from the system to keep the water levels balanced. And then it'll start coming out in this pit. >> So this this whole pit will fill in about three minutes. >> Really? Over there? >> Yep. >> Next, we changed out one of the strainer
baskets which help catch large debris before it can reach the pumps. >> I'll tra that one. Thank you. Then new one goes in just like that. And we usually let those dry out. I'll clean them later this week. Before joining the team in Northport, Matt worked as a
lifeguard in Charlotte County under Trish Sturgis, our assistant director of parks and recreation. >> So, I've known Trish a very long time. So, that definitely was one of the influences of wanting to come work at the aquatic center. Had me go out for an AFO course recently, which is aquatic
facility operator course. Basically, anything and everything relating to a facility, like water chemistry, safety, rules, that, this and that. So, I went there. I just passed that class. So, it's a little little bit of knowledge
under my belt. It was definitely useful. >> Well, Matt, we're we're grateful for your time and your experience and all you put into your career here and congratulations on your certification and you do amazing job here at sir. >> Thank you for joining me today at the Northport Aquatic Center. It's a great facility. I want to thank Director Sandy
Funheller, assistant director Tish Sturgis. I have learned so much amazing things today. I would like to say that the technical expertise that goes to keep the water safe as well as the people safe is an amazing combination. See you on the next job. Thanks for being here.
>> Hey, city of Northport. My name is >> item number 26-0614. City manager, this is your item. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Item 260614 is presentation of proposed utilities level of service adjustments for fiscal
year 2027 budget. I will turn it over to our utility director Whisner for discussion. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Good morning. Trisha Wisner, utilities director. As part of every budget and definitely as part of this budget, we evaluate our expenses to look for
opportunities for reduction. For FY27, we took the approach that if it wasn't absolutely regulatory required, we were going to evaluate it to determine whether or not it needed to continue in our operations. We did identify two level of service
changes with associated expense reductions that we'd like to discuss with commission for further guidance. Before I begin with the level of service reductions though, I wanted to talk a little bit about the framework of utilities. Utilities is an enterprise fund. We hear it frequently that
government should operate more like business and this is one of those entities where we do mirror business in many ways. Um we are funded by fees, not by property taxes. So only the people that utilize our services will pay for
our services. There's not an assessment that goes out on all tax bills and we do not use the general fund in the same manner that our other departments do. So when the commission has that difficult task of determining priorities for parks and recreation or police and looking at
the wrestle of the general fund, utilities is really not part of that discussion. We are funded by the fees from our users and only from our users. Um our revenues must support our maintenance, our staffing and our capital improvements.
And we are subject to all the public regulations as well. So while we operate out of business on this side, we still need to make sure that we are following all the charter regulations that the city has procurement regulations and processes and the transparency. So so
while a private indust industry might be able to go out and procure something in a certain manner, will follow the same manner that maybe parks or police would follow to procure something to give that opportunity for the citizen oversight. and our rates must reflect our actual
cost of service. Um about seven or eight months ago, I was before you with a rate study analysis that was completed. Uh we had a consultant evaluate all of the capital improvement projects that we need, our operating plans. We've had master plans for both water and
wastewater that are evaluated to determine what our rates actually have to be to move forward. So unlike private industry where you know they just look at market or first market or and so many other variables with how rates are determined um ours have to be really
scrutinized and evaluated on a much deeper level. So for the FY27 budget development like I mentioned that every year we go through and look at what is happening in our area. So, we are seeing increases in
chemicals, materials, and contracts. You've seen these kind of growing for years, but there's a lot of items within the political environment that are looking like they may be driving these costs. And as part of the budget creation, we have to really evaluate what we see coming. Um, we have limited
borrowing capacity. Although we operate similar to private industry, we are following the charter. So, we have all the same regulations and restrictions on borrowing as the rest of the city. We have growing deferred maintenance needs. When I did the presentation for
the rate study a few months ago, there were lots of pictures of our equipment. And while we work to maintain them, the Florida environment is very rough on equipment that's outside all the time. So, um, we continue to defer from past years and some of those items are
becoming more difficult to defer at this point. We also see increasing regulatory expectations as we go to conferences or meet with our partners. We're hearing that the Southwest Florida Water Management District, Department of
Health, Department of Environmental Protections are all looking at our natural resource of water with more regulatory compliance eye. We need to make sure that we are conserving water, protecting water for the future, and
we're anticipating seeing additional regulations on this in the very near future. All of that coupled with the rapid growth in our system puts additional demand on our system. So, as we're working through our FY27 budget, we
project a higher demand and higher costs. The first thing we did was look at our operational efficiencies. We go line by line in each one of the divisions to determine how we can save some money or
um modify our operations for more efficiencies. Those are just line item adjustments. Those do not typically result in level of service changes. So you'll see those in the budget, but not in this budget proposal manner. Then staffing adjustments. While we've
increased the number of lift stations, miles of pipes, number of fire hydrants, gallons produced, customers served, we are not increasing staffing this year. Our master plan for both water and wastewater recommended staffing
increases. However, we've adjusted uh vacancies and reclassified positions to meet our next year's need. Uh there will be some deferral of some projects based upon that. However, we're looking to absorb that to avoid any increases for
this next fiscal year. And we'll continue with the capital deferrals. We evaluate all of our capital improvement projects, specifically the long list that came from the wastewater and water master plans. Um, we're looking for opportunities to rely
heavily on our asset management program. predictive maintenance, deferred maintenance will have to um potentially grow a little bit this year as we reorganize and rep prioritize that capital improvement project list. Again,
we have to utilize only the funds that we bring in from revenue to handle those expensive capital improvement projects. So we every year rep prioritize those projects and you'll see that throughout the budget process.
After doing that exercise, we decided to just look deeply at everything that was not absolutely required and we've come with two level of service options. The first is reduced chemical treatment and the second is
reduced system pressure. Now before I go to the next slide, I want to let you know that these were very very difficult conversations with the staff. Um they spent many years to obtain the licensing. I think a waste or a water a takes over 5 years of on the job
training to obtain that plus testing and um continual education. There's a lot of pride that goes into the service and the product that is produced. So having these conversations was extremely difficult for some of my staff and I really appreciate all the
effort that they put into this. The first is chemical treatment of water. Now truly the smell and taste of water are considered aesthetics. Um you'll see at the journal for American Waterworks Association, it's a very
timely conversation. This was the April edition. So it actually came out right at the time that we had already begun these discussions. Aesthetics mean um you know pleasing characteristics. They're not
requirements. So when we look at the way our water currently looks, tastes and smells, that is actually enhanced treatment. It is above and beyond what is absolutely required by the Safe Water Drinking Act. It is above and beyond
what's required by the U regulatory compliance requirements, but it's really what we're used to. Um, however, if we were to produce water with reduced chemical dosing, it would still meet all the requirements for
being safe to drink. It just might not look or smell like what we're used to. If we did that, we'd be able to save $165,000 a year. The next one is water pressure reduction. Currently, well, typically
our water pressure is at about 72 PSI. Currently, it's a little bit lower than that as we're working through the Southwest Florida Water Management District's guidelines for conservation since we're under an extreme water shortage. Um, and we're at about 67. We
can reduce that down a little bit more depending upon water levels. Thankfully, we've received some rain and our treatment plant has been able to produce more water. So, if we were to reduce pressures
within the acceptable regulatory range, it truly we could go as low as 20 psis and meet requirements, but that is very very low. Um we had calculated this at 45 PSI. Uh it would reduce pumping costs
for energy. It would lower stress on the system. Um potential leak reduction. There's some other things that would give us some potential from saving money by putting out water at a much lower rate and we would save about $250,000 a
year. There are some considerable impacts for this. However, um there's a potential impact to fire flow performance and have brought our friends at Northport Fire Rescue into this conversation and they've identified some
concerns that they would have with this. Um the lower pressure for a customer might not be as pleasing as when water comes out full blast. Um you know, your shower and things like that will be different. Uh there are some concerns for fire
suppression in buildings. We would need uh you know the multif family buildings potentially get a pump so that their fire suppression systems would work appropriately. The water we'd be providing would not work appropriately for those systems. Um and there's some
concerns with how public would feel about this. And it's not lost upon me to follow um economic development talking about all this great building and all these things we need. Um, but we're here looking at any opportunity we have to reduce our expenses and wanted to bring
this forward for consideration. So, finally, both options completely maintain regulatory compliance. They protect public health and they are completely acceptable. Um, there is some concerns about
customer experience, fire protection and long-term sustainability at that level. So, if you are comfortable with slightly tan, slowmoving water, we could save about $400,000.
And we're here to discuss the trade-offs and receive input from commission on these. >> Thank you. >> Well, uh, Commissioner Dval, >> thank you, Mayor. Um, you know,
you got to the meat of the situation. Uh, reducing. Okay. The chemical treatment for the water. City water has a certain taste, smell, whatever.
If you reduce you can save 100 165,000 um and it's sometimes it's unfortunate that um you go from this level to this level and people are going to notice it and they're going to scream. Okay. But if
you're at this level and this week you lower it to here and next week you lower to there and you know next month down to there, you know, and you have a time period for go going down, you're not going to save that 165,000 right away,
but eventually you will and people might not notice it so much. Um, the same with the water pressure. Now, first of all, okay, with the water pressure, you're dealing with a different issue. It's safety. You know, fire,
the pressure's got to be there for fire. And, you know, I'm not going to try and say, uh, well, this commission, we can vote to, you know, we know more than the fire department. We'll decide what level it should be at.
Um, that's just not our job. Um but again with that pressure maintaining the safest levels possible has to be number one but again instead
of going from here to here go from here to maybe here you know or maybe partway and instead of saving 248,000 each year well maybe we can save 125. Uh it's just
um there has to be some immediate point that's okay on all fronts. Um those are just my thoughts on it and I thank you
>> city manager. I seen you keyed in. >> Thank you Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to say u first of all thanks for the presentation um director Whistner that you know even though I asked her to do the exercise we have not changed any of these numbers within the budget numbers that you have either seen or been
discussed at this point. We are really just trying to make sure we continue through on the exercise of making sure that we look at every single area for every single thing and just bring information to you during this workshop just so you have a better understanding that we're not excluding items just
because we don't believe they should be excluded. So um nothing has changed within our budget. We don't and as you could hear from her delivery, the staff has strong feelings regarding of going in this direction and that goes back to the other exercise that we discussed during
the first workshop. We we are going deeper than we probably have ever gone within our budget and evaluating things. So I just want to make sure that that was understood before if someone thought that we were already making this decision. >> And with that said, I got a quick question. How much does this save the
average homeowner on their water bill with these changes? >> Absolutely nothing. Correct. >> It does not change the cost for the homeowner directly until we do an additional rate study and then evaluate whether or not we'd be able to reduce our costs.
>> So this this is my point here. If they're paying for this scenario that they're currently getting with the pressures and the clarity, they're going to be paying the same for subservice. Less pressure, less clarity.
>> It allows us to save more money to put towards our capital improvement plan, which then would help for avoidance of rate increases in the future. But you are 100% correct. this does not have a direct reflection on their water bill,
>> right? And that's why I could not support either one of these moving forward. So that's just my two cents. >> Commissioner Stokes, >> yeah, thank you very much for the presentation. This is important conversation. I appreciate the fact that you guys are turning over every stone
and looking at every opportunity to save a dollar here, there, and everywhere. Am I correct? We are allowed to build within our enterprise fund budget for uh deferred maintenance and and
infrastructure upgrades. Right. >> Yes, we do have a capital improvement plan and we we're funded within the utility >> and and I appreciate too that there's I don't know what the percentage is of folks in this city who are on water and sewer versus well and septic. I imagine
it's significantly less than 50%. Okay. Some numbers in the 30 to 40% range probably. >> I know it's 29,000 houses. >> It's like 35% >> 35% >> 35%. Right. So the people who are on
well and septic they don't want us jamming public water and sewer down their throats. In fact, they don't want it. They're not asking for it. despite the fact that the almighty state gods have indicated that we have to do it. Let them pay for it as
far as I'm concerned, not our taxpayers. But I there's no way I mean the people who are on public water and sewer of which I am one. I love the water. I love public water and sewer. I'm willing to pay for it. And I'm also not naive
enough to know that the cost we're paying today is probably only a fraction of what people will be paying in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years out. The cost of water, which is a most precious commodity, will continue to go up, go up
and up and up. The cost of maintaining quality, clear, healthy water will go up. reclaimed water costs will go up to the point where sooner or later it'll justify the cost of offshore desalinization plants. I get all of
that. I am a big advocate for you get what you pay for in this particular area of our budget and our city service. I say people should pay for quality service. You want water and sewer, you pay for it. When the cost goes up, we
pass it on. There's no way around it in my book. I'm willing to pay for it no matter what because I think it's worth every bit of it. I would not be in fact I mean the truth is the costs to run
your department I guarantee will go up no matter what. And any savings we create by one or both of these two things will go unnoticed by everybody. But what won't go unnoticed is the taste of the water, the smell of
the water, and the look of the water. So, appreciate the effort here and appreciate that you're really trying to think outside the box and look at every possible way. But in my book, I don't have a problem if you're not cutting your budget as long as you continue to
to to produce and to deliver the highest quality of water and sewer services, which is exactly what we're getting. And I'm delighted to pay for it. And I appreciate that. Not everyone can say that or can afford that, but the reality is is this an area I don't want to do
with less quality. So, >> thank you. >> Thank you, uh, Vice Mayor. >> Uh, thank you, mayor. At the risk of being repetitive and redundant. I can tell from your face, ma'am, as you were delivering this that both of these
options are totally unacceptable. You knew it coming into it. So, I appreciate the presentation. I'm I'm much more interested and hope we see more of it as we discuss budget. You mentioned early
on in your presentation that despite increasing demands both from usage and regulatory requirements, etc., etc., etc., and the fact that your model recommends
adding staff that you're holding the line there. So that's really what I want to see in these exercises. I'm I'm really going to be very unhappy if what we see coming
from staff are things that are really going to negatively impact the residents of this community. We might not be able to avoid it in certain areas, but I want to see efficiencies. I want to see doing
more with the same or less if it's possible. I don't want to see proposals to save $300,000 with the negative impacts that you've outlined in your presentation are just
totally unacceptable. So, um I agree costs go up. we have to pay for them. I have just one really dumb question. Um, and I'm having a brain cramp. Does utilities participate in impact fees?
>> No, we have capacity fees similar, but they're capacity fees based upon >> Okay. >> plant basically. >> When's the last time we've looked at capacity fees >> with the last rate study? So, just a few months ago. >> Okay. Have we discussed it here? Yes,
ma'am. Um it was >> blank on that >> I feel I'll have to find the exact date but again it was within the last seven eight months. Um I provided a presentation with both our rates to the residents and our capacity fees were
associated with that presentation. >> Could I ask you to send me a pointer? I don't know if anyone else needs a refresh on that but I there's a gap in my brain and I want to familiarize myself with that. I would appreciate it. >> We can send the read study out. Yes, ma'am. Okay. But but I do applaud your
efforts to maintain current level of staffing despite increased demands. Um and and any efficiency gains. I' I'd like to hear more about that. Um anyway, those are my thoughts on the matter.
>> Thank you. I appreciate it. >> And and I just had one other statement, too. when you when you brought up the um the water suppression system on multifamily, you know, about how many units do we have in town and it really doesn't matter on that question. It's
like we would be discriminating against them by making them put in a pump. Would it be at their expense or the city expense? you know. So, I mean, to me, that would be if if we're requiring that
in our buildings, in our inspections, then that should be at a cost to the city. So, if that cost overrides the other costs that we're talking about, why, you know, that's what I'm getting at. >> Uh, good morning, Near Lee, Deputy Fire
Chief. Very good point. Uh, I do appreciate the cross departmental consideration for fire rescue and the impacts there. When we first started discussing what those would be on the fire side, one of the scenarios is the
scenario you draw up right now. The gravest of them is if the pressure drops below the rating that allowed that sprinkler system to be approved when it was built. Uh that would be a
question that we would end up pushing towards city legal of if we are not providing the appropriate amount of pressure for the protection of an apartment building, of a box store, of a coffee shop. What would be the repercussions of
falling below the standard that would now trigger an ancillary pump to be installed in order to keep the pump pressure where it would need to be for the system. The example would be city hall. In order for the sprinklers that are above our heads and for the protection of everyone in here, there is
a stamp that is required at the riser of what pressure is needed at this building for all these sprinkler heads to be approved. So all the buildings in the city that have sprinklers are in the exact same boat. Uh one recently I was discussing with the fire marshall this morning, the lowest allowable pressure
for that building would be 62 lbs. In the scenario of a 45 pound static pressure in the system, that would be far lower and now that building would be stuck with a sprinkler system that is no longer properly protecting the building. All of the ripple effect of these things
would be unprecedented and that would be something that would be reviewed, but it has ramifications. You know, of course, on the fire side, we do look at ISO. It's a representation of the efficiency of our department to reduce home insurance rates for the residents. But
that is like the smallest of the potatoes of all the potatoes that we are trying to evaluate here as far as where this lies in a a good or or not good decision. >> Well, and and another thing that I was thinking about with these pumps is let's
say it comes down, the pump's installed and we have an emergency and the pump fails. Now, who's liable for that pump failing? Is it we put it over there and now we're in charge of that building? whatever it is to
fix or I mean I I don't want to get into the weeds too deep but I don't want to get into that scenario at all >> and and that is a very deep scenario and that is one of many right that's that's just one sprinkler system when building beyond sprinkler systems and the
building that are is needed for the sprinkler system we have all of our fire hydrants and the differences in pressure there our ability to deliver water to rural areas of the to non-ural areas of the city. Uh our ISO scores, how that
affects homeowners insurance. It's across the board for us. I mean, it's not lost on you all what we use to put out fires. It's the water that's in Director Whisner's uh system. So, yes, it has a very real impact on us. and even like a gradual turndown eventually
there's going to be a level that's at the bottom for us that's going to have a ripple effect in the city even if it hasn't met regulatory minimums for the utility department. So it does need to be part of the conversation whether this is the the conversation or future conversations
>> and that's what we're looking for was the guidance whether we should be taking that deep dive and looking at all those scenarios that could be impacted if we were to look for this kind of a cost savings. Well, and another thing too is you're only saving the city money and just like you just brought up on
insuranceances that could hit the taxpayer again in their insurance rate. So, they're getting less quality now for more money. And I I don't really see where the savings outweigh what the cost factor is going to be. >> And with all of those factors, all of
those are a distant second to the protection of the lives of the people of the city of Newport, whether they're in an apartment building or in a business. So, all very major issues and they're the secondary issues. So, yes, I I agree with you. >> No, and I appreciate everything that you
did. Commissioner Dval, you're up. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, I'm glad you uh got up to speak about this. You know, when I was doing my prep, I was I looked at that NPFR ISO. So I looked up, you know, ISO ratings and, you know,
basically says it's a one to 10 and one is best. Can you give me an idea of where we're at? Are we rated as city or different areas in the city rated differently? like um you know say
like for uh fire hydrants, the one that's the farthest away from you know the the water pumps that are creating this pressure. Uh do the people that live in that area, do they have a a higher insurance cost because maybe the
pressure is not as high as back at the start? >> Great question and I could go on about it. So I will be as brief as I possibly can to answer your question. >> Thank you. >> To answer it is uh you can have split classifications. Uh the city of Northport fire rescue specifically is
judged on a split class. Our rating is a one one which means that both in urban and what would be considered rural areas or hydro hydranted and non-hydranted areas we are still rated at a one. Uh,
water is 40% of the fire department's score. That's a massive amount. The fire department is 50 points out of 100. Water is 40. So, the we we work together all the time to to ensure um we've been
a one since 2014. Uh we've recently had a site visit. We're waiting on the results of that site visit. Any month now, we're hoping for and anticipating to retain a one. the split of the classification. And the reason why that we can still maintain a
one in let's say for example the estates a non-hydranted area is we have a very robust rural water delivery and we call it our alternative water supply delivery system which we had to prove in action to the assessors of ISO that we have the
efficiencies to deliver water to these areas and maintain a level of GPM to do the best not only for those in the rural but also in what would be considered an urban boundary. So, we we're very proud of what we can do as a fire department for our citizens and that's a representation, but we are
a one-1 split and there's a whole lot more that I can get into you get into with that, but that's kind of the brief synopsis of it. >> One, this is why I bring you guys cookies. >> We appreciate it. >> Thank you, sir. >> Thank you, Vice Mayor.
>> Um, yeah, just one more comment. Um, in in the past when we have our more aspirational conversations, we've talked about strategies for retaining water.
Um, and we've talked in the past about creating a reservoir and I do understand the expense the expense and complexity of doing that. Um, I would personally like to see some effort
in in really um assessing the feasibility of creating some type of a water retention strategy for the city. I know some towns have the big water tanks with their names on them. And I remember we had a conversation about that and
there were issues on water quality and all kinds of stuff that uh caused us at least at the time to say pursuing something like that might not be in the best interests of the community. Um, but I would like to see some effort go
toward water retention strategies for the city and and that reservoir if if we can get some counties and the state. I mean, there's a lot of if if if I know it's complicated, but if we don't start,
it won't happen. the chances of it happening if we start are probably not terrific but um you know if if we don't put some effort against it it won't happen that's a guarantee
so I don't know how others feel about that but I really would like to see some effort maybe it's a reservoir maybe it's something else but some type of water retention strategy for the city seems to make a whole lot of sense to me.
How do others feel about that? Oh, >> I I hit my button after that. I wasn't the same word, but you you opened up a doorway that's like important to me. you know, it correct me if if I'm wrong in any of my assumptions, but
as I see most of the plan development that's going on in the city, the need for good storm water management programs obviously is something that every developer has to address and we're seeing it. I'll I'll I'll use my area up there at Wellland Park as a perfect
example. I don't know how many hundreds and hundreds of retention ponds there are that are built and interconnected. the depths of those ponds are getting deeper and deeper and deeper because of the need to accumulate water on the surface. The first thing it does
is it it helps mitigate storm water flooding. Okay. It also creates the opportunity to collect water and either use it for irrigation purposes or to cycle it into our portable water plants to treat it and use it as drinking
water. But, you know, we are doing some things that we haven't maybe tied together. You know, for a long time, we've had an environmentally sensitive land purchase plan. We've sort of cherrypicked at
tier one properties along Makahhatchee Creek that didn't have structures on them. We had some commission resistance to going after more expensive properties that had structures on them. But the reality is in the newly developed areas, our
developers are helping to manage this issue. They're creating the ponds. They're creating the opportunities to retain and store water for processing. But in the legacy areas of Northport, we do squat because every single family
homeowner, we can't put the obligation on to when someone takes that lot they've owned for god knows how many years and is going to build their dream home in Northport. They're not building a retention pond in the backyard. They're building a lai and a pool and a and a threecar garage and all kinds of
things. So, you know, the the problem is what do you do about that? To me, the answer is partner with the county because the county is all over expanding their environmentally sensitive land purchase plans. Couple it with the two
and a half million that we got in the budget, this year's budget, and make sure we start a program of acquiring lands in and around the Maka Hatchee and other places where we could eventually build storm water
retention ponds where we could create a park-like environment that also helps manage our water and collect water, not only for irrigation purposes, but for portable. I mean, it's a long-term plan, but it's doable. But it involves money because we don't own the land. We got to
buy the land. And not every taxpayer is all that excited about using their taxpayer dollars to buy land. Of course, when their house floods, they might think a little differently. So, you know, again, I I think we are doing something, but it's it's kind of just
small because again, we don't have the ability to borrow and do any kind of major infrastructure projects. And you know, it would be great if the Army Corps engineers and the state and the county all wanted to spend a couple billion dollars to build a monster reservoir north of the Big Slooh. I'm
all in on that, but you know, I don't exactly see them writing a check. >> And there was a previous study done recently to evaluate potential locations for water storage. >> If you go back to 2018, I found, you know, God bless Jaloop man, she didn't throw away a bloody thing. Going through
that office, I found a study done, I think it was, probably 16, 17, and published in 18 that involved building a reservoir and doing a whole storm water management program out there to address the big slooh. >> It's got more dust on it than the police
headquarters building. Of course, police headquarters building is a newer project, but if we're not careful, you know, it's not like the city hasn't addressed some of this stuff. It just hasn't figured out how the hell to do it. Done.
>> Well, since you say it that way. No, let me leave. >> Anybody else? >> City clerk, public comment. >> Tim Doyle. >> I think you guys are dead on on this one. >> Um,
few things about the water pressure. I know you're going to vote it down, but I have a lot of experience in this with all the restaurants I ran and all the water I had to have tested just to make coffee. So, I know a lot about water. The pressure pumps are on your property.
You own them. It's up to you. I've had water companies that could not supply pressure to my building because I was too close to the tower. Not all systems are based on pumps. Some are based on gravity. And depending where your building is, how high, how low is going
to determine your water pressure. So, I do understand that I feel very safe in my neighborhood with the fire department. And I have no fire hydrants. And I'm going to explain to you why I feel so safe in my neighborhood. And I like the fire department. At the end of
my street is a canal. They can take their pumper truck, go down there, throw the hose in the canal, and put out any fire in my neighborhood. So, they don't even need fire hydrants in my neighborhood. As long as we have a pumper truck. So, I know you guys are buying new fire
department. Please make sure they're pumper trucks for my neighborhood. It won't cost anymore. You have to replace a truck. The chemicals. I'm not against public water supplies because I have to pay a fee or I
couldn't afford it. That's the reason why I don't want your water is because the chemicals. I don't want to drink water that tastes like chlorine or have all these chemicals that you guys say are good for me that are not going to do anything to
me. Then we find out 10 years from now, oh, you got cancer because of this. And then the the problem you're going to have with the public if you want to expand your water system and your source system and this stuff is the price.
If I have a water and sore that I'm very happy with, why would I pay $30 to $50,000 because that's what I'm hearing now. You towns are charging people to come down streets to add water and soil. How many years
would it take me to reclaim that money? Just like with the solar panels you were talking about, the house on the corner by me burnt down. You know why it burnt down? The solar panels in the batteries. They blew up in the garage and burnt down the house.
So, you know, I I hope you wrote this down, but I really think the water department should really look at the chemicals because when I really look at the whole picture picture, you know, that's my problem is the chemicals in the water. and I go and eat restaurants in town and stuff. So, don't think this
doesn't affect me. It does affect me. If I go to any of these restaurants, I'm drinking this water because they are not on well. >> That is all, Mr. Mayor. >> Oh, no, it's not. >> You are. >> Yeah. General public comment.
>> David Doyle. >> Last week, I didn't really go into what I wanted to talk about. to laugh at me because you weren't all here. I'm going to say it today. You got a picture right there. I always listen to what you guys are
saying whether you know it or not. And I take in what you say. I agree with you guys on a lot of things. Some things I don't agree with you on. That's America. But one of you said to another one, I told you what you're going to happen when you went to go talk to him.
This is an adversarial relationship in this room. I don't think you understand that. Just like the other day when I brought up in the they wanted to combine the training and the internal affairs department. To me that's wrong because you have a
problem. You have friction between the people. You won't get the good results. So, if I'm here in this room, you know, I already have thoughts about what I'm going to say. Coming to me here and talking to me isn't going to fix
anything. Years ago, I tried to make peace with this town. And I'm going to tell everybody in town what it was, and they're going to laugh. And some of you up there are going to be real mad they didn't take the deal. Well, here was the deal. My better half
was getting real upset about me coming to these meetings and how it was I couldn't sleep. I couldn't do a lot of things. It affected her life. So, she came down to town hall and had a meeting with the mayor and whoever else was there. I was not at the meeting. And
she tried to make peace. I'm I'm not, you know, I hate lawyers, okay? I grew up above a funeral home. My parents were born in the 20s. They have a stigma in my head. So I don't deal with lawyers. She came in and sat down what you got
and tried to make a deal with you to make peace. You know what the terms were? Apologize to me in public in this room for what you did to me. That was too much. You couldn't do that, right? Since the police chief told me to move out of my neighborhood and move off my property, which I own, which he had no
right to say to me, which is 100% true. And that might be why he's not even the police chief anymore. The deal was I buy a piece of land, a bigger piece of land from you, which you guys at that time had an inventory of properties because everybody lost their houses. Remember how the times were?
We're going in time here. And I would have paid for the property and you guys turned it down. No million dollar sentiment. Yeah, you're right. I wanted my $5,000 back that you cost me cuz you refused to
let me see a judge on Saturday morning. Made me spend another day in jail. But I came up with that $25,000 on a Sunday morning. So I am not a popper. You guys screwed up, not me. >> Mr. Mayor, >> thank you.
It's 12:18 and I adjourn this meeting. Northport on this glorious Price Boulevard project. We are here on Price Boulevard at the Blue Ridge Waterway in which we are building the box culvert. Um, as we've talked in the past, we're doing a double barrel box culvert here
and we are currently pouring the second wall of the structure. That wall's got to cure. The concrete has secure.