Time now is 7:00 p.m. I'll now call this uh commission meeting to order. At this time, if you could please silence your cell phones or any other electronic devices, that would be greatly appreciated. Also, uh for the people standing up in the back row, um if you want to grab a seat, help yourself. You might be standing for a little while. Um but what I was told is that you can stand from the first wall back if you want to. Your greeters tonight at the door is finance director Kelly McGuire
and assistant finance director Chris Byle. Starting from my far right, your far left, we have recording secretary Taylor Lochert. City Clerk Susan Dauderis, who's walking right there. Deputy Mayor, Zone One Commissioner Lori Tolland. Good evening, everyone. Glad you're all here. Zone 2 Commissioner Travis Sargent. Good evening. Welcome. And to my left and to your right, we have zone 3 Commissioner Kristin Deaton. Good evening. Zone 4 Commissioner Harold Briley. Good
evening everyone. Welcome. City Manager Joyce Shanahan, Assistant City Manager Claire Whitley, City Attorney Randy Hayes, and to my far left and to your far right, we have the two great chiefs, Jesse Godfrey, Howard Bailey, and I'm Mayor Jason Leslie. At this time, I'd like to call see here who has got usually have the list in front of me for procl uh for the invocation. Oh, here we go.
Pastor Charlie Freeman of Church of Jesus followed by the pledge of allegiance. Heavenly Father, we come here this evening God, right now we wanted to thank you for the commissioner, Lord, we want to thank you for the mayor, the chief of police, God. And God, as why we having this meeting tonight, God, peace be in this house. Wisdom, knowledge be in this house, God. God and even God everyone that is in this house protect him
right now in the name of Jesus we pray this holy prayer. Amen. Amen. I allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you pastor. You all may be seated. We're going to move on to presentations and proclamation section of the agenda. Today we have one proclamation, the Ormond Beach Soccer Club. Okay.
All right. Good looking bunch here. I'm just going to squeeze in here and get the proclamations. Oh, sorry. Okay. I think you're going to hold one of these up, right? Yes. Okay. All right. Andrew, you want to hold this up? Okay, there you go. Good job. All right. And uh you want to hold it up and I'll read this proclamation here. Whereas the Ormond Beach Soccer Club, OBSC, has long stood as a foundation of youth athletics in
our city, dedicated to nurturing technical skills, teamwork, confidence, discipline, and a global mindset among its young athletes. And whereas in July 2025 uh 20 July 23rd 2025, players from the OBSC traveled abroad to represent our community and the United States at the prestigious Iber Cup tournament in Portugal, an internationally recognized competition that brought together nearly 500 teams from over 50 nations. And whereas OBSC athlet athletes
join the players from cities across the country to form United teams reflecting the strength, spirit, and sportsmanship of American youth soccer. And whereas the OBSC teams have a history of standout performances, including championship wins for the 2013 and 2015 squads. And in 2010, a strong counter quarterfinal run and a competitive showing against a top Portuguese academy. And whereas this international tournament offered players the chance to grow personally and culturally while
proudly representing Ormond Beach on a global stage. And whereas the city offers special recognition to OBSC director of coaching Dylan Reed for his leadership both at home and overseas, his commitment to mentoring young athletes and guiding them through this journey has strengthened the players in the entire OBSC program. And whereas with plans already underway for the 2026 IRB Cup in Barcelona, OBSC continues to inspire and prepare the next generation of
athletes to embrace challenges, build character, and pursue excellence on and off the field. Now, therefore, I, Jason Leslie, mayor of the city of Ormond Beach, Florida, do hereby proclaim September 3rd, 2025 as a day to recognize the Ormond Beach Soccer Club. Damian Kelly is right next to Ready?
One, two. All right. Good job. Good job. Good job.
Okay. Where's the microphone? Me. Okay. Is that it? Okay. Well, I think we're all done, right? Okay. Good. Thank you guys for coming out. Give me a round of applause. Ready when you are.
Okay, we're going to move on now. Uh, I'll now open the public hearings. City clerk, please read the legal title for resolution number 2025-141. Resolution number 2025-141, a resolution adopting proposed millage rates for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, establishing a date, time, and place for a public hearing to adopt final millage rates and final budget and setting forth an effective date. This is resolution number 2025-141 read by
title only. Thank you. Per Florida statute, I am required to state that the pro proposed millage rate for the city of Ormond Beach necessary to fund the fiscal year 2025 2026 budget is 4.5220 mills. This rate is 15.82% above the rolled back rate of 3.9042 mills. The millage rate will fund the essential staffing and equipment to ensure a high level of public safety services, support beautifification of Ormond Beach through enhancements to city's
property maintenance program, continue to invest in attracting and retaining high wage jobs, and revitalize recreational facilities and parks to offer a high quality of living for our residents. Even with the proposal proposed increase, Ormond Beach will likely remain the second lowest mill rate in Volusia County. The tenative debt service millage is 0.0630 for the 2010 general obligation bond syncing fund. This is a public hearing. Are there any members
of the public who wish to speak or ask questions prior to adoption of the proposed millage rate and budget? And we do have some cards. So I will start calling names. Now, everybody will be given three minutes, but if you decide you want to speak for less than that, you're welcome to do so, but three minutes will be the max. And first one I'd like to call up is Stephanie Watson. And what I'll do is I'll call somebody by deck so this way you can get a little closer
um and be ready. And on deck we have uh Ed Kelly. Mr. Mayor, would it be okay if we made sure that the speakers state their name and their place of residence, please? Yes. Yeah. Uh, thank you. Yep. Yeah. When you speak, please just give your name and your address. Okay. I am Stephanie Watson. I live at 73 Woodfield Court in Ormond Beach, Timber Creek. And this message is for Mayor Jason Leslie and those who have decision-making power for Ormond Beach. I am speaking on behalf of myself,
my family, my sports family, and the majority of families with children in our area. Social media is a powerful thing, and I'm sure you're aware that there's some uproar about the youth recreations being affected in regard to your proposal to keep taxes lowered. Ormond is made up of different social and political classes. And as a residents, we may not always agree on everything. But one thing I can guarantee is that despite our financial and political differences, we're on the same page about one thing, and that's our children. The point of my message today is to
hopefully make you aware of how passionate your Ormond families and residents are about our youth sports. recreational sports in our areas where the children and families are able to come together as one. Whether it's soccer, football, baseball, or even just going and enjoying the parks that we have, the fields double as a second home for most of us here tonight. We want to do everything in our power to asssure that our children do not suffer the consequences of a politician just because he wants to be able to tell residents that he didn't change or raise the taxes in our area. As parents, we want to do whatever it takes to keep our area safe for our children. Having
successful recreational development in town is one of the main ways we're able to accomplish that. Some examples, if the Ormond Rec Department gets shut down, where are all the children who goes there to play basketball afternoons going to go? A lot of children in that area walk to that department and they're not able to get around to even go as far as the trails. Or more personally, how many nights my daughter had to walk to the dark parking lot after late softball games at the sports complex on Hall Road. or when not just my husband but other volunteer coaches
have to walk to the parking lots at the Nova Sports Complex in the dark with their families because they had to be the ones to shut the lights off themselves. I'll end my speech tonight by reminding you that the majority of the voters in town are young families, grandparents, or even great-grandparents of children who utilize our recreational departments. We will do whatever we can to make sure we keep this area the way it is. And I will even personally volunteer my time if needed. And I know that many other parents would be willing to do the same just for their children. To everyone who says cutting recreational department funds is okay, please
take a look at not only the group of kids here, but the the soccer kids that were here earlier and tell them that they're going to lose their fields or the much needed upgrades to their youth facilities because no one wants to spend an extra $10 a month. Thank you. Have a great evening. Okay, Ed Kelly. And then follow on deck, we have GG Galloway. Good evening, mayor. I'm sorry, former mayor. Takes a lot to get me out, but this is something that kind of piqu my interest, so I'll let it go. Mayor Margaret and I are here tonight to show our support and express that you
support the proposed millage rate and adopt the budget. Like many of you, a few weeks ago, I received my trim notice. I had already heard that it was going to be approximate $100 uh a year increase. So, I looked at my uh trim notice, and that's exactly what it said. Lately, in the media, though, I've seen things that really alarmed me, especially the one that was posted, "Budget has gone up 90% since 2020 with no end in sight." This made me curious because
I knew it was impossible that it could happen knowing that everyone understands the revenue from property taxes does not fund the entire budget. That may come as a shock to you. The total revenue from the budget from the taxes is $22 million. I think I'm rounding that up a little bit. Do you know what it costs to fund police and fire public protection? $26 million. So what I did was I took the budget, 298 pages of it, went through line by line
every item. It took me three or four hours to go through it because some of it was pretty easy. It really bothered me that there were cutting there was rumors of cutting our leisure services and just what we experienced the soccer team, the soccer kids. This is what we have Ormond Beach for. As a side note, the total taxes that we paid in 2005 on our property was $3,051.
21 years later, our total tax bill, $3,093. That's $42 more or $2 a year for 21 years difference. That's not a bad price to pay to live in Ormond Beach. And it really concerned me also that there were people that live not in Ormond Beach but in Halifax Plantation, Ormond by the Sea that are out protesting the tax rates. Do they realize that they pay for their
um services for fire and the MSD 5.5 mills? Ours is 4.25. So it's a bargain. So you can either live in Ormond Beach, enjoy the amenities we have, or move somewhere else and pay more and get less. I think we should stick to what is stated by our mission statement to ensure Ormond Beach is one of the most attractive, stimulating, and innovative communities in Florida while
protecting our rich history and maintaining our unique charm, boasting an environment where our children can thrive with a prosperously diverse and balanced economy. All the while delivering exceptionally responsive service to our citizens and cultivating the highest quality of life. Um, next up on deck after GG is Ray Lan. Good evening. I'm sorry. I'm GG Galloway,
Oak Forest Drive. First of all, I want to thank each and every one of y'all and the staff for what y'all do. Um, 43 years ago, I moved into this community and I bought a quality of life that was second to none. Just last month, my daughter bought a house on our street. They had been living in Charleston and they said they wanted to move back to where a community and neighbors can meet
and talk and walk and be in a small town quality of life. You know what's amazing? A lot of people moved here 5 or 10 years ago and they want to tell us who used to walk across that wooden bridge going over to the beach how that we should live and do it back from where they're from. July 2nd, 1998. How many of y'all remember the fires? You remember everybody wanted to move up to the north side to Flagler County. And why? The taxes are cheaper. It's the only time in the history of
the United States that a governor declared an entire county to be evacuated through a fire. And there's no doubt in my mind that one of the reason was they always had the cheaper taxes and they were not qualified. No, they were qualified, but they didn't have the ample equipment to start and stop a fire when that fire was taken. So, I want all these newbies to realize if you were here in 1998, you understand why we need a tax base.
Five years ago, I paid $1.25 for a tube. Today, I pay 400. I pay $4.25. We just bought 1,000 tubes. We're involved in one of the largest property management companies. 5 years ago, three and a half ton air conditioner cost $3,200. We just in this year, we've bought probably 25 air conditioners. You'd think I'd get a break. They're anywhere from 7,800 to $10,000. a roof that we would pay 92,000 a TPO roof we just paid one 146,000 ladies and gentlemen
we have bargaining power we don't pay high prices we have the second lowest millage rate and I play my company plays multiple tax bills from 3,000 on up to $30,000 I have every bit of trust in what y'all do and whatever millage you set the business community, my company, we're 110% behind you. And remember, we came here with a quality of life. You can put all your money into one bag
or one jar. You can take it out of revenue. You can take But when you start running out money, you grab one of these pieces of candy and tell me who you're taking it from. You going to take it from our kids or you going to take it from my son? Thank you'all very much. Thank you, GG. Uh, Ray. And on deck we have Andy Aller. Good evening. My name is Sergeant Ray Llanes and I serve as the vice president of AUPA, the union representing the dedicated professionals of the Ormond Beach Police Department. I'm here to discuss a pressing issue that has generated
significant debate recently. The city budget and the proposed increase of the mill rate. In recent years, with the backing of our commissioners, former mayor, and hard work of our city manager and her team, along with our police chief and our union, we have made great strides in hiring police officers and providing competitive benefits compared to neighboring agencies. However, we now risk reversing all this process and all this progress that we've made. This year marks the first time in nearly 9 years since I've been here that we're nearly at full staffing.
Many of the residents here should be alarmed to know that before this we cover 39 square miles and over 46,000 residents and we probably sometimes had three officers and one supervisor because that was me working the midnight shift here. That's what was protecting you guys. Okay. So now we have we face in this climate we face our children's face threats to at safety at school in places of worship throughout our community. This is not the time to consider budget cuts and not raising the millage rate. The proposed increase in the mill rate represents a small investment,
tiny investment in public safety that all these services that all these people have been talking about are impossible to have without that. Okay. During the last election cycle, I received a call from one of the one of the mayoral candidates. Okay. And he was disappointed to know why we didn't endorse him. The police union didn't endorse him. Well, this reinforces the decision that we made. While rising cost of living and wages are genuine concern, politicizing this issue to advance personal agendas reveals a troubling priority,
a greater concern for self-interest than that of our community. If you choose to support a flat budget and prioritize political ambitions over the welfare of our citizens, you're effectively voting to defund the police. Remember that. I'm done. My name's Andy Oler. I live at 19 Arbor Drive South. Just real quick, I have Josh Pringle on deck. Oh, I'm sorry. They said Andy, you're good right now. I just want to let you know Josh is on deck. Okay. You're welcome. Uh, one of the reasons we elected to move to Ormond Beach 12 years ago
was the quality of life in this city. Uh, and that that goes to everything from the police, the fire department, and especially and I'm here to speak on behalf of leisure services, particular recreational sports. Uh, I mean, if looking around the room, I see the players, I see a lot of parents, and I see a lot of the coaches from both the softball and baseball leagues. I see people who organized those leagues and all three of my children have participated in those leagues. Uh my son who's with me tonight looks forward to going to practice every day. I think if
these services are cut, it reduces our quality of life. It makes Ormond Beach a less appealing place to live and in the end that will reduce our tax base even further. So, we want to support the kind of services that make people want to live here and make this feel like a community. Thank you. And on deck we have Brian Lambert. Sorry, I broke the reading glasses today. So, you get the My name
is Josh Pringle, uh, Crown Ormond Lane in Ormond Beach. I am a member proud, very proud member of the budget advisory board for this city. I'm gonna lead by saying if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. That's what my mother taught me. We may go a little off the rails tonight. I want to apologize for to each of you sitting on the city commission here tonight. This is a result of past commissions kicking this can down the road over and over and over again.
No millage increases is not a solution for this city. Failure to account for cost increases is not a solution. It was not your problem to fix, but it is your problem to fix tonight. You must rip the band-aid off. As my mother used to say, there is a very defined budget process and timing. City staff has created refined processes and work backwards from the necessary adoption dates. Well-defined dates and processes are in place. The budget advisory board met on
several occasions and provided our feedback to city staff and this commission. Dragging your feet is not just in intractability. It's a failure to collaborate. This is the priority of seven Ps. As my father taught me, leadership by by the city. Um, excuse me, Mayor Leslie. Leadership by the mayor through the media is not leadership at all. Creating buzz in the
in the observer or on Twitter is not leadership of this city. The community loses when our leadership is absent. My mother always taught me you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. We have a very talented and widely recognized city finance staff who has worked their butts off to make this happen. Year after year, they are recognized for the work they do. My mother always taught me, work with great people and let them do their job. Congratulations. Calling daddy for
help in Tallahassee does not solve this issue. My mother always said, "Don't air your dirty laundry. It's been aired for this city and it's now time to clean it out." The last thing I'll say is I am proud to stand here tonight knowing that there are people on the dais who are going to vote their conscience and with conviction over politics. You are going to do what's right for
this city over what's right for your future political ambitions. Bravo. And thank you, Brian. And on deck we have Deanna Newkerk. Brian Lambert, 32 Greenville Drive. Commission, it's great to see you. Glad to have you guys here. Uh, city manager and negotiating staff. It's been amazing working with you. I really thank
you for that. Now, I am all about cutting taxes. I love it. Um, the problem is we can't do it now. We cannot freeze millage rates. We have far too much to lose. I grew up here. Uh, played youth sports here. Youth sports kept me out of trouble. Youth sports is why I am microphone. Oh, sorry. youth sports is why I am where I am today. Um, so anything that cuts that is a no in my book. Um, secondly, I've had a unique opportunity uh in my job to review past happenings with the city
uh as it relates to the city's budget and the Ormond Beach Police Department. What I found out is years ago, the Ormond Beach Police Department took huge cuts to their pensions to save the city money and keep it afloat. We're finally getting to the point where we can pay them back for that and get them back where they need to be. So now to tell them no, we can't do that. We have to save $100 a year on taxes is absolutely illogical and
it all it is going to do is hurt the citizens of this city. So, thank you. Okay. And on deck, we have uh Debbie Cotton. Good evening. My name is Diana Newkerk, 7 Princess Circle, Ormond Beach. I'm a business owner of the Volusia Sport Center and a homeowner here in Ormond Lakes of Ormond Beach. Volusia Sport Center is also located in Ormond Beach at 1137 South Nova
Road. I was born and raised in this community and although I live in Ormond now, I also have strong ties to Holly Hill, a city with no baseball or softball fields. That's why Ormond's fields and parks matter so much. They don't just serve our taxpaying families. They serve families from surrounding municipalities including Daytona Beach, South Daytona, New Smyrna, Edgewater, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach, even as far as St. Augustine. Ormond Beach has invested in these parks and people travel here because of them. Seabreeze High School also relies on these fields.
The baseball community has already pulled together to invest in the whole road varsity baseball field, otherwise known as Wendlestat, showing what can happen when we work together. But is extremely disappointing to think that maintaining this would fall solely on future generations if the city does not provide proper funding. Now, my dad, former mayor Roy Johnson of Holly Hill, is currently the district 4 commissioner of Holly Hill, and he would be here tonight to speak for himself, but
he other underwent heart surgery earlier today. If there is one thing he has always taught me, it is that future generations must be your number one priority. And that a community that invests in its kids is a community that never grows old. It only grows stronger. Most people don't expect to have nice things without paying to maintain them. That's just common sense. Our Ormond Beach parks and fields are not expendable. They are the foundation of quality of life in our city. If you
cut funding to leisure services, you are cutting youth sports, family activities, and safe spaces to keep kids active and engaged. We all want safe neighborhoods, strong police, and clean parks. That requires stable funding. The millage rate must go up. Taxes must go up to properly fund leisure services and protect pensions for those who serve us. You can say parks and recs aren't up for cuts, but as you warned in the budget meeting, if taxes are cut, parks and wrecks will be on the chopping block. That is a direct threat to the quality of life here in Ormond Beach. And
on behalf of business owners, homeowners, and the thousands of families who use these baseball and softball fields, I urge you, protect our parks and recreation. Protect the future of youth sports. Protect the quality of life that makes Ormond Beach so special. Thank you, Debbie Cotton. And on deck we have Eric uh Palasios. Hi, good evening. My name is Debbie Cotton. I am the president and CEO of the Ormond
Beach Chamber of Commerce. I'm honored to serve there for almost nine years already. Ormond Beach has been the has long been known as the crown jewel of Volusia County. The chamber is proud to serve this community for over 80 years. 80 years we've been here. Our mission is simple yet vital. To advocate for business, develop leaders, and promote economic growth all while enhancing the quality of life for residents, businesses, and visitors.
We are the community's trusted resource, operating the visitor center, managing three comprehensive websites, producing city backed publications, partnering with visit Florida to showcase Ormond Beach across the state. For over 25 years, we have honored local teachers, and in the past last decade, our business community has contributed more than $62,000 in scholarships for Volusia County High School seniors. Most of them, actually probably about 80% of them live right here in
Ormond Beach. The chamber is a catalyst for economic prosperity. Working alongside our city leadership, we help create jobs, strengthen the workforce, and ensure beach remains competitive. Sorry. A strong chamber expands the city's tax base, attracts new business, and supports long-term economic growth. Just as important, we partner with Ormond Main Street, Ormond Memorial
Art Museum and Gardens, the Historical Society, and Team Volusia to protect what matters the most, the unique character and quality of life for our community. In closing, simply put, the Ormond Beach Chamber is more than a business organization. It's a vital part. is a vital partner in preserving and promoting the quality of life that makes Ormond Beach the best place to live, work, and visit. Safe neighborhoods, strong public services, beautiful parks, vibrant cultural and recreational opportunities are the foundation of this community. Together, let's protect and
build upon what Ormond Beach is the preferred address for Ormond Beach. Thank you very much. We have Eric and then on deck is William Sanchez. Good evening. My name is Eric Palasios and I am a chamber pre um chairman as well as a business owner and I've lived at Oak Forest or um Ormond Beach since 2009. My comments tonight in regards to your decision that you're making on our proposed budget. Growth in Florida is inevitable. At my last visit to Tallahassee,
a statistic was shared that Florida had over 800 people per day moving to this state. We can't control that. We can try to manage it and be thoughtful, but regardless, it is a fact of life. You all were elected to make difficult decisions, and each year the formulation of the budget is always at the forefront. I'm very involved in this community. have been at plenty of events this year and I think it's hypocritical to publicly tout our economic victories, increasing jobs, capital projects that build quality of life and in the same breath cut the very services that
make such imp economic impacts possible. Quality of life is very much the reason your turnout is what it is tonight. Our community depends upon the high quality of services provided by our local organizations such as Chamber of Commerce, Art Museum and Gardens, Team Volusia, First Step Shelter. All of those organizations provide services that the city simply cannot provide. While I understand that higher revenues increase from real estate sales and taxes are increasing our income, I feel it's ridiculous to think that city expenses won't increase in conjunction to
that. That's basic economics. We in with increased growth comes cost to maintain and provide services for said growth. Should we be deliberate about our cost? Absolutely. Nobody here is going to argue that with you. But should we cut organizational funding that helps support maintain quality of life? Absolutely not. I'm very confident that is not what Ormond Beach residents elected you to do. And I urge you to consider that greatly because at the end of the day, all these people that turned out have a vested interest in the quality of life and the representation that our city government
provides for for that and they won't forget that on election day come next year. Thank you, William Sanchez. And on deck we have Douglas Wiggley. All right. Good evening. I'm William Sanchez. I live at Seven Lake Vistaway. I'm one of the new transplants here in Ormond Beach. And there's a reason why I moved there. It's a beautiful town. Very happy to be here. But I am a little concerned about the taxes. Um I started off paying just for reference
$6,900 when I moved here in 19. I'm up to if this in when this increase goes into play, I'll be paying $8,600. So it's a large increase. I can understand people have lived there for a while and your taxes have very much reduced half more than half of what I'm paying. But in my opinion, we need to figure out how to move forward with a lesser millage rate. It can't be that there is no argument to be made for a budget. I just I just don't see it. As a business owner,
you never take the first deal. You always go on and take a second and third deal and you figure out how to work the problem and get there. But it can't be that there is no fat in the budget is I just don't believe that. And that's pretty much all I came to say. Thank you very much. Okay. On deck we have Michelle Tisdale. Sorry, just trying to read a script here. Hey, good evening. Doug Wiggley, 37 Forest Viewway. Thanks for the opportunity to speak.
Thank you, commission, for what you guys do for the city. Um, I'm going to speak tonight on behalf of the uh Ormond Beach Youth Baseball and Softball Association, an association that association that I've been involved with for over 30 years. Um, to to see the turnout tonight and to have to follow Mrs. Watson is pretty tough, I'll tell you. Um, great job. Um, you can you can feel the energy from the parents that live in this city that
want to keep moving forward. We don't want to go back. We went through some really tough years. Um, where recreation was underfunded. Um, I can only speak to the baseball and softball part where we had dugout roofs that were falling in, back stops were falling over, batting cages had holes in them. Uh, the fields if we had a trace of rain, they were they were underwater for, you know, maybe a week, you know. So, that's all been fixed now thanks to this uh this commission. Kudos to you guys. Done a great job. Like I said, we don't want to go back. I'm shocked that we're
even considering cutting money out of recreation. We need more money. Uh I live in West Ormond. I'm still waiting for the West Ormond sports complex out there, folks. I don't know when that's going to happen. Um we need more pickle ball courts. The ones that are around here are filled up. Um the uh uh I I think back to some of the other the other activities. I remember there was a basketball game, an indoor basketball game that got rained out because the roof leaked so bad because we weren't funding recreation. We can't go back. We can't go back to those days. All right. So, I I
don't know what more I can add to what's uh what's already been said, but um I'm super proud to be a resident of Ormond Beach. I'm super proud of the people that are speaking here tonight. And uh I know you guys are going to do the right thing and uh I know we can count on you. Thank you so much. On deck we have George Bergus. Good evening. My name is Michelle Tisdale and I have the honor of serving on the executive committee for the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce. For 80 years,
the chamber has been more than a business network. It has been part of the heartbeat of this city. Our mission is clear. Champion businesses, grow leaders, and create opportunities that make Ormond Beach thrive. You see that mission come to action. For more than 25 years, we have celebrated our teachers who pour themselves into our students. The business community through the chamber has invested thousands in scholarships for Volusia County. That's not just money. It's future built right here. Through leadership Ormond and youth leadership, we connect people with the
city government, public safety, and the history that makes our community unique. These program don't just inform, they unite the next generation of leaders who will one day sit in your seats, shaping this city. We are also a trusted partner of the city, keeping the businesses informed during emergencies, sharing updates that drive economic growth, and strengthening the connections across our community. And our collaborations help preserve the spirit and culture that make our city use unique. What sets our city apart is that we don't just talk committee community,
we live it. Every program, every scholarship, and every partnership has a purpose to build a stronger community. So tonight, I ask you to keep fueling this partnership. By investing in the chamber, you are investing in our teachers, our students, and our businesses, and the quality of life that makes Ormond Beach the place that we call home. Thank you. On deck, we have Amber Bobak.
My name is George Burgess. I reside at 112 Kent Drive in Ormond. And this last year after a tropical storm, we had a collapse in front of my house, an easement with the sewer lines. And as a retired DOT employee, I'm very aware of what the sewer infrastructure situation is here in the short term and also in the long term. You don't have to look any further than driving down any of our major roads and you see sink holes or dips in the highway and those are
situations similar to what was in my house that the the sewer line is collapsing in. Many of these systems are 70 years old, 60 years old. And I think we need to make sure that in the budget we have a preparation for the future on that because it's going to be not only a traffic jam, but also a situation in the residential neighborhoods and in in the uh major highways that we have.
One of my suggestions might be that we take a look at what we're paying for recycling. I don't see that as a costbenefit situation. When it started, they were recycling everything independently. Now it seems to just all get thrown in the truck. And I don't even know how much of it is actually used. I I question that. And one of the things that happens in some of the northern communities, especially mountain neighborhoods, you'll see they'll have a dumpster where the local
residents will take the stuff that they want to recycle and put it in the dumpster, similar to what a residential business might do with their cardboard or some of their other recyclables. and then that that is picked up that way rather than having a second truck run around through the community all of the time and then not really understanding how much of a benefit we get out of it. Uh I I'm not aware of it, but I think that it might be something that we could take a serious look at. I know as a resident I would be willing to when I go to the grocery store
or someplace in the neighborhood carry my recycle there and just drop it off. That's all. Thank you. Thank you, George. Okay, Amber. And we have James uh Flathy on deck. Good evening, commissioners, mayor, and staff. By the way, I'd like to address the fact that we are at a lower than higher millage that we were previously. So, I appreciate that. Um, Amber Bobak 397 Collins Street. I would
like to address the financial transparency portal. I'm not a numbers person, but I did try to go look and follow what everything was paying for, what was being decided. I think we might need to re look at the way that reads to an average resident like myself to understand what's happening. So, I do have some questions and I will follow up with staff later. Um, I think we Sorry. Over the years, I've been blessed to see firsthand the benefits our city through youth sports and recreation
have given. My oldest, James, was supported by the Ormond Beach soccer community, and I deeply value what we offer our youth as the city and surrounding areas. These services do matter. At this time, I think it's important also to acknowledge another demographic of our community. We have several residents that are beginning their retirement or in their retirement on fixed incomes. Slight increases like this will affect them. They don't get increases as much as the rest of us that get pay raises. So, I want to be very clear. I fully support the essential funding
of our fire, police, public works departments. They keep our city safe and functioning and that must remain a priority. But there may be some things that we've grown accustomed to as a city, if delayed or reduced for a short while, may not cause much harm. My concern is that even the small tax increase could be the difference that makes it hard for some of our residents to remain in their homes. We are seeing an increase everywhere and it does add up. With any budget, there will always be tough choices and not everyone will walk away happy. But what makes Ormond Beach
special is that we are a great community built on strong relationships. If we need to get creative, maybe with community events, I believe the city has the heart to make that happen. I, for one, am offering to volunteer any hours that are needed to help make decorations, hang decorations, do anything, park cleanups, organized, and any other areas that might be helpful. So I ask as you weigh your decision tonight that you tr you truly consider the balance ensuring we protect what is
essential but also remembering those who are most vulnerable in our community. Thank you James. And on deck we have Paul Visonei. Good evening. My name is James Flattley. I live at 7 Spanish Pine Way. I am a father of four. I grew up in this area, benefited tremendously from youth sports. My wife and I both have businesses that we operate out of Ormond Beach. Um, I saw the sheet
come through, I think it was $500 increase from last year, and I didn't even blink an eye because I'm incredibly proud to live here and love the community. Grew up here, came back here to raise my family. And then I heard, "Oh, I think they're going to slash $1.6 $6 million for youth sports and some other essential services. And I said, "What?" I said, "What?" And so, you know, I thought about it from a different perspective, and I don't want to beat a dead horse. And I I do
want to thank the commission. I want to thank all of you. I don't envy your job. I specifically want to thank Commissioner Deaton who's been a champion for our children and continues to stand up and fight for what's good. Um but besides that my business interfaces with health care systems and you know middle class families bringing the best and brightest individuals into this community, right? And the thing that has been an amazing selling point especially for the last several years has been the multitude of services available for our children. Right? when I have a physician
couple trying to relocate from Indiana and they've got a four and a two-year-old, the promise of this community that was mentioned, right? I, you know, heard it from several other residents, the families in this community, participating in youth sports, feeling safe and secure, knowing that if there's a fire, it's going to put get put out, knowing that the police are going to respond if they get called. You know, these are things that are absolutely essential to a community for sure. And you know, I I don't envy the job you have for sure. And I just I would challenge you
all to to think about what we want the future of this community to look like, right? It's very easy to focus on what's immediately in front of us and not think about what we're foregoing. You know, there's a great quote. I think it's by Chris Voss, but it says, "Never be so sure of what you want that you wouldn't trade it for something better." So, I'm just asking you tonight if you might just take another look and see what cuts. I understand the need for a balanced budget. I
understand the need to run the city, but I would ask that we don't start making those cuts around infrastructure that supports our children and families. So, thank you very much. And on deck we have David Randall. Good evening. My name is Paul Viscomi. I'm on I reside at 200 Country Club Drive Ormond Beach. I'm here on behalf of Ormond Beach Soccer Recreation Sports Community, specifically Ormond Beach Soccer Club. I'm not going to keep beating a dead horse here. You've
heard it all night long. This proclamation says everything. Without proper funding, this doesn't happen. This means a lot. I'm glad we're able to help out um the community. We're a bunch of volunteers. We do what we can, but funding is essential. We really need it. Thank you. On deck, we have Joan Campanero.
Good evening, Mayor Leslie City Commission. My name is David Randall and I'm a resident at 99 Chrysanthemum Drive. I'm also a captain with the Ormond Beach Fire Department and I'm the president of the Ormond Beach Professional Firefighters Union. I'd like to speak tonight in support of the proposed budget and I'd like to echo the words of my brother Ray from the police union. We have been making great improvements and I hope that that continues. I've spoken about this budget before, but I feel the need to speak some more because I'm
worried that we're going to make some further cuts and we're going to lose some much needed funding for this city. When we roll back the millage or make cuts to the budget, we're not really saving any money. we're just deciding to spend more money later. You know, if you have a a roof leak and you instead of replacing that roof, you decide to patch it and replace the roof later and then next year you decide to patch it again instead of replacing it and then again and again and again until you finally have no other choice but to replace the roof. You end up spending way more money in repairs, increased cost to materials, increased
cost to the labor, and you end up doubling the cost of that roof over that period of time. That's what we're going to do if we make more cuts to this budget. We have many needs in this city, and we can't afford any more cuts. Right now in this district, Ormond Beach firefighters are running calls out of a borrowed truck from Holly Hill that's 20 years old. It's unacceptable. Um, you know, when you leave here tonight, drive by station 93 at Willmet US1, see for yourself. If imagine if the sheriff's deputies were pulling people over in Ormond Beach squad cars, um,
I bet he'd do something about it, and I know this commission would do something about it, too. That's why they've decided to propose this budget. It's a difficult decision, and um, I respect your courage and commitment to this city, and I thank you for having that courage to do the right thing. You have my full support. Thank you and have a good night. Thank you, Captain. Um, next on deck after Joan, we have Nancy Cortez. My name is Joan Campanero,
721 Pelican Bay in Daytona Beach. No, I'm not from here. I might be an Ormond Beach wannabe, but anyway, I am here as one of the board members for the First Step Shelter along with two other members here, Roseanne Tornator and and Mike Panagio. Um, I know when we talk about potential budget cuts and all, what often times get looks at looked at first are those that are most v vulnerable. You've heard people talk in support of our children and
I'm here to talk in support of our homeless population and the First Step Shelter. Um I have been speaking in forum since about 2014 trying to get the shelter built. All I heard all these years is nobody's going to come, nobody's going to go, nobody's going to go, we don't need one. Fast forward to today, we broke ground. We opened in December 2019 and through um we now have served greater than 2,000 folks. Um we've housed greater than 8,000 people. Um we've
averaged and then that's not to mention those that we've put in our safe zone, several thousand that um Roseanne Tornator funded and helped us get built. I urge you not to think about using Firstep Shelter as one of those places to save money for your budget. Um, Ormond Beach does have homeless. I saw them coming down Granada as I was driving here. Um, we've averaged two people
a month at the shelter from your community. Um, and we've built it. they have come and while I am up here one for two th things one is to urge you if you're thinking of budget cuts I I don't feel that I have the right to uh say much about the millage raid although sounds good to me but um please continue to support the first step shelter it is about the values that
I've heard all of you speak about um in the audience supporting those that are vulnerable, maintaining your infrastructure. And I'd also like to invite each of you to um a celebration we're doing out at the shelter on September 21st at 1:00 p.m. to celebrate the fact that we have successfully housed over 1,000 people. and at and at according to HUD at the 2-year mark,
94% of those continue to remain in housing, which is well above any other statistics. So, thank you very much. Are those flyers that you have in your hand? Yeah. Can you leave Can you leave some with the city clerk? Leave one for each of the Yeah, leave with the city clerk there. I will do that. Thank you. Okay, we have Nancy up and on deck we have Christine Reaka. Good evening, mayor,
city commissioners, and city staff. My name is Nancy Cortez. I live at 518 North Halifax Drive in Ormond. I have lived here for almost 31 years. I'm not just a resident of Ormond Beach, but a voracious volunteer with Ormond Beach Main Street, the Chamber of Commerce, the Historical Society, just to name a few. I've given thousands of hours to improve the life of our residents and vol and visitors by supporting and planning many of our festivals and events. I'm also the dose a dosent for the historical society where I provide historic tours several times a
year for the public and for private parties too in case anybody wants to I often am told that these are very are the funnest things that people have done in Ormond Beach and I volunteer my time to do this but there's staffing hours and lots of planning that are behind the scenes. this to behind the scenes to make our our tours sell out and to be so successful. Many of the people on the tours come from out of town and they stay here and spend money in our town and they say they would all do it again. Our festivals and events attract people from all over the nation
and and the world and and this is because we have such a strong group of nonprofits who work in unison to enrich the lives of residents and visitors alike. I'm urging you to not cut your ties with the nonprofits and to remember the proposed budget to keep our city services that Ormond Beach residents expect, enjoy, and deserve along with our vastly improve improved quality of life that I have seen evolve over the past three years as a resident will only raise taxes by an average of $82 per household. Look what has happened to do Daytona Beach. because
they have post postponed increasing their impact fees for years. They are trying to play catch-up now and the current residents and builders are responsible somehow for absorbing these fees because of of a few years of irresponsible governing. Let's govern responsibly and continue to make Ormond Beach a wonderful place to live, work, and play for generations to come. On deck, we have David Shear. Hi, my name is Christine Oranaka. I live at 155 Arlington Way um here in Ormond. Uh thank you
so much for the time to speak. As far as budget cuts go, some things should just absolutely be non-negotiable. Police and fire services, in my opinion, fall in that line. Those should never be on the chopping block. Um I'm not against the millage increase. I've only lived here three years and to me it's uh negligible what you're asking from us. But what I want to speak about are the proposed cuts to leisure services. This is a family friendly community. In large part it is due to these programs that leisure services provide. Our community's future is our youth. Our
leisure service programs give our youth a place to grow, to be nurtured, and develop the skill set that is needed for a successful transition to adulthood. are many programs that support families and family activities. That's just invaluable and it leads to the positive experiences that bond our youth and our families. They bond them to our community. In an article from the YMCA um of the USA, After School for America's Teens, there are approximately 20 to 25 hours per
week that children are out of school while most parents are at work, creating an after-school gap. Community-based programs provide an opportunity to close that gap. Peer pressure and the need to be accepted are universal. There are no boundaries, financial, cultural, or otherwise. Any given child may be struggling and looking for acceptance. These at risk kids from all walks of life will find a way to be accepted, good or bad. And it is on all of us to give them an acceptable means to channel their talents and energy in a positive environment.
Studies have proven over and over that after school and summer programs and keeping kids involved decrease crime committed by youth. Self-care and boredom can increase the likelihood that a young person will experiment with drugs and alcohol by as much as 50%. And that comes from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse from Columbia University. Our youth's energy, enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication are vital in shaping a vibrant and sustainable community. At a previous meeting, Commissioner Sargent asked to take a deep dive into the budget and
see what our tax dollars are paying for that other grants and agencies could possibly be paying for, such as our school resource officers and talking to the school board. I respectfully ask that you continue that deep dive for the 26 27 budget. This budget's already done. um and continue to look at that. But to maintain what we have and the whole reason I chose to retire here, we must have this tax increase.
Hey, David. And we have on deck Angela Terry. Thank you and good evening. My name is David Shear and I reside at 395 South Atlantic Avenue. Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society. This quote is attributed to US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. Holmes was appointed to the court by Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican. Although Roosevelt would be unrecognizable in today's MAGA movement. Justice Holmes was right. Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society. Taxes are
not a four-letter word or dirty word, but folks like to throw it around and use it as a blunt instrument to shame, to harm, and to bludgeon opponents. They like to say that taxes make for more government waste. But one man's trash is truly another man's treasure. For example, I proudly attended Tomoka Elementary, Ormond Middle, and Mainland High School, and taught at Seabreeze for 5 years. All of these public schools and the excellent education they afforded me and others were paid with tax dollars. And I couldn't be more thankful to those that built the schools,
taught in them, and supported their programs. I'm in debt to them all. At the local government level, these investments, as others have also referred to them, and how I like to reframe it, are vital to keep us as a civilized society and to protect us and our neighbors with public safety funding, providing ball fields, and providing abundant green space and parks we love. Orund is an amazing place. Let's not run it on the cheap. Some view taxes as a burden, but I honestly believe that's incredibly shortsighted. I can't build a fire station or a school. Taxes
help us do things collectively. Mayor, I'm deeply disturbed at your recent actions and quotes. It's embarrassing. You're basically coming across as a no taxes, one-trick pony. When you vote no on the budget tonight, I hope you don't feel pride in that. Your goals of unwinding and unraveling our great city and starving it of needed financial support is outrageous and a dereliction of duty. People need that support to do their jobs and so that services can be rendered. You're a mismatch
for the city. You won the wrong seat in the wrong town. I think you belong in one of those towns, some not far from here or in South Carolina or Alabama or Mississippi, that pride themselves on a super low tax base and limited services. I've lived in such a town. Excuse me, Mr. Mayor. I I don't think we allow personal attacks. Um, so if we can direct the or limit the personal attacks, I would appreciate it. Thank you. Can I get back Can I get back my 30 seconds? I'd like to get back
my 30 seconds. I've lived in such a town with no safe sidewalks, street lights, bus systems, and insanely low public safety salaries. And it's awful. Some in those communities like it that way and brag about their low low taxes. Let's not have Ormond be that kind of place. And after you vote no tonight, I hope you'll seriously consider resigning your seat and stepping down from the mayor's position. I don't say that lightly, but I honestly order that's not an attack. It's a statement. I don't say that lightly,
but honestly can't think of any other solution to the damage you seem to enjoy doing. And kudos to the staff and senior staff for putting up with it because they've done a great job. After tonight, please do us a favor and resign. and walk away. Thank you, David. Thank you. I'm sorry about that. Um, Angela and we have on deck Stephanie Mason Teague. First of all,
thank you commissioners, mayor, for your patience tonight. It's taking a lot of time to hear everyone's voice, and we certainly do all appreciate it. I want to start by saying thank you to my incredible commissioner and my neighbor Kristin Deaton for always being active in her role, always being present in her community, and encouraging the rest of us to take our own stance whenever possible. At risk of sounding redundant at this point, I'm here tonight also as a taxpaying citizen from Ormond Beach, a city that I really do love and I'm so proud to be a part of.
I've only been here for five years and I've lived in many, many different neighborhoods of varying economic struggles and to be here, it's truly been impactful. It's no mystery that Ormond Beach is recognized by tourists and locals alike for being clean, safe, and truly outstanding. As a local, I and many of us understand that there is a price to pay for such excellence. The adopted tax rate for the city has been comfortably low for a long time, keeping taxpayers happy and Ormond
Beach's grounds safe and colorful. This truly is a delicate balance that we all can appreciate. Unfortunately, as inflation arises, it brings along price increases of just about everything, including upkeep of a community. this community. As prices increase in a city, so do the costs for the people we pay to take care of it. And if we don't rise to the occasion to take on this responsibility financially, the city could fall into debt and consequentially fall into
subpar living standards. This should not be okay for anybody who loves this city as much as I do. This all being said, whether one supports the millage increase or not, we have a right to be made aware of the means of upkeeping the city during this time of financial strain. If no tax increase is made, then what? What cuts will be made? And how's it going to impact the community? And who's going to be paying for it? in my I'm ears to any side of the story,
but we all expect and deserve clear answers and solutions. Now, thank you. Thank you. Up next is Stephanie and on deck we have Edward Ted Tesher. Hello, my name is Stephanie Mason Teague. I actually am a 25-y year resident on Orchard Lane of Ormond Beach. And three years ago, I became the director of the Ormond Memorial Art Museum and Gardens. Um I think city clerk handed out our midyear update. The pictures on
the front are great. Mr. Mayor, Mr. Briley, Mr. Sargent, you're all included. And Miss Tolland. Um the museum specifically is what I'd like to talk about first. Thousands of our residents participate in the garden activities and the museum activities every year. So far, halfway through the year, over 24,000 people have participated in museum programs. And they are intergenerational programs. I too love youth activities and sports. My kids
played sports here. Um they did plays here at the performing arts center. They've attended um many different things. And youth programs are important. Yes. But I think it's important that we don't forget our intergenerational activities. I know we had someone speak about low-income and retired people that live in Ormond Beach and our museum specifically serves them as well with the free programs that we offer and the garden tours that we offer. Um, as a resident, I would like to say that I I agree that taxes, low taxes are great. My son is visiting from
California and he can't believe that we're having this discussion about such a little bit amount of money and the services that we're able to provide with just a small increase to every household, not every individual. Um, and I think that we all have benefited, I know my family has, from all of the opportunities here in Ormond Beach. And I want to thank our commissioners for making them possible. And I would like to ask, Mr. mayor that you approve the proposed millage rate of the 4.4497 that will not allow for cuts in some of the services potentially that my
museum is able to provide. And as a taxpayer, I'm happy to pay the overage or the increase. We have Edward up and on deck Eric Yans. Ted Tushner, 39 Shadow Creek Way, Ormond Beach. Been a resident for a little over 40 years and appreciate all the hard work you folks do as many folks know here. I coached many a team uh basketball, soccer, softball, and uh ran the girls
softball program for about a decade and certainly appreciate all that goes on. I don't think that that's in question that we're going to cut that. Maybe I missed something in what I've been reading or whatever. It seems like that's been hammered on a little too much. I can't imagine you folks are going to cut our leisure services and I certainly appreciate and know quite a few firefighters and police officers in this area. But I also know quite a few people that are on fixed income. So, it's kind of a two-sided coin. We can have a little bit of both. I hope we look at everything closely in our costs and some we need somebody to do that. A 10% increase seems steep. Um, you know,
and I certainly have a cousin that lives here. He's, you know, he lives on $1,100 a month. you know, he gets from social security and his rent is $600 a month. So, you got to look at those folks, too. They've also got to survive and do what they can do to to make ends meet. So, I only things I can think of. I assume sure you've looked at fuel costs have gone down. Hopefully, we'll save some money in that. They're supposed to continue to go down for the next year. I'm sure the city uses a lot of fuel. I think I saw and read that you folks have looked at insurance and getting different quotes. I know my homeowners insurance went down about 15%. I would think with the what you have
to work with here, the number of buildings, it's got to be a pretty high insurance. So, I would look at those kind of things to cut, not necessarily the things that really affect our way of life. And I love Ormond Beach. Appreciate what you folks do and staffing. Thanks for the moment. Okay, Eric. And on deck, we have Doug Thomas. Hey, guys. Um, I'm Eric Johnson. I'm from North Halifax and I had a whole kind of thing planned and just listening to everybody and like I'm just really taken a part of this right now and just
trying to navigate the budget online and trying to understand what's what is very confusing as a citizen of this city. Like I can't find and like there's literally I think like 20 different P&L statements in the budget that you're trying to navigate of like what we're actually spending money on. Um, and then if you throw it in the chat GBT everyone does right now, it comes up and says we had a $50 million surplus last year. If that's true, I don't know. But if it is, like where did that money go? And we're asking for increased taxes and we're putting like leisure services and
sports on the chopping block and police and fire protection. Like none of that should be on the chopping block. like why do we have to leverage our youth soccer team at the beginning of a meeting and then also say that like we're cutting their services potentially? Like that makes no sense to me. Um I just think we could do better and have clarity and um make our budget a little clearer for us to look at things and have informed decisions about what we're doing. Thank you.
Um, we have uh Julia Trulio on deck. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to present my side of the story tonight. In 1973, when I was discharged from the Navy, my wife and I were looking for a place to start our lives. We happened upon Ormond Beach, Florida. I had secured a job in Orlando. Uh we we fell in love with Ormond Beach because of the culture, because of the setting, because of the uniqueness of Ormond
Beach. So, I have lived here I have lived here for the last 52 years. Um Mr. Mayor, I've sat in your chair uh on the planning board for over 22 years. So, I've seen Ormond Beach grow. I've seen it. And the gentleman who spoke earlier, I'm glad that he opened a business here in Ormond Beach. I opened my business in Ormond Beach 42 years ago. And I've gone through a lot of pri tax increases, a lot of
cost increases, but if you offer your clients and your customers a good product at a fair price, you will survive no matter how much you have to pay in your taxes on your home. Um I would like to also mention that I have been on the leisure service rec board whatever they decide to call it today uh for 47 years con continuously I have seen the importance of recreation not only for our youth but for our seniors we cannot we cannot afford to put our children at risk and especially
in today's time today's time when you see so many kids dying of of fentanyl overdoses, all kind of things. If you if you go where we can't where we have to close down our facilities for for let's say they can only open from 4:00 to 9:00, what are those kids going to do? What are they going to be exposed to? What are they going to pick up? Who's going to come after them on the internet? I I I think that the people who want the tax cut just don't understand what vulnerability
that our children have today. Uh just to give you an example uh and these numbers do not reflect any changes or double counts in sports. In soccer, we have 1,090 kids playing. Baseball, 772. Softball 276. Football 409. Volleyball 109. Uh basketball that's a total of 289 kids that are involved in just those six sports. What about what they do at the casements? We have we have over 100,000 people come through the casements every year. That that's I mean there's no way there's no way. This
is Ormond Beach. This isn't some other, but we're the second lowest in the county. Even if you raise this, we're still the second lowest. My god. What do you guys want? It It's incredible. Thank you. On deck, we have Judith Stein. Good evening. My name is Julia Trillo, 307 John Anderson Drive.
Um, I am here not only as a citizen, but also as the president of the Ormond Beach Arts District board and the former executive director of Main Street. Um, I've been an Ormond resident since 1996 when I moved back here with my husband and then my first child. We chose Ormond because of all the things that you have heard about tonight. I was born and raised in Daytona Beach. I moved to New York City for 30 years and came back and chose Ormond because of the schools and the parks
and the youth sports, but also because there's a feeling of community and of safety and of people who want to build things together. I really got to look at that when I became the main street director in 2012. I got a chance to work with your fabulous city staff and through several changes of city staff and there's always wonderful people working on staff and I got to work with a really forward-looking government sitting on that dis and I know that you all can represent and do represent
that same forward-looking feeling. Communities are like gardens. They take a long time for those of you who are gardeners. You plant it, it comes up, it doesn't work, something grows over it, you weed it. Building something beautiful like this city requires time, imagination, and it requires money. If you randomly take a weed whacker to the rose bushes, they don't
suddenly reappear. Years of hard work can be ruined by one moment of recklessness. Please, I ask you, pass this millage tonight and help us preserve the city we have grown over these years. Vote for the millage increase. Keep Ormond Beach a beautiful place to live. Thank you, Judith. And we have Damen Kelly on deck.
Hi, I'm Judy Stein. I live on Orchard Lane. Uh I don't really have too much to add to everything that's been said tonight except to say that I've learned throughout my life that you generally get what you pay for. And uh that's how I feel about what everybody's been talking about tonight. I chose to move to Ormond Beach about 20 years ago due to its reputation for a high standard of living, its natural beauty, and its responsive and involved city government. I'm willing to pay more to keep that high standard and not sacrifice important safety, recreation,
and public art programs and services. And just on a personal note, we've talked a lot about youth recreation. Well, I'm on the other end of the age spectrum. I'm a pickle ball player and I play at the uh South Ormond Rec Center on Division Street. The people that play are probably in the age 50 to 90 age range. We just celebrated somebody's 90th birthday and he's a great player. Uh I would hate to see for any of these um recreational facilities to be affected by this budget. Thank you.
Okay. Um Damian Kelly I believe left going once, twice gone. Uh Keith Nordon. Oh, on deck we have Anna Hannon. Good evening. Good evening. I wanted to u just introduce myself. I'm Keith Nordon, president of Team Volusia EDC. I live in an adjoining community at Marina Grand. Uh,
but I am in Ormond Beach often and it's a beautiful city. I I just wanted to come up and thank you for your historic support in team Volusia. Economic development is a team sport. We work very closely with our chambers of commerce, uh, the Ormond Chamber, uh, but also our colleges and universities in many of our cities and the county. We have a direct link to Florida Commerce and Select Florida. So, in uh direct link to uh the projects coming from the governor's office and
uh we work very closely with the uh department of economic development here in the city, Brian Rademacher, and we we're very pleased this year to focus uh the Florida Power and Light First Sites program on Ormond Beach, which is the key to our future here in Volusia County. This is a uh magnificent city as we uh market Volusia County all over the world and uh I just want to applaud you for your support in this city and also our organization. So thank you very much. Thank you.
Okay, we have Anna and on deck Michael Gentry. Hi, my name is Anna Hannon and I've lived in Ormond Beach for 22 years. I very much am in support of adequately funding the fire department, the police force. I appreciate what they do and I'm very much in favor of protecting our public safety. My kids have definitely used uh the Ormond Beach um sports and leisure services. Um we've enjoyed it uh for their whole lives. So, we definitely want to keep that funding as
well. I I don't understand why we have only two options presented, however, and both are negative to homeowners. Option one is increase taxes after several years of increasing taxes, and option two is reducing funding for public safety, leisure services, and youth sports. I've been watching the news lately and Florida CFO, he's in charge of Doge, has been going around to municipalities and looking at uh some of these issues like trying to reduce funding for public
safety and they're very very much against that. We really should not be cutting public safety. That's the first thing that you fund. It seems very unfair to the residents and homeowners to just have only these two options. re just reducing the most valued services and pulling at our heartstrings. Um it just doesn't seem very fair and it's just I just cannot even comprehend why youth sports has been put on the chopping block to have parents become outraged and come here and
beg you to increase taxes. That just doesn't feel right. So the city of Ormond Beach, they just need to look at cutting from other areas. Sometimes it can be top heavy administration and overhead. There's many other line items to look at. I really urge you to try to come up with a third option, one that is reasonable and that everyone can be in favor of. Thank you. Mike Gentry. And on deck, Candace Keelly.
Good evening. Michael Gentry, 10 Indian Springs Drive. Um, I attended the budget workshop on August the 19th and after much discussion, it was my belief leaving the meeting that there was consensus above the commission with the commission and the mayor. I firmly believe if we don't follow through and adopt the budget as presented, we may experience a decrease in our quality in life of quality of life or the services that we've
come to enjoy as residents of Ormond Beach. So, I encourage you all to um vote for the approval as was presented that night and hopefully um make our keep our city what it is. Thank you. Okay, we have Candace. And last speaker for tonight is Troy Railsback. Hello, Candace Healey. I was born and raised here in Ormond Beach and I live at Four Creeks Bridge Court. Um, I was one of those kids that went to Seabreeze High School. I played baseball
or softball on the baseball fields. We finally got softball fields. We've been here from the beginning. Mr. Doug Wiggley is not lying. That is an amazing turnaround. You guys have no idea what it was like for to rotate days and weeks. Girls these days, boys these days. Our children are now 23 and 17 and have had the luxury of knowing what we didn't know. They are great children and they have wonderful lives because they grew up in Ormond Beach. Um they're, you know, their futures are bright because they came from here. I wrote this cute little speech and I'll go back to it now, but my point is the most important thing of coming back to Ormond Beach was to raise
my children here because I grew up here. Um, so good evening mayor and city commissioners and fellow citizens. Tonight we're here to discuss our city's budget upcoming um financial year which starts on October 1st. This is a crucial time for our community. It's essential that we work together to make the best decision for everyone. For 30 years, our city has maintained one of the lowest tax rates in Volusia County. This year we are on track to have the second lowest tax rate once again reflecting our community's commitment to responsibility and financial u management. However, many residents are concerned about the rising costs and potential changes to property
tax laws that could affect our funding. We need to be proactive in addressing these concerns and ensure our budget meets the needs of our growing community. I urge our community commissioners and our mayor to collaborate on passing the budget tonight with the essential services that our residents rely on. A no by one or by all won't do that. The budget committee meetings have passed. The workshops have passed. And as we move forward, let's remember that our first responders and our parks are vital to our community's safety and quality of life. We must invest in these services
to support our families and our children. Finally, let's avoid having the state come in to interfere and interject where where they feel our cuts should be. They don't live here, which would not benefit any of us. If people spent less time arguing on social media or in the newspaper and more time working together, we can achieve a successful budget we should be already working on next year. Let's hope that we can all come together to find a solution to ensure that our city remains safe, vibrant, and a place that we all want to raise our families in the future.
Thank you. Uh Troy Y Troy Railsback uh 27 Indian Springs Drive. First, thank you, Commission Mayor, for serving our city um and making tough decisions such as tonight. Um I have the pleasure of participating on a few boards with the city. I value that opportunity. I value the insight and I would encourage everyone in the room to know when those meetings are when the budget advisory committee meets when the quality of life board meets when the planning board meets
uh the YMCA locally meets uh participating and being involved in all those organizations such as Julia's organizations culminate here our resident base supporting what they want in levels of service. So, as uh most of the people in the room, we're encouraging this commission unanimously hopefully to make a decision in the best interests of the level of service that the residents expect, want, why they moved here, why they continue to live here, whether it's within the last year or the last five decades. Um I am a resident here um for 15 years plus. I got involved with the
city because it was important for me to understand the decision-m process and all that goes involved. Um, I echo Gigi Galloway's comments and the fellow planning board members. The staff here is fantastic. Uh, Chief Godfrey and, um, his counterpart with the with the fire service. Um, exceptional. Um, I support having the resources financially to have those services at the high highest level with the highest people that protect my family and those around us. So,
I encourage that. I also um am in much support for the leisure services and all the other activities um that are uh very important to my family and the families in this room and continue those at the level of service that we expect. So please um take all the feedback that you got from everyone in the room. I'm here just to echo that and I know it is a tough decision and I um have known Joyce Shanahan a long time. She's a great leader for our city. I am happy that she
came to our city and her and everyone that is underneath her leadership um resonate um her passion for the community. And as Miss Truly um said so eloquently, you know, our garden of the city just needs to continue to flourish and grow and we need to provide adequate water. And it's one of those things where if you do take the weed whacker to it, it's going to undo some of this uh nurturing that we've gone over the years. I just want to make one clarification. Um we we
do have the lowest tax rate out of all the the the cities in the in the county because the lowest is supported by a power plant and they contract their police services through the county. So if you really look at the tax rate, we do have the lowest and our financial uh integrity shows that we have the best services with the lowest tax rate and let's keep moving in that direction. Thank you.
Thank you, Troy. Mr. Mayor. Yes. I'll move we adopt the proposed millage rate. Second. Okay, we ask for a Yep. Go ahead. Yeah, Commissioner for discussion purp um I guess I'm sorry. Go ahead, Commissioner Briley. Um first of all, I want to thank everyone for being here tonight. I saw everyone here and I saw these kids. I thought there was an ice cream social and I was disappointed.
I know many of us in the audience chose Ormond Beach as their preferred city. You chose to live here. You could have lived anywhere else in Volusia County, but you chose Ormond Beach. Some of us weren't so lucky. My parents both raised my father was raised in Ormond Beach. My mother was raised in Holly Hill. They lived in Ormond Beach when I was conceived. And they rushed me home from Halifax Hospital in Daytona back to Ormond because they wanted me to be here. I could have lived anywhere. I chose not to leave Ormond Beach
for the reason that many of you have come tonight and stated that was 53 years ago. Debbie Cotton talks about the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce being 80 years old. My grandfather was the fourth president. They were active in the city because they thought a lot of this community and I think a lot of you do too. And I thank you for being here.
I think when you look at our budget, you look at a lot of things. I think there's wants versus needs versus sustainability. And when I look through this budget and the people in our budget advisory board, some of whom are here tonight, you've heard from two of them. Two of them, two of them that aren't here are CPAs. And if you know CPAs, like I know CPAs, they're bean
counters. And they go through everything. And they came up with this recommendation. You know, we have one of the pieces of equipment we're looking at replacing is a fuel truck. That fuel truck was bought brand new by the city of Ormond Beach in 1969. It belongs in a museum. It doesn't even fuel and treat vehicles. It's 56 years old. We have dump trucks that are over 20 years old. And yet, we get nervous when it clouds up.
There's going to be flooding. We need these vehicles to help out in storms and disasters. You know, I have never been nor ever will be in favor of cutting services and programs for our youth, our residents, our seniors, and our veterans. This city is too important for that.
Our police deserve competitive wages. As Ry said very eloquently earlier, we're almost at full staff. And in this budget replacing nine police vehicles and chief, I don't know, I think police vehicles probably 60 $70,000 a piece after you have them outfitted. Not cheap. It wasn't up until last year that we got the
starting salary of an Ormond Beach police officer be higher than that of a Bunnell police officer. And it worries me when Ray tells me that in the past we have three officers and one sergeant on duty at night. And you know what happens when there's a burger alarm that goes off with an open door? They send two officers. That right? So then you only have one officer and a sergeant patrolling the rest of the city. That's not acceptable. Not in Ormond beach. Those added
police officers and added police cars will help with that situation. Our police need the best technology, the best equipment available to them to keep us safe. We don't need to be the training ground for other police departments in the area because they can't afford to work in Ormond Beach because they can make money, better money somewhere else. And the same holds true for our fire guys, our fire department. They need the best equipment they can have to fight fires and
perform first first basic I guess basic uh first aid duties when they're called out. Technology, equipment, pay, benefits, none of it's cheap. I wish I could sit here and say we could reduce taxes or go to roll back, but nothing's less this year than it was last year. Our general employees are the same way. I want them to be able to live in Ormond
Beach. They have to be paid well. They'll go somewhere else if they're not. We're fortunate in this city to have generational employees who have been here. Their grandparents worked in this city. Ed Wilson was here earlier. His grandfather was public safety director. That was back when they were police and fire chief. I was wondering if we could put a graphic on the screen that shows the millage rates of sister cities. Do we have that, Joyce? Okay. Well, as an example, it's in our budget packet,
but we it's not we can't put on the screen. As has been said earlier, we're the second lowest millage in Volusia County with the exception of the city of Debary. And Mr. Railsback was correct when he stated that actually they have two power plants. They contract with Volusia County for their police and their fire. They don't have a police department. They don't have a fire department. So when I look at a city that's our size, we are really the lowest tax rate in Volusia
County even with this increase. And I'm not saying that makes the increase okay, but the increase is needed. If you take a $200,000 house in Ormond Beach, and of course we know that value is going to change whichever city you go to, but let's just say for the sake of argument it stays the same in whatever city you put it in, you're going to pay more taxes on that $200,000 house in Holly Hill, Daytona Beach, South Daytona, Port Orange, Oak Hill, New Smyrna, wherever that house is because they have a higher higher millage rate.
So, I think for the services we provide and the quality of life we have in Ormond Beach, we got a pretty dog on good. Um, you know, again, we have quality parks and recreation areas and city facilities. I can remember one time, some of you may remember this, the Nova Gym. the Nova Gym where kids play basketball, they had to cancel baseball games because of rain. The
roof was leaking. That occurred for a couple years till the city pony up the money to fix the roof. We live in a quality city. You know, I would almost invite a doge of this city because I think they'd probably be looking at other cities before it to look at us based on our tax rate. Based on our tax rate,
I don't think there's a whole lot of fat in this budget. I'm totally against cutting recreation. Whoever wherever that idea came from is just absurd. Jeff Boyle sitting in the audience tonight, former city commissioner. 36 years ago, he and I played softball together and won the championship. That right? Yes. But I only win now. The other team must not have been good. Thanks. Anyway, Mr. Mayor, I'll just end this by saying we live in a
quality town. We live in a quality city. And the turnout here tonight is heartwarming. No matter which side of the aisle you're on, if you're for the tax increase or against the tax increase, you showed up. And you know, it it it it hurts my heart sometimes to hear some of the things that we don't want this, we don't want that. And it warms my heart to see all of you all here. But let's take care of each other and have a good city. And if it cost us a little bit more,
unfortunately, maybe we have to bite the bullet. Mr. Mayor, that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Briley. Um, Commissioner Deaton. Sure. Okay. I fig just go this direction here if you want. Oh, you want to? Okay. I'm sorry. All right. Sorry, Deputy Mayor Tolland. That's right. Thank you, Mayor. Um, and what I would like to do before I make my comments is I would like to ask the city clerk to read the memo that we received in our packet from our city attorney, Mr. Hayes, If you don't have that, I have that available for you.
I have it. No, I have it. Is that the And if it's okay, I'll make my comments after that. Thank you. Okay. To the honorable Mayor Leslie and city commissioners from Randall A. Hayes, city attorney. Date September 3, 2025. Subject adoption of 2025-2026 fiscal year budget and millage rate. The city's fiscal year begins each year on October 1 and ends on September
30 the following year. The city commission is required to adopt a budget each fiscal year and the adopted budget must equal the total appropriations for expenditures and reserves. The reserve received from property taxes ensure sufficient funds are available to pay budgeted expenditures. The city commission is required to adopt a tax rate or millage rate each fiscal year at the time a final budget is adopted. Property tax revenue is raised by establishing
millage rates consisting of a nonvoted millage rate adopted by the city commission and voter approved millage rate for debt service. The city's adopted rate for the last 30 years has been one of the lowest tax rates, generally the second lowest among all taxing authorities in Volusia County. The city's adopted tax rate for fiscal year 2024-2025 was the second lowest tax rate and the city's tenative tax rate for fiscal year 2025 2026 is again the second lowest tax rate. Upon
final adoption of the proposed budget and proposed millage rate for fiscal year 2025-2026, the city will likely have the second lowest adopted tax rate in the county. Again, this is significant accomplishment that is reflective of good fiscal management and responsible leadership. Following the adoption of a final tax rate and annual budget, the city's prior year budget undergoes an independent audit review. A final audited budget report is then presented to the city commission
in February. The city's annual budget has for many years received numerous successive awards reflected of reflective of sound fiscal policy and responsible fiscal management. The city's internal budget process for the 2025-2026 fiscal year began in earnest this past March. The city's financial team spent countless hours over the past seven months compiling and analyzing financial
data that would ensure the city's ability to meet financial obligations for fiscal year 2025-2026. The city's financial team held numerous individual meetings with members of the city commission and conducted public workshop meetings for the purpose of discussing needed capital projects and general services as well as associated expenditures and necessary funding requirements. Each member of the city commission has had opportunities over the past seven months to provide input in the development of a budget and the establishment of a millage rate to
fund budgeted expenditures built around the capital improvement plan and strategic plan both of which were unanimously approved by the city commission. The collective effort resulted in the unanimous approval by the city commission of resolution 2025-102 on July 22nd, 2025 adopting a tenative operating millage rate of 4.5220 mills $45220 per 1,000 of
taxable value and a debt service millage rate of 0.0630 0630 MS 630 cents per 1,000 of taxable value for a combined rate of 4.5850 mills for an average for an annual average tax of.92 to meet the expenditures estimated for the 2025-2026 fiscal year annual budget. On August 19, 2025, the city commission held a budget workshop to discuss the tenative millage
rate that was unanimously approved. The finance director and city manager presented information to help the city commission reduce the tenative millage by reducing expenditure in the following operating budget categories. In the general fund July 22 tenative millage rate was 3.7950 adjusted August 19 adjusted to 3.7057 millage rate reduction negative0.0893.
Every member of the city commission agreed to reduce the tenative millage rate from 3.7950 to 3.7057 representing a corresponding reduction of zero of negative0.0893 on the vehicle and equipment renewal and replacement the July 22nd tenative mill rate 0.0900 August 19 adjusted to 0.0440 0440 millage rate reduction 0.0460. Every
member of the city commission agreed to reduce the tenative miller rate from 0.0900 to 0.0440 representing a corresponding reduction of0.0460. Total operating millage rate July 22nd tenative millage rate 4.5220 August 19 adjusted to 4.3867 millage rate reduction 0.1353 every member of the city commission agreed to reduce the total
operating millage rate from 4.5220 to 4.3867 representing a corresponding reduction of0 0353 total millage July 22nd tenative millage rate 4.5850 August 19 adjusted to 4.4497 millage rate reduction.1353 every member of the city commission agreed to reduce the total millage rate from
4.5850 to 4.4497 4497 representing a corresponding reduction of0.1353 for an average annual tax average tax of $81.89 to fund services for police, fire, utilities, recreation and leisure services, other general services and facilities. The total combined rate consists of the adjusted operating millage rate and the voter approved debt service millage rate.
At the conclusion of the workshop meeting, the finance director summarized to the city commission all changes the commission unanimously agreed to make to the tenative millage rate that was unanimously approved by resolution 2025-102 on July 22nd, 2025 and to the budget. Each member of the city commission affirmed their decision except the mayor. The mayor expressed a general desire for additional reductions to the budget and millage rate. However, he did not offer any
suggestions for further reduction, stating only that those decisions were above his pay grade, or in other words, he was not qualified to make those decisions. The finance director and city manager advised that significant reductions could only be achieved by reducing funding for police, fire, utilities, recreational services, and facilities. A copy of the workshop minutes is included in the September 3 agenda packet. Since the August 19 workshop, the mayor has advocated
on social media platforms a desire for drastic reductions in the millage rate and budget. The mayor's changed position has caused confusion and creates uncertainty. In the event the city commission fails to adopt a final mill rate and final budget, the Florida Department of Revenue will find the city in violation of its legal obligation to adopt a budget and millage rate. The city will forfeit all state funds for the 12 months period following a determination of non-compliance which could include disruption of local government halfscent sales tax revenue and
any revenues collected in excess of the roll back rate will be held in escrow by the tax collector until the city repeats the hearing and notice process for the adoption of the budget and mill rate which may not exceed the rate previously adopted on the roll back. Great. So, think was that you have more? Yes. Another page and a half. I think we have the point. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. So, the reason and thank you for doing that. You're welcome.
The reason I asked the city clerk to read that, and I know it was very long and very technical, is that it provided some historical background as to why we are here tonight and why so many people came out to speak. And I just thought that was important for the minutes and for this record. Let me be perfectly clear from the start. I'm not willing to compromise the quality of life for our residents because of misinformation or any political maneuvering.
The conversation that we're having tonight about cuts is very frustrating and it really stinks. It puts at risk the very services that Ormond Beach are to keep us safe, keep us strong, and keep us special. This room was full of children and adults and I'm sure it's past their bedtime and that's why they left. But our community shows up when they care about
our community and they care about it deeply. And I share that commitment. I will not defund our police. I will not defund our fire or our public works. I will continue to stand up for parks and our recreation and the programs that support our children and our seniors and make our community special. Some of you in here know me and we've been here, my family's been here since 1989.
I raised seven children in this community and we probably played on every sport in every gym and volunteered in every organization. So, this means a whole lot to me. These things that we're talking about tonight are not extras. Let me repeat, they are not extras and they are they are the backbone of who we are. the people who once voted to tax yourself to make sure Andy Romano Beachfront
Park could exist it within our city limits. So you taxed yourself and you were good with that. I will also always support the organizations that keep Ormond Beach vibrant. Our museums, our main street, our chamber, our historical society, all the events that our city puts on, our fireworks, our parade. I won't compromise those things. That's what keeps our city the way it is in our quality of life. Year after year, our city has received awards for its budget and its
financial management. And it's just terrible that we're sitting here questioning the hard work that they do. That didn't happen by accident. We have consistently shown we can be fiscally conservative while protecting our services. So why the struggle now? Is it fear? Is it pressure from outsiders? Or is it a mayor more focused on reelection than on bringing real solutions to the table?
Someone who spreads division instead of bringing consensus. Our residents deserve better than that. When I was elected, I promised to stay authentic, to put our residents first, and to serve this city with integrity. For 35 years, like I just alluded, I've been a volunteer. And I will not compromise. Now, it would be disingenuous to vote for cuts that threaten our safety, our services, and our quality of life. I stand firm in my beliefs. Our residents deserve our best and I
will go to sleep at night knowing that I have done everything possible to protect them. Now saying all of that, oh that was really boring. This poor gentleman is yawning. Saying all of that, I am open to a discussion on limited items that we may want to may want to defer for a short period of time to save our taxpayers dollars if that would be the pleasure of this commission. I'm
I'm I'm open to to discussion. Um, but let me I just really need to be clear one more time that my position remains steadfast with the police, the fire, public safeties, and community service. And I want to reassure them that they are not on the chopping blocks. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy May. Um, Commissioner Sargent. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think maybe we should
give ourselves 3 minutes. I mean, the audience has three minutes in here. We're going on for 10 each, but we'll change that at another night. Um, after receiving many calls over the last couple of weeks, I decided to start with a few words tonight that I wrote down. Tonight, I would like to talk about issues that affect the way we govern and the way that we build trust in our community. misinformation and how it directly undermines transparency. In city government, transparency is more than just a principle. It's a responsibility. Residents deserve to know how decisions are made,
how tax dollars are spent, and how policies affect their neighborhoods. But when misinformation spreads, that that clarity becomes clouded. False and incomplete information creates confusion. And confusion often spreads suspicion when people Mr. Mayor, do you need to text someone? Okay. Thank you. No, I'm sorry. We're We're trying to communicate here about the millage. That's fine. I'm trying to have a discussion too for the residents. When people when people feel
Go ahead. I'm sorry. When people feel they aren't getting the truth, even from reliable sources, trust begins to break down. Residents may wander. wonder what is being hidden. Why aren't we being told the full story? That perception alone, even if untrue, damages the credibility of our city government. Here in Ormond Beach, we pride ourselves on being a community that values open dialogue. But misinformation moves quickly,
whether it's through social media posts, word of mouth, or simple misunderstandings. If left unchallenged, it can create gaps between the council and the people we serve. And in that gap, transparency fades. Transparency is not just a checkbox. It is the foundation of public trust. When trust is accessible, people feel included. When the m information is clear, they feel respected. And when trust grows, our entire community grows. So let us commit
as leaders and as citizens of Ormond Beach to push back against misinformation with honesty and openness because when misinformation spreads, transparency fades. But when transparency thrives, trust is built and our city moves forward. With that being said, I would like to ask our finance director a couple questions, please. Um, Kelly McGuire, over the last couple of weeks, I know there was several social media posts that alluded to our our operating budget being at 161 million,
170 million to breed that transparency for our residents. Can you please provide us what that number is before us tonight? Certainly. To to to just to clarify a few things, please. Just one second here. I believe it's 131 million, but I don't want to create more confusion. Yes. So, your current budget number for the current fiscal year is 131 million 976868.
Okay. So, it's not 161 or 170. It is not. Can you explain that 170 number? I know it's a little confusing for residents um when they go on our transparency certainly information and maybe that's where the confusion is, but I think we need to clear that up for our residents. Certainly. So, the official adopted number is $131 million, the number I just gave you. The $170 million that you're speaking about is what is shown on our transparency portal as the revised budget, but it has not been officially revised by the commission as of yet. we will bring that back to you at the
end of the fiscal year. The reason that number exists is because each time we bring you an item, and this generally happens for capital improvement plans that were originally budgeted last year, but they're being done in the current year, we need to revise the budget. So, for each of these individual agenda items, when you approve one of those projects, we indicate to you in the agenda that a budget amendment will be required. We put that budget amendment in the system immediately. So the the $170 million number is a working number like the county of property
appraiser has a working tax role number. He makes that available to all of the citizens to see, but it's a working number. So what will happen at the end of the fiscal year is all of the projects that did not get completed will be taken out of the budget and will likely be right back to about $131 million. So, our budget since 2020 has not increased 90%, has it? It has not increased 90% or anything close to 90%. Okay. Thank you for clearing that up. Um, I just have a few more
comments just to touch on a few savings that we had last year when we bid out the insurance. Um, the previous commission, there was a savings of almost $200 plus,000. Bailey Riverfront, uh, River Bridge. Um, you know, we got a lot of outrageous bids to redo that little cedar plank roof and we kicked it back and we ended up saving over $80,000 cheaper than what the previous bid was. So, those are um just a couple examples of what this commission has done to be physically responsible.
Um, you know, I I I don't want to get into the the nitty-gritty or anything, but I also welcome Doge. I think our city staff does an amazing job. And I said it before at two meetings ago. If anyone sees a problem in the budget, anyone, why wait? Let's address it now. Let's get it fixed. What good is it if you know about something, you don't say something? but to say something and and it not
be there or to reach out to people in Tallahassee when what was it 1950 pardon my I'm not a good historian like uh Commissioner Briley over 50 years ago we voted for home rule so that we could take care of our budget at home that's what we are elected to do for our residents. We don't
want to go to Tallahassee for help. You know, we have people that want to fight SB 180 to protect home rule, but then here we are wanting to go to Tallahassee to have them help us with our budget. I will yield back my time. Um, and I have a few more comments at the end. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Commissioner, thank you. And thank you everyone for being here tonight and having the courage to
speak. It really does mean a lot. I'd also like to thank our budget committee and our finance department. I respect the time, the seven months that you guys have put into this. With that being said, I do want to adopt the most recent proposed millage because I do respect your time. Um, I'm a lifelong Ormond Beach resident. I was born and raised here. My son is an Ormond Beach Spike. He plays on the same fields that I grew up playing on. With that being said, I cannot in good faith cut the services that these people are here begging for us to save
just to save a few dollars. And I sure cannot ever vote to defund the police, fire, and public safety. And I will go to bat for those parks and recreation. I will not run my term worried about my re-election. I will do what the people are here begging us to do, which is to retain their services and their quality of life. I ran my campaign to put these residents first, and that's what I'm doing. Thank you, and have a good night. Can I have I have one more thing to say, Mr. Mayor. I understand you don't want
to take a tax increase. This is going to take cutting $1.64 million from the budget. Please lay out what cuts you were willing to make to go flat for that total of $1.64 million of projects that we unanimously approved that will be funded by property taxes. Well, I'd like to the room has really cleared out a lot in time, but I'd like to thank everyone who came out and spoke tonight. All your voices are heard, and it was not a waste of your time. I can assure you that. Um, one of the things that really bothered me recently was when I heard
that the mayor wants to cut youth sports. And tonight I brought to you my trophy here that I got in 1988. I was 8 years old back then to play m little league baseball and we were champions and the team was the Yankees. Um, thought that was kind of cool. Go back a year before that, 1987. My father was killed in a car accident, tragically, unexpectedly. So, my mother had a
real hardship. She had a bunch of young kids and now no uh head of household, and I remember her calling up some of my friends parents um asking if she can borrow money so that I could play sports. They didn't have any subsidy programs back then. And I also remember her saying that she was going to do some arts and crafts and some other things to make some extra money so that she could pay them back. And so I held on to this trophy all these years as a reminder that I was a champion at
8 years old and I was I had an opportunity to play sports. So, I can tell you right now that anyone if anyone out there includ I am the last person that wants to cut you sports. And when I heard about this thing, I was outraged. Um, and I wanted to bring this tonight to show everybody and I hold it all these years later and I'll probably hold it till the end of time if I can. So, I wanted to point that out to you. One of the other things I learned is that we've given the
uh basketball and baseball program approximately $28,000 and they have not had an increase in 20 years or so. uh this is information that was given to me by the finance director and that's very disheartening because that you know tells me that that was not a priority at some point along the way but somehow the program found a way to make it work though and I would like to recognize and thank all the people that still made that work in such a low budget.
One of the most important responsibilities we have as local officials is setting the tax rate. When I was first elected, I was told my first budget process would be challenging. And that advice proved true. Serving under a city manager charter without involvement in daily operations makes makes the process even more complex. This July, the proposed millage rate represents a 10.2% increase. Many longtime residents have told me they never seen an increase that large. That is when I began asking staff to look for ways to pro provide relief,
especially considering the cost of home insurance. Over the past several weeks, I've reviewed past and current budget lines by line. From what from that work, I see several areas where we can make meaningful adjustments. And this is stuff that is going to take time. It's not going to be anything that's going to happen tonight. Um but these are just some things that I saw because I know that the commission has expressed what are some of the things and ideas that I have. So whether or not these things will work out that's another thing but these are just things that areas that I saw.
Uh the autorenew contracts and I know we've talked about this before in the dais not too long ago. Contracts should be reviewed well before renewal so the commission has time to seek competitive bids. The economy has changed and some companies may be now willing to offer lower rates. I've had a lot of phone calls about the two assistant city manager positions. Many residents have asked why a city our size needs two assistant city managers. Each currently covers responsibilities from prior roles. So they're essentially wearing two hats right now because we've not filled the two
positions that they are currently now carrying. So they're each city manager has two hats right now. With that though, it does create a little bit of confusion. And so one of the things that I would ask is that we can kind of clarify a little bit more so that when residents are looking these things up and they're looking on the city website, they see that the there's not just two city managers, there's two city managers that are holding other type of roles. I know Sean is the public works director as well and I believe Claire has done something with HR as well and thank you for that by the way. And so I I'm not asking for any decreases or anything like
that with pay or anything like that. just little clarity because I think that you know people would really appreciate that considering I did get a lot of phone calls asking about those things. We spent a lot of money on other things throughout the course of time. Uh last year the city spent more than uh $550,000 on outside legal counsel while also you know and that's these are services that we needed because this involved the fuel terminal that a lot of you I think this time last year a lot of people came in this room to talk about and
uh other legal services that are pending and we understand that but one of the things though is that we do have three attorneys on staff and two parallegals and if there's a way that we can find a way to maybe try to do more in-house house some way or even work with these legal firms or law firms that you know are doing these outside services. If we can provide more uh any more support that will help lower our litigation cost if that's possible. I'm not a lawyer but that's something that I was thinking about. Uh one of the other things I mentioned was vehicle leasing.
Um it was not a popular topic, but I did have a conversation with the city manager today and the city staff is exploring some of those options um which might help also reduce our cost along with providing a you know reliable vehicles and uh like and and it would be also insured vehicles just for the vehicle itself. So if there was an accident or something happened was and the car was totally lost that we would get at least some kind of reimbursement for the uh vehicle which currently we're self-insured. So I don't think we do right now. Some of the larger budget considerations is
uh the city purchased the old church on North Beach Street here back in 2017. Uh the property was intended to be some kind of civic center and uh 3 years later uh there was uh inspection that was done that had some kind of latent defects on it and so the the building had to come down. Um after that now the parking lot that the build the property has now turned into a parking lot which is in the CRA. Um when we purchased the property, it came out of the general fund and so cuz it was
intended to be a civic center, but it looks like there's not a lot of talk about being a civic center in that location at this point. There might be some aspirations maybe somewhere else in town, but we invested approximately a million dollars right now into that property. And if we put the money back into the general fund from the CRA, that would have really helped our um our budget issues that we're facing right now. And I talked to staff about it and they said that there's a couple ways to do it if we had to, but one of the biggest hurdles might be that you might
need county approval. And I don't know how the county might feel about that, but it's something to also consider. The other thing was the Andy Romano Park. Um we are currently um finally going to get a vendor in to implement the parking fees for people that live outside of Volusia County and follow in line with the Volusia County Council uh with Volusia County um with the beach access. And so when that program was approved, we had a uh county councilman come into the meeting here. I
was not a mayor back then. and I was just sitting in the audience like you were, but I remember him expressing to the commission that we are moving forward with this parking program and that we hope that you're going to move along with it. Well, that parking program went into effect in January uh 1st and we still don't have the parking program in place. And so I've got a lot of phone calls from and emails from residents concerned that the parking is getting to be a little bit of an issue because now the people that are from out of Volusia County realize that this is a free
place to park and the residents here who paid for the park are not able to use it. So, not only that though, but we also lost revenue from not having those parking fees in place. So, uh I know we're working on it, but we're a little late in the game on that one. And I wish that we would have gotten there the same time as the county. And it did has confaused a little confusion, but I'm hopeful that once we do have that in place, that will help with the uh re revenue. Also,
um it's important to be clear, our budget challenges are not about cutting youth, sports, parks, or recreation. Um in fact, many of these services haven't seen major funding increases more than 20 years. Like I said, the the youth sports, I mean, 20 years, they've been working on the same budget from what I was being what I told my staff. Um the real challenges lies in day-to-day operational cost and reducing reliance on outside services that could be more affordable uh affordability in house. Um,
for that reason also I will say that all of you coming out and speaking means a lot and this was not a politicized move in any way. And this is my first budget I got to go through and it was challenging and there's a lot of things that I've learned and I also learned a lot from the community here with you coming out and speaking because at the end of the day if you look at the organizational chart city has we probably don't have it on a screen here but the the residents are
on the top. You guys are our bosses and we're right below that and we need to always make sure that we are listening to the community and we hear you and I hear you too. And so what I ask the commission here is that I will come behind you and support this because it's not about politics. It's about community and I love everybody in this community and I moved here
because I really enjoyed it. Um, my sister moved here and I came by accident. I was coming down I 95 going back home and I said, "Don't you live in Florida somewhere?" She goes, "Yeah, I'm living in Ormond Beach." And I said, "Where is that?" And it just went from there. But by joining together on this and being unanimous on this vote, I ask everybody in the commission here to let's start working together. We work together. We work as a team and we put all the things aside that we had,
whatever that was. It was a little wedge, you know, but that's okay. I'm the new guy, right? So, um, but I'm ready to do this. I I uh wanted to uh make a difference in this community and by cutting services that people love and enjoy is not what I want to do. And so, well, I just I need to make a clarification and I need to ask Kelly a question. Yes, we're going to we're going to get Yeah. about the what the uh motion is for the millage rate. Yes, sir. Okay.
I'll get to that in one second as we're finish. Okay. Um, so in conclusion, I'm looking forward to the next 12 months before we get to the next budget. I'm going through some of these things and working with staff and finding solutions. I mean, the auto renews, I know that's something that we all are one of those things that we like to try to work on, the landscape contract. And so, um, yes. Um, so if everyone here in the dais is in agreeance that we're ready to work together,
work as a team, do what the people wanted. The people wanted us here and whatever happens the next election, it's going to happen. That's an act of God. But right now, we have a job to do. We have a duty to fill and I'm ready to lead this thing and and go and let's do this together. Okay. Um, and I'm just going to finish up real quick. Um, so with that said, I'm ready to do this thing because it's not about politics. It's about doing the right
thing for the people in this community and I'm ready to do it. And that's all I have. Okay, Commissioner Sargent. Thank you, Mr Mayor and I appreciate those words and I look forward to also working with you over the next year for the residents of Ormond Beach. I just want to point out that the budget is built on the capital improvement projects and the strategic plan that
we all all a part of. And just so the residents understand, you know, where the increases, you know, may be and just I don't want to bore you too much, but the the previous capital improvement project plan, which is a 5-year plan, was $80 million worth of projects, just to put it in perspective. The current one that we we adopted was $218 million of projects which equates to about $34 million a year versus $14 million. So you can see where
the increase and this is for storm water. This is to, you know, protect our city and the roads. And I don't want to bore you with everything, but that's where the big difference is. 80 million for the previous CIP to 218 million of uh projects that this commission identified that need to be taken care of. Um, with that, I'm ready to move forward. Commissioner Briley, if you want to go, and then I'll have closing comments. Thank you. I'm going to call up Kelly, right? Yeah. Okay. Um yeah, Kelly, um can you just provide some language now on what the motion is
and where we're at? So this way we have everything correct on here. Certainly. I've given everyone language. So we would need somebody to amend the motion that's on the floor. So that you are uh amending the motion to adopt the proposed millage rate for the city of Beach for 25 26 of 4.3867. This rate is 12.36% above the roll back rate of 3.9042. The proposed debt service millage is 0.0630 for the 2010 general obligation bond syncing fund. And that would be the amendment.
The service millage is 0.0630. I'm I'm sorry. The uh service millage is 0.0630. Correct. Can you give us a total? Yeah, I think with the total would that be 4.49 4.4497. That is correct. I will make that but the motion needs to adopt needs to include them separately just to be clear. I will make that motion if second. And I do have a comment uh Mr. Mayor about what you were just saying if you don't mind please.
Sure. I just want to say thank you for those comments. I think your role as a leader is to build consensus and to try to bring back the trust up on this dais and serve our residents. And forgive me that I'm a little bit skeptical because I feel like we've been burned a few times when we've come to this consensus and then we read in the paper and then next day you've said other things. I sincerely hope that you mean what you say and you stick to what you say. Thank you.
Okay, so now Yep. Yep. Just looking at my notes here real quick. Okay. Uh city clerk, uh please call the vote. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley, yes. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes.
We're We're not quite done yet. Oh. Now, um, Madame Clerk, if you could have them, uh, call vote on the underlying motion as a the resolution as amended. That'll that'll be it. Call resolution. Oh, can you call the vote on the resolution um, as amended? Yep. Okay. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes.
Yes. Mayor, did you want to make the final announcement for the trim requirements or would like me to do that? Okay. Would you like it? The proposed uh operating millage rate is set at 4.3867 mills which is 12.36% above the rolled back millage rate of 3.9042 mills. Okay,
you can move on to the budget item whenever you're ready. Okay, thank you, Kelly. Uh, city clerk, can you read um 5A, ordinance number 2025-29? Yes, I'll read. It's actually 5B. Oh, 5B. That's what I said. Yeah, no worries. Okay. Ordinance number 2025-29, an ordinance adopting the annual budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year beginning
October 1, 2025 and ending September 30, 2026, repealing all inconsistent ordinances or parts thereof and setting forth an effective date. This is the first reading of ordinance number 2025-29, read by title only. Do I have a motion for approval? Motion. Second. Um to can I just get a motion to adopt the proposed FY fiscal year 25 2020 202526 budget? Motion to adopt the proposed
fiscal year 2025 2026 budget. Second. Okay. Any discussion? Oh. Uh Commissioner Sargent I have to give you a long boring speech, right? Um I do just want to say thank you for everyone being here tonight. I know a lot of people have left and I know tax increases are never never popular and I think it's that's why it's important for us to speak uh with the residents openly honestly about
why we do the decisions that we make up here which you know obviously a tax increase is not what we want to do. This isn't just about today though. It's about protecting your property values, keeping your neighborhood safe, and ensuring that our children and grandchildren have a city where they are proud to call home. I understand that this sacrifi is a sacrifice, and I wouldn't ask for it unless it was truly necessary. I commit to full transparency. Every dollar collected will be used responsibly, and you will see the results in our community. Your
tax dollars are being not being wasted. They are being reinvested back into our community. With this step, we ensure that our city remains safe, strong, and ready for the future. I would like to propose that going forward that we think about hosting an OB life series on government finance to really help alleviate some of the confusion of how government finance is work. Um I also think we need to have a workshop maybe on um conducting a self-doge for ourselves and as
I said at the last commission meeting we have a you know we could do a workshop and we can discuss the state of Florida's selfdoge process and we can set up the goals and expectations and we should also involve our budget advisory board. I don't think we need Tallahassee to come tell us how to do our budget. I think we can get ahead of it. And I think that back to another way to create efficiencies is to continue moving forward with setting up our
technology advisory board where we can figure out how to utilize AI more efficiently uh to create those efficiencies and cost savings. And with that, I will get off my soap box. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Sargent. Okay, so we have a motion and a second. Um, any other discussion before I call a vote? Uh, city clerk. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley, yes. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes.
Um, we're going to take a recess real quick. Um, so we'll be back here in about let's just say 9:40. So give us 10 minutes. Five. Five. Okay. Five. Okay. All right. 5 minutes then. Thank you. This is over. If everyone could please take a seat. We're going to move on the agenda here so we can all get home at some point. Um, we're going to move on to audience remarks. Uh we'll hear from those of you have signed a card to speak about any item which is not on
the printed agenda for this meeting or any items on the consent agenda. Bless you. Thank you. Each person will be given a total of three minutes. First one I'd like to call up is uh Debbie Forester. Debbie, where you at? There you are. Good evening. Debbie Krook Forester, commander of Ormond Strong, a local nonprofit uh benefiting military veterans, first responders, their families, and our communities. I'm here today
about an event. I stood in front of the council last month and spoke about September 11th, 2001. I'm here this evening to remind everybody about our Ormond Strong September 11th ceremony and walk beginning at 8:00 a.m. The reason 8:00 is because uh the ball started rolling and event started happening at 7:59. Um the event is underneath the Granada Bridge between Cassen and Bailey Park. There will again be a wall of our over 2,000 names of those who lost their lives on that fateful
Monday morning when the world as we remember changed and the World Trade Center Towers once a defining and constant part of the New York City skyline no longer would exist. If you can't walk, please join us for this heartfelt ceremony. Uh it's my understanding there's another event I think the fire department that are doing that day September 11th. I don't know the details on that. What time? Okay. And uh I encourage everyone to come to either event and
uh support us, support all of us as it's important to honor the lives of those lost, to recognize first responders and survivors, to be reminded of America's resilience and the capacity for goodness and compassion to emerge even during time of great suffering. Our hope for these events um is to bring people together in our amazing city and to come together and be the people we were September 12th, 2001. Thank you for your time and a special thank you to the Jewish
Federation of Volusia, Flagler County, and Sally's Delectibles um for helping make this event special. Ormond Strong out. Thank you. Thank you, Debbie. Um, up up next is Colleen McMannon. No, maybe not. Um, Mike Mitcher. Okay. Uh, Michael Paggio. Okay. And Jennifer Jennifer Schwarz. Okay. Well, that made it easy.
Um, no more audience remarks. Oh, I'm sorry. There you are. I'm sorry. I didn't see you. That's okay. Um, my name is Jennifer Schwarz. I live at 125 Coqina Drive. This is the first time I've come and spoken. I've listened to a few meetings over the years. Um, I have owned my home with my husband for over 25 years. Prior to owning my home, it was my grandparents home. So, I have been established in this community for many years. My husband is in our public school system. Um on last year during the hurricanes, uh we had a lot of damage and on December 10th,
I actually emailed all of you. I got a reply, um from Mrs. Tolland. I believe that's the only one because she's our representative. However, I I have a whole thing I was going to read, but it's after listening to everything tonight. Um, I'm glad that you're willing to listen to those in the community, but I'm extremely frustrated. I hope that everyone takes note when they go to the polls because I have seen things within our school system and now here in our community that the
trajectory is alarming as someone who has been in this community. the attacks, the soapboxing, the back and forth is really kind of seeping in in an in a way that is just becoming negative and more negative. I sent my email because I live across the street from Oceola Elementary School and when we were in the election cycle and everyone was posturing on what we should do in Ormond, there was a lot of hoopla on the beach side about our area. The school changed. It's changed a few
times. As neighbors, we've welcomed the different changes, the different traffic patterns, and now it's Riverview, and there was a big hoopla about those kids coming into our community. The school has been amazing. The staff there are amazing. The the having kids there who need a second chance, fine. What is sad is the condition of the school area. But it's not just Volusia County, it's the city. If you look at the area, it is partially run by the city, partially Volusia County schools,
which has been the frustration of my families for almost 50 years. When the hurricanes came, there was a lot of damage. I was told someone would look into it. I was told we were going to have things cleaned up. After the meeting tonight and hearing about cuts and and all the different things and how proud we are of our of our parks, go look at the park across the street and tell me if it looks anything like any of the other parks in Ormond Beach. It's been locked. The raketball courts were knocked down. The pickle ball area is trashed. We have children who try to play on
the weekends and are climbing fences and can't. We have gates on the fence. There is debris. There is concrete. I have emailed numerous times and I have been extremely patient because I know our city has a lot of work to do. But to hear everyone up here talk about the beautifification of our parks and to see to hear all of these wonderful comments. I am here. I love it. But I live across the street from an eyesore and I've emailed the pictures. Uh can you stand up there for a second? We have a question for you. Sure. Do you know the name of that park? There is no name because it's part
of uh you have it. You're good. Yeah. So Miss Schwarz has contacted me multiple times. Okay. and we have talked and I was under the impression that you're right, it's the school system and the city and I thought that we as a city were working with the school system to address some of those issues. So, I'm wondering if Mr. Finley or could give Miss Schwarz your card and if you all can work on something, maybe we can help. The mayor The mayor actually sent my email to Donna. I'm
going to say her last name. I've never heard from her because it's not part of the I I did the same thing. She went to slam everything. Well, Sean will get you here and we'll see what you do to help you. Oh, the question. Thank you. This is another reason why I want all of our contracts reviewed that we have with the Volusia County School Board because this is what happens when you have a partnership that's not a partnership. Either someone needs to be responsible for it or not. And that this is another reason that we should just get rid of those contracts.
Great. Well, thank you. Thanks. Thank you very much. Okay, that's the last card we have for audience remarks. So, we're going to move on to the approval of the minutes. The minutes for the August 5th, 2025 city commission meeting have been sent to the commission for review and posted to the city's website. Does anyone have any corrections or changes? Approval. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor say I. I. Okay. Eyes have it. Okay, we're going to move on to the consent agenda. Items in the consent agenda are deemed
routine and non-controversial. The action proposed is stated for each item. Unless the city commissioner removes an item from the consent agenda, no discussion on individual items will occur and a single motion will approve all items. Does any member of the commission wish to pull any items from the consent agenda? Approval of consent agenda is submitted. Second. Second. Any discussion? Seeing none, city clerk, please call the vote. Commissioner Briley, yes. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes. Uh, any commissioners wish to comment any other consentage items? No. Okay.
Okay. I will now open the public hearings. Uh, city clerk, please read the legal title uh 9A. Ordinance number 2025-24, an ordinance amending section 2-83, offices, departments, divisions, and heads enumerated of article 5 departments of chapter 2 administration. Section 2-221, Leisure Services Advisory Board of Division 2, Enumerated of Article 6, Boards, Commissions, Committees, and Other Agencies of Chapter 2, Administration. Section 2-22,
Workplace Safety Program of Division 2, Enumerated of Article 6, Boards, Commissions, Committees, and other agencies, and Chapter 2, Administration. Section 14-18 trespass of article one in general of chapter 14 offenses section 15-8 nuisances of article 1 operation of city parks and recreation and cultural areas and facilities of chapter 15 parks and recreation section 17-9 public use of streets and sidewalks of chapter 17 streets sidewalks and other public places
of the city of Ormond Beach code of ordinances to amend the term leisure services department to parks and recreation department and to amend the name of the leisure services advisory board to the parks and recreation advisory board repealing all inconsistent ordinances or parts thereof and setting forth an effective date. This is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-24 read by title only. Is there a motion for approval? Move approval. Second. Uh this is a second reading. Do we need the plan director to come up for anything? No. I see
no cards and any discussion. No. Uh, city clerk, please call the vote. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes. City clerk, please read the legal title for 9B. Ordinance number 2025-25, an ordinance amending subsection 5 mobile food dispensing vehicles of section 2-50 accessory uses of article 3 general regulations of chapter 2 district and general regulations of
the city of Ormond Beach Land Development Code to amend the term leisure services department to parks and recreation department repealing all inconsistent ordinances or parts thereof providing for severability and setting forth an effective date. This is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-25 read by title only. Move approval. Second. I have no cards on this one. No, we don't. Any discussion? I will say that it would be nice to be called parks and wreck
again after this. Uh, city clerk, please call the vote. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley, yes. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes. Okay, city clerk, can you please read the legal title for 9C? Ordinance number 2025-26 and ordinance amending chapter 1, general administration. Article 3, definitions and acronyms section 1-22, definition of terms and words. Chapter 2, District and General Regulations. Article 2, District Regulations. Section 2-25B-4
central business zoning district in chapter 2 district and general regulations article 4 conditional and special exception regulation section 2-57 criteria for review of specific conditional and special exception of the city of Ormond Beach land development code to create a private tattoo studio use definition and conditional use criteria and to allow the private tattoo studio use of a conditional use in the B4 B-4 central business zoning district,
repealing all inconsistent ordinances or parts thereof, providing for severability, and setting forth an effective date. This is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-26, read by title only. Is there a motion for approval? Move approval. Second. Okay. I do have um Well, okay. We're going to have Well, we already have Steven Spraker speak on it. We know about what the item's about, right? Unless you guys want to have him come back up. No. Um,
how about the applicant? Do you want the applicant to come back up? Stephen to go over what the letter from Main Street says. You have a letter from Main Street? Okay, good. Uh, so good evening, Steven Spraker, plan director. So, um, based on the commission um direction from the first reading, we went to Ormond Main Street. Um they uh the board of directors took up the item on the August 25th meeting. They voted 6 to2 with one abstension to recommend approval. Uh the applicant is here. If there any other questions regarding the application,
I'm available. Any questions for Steven? No. All right. We'll have the applicant come up then. How are you, sir? I'm doing well, sir. This room gets bigger every time I come here. I swear. Um, thank you so much for uh just hearing us. Sorry, I'm trying to adjust this. And uh I really appreciate not only your open mind, but uh your your process. I think it's it's quite structured for success. So, regardless of how this outcome goes,
I just want to thank everyone here for hearing me. And uh I actually bought a a game ball just to says thank you no matter what happens because you guys are are a good team. And uh I'm happy to see somebody up there with some structure and some strategy that's aimed at success. Okay, we have uh one speaker after you. So, uh we're going to call the uh speaker. Oh, I'm sorry. Do you have a question? Okay. And then um after that, we might have you come back for more questions. Wonderful. Thank you. At this time, could I call Amber Bobak
397 Colin Street. I was at the planning board meeting initially when it was first going to come up on the agenda. Um the original plan was not to just do an amendment. It was to completely reszone that area which I was not a fan of. So I was really happy when he came back with the special adjustments for his business. I am as you can tell a favor of tattoo artist. I prefer the type of service he plans on serving with the individual quiet separate service. Uh the
way that the it's structured with no signage and things like that. I think it actually works really well in that district. It's right next to the art district and it I think combined together would actually bring value to that area. Thank you. Thank you, Amber. Okay. Um well I guess we'll sit and deliberate. So matter ladies first. Okay. Deputy mayor. Yeah. I just wanted to share with you all that um I have not changed my position on this having the planning board history and
knowing that it can be a slippery slope when you do a special exception in a certain area before. Um I still don't think that's an appropriate approach. Um so I will will be voting no on this. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. Uh, Commissioner Briley. Mr. Mayor, I just I'll echo the the same sentiments. I voted on this last time. I'm voting no one at this time, but to the gentleman who's who's the applicant, I I I applaud you for for doing the right thing. You could have done this done it kind of under the radar, but you came did the right way,
and it it looks like you have the votes to do it anyway, but um if if it goes through, good luck to you. Thank you, sir. Um, Commissioner Sargent, I haven't changed my vote either. I'm a yes for this. I think with the stipulations that the planning department, everyone has put into place, there's not many other places. I think there's only two other locations that this could even go. Um, and thank you for doing the right thing. Thank you for showing up to the He attended the Ormond Main Street board meeting. Um, and thank you for doing the right thing. Thank you,
Mayor. Mr. Nn. Okay. May I say one more thing? Yes. Thank you. And I am I'm remiss. I should have thanked you as well. My brain is not functioning well right now and I apologize, but you really have done the right thing by going through the process and I'm a I'm a big rule follower and I think that is very important and I is is an example to others that may want to do something in the future. So, thank you for doing it the right way. But I do apologize. I am
still a no. No, that's okay. I thank you for uh just hearing it. Thank you so much, Yeah. So, I am glad that I actually suggested to push this thing forward and go to a second reading because it gives us time to really reflect and think about whether or not this is a good decision or not. So in that time frame, I was able to call up some tattoo shops where I know some owners and just getting some feedback a little bit about the use and things like that. And I also had a
chance to go back in the archives and looked at what the vision was for for downtown. We had a lot of people that volunteered, gave input um to really help revitalize this downtown. Um, I remember the downtown very vaguely years ago coming down here for bike week. I think I was 18, 19 years old and it didn't look that good. Um, this probably one reason why I kept going. Um, now you look at it and you say to yourself like this is the direction under a lot of people that spent many hours hard work on making this thing and it's still it's still going. It's not like
this isn't the end, but it's still going. And so I'm gonna go ahead and and be a no on this one only because of the fact that I think that it tattoos was nothing that was really talked about as far as any kind of plans for the downtown. Um, and I do appreciate you coming out being honest, being transparent, and just, you know, you could have ran this thing without telling anybody and we might have not found out. Um, but I did talk to a tattoo shop owner that you probably know,
and I can give you information if you want after the meeting, who offered to give you a space in his shop that's nearby that can give you that one-on-one experience with your clients without any problems or any interference. And he knows you and you know him, I'm sure. And so, I can give you that information afterwards. Um, but I do wish you the best of luck and everything. And uh maybe if you come back later, maybe things will change, but I'm, you know, I'm pretty set on what I think I want to do. Um, Commissioner Sargent, thank you, Mr. Mayor. We put Can you
put up the stipulations that we put on this? Do we have those in the packet by any chance? Okay. Uh, thank you. No exterior windows are allowed. No exterior signage or displays. Only one tattoo artist. appointments only should not exceed 1600 or I'm sorry 160 square ft which we're not having flashing signs in our downtown. No one is going to know this is even there.
I just can't see how we can say no. I understand if we had windows with flash and signs and stuff. I don't want that in our downtown either. This gentleman is operating an e-commerce business already out of there and wants to have private clients that fly in to have tattoos done and we put in all these stipulations. I just I'm having a hard time not voting for it. So that's all I have to say. Thank you. Thank you. Any other discussion here? Okay. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. City Clerk, uh,
please call the vote. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley, no. Commissioner Tolland, no. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Mayor Leslie, no. Okay. Uh, we're going to move on to 9 D. Uh, city clerk, please read the legal title. Ordinance number 2025-27, an ordinance authorizing the execution of an issuance of the eth amended
development order for the Walmart plan business development, approving a building addition of approximately 5,11 square ft for the online grocery pickup service area and associated site improvements, establishing conditions and expiration date of approval and setting forth an effective date. This is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-27 read by title only. Move approval. Second. It's the second reading. Do we need Steven Spraker to come up and speak? No. Okay. And I have no card. Any discussion? See, I just have a com I just have a comment to make
really quick. Reading in the packet. I did notice that the um our landscape I did talk about whether our the landscaping would be updated to our new ordinances and it seemed like in the packet Cara our landscape architect said that they will be complying with our new updated ordinances. So I was very happy about that. Thank you. Thank you deputy mayor. Uh did you have anything commission Sargent? No. Okay. Uh okay. Well, city clerk, please call the vote. Commissioner Briley, yes.
Commissioner Tolland, yes. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes. Um, city clerk, please read the legal title 9E. Ordinance number 2025-30. An ordinance amending section 22-23 minimum meter rates generally 22-24 multiple minimum charges 22-71 service charge established 22-136 minimum water rates and 22-137 minimum wastewater rates
of chapter 22 water and sewers of the city of Ormond Beach code of ordinances by increasing water and sewer rates repealing all inconsistent ordinances es or parts thereof in setting forth an effective date. This is the first reading of ordinance number 2025-30 read by title only. Is there a motion for approval? So moved. Second. Um can we get Kelly McGuire to come up and speak on the item? Certainly. Is there anything in particular you'd like me to speak about? Just
want to talk about the rate increase in general. Um do you guys have any questions for Kelly? No necessary questions, but I do think it would be important for the public to hear just the basic outline. Yeah, exactly. What's going on? Certainly. So, the majority of this rate is going to go for capital projects. We have about $4 million of capital projects that have to be done every single year. And then in addition to that, we have one-time capital projects. So, we have about $6 million of one-time capital projects next year. So, this rate increase would not
impact anyone who had the minimum bill, which is 2,000 gallons or less. And it would be $1.24 for water and sewer combined for every 1,000 gallons above that. Okay. So, basically, anybody that's using 2,000 or less won't see any increase. They will not see an increase. Thank you. Any other questions for Kelly? No. Commissioner Sargent. So, are we having a $2 increase this year and $2 next year on this or is it just what it is on here? Nope. Or it's just what it's in is on here.
You may be thinking about the storm water rate. This is just water and sewer. Perfect. We're good. Thank you. Mhm. Okay. We have a motion and second. I do have a card here for someone to speak. Um a Russell Bennett. He's not here. Russell Bennett. No. Okay. Russell Bennett is gone. Uh, any other deliberation here before I call the vote? Uh, city clerk, please call the vote. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley,
yes. Mayor Leslie, yes. I will now close the public hearings. Okay. Now, we're going to move on to 10A. Uh, city clerk, please read the legal title. Ordinance number 2025-31, an ordinance amending section 10-16, fees for collection and disposal established of article 1 in general of chapter 10, solid waste, yard waste, and recyclables of the city of Ormond Beach code of ordinances by increasing fees for the collection and disposal of
solid waste, repealing all inconsistent ordinances or parts thereof, and setting forth an effective date. This is the first reading of ordinance number 2025-31 read by title only. So move second. Um can we just get Kelly to come up again just to speak on it just and lane us a little bit more about what this is? Certainly mayor. I will be happy to do that. So the increase that we're asking for is to cover really two things. First of all, the automatic CPI adjustment that we provide
to our waist hauler. And secondly, and probably most importantly, is to make sure that we have sufficient reserves for when there's a hurricane. FEMA pays 75% of that typically. We don't know that they'll continue to do that in the future, but we're going to pay at least a minimum of 12.5% if there's a hurricane and we have debris removal. And typically those bills are $3 to5 million. So, we need to make sure that we are setting aside enough money when that occurs that we can fund that. Thank you. Is there any questions for Kelly at this time? No. I don't have any cards,
any deliberation in the commission? No. Uh, city clerk, please call the vote. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley, yes. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes. Um, city clerk, could you please read the legal title for 10B? Ordinance number 2025-32, an ordinance amending section 22-158, utility fees established of division 2, rates and charges of article 5, storm water drainage utility of chapter 22, water and sewers of the city of Ormond Beach
code of ordinances by increasing the storm water utility fee, repealing all inconsistent ordinances or parts thereof, and setting forth an effective date. This is the first reading of ordinance number 2025-32 read by title only. Is there a motion for approval? Move approval. Second. Uh Kelly, can you come up again and just enlight us a little more about this ordinance? Certainly. So, we're asking for a rate increase of $2 per month on October 1st of 2025 and then an additional $2
per month for September 30th of 2026. Those would be the effective dates if it were approved. And the primary need for this is for storm water projects. We have $ three and a half million dollars of storm water projects planned for next year. And in the five-year plan for the four years after that, we have $2 million each year. Deputy Mayor. Yeah. I have a question. So, Kelly, tell me historically, were we ever a higher rate? And why were why did we drop that rate from
obviously I know we were at a higher rate but if you could please explain that. Certainly. So we were at a higher rate. We were at $8 per month um up until 2018 I believe it was. And then we lowered that by a dollar per month to where we're at right now. $7 per month. And the reason we did that is because we were collecting more than we needed to fund the storm water system. and it's appropriate for us then to give that back to the citizens and not simply collect that money and continue to put it aside. So, we did a rate increase in 2018 of $1, and we're asking to go
now the other way. And even with the rate increase we're asking for, which would be $9 October 1 of 2025, we're still going to be one of the lowest in the county. Okay. Thank you, Commissioner Sargent. Thank you, Mr. there. Is there any way we could do a dollar and a dollar uh rate increase and ask take some of these projects out and ask for state appropriations? I know it's only a dollar, but it's a little bit of relief to the residents. And I just think that with the state being very
big on providing appropriations for storm water and infrastructure that maybe we if there's some projects we can ask for appropriations, maybe we can postpone just to a dollar and a dollar. Certainly, if that's something that the commission wants to do, they can provide us direction and then Sean and I can go back before the next budget meeting, which would be two weeks from today, and we can revise that storm water plan. I have a suggestion. Instead of doing that, why don't we just approve the $2 rate now and then put the other one on hold to see if we do get those appropriations. I know that there's an appetite in Tallahassee to help us with storm
water and you know flooding is huge right now. I would hate to be have a shortfall when we have a bad event and in with the hope that we're going to get assistance. So I'm I am probably not for that, but I would be willing to reconsider the second $2 hike at the appropriate time. Mr. Mayor, yes. I would tend to agree with Deputy Mayor Tolland. I'd rather take that approach only because if we don't get the appropriations from Tallahassee for whatever reason um and I and at
this point I'm not sure we can have too much in storm water because we have a lot of projects. You can probably take some of that money and hire contractors that where we need ditch cleaning and ditch digging to help clean up some of this mess. We obviously could and and we've discussed with our with our contractor who does our mensy mug to increase increase his days that he's out here here in Ormond Beach. Um he's in he's he's agreed to do that. So that's good. Um it it's extra for him. We met last week um with Volusia County to discuss this upcoming year's transform 386
projects. Um we brought to them a project they were very excited about. Um that's our project, our our big Fleming project which that would be a great one to have them partner with us. we've got some legislative funding already to go along with that. We brought a second project to them that they um suggested strongly that we reach out to to our legislature legis legislators to for that one. Um they mentioned that that that that there's there is an appetite and so we will certainly be putting information together when we get with um starting putting our letter legislative agenda
for this year to include that project in it. So, um, I think that we have a good chance and and that's and that's obviously a way we want to try and go as well is to try and maximize our money by getting as much help as we can with it. Uh, Commissioner Deaton, um, I think storm water and flood are a huge topic, especially in Volusia right now. We are a little more blessed in Ormond Beach, but I do think we need to be prepared. I like the idea. I think we should go try to ask for help, but I do think we need to fund it up front so that we can be prepared as we are in the midst of hurricane season. I'm going to concur on that one, too. have true,
um I don't have any cards for this. Um and we have a motion and a second for approval. So I just So should we make an amendment that we just approved the first year? Yes, we need to make an amendment. And then how would that how would that Well, I'm I'm I'm actually okay with with the way it it is because and then we'll have a chance to discuss it next time. Yeah. But I I don't see it I don't see it the need going away. Okay, I'm good with that. So, keep it the way it is. Okay. All right.
Two and two. Okay. With that said, uh city clerk, please call the vote. Commissioner Deaton, yes. Commissioner Briley, yes. Commissioner Tolland, yes. Commissioner Sargent, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes. Okay, we're going to move on to 11A. Uh, city clerk, please read the legal title. Ordinance number 2025-28, an ordinance amending the title of chapter 11, health, sanitation, and environmental protection, repealing article 2, environmental protection of chapter 11, health,
sanitation, and environmental protection of the code of ordinances and setting forth an effective date. This is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-28 read by title only. Move approval. Second. Okay. Uh we don't need Joyce to speak on this. We don't have any cards. We already know what this is about. So I'm going to go ahead and move and call the vote. Oh go city clerk. Please call the vote. Sorry. Commissioner Briley. Yes. Commissioner Tolland. Yes. Commissioner Sargent. Yes. Commissioner Deaton. Yes. Mayor Leslie. Yes.
Okay, we're going to move on to item 12 and resolutions. Uh, city clerk, please read the title, legal title for A1, 12 A1. Resolution number 2025-134, a resolution accepting the proposal of Brown and Brown Insurance Services, Inc., regarding employee benefits broker of record services authorizing the execution of an agreement and payment therefore rejecting all other proposals and setting forth an effective date. This is resolution number 2025-134
read by title only four asks for approval. I think there's two people saying the dais so okay yeah so Mr. Mayor, I will abstain from voting on this item as I have a son that works for a company that has submitted an RFP. I've been in contact with the Florida Board of Ethics in Tallahassee and I've been instructed that I may participate in discussion but refrain from voting. I provided a form 8B to the city clerk already disclosing the nature of the interest. But I just want to
say but furthermore for for tonight's purposes, I will be removing myself from the dais as well. uh during this discussion and vote. So I am going to step down with your permission. Absolutely. Commissioner Sargent. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll echo what Deputy Mayor Tolland said. I work for an a company that has submitted a bid on here. I have also been authorized to participate in conversations as long as they're not persuasive. Um, I have my form 8B that I
will be giving the city clerk and I will not be participating in conversations I did during the last meeting and the only thing I really needed was the evidence of insurance which was provided in the packet. So I have no further questions or comments. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Sargent. Um, is I'm going to have Claire speak on this real quick. Go ahead, Claire. Thank you, Mayor City Manager. Um, just before you proceed, I'd like to outline the options for this item. It was tabled at the last commission meeting. So, tonight the city
commission can award the agreement to one of the two qualified firms that are presented in your agenda packet. Alternatively, the commission can reject all of the bids and this would allow staff to negotiate an extension to the current contract and also explore the questions, um, ideas and concerns that were expressed at the workshop. um during that commission discussion um and this would ensure that we continue to provide the service and also address all of those topics that were raised and I'm happy to answer any questions about any questions for
CL and Ad here. No. Do we uh want to have the applicants come up and speak at all? Okay. So, let's uh call up uh call up Brown and Brown first and then we'll have foundation after them. Good evening everyone. Steve Farmer uh executive vice president with Brown and Brown. With me here I have Jessica Scott and Matt Montgomery all uh employees of Brown and Brown. So thank you for this opportunity. We appreciate it. Um we simply ask you to respect the process this evening. Uh we
have been through a length lengthy bid process. We appreciate staff and and all their work on this. Our team spends a lot of time working on these processes as well. I want to thank you for the opportunity to have the workshop. We were able to answer a lot of questions uh for everyone and uh and again I would just ask you to respect the process. Brown and brown was awarded 100 out of 100 points uh to our competitor 78. We do have the lowest fee and I think if we talk about uh what we have done over the last 20 years for the city of Warman Beach uh by staff's
admission in the work in the workshop we provided exemplary service. So we simply ask that you uh uh honor the process and we're happy to answer any questions that you have. Any questions for Brown? Okay. Not right now. Thank you. Thank you. uh foundation risk partners. Good evening. Good evening. My name is Chris Holland. I'm here representing Foundation Risk
Partners this evening. I currently lead our headquarters office which is based right here in Ormond Beach, the greatest city in the great state of Florida. And I I truly mean that. I'm an executive vice president with Foundation Risk Partners, a member of our executive leadership team, and also president of our Midwest region. I oversee also a significant portion of our Florida operations. I'd like to begin um by thanking you, Mr. Mayor, as well as our city commissioners, Commissioner Deaton, Commissioner Briley,
for the time spent this evening. I'd also like to thank staff and the insurance evaluation committee for the time spent thus far on this important coverage which also happens to represent a uh very significant cost expenditure for the city of Ormond Beach. Mr. Mayor, after discussion, would it be possible, if necessary, for our team to be afforded the opportunity to uh clarify any any points if if necessary? Absolutely. Thank Thank you for that consideration. Um, do we
have any questions for Oh, sorry. Is it okay if I continue a few more minutes? Oh, yeah. Sorry. So, I've also brought a couple of my colleagues with me here uh here this evening. Uh, for reference, Jonathan Gelad is to my left. Jonathan leads our public entity division along with Alan Flores. Allan unfortunately cannot be here tonight. I also have John Kern here with me this evening. John is a broker who personally manages the EB programs of several of your peers in the municipal space. Uh he would be working directly with the city of Ormond Beach if FRP
is selected as the broker. He can also answer any technical questions that may arise this evening. So, first of all, we have already successfully proven to the city that adding deal tension and evaluating alternate structures creates the best outcome for the insured. In this case, that's the taxpayers and the city of Ormond Beach. So, case in point, on the property and casualty program, which we now handle on behalf of the city, we save the taxpayers $330,000 versus the incumbent.
For these lines, our broker fee was $65,000 versus a proposed $20,000 fee by the other broker. So that's a $45,000 differential in in fee for the opportunity to save $335,000. So set in another way, the city would have foregone these large savings if the decision was made solely on the fee differential. So just a few more quick examples here. City of Miami Beach
employee benefits program. This was a 30-year broker relationship with with Gallagher. Over a million dollar of savings we were able to deliver on year one using innovation and creativity. Halifax Health Property and Casualty Program. Once again, $300,000 of savings year 1. Also a very, very long broker relationship. Once again, using new creative structure. City of Deltona savings on the PNC and the benefits in one year. On all of these examples, broker compensation increased
year-over-year, but savings to the municipality far outweighed any differences in broker compensation. While the city prefers staying with Florida healthcare plans and we agree that this is likely the best path for for this renewal, changing the broker will absolutely increase leverage and deal tension in the marketplace and lead to savings that far exceed any difference in fee. So just to recap um and I just want to confirm everybody has the the handout. Excellent.
So current plan and structure. So we currently have Florida healthcare plans. The network is a Florida healthcare plans proprietary network. The plan is a high deductible plan with an HSA. So, here's where it starts to get interesting. Funding the HSA accounts cost taxpayers approximately $500,000 to $670,000 annually. That equation is based on enrollment multiplied by the contribution that the city makes on a per employee basis for eligible enrolled employees.
So, the city currently contributes $1,400 per employee at the beginning of the plan year and then provides each employee an additional $450 if that employee participates in certain wellness um events. So, that's a total potential HSA contribution of something in the neighborhood of $1,850 per employee. The city has been on this plan for many, many, many years with the same broker. So for this renewal, we would actually propose remaining with the same carrier on the
same plan with the same provider network and innovating a and and implementing an innovative solution such as an HRA in lie of the HSA program. So this is a simple change. It would have no additional out-of-pocket cost to the employee. It would generate average savings of approximately 50% of the current HSA spend, which again we estimate to be somewhere between $500,000 and $670,000. So saving that money would equate to something in the neighborhood of a 6
to 8% reduction in the overall budgeted medical spend of $4.2 million. So to put this into actual dollars, this is savings of 250,000 to 335,000 on average. It's a simple change. It doesn't cost the employees any more out of pocket. It's also worth noting which which I can't exactly quantify this, but we expect that we would also be able to reduce the cost on the ancillary lines, which are actually not incorporated into the savings that I that I just mentioned.
So lastly, many municipalities in the state of Florida have moved to self-funded employee benefit structures. Based on the budgeted medical spend, $4.2 million, and the city's ideal historical loss ratio, we'd expect savings to the taxpayers to be something in the neighborhood of 20 to 30% of medical spend. So this means something to the tune of $840,000 to $1.26 26 million in eval in looking at a self-funded employee benefits arrangement. So even if the city doesn't want to entertain a
self-funded arrangement, Florida Healthcare Plans doesn't know that. And these self-funded options can be used to leverage your incumbent into providing price concessions that they otherwise would not have entertained. In fact, this is one of the primary responsibilities of your broker. drive competition in the marketplace and bring the city and the taxpayers the best combination of coverage and price. So, hiring FRP provides an opportunity for fresh ideas and perspective.
And after this many years with the same broker, continuing with the incumbent risk stagnation, your loss history and performance based on all of the information that we saw throughout the RFP warrants a much better financial result than the city has enjoyed so far. And FRP can and will bring new strategies and creative solutions just like I outlined to reduce cost and mitigate risk. and uh we would be happy to answer any questions. Absolutely. Thank you, Chris. Mr. Mayor,
can I jump in here for a minute? Oh, yes, you can, Randy. So, I was just talking with our U assistant city manager and HR director. I think what you're hearing now is a different proposal than what was proposed originally or some variation of that. Um and we had a discussion at the last meeting in terms of if you want additional information it has to be within the footprint of the RFP that was issued because otherwise it creates an unfair advantage to one party over the other party.
I think to the extent and one of the things I think the staff heard was this desire to look at alternative approaches to providing healthcare and that's fine. I think if you want to get there then option C is the best option and that is to reject all bids. We can negotiate an extension of the existing contract with the current provider and then your staff has heard the direction that you want to look at alternative approaches and then we can do that but this isn't the way to do that here. So that's that's my two cents. It's your decision but I'm going to leave it
with that. Uh Randy, one question. the um if we extend a contract is that is that allowable under the terms of the existing contract? It's yes existing contract with the existing broker. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. Well, that's an interesting point. Uh any questions for Brown and Brown while they're still standing here? Are you allowed to ask questions? Sure. Yeah. Ask a question. X away. So, we're allowed to ask questions on this. Yeah, you you can. Yes. But I I think we
need to be careful about what we're where we want to go, right? So if we want to change the scope of the RFP that was issued, then we're far outside the footprint of what we should be doing here. And if we're going to do that for FRP, then we need to do that for Brown and Brown, right? Because you can't can't you can't create an unfair advantage or disadvantage for one party over the other. And the other aspect to consider is your evaluation staff. They haven't had an opportunity to evaluate any of these proposals. Yeah. Other than what you have. So to clarify,
Randy, basically we either have three options like you said, accept either one the way the RFP is written and the way it came back or reject it and then extend the contract to Brown and then have to send us back out for RFP again and then we'll have to come back with new proposals. Correct. Yes, sir. Okay. What would be the timeline on the new RFP? Do we wait a year? How does that work? Well, it would depend on what we were able to negotiate for an extension. So, it it just depends within the parameters of the city manager's expending authority. It could be one year, could
be a two-year, it just depends on what what what terms we can get. So, that would be the direction that we would take if that's what you want to do. What that what that will do is allow the staff an opportunity to explore other alternatives over a course of time other than add a meeting this evening if that makes sense to you. Okay. So rejecting all bids is allowing a renegotiation of the current contract at the current fee that we pay them or at the proposed broker fee. We we would we would have to negotiate an extension of the existing contract. Okay. Uh for the services
and you can verify that if I misspoke, but that's the process that we would undergo. We've done these kinds of things in the past where we've had to extend a contract because of timeline uh difference. And I don't mean to discredit anybody. I mean, alternatives are great, but we need to have an even playing field and your staff needs to have an opportunity to evaluate actually what's being proposed. Fair enough. I don't know. Does everybody understand that now? I'm still lost. Okay. Um, did you have a something you want to say? Yeah. Uh, thank you, Mayor Jonathan Gilad,
uh, with the Century Public Risk Foundation Risk Partners. So, just a just a quick question. Did we change the by us speaking up here, did we change the RFP or did I don't under I don't understand. We we we thought we were coming back up here. We were invited back up to uh explain a little bit about right the board workshop Andy. Yeah. So the supplemental material was supposed to have been provided by the deadline, right? So your staff has an opportunity to review that. We're getting
it now tonight for the first time. So there hasn't been any discussion with the staff on this. Yes. When is our contract with Brown Brown expire? Is that October? October. It's September 29th% perhaps somewhere at the end of September, but the the timeline not only is that contract expiring, but we are already behind in renewing and getting insurance coverage for the employees. So that time clock should have started a little bit ago. Yeah. So, we don't have any time to table this thing or
anything. We have to make a decision tonight. Correct. And I I think that I understand what Ry's talking about here. You got three options. Either the two options are already on the table on the way the RFP came back or rejecting all the bids and then just letting it the existing carrier uh extend until whenever that's going to be. And how long did you say maybe a year, two years? you said uh we can negotiate that with um with the extension of the contract. I would expect that
um you know we would need a year to complete that and I say that because the negotiation and implementing that plan for the employees is a long process and to ask a broker to do that and then put it up for RFP right after that work you know does not fall in our timeline or our employees timeline in terms of changing brokers. What's her existing fee right now with the uh the current issuer carrier? It's a 3% commission. 3% commission. No flat fee. Correct. And we I believe
we can negotiate some of those terms since it's an extension. Okay. And I would just like to clarify, sir, for the for the record, we did submit the supplemental answers from our workshop. Uh I think we provided more information tonight in the exhibit trying to illustrate the innovation and creativity to to covers the disparity in the pricing as it sits today in response to the bid which is 3% of roughly 4.2 million uh which is more than we proposed for this year upcoming
year contract terms. Okay. Thank you. Anybody have any questions for foundation? Does anybody have any questions for Brown and Brown? No. Okay. Well, I mean, there's three of us here to make a decision. What do you guys want to do? Hate to say it sounds like it's clear as mud. Um, yeah. Randy, I'm going to lean on you for this because you're our legal eagle. You keep us on the rails. Um,
I know I shouldn't ask this, but I guess I'm going to ask for what your suggestion might be. All right. Well, I'll make it pretty easy for you, I think, because um, you got two proposals from two companies. Um, and both proposals were evaluated by the city's evaluation committee. Both of them, as I recall, were u essentially equal in terms of qualifications. um the services for the uh the health coverage is going to be the same. So, it comes down to cost. Yeah. One was $50,000 lower
than the other, right? So, you're really talking about cost and you can't really get into a bidding war on the floor, so to speak. Um the other option is because the RP that was issued was limited to the existing coverage. I think the one thing that was heard very resoundingly is a desire to look at other alternative approaches. And I give credit to everybody that wants to come up with different approaches, that's all wonderful, but your staff needs to be involved in that. Um, and if that's
where you want to go, I think the pathway forward for that is not here tonight uh on either one of these proposals. It's just you reject the bids and then uh the staff will negotiate an extension with the existing provider. We'll go back to the drawing board and then we'll look at other alternative alternative approaches to bring back to you whatever appropriate time that may be when the contract extension um that we'll have to negotiate is due to expire if that makes sense to you. So if so, okay, so with that summary, um, if you want to basic do it based on cost with the
proposal you've got, then it'd be brown and brown. If you want to look at alternative approaches, then reject all big bids, we will, which would be option C, and then we'll negotiate an extension of the contract, and then we'll go back to the drawing board and bring that back to you. Does that help? That helps, I think, for me. I mean, that's definitely helpful. Thank you. Um, I would like to give staff time to review this. I want to see if this is something that is viable in the future. I understand and I would like to see if we're renegotiating the current contract,
the fee not be 3%. So, if that's something that we can look at, I mean, I want to look out for I was heavily scrutinized online for taking the time to be educated and over not just immediately picking the quicker bid, but not picking the quicker bid could save us $200,000. I I don't know. So, I would like to have the opportunity to have staff review this. Um, I guess that's where I'm at. Well, the reason I asked for more time on this because I did have other questions. U basically
some of the grading, some of the the savings, some of the But I guess Randy, what I'm hearing from you and and maybe Claire is this kind of changes the whole RFP. It's not part of the original RFP, so therefore we'd have to afford Brown and Brown the same opportunity to bring something back to us as well. Yeah, that that would certainly be fair. Yeah. Which means we can't we can't I mean they have nothing to meet your timeline, right? Correct. Right. We're out of time right now. So, we effectively can't make a proper decision right now is what I'm hearing. Well,
you can make a proper decision. It just depends on which direction you want to go. If you want to do it based on cost, that's very clear. It's brown or brown. If you want to look for alternative approaches, then it's you you reject the bids and then, you know, we go back out and and look at some other alternative approaches to bring back to you in in the future whenever whatever contract extension we're able to ne negotiate uh ex expires. So those are your two confusing part is the contract negotiation period. Like are we giving it a year? Are we giving five years?
That's where depends on the terms that we're able to negotiate. Okay. It could be a year, it could be longer. It it just depends. I mean, I don't know, you know. So, yeah, most likely within our spending authority, we're not going to get anywhere close to close to five years, not even close to this will not be a long-term contract. I can assure you and that'll give us time to go back out for RFP and get proper bids like from both parties or anyone additional. Correct. And Claire, if I heard this right, you said that um if we keep the existing contract, we might be able to negotiate the fee down. Correct. Okay. By rejecting. By rejecting. Yes.
Mhm. Okay. So, any other questions for anyone? Any other deliberations? Trying to speak. Oh, okay. I just wanted to clarify so we can learn from the process. Um, so in this situation when we went to the board workshop, there was no selection at that was it there was no selection at that time. So, it was tabled to this meeting and there were some questions which we responded to and then so if uh Mr. city attorney if they did not make a decision at that time. Does the city have
to take the lowest responsible bidder from a cost perspective or can they do what's in the best? So on bids it you we're talking widgets and pencils and those sorts of things you're looking at the generally the the lowest bid is what what it's going to be. There's some other factors that can factor in with RFPs and you're looking at services. You're looking at the services to be provided, the qualifications of the company and cost. And here the qualifications of two very highly respected companies are roughly equivalent, right? So it comes down to cost. One's way high,
one's way low. So um all of that factored in to the decision-m process within the scope of the RFP that was issued. If you want to base your decision on that criteria, then you you would go with um Brown and Brown. If what the staff heard is you want additional information and you want additional alternatives, this is not the way to do that. We need to go back out and issue another RFP and give everybody in the world an opportunity to provide a proposal.
And it may be more than the two people that you have here before you this evening. You might get a lot more if you open the package up a little bit. We don't know that. But your staff has to be involved in that. You know, we're not in a position where we can evaluate this here this evening and give you a good recommendation. It may be a good proposal. We just don't know. But if you want us to do that, there's there's a procedure to get you there. Thank you, Randy. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to sit here and deliberate for a few minutes. I think
this could save me, but I don't I had questions, but I think I I don't know. Are we allowed to ask? Well, I'm not sure if we're allowed to ask. It's just again, I don't know if this changes if what's been proposed or what was been given to us tonight changes the original RFP and then the competitor would have to be afforded the same opportunity to give us the same type of information. I don't know. I think that's what I'm hearing. Randy Claire, correct? Well,
yes. I mean, if we're going to change the scope of everything, then it has to be equal for everybody. And there's got to be a timeline that everybody complies with. And um, you know, this isn't a horse trading show up here. And and and I'm not trying to be rude to anybody. I'm just saying your staff needs to be involved in this. And we're not involved in this. We need to be. So, can we make a motion to immediately send this back out for RFP for all of these proposals or Well, um I I think what you should do, the proper motion would be if that's the direction
that you want to go would be a motion to reject all bids and then direct staff to negotiate an extension to the with the existing provider. And then depending on the terms of that, we we'll know what the expiration date for that coverage is or that that broker service fee is. And then we'll be able to plan on a timeline when to solicit additional RFP. So it gives your staff time to evaluate a bigger footprint, if you will, of different options. and clear. I don't know if
there's anything you want to add to that or not, but I would like to add um that time frame also allows us to work with you all more in a workshop setting. So, as we discussed at the workshop, you all were not involved in setting the strategic health care plan that is guiding how we're delivering healthcare to our employees. It is it was a significant and deliberate plan of how we have um modeled our health care coverage for our employees not only for their well-being but for recruiting and retention etc. Everything we've been talking about tonight right like
getting good employees and keeping good employees and and you didn't have the benefit of sitting in on those meetings and looking at that. Um part of that process was looking at Has it was looking at self-unding. So there's a lot of information for you all to um absorb and learn and ask questions on on these very subjects. And if if we want to go back and revisit some of those options, it's been a number of years. So that would not be, you know, an inappropriate thing to do, but there's a lot of information you all could integrate and then give us direction about what
we're going out and seeking with that RFP. Um, again, which this would provide that time for us to develop that background and relationship to do it more efficiently in line with your desires. Thank you, Claire. Mr. Mayor, I would just ask one thing. I I think we only had we really only had one workshop on this before it came to commission. Correct. Uh the workshop we had a couple weeks ago. Yeah. Yes. Yes. And all the workshops prior to that were with different commissions. Correct. Correct. Um I think in the future if it's if if if if staff and the commissioner are okay with it,
I'd rather have maybe two workshops within one workshop early because as I said, I had questions the last one. It took me a while to figure out what those questions were going to be and I don't think it it I don't think it's worth even asking tonight because it sounds like this has changed, but I would like to have two workshops prior to any sort of commission meeting in the future. I'd agree with that and I'd like to be informed on the information that you said that we missed out on a few years ago. That is something that I would like to be privy to because I don't personally
take the benefits from the city. I'm not familiar with them. I have a completely different plan. I don't even like making decisions for the employees based on the information like this that I don't personally take. So, I would like to be privy of that information and I would appreciate two workshops because like Commissioner Briley, I had a lot of questions and I was scrutinized for wanting to have more questions answered. I think one other thing too is if it if it's all right, um I would like to see the the grading sheets as well. Yes, agreed. That that you all fill out so we kind of get an idea of where kind of maybe where you're coming from.
will do. All right. Well noted. So with that, um, what kind of is there a motion on a table at this point on what direction you want to go? Because it sounds like there has to be the three motions if I'm right, Randy. A motion to accept Brown and Brown. Motion to accept Foundation Risk Partners or a motion to um uh not accept any of the bids. Reject the bids. Reject the bids. Yeah, I'm sorry. And reject the bids. And then if we do
that, then this will come back to us later on uh with hopefully two workshops. We weren't. Sorry, we're not going to be able to No. Correct. Yeah. I don't know. I don't like the idea of not awarding it to either one. But I guess that the under advisement of the city attorney, I think the only option we have is re reject the bids.
Is that your motion? Unfortunately, yes. I need a second from Commissioner Deaton. I as well don't love the options that we've been given. I would like to have more information. I would like to be able to be have proposals from both companies. Um with that, I will second the motion. Okay. All right. Well, with that said, I think we've said a lot. Um city clerk, can
you please call the vote? All right. Commissioner Tolland is absent. Commissioner Sargent as well. Commissioner Deaton. Am I voting yes on the Okay. Yes. Commissioner Briley, yes. Mayor Leslie, yes. Okay. Well, I'd like to thank uh both insurance companies for coming out. Uh I think we all really greatly appreciate this and uh we'll be in touch soon I guess.
Um at this time uh Commissioner Sargent and Deputy Mayor can come back up to the dais. Um at this time now we'll move on to staff and commission report suggestions and request starting with the city manager. Um city manager Joyce Shanahan. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I appreciate your patience this evening. Um on Wednesday, September 17th,
we'll have um our regular commission meeting moved to a Wednesday and that's due to the truth and millage requirements. So your next uh regular meeting will be Wednesday, September 17th. On October 8th, we have a grounds maintenance workshop scheduled um uh before the regular commission meeting. you asked us to bring that back to you. So, we are um and what October 8th is also a Wednesday and it's been moved due to National Night Out. So,
you can participate in that. Um free movies on the Halifax are Friday, September 5th, The Princess Diaries, which will be great for our young people. The Three Mrs. Flagler show is on Friday, September 12th at the Casement's. tickets and include wine and light refreshments for $20. And that's on September 8th. The EDC will present a how-to festival on Saturday, September 13th from 2020 um September 13th from 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Port Orange Public Library. Staff
will help at the Port Orange Public Library. That doesn't make sense, but I guess we're going to do a how-to festival and that's going to be held at the Port Orange Public Library. but we will be there to participate. Um, special populations registration is at Nova Rec Community Center. Um, for more information, contact Parks and Rec. And just an update on um the um stair climbing um that the um fire department is doing. That's on 911 at at the Maria Grand on the Halifax at 8:00
a.m. That's the official start time. That's the staging time. I don't have that yet, but we'll let you know. Staging will be at 7:30, they say, to 8. And there will be a small ceremony at the start, 8:15. The stair climb starts at 8:46. Uh there's 26 stories that they care they climb and they're in their full turnout gear which includes all the heavy um turnout gear outfit plus their oxygen tanks. So um they've done 110 stories 110 stories, excuse me. Um so they've done that
a number of years now. Four years four years or so maybe more. Um so that's unfortunately at the same time as the other events. So, you have to split your allegiance between um the bridgewalk and the stair climb. I have nothing further unless you have questions for me. Any questions for city manager? Thank you. Thank you, Joyce. Um assistant city manager. Thank you. Um a quick uh quick thank you shout out to our staff that made this meeting so accessible to our residents
both in person and online. The audio was great. It went out for about one second and was up before I could even text Zac to tell him it was down. So, it um really appreciate that. So, it our whole city clerk's department and then our newly named parks and rec department, Robert Carolin, and Stefan Sibley were all here making it happen. So, thank you to them. Thank you, Claire. Uh Randy, nothing more. Thank you. Thank you, Randy. Uh this evening, we'll begin with uh Commissioner Sargent
Let's keep it simple. Thank you, staff, Kelly, Chris, everyone else that's been involved in this wonderful process. We got through it. Um, it has been uh it's been a learning curve, but it's I think the education to our residents is key so that they understand where we've come from and where we're going. And I agree that we should, you know, look at our our auto renewal contracts, but we also have to be careful. You have to be careful to look at the history of like
Waste Pro and Waste Management where that cost an extra million dollars when that got bidded out. Yellowstone is a big contract, but when you look at the numbers of what we're paying per palm tree, if that goes up $5, it's a very large increase. So, it's and we have a good rate. So, it's something that we need to keep an eye on. I agree. But we also have to be aware that sometimes when you bid things doesn't always work out. Um but thank you to all of all the staff. Um
I will be out of town for the 9/11 events. I wish everyone well. Last year I did climb the stairs once or twice um up and down. No packs. I had khaki pants on though. I mean so that was worth something. Um, so I will be at town hall next week and with that I'll say good night. Thank you. Good night and uh, Commissioner Deaton. I will keep it short. I'm looking forward to the 911 walk. I encourage the rest of my commission to climb the stairs with me if you're willing and able to. Um,
I do have a broken pinky toe, but I still plan to climb. I know. Yeah, there you go. Um, hey Joyce, can we please advise when staff will bring back the annual travel schedule to us? Oh, yes. We generally we generally bring that back at your first meeting in October. October somewhere around there and we um we'll bring that back to you and it's usually includes all the travel places that you went be to before and then we get you to authorize that at one time so we don't have to bring it back at every meeting. Awesome. Okay. Thank you. Um, in light of talking about saving
money, might I suggest that we change it to one to two commissioners attending these conferences that we go to pretty periodically? We don't all need to go. I've personally opted out of the past two conferences to save the money. Um, as a reminder, if three or more of us are together, it's quorum. So, I think we may want to analyze possibly not all going. I know in past they have sent one or two and they've brought back their important notes. I would possibly suggest that when you bring back the travel schedule, possibly we could look at that potential way to save some
money. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Do you if I just might say one more thing. Oh, go ahead, Joyce. Um, what I could do is give you more than like agenda's notice to take a look at the travel schedule and your own personal calendar so you can see how that fits in and then you all can make some decisions. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, Commissioner Briley, Mr. Mayor, I'll be uh brief. Um Commissioner Boyle or Mr. Boyle rather uh introduced me to a gentleman tonight
who has contacted us before. I actually come to the podium before. Um he's asked for an audit of the FPL street lights within the city. Many of the street lights, you know, the city pays for apparently a lot of them are not working and we're paying for non- working street lights. So Sean, I if that's okay, I'll just give this to you if you'd had it checked out. Um I appreciate it. Um, Steven, this is something we can bring back or talk about another time. You know, I notice, you know, when when Commissioner Tolland and I know about this when we sat on the planning board and,
you know, certain projects come before us and they required a total number of parking spots, this that and the other. Um, I'm seeing more and more parking lots. They're reserving parking for different uses. Like over in the trails, Publix has reserved parking lots for for pickup. And I'm wondering if they're cutting into the allotted parking that they're allowed if they can really do that. I'm I'm noticing it more and more around town. Just don't know if that's I'm sorry. Compact that one. So if it's just something we can look at. I don't
know if they're, you know, in violation of their um development order. Lastly, I just want to thank staff for the new nickname Ice Cream Man. It's all I got for you. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Briley. Uh, Deputy Mayor Tolland. Yes, thank you. I will keep it short. Um, want to thank staff for all their hard work on the budget. Um, you know, I think we've we've all had a lot of meetings trying to discuss um coming up with a decent budget that we think will work. So,
I want to just thank everybody for their time. Um, Commissioner Deaton, I agree. I think these conferences have been a little bit out of hand and I've certainly have gone to quite a few myself. Um I think the idea of staggering who goes is a great idea and it would be a good cost savings for our residents. I just want to remind the whole commission that um the Volusia League of Cities has put together an advoc advocacy committee and there will be some travel involved with
that and so maybe those of us that are in Oh, that's right. That's right. It comes out of a different budget. Never mind. My bad. My bad. Um I also want to thank all the residents that came out tonight. I mean, they they really showed up and spoke and showed us how much they cared. So, I wanted to thank them. And I do have a whole report that I would like to present the next time. I did I did go to South Carolina Charleston to learned about resiliency and flooding and
some other topics. And I will say, Commissioner Deaton, I paid for that out of my own pocket. So, um, kudos to me, right, for thinking ahead. Um anyway, I will share with you all the great ideas that I that I learned uh next time. So with that, I'll say good night. Well, I think this is the probably the longest meeting that we've had um as a group here, right? Oh, yeah. Almost 11:00. Um I'd like to thank all the residents that came out.
um you know everything that was said was well um taken and I'll go back to what I said earlier and which is in our budget here is organizational chart the organizational chart you know the residents are on the top and we are representing the residents and the residents always come first and so you know this was a hard thing for us to do tonight but I like to thank everyone here for doing the hard business as a lot of the speakers even Um, looking forward to the stair climb. So, I will give that a try even though my right knee's
a little messed up. Wear your sneakers. I'll wear my sneakers. Broken pinky. All right. Yeah. With a broken pinky. Um, and I'm looking forward to some of the events coming. I know we have a ribbon cutting with the Civil Air Patrol on Saturday. I don't know if some of you are attending, but I know the airport uh manager was really happy about that. So, that'll be a fun event on Saturday. And uh going back to 911, I know that's coming up. Um that's something that really uh hits home. So I lived right across the bay from New York City when that happened. And I remember
watching the second plane hit one of the towers. So that's a day that I'll never forget. So every time that comes around, it's just a reminder of um some of the things that we had to overcome at that time. And I even lost some friends that were doing rescue work um that later developed um you know diseases from the uh uh from all the debris. Um with that said though it is a late it is late so I'm not going to talk anymore and we'll see you next time. Uh meeting adjourned.