okay the time now is uh 7:03 I will now call this meeting to order At this time if you could please silence your cell phones or any electronic devices that would be greatly appreciated Your greeters today at the door is planning director Stevens Spraker and utilities manager Bob Pries Starting to my far right and your far left we have recording Secretary Taylor Lochert
City Clerk Susan Dauderis Deputy Mayor Zone One Commissioner Lori Tolland Good evening everyone Welcome Zone 2 Commissioner Travis Sargent Good evening Welcome And directly 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 uh Assistant City Manager Claire Whitley City Attorney Randy Hayes and I see Captain DW
Smith over there and Fire Chief Howard Bailey and I'm Mayor Jason Leslie At this time please uh rise for the invocation which I will be doing tonight followed by the pledge of allegiance As we gather today to discuss the affairs of our great city let us seek wisdom and understanding in our deliberations May we listen to one another and work
together for the betterment of the city We begin this meeting with open hearts and minds guided by a commitment to serve the people we represent Amen 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 You may be seated
Okay we're going to move to uh number four audience remarks At this time we'll hear from uh from those of you who have signed a card to speak about any item which is not on the printed agenda for this meeting including any items on the consent agenda Each person will be given a total of three minutes and my first one will be Nathan Davis Good evening everyone Uh I just want to introduce myself Uh Nathan Davis Downtown Redevelopment Services Um so Becky Parker invited us here to speak this evening Um
we are the consultant working on the historic structure survey um for the for this side of the river Um we are updating the 1986 structure survey that was done as part of the Florida master site file Um we're doing 250 properties um on this side approximately from mound to Rosewood and from the railroad to the river Um it's being fun funded entirely from a grant that OMS received from the state of Florida Um so no local money is uh going into it Um during my time here I've been
really impressed with the city uh the downtown and main street area Um there's been a lot of preservation efforts It's very visible Um so commend you on that Um and then I just wanted to thank uh Becky Parker for the opportunity to work in your community um and to be here this evening Um and thank you all for your time Thank you Nathan Next up is Jennifer Bright [Music] I have downloaded and gone through the 2,207 page full agenda packet of information
that is available online for this meeting When reading through the full agenda packet not just the summary by title agenda that's handed out at the door I have compiled a list of concerns and questions that I have sent to my zone 2 commissioner For those of you who have not noticed there is never any monies listed on the title only agenda This is what started me on my quest to go through the full agenda packet and the more I read the more questions and concerns I've
had I have requested a meeting of my commissioner at his convenience based on his statement at his January 21st commission meeting that he would be happy to meet in person and discuss issues and concerns I'm still waiting for a response as to when and where would be the most convenient to meet him to address my concerns I have not also received any written response this year to any questions or concerns I do share my findings after reading the full agenda packet with those who ask
and sometimes they also ask questions but they are met with a response from the city manager stating just read the full agenda packet the answers are there This material is exact material that the commission receives I can supply the last goarounds of questions concerns responses and city follow-ups to anyone who's interested I would hope the commissioners would also like to know the answers to at least some of these questions posed so they can make informed decisions Thank you
Okay at this time I don't have any more cards We're going to move on to the approval of the minutes Motion second Second Any discussions Okay All those in favor by saying I I oppose Okay The ayes have it Motion approved We're going to move on to the consent agenda Items on the consent agenda are deemed routine and non-controversial The action proposed is stated for each item Unless a 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 Mr Mayor I like to pull item J uh and item L Hold on Okay So Commissioner Briley J and L correct Yes Okay And uh Commissioner Sargent uh 6A please Thank you 6A Um any other items pulled No Okay Is there a motion for approval Any items Second Okay No other discussion City clerk
please call the vote Commissioner Tolland yes Commissioner Sargent yes Commissioner Deaton yes Commissioner Briley yes Mayor Leslie [Music] yes Okay we're going to move to 6A City clerk please read Resolution number 2025-79 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE APPROVAL AND EXECUTION OF A PURCHASE AUTHORIZATION FOR THE PURCHASE OF ONE FREIGHTLINER M2 16 YARD DUMP TRUCK, UNDER FLORIDA SHERIFFS ASSOCIATION BID NO. FSA 23-VEH21.1; DECLARING VEHICLE #368 TO BE SURPLUS PROPERTY AND AUTHORIZING THE DISPOSITION THEREOF; AND SETTING FORTH AN EFFECTIVE DATE. This is resolution number 2025-79 read by title only Is there a motion for approval Approval Second Uh Deaton with second Um discussion I'll go Thank
you Mr Mayor Um the only question I have on this is it just seems very low that we're only expected to get $1,500 to $3,000 um when we auction this item I mean I think we should be getting a minimum of 5,000 plus I know it's a used vehicle and it's old but when you look this up I just think that we can do better on on selling this vehicle That's all my comments Just out of curiosity did you how did you figure out the value of that Uh was it sold already or states it in the agenda item Okay All right Uh any other
comments Okay Uh city clerk please call the vote Commissioner Sargent yes Commissioner Deaton yes Commissioner Briley yes Commissioner Tolland yes Mayor Leslie yes City clerk please read 6J Disposition item titled Intent to Bid - CDBG Military Boulevard Sidewalk Improvements Motion Motion for approval Second Okay Discussion Mr Mayor I just bring this one forward Um this is
in my zone It's over in the Forest Hill subdivision and um and walking that area those homes were built in the 1950s60s area uh era And um those sidewalks in there are some of the most some of the narrowest probably most uh probably least maintained sidewalks in the city Um the 2' 6" in sidewalk is not very wide and a lot of those are broken up and and and they don't meet ADA current ADA requirements So I'm just I just brought this up to say that I'm happy to see us moving forward Any other comments Okay Uh city clerk please call the vote Commissioner Deaton
yes Commissioner Briley yes Commissioner Tolland yes Commissioner Sargent yes Mayor Leslie yes City clerk please read 6L Disposition item titled RFP Employee Benefits Broker of Record Services Is there a motion for approval So move Okay Kristin can you second Sorry Yes Second The reason why I'll I'll explain Thank
you Mr Mayor Okay Um I have I work for a company that could potentially bid on this So therefore I'm not going to participate in the uh voting of this but the attorney at the ethics commission in Tallahassee said we could participate or I could participate in the um comment Um so that's why Thank you So you can't what you're saying is that you can't abstain yourself conflict of interest right Mr Mayor yes I have to say the same thing that um Commissioner Sargent I have
a son that could potent that works for a company that could potentially bid for this project So um this came up last year and we had I had permission to entertain discussion but not vote Okay All right Any other discussion Did you want to start it off since you called it No I don't care I have a few comments I have a few comments Mr Mayor do you have something to say Yeah I do Okay I do Um the way this bid is written to me we're limiting who can participate in it which
I think is just the opposite of what we want with the bid process We want more people to participate in a bid That's how you get the best product Um you create competitiveness And the way this bid is written I think is uh very limited on the minimum qualifications Um I think you exclude uh large brokerage firms in the area or that maybe with um outside of the region like an
Arthur J Gallagher Uh potentially you could be ruling out a quote from the league Florida League of Cities their their program Um I don't know why we're only looking at high deductible options The markets might be changing Maybe we want to look at other options I think we should look at every option that's available in the employee benefits marketplace to make sure that we are getting the best product With that being said I think maybe we do put a provision in there for local preference
Maybe it's three five 10 points whatever maybe you see fit for local um vendors to participate in the bid Um at the end of the day this is about getting the best product for our taxpayer money that we're spending This is a very large line item and um I I think we just need to maybe table this and have that that bid rewarded Thank you Yes sure Commissioner Deaton thank you and thank you
for those comments Um I'd personally like to see this one pulled and rewritten um with the minimum qualifications I do have a background in insurance for quite a number of years and I it honestly doesn't matter to me who gets it However I would like to see the fair and most competitive option the best options for Ormond Beach the most competitive um and the best coverage of course Um I would like to see at least I'd like to see the verbiage lowered from 10 years to five years
under the same broker name only because I feel like we're excluding some really competitive options including League of Cities if we do that Um and I'd like to see the broker services change from geographic area to Florida specifically Um I think that could help us and help the city in general Randy do you have a comment Yes sir Thank you Mayor Um I can help you out with this a little bit this evening So this is just an RFP that includes the criteria that will be published You
can change that this evening if you want And so um we can incorporate those changes into the RFP The staff will make the changes and then and then publish it Um if that's your preference Now if you just want to pull and table it then you know we can certainly do that as well I don't know if the time factor is um a consideration for that or not but um but you can address these issues this evening if you wish to do that So we could correct the minimum qualifications this evening You you
may one one point though is we don't have so your your local um preference is not something within your ordinance that can be incorporated because we don't provide for that for RFPs is only for uh for for the bidding process itself So there's a distinction between uh those two and I don't know that we've looked at that in the past in terms of of whether or not we can include uh a local preference for uh proposals as opposed to bids Uh but that would require an ordinance a change
to the ordinance itself So but we could change the verbiage in this RFP specifically to state Florida municipalities rather than geographic You could Yes Okay And that would I think help some of the I really would like to include a quote from Florida League of Cities um specifically because I feel like this is what they do I Okay Well go ahead Sorry Thank you I think that we should table it because there's a lot of questions that I asked um and to do it on the fly I just I think it's better if we can get the correct wording and everything within it and have it brought back to us and and
to make sure that if we're going to offer a um a local preference that the correct wording is in there and I just I'm not comfortable doing that on the fly Um and I think local preference maybe Volusia County as the local preference not specific to Ormond Beach but I don't know how how that can get worded So that's just my comments Thank you It keep in mind whatever direction you give us tonight is how we'll reword the RFP So if you agree tonight you can just direct us to
do that and we'll do that and post the bid So I don't know if bringing it back to you is ne I think that's a good idea We could just you know have a discussion and then make the motion Someone will make the motion on what changes we want and you'll bring it back to us Correct Correct And um we can change the geographic or regional reference to whatever you decide whether it's the county or the state whatever your decision is there We can change it to 10 from 10 to five or whatever number you all agree on The high deductible is not um it's not limited to high deductible experience We
just requested experience with a high deductible plan because that's what we have right now So it's not disqualifying entities based on um only doing that or having 10 years of that They just need experience in that plan because that's what we currently have So a question um Claire does the way it's worded does it give um an ability to be creative in the RFP I mean so I remember you know
you I want the best competition because at the end of the day that's what's going to be best for us and for our residents So I don't want to be limiting So is is the creative ability in this the way it's worded now Yes And we can soften those requirements the years and the region And we can also just add language you know comparable experience or something like that for any qualification that might void some of the firms that you referenced And keep in mind when the evaluation criteria is completed it's on all of their qualifications right So this these wouldn't
necessarily be disqualifying like the high deductible how much experience they have in that would not be a disqualification factor It would just factor into their general qualifications So whatever we strike will still be a consideration right So it's just how you word it You know are we being more specific or are we lumping it into the general evaluation criteria Um so most agencies do include some years right Because you want to specify some minimum level of requirement so that you're you know sifting out some firms But but however you want to make that happen we can make
sure that that creative factor will be considered Okay Okay I think not necessarily the making sure the whoever bids on it has those qualifications but what is being received What what product are they going to give us um for options to make sure that they're not just providing us a high deductible option that we're getting every option possible so that when the decision is made we're making the best decision for um our employees Absolutely And that comes after this So that is not part of the RFP that will come once they get the broker of record agreement They go out and
then solicit those bids on our behalf And yes we market everything every plan every carrier that would serve our employees So that piece comes later Absolutely Okay All right So then we had a a motion to approve this originally the way it was but now we have to Oh okay May I can hear you May I ask another question Commissioner Sargent you had a list of con things Are we addressing
those Yes If we do the reduce it from 10 to 5 years reduce it from 10 to 5 years take out the regional you know or specify the region that we want Florida or do we want nationwide people to bid on our insurance so that we're getting the best product I mean I don't know if we limit that um to make sure that we're you said that it'll come back to make sure that we're not getting just a high deductible option and commissioner I just looked up um item five under minimum
qualifications just says demonstrated ability to be able to design and implement a high deductible so that doesn't mean that's what we would have or that they have to have a certain amount of years experience in that field sure And then what about the wording for local preference How do we want that do we want it Volusia County Um this is just the He's referencing the regional experience right Similar geographic locations Correct But if we're going to give a preference to a local
vendor how do we want to do that Volusia County or You can't do that You can't Your ordinance does not allow you to do that And I don't know what Volusia County's ordinance allows in uh that regard Um but our ordinance does not presently give us that ability to do that It would require us to amend the ordinance and then we would need to determine whether um you know we create a preference in a way that eliminates competition or creates a a favorable preference for a particular um uh proposer We would need to weigh that into balance as well
So I don't have a good answer for you that this evening other than the fact that the ordinance does not currently allow that This question has come up in other RFP matters as well So it's it's kind of the same the same answer Well also this where on item one where it says have at least 10 years experience under the same broker name Many of these local broker firms or you know are being bought up by national firms So I think that might take away a a a potential vendor
someone from St Augustine Jacksonville that could provide us an option because maybe their name is changed in 10 years What about mentioned five That was the five you talked about Okay Five But I I did just think about Assured Partners just got bought out by who And they're a huge local broker Correct So their name is going to be changing and that rules them out now And they're submitting under what name I don't know They're a huge They were bought out They're probably are they submitting under the bigger firm's name I don't know what they're new DBA I don't know And I don't know when the transition's effective I mean doesn't matter The other option is to delete
it and just put generic language about that the experience will be considered Could we do maybe the producer has x amount of experience rather than the um Yes And that's our because that's important or the account manager that handles the policies like certain amount of expectations Yes I agree with what's been said but my big thing too is and and and this kind of goes along those lines making it where we get more people to where it's competitive because I mean our taxpayers the ones that save in the end And item eight does say the client executive assigned to the account
must have a minimum of 10 years experience in private benefit services Um so that encompasses that Well for that client executive 10 years is I think adequate right I mean we want to make sure we're getting qualified I'm totally good with the 10 years on the client I guess it was the name only because all of these brokers are being bought out by huge companies recently Um I mean and the whole point of our RFP is to get something that's not the exact same of what we're normally used to So let's let's see what else is out there and be able to get the most competitive options So are we okay with five or do you want a different year there We're really
excluding assured partners entirely if we put five years of experience under the same broker name We'll delete that and just include it under the general Make sure everybody else is okay with that not just me I would just say five years with experience no matter what the broker's name was as long as they had five years in the business Just delete under the same using the same name If you want to do that I can't make the motion here but if you want to make that motion then let's make that motion and then we'll give staff direction and go from there I would make the motion that we do any brokerage with five at least five years experience under the same broker name No I didn't
say that Okay Okay Do we have a second Second that Okay good Any other discussion here No Okay City court please call a vote Oh wait I pardon Do you want What about the geographic reference I would like the geographic changed as well Um I would specifically say Florida municipalities rather than geographic area or geographic location It's more specific Okay Okay Do I'll make a motion for that Well well actually uh if Commissioner Briley just wants to amend his motion to that
we could just do it that way That's fine Okay Good All right Any other discussion No Do you have any other motions before we Well Kristin made a second already For the record second Okay All right Can you restate the motion Okay Uh you want to restate the motion then Uh Commissioner Briley I think the motion was five years five years of experience no matter you know how long they've been under a broker name and using the state of Florida as the geographic
location Thank you so much And uh Commissioner Deaton second that second Okay good Thank you Mr Mayor Uh city clerk please call the vote This is on the underlying motion Oh I'm sorry Commissioner Tolland abstain Commissioner Sergeant abstain Commissioner Deaton yes Commissioner Briley yes Mayor Leslie yes Now do we have to vote on the whole thing now We already
did that Uh yeah I think I think that I think the corrections were subsumed within the main motion Just just wanted to make sure and we'll make those changes prior to it being posted and we'll send you a copy for your records Okay good Gallagher Okay Gallagher Okay we're going to move on to uh number seven public hearings I will now open the public hearings uh for city clerk Please read title 7A Ordinance number 2025-14 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 2, DISTRICT AND GENERAL REGULATIONS, ARTICLE VI, OVERLAY DISTRICTS, SECTION 2-71, HISTORIC DISTRICTS AND LANDMARKS, OF THE CITY OF ORMOND BEACH LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE BY REMOVING THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 63 SEVILLE STREET (“THE BARBIE HOUSE”) FROM THE ORMOND BEACH HISTORIC LANDMARKS LIST; REPEALING ALL INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES OR PARTS THEREOF; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND SETTING FORTH AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
This is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-14 read by title only Move approval Second Second Discussion Um we are missing one person but I guess it's okay Uh city clerk please call the vote All right Commissioner Sargent is not here Commissioner Deaton yes Commissioner Briley yes Commissioner Tolland yes Mayor Leslie yes
7B City clerk please read title Ordinance number 2025-15 AN ORDINANCE ANNEXING ONE PARCEL OF REAL PROPERTY INTO THE CITY OF ORMOND BEACH, SAID PROPERTY LOCATED AT 1005 NORTH U.S. HIGHWAY 1, VOLUSIA COUNTY PARCEL NUMBER 4238-01-29-0020; SETTING FORTH ZONING PRIVILEGES AND OBLIGATIONS REGARDING THE PROPERTY; REDEFINING THE TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES OF THE CITY OF ORMOND BEACH TO INCLUDE THE PROPERTY; REDESIGNATING THE BOUNDARIES OF ZONE 1 OF THE CITY OF ORMOND BEACH TO INCLUDE THE PROPERTY; PROVIDING FOR TRANSMISSION; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND SETTING FORTH AN EFFECTIVE DATE. This is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-15 read by title only So moved Second Any discussion Seeing none City clerk please call the vote Commissioner Deaton yes Commissioner Briley yes Commissioner Tolland yes Commissioner Sargent yes Mayor Leslie yes
7 C City clerk please read the title Ordinance number 2025-17 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ORMOND BEACH, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN FOR THE CITY OF ORMOND BEACH IN ITS ENTIRETY PURSUANT TO CHAPTER 163, FLORIDA STATUTES; ADOPTING COMPREHENSIVE PLAN 2045, INCLUDING AMENDMENTS TO THE PLAN ADMINISTRATION, FUTURE LAND USE ELEMENT, TRANSPORTATION ELEMENT, UTILITIES ELEMENT, CONSERVATION ELEMENT, COASTAL MANAGEMENT ELEMENT, HOUSING ELEMENT, RECREATION AND OPEN SPACE ELEMENT, CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS ELEMENT , INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION ELEMENT, CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL RESOURCES ELEMENT, PUBLIC SCHOOLS FACILITIES ELEMENT, AND PROPERTY RIGHTS ELEMENT, AND ALL ASSOCIATED MAPS AND FIGURES; PROVIDING FOR THE TRANSMITTAL OF COPIES OF THE NOTICE AND AMENDMENTS TO THE STATE REVIEWING AGENCIES, THE VOLUSIA GROWTH MANAGEMENT COMMISSION, THE COUNTY OF VOLUSIA, AND ANY OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENT OR GOVERNMENTAL AGENCY REQUESTING A COPY; PROVIDING PUBLIC HEARINGS; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND SETTING FORTH AN EFFECTIVE DATE. is the first reading of ordinance number 2025-17 read by title only So moved Oh you know I have a speaker on this one Oh sorry Um audience remark I would like to call Jennifer Bright Since the city has decided to update the existing comprehensive plan it would be nice to
see all the elements done like the property rights elements the bare minimum that the state requires to make changes to the comprehensive plan It must go through the county and the state By adding more than is legally required to the document the city is handing over more control than required to the county and the state Ask yourselves why There are hundreds of pages to this document and I have read all versions and have spent hours discussing with the planning department and they've been great With that said there is no way to cover all the issues that could affect
the citizens of Ormond Beach in 3 minutes So here are a few highlights Reducing the need for new or expanded autos or auto parking facilities a 20% reduction in parking requirements for all development and redevelopments Changing the water usage from per person to per residents for raw and drinking water and residential reclaimed water usage would be cut in half The raw water from
is currently at 124 gallons per person and it would be changed to 330 gallons per residence This would increase a burden on families The plan removes the term handicapped and disabled and replaces the term special populations and persons with disabilities This will harm our residents with disabilities It sounds great on the surface until you look up the definition special populations in section 330 of the Public Health and Service Act And it includes just to name a
few migrant and seasonal agricultural workers and their families people experiencing homelessness residents in public housing people limited with English proficiency immigrants and minorities Also I have found multiple references at least 27 which the city references acquiring land or land acquisition But there is no mention that the land taken out of private ownership is usually no
longer taxed This placing a greater burden on the remaining privatelyowned land Thank you Okay with that I don't have any other cards Is there a motion for approval Move approval Second Any discussion City clerk please call the vote Commissioner Briley yes Commissioner Tolland yes Commissioner Sargent yes Yes Commissioner Deaton yes Mayor Leslie yes I will now close the public hearings and we're going to move on to section 8 here Uh city clerk please read the title
Ordinance number 2025-18 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 17-5, RESERVED, OF CHAPTER 17, STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND OTHER PUBLIC PLACES, OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES; BY ADDING A NEW SECTION TITLED, PRESERVATION OF PUBLIC SPACES; PROVIDING TERMS AND CONDITIONS; AND SETTING FORTH AN EFFECTIVE DATE. This is the first reading of ordinance number 2025-18 read by title only I have no cards here Is there a motion for approval So moved Second discussion I've got a question for Randy So this ordinance talks about no public sleeping overnight overnight but doesn't regulate daytime
Is is there anything we can do for that that's not conflicting with or other ordinances state county So uh the amendment before you this evening um is intended to bring our ordinance in alignment with recently adopted change to state law that prohibits overnight um camping if you will camping and sleeping on public property We have other ordinances that deal with um camping generally speaking and a variety of other circumstances And this is not intended to um
address that specifically but we do have I believe ways that we um try to um resolve those types of situations So this is just getting us in alignment This gets us in alignment with the state recently state law Yes All right Thank you Yeah Randy correct me if I'm wrong too that the state that state statute that was passed I guess last year that that pertains to sleeping in any public place during any time does it not at night okay at night only so but we have a variety of other ordinances
that we rely on for a variety of situations u and we've been able to utilize them pretty effectively so great any other discussion seeing none city clerk please call the vote Commissioner Tolland yes Commissioner Sargent yes Commissioner Deaton yes Commissioner Briley yes Mayor Leslie yes Going to move on to 9A City clerk please read the title Ordinance number 2025-16 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF ORMOND BEACH, BY AMENDING SECTION 2-300, METHODS OF SOURCE SELECTION, OF DIVISION 3, PURCHASING, OF ARTICLE IX, FINANCIAL MATTERS, OF CHAPTER 2, ADMINISTRATION, BY AMENDING THE PURCHASING THRESHOLD FOR FORMAL BIDDING AND APPROVAL; AND AMENDING SECTION 2-313, PAYMENT OF CLAIMS, OF DIVISION 4, RISK MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, OF ARTICLE IX, FINANCIAL MATTERS, OF CHAPTER 2, ADMINISTRATION, BY INCREASING THE CLAIMS COMMITTEE AUTHORIZATION LIMIT TO SETTLE CLAIMS; REPEALING ALL INCONSISTENT ORDINANCES OR PARTS THEREOF; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND SETTING FORTH AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
This is the second reading of ordinance number 2025-16 read by title only I have one speaker here um like to call Jennifer Bright [Applause] I spoke on this issue at the last meeting and went over some common reasons to keep the purchasing cap at 25,000 which include fair taxpayer representation transparency and
accountability fiscal discipline and transparent budgeting and preventing unnecessary debt Some of the reasons that were discussed at the last meeting by the commission for needing to increase the purchase cap included but not limited to the need to buy police cars I failed to see why the city would need to buy a patrol car on a whim I feel these large ticket items should be in the budget I would think the city has a formula to determine the approximate miles each vehicle is driven and the miles at which are deemed appropriate to replace hence
knowing when and how many vehicles would need to be budgeted for Another reason was to take care of emergency situations At the 41 meeting consent item 75 was an item to notify the city commission of emergency purchase of a breaker at a cost of 26,000 plus dollars The item was already purchased even before coming before the commission This meeting consent item 80
The purpose of this item was to notify the city commission of an emergency expenditure exceeding $25,000 procurement threshold to repair a sanitary sewer line An emergency This problem was reported to the city in September of 2024 and the invoice was dated March 10th in the amount of $51,000 plus dollars That reflects the work that was already performed So as we can see by these examples an increase in the purchasing cap is not necessary since the city does not have to wait for the
commission meeting to address these emergency situations But by having these items on the agenda the residents can see easily see where their funds are going Once again these factors demonstrate how transparency strategic planning and community engagement can lead to successful fiscal management under a $25,000 purchasing cap Thank you Okay with that said I know the cards
Is there a motion for approval Move approval Is there a second Second Okay discussion Yes Am I correct that we self-insure our autos for like the police and fire So if a if a vehicle gets crashed that's an example of how we would have to purchase a new vehicle Correct Like we can't plan for that That's correct And and any other vehicle would be in the budget but we still have to go through the formality of bringing it to you under the current process
But if we crash a vehicle that could potentially take a vehicle from our law enforcement off the road So this actually makes the process more efficient Absolutely Thank you Joyce I just wanted to explain that um it's really difficult These vehicles come off the assembly line and they come to the dealership and usually first in gets it So by the time we get there with coming to you and getting the approval and da it's already gone So um a couple years ago uh we had to put our
name in the hat and and do that So yes they you know people crash into police officer cars which you think would never happen but it does happen So that is one of the issues It's not the only issue Thanks Joyce Any other discussion Seeing none City clerk please call the vote Commissioner Sargent yes Commissioner Deaton yes Commissioner Briley yes Commissioner Tolland yes Mayor Leslie yes
Okay we're going to move on to reports suggestions and request and commission reports And we're going to start with the uh city manager Thank you all Thank you all Um so your final goal setting workshop is scheduled for Tuesday May 6th and uh your next regular commission meeting is May 20th Upcoming workshops um the operating the capital budget will be June 3rd So please mark
your calendars for that We talked about these dates before so they shouldn't be a surprise And July 22nd is the operator operating budget So June 3rd capital We always do capital first because there's the big ticket items and then the operating budget And then at that meeting will they set tenative millillage At the commission meeting on July 22nd is when you have to set the tenative millage I believe it has to be into the property appraiser by the 24th August 1st 4th August 4th So So there's a little bit of wiggle room time if something doesn't go as
planned but we don't have that much room The EDC in partnership with Regrow the Loop and Regrow Volusia will host Earth Day and an annual free tree giveaway on Saturday April 19th from 9:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m Uh there's a malberry tree What other trees did he say Bottle bottle brush Four different trees Yeah four different trees you can choose from And first come first serve Um Swing into Spring Concert Series The Casements and Ormond Beach Leisure Services present the the
first free concert of our annual Swing into Spring Concert Series with Diego and Company on Thursday April 24th from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m Art in the Park May 3rd 10:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m That's a Saturday And May 4th on Sunday from 10:00 a.m to 4 p.m in Rockefeller Gardens It's really a big uh event Lots of people like to come out Uh admission is free Uh there's parking available Uh there's entertainment kid craft projects and community girl scouts arts are going to
be on display So that's exciting If you have children um summer camp registration is fast approaching Um uh it's open now and will remain open until filled Session one will run from June 9th to June to July 3rd and session two will run from August 7th to to July 7th to August 1st Uh I have first step shelter statistics if you're interested in those We um December 29 to 25 1821 people were served 24 of which were from Ormond Beach Um 11,000
1170 residents with total income 6 14 614 residents with social security or social security disability 522 residents with jobs uh 108 residents with Medicare or Medicaid insurance 937 residents with food stamps 146 residents with birth certificates All res all residents received access to med medical and mental health
coverage Yeah I'm happy to answer any questions if you have those Thank you Okay Thank you Assistant city manager Uh no comments Thank you City attorney No sir Thank you Okay This evening we'll begin with Commissioner Deaton Thank you Um last I heard Rainbow Park will be open this Friday April 18th from dusk to dawn Any stipulations on that Are we good to go Good Awesome So we're good to go on that Um I've gotten a few complaints regarding 95
and Granada I know some of this is FDOT when it comes to like the dead plants and um a lot of it is just not very kept up very well I did forward you one complaint earlier today I'm sure it was too too late for you to review but I just wanted to bring that up that you know with the two gas stations facing each other that are boarded up and one having the partial fence it's I would love to work on the corridor beautification if we're able to or if we can contact FDOT to work on their part on that Something we can do to I think we pay part of that So but some of
the plants are ours Yes So we could work on that That would be fabulous I'd love to see that going I have gotten a lot of complaints recently about some homeless camps I guess the one that was directly behind the broken down gas station has now moved out west um right behind Walgreens uh where the Timber Creek apartments are supposed to go They got cleared out a couple times and they keep moving back but every time they get moved out they're moving more west towards the neighborhoods and they're going into the neighborhoods and we're getting more complaints Um I know we've
asked for a workshop a couple of times but I would just love to go over some of the state regulations the local regulations things that we're able to do and not do I think we have almost Yeah So I think that is all I have Have a good night Thank you Commissioner Briley Thank you Mr Mayor Um sorry Thank you Mr Mayor Um I was uh delighted to read in the paper um that I guess the issue of the potential of the closing of Ormond Beach Elementary School uh has
been resolved at least for now and the school will not be is not on the chopping block chop chopping block to be closed So that was good news and uh I'll just end with I'm looking forward to the the lunchon tomorrow the the 46th annual lunchon in the casements guild Um the casements is is a true treasure in this city and the the guild does a fine job of you know keeping the programming and keeping the uh the the the programs actually strong and vibrant there So with that Mr Mayor I'll say good night Thank you Thank you Deputy Mayor Commissioner Tolland Thank you so much Um one
thing I did forget to make a comment of on the consent agenda is that our police vehicles are now going to be equipped with AEDs um the opioid abatement committee um that you all have elected me to to be a part of works really hard and they've been funding some really great projects and Ormond came I think it was in the fall and um it was voted upon and these are the kind of these are the kind of project projects that you want you know to uh fund so um thank you to submitting it
and I'm really proud that the abatement committee thought it was a good project Um I agree with you um Kristin that I would like to you know we've asked about the workshop with the homeless at least figure out what we can do and what we can't do Um I know um our attorney has cautioned us with a lot of things over the years but I'm just not up to date on what what what can happen Um a few of us attended the Advent topping out and although Advent is in Daytona Beach we kind
of consider that an Ormond Beach hospital Um we're blessed to have a very strong partner in our community They put a lot of money into um the community um for a lot of projects They are they just spent this project is a $220 million expansion They're adding four stories to one tower and one more story to another tower which means 104 more beds um over 240,000 square ft of healthc
care space which will include four more surgical suites and it's supposed to be completed in 2026 So I'm I'm pleased with that because we know how healthcare you're sitting in the emergency room with no beds Um I want to congratulate our police officers that participated in the bike tour from South Florida to Daytona Beach Shores I'm proud of our officers and the leadership exhibited by our chief that is hiding in the back corner right now So congratulations on that
Um I also appreciate the thank you note you all might have received from Bill Partington Senior thanking us for all the staff efforts to make the uh Celtic Festival a success It is nice when you when when staff does such a great job and and you are appreciated Um and then finally I do want to do a personal thank you to Shawn Finley for quickly I don't know he's Oh where There he is There he
is for quickly addressing a resident issue I've had the last couple days when one of the internet companies Wire 3 had breached some infrastructure on John Anderson Uh ended up being a girlfriend of mine that waited for a whole week to let me know that she wasn't able to use her toilets for a week And with the holiday coming she was getting a little freaked out Um I was able to contact Mr Finley He was able to um within 24 hours make some resolution And um I just want to say thank you for
that I do appreciate you make us look good when you do that And um also thank you for that storm water presentation I know that was a lot of work Um and I appreciate very much And with that I'll say good night Thank you Commissioner Sargent Oh oh I forgot one important thing I'm sorry No it's okay I I apologize Um so about a year ago I or maybe I brought up uh a linear park that
I wanted um for us to think about which is right opposite 56 North Beach Street You all thought it was a pretty cool idea uh we we were kind of coining it the gateway to the scenic loop Um a lot of research had been done a lot of meetings and um the short story is it did go to the quality of life and to parks and recreation and everybody seemed to think it was a good idea At this point I I'm wondering if it would be okay if um we asked staff to take a look at what it would look what
would it take to bring the budget numbers to us for planning and design for that park um and bring it to us when we're preparing for our capital project uh budget workshop If you all would be in agreement with that I would love to direct staff for that That would go from what the uh about the yacht club bridge Bailey River bridge up to the club to the yacht club and it would include the historic society piece and they've actually has have offered if the city is willing to do like a a 100 year lease so we can use that property and be contiguous from up there And you know there
there there's a very simple design that they're thinking Um and the boat I keep saying the boat house I'm sorry the yacht club Um uh Greg Snell is very interested in that as well It's only been received positively but at this point I've asked them how how can we move this forward and we can't unless you all direct staff to bring it to us in a budget I like the idea Okay How you Kristin
That's fine Okay Okay I'm good with that Okay All right All right Thank you so much you all and I'll with that I'll say good night Okay now Commissioner Sargent Thank you I have a lot tonight so bear with me First we'll start with the doughnut dash It's going to be Saturday at the Trail Shopping Center at 8:00 a.m This uh the proceeds benefit the Ormond Beach Police Athletic Club um for their youth programs uh registration You can do it online or you can do it there with
check-in at 7:00 a.m Um to piggyback on you Commissioner uh Tolland um congratulations to Chief Godfrey Rhett Summerlock Corporal Ortiz and Officer in Medina for riding into um from Miami to Daytona Beach Shores for that tour And I got to tell you you know you see all these cops come riding in it's pretty emotional And then you introduced me to a lady who lost her husband in 1980s He was an officer in Daytona and he was shot on the line of duty And it just really
hits home when you meet someone Um watching all y'all riding I appreciate you Chief and and everyone for doing that Um give an update on Ormond Main Street There's a lot going on Uh the Celtic Fest was this past weekend an estimated 8,000 attendees Um the the boat pier was full with people walking from Cassen Park across the bridge to the event A lot of the small businesses everyone was out and about They included about 200 or 2,000 hours of volunteer time and 140
volunteers throughout the weekend Um roughly 15% or 1,200 people of the visitors were overnight which roughly would be about $210,000 to our economy The day trippers probably spent about $50 roughly $100,000 and then the locals was about another estimated $96,000 worth of impact to our local community Just thought that was something to highlight the gentleman
that spoke earlier about the the redesign that's 100% funded The city did not have to pay anything for that Their survey will help us identify and document our city's historic assets many of which have never been officially recorded So that's a very big positive Uh the website for Ormond Main Street is also getting updated and will help highlight the local businesses and restaurants and everything Uh Ike's Bait Shop over here at Cassen Park, I don't know if y'all have seen it
but it's looking great I have one request of the commission if y'all are okay with it but I think on the side the lettering it should say Ike's Granada Pier Bait and Tackle I think that it just instead of Granada pier bait and tackle I think we should highlight someone that is an ambassador to our city that gives back He you know fills up those soap dishes He fills up the paper towels the the toilet paper in there He never asks for anything I just think it it would be great if we
could put ikes I don't know if anyone else is okay with that He doesn't ask What do you mean he doesn't ask for anything Asked for a new bait house We got it Well I'd like to see that as well I'm a little a little hesitant I I do like the bait shop I do want to recognize Ike I don't know So this is where I'm coming from and it may make sense or may not Whenever you put a big name
on a building it's usually associated with a donation like the Ormond Art Museum or whatever You have Lohmans you have Lydecker or this you have all that And I don't want to take away from that as well If if we could find a way where his name could be prominent but not maybe not permanent on a building I think I would think that might be a better way to go But I'm I'm not going
to be an obstructionist I'm just presenting another alternative It wouldn't be permanent and the letters could come off at any time if we wanted to but I think for now while Ike is running the bait shop that we should recognize that it's Ike's Granada Pier bait and tackle I just Who'd be responsible for constructing it putting it up and then taking it down So are we talking about a sign or on the door I mean lettering on the side of the bill That's going to be on the side of the building So we have limitations on how big that can be So staff needs to look at that and bring something back to you That would be great Okay Thank you Joyce Um over the weekend you know we
did quite the investment with the leisure services dedicated millage rate for our baseball fields I just want you to know that we were out there boys and I went to the batting cages and I didn't know that there was a tournament in town Commissioner Deaton you participate in these tournaments Just to give you a little idea of the economic benefit that was in our town there were 49 teams for travel baseball Average you figure 12 players per team and their families coming to our town spending money at our restaurants going to all of our businesses These were kids in the ages
from 10U to 14U And the baseball was it 9u I had 10U Sorry And I mean just to see it was Hull Road was slammed pack at the quads Nova Rec was slammed pack And I asked one of the coaches you know what do you think of our fields And he did have a complaint He said our mounds needed a little bit of work But besides that they were very pleased with our amenities and our facilities So I thought that was great and that's you know that's what we need to highlight more of I think is those
fields should be used for tournaments all the time We need people coming here to utilize them spending their money here staying in our hotels and enjoying what we have Uh we did that So I too would like to give an update on First Step Shelter We all received an email and I thought it was pretty touching to to hear about this um about a resident there and I just think we need to highlight this It's it's his name was Ted He was aged 65 lived in Ohio with his rent became
an unaffordable He went to a shelter in Ohio but while there he was critically stabbed resulting in significant damage to his abdominal When he recovered he came to Florida hoping to find a cheaper housing and safer living environment Ted spent some time living in hotels while searching for an affordable place to live but found that found like Ohio there was little availability for
um housing for his income when his social security check was only $14,063 He arrived at Firstep Shelter in late October 2024 Then he had a further setback because he was a victim of fraud Furthermore he had no birth certificate so he couldn't immediately apply for subsidized housing He also then had very high blood pressure which required immediate medical attention Fortunately for Ted the staff at Firstep Shelter knew just what to do and soon Ted was back
on track When his birth certificate finally arrived in January he was accepted into the RAD program the voucher program and moved into uh the facility on the river on March 24th The First Step Shelters we currently have 18 successful residents living there just think that's you know and there's a picture of him but a guy that came down here and and you know was down on
his luck and we had a place for him to seek help Since December and I'm I know I'm repeating what the city manager said but since December uh 2019 to March 2025 1,821 people have been sheltered 347483 meals have been served residents housed 93 of of the residents that have been found
housed 93% of those are still housed I mean that those are great statistics and I understand that we don't have you know when we look at our numbers of participation they are light and I would like to figure out how we can utilize this service a little bit more I know it's we have to recommend them there they the the law enforcement have a side to it too But I think we need to look into how to um potentially help more And and let's face it there's a lot of a
lot of homeless people on the streets that don't want help or have mental illness or um have drug use or whatever it may be But being homeless is not a crime And I think our law enforcement officers do a great job being compassionate but we do need to figure out some solutions for this And I you know we do contribute $85,000 every year to Firstep Shelter So we have a place if we you know if law enforcement or someone runs into a resident we have a place to take them And I
think this is bigger than just Ormond Beach This is about our community in Volusia County that we have a place for these residents like Ted who is just down on his luck and needs a hand up That's it So I am in fully support of continuing supporting FirstStep shelter I did last year speak that I would not be willing to or I'd want to look into um potentially not funding it if it went private because there was talks of going private but I would not want to um and I've never said uh that
I would not fund that I think that's an important asset to our community and I think that we need to just figure out how to utilize it more and I'm not unhappy with the results that I see I look at them and think that it's a starting point of we can do better for our community and hopefully we can figure a way to have more residents go out there and be like Ted But I am in 100% support of
First step Shelter Thank you Thank you Commissioner Sargent I will echo my fellow uh colleagues here on a great job by the chief and everyone else that participated in that 250 mi ride Uh it's a really incredible thing Uh I was thinking about saying I wonder if I can do that but I don't I don't know if I could do it but I might try one year Uh because that looked like a lot of fun So good job guys Um do we have an update on Andy Romano Park Cuz I for some reason I thought that the park was
going to go under some kind of construction Sea walls We're still working on walls Sea wall Yeah we have um issued the contract to to to the contractor and we're um getting ready to schedule a pre-construction meeting So we're just about to I think that it's next Do we have a time frame starting starting in May Will any will there be any access there for residents or will it be all
closed or we're going to we're going to continue as much access to residents as possible Yes Okay Appreciate there may be some limitations maybe some limitations along there and what I think they're going to try and do is limit it to half at a time and so they're going to try and work on on the north on the north half keep the south half active and then when they get that north half done flip-flop and work to the south Okay Great Thank you Thank you uh the uh Celtic festival It was really as a good time I went there on Sunday and uh in the morning it was a little quiet and uh
the director was a little nervous I said "People are in church Don't worry they're going to be coming." And uh by 1:00 the place got filled up Um I was I was asked to be a judge for a uh a dog parade which more was like a dog show kind of Um but it was a lot of fun And uh we had a resident come with a um uh a goat So um with a leash and everything and he was walking like he was a dog It was kind of funny Um so we we gave him a special award for uh most unique Um so it was a great time
Um the uh so I I was at the meeting last night for the uh First Step Shelter that I serve on the board and one of the items on the agenda was to give the direct executive director a three-year contract And so the uh currently the executive director at that time did not have a contract Um she kind of came in after somebody was replaced and then you know kind of took on the role and then um you know then you know she had a little salary increase at some point uh along the way
but the board um felt like that it was it was important to give uh the executive director a a three-year contract um even though that there was a 30-day clause on it where somebody you know if there was a issue with something that you know the contract would be voided Um and I get I guess would only be a 30-day notice at that point Um so I brought up some concerns about it only because of the fact that I thought that the timing was a little wrong on this considering uh there's some
uh pending litigation going on with the shelter Um you know there was a whistleblower and and things that were going on and uh uh the there was a small investigation I think that was done by the board before my time of service with them Um and then they just you know closed the uh the investigation Um and then the uh the plaintiffs that were involved uh decided that they were going to get legal counsel and we went and then now they're in the early stages from what I I know about the uh where they're at with the process of this thing Um so I expressed some concern about
it because you know there's been a lot of uh you know uh neighboring cities and and even the county uh council they just had a discussion on that I think in January about some of the concerns about the shelter and the uh and it wasn't the what they're doing that what they're doing is great you know the program itself Um you know like I we saw the numbers here and uh we we had listened to the one resident which I got that email to as well Um but there was been there's been some concerns out there just from talking to people and and listening that you know about the
uh leadership that's running this program So I suggested in the meeting that we should um have the executive director go to the city meetings and even cities that aren't partnered with them to kind of give an update about what's going on bring some more positiveness back to the uh the table here because the energy in the place is a little is a little down there right now um let the cities go through their budget process and then in November when we're done with the budgets and the cities are all done with that stuff then we could have a conversation about what you know
we can do to give the three-year uh contract or whatever was going to be negotiated the time and uh uh there was some people that were nodding their heads a little bit on it um but ultimately uh only myself and the mayor of Daytona Beach which was kind of surprising voted no on given the uh the contract contract extension Uh the contract was granted Um but like I said I I want to see the program succeed Uh I think that's it's a great program We have a lot of people don't want to participate in it for some reason and that's something that we can you know maybe talk about
maybe that workshop that you know was brought up would be a good help to just so we can kind of gather that information and then bring it back to the executive director and and their people so that when we have our meeting they can kind of give us the the feedback as well because feedback would really be helpful Um I've only attended a couple meetings since I've been on the board right now um because we only had a couple But um I think that feedback from the the cities that are partnered with us would be really really helpful and and helping us give the board give direction to the staff on on some of the things we can do to improve it Um but um so that was pretty much
what what happened yesterday And uh you know I just I I stand firm that I think that the timing was wrong and that we could have done a I think the executive director should could be be out there and promoting this thing a little better and trying to get that stigma you know away from the shelter that happened with this whole uh uh whistleblower investigation and litigation stuff Um so with that um that is all I have So everyone have a good night Meeting adjourned