we've never seen before. Thank you. Look on this service tonight, this meeting, this session. God, we pray that your hand will be upon us, that you will guide us with wisdom, give us understanding in those things that are
needful, God, to move this city in the right direction. We thank you for doing what you do because can't nobody do what you do but you, God. And we say thank you. Amen. Amen. Please join me in the
moment 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. Roll call, please, madam clerk.
Mayor Kramer, present. Commissioner Davis, present. Commissioner Jones, present. Commissioner Bar. Commissioner Campbell. He'll be late. He He's coming later in the meeting. He'll be delayed. He'll be
good. He's delayed. Hasbody had We have four of them. Thank you. Has everybody had an opportunity to read the minutes from May 2025? Move to adopt. Second. We have a motion to second. All in favor? I I. Any opposition?
Thank you. We're going to go on to public recognition presentations. We have been experiencing a bit of technical difficulty today. So, we don't actually have the appointment. So, we'll get those to you at a later date. to read the first mason which is honored
to volunteers from the American Legion post 45 the vice important and the southwest service and community volunteers have contributed to the benefit of these and the maintenance and we need members of the American
Legion center post 45 the the burning community and we raised four dedicated volunteers and recently gave them the time, energy and resources to assist a local family in need by performing a
special experience aging and pressure wash enhanced the appearance and safety of the home but also exemplified the spirit of potential community and such that struggling city proud to publicly thank these indiv
individual volunteerism and the management of American Legion. Therefore, we proclaimed by the mayor and city commission of the city that may central for service to our community. Do
we have a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Second. We have a second and a motion to second. All in favor? I oppose. Thank you. Um if you all can come up. So if everybody can please come up.
Mr. You coming up? Yeah, just come on up here and stand here. We'll take some photos, please. only thing we need for this project. Thank you. The Home Depot foundation. And if each of you could introduce yourselves,
this is Mr. um could you all please introduce yourself since we didn't know we know who your names are but now who you are as volunteers. Could you all introduce yourself? I'm a member of Home Depot. [Applause]
Okay, I'll smile at the camera. Thank you. Go on to the next. Is that what we're doing next? No. Presentation to the Florida League of Cities. Excuse me. donation to the
county school district by commissioner. All right. Good evening. If I can have um director of federal programs Ashley Mcool and Nathan Eden, federal programs please join me. All right. I know. Can we notific?
Yes. So, just I just want to thank uh these individuals for what they do day in and day out uh throughout the year um looking out for our our students and u their families. Uh Ashley, she's of course the overall director for federal
programs, but I have been working the last two years with Nathan Edens uh who u um deal with a lot with the homeless. So, I had the pleasure and honor to be serving on the Northeast Florida League of Cities um board and we are they're allowing us
to be able to pick an organization every year. So, this is the second year in a row and I think there's no there's other um agencies that may deserve it, but there's no bigger honor to give this to or present this to federal programs. And we thank you guys for what you do for
the homeless uh students. you guys are the first ones to be able to detect homeless in our community. So, thank you guys for that. And um thank you um for um accepting this on Norththeast Florida State. Uh thank you, Commissioner Borum
and um the city commission mayor. We just really appreciate your partnership. Um we do serve about 500 students who are considered homeless um according to um statute and Nathan here does so much for these students. I think the most um
common thing you guys have probably heard of is our project praise Christmas that we do and we serve so many families with that and if it weren't for the support of the city and great organizations we wouldn't be able to serve those students like we do. So we just really appreciate it. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. [Applause] Come up here, please. Thank you, Kristen. Thank you. Thank you. I'm the proclamation for June 10th. Whereas the Emancipation
Proclamation formally issued on January 1st, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln signified a pivotal decree declaring the freedom of enslaved Africans within the Confederate States of America. And we're also doing note that due to inherent limitations of the communication
infrastructure, the decepties of the emancipation proclamation was not uniformally exped exped resulting in a delayed awareness of emancipatory measures in certain regions of the Confederate States and
recognition of the abolishment of slavery or waiting the conclusion of the American Civil war. And whereas the date of June 19th, 1865 links to historic jungle where Union when Union General Gordon Grers arrival in Gston, Texas herald the
pronouncement of emancipation in accordance with the emancipation proclamation thereby for fostering a seinal moment of the annals of American history and the term Junth linguistic linguistic amalgamation of June and 19th
has since been embraced to denote this significant historical milestone. ating collaborating and formal secession of slavery in Texas and throughout the confederates and municipalities across the United States and there's a day
devoted to the successful display in the United States and exploring the diverse cultural heritage and valuable contributions achievements of African-Americans for discussing recognition
of holiday20 the opportunity intersectional and commemoration of the imprint of African-Americ upon the fabric of Palia and the nation whose true team serves as an enduring reminder of the ongoing
quest for liberty and equity to reference commitment to their justice and equality before I members of the city commission 2025 and earnestly implore allian
protecting the commemorative events or these this momentous occasion of freedom again we don't have proclamation I'll get that to you but is there anybody here for June so move this proclamation
I'm sorry proclamation oh do we have a motion so move second all in favor Um, do we have anybody here to accept the Yes, we'll make sure. American Cultural Arts Council. Okay, thank you.
To jump to first and come back to D at the end to the end. So, est. Well, I'm I'm Paul S. I'm the chairman of the rewards committee of cleaning chapter. Oh, good. I was looking for the light.
Every uh every year we contact all the first responders in our twocount area and ask for nominations for these awards for fire, for police, uh EMS, and other notable service organizations. So, we do this every year and I'm glad that for
the third year in a row, we're here in Palatka to offer this award to the fire department. So this is to u give the award the fire safety accommodation
medal to firefighter Anthony win. [Applause] So, we have this uh certificate and a medal that we'll present to you. And I'm going to read the citation here and then uh yeah, we got
get the photographs. You can stay there while you raise. Okay, I'll go ahead and read. Okay. So, we're uh the Sons of the American Revolution and the City of Gladka Fire Department proudly recognize firefighter Anthony Wyn as firefighter of the year
for his extraordinary dedication and leadership. In just three years with the department, firefighter and wind has demonstrated unparalleled commitment earning certifications in all five urban search and rescue disciplines, hazardous
materials technician, and advancing towards this inspector series. His relentless pursuit of excellence equips him and his crew to tackle future emergencies with confidence. Firefighter Win constantly or consistently exceeds
expectations, covering overtime, managing vehicle logistics across South Florida and Jacksonville, and training both new and existing crew members with precision and competence. His ability to take on any assignment and complete it with accuracy has earned him the respect
of his crew and administrators alike. The department deeply appreciates Firefighter Win's service and the support of his family whose sacrifice strengthens our community. When firefighter Win and his crew respond, their impact is
undeniable, extinguishing challenges with skill and resolve. So, congratulations speech. Why don't you all come up though for a photo? You got it. We don't
need this. Oh, sorry. Wait, wait, wait. Wait. There's more. Two more. Okay. All [Applause]
right. Okay. Good to see you, my friend. On to employee of the month, Miss Jones. Madame Mayor, commissioners, um thanks for this opportunity once again. Um as we stand before you going into year three of recognized our employees, although we have so many employees in
any given month that are just performing exceedingly above just the normal. We can only recognize one at one per month. Um and we just take it through a little process of nominating how you know different um aspects of who succeeds
over over and above all. And this month we would like to rec recognize Officer Alicia Burgerer. [Applause] [Applause] Hello everyone. Uh my name is Lieutenant Court Lee and I am the lieutenant of the
investigations unit of the Pla Police Department. Um, it is a great privilege of mine to be in front of you today uh to recognize Alicia Burgerer uh for her outstanding work not just this month uh but during her entire
career at the police department. Um, I had the great honor of working alongside of her as a detective as our careers progressed. Uh, and then ultimately being able to supervise her as well, uh, where she continues to teach me. Um, so
I I know that we have made the right selection here for the employee of the month. She does a phenomenal job. Uh uh I would like to go into um some things that she has done just this month uh as a reason of why we believe she deserves
this honor. Um she has been with us for about six years total. She took a short break uh to work with the Land Police Department and then came back to us. She is currently assigned as our major crimes
detective with the department. Um where she investigates all of our homicides uh all of our violent crime. Um now um she is also a mentor uh to uh the
other detectives in the office. Um uh she is the first to offer help and guidance with her experience. Uh she came with a great expertise of sex crimes investigations um more than anybody at our department
in my opinion. Uh her experience with se sex crimes um have been crucial with the recent cases that we've experienced.
Um, we recently had a sex related offense uh that we ended up charging which carries a sentence of life in prison. Uh, this was not her case to investigate. However, she saw the importance of it and jumped on to
assist. Uh, Detective Burgerer alone collected, reviewed, organized, and presented over 20,000 messages to the state attorney's office and to the judge in this one specific
case. Uh, this secured a violent offender from being able to prey on further victims and assured his incarceration in the jail uh until the next court proceedings. Um, Detective Burger again only did this
because it was the right thing to do. It was not her case, so it was not her responsibility to do so. Um, Detective Burger sees needs with cases and fills those needs without asking or prompting. Detective Burger's work on
this case was so exceptional that it warranted special recognition from the state attorney's office. Um, while she was organizing, reviewing these 20,000 messages, she also got tasked with investigating a violent
crime with a rash of shootings here in the city. She was able to split the work uh where she identified and arrested two suspects involved in this
shooting. Uh, this was no minor ta task. uh due to the lack of cooperation from the victims uh in the shooting related incident. Uh Detective Burger is committed to learning the violent crime element in this jurisdiction. She's committed to placing all of her
attention and focus and to holding the people responsible uh for these incidents. Uh Detective Burgerer has not once declined or complained about having to respond uh late at night um uh to complete these tasks.
um while she was working that one shooting and organizing those 20,000 messages uh she had to jump onto another case that was her responsibility uh where a citizen of Palaca was shot in the face. Um Detective Burger cares a lot
cares a lot about what goes on in this community. Uh she responded in the middle of the night, worked tirelessly uh over the weeks following this case. She traveled far from town in other jurisdictions, created bonds with those other
jurisdictions. Um uh all to accomplish her goal of solving this case and getting justice for the victims of our citizens. uh she developed suspects in that shooting related incident and continues
to investigate this incident. Uh but what is uh really exceptional is her investigation into that shooting uh resulted in three of the suspects involved being arrested on unrelated
charges. Um which was very important of of getting those violent individuals off the street. And this was all done simultaneously. Um, I personally am very proud of Detective Burger's work. Um,
and I know she makes the, uh, Black Police Department very proud. So, thank you. You've got Come on up. Please family in the photo. Come on up.
We'll do one right here. Honoring employees longevity of 30 years plus. Uh good evening everybody. Thank you for having us. Um I have the privilege to uh honor the people who've been through the city and
have dedicated their entire work careers to the people of the city of Palaka. Um, what can you say? These between these four people, you have a century of knowledge in their heads. They're all effective leaders for the public works department and they're effective
teachers even more importantly because we need to lead that knowledge. So, I would like to call out Brian McCain who has 33 years with a wastewater treatment plant. [Applause] Brian,
we have uh Mr. Ed Chandler, 30 years, Department of Sanitation. And this is for you as well. Thank you. U we have Mr. Brett Mckame who is the operations manager for Department of
Public Works. Thank you so much. Thank you. And Mr. Elton Starling has 27 years. Thank you. I appreciate you so much. Thank you guys very much. What can possibly be said? You dedicated your
entire life to this city and the great people of the city. So, thank you. I hope you can stay around many more years. Make my job a lot easier. We appreciate you every day. Thank you. Thank [Applause] you. Congratulations.
Thank you. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. But I have them here. [Music] Okay. Yes. We're going to go on to the team
presentation. Um, commissioners, we're bringing this to you because we wanted um you to have a more thorough understanding of the risk and so forth and whatever methods we are actually pursuing
uh as a city and the various departments to decrease the risk as well. Mr. Evans, uh, thank you very much, commissioners. Uh, Mayor Cora, thank you for having me. Uh I'm here more probably to answer your questions
uh than anything else. But I did want to start off by uh just pointing out a few things. Um couple of months back or so uh at the request of Commissioner Borum, I uh generated these reports so that you all
could see where we are uh where the city of Palatka is um and your claims data uh specifically workers comp. But then at the end of this, I also did one for your uh your property and liability stuff. And so um just from the this first one,
uh that's the actually that's the property and liabil liability one. I want to get to workers comp first if I can. So let's see. I want to see the one in general overall. That's not
Can you shrink that just is that possible to shrink that a little bit so I can see that's that's police department specifically. I I wanted to want you wanted you to see the one as a whole. So what uh specifically what was brought up is the
experience mod uh factor that y'all are currently at at a 1.31. Um I can make copies of these for you if you want. No worries. Okay. All right. So, um, an experience modification factor is something that's
generated by the NCCI or the National Council on Compensation Insurance. So, insurance companies like ours do not uh generate a rate for you all on the workers compensation thing. It's done at a federal level so that there no
insurance companies can play favorites. We send them the data. They look at the injuries, the cost of the injuries that everyone in the nation uh acrus and then they base a rate on all of that information. And then our um
underwriters at the Florida Municipal Insurance Trust look at that uh rating. And then based on payroll and the number of employees and uh the department and the positions that you have, then they generate a workers's compensation
premium for you. And so uh the higher the claims, the higher that rate can tend to climb. Uh and believe it or not, although it's at currently at 1.3, what that means is that for every city in the
state of Florida that is the size and is the same scope of Palatka that has the same departments like police and fire, public works, streets and roads, etc. They compare you all and they rate you based on that
claims data. and you all um are at 1.31, which means you're paying 31% more for your premium than a city would that had zero claims. So there aren't too many that are at
1.0. You can fall below that um go to a 089.9 and pay 90% on the dollar to cities that are paying $1. Um and 1.3, believe it or not, is not that bad. Uh I've seen some of our uh cities and towns that have a
1.89, 2.1, 2.3, 3.20. So they're paying 320% more for theirs. And that comes down to losses. And it comes down to injuries. A city can have 100 injuries a year that cost
$1,000 or one injury per year that costs $100,000. and the 100 of them that cost a thousand dollars is gonna create a higher um uh experience mod and therefore a higher premium. Frequency
leads to severity. And so we like to try and be proactive with our members to see where the data is and where the claims are and then work with you to try and reduce those. We can be reactionary. we can say, "Oh, there was a claim this
week and uh we need to figure out why it happened." And then develop a safety program based on uh that so we make sure it doesn't happen again to those employees within that department. But uh our goal is really to be uh proactive in
that and look at this data and then figure out what we need to do to help you to minimize your potential for loss. And so that's what what I've been asked to do. And so I met with the uh uh uh city manager and I met with uh police uh
assistant chief uh Nukem. And so we think we've got uh some strategies and some plans in place to to help do that. And it uh relates to training. uh it relates to um having uh employees uh be proactive in their own rights, getting a
handle on the um the safety committee and the role of the safety committee which we're going to discuss at the next safety committee meeting and and uh so that's why I'm here and that's what I uh showed you. But I want to uh answer your questions because I know that you all
had some um Commissioner Davis, do you have any questions? When I'm looking at this report and I'm looking at severity for average loss per claim and I see that even though street is the second loss by department, it's the highest in
severity and that I want to make sure I understand is that um the severity means dollars. Correct. Correct. But street that's the your public works department. So the way we categorize it, that's
based on the NCCI. So uh yeah, so you know it says uh garbage and ashes is the solid waste department. Streets is public works. Uh police and fire obviously self-explanatory. So uh sorry for that uh that's okay miscommunication. That's just the way
it's it's right. Uh so what happens is for for example on that one in the uh streets and roads department I won't don't want to get too far into detail because there's some sensitive information for those claims but you all had one claim in the in the streets department uh a couple of years ago that
was substantial in its severity in the in the pricing or the dollar amount of it. And so the longer a claim stays open the more it's going to cost. Right? And so, uh, a pro, again, a proactive approach to a reactionary claim is that,
um, you want you want to help manage that claim. And so, that comes down to, uh, the folks in HR and stuff to to really be contacting us to say, why is this claim still open? Why are the so many reserves set aside for this claim? He's already back to work. He or she
only missed two days. Um, so why is it uh continuing to stay open, etc. So doing claims reviews with us is um is a a good um proactive measure to help uh shorten the life of a claim and again helps to
uh not raise the premium if that makes sense. I also know I think Commissioner Borum at one point uh through one of my colleagues had mentioned maybe um the potential for losing coverage and
that is not the case. So uh we are uh we are a notfor-profit uh insurance company. who are a public trust in the state of Florida and so we take the uh take that very seriously and we uh don't
cancel people for uh high claims. We might cancel them for not paying their premium but they anybody anybody can get cancelled for not paying their premium but but that might take years to do anyway too. So, so, um, if you notice, this is the
one I did want to share with you that, um, this is like it in all 600 cities, uh, and county, uh, towns in the state of Florida, police, fire, kind of public works are the the top three. And that's just because of nature of the of the
business that they're in. And so, uh, for the city of Palaca, this is a five-year picture. And um you know the number 29 for police officers may seem like a lot but 29 injuries over a 5-year
period is really not that significant. And the same thing with uh 12 for the firefighters over a fiveyear period, you know, that's not too bad. So thank you. The fiveyear period put it in context. Okay. All right. It does put it in
perspective. Yeah. Well, we could break it down year by year, but No, no, no. That's okay. Commissioner Borum. Yes. I just want to uh thank Evan with my team for coming in and um explaining breaking down uh an what we've had over the last
five years. I want to thank Miss Harvey uh because I have been presenting this to several other uh city managers who did not get on it. And so I just needed to know make sure that my commissioners, mayor know exactly what's happening in
in the city um how we're functioning and how we stack up um across not only the state but across the nation. Y and um so all of those things means dollars dollars out of um taxpayers um who's having to pay That's right. these costs.
I know you say you we we you won't drop us, but every everything over 1.0, you know, you're paying additional monies that would be saved. And so we want to make sure that our
group understood that and what we can do internally to drop that down. We don't care about what other cities are doing because their taxpayers not having paid. That's right. And again, like you said, you're not you're not going to drop us, but we're going to pay additional
dollars to have that coverage. And that means that we're higher risk if we're over 1.0. That is correct. And uh if I might just add the strategy one one more well, a couple more things then. So, uh first of all, the the experience mod is much like points on a driver's license.
Takes three years for a ticket on a driver's license to fall off, right? takes three years for a claim of significant value once it's been closed to kind of drop off of your record. So each year that experience mod is recalculated based on whether or not
you've had some big ones drop off or you've had some new big ones that have come along the way. So that's why we want to try and uh minimize if we can the exposures number one. And by minimizing the exposures, we can
minimize the potential for loss. And so we're going to talk with the uh um with the safety committee and get a plan together. We are going to talk uh do some safety related trainings uh within the departments. Uh I've suggested that you know you do um uh sidewalk
inspections to minimize trip and falls and and things like that and of a of a liability nature that generates liability claims. So there's a lot we can do, right? Uh, and that and that's that is my goal. I have you and I have 140 other cities in from northeast
Florida down to the Space Coast that I do exact same thing for. So, uh, and I just live right across the river in East Palaca. So, I'm at y'all's back. I'm at y'all's beck and call whenever I can be because I live local and was born and raised here. Thank you. If I can add on
if I may. One of the things that uh Miss Savin has recommended that we completely agree with is that uh anyone that is driving a city vehicle must take uh defensive training. Uh so that will help
reduce uh incidents, accidents and so forth. So that's one of the things that we're actually starting in June, right? Which is next month. Yeah. Okay. And um yeah, I want to say that on the liability side of things, if I could get to that
slide, which one was it? I don't know which one it is. Is so I I can't see the headings on them. This it was the last one that I emailed to you. It was the um
19 page 19. That one right there. Scott, no. That's still workers comp. No, it's someone that says negligence, auto collision, real property. Oh, yeah. I remember all that stuff. It's u It would be 14, page 14 of 409
there. Yep. Okay. Right there. That's it right there. Yeah. So I mean you know the second one auto collision that's again the the biggest one uh for cities uh predominantly for monetary value of
claims you know city has a 100 vehicles that they insure and if they get into into claims or into accidents then that certainly uh adds to the cost of your auto insurance and then you know trip and falls for liability insurance uh
issues with police uh for police liability. But again, those are minimal. There were only four over a five-year period. But you can see that negligence would be the trip and falls, the the potholes where someone claims uh that their tire was ruptured or their rim was bent or something like that. And those
tend to be relatively small in monetary value. Some can get very big, but the quantity of them is what they look at to to to dictate what the premium might be. And so, uh, we're going to start on workers comp stuff first because that's
the biggest driver, uh, that monetarily speaking. And uh and then we're going to also work on uh you know developing some sidewalk inspection plans and street inspection plans so we can try and minimize some of that negligent type of claims too or
liability type claims. Thank you. Did you have something else? I think that's it. I just want to thank him for coming in and explaining uh that needed the commission to be to be aware of you know what we have going the approach that we're taking and help improve those
areas. Thank you. It's my pleasure. You're welcome. We appreciate it. City manager city budget operations. Uh yes. I'd like finance director Peter please. Mr.
Peter to quickly summarize. Good evening, commissioners. Good evening, mayor. Uh just from the jumping from the past events in the future, uh let's uh last time I brought this uh budget calendar. It was um meetings scheduled on Friday, which didn't work for you
guys. So, I'm proposing then uh meetings on Wednesday, specifically on June 4th, June 18th, and August 6th. And uh that's that's Thursday. That one is
Thursday. So those those are the ones that I proposed to move it to Wednesday instead of Friday if you agree with that. Thank you. We appreciate your change from Friday to Wednesday. Thanks. Okay. So is that a approval from all of
y'all so I can get the agendas done? I mean but yeah I've got it thoroughly I entered into my phone so the question is what is the group want to do proceed with the calendar is presented
go to page 24 please do we need a motion for that if you can approve it that would be appreciated that's needed you have a motion to approve the calendar as presented I move to approve The calendar is the budget calendar as presented. Do
we have a second? We have a motion to second. All in favor? I. Any opposition? Thank you. Thank you. Neighborhood improvement team. Mr. Pel. Yes. I'd like to stop the
introduction. Ferris Sereno to come up and present the neighborhood improvement. Good evening. Good evening. All righty. Reno Fails for the uh city black. Of course, the uh I represent the
recreation and cultural community affairs department. Tonight, I'm here to represent newly formed neighborhood improvement team, also known as NIT. The team currently consists of the city manager's office, police department,
planning, public works, fire department, grants, and other city departments as as needed. We believe strong neighborhoods are built not only on foundations of brick and mortar, but on connection, pride, and shared investment. The neighborhood improvement team once
fully informed fully formed will outline a series of strategic communitydriven initiatives designed to enhance the quality of life in the design designated neighborhood. Our motto is improving our community one block at a time. All
right. When I was in grad school, I had the opportunity to read a book by a gentleman who used to be the former mayor of St. Petersburg. That book was called the seamless city. And what in his seamless city book what he talks about is I'm going to
paraphrase it is a seamless city is a community where or a city where no matter where you venture out into a community there's progress to narrow down. You know there of course you have people that have different you know
uh levels of income things of that nature. So that that'll never change. But ultimately when you go from one side of town to the other, there's no it's not evident that one area is just downtrodd. And so basically when we look
at our program and as we move forward we want to pretty much move from the idea of a program but more of a strategy because often times we're doing a lot of activity but there's no real purpose no method to the I'll say a method to the madness. All right
so screen one yes. Yes ma'am. All right. Okay. So that's B right here. Right here. Right. Okay. All right. So basically uh right quick we're going to do what is neighborhood improvement team
potential benefits the designate neighborhood current in initiatives next steps. Okay. All right. We talked about that who we are neighborhood improvement team. And I'll say we've been meeting this team this on the city side. We've been meeting since uh I think right
before Christmas. Uh Miss Cardi uh was very vigilant that she really wanted something that was going to be sustainable. Um something that really brings have meaning, not just activity. But basically, a neighborhood uh improvement team is a resident driven initiative that consists of a
cross-section of community stakeholders working collaboratively to collaboratively to enhance the quality of life within a specific neighborhood. All right, I'm not going to read through all those, but basically we look at a high opportunity neighborhood versus a
low opportunity neighborhood. Um, just some some things to check out right there. High a high opportunity versus a low opportunity with high high performing schools, early childhood programs, etc. Um, underfunded schools a low opportunity and fewer enrichment
programs. And there's a whole listing of things there that identifies what are high opportunity neighborhoods versus low opportunity neighborhoods. Um, when I look at Mr. Jones, Miss Miss Davis there who's from our
community and many others in this community, I feel pretty um confident to say that we used to have a pretty high opportunity neighborhood. Most of our our communities were high what what we considered high opportunity. All right. Move
forward. But over time things kind of took a downward spiral and we are we are and but we are seeing progress but we can do better right together. All right. What does a a neighborhood improvement team consist of? Residents, clergy, city staff, local government, law
enforcement, etc. business owners, you know, basically any stakeholders, anyone that has any interest, stakeholders, anything within that neighborhood. Um, for instance, I don't live in the city of PLA, but I'm from Palaca. My mom lives here. I own a my family owns a piece of property over here. And matter
of fact, I'll be moving back to Palaca real soon. All right, let's move forward. Try to go through it pretty quick. All right, so basically when we as we have right now, we have what's called a planning committee or steering committee. Uh so at this point we have
the city of Palaca staff those folks who of us who are actually consist of the city side of the steering committee. So basically as we're forming the the the committee and as after this tonight we'll begin to finish off what the committee will consist of. And so
basically the the planning committee or steering committee will delegate tasks of their overall strategies and the committee and the committee approve changes to the program coordinate activities of subcommittees and eventually evaluate the overall program.
So when by evaluate it may be annually or bannually to basically determine what does success look like. All right. So we do know that crime and violence and things of that nature, those things are not that's not your ultimate problem. The ultimate problem is typically
disorganization, disarray within the neighborhood. All right, let's go. All right. Right now we are the stages as we move forward. The neighborhood improvement team stages. Right now we're going through stage one, two, and three
in the assessment stage. We're still forming the team. And so, as I said, after tonight, we'll have a community meeting. Uh we invite other businesses, clergy, and residents because it's designed to be a resident driven initiative. And so, right now, we're
actually in stage, we're kind of meandering between stage one and stage three. So, once we get into stage three all the way, then we're going to totally total assessment of of the area. And so in your packets, you'll see a survey.
You should have a citizen satisfaction survey. All right. Move up. All right. Potential benefits, of course, crime reduction, improve infrastructure, increase property values, strengthen community bonds, economic development,
etc. All right, let's go. I know have a limited time here. All right, the designated neighborhood is the north side area, Palaka. They are extending from North Fifth Street to North 24th Street, Reed Street, North to Wapala Street. That's the area at this time
that's designated um to be our first neighborhood. Now, this is designed to be a pilot program um and I say strategy, not program. And after we get started here, get it grounded, then we can move to another area and begin another team. All right, let's move
forward. And let me add this, neighborhood improvement teams. This is not a new program. These programs are all over the country. Um, as a matter of fact, uh, the mayor Rick Baker, uh, he I think he started those back in St. St. Petersburg years ago and they have in
Gainesville, I think other, uh, communities across the country. All right. Current initiatives expanded GIS geographic geographic system, text mygov, ring doorbell program, and the community satisfaction survey. We'll talk about that a little bit. All right.
The current initiative again continue the GIS system. This is the cost. You guys can see that. Not guys jumped in. Uh you all can see the the price that we have that that's already in play. Uh we pretty much um getting our login
information now to begin that process and pull it roll up. All right. to the benefits, improve decision making, improve operational efficiency, improve asset management, improve emergency response. With GIS, of course, you know, you can go in, you can um identify
clusters of different things and characteristics of things you're trying to look for, whether it's demographic data or crime data. Um so you're not trying to just trying to guess where things are happening. They're going to have you pinpoint where you need to send resources or support systems to. All
right, let's go. All right, text my gov. All right, we often hear the same saying. Well, I didn't hear I didn't hear about that. You know, no one told me this was going on. Now, with the tux text mygov program, what will happen is um citizens will be able to receive,
excuse me, receive texts from the city, direct from the city about it could be potholes, it could be about uh emergency issues, it could be about uh it could be a road closure, it could be community service issues, things that going on that things that the city wants the
community to know about. All right, move it up. That's the cost. All right. So, better communication with residents. Residents can access information about city services, events, and and policies. City can send instant updates and alerts to residents, so
forth and so on. All right. Next steps, begin citizen satisfaction survey, post neighborhood meeting, complete neighborhood assessment, and begin and then go into stage four. It's where we as we get the
assessment, get the data from the surveys, get the data from the community meetings and other uh things that we're that we're talking to folks with, then we'll compile all the information to begin to identify what our priorities are. All right, move forward. All right. Uh, also another
initiative that we have going on right now is we have we have a I think about a $200 something,000 workforce development grant that we've applied for. uh request from committee the city we asking for the city commission to support the effort um of the uh neighborhood
improvement team a commissioner to serve as a liaison on the team. Now what that means is as basically as a lazar person as we build teams across the city we'll be asking another commissioner to assist and be as a leazison on that team. All
right any questions? Any questions Davis? Not right now. Okay. Uh well, I just more of a comment. Uh I heard you mentioned that you were going to start from uh North Fifth Street on Yes. the
24th. I'd just like to make a recommendation if if you did like um even from the riverfront um on north the north side from first street on up and I think it would give you a better idea as
to you know just the different needs for even though it's in the same north side area because I can't now are you speaking of the uh north side historic district? Yeah, I mean just to just to just to
deal with the whole north side and if there's any variances or differences, you can kind of see those things because I know as I traverse the the community uh looking into different areas whether it was the south south
district or the general uh areas um each area has its own needs, you know, and and so I think it'll be good to be able to include those in. That's just my
suggestion. Not that you need to do that, but I think okay. Okay. I hear um Commissioner Jones, you have questions. Okay. Um I don't have any questions. I know we did something similar many years
ago. I was involved in the South District. You still want to? Yes, ma'am. I do. So, yeah. I don't really have any questions. Yeah. Commissioner Davis. Yes. And and only because I'm not familiar with the program or initiative.
Okay. Um so the city will be um that's who will make up this team. I think I saw the police department. Right. The city is a part of that. Yes. Okay. And the department the city has already otherwise you wouldn't be here.
Right. All right. I want to stay there. Okay. Okay. Thank you. That's right. Thank you. And so Mr. G presided to request the bond which we just discussed. So I guess as a group we have to either support or not that we will
buy into this whole concept and support the moving public and then the next question is who's going to be the liaison. So first of all do we collectively support it? Do we need a motion or do we just want to
just simpation? That's right, Dr. Yes. Thank you. Now, who wants to volunteer as a child? Well, anybody else? [Music] We can be informed later. Yes. Okay.
Let's all think about it and and I want to look at my schedule. Okay. Okay. Okay. We can put a name in the hat and pull pull it out of the hat. Yes, please. Because the level of commitment at first that's a lot
big it was right. Um, and what we would like, if I may uh add please, um, the city department's employees, we would just like to continue on and we wanted you to be aware that we are trying to do something
that will hopefully improve the quality of life in the city by reduction of crime. the police department, um, public works, um, planning, all of us are actively involved in trying to figure out how to improve our neighborhood. So,
we wanted you to be aware and as a pilot and as Mr. Fel mentioned, if successful, there will be another neighborhood. You will need another liaison from the commission as well. So, we'll all get our turns. You can observe us even for this first. That may be helpful, too. But you know,
we can spin on each turn sitting in to see what's going on. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thanks, sir. Thank you. Splash plan, surveying sites, community considerations, and site evaluation. Yes. We really wanted to bring to the
attention of the commissioners this u the progress that we're making uh some of the uh actions that we've taken since we had the meeting with the community and just basically giving you update information. Right. Okay. All right. Good afternoon.
My name is Kristen ODM the CRA coordinator for the city. I'll be sharing the results from the survey and the proposed splash pad. The survey was open for two weeks and made available at this town hall on April 29th as well as through the city's official Facebook page. In total, we received 795
responses providing a wide range of input on interest, potential use, and design considerations. All right. Um, the first question we asked was, how interested are you in having a splash pad in the riverfront? Nearly 70% of respondents
said that they were interested. The results reflect a range of perspectives with a large portion expressing enthusiasm and others showing more moderate or limited interest. Next slide, please. Next, we asked, "How often do you think you or your family would use
the splash pad?" 47.5% said they would use it frequently, 24.2 said occasionally, 7.5 said rarely, and 20.6% said they would not use it. And then um we don't have a slide on
this but I wanted to share the top three features that were identified and were most important to respondents. One was shaded seating areas, two water play features for all ages and three dispensing for safety. In summary, the survey results
provide insight into public opinion, potential usage patterns, and future preferences. While the responses reflect a strong level of interest from many participants, it is important to note that the survey was open to the general public and not restricted to black residents. These findings will support
further analysis as we continue exploring the feasibility, design, and community impact of this potential project. Thank you, and I'll now turn it over to Mr. Cutright to discuss top five concerns that residents had from installing a splash pad.
just like that. Just put somebody under the bus out. Well, it's no secret some of the concerns they had. The homelessness situation we have in the city was one of the main concerns. Cleaning and m and keeping the maintenance of the place was another top concern. uh and safety of
the kids from the the traffic in that area that we had proposed are the main three major concerns that we had out there. Uh talking to several other organizations out here that has splash pad. The homeless piece is not really been a major issue uh in different
cities. Now, we do have a few incidents that has happened. I'm not going to say it's not no incidents, but it's not been as many as we thought it would be. The safety of the kids from the traffic. Most people in certain areas have put either traffic speed bumps or something to slow the traffic down so kids have
safe crossing crossing the street. But the maintenance of it is just uh talking from Tyler from the county and some other places. It's just about your public works maintenance crew keeping on top of their preventive maintenance plans and staying on top of the current chemicals that need to be flushed in and out of that thing. So as a whole, it's
not a big concern as maintenance safety in that set. It's just about finding the right place to fulfill the need of the city and also the community. Thank you. Thank you.
If I can insert please, Mr. uh Joe, can you speak briefly about the maintenance before um Mr. Carlos come up? Sure. Just briefly. Um so we we did conduct a bunch of questioning about other cities who have splash pads. Um when we start
getting into the maintenance of it and the cost of it um about the average Thank you. Um the average cost for the maintenance to have a company come in and check pH balance and and clean it. It's a couple times a week. You really have to stay on top of the stuff because of the multitude of people. It's like a
a community pool, so you really have to stay on top of it. Uh they estimate about $6,400 a year to have somebody come in and do that. um water usage. Um they run roughly um about $100 a day for as far as when it is in use, which is about nine months of
the year. Um but that also depends. We can put a well, we can use city water, but then that changes the chemical uh you know amount that we have to pay for chemicals and things and the maintenance. So if we use a well, we have to chemical higher. If we use city
water, we pay a little more for it, but we don't have to do anything to it. So that's about where we're at with that as far as maintenance. Does it have to continue? I mean, I think this discussion came up in another meeting. Does it have to run the whole year even if it's not in use? Well, that's what
we're finding out is yes is a quick answer to that. However, it'd be kind of like a generator in your house. We'd go and we'd run it for 10 10 minutes a day. You know, that kind of thing. Uh public works at very little cost. The crews are down to parks. They can run it for a few minutes a day as they're working on cleaning up or picking up. So it would
just be incorporated into the daily uh duties. So yes, and the other item uh what we discovered was that uh we're not going to run it for 12 hours a day. Remember? Absolutely not. Yeah, we would definitely have a a span during the day.
Probably eight hours, a 9 to5 type thing would be preferable. Close it on one day a week, Monday for maintenance and cleaning and so on so forth. So, we're going to come up with a comprehensive plan that is both beneficial to everybody in the city and financially for us. On a low use days, we would make
sure we dropped it down and did most of our maintenance at that time. So, it's uh it's pretty good. It's not as not as difficult as some people have made it out to be. So, Mr. Carlos, it looks like he was surprised. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Good
afternoon. I'm going to talk about the potential sites or potential locations. As part of this process, we have identified four potential locations within the city of Palaka where splash splash bed could be developed. Um these sites were selected based on available
space, accessibility, zoning and land use compatibility and general community activity. It is important to note that the locations are not ranked in no in any order or preference. Also, we're open to look for these are these are not
final locations and we're open to look for more locations. A feasibility study was conducted specifically for location number two at Riverfront Park and the findings were positive in terms of zoning, land use, and available space. The study also outlined the agencies
from which we will need to obtain permits prior to construction. This includes the St. Jones River Water Management District, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Health, and also the city of Pala. I'll move to the first um option, which is River
Riverfront Park. This first location within Riverfront Parks offers a large open area with enough space to accommodate a splash bed. The site is relatively flat and has nearby utility connection, which makes construction more accessible. And it's also close to the playground allowing families to
enjoy enjoy multiple multiple recre recreational features. I'll move to the second location, second option. Um this second location, it's the one between um the river boat house and the play the playground. Um the second location is
also within the riverfront park and is the area highlighted in the feasibility study. Well, there is an existing restaurants facility at the Bow House Marina. We cannot confirm at this time whether it can be used to meet the splash pet restrooms requirement. However, this side is spacious and has
sufficient nearby nearby parking and is located next to the playground area. We realize also that um that's feasibility study. We need to have restrooms in order to have splash bed. It cannot be more than 200 feet apart in order to have them.
The next one is going to be Booker Park. Booker Park offers a solid location for the proposed splash pad. The park h the park already has existing restrooms on site which is a key requirement for this type of feature. The area provides sufficient open space for installation and it's already well used community
park. Next one and last one is going to be the Tilman house. Um the open lawn next to the Tilman house provides enough space to build a splash bed and includes parking on the same lot which adds convenience for families visiting the site. This area is wide and easy for
access accessibility. Okay. Um, I have some questions, but I'll give them this one first. Commissioner Graves, you want to go ahead. Okay. So, I um do have some concerns about the survey. So, I'm going to start
with the survey. Um, I am concerned that the survey asks specific questions. Do you want a slice of the river versus do you want a splice? If so, where would you like it?
Um, I'm not sure that we're getting the information we need to make make the best decision based on this. So, that's number one. Number two, as I have been since the public meeting, I've been really looking
around like imagine a question and trying to understand as I mentioned in the public meeting is I'm still trying to understand the overall plan for our
city in terms of, you know, where we're going in general. And so, as I mentioned before, I'm not a proponent of making a decision to put something here for fun and here for fun. I need to know where it fits into the overall plan for our
city. Next, um, homelessness is an issue at the riverfront. Um, we still use it. I walk there most mornings. Um, and we do have, you know, homeless people there. I'm thinking maybe when they wake up and
they come, they're there with their suitcases, they're out and about. Um, and I'm not sure until we have that situation that any additional um items at the riverfront is
appropriate at this time. Third or fourthly or fifthly, I'm glad I got several. The next thing is real estate. Um before moving back home here to Palata I lived in a city where we had a
flash at our town center. The one thing that's different about our riverfront is there's no real estate in my opinion for a splash. Um because of the nature of how we use the city with the real estate
there and I'm talking about the green areas in particular. I just don't see how a good fit. We have um bad tournaments, you know, we have boat races. I went down to the sailboat races and I was like,
people were stable sailboats. I just don't see I will see where it went. And another I want to consider I drove today to look because several um citizens mentioned this is a county
own. and I drove out to this county owned Westb. I never even noticed it and um in my opinion it's a little lacking um and um I know if there's opportunity one for
other locations which you presented and two and I'm going to throw it out there because I think we should look at our options to see if there's some opportunity for some city county partnership to expand or do something and And I just throw that out there. I
think to sum up what I'm saying is I appreciate the research. I think we have more to do. That's really what I So, thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Mark. No comment. I think uh Commissioner
Davis u summed it up well. Yeah, I have a lot of the same concerns. But I also know the uh for the the first option and I know they're not in particular order but for that view isn't the retention problem for the hotel underground there.
Um yes it is. It is public works can address that please. You're absolutely right. There's all kinds of stuff under a certain area. But if we shift it closer which we have to do in order to meet requirements to be within certain amount of footage for the bathrooms slide all the way down to the park which
gives us plenty of room. This flat bed is only 1500 ft. About the same size as the one over at the other apartment. It's small. And you're right, it is a bit lacking, but the stuff we're looking at we're looking at, they're vibrant. Yeah, they're vibrant. They're beautiful. There's there's a lot
happening in ours. Pretty impressed by it myself. I'm not that familiar with them before I started this whole transition. So, you're absolutely right. Um, ours is kind of a step above what they have out there. So, yeah. also equally unconvinced about the Riverside Park being the best place and
I can concur with Commissioner Davis maybe we should be partnering because we should be anyway with the county on more things and I think the community might appreciate that in fact if we did work more closely the county may boost them up um also as far as Memorial Parkway
this is a whole different topic is it possible to consider in the future closing Memorial Parkway and just keeping it as a pedestrian access road. Um, how the state could be open to load things for events, but that basically there'd be no vehicular traffic so that it would be safer for everybody
concerned. It's not, I don't think, a necessary route road for anybody and it would be kind of cool with just pedestrians, but that's another future possibility that would add to the front park. The Michael Red plan didn't have the sponge plant so long. the the
waterfront there was a whole waterfront park plan. We we do have that clan and and from what I remember some time ago when I looked at it it was a long time that it was a long time ago but it did include splash in that. I couldn't remember just with the planning so it
was in there. And also please uh commissioners uh would like to bring to your you know attention um as staff we're simply following uh what was voted on in the budgeting and so forth from last year for this current year. So we
we're simply following whatever guidance you provide. I understand. Yes. And so in the budgeting the splash pad was I'm sorry. Is this going to be a liability? Oh, Mr. No, come up here, Mr. M. Okay. Well,
wait. Let me just finish my statement and then you can come up. Okay. Okay. Was actually speaking. So, if I can just finish. Yes. Public comment. Yeah. I was just trying to say and I wanted the commissioners to really remember that as
staff whatever we're doing we're simply following the budgetary guidance that we were given. And so whatever uh commissioners decide we're going to follow it plain and simple. Okay. Okay. Now you may say well I had my raise hand. I didn't realize I was going to be
recognized while you were speaking. So I apologize you know I just wanted to open myself up to questions. the insurance guy is here if you want to ask questions about the the splash pad or what it would entail. I can tell you this that there are
not liability claims when it comes to splash pads are very minimal uh and we ensure a lot of them and uh also you just have to make sure that when if you decide to do it that you put it on your property schedule so that we make sure that it's covered. Good point. Thank
you. Commissioner Jones, do you have anything before I open up for more public comment? He answered it because uh I wanted him to talk about relability because uh it was a comment that it is
laral, right? Uh so component of the flash pad uh they won and uh I think that would be an enhanced activity for young young uh
citiz and it says riverfront park riverfront park. What does the riverfront park have to offer taxpayers that do like to come out and enjoy the riverfront and sunshine
and the amenities that the park offer? Um, bathroom two that's up there now meets the criteria. It's next to a bathroom that we have here. is based on an existing playground that we have that
we're about to put some money down there to redo that playground in my opinion. Um I think that enhancement will be good. the traffic as far as if you actually go down there during during the summer
months during the evenings when I see families down there trying to play that's not if you have a family of three kids and family of four they can't play on on the same
playground because it's not enough equipment down I know we have other but a lot of people walk from his house to come to the poster park and the license understand I have been to just recently and I was like wow
that's well we used to have our pictures here in we had two pools South and it's not just about issues. side. I can't stand
every uh and people want what they want in that particular neighborhood. Um and I have this thing to people who are I look at
surveys too I'm concerned about surveys because the first question is they say not they're not interested but then the comments are pretty much about bringing
kids to the river. I understand about bring out. We have made a lot of assessments but voting parking space. We make
others that's okay as well. But I just like for the use of that city. So whether or not I would like to see it down there because we have given away one of our
biggest assets that we had and that's the river. So if we're going to accommodate people who but I would like to see us start investing let's think about safety issue. We're talking about the homeless
situation versus there are two separate situations homeless enforcement a will sit and stop everything within those first three blocks when you come to us
because of the social issue that we have. We got to come up with some answers, but I don't think everything else down there is going to be the answer to that. Um, so history about what we're going to do with the homeless population
and what we'd like to see as far as activity. I think we need to handle them separately and make a decision. I know we had already said we put that down seem like seem like we're going backwards
because it already was approved good even on but the sun seemed a little matter of fact I looked at the time that they came in I was like wow everybody separated the same time.
That's what that's what it looked like. It didn't look like a random survey as I look at and I'm not accusing of anything but just like again open it up to public comments. I
don't see this particular Allegri Kitchens Pala, Florida. First of all, as to the Michael Red question, I was on the commission when we accepted the plan, but never approved it. Mr. Red's plan was for a quality highass multi-million dollar
splash pad at the end of St. John's Avenue. The uh clock tower would be the center. The splash pad would be around it. Uh there would be a uh computer operator on the grounds and a little like a little booth monitoring everything, making sure that nobody was getting hurt, that the water was coming,
going at the proper times. It was top quality, state-of-the-art splash pad, and it would I think the cost was about $1.5 million or something total. Uh that being said, uh the Tilman House is not a good location.
That parking lot is used by our fishing tournaments and they are important. They don't bring much into the county, only $72 million a year. $72 million is nothing obviously to the city of Palatka, but we get two or three or four million dollars in the city of Palaka from the fishing tournaments. We have had fishing tournaments the last five or
six weekends. One of them caused us to change some plans for our class reunion last weekend. We still had the reunion, but we do have fishing tournaments and they bring in multi-million dollars. They do bring in a good thing. The splash pad, they it is liability. Palm Flagler Coast, Flaggler County is in a
multi-million dollar lawsuit over theirs. And yes, you you have to maintain the water and all that, but there's sanitation issues. You have to make sure that it is sanitized, that the germs are killed when people in of various ages and sexes go to the bathroom on it and don't say they won't
because they will. Uh so that's a very important issue. The other one is we and if you read the comments and I skimmed through them this afternoon, all the comments, Mr. Jones is right. The people you weren't given a choice. It was basically the the survey was biased. Uh
but the comments the people said right there, we don't want on the riverfront. And as far as what they do at the rip, I like to bring my family down and have a picnic. That's what one of them said. We peacefully, we don't want a splash pad down there. I have my children down there. Everybody basically said they didn't want a splash pad, not at the
riverfront. We already have one at the county and the city commission always thought, let's partner with the county, be good partners. How about partner with the county and fixing the one at and going in with the one at that at Triangle Park? I believe Triangle Park is in the city limits also been annexed in. Go with them. City county joint
thing. Fix it up real nice. then you've got it. It's a perfect location. Over at Booker Park would be a great location. They used to have a pool over there. They no longer have it. Huge amount of children over there. Not many children on the on in the South Historic District. Not many children in my neighborhood, which is across the
railroad track. And then the events, we do have multiple. We have the Aelia Festival. We have all the fishing tournaments. Five or six, seven, I don't know how many we have. And then we have all the events that the city has at the riverfront. And we have the Aelia festival, the blue the blue crab festival. We have multip the car show.
We have multiple festivals all the time down there and there is traffic. There's a lot of car traffic down there. And sometime in the future, maybe the citizens would want Memorial Parkway closed. I doubt it. But we're talking about the future right now is the present. I don't think the splash pad
right now is a good idea because of cost. And I have an issue with the whole county giving taking the survey when it's the city of Palas money that's paying for it. So I don't think the riverfront park or Tilman is a good location for it. Thank you. Thank you
Miss Jones. Is that okay? Good evening. My name is Evette Jones and I live in Palaca and I want to talk about the splash pad and how it can bring numerous benefits to our community including recreation and relaxation, aesthetic appeal and
riverfront enhancement, community engagement and focal point. It appealed to families and it could be real uh year- round utilization with proper design. So, splash pads provide an attractive and engaging space for kids to cool off, exercise, and socialize.
The aesthetic appeal of a welldesigned splash pad can enhance our riverfront, making it a desirable location for both local people and visitors. Beyond its recreational value, a splash pad can become a focal point for our community.
It can host events such as splashpad days or simply serve as a meeting spot for families and friends. A thoughtfully designed splash pad can be enjoyed throughout the year, incorporating features like misting systems for warmer months and potentially even winter
themed activities or holiday lights during the winter. Um, for families with children, splash pads are especially appealing. They provide a safe and supervised environments for kids to play while parents can relax and socialize nearby. This can lead to increased foot
traffic and economic activity for our downtown businesses. For families without children, they can bring together people of all ages, providing opportunities for families, friends, and neighbors to spend time together. So to minimize potential safety
concerns, we must take safety measures to mitigate risk by incorporating things like non-slip surfaces such as texturized or rubberized surfaces, soft landing areas that include cushion areas around the water features. Supervision
by parents and caregivers. Also posting signage indicating the rules of the splash pad. regular maintenance and cleaning to ensure it's hazard-free, including inspecting for physical damage, water treatment and sanitation, adequate chlorination, and maintenance
of filters. And also incorporating design elements that discourage lording such as fencing, minimal seating, meaning seats instead of benches, and clear signage that states its purpose. Additionally, possibly assigning an
attendant and or security camera to monitor the area to deter loitering. In conclusion, a splash pad can be a valuable addition to our community. It offers recreation, aesthetic appeal, and community engagement opportunities. By
investing in a splash pad, we can create a vibrant and attractive destination that benefits our residents and visitors alike. Also by addressing both physical and social aspects of spa splash pad safety we can create a more secure and enjoyable environment for families.
Thank you for public comment on this topic. I will close public comment. Would we like to proceed? Do you want to continue with this process? The splash. Oh yeah. Well,
I think this this it's certainly a viable thing. I mean, we already made a commitment to um do the splash pad, but so I'm I'm I'm 100% for the splash pad, and I wasn't speaking against it when I No, I communicated earlier. So, again, I
want to see those type things come to the city because it does bring families together to give them more recreational uh enjoyment in uh whatever area it may be. I mean, I'm all for it. Thank you.
But to give staff the attention more specifically about the riverfront or not. Yes. So for direction some of what I'd like to consider moving forward because I'm not against the splash path. Um I would like to
see comprehensive plans. Now if we are saying that the splash pad has been approved, it's just a matter of location. I like to see the plan for it to be at the riverfront, the plan for it to be at Booker Park, the plan for it to
be um to look what does it look like at with um a partnership with the county for the existing park, I'm sorry, water pad to um enhance it. And um and when I
talk about that, I'm talking about of it, the design of it, the details of it, and what's feasible. But um and I'm saying those things and and I may be jumping the gun because we may need to really identify feasible
locations. I mean, I don't know that we got that clear. Can I? So what we did do you know and I'll just bring back to your memory uh recently we did hire an engineering firm and they did perform the uh feasibility study. However, we
can go back to that firm and ask them to look at additional locations because they did really only uh look at the river front front part that's near the uh bathroom requirement more than any
other thing. But we can always go back to that same engineering uh firm and ask them to expand the uh feasibility work that they've already completed. And if if my memory serves me correctly, and correct me if I'm wrong, the feasibility
study showed that a splash could open up, right? Yeah. Could not. And it showed that it could. Correct. It could. and there were whatever um impact it would have on the there are some things I think that need to
penetrate that we later find out were fine. Is that correct? Well, everything that was recommended in the feasibility study to the best of my awareness we're able to comply with. Uh but we still even though we had that feasibility
study, we still want to continue bringing information back to the commissioner so that we could constantly get a little bit more information and also really wanted the community to be engaged as well. So we will continue and
hopefully the next time we bring it back, we'll bring it back again. Well, let me clarify what I'm asking. Okay. And what I'm recommending. Go ahead. I am recommending a presentation a report that shows because we want example flash
right so based on the budget I'm looking for the comprehensive report of this is the recommended splash path okay this is how much it'll cost I want to see the maintenance projected maintenance cost anything that's related to the
commission being able to make a decision based on location. And I will be honest, I am also looking to not plop a splash pad down. For example, there are some parks I go to, you walk dirt. I'm looking for what does it look like
around that's going to enhance that so that it's not just a jewel in the middle of a dirt path. Yes. So, I'm just being honest with this properly and we're going to do it, but we need to have all
of information to make the right decision. We will follow through and that's why we bring it. I I agree. And I have a question of Miss West because we do have a contract with Boot House Marina to manage the riverfront pond and correct.
Does that present any? Yes, it does. That area is part of the POA. Uh for the contract that we have currently with the Black and Boat House Marina, I've been instructed by the city manager to reach out to council formulated and we will engage in talks
about how to amend that agreement that space is a okay and that needs to be clarified and just to kind of go on to Mr. Commissioner Davis's comments. Um, the merchants have
expressed concerns to me about wet children coming into businesses after going to the splash pad, coming into businesses with their families. Silver wet. So, I just have to put that out there. It's been brief and that we make I'm just mentioning. No, no, ma'am.
Okay. But but what I do want to mention is I think that we as a city contract that we enter we need to do a better job because um it appears
that we getting bad end of these contracts when we when we are making with other entities. um it doesn't seem like it's working really in the city's favor. For example,
who knew this that Boat House Marina basically now for example, let's just say Blue Crab. So, you telling me right now the uh Boat House Marina actually is at least not that space to come there?
No. they have the right to they they possibly would because if you think about it the existing agreement particularly identified the park operating area and that's why city attorney is uh trying to pursue getting
we're trying to now look at that more carefully. So again, my statement remains, we need to do a better job at the front end of these contracts that we're signing and we're we're not obligated one way or the other. Um because I didn't know that I didn't have that knowledge. Uh and because that is
the prime location that I thought to board and so what what you tell me now that is a note for us and that's and we're discovering these things as we're moving forward. I mean to be candid uh as we are moving forward with the splash
pad that is one of the concerns that um the city attorney said hey we better look more carefully at the agreement and in doing that uh also admittedly these agreements occurred before myself was here and I think also before even the
city attorney was here so we're coming behind the eightball on action that was taken agreed upon signed and everything before we got here. Now that we're here and we're trying to proceed with the direction that we've been given by the
commissioners, we'll we find obstacles. And so my direction to city attorney is deal with it from a legalistic perspective and let's see how we can correct these uh these situations so that we can move forward with the direction from the commissioners. So
that's where we are now. So thank you for that city manager. City manager, I do have this request going forward. Yes, sir. All of those issues when it's presented from a commissioner from this DAS immediately get on it. So, we'll
know before we're going back and forth and we don't know what we could do. we have and and that it caused a divide because we would know where we are, what direction we're headed um prior to getting up for
discussion that really it could be a new point at this time. We couldn't do what we we we're divided on right now and we just discovered this I think last week. Okay. But I will take your comment. Yes, sir. No, that's a direction. Please do.
Yes, we will do that. Commissioner BL I think um in terms of whatever location on the river that we have you learn that um I think
PBM has control over all of those things. So in in that regard the city always seems like it's in an inferior position and release the contract every time we in position. So, um, for the people who represent the city, we need
to do a better job with, um, making sure that we're not, um, in continue to be in these positions. So, since the contract is in force, are we in compliance with what we
currently have in terms of agreement? Will our cost mean? Uh, if I may answer. Yeah. Okay. Um, recently we did bring on board a finance director and as we're completing the
auditing process, which we're almost done, uh, one of the first uh, responsibilities that he's proceeding with is what we call internal review. Internal review means that we are going to take these contracts that we have found etc.
review them, which we've already started doing, and then also scheduling consistent with the agreement, the internal reviews to determine that we are being treated fairly, that all of the terms are being adhered to. So I must admit to you that we're at the
beginning stage of conducting those reviews and our initial review even of this particular agreement is uh for instance we are receiving the funds that uh are stated there but we I would rather not say anything more than that
other than yes sir we will be conducting the internal reviews of these type of agreements and then we will come back with a report to say we're in compliance. or we're not and that's but we are receiving
funds at this point. Yes, we can recently yes recently. How recent? Um two weeks ago uh April of April, right? Yes. I think it was April. It's
we've been in agreement for at least two years now. But we the contract was signed the PBM contract been signed over over a couple years. Yeah. But I think there was something but we don't need to get into the details of it. We don't know. We
need to just figure out the city is not continuously and in fear position where we're losing tax dollars. I mean they just and people are taking advantage of the city on each of these deals and it's got
to stop somewhere. Yeah. So I just wanted to give you assurance that we are we have a strategy and a plan to review. Thank you. Is there any further discussion on the splash? Okay, we will move on. City manager Burma Resource.
Okay, very uh few Oh, she's already left. Oh, okay. Well, um you have that uh the picture of the Hank Bryant place. Um, and also we had a person here from
Putnham County Caring Association, but I guess Oh, George left. George left. Okay, you keep going. So, uh, if she gets to it, the picture, uh, the real point is that the Hank Bryan, uh,
bathroom is now open. Um, we were just wanting to understand if the commissioners wanted to have a ribbon cutting ceremony. That's the picture. You just missed it because it took us almost two years to finally get it done. But it is done.
So if u that's where we are. It's finished and complete. Um so just wanted to give you that assurance. Permitted. So it's finally there. That's the bathroom. Uh when I came on board two years ago, this was the thing that the
commissioners were discussing veheminently about the bathroom at Hank Brian Park. So it is there. Uh the other item was to just speak about um the city's approach with the homelessness
situation. Uh we had a person here for most of the meeting, so I guess she just left. Uh there was a representative here from Putnham County Caring Coalition and just want you to know that we are working with that coalition trying to
identify uh an alternate location. We think we found something. We're working on it and we will come back with more details. uh since she's not here. Um we've also had uh a number of uh
citizens to send letters in about the quality of customer services that have been being provided by staff. And I really wanted to recognize Miss Amanda Hayes uh who has gotten several letters about how she has dealt with the public.
And so, uh, just want positive positive letters. Positive letters. And we're getting them routinely. We're getting a lot with the sanitation people recently, and we've gotten some with public works. So, uh, the training that uh, human
resources have uh, implemented with all of us. Uh, we're starting to see better results of uh, staff working together. Uh, all of us learning about sad hats. and uh she's not here either. So, but we have all learned a lot uh
recently over the past uh two months and I just wanted to bring that to the attention of the commissioners that we are following the recommendations that you provide to us. Thank you. Thank you. Um on to City of Palaka financial report for the seven months ended April 30th,
2025. Mr. Peter, good evening Mayor, good evening commissioners. Again uh this is quick uh report the financial statements for revenue and expenditures for the um general enterprise funds um as as of
April 30th it's 7 months you enlarge that please can you make it bigger? Yeah. As of April 30th 7 months has passed. So it's 58% of the um years 58% is of year past
and uh of an annual budget of 77,78,000. Uh we have u materialized uh uh 24 million in actual revenues and 21 million 24 million actual revenues and
21 million actual expenditures which is 31% of budgeted uh revenues and 27% of budgeted expenditures. Um next I'm going to go quickly through the um general fund. out of budgeted 23 million, we
materialized 11 million of revenues and when it comes to expenditures, we budgeted 23 million and we materialized 9.9 million. Um, next I'll go to back to the first and go back to the back. Yeah, the
airport fund uh budget is almost 5 million. We materials and revenues 1.5 million and uh and expenditures 1.2 two which uh brings net income of $320,000. Um ARPA funds budgeted and
actuals revenues is $266 money we recognize revenues when we have an expenditure so there's no debt income. Uh golf course um 175,000 budgeted in revenues and
expenditures 68,000 in revenues recognized and 58 uh in expenditures recognized which is $10,000 as net income. The only budget uh budgeted uh fund is better place fund
that is operating in negative which is kind of explainable because uh we expanded and we get the grant money to recognize revenue or funded from the different funds. So in better place fund
from 14.9 million budgeted we in revenues we moneterialize 1 million and uh in revenues and 1.3 million in expenditures which is negative 220,000. Next goes um let's go to
sanitation fund which is 4 million budgeted in revenues 2.1 million in in revenues recognized and of course uh expenditures 4 million budgeted 1.6 6 revenue recognized in expenditures which
gives us net income of4 $434,000. Uh utility fund um budgeted revenues 26 millions. We brought in 6.8 million in revenues.
Um we recognized 6.3 million in expenditures which is $431,000 in net income tax increment fund. um budget at 2.1 million. Um we brought in
90031,000 in revenues and uh we have a recognized 165,000 in expenditure which brings us to 700,000 in net income. Next um page gives you a breakdown of the
actual uh year-to- date general fund revenues. Um as you can see property taxes and special assessment are majority of the revenues that came in which is about five six million and of contribution reimbursement from other
funds about 1.1 million which brings us to 11 million totals. Next page shows you the actual Saturday city revenues from general fund, better place, harpa airport, t sanitation,
uh water and waste water as well as golf which total revenues like I said in the beginning is 24 million. Uh the next page shows you the actual year of the date citywide expenditures by
fund general fund better place are by airport utility golf course sanitation tape which is total to 21 million. Um, next page. This these shows are our fund
balances. Uh, and you know, we budgeted 77 million plus 15 million in fund balances which brings about 92 million total. If you have any uh questions because the
next ones are showing the line by line item detail item for governmental funds which is general fund tax increment better place in AR funds. Those are line line item by line item item comparison with actual to the budgeted
uh results and also we have um enterprise funds which is combined with utility sanitation airport and golf course. So I don't know if you had a chance to review those reports and have I did but I think commissioner Davis
does have a question for yeah actually a comment. Thank you for the detailed reports recommendation going forward with presenting the financials and in your report your project analysis I think provides us
what we need to know and I do like getting the detailed reports but if you would present that project analysis because at the end of the day and I let um the other commissioners give their feedback as well that's really what we
need to know. Sure. I need to know that this $77 million budget that we've actualized 31% of this budget and 25 but we spent 27%. Which means that's positive. Yeah. And I also just need to
know that the revenues exceeded the expenditure by the $2.9 million which is 12% of gross revenues and that the um better place fund um is an exception to that because we
spent more city funds than the funds. Right? Just the recommendation. That's really what we need to know. You can provide us the details and we review it. we have specific questions. I think that would be more helpful. Thank you for your commentation. I think
it would be more useful for the people in the community as well audience and can I add one thing please finance uh can you also explain uh the impact on this city if we did not receive the
safarmor revenues of course and I'd like that to be understood because we are in a position right now where the state of Florida is considering eliminating the aorum revenue revenues. What would be the impact on our budget, please? Um, as
I pointed out when I was talking about general fund revenues that uh we bring $3.7 million in advorum taxes roughly during the year and of course I mentioned that regarding the special assessment which is basically fire
assessments or if we reduce one or another that would cause the pressure on other revenue sources that we don't know where to come up You know if we lose advalorum revenues for special assessment like for fire assessment you
know we have to maintain two big departments which is fire and police of course which is major departments in the city. So that those are the main factors that would cause us hardship if we lose any of those. Yes. And we still have to balance the
budget pretty hard. We are strategizing. So, so what I hear you're saying is that the state of Florida is continuing I mean considering discontinuing advalorum taxes and if we do not get if that's
passes we are at risk of losing $3.7 million and we still have to balance our budget. Okay. I just wanted to summarize also um sounds like for these budget meetings we need to go ahead and look at starting some decreases to prepare.
Well, when we did it, I I had the direction from city manager to, you know, when the departments bringing requests, so you know, regular requests and then 10 or 5% reduced requests, you know, so we're I'm following the direction from a city manager and
requesting department heads to like think about it before they request and it will also impact the CRA because the TIF dollars ultimately come from Ad Valorio as well. Exactly. So, I just wanted us I know that we're not yet in budgeting, but I do want us to be aware
of the impact of legislation on our budget and I want you to understand that we've realized 3.7 million. However, the budget amount I think was 4.3 million. So, uh we would stand to lose not just 3.7 really, but at least 4.3 million.
Did you have something, Commissioner Jones? I'm sorry. Okay. So, we we can't afford this. So it's a it's a good time to uh start looking at inefficiencies be our own doge. Correct. Absolutely.
Yes. Thank you. We'll consider that as we move forward and prepare for these budget workers, commissioner. And uh as always if if you can also include the um the um
not the interest rating but the the reverse you know that's the key key thing to kind of help us understand if we have we're getting ready to move into storm season. Okay Karen can you can you
move back couple bites? I think reserves are included here. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. reserves, right? But yeah, a little bit more when we get when we get the reports. I think what Commissioner Davis is asking for is
like an executive an executive summary report for the commissioners being so see all of the overall the things that we need to help run the city better from a Sure.
Noted. I will I will try to do appreciate the report change a little bit. Thank you. It was very it's very helpful information. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. With that, I'm going to open the floor to public comments. This is u general comments of items not specifically on the agenda.
Your time is 3 minutes. Please limit your question. Three minutes and be respectful. I do have a Mr. Mson. Robson. I live in East Palaca. Rob Matson. I live in East Palaca. Wow. Okay. Um I'm here in regards to the um
occupation of Palaca, Civil War Living History that we're planning now for uh September of this year. When the event began in 2011, one of our regular participants was um a cannon crew would come down from Fort Clinch State Park in
Fernandina with a with an artillery piece and and it was really popular. They'd do firing demonstrations on Friday and Saturday. Um about 2016 2017 that stopped. They got a new manager at the park who said no, he didn't think it
was a good use of of park personnel. They were very a very popular feature of of our event. Since then, it's been pretty much hit or miss for us to try to get a cannon. I've tried to attract, you know, some of the other groups I know. Some years they can make it, some years
they can't. Two months ago, I was contacted by um some friends and colleagues who who either work at or volunteer at Fort Clinch Park. And there's a new manager and he is now amanable to sending a crew down. But the way that works is the way it worked
historically and the way it would work now is they need an invitation from the city. I don't quite know what it is, but evidently if a government agency requests them to come down, they can do it. If Putnham County Historical Society would do it request, they'd say no, we
can't. So, it's evidently a governmenttogoment kind of thing. been working with Eddie and his staff and um he's asked that I appear before you just to ask how can we make that happen? We need a request to Fort Clint State Park from the city uh to inviting them to
send an artillery crew down for our occupation of Palaca. This would be for Friday the 26th of September school day and Saturday the 27th for the general public day. We don't make noise on Sunday out of respect for the churches
and all. So, we just have a little more low-key event on Sunday. That's it. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Manson. And I guess it would be a matter of drafting the letter. Yes, ma'am. This commission board approves it and that will be that.
I'll make sure that we follow up. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anybody else here for public comments? Saying no, we'll close public comments. Um, that was the staff
response and commission response to that. So, we don't have to go for um consent agenda. We've had request item. Yeah. Is there any items to report from the consent? Okay, I'll be in anybody. So many items we have today.
Yeah. Okay. I can address a Well, well, we need to Yes. I was waiting for Commissioner Davis. I'm still looking. I'd like Okay, now we do need a motion. I'd like to make a motion that we approve all the items with the exception
of A and B. We have a motion. Second. All in favor? I. Any opposition? Thank you. Item A, grant of easement 801 St. John Avenue. Sure. This is a request for a perpetual
easement and uh Lorenzo can also speak to this for 132 square feet along um 8 Street, Southeast Street to assist with the flag's desire to have
on what we're talking about here. Yes. It's a sliver that extends from St. Are you appraisal for That's there's a sidewalk next to that building. There is a there is a sidewalk, but it's it's actually for the
roof line canopy to extend over it. Not anything else really. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Yeah. Can you point again? Yeah, during the construction um in the process of the approval and construction of this project, it was discovered that
uh the property actually was encroaching to the rightway from the time of the uh when it was a gas station. It was just like before. So uh the the the owner of the project had the option of modifying
their site plan so the overhead will not encroach into into the property of the city and the other option was to get an easement and that's the process that they went through and if they modified it the building would have not been
symmetrical. Is that correct or kind of odd? It would have changed the whole project. The whole Yeah. Okay. So, this is very minimal, you know, it's like three feet on the the on the wider side and it's just the aial part, you know, that would be encroaching, not the
sidewalk, it's the overhang, just the overhang above. Does any further questions for Mr. I just want to make sure I understand. So, they're seeking a perpetual easement for that property. It also says they're
also seeking airspace to accommodate the two different requests, the easement and the hangover. So the the dirt easement does include airspace, but they are clarifying that
in the language. Okay. Okay. Commissioner Bar, do you have any specific questions about this or any questions specific? Any questions I should say? That clarify commissioner John I'm going to open it up to public
comment. Miss Kitchen has submit a comment. Miss Kitchen. Allelu Kitchens Pala, Florida. Uh yes, I have a major concern which I will state in a minute and then I have a minor concern. Uh from a title standpoint, the city is deeding them the airspace. The legal question, the title question is,
does the city actually own the airspace rights above the street? Number one, of course, a quick claim deed, and this the grant of easement doesn't say, I don't think it says it's a quick claim deed. But if you do a quick claim deed and you don't have any interest in the property, you can still quit claim it basically. But if the city doesn't own the airspace
already, have the rights of the airspace above the street, then they them giving it to this this these people aren't going to that's not going to do anything is what I'm trying to say. The other thing is this specifically says it's part of the street. Not the sidewalk or the street. The street is public city property. If you stop the use of the
street by the public, then you have to have a public hearing. So the question is, does this easement prohibit me from going down that two that two feet is a street? If it does, then it has to be a public hearing because you've prohibited my right to to cross a public street. The other thing, and this is the most
important, you need to table this until they come back with a good legal description. There is a massive error in the legal description on uh on exhibit A. This property lies in block 63 of the Palaca blocks in the city of Palaca. The
legal description specifically puts this in block 68. Block 68 is on the north side of Reed Street between 9inth Reed and 10th and Main Street. So, this legal description needs to be corrected on this this easement before the city
accepts it. So, I request you table this, have them come back with a uh an easement with a good legal description on it, and then you consider it. But I do have the question about the airspace. Does this have is it been a title search done showing the city actually has airspace rights in the first place? And
of course, the other question is if a truck drives down the street and it hits the side of that canopy and runs over that that airspace on that easement, who's liable? City or or Palata RT G LLC? and the fact that the previous
canopy held extended over the street. This one should not extend over the street either. Cementry be done. Who cares? Knock that couple of feet off. Don't let it extend over this the street. So, yes, I have concerns, but the main thing is the error in the legal description that must be corrected and I
request you table this next meeting or until they get a corrected grant easement for you. Thank you. Thank you. Have any for public comment? Okay. Say no post public comment. So with that okay again the the dirt ement and it's
not cleaning it's an ement the dirt includes the air of your your dirt on your houses includes the air above the house um it does not work that the table
Okay. Okay. Who wants to make a motion to table? I move to table um this item until we get the um description corrected. Second motion. Second. All in favor? I any
fitment? Thank you. adopt resolution 2025 R719 20250 file street runway improvements to GPS civil construction inc as the lowest responsive and responsible available in the amount of
524 city funds part of the sound resurfacing program I'll have project manager and public arts Mr. Brown, please. Thank you so much. Good evening. Um, yes, as part of the North High resurfacing program, the 2.4
million, we have been calling it like that. Um, as as part of this project, um, Oak Street was included. Um, we said up we need the commissioners agree on moving forward with Oak Street. So, we need to do like a separate bidding process for Oak Street, different from what's going on right now on North Cyber
Resurfacing program that's doing well right now. So we did the bids and we sent out the bids and we open the bids. We received like six to seven bids and we are I'm recommendating of award the lowest bidder. Also we have an engineering team working on that that works on that design was NV5 that was
approved by the commissioners before. So NB5 is the engineering records. Um they were here in the bits opening and the recommendation of award of the lowest bidder in this project and we're just bringing that out to you. I had a question. So this old street
project it's going from 18th and oak to where column it's going to 15 to 17. This is 15th and 17th old street 15 to 17. Yes. And that's half a million dollar price. And that's the most short.
That's Yeah, that's a lot of money that area. And another question I have is when I looked at the resurfacing project that we're doing on the north side. Um, you know, some of the some of the work that I saw the lowest bidder had a
had an issue because we we give the proposal to the lowest bidder. I think it was a gap. I talked to I think Joe about this. Um, it was a gap. The lowest bidder actually
was like two times lower than the next bidder. And I the question was the quality of work is what I had. We and we saw it on uh what was proposed at our last meeting. I wasn't prepared to ask a question. So I was going to ask it I
answer it to him offline but come back to me here with this project being a shorter scope project in the world cost way more than I would expect to. And with this being the lowest but at
half a million dollars, help me understand. Yes, there are different scope of work because in the north side we're justing and resurfacing, right? So in here it's also includes like the the sidewalks is going to include like the drainage and all that. So all that is included. It's not just milling and resurfacing. I don't know if I'm missing
anything else, Joe, but it's included not just like million resurfacing. It's not that. So that's why. So follow up making sure we're getting the bang for our buck. uh city manager and I took a ride out after we got called from citizen. There
was a video of commission initially initially um and they were showing us the quality of work which was part of Joe um and I was pleased this pleasure tremendously um because it's it feels
this feels as if being placed in work Now, yes, on this commissioner's um I want to say we we we want the same
type of work being done throughout the city. We don't want to set the screen on this. Some of them load to get the job and then when they come back, they have to come back redo the work or when they get there, they go, "Hey, it's more
detailed thought." Um just to get the job. We want to make sure that we're really think I want to see this this project open street because that is a lot of money on four three or four blocks and we that's a third of the money that we
spending on the entire also the engineering estimate for the project was around that price was around $500,000. The engineer estimate the engineering firm that did the design they estimated it was about to be the price for that project to be honest. So, and again, it's not only included like the streets, it's also going to
construct the sidewalks, the drainage improvement and all that stuff. So, so, so, so and you know, you you're a subject matter expert. That's why I'm seeing this form. So, that that attention to detail is not being done that we need to be on the recurring
project. that takes into the curb, the drainage and things of that nature because what we what we did see is the soil lines were above the road lines and it wasn't symmetrical and then you go into the
curve the pavement actually narrows from like one and a half inches to nearly a half inch. Yes. On the north side resurfacing I was talking to you last week when they're fixing that part, but it does not include a drainage improvement and all that stuff. We just million reservicing the north side what
we're doing right now. That's the difference that was we were sent out on the on the bid was just million reservicing. That's that's why that's the difference. But they're repairing what commissioners they're working on that they want to work on that that kind of work, right?
But they're they're they're going back and repairing it. Yes. Yes. Public works here and can address that more succinctly if you may. Absolutely. And so so that they can understand that this is two different items. Absolutely. Two incredibly different. I understand that.
We do understand that. We understand that. I just wanted to bring it out that sir the expectations when quality of work we want to see the same quality of work. Correct. That is correct sir. We do too as well. So let me ask you this. Um, sure.
Cuz I didn't really get feedback when we went out cuz I'm specifically on North uh 10th 9th Street. Yes. At a church. Yeah. Yes. Because that was the those people uh Sure. complaining. So what was what took place there? You Okay. So that
what takes place in that particular intersection is almost two years of patches um over time. Um we have um some sewer systems that have since been lined. So we stopped the problem but we had to get uh through there to line the storm water system and to line the
wastewater system. So those have been completed. So the patches you're seeing there were a result of coming out and patching it quickly to make sure we don't have any accidents. Few months later coming out patching another one you know a year later coming back for another one. Um so it's it's difficult
because the plan was always to try to get patch that whole intersection. So, uh, the current company that we're using now to do the north side, uh, has just agreed to go over there. He milled it and he's going to do that whole intersection for us at no additional cost. Um, and that's not part of his
list. So, they they are a very good company and we expect zero change orders from what we're doing. So, to delineate the difference between what we're doing here and what we're doing over in Oak Street, they're doing the entire storm water system for those three blocks in ground. All the vertical infrastructure
has been taken care of by the city. We are done. we're prepared for the work, but they're also doing the curbing is going to be renewed. Um, and the sidewalks as well. So, there is a a quite a difference in the scope of work, sir. Yeah. And the money too. Yes, sir. Of course. That's what happened. Gotcha.
So, when are we going to is that going to be our next phase? Um, curves and drainage throughout. Well, we we have uh different things that we'll be going into. We have a co sidewalk plan which is to replace all the sidewalks in the city which will also include part of the
curbs. We have a raise grant for the north side which is coming up that uh includes the raising the platform at the train tracks which also includes railway crossings for uh pedestrians which also include roadways on like North 13th and Eagle and all that in there. It's going to be repaved and recurved as well. So
we have projects in the works. We have since put out the second round of where we're going to mill and fill is the term incidentally for what we're doing now, which is very bare basics. It's it's that's getting and going. Um, but doing a fairly decent job. There's some areas
that are old brick roads where the asphalt on top of it is under a half inch and there's really nothing we can do about that other than just come back thicker. So, um, yeah, we have plans. We're we're moving forward, sir. Right. And we have
such a variety of funding sources and implementation and we're working with our uh engineers very very closely. Uh even going back to granters and saying hey you said 20,000 linear mills. Okay.
We just want to be certain that we get this done in compliance with the specifications that you have detailed in the various grant applications or agreements. So we are doing a lot of due diligence, lots of meetings, lots of
front work so that when we are out there working, we know that we're already compliant. And so that that's specifically uh what you're hearing from both public works and projects. And we're addressing safety issues as well. Um big thing for me is railroad tracks.
We have sidewalks coming right up to the railroad tracks and you just walk right over. there's nothing to stop like a pedestrian that's coming and and and you know through the whole north side it's every one of those roads it's like wait a minute how so that's all coming to so we're pretty excited about some of the changes and the road grants are going to
handle right up to the tracks in certain areas so they'll get repaved because we know that's some of the rougher areas through there so that's all in the very near future this isn't something we're talking about u happening it's happening now we just get moving on it so exactly all right thank you thank you anybody
else have any questions I just don't want to thank them for all the, you know, the work that they're doing throughout the city and um thank you guys for what you do every day. Thank you. We appreciate it. Is there anybody here for public comments? Oh, sorry. Go ahead. I would like to address something else. I know when we work with grants, Joe was saying like, "Okay, we're moving
forward. Maybe next commissioners meeting you're asking like, "Hey, where we at? We're working with grants. We need to be patient." I mean, we're in design phase. You know, design phase take a lot of times. We need to get permits, all that stuff. Then send that back to the granter. Sometime they take a while to reply back like okay you need
to fix this on the design so it needs to go back to the engineering fix this fix that okay send that back okay we agree all that so you know thank you thank thank you um oh go ahead you have something no comments I was
going to make a motion I was just going to ask if uh any public comment on this item seeing none close public comment we have a motion to approve uh motion to approve second we have a motion to second all in favor Thank you. Do we want to play
recessive request? We we were to go back if I may address it quickly uh to make certain changes in the policy as it was presented in the last commission meeting and we have done that uh
specifically uh it was regarding the uh your number right religious organizations organizations. So we added a clause eligibility criteria to reflect what the commissioners asked for last meeting.
No opportunity to read it. And does anybody have any questions? Do we have a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Second. A motion to second. All in favor? I. Any opposition? Thank you. Discuss direction.
Yes. Mr. um public works can come up pretty busy that um so we've got three quotes for three different types of equipment. Um it's a very difficult
decision. I I absolutely need some direction. Um I personally wonder you know we have employees or so when I was talking to some employees and what they show the same stuff they would
like. So I'm a big part I would love to have some direction and it be quick moving from here once we get approval from committ um does anybody have any questions on any of these
I just want to confirm what I see I don't see any wood no amen that's exactly correct is there any any ability ility um for accessibility in the future or is there any appropriate now for what was we we budgeted last year to
replace this equipment? We can't do all the equipment in the park. However, with all three of the companies that chose to give us quotes came up with comprehensive plan for what we can do. Okay, that's what I'm asking. There is a plan. So the thing you pick or choose or
feel comfortable with is going to be the theme and we have some great ideas and I would love to present let's call phase two for the conversation but not really but for the future I'd love to show you some things and they all have ideas of how to move forward. This is currently
going to replace four pieces of equipment which also has the department of course. Um a couple bouncing things and a climbing uh situation with the slide as you know
slide down off the hill. It's it's it's incredibly not great. We need to do away with that. We're going to do away with that. Clean up the hill. But as you'll notice the climbing things which just happened a little slides on them. So that was one of the requirements as well. So they have all the elements that
were earlier. Zipline Spain. Love the zipline. Everybody does. It's huge attraction. So that's not going anywhere regardless of what we do. Um, of course. Um, but it's colorful. It's that good attraction. That was one requirement. I
asked them to give some modern mixed in with some uh, you know, some colors. Um, also some bland stuff as well. So we have a multitude of colors. I think you guys a design we can then again maybe
represent or discuss a color scheme. How about the soft landing area? What do we have for landing? So currently we use a playground grade mulch. It doesn't splinter. It doesn't uh cause splinters on children and it's
compact like walking on sponge. Um we currently have here it's a different grade. It's actually designed and approved by the government for Now question that came up. Say that one more time please. That is next to that area. So that area only go
to the that to the to the playground, right? Yes sir. That is not a part of that part of that agreement. Did you you quote you guys quote a few minutes ago? You said they managed the
riverfront park. I said they managed but I didn't I guess I should have been more specific. We really need to have that clarified so we wouldn't know before that need because I know because of what was said. I want to
know. So that was me that sent. Well, so can we have that clarified legal? Um, sure. I would like I would like to see that. I can get you a copy of the entire contract. Right. Thank you. But back to the playground equipment.
We just we just let that rest if they're going to get us the what the city and what the city has and what people have. So, we'll get to go ahead. Um Joe, you mentioned you said you had uh you were leaning towards something. Would you
give us your recommends? Thank you for asking. That's that's great. And like I said, I I had my own family. My boys are all, you know, in their 20s and 30s and so I ask people, young children, people who live in the city who work for the city, what would you do? Would you want to come? Um and the playtime uh one
would be the one with the slide and everything. That's this is Okay. So, it was Yeah, that's the that's the look. Yeah, because it was presented previously, but it didn't get bit get
put back in this one. Okay. It's called that. There was three I sent over. Yeah, but only two are in here. Yeah, that's safe for
playing. We want the playtime one. Yeah. And and what was the cost of that playtime one? Remember? Uh 103. Yeah. Oh, no, no, no. I'm sorry. That was 83.
Okay. So, it's not the least expensive. Oh, it's not sitting there. I know you, you know, we we we were out sick for a moment. So perhaps um so at this point we can
unfortunately have to bring it back again with the That seems a shame that people have really been concerned about the equipment and I'm going go Yeah. Did we Did we have it pretty special meeting next week? Oh, let's just bring it. Well, let's just add playground to
it. Why not? Actually, I appreciate Oh my god. That's okay. Don't worry. No worry. Okay. So, I'll add playground to the special meeting. Yeah, we'll just add it. Yeah, we'll just need you. We appreciate it. Notice it over to me.
You need to update the notice. Right. Thank you. Thank you. Um and to proceed for acceptance of the C annual financial audit FY 20232. And also before finance director starts I just want you to know that this is an
improvement compared to prior years that we're actually seeing this in May. Thank you very much. This is going to be the last item for me tonight. So bear with me. So part of the audit who our auditors HCD and certified
public accountants and consultants the auditing CRA and u they uh they prepared the audit for our uh community development agency which is in a draft form we agreed with it there's no findings there's a clean opinion and
modified opinion that they presented for Siri this is component of our main uh city audit So this is one part of it. Okay. Um I don't know if you remember last time was uh golf course. They didn't prepare financial report for golf
course. We just had agreed to loan procedures to look at the if revenues correctly reported to the city. But this is final report for the I mean draft report for the C. So with no no findings, no material weakness, no any
findings on this. Okay. So I would like to see review it and maybe approve it. Okay. Thank you. Yeah. Um first of all, good. This is great
news. I move that we approve the um annual financial I'm sorry. Am I the right thing? Yes. The annual financial report. We have presented as we have a motion. We have a
motion to second. All in favor? I. Any objection? Thank you. By the way, last week they the auditors give us the um PG PGA also report but it was late and then we couldn't agree with the we couldn't
communicate with PGA yet and we couldn't put it on on time but it's there already. That's another component unit of uh city financials. So we'll bring it next time. We probably will bring it talk over the court in June unless
unless you want to put in special meeting. No, it'll be in June. Thank you. Oh my god. Good night, Commissioner. Thank you. Thank you. Going on to public
hearings. The ordinance 202511 reversion companies in compliance with Florida stat 205 20 right. So you don't have to read it again because you read it to the first. Is there anybody here for public
comment? Public comment. Do we have a motion? I move that we adopt ordinance 2025-11. Second. There a motion to second. All in favor? I. Any opposition? Thank you.
Commissioner David, I'm going to make this brief because I'm going to talk about the Girl Scouts who are going to stomp Paca. So, June 7th, 2025, 2:30 to 4:00 p.m., we are having a um Girl Scout
meet and greet activity today. But what I really want to share is a note that we received today from a for three children recruitment manager from the green council who received a superior school to cover the full cost of every adult
first year membership and their daughter's membership when committed to co-leading a single grade level trip from September 25 through October 2026. So that is no financial responsibility
to anyone who agrees to co-lead and if that co-leader needs a daughter the daughter does not financial or membership in addition free monthly girls experienced
kids from K through seven with scripts and everything so full support. So, I'm doing the full press for it. I'm just going to church. I'm going to go to sorities and any other civic
organization in the city who may potentially leaders so that we can um get these girls for Thank you, Commissioner Bor. All right. Well, I I took the liberty to uh go
about the city. We've seen a number of the different buckets throughout the city and that uh each bucket represent an individual. It represent an individual and we're trying to do everything we can to help meet those
needs. And um we can't keep ignoring it because the buggies not only um represent those people but they leave these buggies in different places and also in a um blight. And so I picked up six
buggies. That's why they were on track. Yes. N Yeah. Ninth and Maine. Ninth and Maine. Uh Well Street. Uh Powell Street. Um and also base and uh and there's a couple uh on north
north main and north street with public work and said he gave me the blessings to dump going to take him to the to the landfill and u so he just told me I can
just dump him off down in the um I've been doing that. But I think as a community we need to continue to do whatever we can do that is making on the board as well as meet on the 14th.
They had a number of different things that talked about different things. So Mr. kind of covered some of those things but as part of that they talked about some things about BC3 was there
and they talked about various things steps that she can take in order to help improve their cyber security posture. And so I'll be passing that something you guys can make and also make a comment and give to
um commission security protect and professional. Thank you Commissioner Jones. Yeah. Um this is concerning the city manager's uh evaluation process. At our last meeting,
Commissioner Davis mentioned that um that was completed. But I wanted to bring up point of clarity that um the city only been solely city
manager since we have written down. So will it will the question is would it be fair to actually evaluate her solely on the city's
responsibil that's the only way I think it can be done I think we all respond thank you I I did not consider that Um I I thought I reached out and I don't know the exact
date. I did ask the city manager and um at the end of the day what I did was I sent an email to the um manager for clarification and direction for us. But that's a good point because we do only need to review
from the point that you are 15% student right hold you accountable I'm sorry no so that we'll be able to hold her accountable and and evaluate focus yeah the focus point and too I think we need just need to um
be clear on you know we can't evaluate on anything until we have some agreement between the city manager and the commission to to because you now have an agreement that within the within the scope of work that need to be delivered
and moving forward I think yeah I agreed agreed and I do know that we approve the goals and the evaluation criter as a commission. So I think I was
assuming that's what we're going to use. That's what I thought too. That was my assumption. Well, we but I think we have to have a I guess a clear plan with the city manager knowing that okay, well, hey, at this point in time, we need we
got these timelines and or whatever that we need to we need to meet these particular milestones or whatever. I think that's what we need to be clear on as opposed to we've just approved a
blanket thing and but it's not just not sure and follow because there's the job description, right? And then we set the goals that she has to accomplish and those are the items that we that we review on her own and the criteria which
relate to those goals that we approved. Oh, we need to go back and look. No, no, no. I need to go back and look at because I think it addresses what you're saying. I think so, too. So, let's Yeah, we all need to talk to each other. I did. That's right. And I sent an email
today to HR asking for the process the to the official approved document and the um committee to ask to proceed to do it. I'm sorry to
extend hopefully mention because of technical difficulty the days we couldn't respond official. Okay. And my last comment, I know we're trying to do some process improvements, but uh
the technical difficulties, they seem to mount up. Um, can we get some technical people to tell me and kind of like get us back? Can I say anything? You can. Okay, go ahead. I can. Yes. Okay. Uh, so the issue that's
going on now is independent of the um our system. It's u external to our system. The problem is based upon uh the cyber I mean fiber provider um that the internet service is based
upon with Comcast. The fiber provider is southern I forgot but they have a major issue with their fiber. They're uh it's affecting the entire city. We did today actually have the experts here from 3:30
uh looking at our system making sure that our system individually is perfected. They were here. However, we by us not having reliable internet. That's that's the only thing you see. So it's not us now anymore. We are finally
at a level of perfection. Yeah. I'm tired of speaking more on when we speak with people. I don't know what it seemed like that like when we talking this is it was getting a lot of reverb back and that comes from all of these mics. So I
don't know what mean Miss Kitchen was it it's horrible and it's been bad. Let's not ask last meeting it had improved significantly and I got positive feedback from people from the last
meeting tomorrow or today that improved. Yeah. Well, anyway, no matter what we will continue to work on and we will bring the experts and the uh I don't know I can't remember uh Karen you know the name of the company. It's
say anything at all to further clarify. Yes, it's Ryan from OKO um electric um and they're doing all of our the our systems. Each time he we have a meeting, he actually listens to it and he comes in and adjusts. Today they were here at
3:30 and they were going to stay completely through the meeting. However, we didn't have we don't have um internet, so they couldn't jump in and do anything. So, what they left us with is old school drawing. Um, and I have no
idea how to work the mines because it's all in that in that cabinet. However, they said that they would be back. I have my taken and making sure that everything that I experiencing on this
side is going to be told and I was experiencing the benefit like you were saying. So, They will come back and they will be back before our next meeting starts to next
week jumping and figuring out what's happening what is transpired and we have or what day what is we've had trouble downtown businesses there.
I have a question. Um, one more followup. Um, this is a request. Um, and I'm following up from a comment Commissioner Boru made. Is can we check the timer, the physical timer that we can set for speakers and
presenters? You know how you can see three minutes there versus doing the manual tracking. And I think it's on the same thing. Um I because I'm going to look at other commission meetings. I see it. So if you want to reference that I think that would help our speakers
understand. Yes. When the time is prompted. Correct. Thank you. And then our city clerk says I have to do one more thing. Yeah. I just a couple of things. I did go to the um groundbreaking. They're
expanding their facility on Moto and so they folks are very excited about all their services um growing and providing more for folks with special needs and we all know this is blue crab weekend.
So, and then as soon as it's over, we need to talk about the next but it is here. We have a motion to adjurnn.