Are you recording? >> Yes, sir. >> Good to go. Okay. Thank you. >> Good evening, everybody. If I could u ask all of you to please stand for the invocation. >> Oh Lord, help us to keep our citizens
and in our first responders out of harm's way this year. bless our council that we make the right decisions over the year. I ask you all in this name. Amen. >> Amen.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. >> Is that in the room? the man that was
going to come up here. I'm an angry man. >> No, >> we don't have an angry person today. >> Chief, before we get started, I'm glad you're here. We were the
potential of an angry person could happen tonight. I don't know. We thought he might already be here, but he he called up and threatened some of the employees. So, uh u if he should show up
um give him his due diligence and then do what you have to do. >> Okay. >> Thank you, Chief. Okay, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to get started. Uh would you call the role, please, clerk? Madam clerk, >> Miss Barrow, >> here. >> Miss Bterford here.
>> Mr. Chapel, >> here. >> Mr. Haney here. >> Mayor Kelly, >> yes, I'm here. Thank you. Is it at this time? Is there anybody in the audience that would like to come to the podium and talk about anything that's not on the agenda today?
Okay. All right. Sounds good. There is no regular um uh agenda to be read into the record because we're having a couple of employees short over the holidays. We're unable to get the load knocked out as fast as we wanted to, but it will be
on the agenda for the next meeting, which by the way, I will be out of state when that happens. So, uh, Miss Barrow will be leading the city's, uh, council that night. Um, item one is, uh, application for a lot, and I apologize,
I can't pronounce your last name. >> How are you? >> Good. You came to see us two weeks ago. >> That's right. Correct. >> Okay. >> Um, did you get a chance to go through all the necessary documentation? >> Yes. >> That you needed. >> Yes. >> Do you now have all that documentation?
>> Actually, should be copies. I'm just That's okay. She told me you did. I wanted to hear from you. So, you're ready now to move forward with your project. >> Correct. >> Okay. Sounds good. council, you should be aware that in your package uh two
weeks ago, it was shown to you and in a smaller version today what he's trying to do with his land. There was a couple of it was approved by the planning council contingent upon four or five things that needed to be taken care of
that should have been done before I came before you two weeks ago, but since then uh it's been resolved and taken care of and he's here and he's asking for a lot split at um
121 Black Shear Drive. I make a motion that we allow them to split the lot. >> We have a motion to split and a second. Madame clerk, will you please call the role? >> Miss Barrow? >> Yes. >> Miss Bterford? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chapel? >> Yes. >> Mr. Haney? >> Yes.
>> Mayor Kelly? >> Absolutely. Have a good evening, sir. Thanks for coming back. >> Amazing how when you get all that paperwork right, it just flies right on through. Take care. Um, the last and second item for tonight is uh 457
Sunset Drive and uh Shoreline Construction Permit. Are those folks here? >> Would you come to the podium, please? >> How are you? >> Good. Good. >> Excellent. I seen your plans. >> Thank you. >> Council, have you had a chance to look
at what he's asking for? It has been approved by the by the state and uh he just needs our blessing so he can build his seaw wall. >> I just want a clarification on what your name is. >> It's Jose Morales. Um I own Summit
Marine Development. >> I think you mean the name on the application. >> Yes. >> Because it's Timothy Michael and Timothy Thompson. There's two different names. Okay. I'm just trying to get because on this one it says Timothy Michael. They
got Michael on just Michael here but over here it's got Timothy Thompson. So I'm just trying to get us there. >> And who is he? Ma'am, >> who's the owner? >> One of the owners. >> Oh, it's a family. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. You got Timothy Thompson and
Timothy Michael. Okay. >> Okay. >> I got confused also at at the beginning. >> I understand. >> I'll make a motion. >> Good job. We have a motion on the floor, ladies and gentlemen. >> I'll second. >> We have a second. We call the role,
please. >> Miss Barrow? >> Yes. >> Miss Bford? >> Yes. >> Mr. Chapel? >> Yes. >> Mr. Haney? >> Yes. >> Mayor Kelly? >> Absolutely. Yes. Build a nice one. >> I guess there is such a thing as a nice seaw wall. >> All right. Sounds good. Mr. Chapel, do
you have anything for the council? >> Yes, I got a couple things. Uh, first off, the u pig roast this year won't be until March, and we're not going to do a pig. We're going to do spare ribs, barbecue spare ribs. I don't have a firm
date yet, but uh it will come out on your water bill uh for when we're going to have it, but u right now it looks like sometime in March. And uh it be a covered dish type affair
where um we'll supply the meat and the baked potato and uh whatever anybody else wants to bring. It's open to the uh Parker citizens. I'd like to try to get some kind of a head count because I we
>> This is going to be like last year basically, right? >> We had 77 people show up. It >> was very good. It was really good >> for the pig rose. So, uh, but anyway, it'll be sometime in March. The other thing is is the, uh, uh, community yard
sale will start in the second week of February and it will go until November. So, uh, you got anything that you want to get rid of or so, um, bring them down to the pavilion. Uh we start at 8:00 and we go
until we've been closing up around noon but whatever whatever it takes. So >> do you take husbands? >> She wants to sell her husband. >> So anyway, that's the two things I had.
>> Okay. Is it that you just you have to come down there and do it or can you donate stuff to be get done to >> Yeah, you can donate uh the everything that I sell uh goes to buying trees and stuff like that for the park. >> Okay.
>> But u of course the other stuff and there's no charge for using the pavilion either. So it's anything you make you you can keep. just I when I sell stuff I just donate to the buying trees.
>> Well, I was just wondering if if I mean I don't want to go down there and do it but I don't have a problem donating. >> Yeah, I sell stuff she >> won't matter what you >> brother Hannie you're up
>> nothing >> nothing Mr. flow. >> No, sir. >> I I personally don't have nothing, but um Chief Higgins has got some comments he'd like to make to the city council >> and um he hasn't read these to me. I asked him not to because I wanted to get
it from his heart and so he's going to speak uh in my spot tonight. >> I'm going to I've got a series of deals that I'm going to read. Uh might take a little bit, so just bear with me. Um do what we got done already.
>> All right. So, good evening, council and citizens of Parker. For those that don't know, my name is Eric Higgins. I'm the fire chief uh for the Parker Volunteer Fire Department. I'm also the uh city of Parker's fire chief. I want to let that statements made here tonight are
representation of the volunteer fire chief and not those of the city. So, for those unaware, I have many hats that are within the city. It's been brought to my attention that there's been some defamation and wrong sayings about the Parker Volunteer Fire Department and its volunteers.
At the last council meeting, it was stated that a citizen was trespassed from the fire station. That statement is in fact true. She was in fact trespassed from the fire station. However, the individual in question came to the fire station more than one time. She stated
last meeting that she only came once. The individual parked both times in front of the bay doors, blocking the engine bays and disregarding the no parking signs and do not park in between signs, putting every citizen at risk. No apparatus bay in the United States is
open to the public to wander around. Nor are you ever allowed to park in front of the apparatus bays, blocking them from being able to respond to emergencies. She refused to move her vehicle until she was finished filming the truck that she claimed and argued with the firefighter that would not fit in the
fire station. After she was done taking pictures and asking questions with complete disregard when told to move her vehicle, only then did she move her vehicle and leave. We had an open house to the public to view the truck and the station and she did not attend there.
This was a reason for the open house to invite citizens in to view, take the all the pictures and ask all the questions they wanted about the fire truck. She took it upon herself and her own attentions to come to the fire station on her own time. There have also been numerous and false
accusations made over the last five months by this individual on social media along with her friends to try to discredit the fire department and make the volunteers look untrained and incapable of performing their volunteer duties. This is so very far from the truth and I will outline and address that here tonight. I will no longer
allow for my men and women to volunteer their lives to be defamed any longer. On August 27th of 2025, it is stated that the hotel and qu you have to bear with me because this is all quotations and then the answer to the
quotations. This is the topic is obviously the ladder truck that the city purchased. The hotel in question is planned Marriott Suite, a four-story structure slated for construction on Tindle Parkway. While the building's height exceeds and reaches extending groundbased equipment, the project
includes internal fire protection system designed to mitigate that that uh challenge. The Parker citizen is also wondering if mutual aid agreements with neighboring cities or obtaining grants were considered as alternatives to purchasing the ladder truck.
My answer to that is that regardless of the fire protection systems in a building, the fire department is still required to have proper equipment to put the fire out as the systems in buildings fail. If buildings could magically put out fire, no fire department would exist. Building fire protection systems
do not save occupants who are trapped on high-rise floors. The ISO criteria for a ladder company is the response area with five buildings that are three stories or 35 ft more in height or response with the five buildings that have a needed
fire flow greater than 3500 gallons per minute or any combination of these criteria. There are at least 21 buildings in Parker that meet that requirement and mutual aid does not guarantee that a truck is going to be available for Parker to use.
Eight takeaways from the Parker budget audio tape. Many public safety and infrastructure vehicles like firet trucks, police cars, and utility trucks qualify for grant funding through programs like FEMA assistant firefighter grants, USDA rural development grants, or even fire
department transportation initiatives. Grants could offset costs, reduce the burden on taxpayers, and free up local funds and other other priorities. Despite Lee being labeled a workshop, there was no meaningful opportunity for residents to hear from department heads
about their request or priorities. In most organization, this kind of discussion happens before is summarized or finalized, not after. The absence of public engagement means residents had no access to understand that what's needed and why and no chance to weigh in. That's not transparency.
This was on August 29th that they posted this. No one attended any of the budget workshops. They based their decision on a recording that they obtained on a foyer request. You are not able to speak if you don't attend the meetings. The AFG grant was not funded in 2025 and no
grant money from USDA was available for the fire truck. That was checked before we decided to purchase a ladder truck. Uh let's see here. On September 4th of 2025, they posted $1.5 million ladder truck to
nowhere. The Marriott Marriott's built-in fire safety again and mutual aid is already in place, stating that the city of Parker already had a mutual aid agreement with the city of Panama City. ISO does not base the ratings
um off mutual aid. It is determined off what the protecting fire department equipment training and response the water supply and the dispatch center was staffing or training schedule for operating the ladder truck considered by council members. The Parker citizen
could not find any accounting for these additional expenses. It is not the responsibility of the council to coordinate training schedules. It is my responsibility to coordinate training schedules. The Parker citizen made a public records request and the city of Parker responded
that it does not have an ISO evaluation or rating on file. So any claims about Parker's ISO classification or speculative until the city provides documentation. That's why we continue to seek verified information through public records requests and use Google searches
and yes, even tools like chat GPT to understand how major purchases like a $ 1.5 million ladder truck would impact fire services in the city's ISO rating. Given that Parker's mayor served as fire chief for 20 years, it would be reasonable and responsible for him to present a detailed public explanation of
the need, cost, and operational impact of buying a ladder truck. That kind of investment shouldn't be just slipped into a budget spreadsheet without community input or justification. The ISO rating for the Parker Fire Department is not a city document, nor do you receive it through a public records request from the city. It is an
insurance document that is given to the fire department for their progress to help progression of cheaper insurance rates for the city. Department has an ISO rating of four. You can ask your insurance company or you can ask me and I will give it to you the rating or you can contact the ISO itself for the
rating and a detailed report was provided to the mayor for the need of the ladder truck. Uh September 4th mutual aid agreements have been aren't heavily weighted. So we've just uh kind of justified that in
their own saying but ISO does access how quickly backup resources can arrive. So yes, response time and readiness matter and from our internet research shows that water pressure and fire hydrants are important factors too. Citizens asking questions about infrastructure, fire safety, and budget priorities
aren't risking lives. Uh the ISO does not assess how quickly backup arrives. The fire department does not use backup. We use mutual aid and mutual aid does not account for points towards ISO.
The city plans to replace its aging 23-year-old fire engine with a new 1.5 million ladder truck capable of reaching 85 ft, which the mayor contends is necess necessity given the multi-story buildings like the 2B built Marriott
Hotel and future parkway developments. Mayor Kelly stated that the current ladder truck maxes out at 35 ft, leaving at least five existing structures under served. My answer to that is the city did not have a current ladder truck, nor did the
mayor ever state that we did have one. It's very difficult to believe, but it may be possible. Did anyone see the ladder truck fit in a station with the doors closed? An 85 ft ladder truck has a pretty high profile or a long profile depending on how it is built. A longer truck would have less sections. A
shorter truck would have more sections to get to the 85 ft of the ladder on it. The ladder truck fits in the station and it fit before we decided on which truck to purchase. I had the fire truck come up here, put it in the bay, and shut the doors. The Parker citizen never came and asked me any questions directly for the
simple reason of wanting to talk badly about the fire department in the city. Okay, let's say the ladder truck actually fits in the building. and other factors are equally but more important. The Parker Fire Department is not ready, able, or state certified to staff the ladder truck at this time.
The paid firefighters are state certified firefighters and they have aerial certifications. The volunteers are required to get their firefighter one before the end of their first year on the department. I do not understand why the need to spend money when Callaway has one with
the same capabilities that can be used whenever it is needed to assist Parker. We only have one building in the city of Parker that would require the fire truck in the event of the emergency. That truck would have been purchased at a later later time. Callaway does not have a ladder truck.
Parker has over 4,000 residents or so that live here. So, we have way more than one building that requires a fire truck. If people are referring to the ladder truck in that statement, there are over 21 buildings that require the truck. If built to code, it would have its own
fire suppression system and no need for a ladder truck. If the one multi-story building has been built up to current code with fire suppression systems, a ladder truck shouldn't be needed. Fire suppression systems do not always work and ISO does not take into accountability of fire suppression
systems. They take accountability of the height of the building and the residents. Buildings catch fire every day with fire suppression systems. And there are over 21 buildings again that require a ladder truck in the city. That's over four times the ISO requirement.
There's a post on here from Chad GPT saying the minimum physical minimum for a crew on a ladder truck that they posted themselves. Mind you, it goes from one all the way to six being the maximum. Obviously, the
ideal amount for a ladder truck being six people, physical minimum one. It says, "Aerial ladder trucks require more personnel than engines. Aerial ladder trucks typically need four to six firefighters per ship to operate safely. A qualified truck operator certified in aerial operations. Additional personnel
for ventilation, search and rescue. Certification and training requirements are not met yet. Minimum staffing laws may limit deployment. The city may only plan to use it for structure fires, not daily calls. Your post even states that one
firefighter to set up the ladder truck. Best case scenario is six firefighters and you're mixing internet information with different terminology because technically our truck is a quint and one man can set it up and spray water with it. One person is not ideal. However, it can be done. One firefighter is at the
station to drive the truck to the scene and then the volunteers show up. Find a fire department besides the city of New York that staffs every day staff six firefighters on a ladder truck. are on shift have certifications to operate
and man the ladder truck. There is no minimum staffing requirements for the fire department. Uh it is mandated department specific is manning is mandated by the department. Uh let's see next item. On November 26th
the council voted to approve a budget with $ 1.5 million ladder truck buried inside it. There was no prior discussion, no public debate, just rubber stamped under section 270, the city charter, any purchase over $150,000 requires both competitive bidding and certified resolution passed by the
council. Neither step was taken. And there's another red flag. A fire truck of this type usually takes at least one year to order, customized, and produce. Yet, this truck appeared in the budget in August and was already parked in the fire department shed by midocctober.
That timeline suggests that the purchase was arranged long before the public ever knew about it. Furthermore, proof the process was neither transparent nor compliant with the city's own ordinances. There were three bids taken for the ladder truck. The council voted on the budget twice and I was hired in June of
2025. The truck was already built and ready to go when we quoted it. The ladder truck was a spec truck which is very common. No arrangements were made prior to the bids for the ladder truck and I will not have my character oft that is defamation of character. The process of buying the ladder truck was
done by law. I think some citizens may not understand the workings of the Parker volunteer fire department because of the multiple story multi-story structures that an Alen Parker ladder truck is extremely useful and needed. Having this truck will help keep the ISO low for insurance purposes. Training has already been
completed for the use of the truck and it only requires a minimum of two people to operate. Using a ladder truck to run regular medical calls is not cost-effective, but it can be used for emergency responses and purposes. Not seeing a ladder truck running regular calls isn't an uncommon occurrence.
Also, I'm sure if any citizens have any questions, they could attend meetings or set up an appointment with the fire chief. This statement is true. We will not be using the ladder truck on medical calls unless our apparatus or on other calls. It is equipped with a medical bag. I think some citizens may not understand
the workings of the Parker Volunteer Fire Department. He soon retired. Eric Higgins was appointed without an interview process, simply mentioned as a non-aggenda item in a council meeting. The $ 1.5 million ladder truck really needed. The purchase
was slipped into the budget with no prior discussion by the mayor or council. Residents only learned about it because the Parker citizen requested the budget spreadsheet days before the budget hearing. It was never placed on an agenda, never debated in public, and never scrutinized until citizens raised concern when a firetruck was already
ordered. The city council never or never engaged in industrial standard analysis to determine the need to evaluate one. Um, okay. So, I did in fact have a council interview with the city for
employment. And just because they were not there does not mean it didn't ever happen. You were at the meeting when I was hired and they told you that I was interviewed. I would advise the Parker citizen to quit using my government name in their posts. You can refer to me as the fire chief unless you are stating
true facts. You will no longer spread lies about me to make me look corrupt or I will take immediate action. The purchase of the firetruck was discussed in the budget workshop and the owner of the parking citizen did not attend. No public input was forthcoming during that
workshop. Ladder trucks are for buildings three stories or 35 ft high or more and buildings with a fire flow of 3500 gallons a minute. Mutual aid does not guarantee response to the city. It is a request. Once again, at this point, you would be assuming
that the city's ISO, the parker system tried to get a document of the city's ISO rating since that that September 4th budget hearing. The mayor justified the latter truck by referencing referencing ISO, saying the fire chief had documents in his three- ring binder. When the TPC
made public records requests for ISO documents, the city clerk responded, "No records exist." Has the city ever had an ISO audit? The ISO rating is not a city document. It is a document, a department document that was never requested to me to say
what the rating is. It is an insurance rating for cheaper insurance. The ISO spec inspects us every 10 years. Not seeing the ladder truck running regular calls isn't an uncommon occurrence. Again, you seem to be privy to the calls the fire department makes.
In 2023, again this year, the Parker citizen requested incident reports to qualify call volume in these cases since the city was going to charge $16,000 for that data. The Parker citizen made a public request in 2023 again in 2025 to figure out how busy the fire department
was and how many fires the Parker had. The state fire marshall lead us uh emailed us back. The Parker hasn't filed any incident report since January of 2024. I say to that the city is not required to create new documents, analyze data or show or answer questions if call our
call types are emailed to niffers. They are not mailed to the state fire marshall's office. The city is not responsible for call volume inside the city. The Parker Volunteer Fire Department is the Parker Volunteer Fire Department
partial combination. The mayor stated the expansion won't cost taxpayers nothing because it is funded by volunteer savings. However, public transportation was compromised. Photographs referenced during the meeting were not included in the public packet, meaning citizens could not review the same information as council
members. Even if no pack taxpayer funds are directly used, the principle of open government requires equal access to materials. Without it, the public cannot mean a meaningful evaluation of the proposal. The volunteer fire department is exempt from providing document to the
city of the partial combinations. I've been raising this point as well. Uh, and I'm still trying to figure out where these multi-story buildings are in Parker. Multi-story buildings in Parker.
There are nine at East Bay Flats. There is the Wind Dixie. There are the two store or three storage facilities. And there is a row of five buildings, four or five buildings in Donaldson Point that make up those 21 buildings. I have
a list of them. If somebody would like to question me on that, the lot combination uh a lot combination of the fire department partials was approved on October 21st. Oh, and did I hear or did I not read somewhere that two the fire department is in need of
another lot to house the equipment? That's an even more expense. It is not a city building and the volunteers are paying for the extension. It is to house firefighters and so that they have bedrooms to sleep in.
It is not a city building. In closing, the Parker Volunteer Fire Department is here to protect the citizens of Parker in the event of any and every emergency that might come. The volunteers do not get paid to respond. They do it out of the kindness of their hearts. It is
heartbreaking that three to five people get on social media and every word they speak about the department is incorrect. as their chief who they look up to look to defend them, watch out for their safety, and ensure they are given the tools and knowledge they needed to perform their job safely and
effectively. I hope that the responses to these issues creates a clear understanding and stops the false accusations about the fire department. I am responsible for the life safety of every citizen in Parker and every person who enters the city and I will ensure that they are always number one
priority, including those who make false accusations. I have not spent 27 years in the fire service to have my firefighters or my character defamed on social media. And I ask that all citizens of Parker, if they have any questions about the Parker Fire Department, to contact me to get a clear
and straightforward answer before trusting what people post on social media. I strongly suggest that the owner of the Parker Citizen and the Parker Town Hall schedule an appointment with me to collect proper information about the fire department in the future and stop posting lies and false information to try to support their personal
narrative. These so-called AI universities of Google, Gemini, and ChatGpt that have been referenced in these quotes here tonight are not accredited schools and should not be treated as informative information. AI stands for artificial intelligence. Artificial meaning not real
intelligence. The fire department for the city of Parker is the Parker Volunteer Fire Department Incorporated. The city employs a fire chief and three paid firefighters to assist the volunteers. The city also provides the apparatus. This is a joint effort that has been working harmoniously since 1955.
Thank you. >> Thank you. >> What is the park citizen? I want to thank you for coming in here, doing your job, standing up for yourself, standing up for the firefighters, standing up for the volunteers, and doing what we hired you to do.
>> Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> You can come to the podium, please. >> 121 East Park Street. If you ever want to have any fun, come down the end of East Park Street. We having a lot of fun down there.
I can't say how much I appreciate the Parker Volunteer Fire Department. Some of you may know, some of you don't know. We had a fire, I think it was back, was it September? It's been a while. And uh I never knew a plastic
trash can burn so hot. And uh the fire department was there quickly. They did a great job. They put the fire out. Uh in fact, they went to I think
extreme measures to make sure the fire was out in terms of make sure that it didn't get in between the walls, stuff like that. I remember chief sitting there holding that funky infrared thing for 20 minutes to make sure that there was no fire there. I can't say enough
how much I appreciate what they did for our family because that little bitty fire, it wasn't little bit, it's pretty hot. But that little bitty fire could have burned down our house and uh they were there. They did a great
job. All the volunteers were there and I can't give enough kudos and thank yous to the Parker Fire Department and uh I think I was kidding with the chief down east park. I said we have a lot of fun. Uh if it wasn't for the first responders
in Parker, I'd be drowned or burned up. Uh so I appreciate everybody. So, I I I give my full support to the fire department, the chief, and uh I don't think we could ask for anything better for our city. So, thank you.
>> Thank you, sir. Appreciate you. >> Does anybody else have anything they like to say? If not, I'm going to say good night. Thank you for your time.