We good. Thank you. And um first thing we're going to deviate from the agenda for our first item. Mr. Ron Park. >> Yes. Mr. Mayor of the city commission. We've been contacted regarding a settlement for general dynamics versus the city of Sanford. And we have Senator Simmons with us. And if you senator
would like to share the attorney was going to bring this up during her part of the presentation to at the regular meeting to get the consensus of the commission on moving forward if senator certainly can provide the context for that. Thank you very much and uh good
afternoon. uh wanted to bring you up to date with uh uh some of the more recent developments and then simply ask that we have a uh uh a an executive uh meeting
close meeting just so that I can give you the uh you know just an an update that would not be uh you know would contain privilege communications. Right now I can say to you that the case is
going very very well. Obviously what did happen with respect to the efforts of the city was for the city to uh we believe uh be able to obtain the u uh the funding with the FD and that is on
its way moving uh moving forward and we certainly appreciate the uh uh you know the cooperation with the and by the D uh concerning the funding for the uh uh water treatment facility that was hoped
for by the uh by the city. Additionally, we do have pending, of course, the uh action that is in federal court uh relating to uh the efforts by the city to uh to obtain
additional relief uh relating to the responsible parties. And in that respect uh the responsible parties have asked us to uh uh to enter into a joint motion to
extend uh the trial date of uh of the matter. It is presently set for uh December of 2026. And uh the first thing I can say to you is uh when when the idea of trying a
case in December uh arose uh my uh response was to the opposing council have you ever tried a case in December? And uh and and and I've tried several and and some of them are three days
before Thanksgiving. Some of them have been immediately after Thanksgiving and it's very tough on everyone. Uh they believe that it would be better for reasons relating to the u rule 26 disclosures that exist that uh uh that
there be an additional amount of time uh to uh uh to have the deadline for the trial in this matter. I don't know that the court will uh approve that but to the extent that uh the uh the parties
jointly agree we are recommending and asking that uh uh that the city uh agree with that and it would be an extension of either 3 months from December of uh 2026 until uh March or either April of
2026. uh and uh we believe that that would be a a reasonable thing uh to happen and uh just wanted to of course uh ask for ultimately the consent which we can do
in a uh in a uh in a private uh meeting uh to uh to obtain that consent and uh if there anyone has any questions >> Mr. Members of the commission what Sen has indicated is that they we've received a request for six months
extension and with the senator and legal staff for the city are recommending this a three or four month extension not a six-month extension. >> Yes. If that's all right with the with you then we will proceed with a 3 to four month extension. And this is where the
city attorney was going to discuss it at her report at the end to get this certainly the consensus of the commission then we can convey that. And ultimately it's up to the court to decide whether via by a joint stipulation that the court will agree to
extend that period of time but I think the court is more likely to accept a 3 to four month extension than six and so that's a reasonable time period. Um Mr. Simmons, if you're available, we have our next meeting on February 23rd, which
would give me sufficient note uh time to do a notice for a close session, and we can schedule it at that time where we can get more into litigation strategy and also have some consensus or questions to ask about the case moving forward if you're agreeable to that or
we can talk about it at another time. >> I I think that sounds excellent to do that. Mr. Simmons, is u there an expectation that there would actually be a lot of work done in December if it were kept to
the current schedule? Well, >> given the fact that we would have a three-month delay, >> there will be motions for summary judgement uh that will be filed before uh the uh the time period that is presently set for the trial and and and
also having it in December is something that as a trial date uh is not sure to occur even if the judge presently sets it at that time period. But uh uh one thing is uh I think for the convenience
of the parties and everyone involved that uh a a trial in December is uh if that were the case is is a uh is a real imposition on people and but at the same time I've tried uh several cases during
that time period. I don't really remember the uh uh the Thanksgiving holidays from those, nor do I remember uh the uh much about the Christmas holidays either, but that's okay. The other side requests that this happened.
They have their reasons that have to do with what are called the rule 26 disclosures. uh we've uh suggested that we would uh bring it to your attention and ask uh for the consent uh for a three to four month extension. Uh we
didn't believe that a six-month extension would be appropriate. >> Okay. I appreciate your letting me ask the naive questions here, but it doesn't put us at any disadvantage to be delaying for three months. >> I don't see any disadvantage. If anything, it gives us the opportunity to
um sharpen certain points and be more ready than than than ever, which we're prepared. Not only that, it gives you the likelihood of a trial certain date. If you think about it, putting everyone in December is like your doctor giving everyone a 10:00 a.m. appointment,
right? And everybody shows up at 10:00 a.m. thinking they have that slot. Well, the trial, the judge has this list of cases that are all set to go around that same time. And as some of those cases, if they do proceed to trial, we wind up getting pushed down and down the list.
If you continue it 3 to four months, that gives you a more certainty as far as having a trial certain date. >> More certainty certainly. >> Okay. Thank you. Um >> um in terms of information going back and forth and us getting what we're
asking from them and them getting what um they're asking of us is does that seem to be flowing well? >> Yes, it does. And the joint motion makes that uh representation, excuse me, to the to the court that uh
we are uh cooperating well. uh the council are this is uh it's uh the discovery is going well as uh as the record reflects we have uh uh already filed our expert reports we have three
expert witnesses who are retained experts one of them from uh uh from Andy Dr. Andy Davis and uh also a person in his office who uh is uh Mr. Roth who
both of them together have prepared the report that was given timely to the opposing parties on uh December the 5th. And then we also have of course our reports that were done by Corolla uh and
that's Dr. Erica Stone and uh and Erica Stone. Dr. Stone has uh uh you know like I stated uh done an excellent uh uh report as well. And then uh we have uh Robert Morrison
who is a forensic accountant who takes the numbers as to the quantum of the damages that are requested by the city and uh actually has brought those down to uh present value. And so in order to
present uh something uh of this nature to a jury, we need a uh a present value calculation. and uh and so he has done that present value calculation. >> Okay. >> Any other questions?
>> Are we able to be a consensus here or you want to wait until the next meeting when we have >> wait is that sufficient Mr. Simmons if we make the decision or it's discussed further at the February 23rd meeting or is there a deadline? I'm presuming you want to get this out as soon as possible. If we could have the
consensus, I know that the other side is uh is looking for some indication as to where the city is uh on this request. If >> then then definitely mayor and and members of the commission, you can just give a consent agreeable to the joint
motion for continuing >> for three to four months. >> Correct. >> Everyone okay with that? >> I'm not but I I I I sincerely apologize for my tardiness. I can't vote on something or to give a consensus of what I'm not sure sure of. But however, we have more than enough people on the
board and I don't want to hold the meeting up to recap everything that was stated. >> I didn't I didn't know we were discussing this today. >> We didn't either. >> We'll do a consensus. Uh, Commissioner Britain, what I'll do is the consensus is stated right now, but I'll have you
make a motion, Mayor, at the regular meeting, and I'll answer any questions that you may have at that time, Commissioner Burton, and make sure that you have all information. >> Thank you. >> Okay, that works. >> All right. >> All right. And I'll go ahead and notice the close session. >> All right. Thank you all very, very
much. It's a pleasure to meet with you today. Let Dan go next. Okay, that'll be fine. >> Dan, we're going to have you go next. Good afternoon, commissioners. Dan Ping, uh, director of Sanford Main Street Program. Under our agreement with the
city, we have to uh give you an annual report each year uh about what we've done and brag a little bit. >> Start off with first with uh some of the visitor numbers at the welcome center.
Um, in 2025, we saw 17,790 visitors come through the welcome center. Now, that's down about uh just a little more than 3,000 visitors or a 14.8% drop over 2024.
I don't have uh an exact reason for that decline. Most likely, it is multiple reasons. Um, I think the outdoor restrooms, uh, take some of the traffic from people coming inside, weather,
cold, rain, hot, uh, even the calendar where vacations fall, where holidays fall, things like that. U, and I do think the economy is playing a little bit into it. I don't know that it's necessarily um, a
big thing to worry about. um these things fluctuate up and down, but uh that is a fairly substantial drop. And we did see uh one thing one thing that does concern me a little bit is that uh in our good months, the octo October
through um April, we saw we did see some declines in those months. You would expect those to at worst be flat uh if there's issues going on. Now, during the summer, we saw uh numbers stay steady or even increase slightly from time to time. And I do have a month-to-month
breakdown uh at each one of your uh positions there. So, uh I'll keep monitoring that. And I was providing monthly reports to the CRA. I can do that for you just in terms of emailing that out to you. Uh if you
would like that, I can do that either through the clerk or send it to you individually. Um however you would like me to do that. We do keep those reports on a monthly basis. Any preference on how you want that data
>> in a spreadsheet with some pivot table summaries? >> I'm sorry. >> This can you just provide the same thing that you were providing to the CRA? >> Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Can I do you want me to come make a presentation, send it
to the clerk, or send it to you individually? I would say send it to the clerk to have it added to an agenda packet, but I don't think you need to come every month. >> Okay, that works for me. That's >> Everybody agree with that? >> I agree with that.
>> Okay, >> in terms of Main Street activities, I will say 2025 was a transformative year for us. Um things didn't start off quite like we planned. Um, in fact, uh, this weekend is the one-year anniversary of
when Daniel Lewis passed away. Um, he was a president of our board at that point and, uh, kind of threw us in a a little bit of a situation there. But, uh, Paul Williams from West End Trading Company and Alex Williams, no relation, uh, from Wayne Dench, uh, stepped up
into leadership roles and have really added some extra energy, um, to the, uh, organization. Main Street America, if you're not aware, has a four-point approach. Organization, promotion, economic vitality, and
design. Organization is basically how your structure, how your organization is structured, how you operate within your district and the stakeholders, promotion, events, how you promote both digitally and traditional media. Uh economic vitality is kind of the heart
of the matter. what you do to make your uh district economically vital and design what it looks like, how things interact within your district. So, organization, we had some big wins. Like I said, we started off a little um a little squirly there to begin with, but
uh have really uh kind of hit our stride. We've uh added some new board members and we've restructured the board. We're adding 18 members to our board. We're uh right now we have 12 members. >> You're adding 18 in addition to
>> No, no. Uh we're we're going to get to the number 18. I'll touch on that in just a moment. Why 18 is significant. >> Um >> in addition to that, we've redone our bylaws to require that each of the board members make a $2,000 contribution to
the organization. Either write a check, raise money, provide inind services, something like that. Um part of the one of the things we've done in reaching out to new members uh new board members John Gillian uh director of the Simol State
uh foundation that raises money for the college. Uh Tim Dolan from Waste Pro, Josh Snder who served on the CRA and Tim Dolan also served on the CRA. These guys have a lot of experience working with nonprofits and they their go idea is
that hey, if board members aren't willing to buy in, how are we going to sell other people to buy into our organization? So, we're asking each board member to contribute $2,000 annually. We've also redone our bylaws, updated them um a little bit, and we've
actually activated the four main street committees. Prior to this, we did not have four active main street committees in each of the point each of the pillars that I mentioned before. The other thing that we're doing is creating the 77 army and that's where the significance of the
18 board members comes in. Sanford was founded in 1877. So, we want 18 full board members and we want 77 uh 77 army members. the 77 Army. >> What that is, that's a volunteer group uh that we're going to use as kind of a
training ground for members to serve on our committees and eventually serve on our board. We want to kind of uh get them familiar with the Main Street approach, how we do things, get them involved in the community. Right now, we've got 12 on board so far, and we um
plan to fill that out by the end of the year. Each of the 12 me or each of the 77 members will be required to uh provide at least a minimum of 12 hours volunteer service each year plus $100 uh
donated to the organization. Now, we'll give them some things like uh exclusive t-shirt to wear around town. We'll of course honor them at different events. Um volunteer of the month month and volunteer of the year, things like that.
So, we really want this part of the goal of this is not only to build a training ground for for future Main Street activities, but also to tie into the community. I mean, we have a very active and and passionate community here in
Sanford, and we want to kind of tap into that energy because even as a board, even as an executive director, we can't do this without other people's help. promotion. Promotion is not just advertising, uh, both paid and in kind. It's events.
It's everything that you do to promote your district. And every event that I go to for Florida Main Street, we go to quarterly meetings uh, each quarter. Little redundant. Um, we we hear time and time again, you guys do such a great
job with your events. uh when is your next sofa and such? When's the art festival? When's the pints and paws? Uh in fact, we have other members of Florida Main Street coming to our events traveling from Brooksville, uh from Dand
from uh Tampa. We get a lot of requests for when's the next event coming up. And in fact, Katherine Beck, the director of the Florida Main Street program, has asked us to put on at one of our quarterly meetings a seminar on how to
run a proper and successful event. So, we're known throughout the state for the uh the good events that we have. In that regard, we've also um looked to try to diversify some of our events and and
create some new Main Street only events uh main street organized events, I should say. Sizzling Summer, which I think you guys are pretty familiar with. That's a marketing campaign we did this past summer to try to drive more traffic downtown. We intend to do that again this year.
>> Good job on that, by the way. >> Well, thank you. Uh we've got a country music festival coming up called Boots and Roots. that's going to happen over at the Civic Center on March 7th. That's a inaugural event for us there. We did the sweet stroll in December and that's
a model I think we want to use for other events um other new events that we create. Basically, you bought a ticket, you got to go around to each of the participating business and pick up a sweet treat. We target it to
specifically for a Thursday. Weekends are busy. We do a pretty good job on the weekends in terms of driving traffic. Now, what we're trying to do is extend the week. Thursday night seems like a fairly easy night to do that. We used to have the old live after 5 on Thursday
nights. So, this is a way that we can get people used to coming back downtown on Thursday nights. It also gets you into the businesses rather than going to a single designated area. Uh 7th T Company, um that's in the second floor
of the Wall Locka building. They participated. Kokei, the Puerto Rican bakery at the far end of Sanford Avenue, the business district there. Uh they both participated and they both had a really good feedback about the number of new customers that they saw or people coming in saying, "Hey, we weren't aware
that you were here. We will be back." So, that's one of the things that we really want to try to promote um with Main Street. Uh Golf Card Fest, that is a new event. It is in the very early planning stages. It's something that we
want to plan to do in um the hot July months. Um don't have a ton of details. We're still working a lot of that out, but the best way I can describe it, it's Bikefest without the bikes and the bikers.
>> Okay. >> So, that that's the idea behind that. >> We do have a gentleman that moved into town recently named Matt Walker. He's the owner of Golf Carted Magazine. So, he's tied into the golf car community, not just here in Central Florida, but all over the state and all over the
country. Um, and he sees these events popping up in other states. And there's not one in Central Florida. So, we're like, why don't we just plant the flag? We already have a excuse me, very active golf carting community anyway. Let's, uh, let's try to highlight that. And then, um, this is
also an early event. The Florida Writers Guild has reached out to us about doing some sort of book fair in November on a Saturday in November. Uh we've got a couple of innovative ideas on how exactly that would work. Um but we'll keep you updated with that and certainly
uh Jennifer Brooks and the special events uh department at the parks and rack uh as we move forward with those. We're also working on a uh new updated visitors guide. There was a uh private company that was putting out a visitor's
guide. They're no longer doing a paper copy of that. They're only doing an online version. U working in the welcome center. I do see the need for an actual paper uh hard copy version of that. And we're going to work with the Sanford Herald. Randy Green, the new owner, has
committed to doing that. We've already had a couple of meetings and started to make some headway on that and expect to have a visitor's guide out sometime in August or September. The goal is that this won't be a paytoplay. Yes, we're going to sell some advertising into it.
We need to to pay for it, but uh we're we're going to put everybody in downtown in this guide. Break them up by food and beverage, retail services, things like that so that we promote what we have in downtown. >> Third point is economic vitality. Um
this is um a brand new committee for Sanford Main Street, not for Main Street America. And this is one that that takes a little traction. Um some of the other things we can get started and you start see the fruits of your labor pretty quick. This is this is a long long-term
goal for this. Uh Chris Mloud, a longtime Sanford uh resident who served on the historic preservation board as well as the um historic uh the planning and zoning board uh is chairing this for us and he serves on that with Pamela
Lynch, part of your economic development partner department. She Pamela also serves as an exeicio member of our board as does Commissioner Thomas. She's one of our new board members. Happy to have her. So, our goal with the economic vi
vitality committee is that we'll actually we want to assist the city in their economic development efforts as it relates to downtown Stanford. Certainly, the u the city has a lot of juice uh and and the ability to do some
things that that we don't, but we want to be able to assist however however we can. One of the things we're putting together now is develop an inventory of all the downtown properties. That's important. When you have a new business come in, you need to be able to say, "We
have this space available. This is the lease rate for it. This is the owner. This is how you get in contact with them." And Main Street America also has some uh digital tools that not only help with this, but help you market uh this to uh
potential business owners or even folks that are looking to purchase properties. So that is something that uh we hope to get done here in the next few months and I want to uh stress that a lot of these four points often interact like a
vin diagram. So economic vitality does as it exists in downtown Sanford right now does rely on our events but we want to make sure we're diversifying downtown food. We've got a great food and beverage scene and the people who
come to our town love it. But we also want to make sure there's retail shopping, that there's office space that drives down daytime traffic in downtown, uh, and some residential as well. So, we're not just looking at food and beverage, street parties, things like
that. We're looking at the whole picture of of what a living and breathing downtown looks like. design committee. When I go to these uh Florida Main Street Quarterlys, it's interesting to see hear some of the other Main Street folks talk about the
struggles they have with preservation issues, things like that. In this regard, Sanford's done a the city of Sanford specifically has done an excellent job and laying that foundation years ago. I think Lon How back in the
80s was responsible for some of that. But, uh, the historic preservation co codes, the CRA and the work that they did, uh, during their time with streets skates, things like that, we have we have the foundation, literally the
bricks and mortar foundation, uh, of a great uh, main street district that a lot of my colleagues throughout the state don't have. they they're they're doing some of the baby steps of figuring out how do we put historic preservation codes into their districts. So, uh the
city has done a great job with that. In that regard, Julie Scoffield, your historic preservation officer, she serves on our design committee. Um she's a valued member of that and Julie is kind of a double whammy on that committee because she also has a lot of
experience with Main Street programs. In fact, she start helped start the the land main street. Dand main street is recognized not just in Florida but throughout the country as one of the better main street programs in the in the US. Josh Schneider um new board member also
member of the the former CRA he's the chairman on this and Kim House who serves on the public arts commission is also a member uh of this committee. One of the things that we've tried to do over the last year is figure we as an
organization can't do everything we want to do by ourselves. We need to partner with the city, whether it's the city commission, um the historic preservation office, the public arts commission, the county tourism board, other
organizations. So, it's important for us to try to have all of those folks in the conversation and working with us. It's great for us to come up with an idea, but if we then have to take it to the city and they say, "No, that's not going to fly." Then we got to go back to to
the drawing board. So, why not have uh folks like Julie on board from the start? >> Couple of things that they're talking about right off the bat is a downtown banner program. I know this has been a passion of Chem Houses for some time and I think we're actually going to make
this happen. Excuse me. Also want to work with some u wayfair way finding and signage. Not that the city's done a bad job. Again, we just kind of want to augment some of the things that the city's already put in place. For example, um the new outdoor
restrooms next to next door to the welcome center. There are two small signs on a single pole. Um the signs are about the size of a sheet of paper. >> Most people don't understand that those are outdoor restrooms and they're open
later hours on the weekend. Uh which is convenient. One of the things we've talked about doing is how can we put signage there, but do it in such a way that it's artistic. Um leaning on Kim House's experience with arts that is
Artisan Square. So rather than just put a basic municipal type sign up that says restrooms or public restrooms, can we do it in a creative way? One of the ways they've talked about, and I'm not not sure this is going to fly, is um to
create a large ceramic toilet and mosaic it with tiles and put plants in it. I don't know that that's going to fly with with the historic preservation board or
with the arts commission for that matter, but they're thinking of creative ways. How can we creatively address this problem rather than just stick a blue or green sign up? We do have a very quick win. One of the members of our design
committee, Kayla Mitchell, works for pedestrian and walkability issues, not just in Sanford, but across Central Florida. And one of the things that she's been trying to get changed for about four years is the crosswalks at the intersections that have traffic
lights in downtown Sanford. I don't know if you've tried to push the button on the uh and try to cross at the appropriate time, but the way they were working was if you push the button, you have to wait for that cycle to finish, then you have to wait for the next cycle
before it will pop up and give you the walk signal. Well, that doesn't make any sense at all. Pe people just ignore it and they just cross against the light to begin with. So, what uh with Julie's help, Julie Scoffield's help, and Kayla's advocacy, we've reached out to
the county and they have actually reprogrammed the lights so that now when the light turns green, that traffic walk or that crosswalk sign automatically lights up and says to walk. You don't have to push any buttons. The buttons are irrelevant. And I actually this
weekend watched several cycles of the lights and watched people actually flowing with the traffic in the proper way. So it's a very early win for us. Um and was really easy. Didn't require any capital expenditures. Just required a little programming and
>> some some advocacy. In conclusion, 2025 was a great year. I hope you agree 2026 is going to be an even better year. Got a lot of things in the work. Some stuff I haven't mentioned yet. We're looking forward to building strong
partnerships with the city commission, the staff, and the stakeholders around. One of the things I I did not mention is uh well, I mentioned it briefly, but I wanted to talk about some of the organizations. For as long as I've been in Sanford, the
downtown groups have kind of been at each each other's throats at odds, whether it's the chamber, the business association, the uh main the original Main Street, whatever the groups are. We now have a good working relationship
with the chamber. We've started meeting recently with the Goldsboro main street to um try to ways to where we can can u partner on events and both help each other out uh on that. Uh we're doing a a fundraiser for Porchfest that has turned
into actually pretty big. Our original idea was we're going to have four venues play music and try to raise money. And once we put the save the date out there, we had 15 other businesses say, "How can I participate in that?" So that's coming up on February 28th. We've got 19 venues
and I think 60 different musicians or musical acts that are uh going to be a part of that. So um we can't do this alone. We need everybody's help to do this. So we certainly appreciate the support that the city commission has
provided. Uh just a couple of uh graphics I wanted to share with you. This is our new logo. You'll see that the clock is set at 9:29. That's significant. Sanford was founded on September 29th. That's a reference to
that. And then down in the um towards the bottom, you'll see the 1877 to reference the year there. And you'll also see a little Main Street America lamp post in there as well. So, a couple of Easter eggs there. We've uh started very briefly. the mayor
and I were the only ones there at the uh very first uh Sanford Main Street Founders Day. We have never celebrated the day that Sanford was incorporated. So, we plan to do that. That is another event that we're going to kind of lean into a little more this year. Uh but
that was the logo that we came up for that for the Sweet Stroll logo. Ryan came up Ryan Hanley, one of our board members and a talented IT and graphic artist. He actually was able to I don't know how but somehow using AI automate
the inside of that so that they were ice skating on that little pond. There was actually movement in that and that's what we shared across our digital media assets. The I think you saw the logo for the sizzling summer. That's something that we can use every year. And then this is
the uh the logo and branding for the boots and roots. Sanford proud, country loud. >> Y'all have any questions? >> Got a couple. >> Okay, Commissioner Britain. >> I can go ahead.
>> Okay. Um, so, um, I just wanted to say I really love the marketing this year. Even when it came to the snow globe, you can actually see the logo underneath the globe. Like, there was so much attention to the detail and it was beautifully done. Even this sizzling summer. to the people on the board and Dan yourself
like I I absolutely loved it. I also love that we're seeing more of the 1877. I think that we need to capitalize on that a little bit more. Um it's tattooed on my arm. I love that you see that. And then I love the 18 and the 77 that you have with the board members in the 77.
Um, my question is for the 77 members, how are we trying to attract people to do that 77? And is that something that we can also plug into the citizens academy once they graduate? Is that something that they can be a part of um
the the main street since they've taken that course? It shows that they have an interest in, you know, being a part of what Sford has or and also the knowledge of Sanford. What do what do you think about that? >> Oh, absolutely. In fact, Tim Dolan, uh, one of our new board members, recently
went through the Citizens Academy and he recruited a couple of people from his class and he brought the idea to us. We need to get involved with Citizens Academy and I've talked with Lisa. So, I think it's April 1st is the Wednesday when economic development will have
their night to talk about that. I'm going to get up for um a few minutes and and not long, but just talk about the 77 Army. Clearly, it's a captive audience in the fact that they want to know more about their city and want to be involved
enough to give up 10 weeks or 10 Wednesdays um to learn about how municipal government works. So, that's a that's a rich rich field. We're also going to start pushing out some things out on social media to uh to recruit folks. And if you know of folks that are
looking to volunteer, send them my way. We'll we'll get them signed up. One other thing I didn't mention under the design committee, we did restart the Sanford sparkling um keep Sanford sparkling cleanup. We do that the first Wednesday of every month >> or Sunday. um we've redone it um in
honor of Daniel Lewis because he uh kind of uh was certainly involved a lot with that and that was kind of a passion of his. So very cold on the first uh so we moved it to yesterday. Uh we had about 25 or 35 people 25 to 30 people come out
uh had the same uh the month before and we had 65 come out in November when we kicked it off and the weather was really nice. So, we expect as the weather warms up that we'll we'll get more uh more attention there. And in fact, some of the businesses are even jumping in. Um
West Spot offered free biscuits, free biscuits and gravy to anybody who participated. Seventh Alle offered hot tea to anybody who participated. And I think Colonial Room offered a free soft drink for with a purchase with anybody who participated. So, we want to build a
few more of those businesses. So, we're down Foottown anyway. we might as well eat and drink. >> Um although I really like the idea of being creative with the bathrooms, I just think for as much traffic as we have that there needs to be a clear concise signage that says that it's rest
that there are restrooms available and not something that is left up for interpretation. So that's just my >> No, no. I I and I agree that that there was just kind of the first thing that they threw on the wall to say maybe we could do my original idea was maybe some
sort of kind of cool mural. I I don't know exactly how you would do that or what it would say or depict or I'm not the artistic type. >> Um >> but to the commission, I really do believe that we need better signage for it to be um I mean for you to know that it is a restroom. The little ones are
just too small. But, you know, >> there's a big heart there now. >> Yeah. I love that. >> Yeah. And I mean, and it's got to be done. It's kind of you got to thread the needle on. You want something that's tasteful and ultimately has to get the
job done. It has to let people know what it is. So, you can't get too creative. And, >> you know, it's kind of like some of those commercials during the Super Bowl yesterday. You're like, that's cool, but what are they what are they? So, >> Got it. Hey, um, shout out to the person
who snuck in here who really has brought his program management and especially fundraising techniques to Main Street because that whole 1877 idea is a great one. You know, if the 77 even do nothing more than just cheerlead for the city,
>> it's time well spent for them and for us >> that the but fundraising. >> John uh John Gillian was the or Dylan was the inspiration for the 77 Army. that's his baby. And and uh and and that's that's the advantage of of bringing on some new
board members. Uh we certainly appreciate our board members that have served in the past and and it was very downtown centric and we're not going to get away from being downtown centric. That's our mission, >> but it does help to reach out beyond downtown a little bit to get some fresh
eyes and some new perspective and new ideas. and John has certainly brought those in in Willboro school. So, we appreciate that. I >> think we have a good board there now >> and Commissioner Thomas has been >> and you can't leave.
>> A good addition as well. We appreciate her pres and former commissioner Patty Mahaney. I've failed to mention she is a full member of our board now too. So, >> any other questions? >> Questions or comments? I would say, you know, I am,
you know, beyond pleased with the change we've seen in the last year. Um, I really like the direction you're headed and, um, the way you're you're reaching out and and bringing everyone into the fold. So, um, let's make sure, um, we talk about
it at budget time rather than at the end of the year. So, we make sure that funding for them is fully included in our budget. Okay. >> And we'll reach out to you before then, too. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you very much.
>> Good work. >> Back up to city goals. >> Yes, Mr. Mayor, members of city commission. Often times, city commissions have what's called a strategic planning session or a goal setting session. Sometimes it's even remote where they go away for a day. Um
what we just wanted to set some time at this meeting is for the city commission to discuss among itself goals it may have for the 2026 year for the city commission. Um Elizabeth Jones has put together a strategic plan and if it pleases the commission we could see if
she would well I know she would um facilitate it but it would be uh time simply for the commission to talk among yourselves about what you would like to see the commission accomplish for 2026. Hello, mayor and members of the commission. I'm here if you have any
questions. Um, as a brief reminder, as Mr. Bonapart also noted we do have our updated strategic plan um which has five core uh priorities that were uh set out for this year and for the next five years to follow. Um I do believe a lot
of the goals that you all outlined with Mr. Bonapart over the uh recent months um do align um with most of those core priorities though. Well, you know, and and I started trying to think outside of the things we've
already listed um you know, for the city manager and even when I put that together, I was like, you know, some of these are, you know, they're really, you know, joint um goals anyway. Um you know, so I mean obviously we would incorporate all
those. Um things beyond that though um you know in ter what do we want to set as a a goal for us? >> Any thoughts? >> I'm confused that what you're what what you're actually asking.
You're saying what what are you asking of us right now? >> Sort of a brainstorming. >> Okay. of what things do we want as a commission to accomplish or for the city to accomplish because of us? >> Um,
>> are we talking about having an additional work session on that or like we did before in 2025 where we met here or we're saying right now what are the goals for the commission? >> Right now is an opportunity to to share ideas. If we want to have a a standalone
session, we can certainly plan that. One of my thoughts is a realistic goal when it comes to energy efficient vehicles. Maybe a transition from gas to hybrid to electric on a schedule. I think we we have some I know the chief
has some hybrid vehicles now and I think we have them scattered throughout but uh I would love to see us have some strategic goals that say we will reach this percentage of hybrids and this percentage of electric within say three to five years something like that
>> well that ties into what I had brought up about putting solar on >> yes >> um either floating solar or um commissioner Austin's suggestion for solar on um covered parking. >> Mhm.
>> So maybe an an sort of an energy efficiency um citywide goal. >> And that does align with the preparing for future sustainability which again is one of the priorities that was set out for the next five years of the city.
>> Yeah. So at a high level, energy efficiency throughout the city and then levels below that having to do with the solar, the vehicles, buildings. I love Claudia's idea of thinking forward. Um that that is something that
would have have to happen over, you know, a couple of years. Um something for uh 2026 um that we were talking about um in one of the meetings is how we market Sanford
which that's why we're working with Main Street on that. Um but even stuff like our civic center um how do we get people to have conferences here? What do we have to invite people to Sanford? Um and I know that we're government so we're
not supposed to Excuse me. um list all of those things, but I don't see how we really market like our golf course, the our our true amenities that we have here. Um I love that on the Main Street logo, I was able to see the
waterfront. I don't think that we showcase that we have the waterfront. We oftent times say that we're hip and historic and we have historic districts and we have our economic engines, but we don't actually showcase like our waterfront. So, you know, how can we
tell the story of Sanford and its amenities as well? Outside of like the small circle of people, how many people really know about how what a beautiful job the city has done with our new golf course and, you know, the the amenities
that we have, our parks, um, and how you could use our civic center. um we show a picture of what it looks like, but maybe hire someone that shows how that building can be um split up um more than
just a wedding, but to encourage people to have conferences, to encourage people to um to to eat, mingle, shop, you know, so on and so forth. But I know that's not technically like a government thing, but because these are city of Sanford
amenities that taxpayers pay for and that we're responsible for, maybe we can market that a little bit better. Commissioner Burton and all Commissioner Lisa Hold actually is in that process right now of getting someone to photograph and do video of the civic
center, the Betty Smith uh facility, the Riverwalk, all of the amenities that we market and rent because if you go to the website, it says it but you don't see it, >> right? >> So, we're going to get video so that you can link on that and then you get a video tour of that facility.
>> Okay. Love it. video is worth a thousand words. And yeah, the the properties that we maintain as a city, then we should be making sure that we're pitching and promoting. And it would be a measurable goal where we can start to get some metrics back that say we're getting more
eyes on these things and tracking where the visitors are coming from >> on the websites or on the on the webs the videos. Yeah, I think we've hit on been hit or miss on that over the years and to, you
know, focus on a a um a concerted effort to bring that together is a good idea. >> I think it's been more myths. >> Well, there have been some hits. >> I talked about this in 2016 when it first got elected.
>> Oh, well, here we are 10 years later, so it's time to do it better. >> Yeah. And in conjunction with that, of course, is the goal of really pushing hard for our marina to finally get done. >> So we have something to promote that says, "Here are all of the slips for
your boats." >> Again, working with Main Street, we're we're trying to help with our businesses and the, you know, um, nonprofit and for-profit organizations when it comes to events. But I don't think the commission has actually had that meeting
to talk about how we're going to or not support the events being that the CRA has sunset. Those dollars um are now, you know, gone away. you know, we are supposed to get some funding back, but I don't think we've had that conversation
um amongst ourselves of, you know, what the criteria may be, you know, this being the first year without the the CRA. And yes, we all have that, you know, contingency commission fund, but
if we're going to say no, the the city commission will not be, you know, supporting those things because we have to give it to to everybody, like, have we had that conversation yet for our events? I feel like we've had that conversation many times and not
come to a final decision or come to a final decision many times that changes the next time we have the conversation. So yes, that would be um >> so the goal here is to have a financial plan in place to replace what
the CRA was doing for us. I mean requesting new grants or >> well uh >> that's more the how-to though rather than just let's set the goal. >> The one thing we have never uh we've never
uh made a final decision on is is what are the events we want to help support? >> Uh what what events are we claiming is uh our premier events and what are we going to do to to a help them and b uh
keep them. Mhm. >> Um and so uh th those are some discussions that uh we've either been afraid to have or we keep skirting around. >> That's the word. >> Or we disagree on. >> Yeah.
>> And then somebody comes and ask if somebody will give some money to their event and somebody does. Well, but amongst each individual up here, um we all have our own
passions and uh and and ideas of of uh where those funds may may be spent. Um, but we we are talking about uh the actual dollars that the CRA was putting into some of these events
and if we're going to continue to do that and to what level, that is the conversation that is uh even more important uh than deciding what each individual commissioner may or may not want to support.
>> That's kind of what I just said, but Okay. Um and the flip side of that is how we manage events and cost of events which there has been a start of a conversation on. Um and we just need to bring that to
the commission and um expand on that and how do we keep the costs down where possible. Um, >> mayor, just to verify, so when you say um, how we manage events, are you looking for the commission to set out
the financial aspect of what they're looking to contribute towards or how staff would be assisting and handling? >> I think it's both. Is a city going to contribute funds towards
events sponsored by nonprofits? And can we take a look at um you know the requirements for doing events that that have some cost and I know that
we've looked at that repeatedly um and but I think with the um the barriers that we now have there's an opportunity for some cost reduction. Um, and there were some other ideas that
were brought forward. I think that conversation needs to come to the commission. >> And Mr. Mayor, members of commission, would you like to have a work session that I've heard in two things. One is to look at those events that the CRA had sponsored and decide on whether the commission wants to continue sponsoring
them or others. >> And I think it's important to uh make sure this is this is noted. the CRA only only gave them what the city was charging them. >> Um and so that so there's two aspects
here. Do we A start a program of forgiving cost or or absorbing cost or do we b start a program of sponsoring to pay for our own cost?
>> That seems >> that seems redundant. Yeah. >> So, why don't we just start a program where we say there's an application the city may or may not uh agree to to uh refund part or or all of the city costs.
>> But the thing is that the the costs are coming out of department budgets and so that needs to be backfilled. I >> So so however we >> I'm not oblivious to that but but we don't have to write a check to ourselves to do that. It can be an accounting kind of thing, right? But we need to
>> um make sure the departments because that's what >> we need to make that's what used to happen more difficult. >> Well, no. In the past, that's you know, years ago that's what would happen is the commission would say, "Oh, we'll wave the fees." And every department had to pick up whatever that cost happened
to be. >> Okay. Well, we'll just take it all out of public works. >> Sounds good. >> Well, do you want to have a work session where the commission discusses what events? Yes, >> I've heard it all. >> But also also criteria because Patrick did say something that was important. We
all have our own personal events that we support and things that we champion. I think that we should set some criteria. So then it's not just well she commissioner Britain wants to support you know this event. No, it is this criteria kind of like what the CRA did,
you know, um how many, you know, people are coming to the event, how many people are supporting local, how many times, um can you come before the CRA before they, you know, decrease the funding? Maybe we could just piggy back on what the CRA
did and keep it, you know, simple, but we we could get into a lot of unfair things if we we all say, well, we have our individual things that that we think should be um you know, covered by the
city. And I I really like the idea of the covering the city costs. What I'm hearing you say is that the commission can establish a criteria. >> Yes, sir. >> So that when something comes before you, you go against what the criteria the commission has set. >> So we could have a work session on
discussing and the commission coming up on the criteria. And when we have a work session, you have all the different events they sponsored. So we'll be able to see all the ones that they were sponsoring. >> We can have a list of the CRA sponsored events that they did in the past. Yes.
Yes. It would be interesting to see what other cities are doing that are in the same boat because it's not just us losing CRA funding. Maybe some best practices could I might mention that at the next cow.
>> Okay. >> So, I will say um as well when it comes to setting commission goals um you all have already outlined Mr. Bonapart's goals uh for the upcoming year. Uh something to keep in mind is typically um commission goals um are set obviously
by the commission and then the city manager goals act almost in support of those um which is where the overseeing of the staff um and those items come into play. So you all have outlined a nice overarching view of where the city's
moving with our vision. Um, so these also work in partnership with it, but I just wanted to kind of mention that in going forward as you, um, create any other goals for yourselves, um, that they do work in harmony. >> Any other thoughts or ideas at this
time? >> Commissioner Britain did raise the question, does the commission want to have another separate session as you did last year? I am willing to really nail this down and make it
complete with a nothing but that session. >> Sounds good to me. I think the last one was really productive. I think we all had a lot of things and it was it was easier to have um those conversations on
smaller items, not our big infrastructure issues that we know that we talk about all the time. um and development and stuff that comes before the commission, but those more t tangible smaller ideas
>> or clean house a little bit >> and do the work session with maybe multiple whiteboards where we can put little dots next to the items that we all like or don't. >> Yeah. The idea is that while the commission meets every other month, normally you're just acting on
resolutions or ordinances. The idea is to have a session for the commission to talk among yourselves on what is it you would like to see accomplished. >> Yeah, >> I can make myself available. We're going to be talking about the goals that we kind of started coming up
with during our last >> where you translated 20 25 goals to 26 goals and maybe as a starting point >> for the Yeah. >> what you got there >> which the next step is the city manager is going to give us his timeline on
those and then we'll sample them. >> So last time we ended up on a Saturday Mhm. Is that right? >> That's Yeah. Saturday, I think, was day. Saturday.
>> Is that what the rest of y'all want to do? >> Yeah. >> You've heard from two. >> Again, I think it was one of our more productive meetings. >> I only rolled my eyes at Patrick one time. That's pretty good.
>> You had sunglasses on. Okay. So, do we want to try to pick a date now? >> The 14th >> of what? >> Valentine's Day. I don't think so. >> You're so funny. >> 21st.
>> Uh, baseball opening day 28. can't do it. >> I'm available March 7th. >> 7th I met robotic states. >> I'd rather be here. Um March 14th.
>> We don't want to push it too far out. That means moving to a Friday maybe. >> Right. >> Is Friday bad for you, Patrick? >> Yeah. I mean during the workday is bad for two of us. >> Oh, that job you have doesn't matter.
>> Is there a month uh is there a month coming up where we we don't have uh two meetings >> into May? >> Is that July? >> Mayormorial day. >> But March has five Mondays, >> not February 21st. March has five Mondays. >> Yes.
>> Well, how about a extra Monday? >> 30th. >> Okay, >> that works. >> I'm available. >> Can do that. >> Starting at >> midnight. >> Okay. And then go all day. >> Ending at midnight.
>> Okay. >> Um 4 >> um >> 4 p.m. work session time. >> Yeah. I mean, since we since it's not necessarily like a work session that's like noticed out there, could we push it
till when everybody gets off? >> Yeah. >> So, like, you know, 5, six to whatever. >> I mean, we we we have to be here at 4 and everybody makes accommodations because that's our regular meeting time, >> right? Well, that's why I started at 4. I'm >> But we don't we don't have to.
>> So, this one can start later. That's why I was asking. Yeah. Five will be better. >> Okay. >> 5 to midnight. >> Well, I don't know. We're starting at 5 on a on a work day. Um, we won't be here till midnight.
>> I was kidding. >> Five until we're no longer productive. that that only gives us maybe three hours to to work till 8, maybe 9, four more hours. >> We can come in earlier. I was just saying, you know, if we if we have the
opportunity to come in a little bit later. I'm not a teacher, but I I >> you know, they don't teach all day. Come on. >> Also, mayor and commissioners, you also have the option not just having one session. Sometimes it's good to have a session and then re get a break from it and then come back and rethink things.
>> Oh, no. We we drag stuff way too long. Let's let's hit it. Let's let's make say some >> No. >> Well, we're not starting from the ground up this time, >> right? >> Hope not. >> Correct. So, February 21st is not an option.
>> I will be out of town. >> No. >> Okay. Just >> And that's also baseball opening. >> Yeah. But that's only till 111. >> Yeah. >> I don't have anything on the 28th. >> They do it. >> Okay. 28th is interfaith ifar,
but we could do it before that, but he can't do it. >> We do it when. >> So that gets us back to March 14th when we said, "Oh, that's pushing out too far." But then we went to March 30th. >> Seventh is out too, right? You said
>> seventh is out. >> The 14th. >> I can do the 14th. >> 14. >> Let's um >> I will be in Alabama. I'm 14. >> 14 on purpose. >> Yes. >> I'm going to be assistant coaching in
Alabama. >> What's in Alabama? >> Nothing. >> They play golf in Alabama. >> I know. >> Wait, this is This story is getting more unbelievable. >> Mobile. >> This is getting more unbelievable. >> Okay.
>> Okay. Which gets us to March 28th. I'm available, >> which is only two days before the 30th. >> And I will be watching by future national champion Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 that weekend, >> but they won't be playing in the morning. >> Yeah, exactly.
>> That's true. We could do it in the morning and then I'll go >> because that was the problem on the 21st is I'm going to the games. All right. We're going to Tampa for the first round. >> We're rooting for each other's teams until we play each other. >> Yeah.
>> So, tentative of Lee the 28th. >> Okay. >> What? Uh 7 a.m. Carrie's cooking breakfast. >> Now, that's a picnic project feeding us. Yeah, but we're getting close to and we've got some more things to do. So,
>> so 28. What we looking at? What's a >> 10 >> n >> 8 or nine? >> I get 6:30. So, eight or nine. >> Nine. >> All right. Okay. 92 whatever.
>> Um all right then and we need to move on because we want to have time for dinner before um the quilt thing starts. >> Yeah. >> So um that gets us to disposition of downtown property. >> Mr. May members of the city commission
the city has been having discussions with the county regarding the three county properties that are downtown that they will be vacating. And with that, I'd like to have Mr. Lassad come up and share with you the current status of that. >> Thank you, Elizabeth. >> Thank you, Elizabeth.
>> Thank you, Elizabeth. So, you'll be switching the slides for me. >> Sure. >> Okay, great. Thanks. Uh, mayor, commissioners, Brady Lazard, city of Sanford economic development department. Uh, the city manager and I have been having an ongoing conversation with county staff that we thought it was uh,
an appropriate uh, junction to give you all an update. Uh, very important conversation that's been going on. Uh, one that really began as I, uh, came on here. I remember the first or second day that I was here, we were touring the courthouse uh, if uh, if I'm not
mistaken. So, uh, happy to be here. Um really the purpose today is to give you an update but but also kind of get your guidance because this is a conversation where time has become of the essence. So the county has been a tremendous partner and I do want to start with
that. I've been working directly with Darren Gray, um Christian Swenson and his office and the sheriff's department in particular as we kind of tour and look at the uh the courthouse and how it fits into the city of Sanford and u uh
the county's plans moving forward. So, I've casually updated a number of you throughout this process, but it again is kind of a good uh junction for uh catching you up on on where we are and see where you would like to uh to go. So, we can get the slide at. Okay. So,
the history of this, let's let's talk about Semino County. Semino County was founded in 1913 and and really since the county's inception, downtown Sanford has been uh the uh geographic area of the county that's housed primarily all government functions. Um we currently
have the county administration building, which you all are very familiar of uh with the civil courthouse. We no longer have a criminal component here in downtown Sanford. Uh the planning and engineering and parks department, but and I know uh Mayor Woodriuff will remember this. Let's not forget uh
Semino County School Board was located in downtown Sanford and I I say downtown over towards uh our Sanford Memorial baseball stadium >> and the jail. >> That is correct. And the jail which hearken back to those days. So the mayor is advocating for bringing more
criminals downtown. >> That's what I heard. So uh the economic impact of that over the years and you think about it 1913 smaller government footprint back then obviously but the economic impact of that is clearly a double-edged sword right so what it has
over the years done is u uh stifle some of the private development that would be on some of these key parcels I can't if we all had a nickel for every time somebody said oh my gosh why would the county admin building be where it is or why is the courthouse where it is or city call where it is. So, it's it's
stifled that in a sense, but the other side of the sword is it's been a massive massive employer base that are customers that eat at the Colonial Room on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday uh and uh shop downtown. Uh so, over the years, it
again has been that uh that double-edged sword. About 20 years ago, maybe a little uh more than that, uh the county started discussing moving the courthouse. That was the first step of of what I would call their uh uh transport of all operations out of
downtown Sanford. So 20 or so years ago, this community had a discussion and it was not a heated discussion. It was just a matterof fact discussion of the county wants a new courthouse. The county is going to have a new courthouse. Are they going to build that courthouse in downtown Sanford or find an alternative
site? So, uh, with that, I I will fast forward to the five points consolidation that Semino County has clearly embarked on. Um, and it will house everything from, uh, the clerk to all of those court functions, all of that county
admin, uh, operations, the civil and the uh, the criminal courts. Uh, parks and wreck actually will not uh, be at five points. I'll get to that a little bit later. But what that theoretically will do for our downtown is something that we need to be proactive about. Uh this is
something I I really wanted to focus on and the city manager has has uh been very supportive of this of of really us taking a look at uh the impact that will occur. So let's not forget I just mentioned criminal courts are out of downtown Sanford.
Criminal courts require what? Juries, right? So, as we go through this presentation, I want to kind of paint the picture of where we were, where we are currently, and where uh we will be in the future. So, the inventory is what we're going to get to next. There's three primary properties. And with that,
we'll jump right into it. Okay. So, the Semino County Administration building, uh again, most of you on this uh dis uh realize that was a former hospital built in 1968. >> I was born there. >> Born there. >> Born Okay, here we go. All right. uh
built in 1968. Uh so you think about that. I think uh Lynon Baines Johnson I think in ' 68, right? Modernist construction. Um interesting building. Uh but again, it houses the vast majority of county administration, permitting, things of that nature. So it
really is a draw for our county. Now remember, we're on the northern end of the county, so you can't begrudge the county for wanting to move their operations a little more central. Altoont Springs in 1913 didn't have a whole lot of population, right? So, the county's reacting to the needs of their
uh constituency. Uh, next slide, please. >> So, the interesting thing about that building is it's a massive complex. Um, you you take a look at it from the aerial there and there's actually off just north uh off of this aerial, the county actually owns a parking lot uh
towards the the lake. So, directly across the street from the front entrance. So the scale of the property is is is massive. Uh this is adjacent to the Mayfair community and the Georgetown community. Georgetown to the south, Mayfair to your east. So it it really
depending on how that redevelops or is repurposed could massively change the complexion of that neighborhood. So it's something we need to be extremely cognizant of moving forward. Uh to the south of the county, you see a couple red squares. There's actually a couple more orphan pieces, I'll call them, uh,
that the county owns. So, across the street, there's a parking lot that primarily, uh, property appraiser staff uses. Uh, there's a, uh, a purchasing building. Uh, there's SGTV. So, there's there's quite a bit of property over there that will no longer be needed uh,
by uh, county administration functions. taking a look at this building and in I I try to do as much as I can uh with uh city uh operations without expending dollars, hard dollars. I I will share with you that throughout this process,
city managers encouraged me to use some of the the contacts, former colleagues that I have in the commercial space, uh the site selection space. If you were to put this on the market today, most likely use that someone would want to come and use this for is an assisted
living facility. They're being converted all over the country, former hospitals into ALFs. Right? The reason I bring that up is I know that many years ago, prior to me being uh in this current role, there was a discussion about our assisted living facilities, what we are aiming for in downtown Sanford of my pay
grade to make that decision. But I will tell you, if that building were to be repurposed, that's your most likely use. Uh so it's just something to be cognizant of moving forward. And mayor, slow me down if you want. I know you've got some time to make up for uh the uh event this evening. Uh next
>> actually before you move on from that, >> I was just reading about speaking of assisted living in Phoenix, Arizona, there is a place where they are combining assisted living with education for senior citizens. And I think that's something that would be wonderful for us
to have here because we know how things are changing where you don't just retire and then that's it. Absolutely. >> You go to school when you're young and that's it. >> Absolutely. And commissioner, I know we're kindred spirits in that regard of a finger to the pulse of those the markets out there. Here's another odd uh situation that I I say odd, but really
adaptive reuse. You're seeing ALF brought in with daycarees >> and these the you know these multigenerational type uses. there's interaction with in in a supervised capacity. So, yes, absolutely. That's an opportunity. >> Brady, one more question um before we
get too far into this and then hopefully it'll help change my mindset on stuff. Um because this question has never really truly been answered. What is the city of Sanford's buy into this? Are we trying to acquire the property? Are we trying to give Simino County what our feedback like? Help me understand that
portion. >> So, the purpose and great question, Commissioner. purpose today uh is to update you on where the conversation is and and uh with Mr. Bonapart's direction, we've been a little bit koi on that as the county has, but but the partnership, their willingness to sit
down and defer to this conversation. So today, I want to explain what's going to be available, what it's currently being used at, and what we think market absorption on the private sector would be uh for you all to make the decision. Okay? And and we do get to that towards the end. >> Okay. commissioner and to the whole
commission like to say that uh the county manager was directed by the chair of the county board of commissioner at the time to get with me to say what would the city like they're leaving and they want to get a sense of if they have some input from the city what would we like for those buildings since it's in
downtown Sanford >> and and in fairness that uh the county administration building the former hospital that's probably the least timesensitive uh from a planning perspective it requires the thought on our part, but they probably won't be vacating that
until late late 27, early 28. That'll be the last operation that's moved out of town and it may even be later. For many, many years, uh, people have been saying the courthouse is leaving next year, and that was 10 years ago, I believe, that conversation started. So, so we need to be cognizant of that as well. Uh, Semino
County Parks Planning and Engineering. This is a beautiful building. And this is on the northern northeastern intersection of FirstN Park, right across from the Wells Fargo building we're all hoping uh will someday uh come into use. Built in 1922. Uh I'm not sure
what I would probably art deco maybe neo gothic uh construction uh and architecture. But I will share with you this. It is beautifully maintained by the county. The county has been a phenomenal steward of this property. I've been in and out
of it both in the private sector and as part of this exercise. Electrical is all in conduit. Uh the roof's been kept well. So things that would bore uh uh folks probably on this panel are are very impressive how the countyy's taken care of that. So I I do want to give
them a hat tip on that. This will be the first building that's vacant. They are already in the process of moving out to the WB Ball property. Uh for anyone uh that hasn't heard, the uh Semino County uh commission purchased a former
equestrian center just north of Silven Lake um soccer complex. Well, in that acquisition, they uh acquired a very large, very fancy uh horse stable for for l that's the accurate statement. They are actually converting that into
office space that their park folks will be occupying and they're in the process of moving now. So, this will be the first one that I would say is vacant and uh and ready for consideration. >> Brady, do you know what the market value on that one is? >> So, it's interesting you ask. This would be of the properties we're
going to talk about today, the one that is most likely uh absorbed by the private sector. If we were to put this on the market, I will share with you this. I believe it was assessed at uh $1.4 million. I would give it a market value significantly higher than that.
probably in the high twos, low threes. Um, but remember as as we talk about the assessments, that last slide, they have the uh the former hospital assessed at $21 million. That's laughably high. But in in David Johnson's defense, there's
been no real uh importance to what that assessment is because remember they're adorum exempt. So there's no taxes being paid on those. So, um, there hasn't been as much need for them to put an actual hard, uh, value on it. Um,
so I I will share with you this, and most of you will probably remember this. Years ago, uh, probably just as Mr. Bonapart was coming on board, this was discussed as a potential alternative city hall site. Off and on, there was conversations about, hey, why is city hall on the lakefront? Perhaps we should
put that into the private sector's hands, move our operations there. Obviously that uh decision was never moved on. Uh but you talk about repurposing this. Think think think Foxtales for instance. So this is about a 20,000 square foot building. Foxtales
is about a 14,000t building. Downstairs retail upstairs could be residential or office, but a very uh easily uh consumed property. Next slide, please. Thank you. Now, here's another interesting thing that you need to take note of as we look at this building. We're always talking
about parking downtown. So you'll see just to the north there's two big squares there. That's right along Hood. >> Those two parking lots think right behind Breezeway. >> These are parking lots that are currently flagged as county parking only. Again, the county has been a very
good partner. They've they've not gotten into the extremely aggressive enforcement of it. It's just they've got it flagged. They'd like their trucks to be able to park there, but they haven't gotten into an aggressive uh move of towing or uh things of that nature. But
understand this, those parcels will come offline as part of the conveyance of this property wherever it goes. >> The only reason I had the uh the box across the street, so to the west of the building, the subject building is listed as number four. That's a city parking
lot. This is our main intersection in downtown. So the concentration of parking that currently exists needs to be part of the equation of of what hands we see that go into. uh very attractive repurposed building and again I I cannot stress enough how
well the city uh the county has maintained it and then next um I mentioned the parking uh you go back Adam I'm sorry so the next site that we're going to look at is the courthouse but again back to these two parking lots that are directly north
of our subject site that's directly south of the courthouse so it really ties into the courthouse then we can go to the courthouse thanks Uh so Seminal County Courthouse. Now if there's a building that is badmouththed more than this in the city of Sanford, I
you know hesitate to uh to venture a guess which it is. So 1973 uh 1973. So you've got Richard Nixon, right? He's uh president at the time. I would call this and Julie Scoffield I didn't see here. So maybe I can act like
I'm an architect. Uh this is more of like a brutalist and this is part of what it's gotten a bad rap on. Uh but I I know this commission's committed to sustainability and resiliency and things of that nature. For many many years the conversation has been somebody needs to
tear this down and build a hotel. Tear this down and build a hotel. I will share with you this means of construction is extremely expensive to demolish. That thing is brutal. Like a bomb shelter. So if if you walk up close there, a lot of poured concrete, very
very u expensive property to tear down. Um but let's go back to the current capacity. It's being used to about 30% of its original design. Again, we wonder why we don't have people eating lunch on
Mondays and Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Folks, we had 10 juries a week walking in and out of there with deputies occupied or uh escorting them down to our restaurants to eat lunch. So, uh you've got a jury, 14 with when you count the two uh backups plus the
deputies eating downtown. You start doing the math on that, it's a tremendous void. Again, uh years ago, Sanford made a deal with the devil to base government primary operations down here. Worked very well for us for 50 years. government is moving out of
downtown. So, we've we've got to find a place to replace uh that traffic. >> To me, it's probably the most exciting from a repurpose perspective. The hospital, it's limited. It's it's ALF. It's it's something creative, but
probably related to ALF. This is a pretty interesting uh operation to look at. So, next slide, please, Adam. Okay. The other interesting thing here is and this this this whole conversation is yes, Semino County owns all the properties that we just discussed, the
three properties. Uh but without the city's cooperation, they're they're really hampered. You look at our subject site. So right above where it says private, uh that's the the courthouse, the aerial of the courthouse, you can see how much parking they actually have because block one belongs to the city.
Okay? So without the city, there's not been any parking for the courthouse effectively for many years. The limited parking that the courthouse does have directly south of the courthouse was primarily for judges and their uh armed um uh escorts in and out of the building
was the the parking there. So the city's in a unique position uh with the county to say, "Hey, you could take this to market without us or or we could potentially massage a deal together." uh to facilitate a a proper reuse of of the
the site uh as a team for perspective and again for 10 years and the mayor may correct me here but I'm not exaggerating for 10 years they're going to move out next year they're going to move out >> I think it's been longer than 10 years I think >> yeah it's probably closer to 20 >> yeah 15 or 20 years but I will share
with you this and I I think uh the city manager and I have heard it loud and clear at our meetings they will be gone at the end of 27 closer to the end of 26. Uh we are going to have a little bit of a spike on daily traffic downtown because as they do some renovations and expansion at Five
Points, they're going to have to move some traffic court folks down here. So, uh we'll see a little bit of a spike, but but they will be gone. If if you talk to the uh the judges in our civil division, they want to get out to the beautiful federalist new construction,
your own closets and all these kind of things uh that those amenities provide. That's really I I mentioned that this is one of the more exciting potential repurposes. I see John in the audience. So John, don't go back and tell George Georgia this, but but we have we have
talked about things that are very creative that I've seen across the state and across the country. Repurposing courouses is happening all over as colleges uh things uh smaller corporate footprints. Say a deote wants an
executive type footprint. I'm not I shouldn't say deote by name but a company like that that needs additional footprints. >> ALF college. >> Pardon? >> ALF college. >> ALF college, you know, childc care center. Right. But
>> vote for John. >> Yeah. Right. Uh but a a tech headquarters. I I can't tell you how many startup tech companies are quirky enough and well capitalized enough to repurpose a building like this. Uh so those are kind of the conversations to
your point, Commissioner Britain, which gets us to the end here uh of of where we are in the conversation and and where we're hoping uh to get some feedback from you all as we move forward. Yes, Commissioner Austin. >> Is the gaming center no longer a conversation?
Uh if we're speaking of the property there on Magnolia Square. >> No, they were talking about taking over the courthouse. >> No, not the courthouse. Uh that's a property east of there. The >> No, originally that's fine. Originally we were talking about the courthouse.
>> Right. Now they're looking at the one east of there. >> Okay. >> Question for you, >> Brady. Yes, ma'am. Um, you you had spoke about the uh the hospital and um I'm pretty sure that like
let me clear this up. You said that the courthouse is more expensive to break. I mean to demolish because it's a sound structure >> where the hospital I've heard needs some work and might not be you know as appealing to try to rehab
>> or um is the court is is would the courthouse if we did some interior stuff would it be e easier sale on that one? I don't I guess what I'm trying to ask is is it an
easy revamp on the inside versus like the hospital can only be used for some things? Would we would someone be able to come into the courthouse and make it work for whatever they're trying to put in? Is it a better >> so significantly easier to retrofit and
repurpose the courthouse? And here here's why. The hospital is truly set up as a hospital healthcare. I mean, our DMV is the former morg, right? So, >> and it's old. >> It's it's very old. >> The the the courthouse in particular is the one that would probably require the
most uh examination, I guess. Uh but the bones are incredibly strong. We've looked at the we're not able to see the actual construction plans yet because of concerns with 911 and security. They still do have judges and and operations
in there. Uh but on site visits that we've taken at no cost uh we we think it could be repurposed. Okay. >> But um and and I know mayor you're you're uh in a hurry here. Okay. So some timelines and recommendations. So the seminal county commission is actually
the board of county commissioners is having a retreat. I believe city manager you and I said March 14th middle of March. They're not saying hey Sanford you know send us a PSA a purchase sales agreement. Let's let's do a deal. What they are looking for is some direction
from us because the the clock has started to tick for them. I mean, it's it's starting to become real that their planning and engineering folks will be out of here in the next 6 to 8 months. They'll they will effectively have vacated that corner. Uh the courthouse in the next year, year and a half. uh
the county building uh significantly longer, but but they're they're looking for, I would say, and city manager, if I'm not uh verbalizing this correctly, let me know, some sort of direction with a conclusion to said direction and
conversation going into that retreat and and in the the coming months, >> I'm getting a sense from what the city of Sanford would prefer for their properties. >> Correct. That's when three foot what? >> Uh March 14th, I believe. Uh Commissioner,
>> and these are definitely all their properties, >> correct? >> 100%. >> These these are all their properties. Um and and let me share with you again just for food for thought. So, Semino County disposition of properties, if if they were to a take them right to market,
they hire a broker and put them on the market, uh they will be uh hampered by the fact that the private sector wants to buy now, right? Uh they can't really sell the county admin building until we maybe move out in three or four years.
uh they could sell the the courthouse and they could certainly sell that planning and engineering building when it's vacated. But that would be one way for them to dispose of it is put it on the market, let the private sector speak. My concerns on that front would be there are folks in the the capital
world that would come in and just land bank it. Hey, I'm gonna buy a courthouse and if I keep it empty for a while, >> you know, when you start running into that um >> planning and engineering building, I wouldn't be as concerned with them keeping that vacant because the absorption rate for that would be very
rapid and it's a pretty quick uh renovation. So, that's one of the the ways that they could uh dispose of their property. They could also repurpose it as a government use. I don't think that will be the case. But what becomes a concern is if they think that that may
be a route they take and then it's absorbed by the notfor-profit market and we just have a continual cycle of uh you know an under capitalized group >> uh in there uh not using it to its full potential. >> So that would be a concern. I what I
think we all would like to see is for these to be back on the tax roles but significantly reactivated with bodies and dollars and shoppers and and folks that want to live downtown. >> Right. >> Uh city of Sanford assessment vehicles.
If if the city commission decides that this is a conversation we want to explore with the county, I would strongly recommend that maybe we do and city manager and I have talked about this that we do spend a little bit of money. Uh it would be interesting to get
one of our um uh on uh contract uh vendors to go in there and scan it. Nowadays, you can put a scanner in a building and and really have the floor plans and things that Commissioner Britain was talking about earlier. With the county courthouse, I think that would probably be the one I would
strongly recommend. the other uh obviously we would want to do some due diligence but the hospital and the uh planning and engineering building I think personally speaking I I have a relative comfort level on the physical condition of those properties um how the city would move ahead if if
the commission and when I say commissions the commissions seminal county commission and the Sanford city commission wanted to explore something the flexibility of an interlocal agreement this is not a u adver adversarial buyer seller you know
conversation it would be occurring it would be really from a team perspective of of solving those I will say this seminal county wants to see those properties back on the tax role revitalized uh and and really contributing to because that's another thing we always forget these properties
would be contributing to their tax base right so all three of these uh well two of the three anyway are located in the the previous CRA so bringing them online for the county would be a huge uh huge step forward for them
and that if the city were to uh take on the work of doing this city of Sanford's disposition strategy, my goal would be if we were to negotiate a amanable agreement with the Semino County Commission, I would want to have those
properties probably sold before we ever own them, if that makes sense. Because again, we'd be working with an ally, Semino County, in gaining control of those properties. Yes, we would have to invest some soft cost to better understand those properties and market
those properties. Uh but that would be uh my goal for it. City manager has not identified any city need for those properties for city functions. I think with the recent renovations here at city hall uh there he and his staff are pretty comfortable that our admin uh
administration needs are served. But uh with that I would just uh next slide Adam I think is any questions uh direction that you would like to give? I know, mayor, you've been privy to a little bit of this, so you may be uh >> I and as we talked before, I think the
um the engineering building there on First Street makes sense to get on the private marker market. I would like to somehow keep some of the parking. >> So, and this this is how the sausage is made. So, if I'm Semino County and I
want to sell that building, uh wait a minute, mayor. you want some of our parking which would enrich the value of our building. And that's why I I stay awake at night thinking about real estate. I love real estate. And and I think when you start looking at these three properties, things like that come
to mind immediately. How do we keep that parking in there? Now, if I'm Semino County and I'm looking at the courthouse, wait a minute, my courthouse is worthless without the city's cooperation on the parking. So there seems to me, and this is it, Mr. Bonapart and I have had a number of
conversations, some of which have gotten to the technical level. Seems to be there's a a rational path for both parties to end up whole. In this case, Semino County does want to be made whole. >> Uh they've got some uh construction
shortfalls that they would like to make up with whatever type of agreement we come to. But in real estate, you get price or terms. And in this case, uh it's it's a rare occasion where I think the city of Sanford can get both. Not that we have any money, but would it
be maybe an investment for us to land bankank the engineering building? Um, number one, we we could use the parking and then it could turn around to where we, you know, we get a big return on
that one. I know you talked about you wouldn't want anybody land banking at the courthouse, but if we're thinking about like how many people, you know, visit and shop, the people at the engineering building aren't the people that are actually, you know, they bring their lunch from home and so on and so forth. So, we're not really missing
anything right there. Being that you love real estate, would it be an investment for the city to acquire that property? Hold on to it for a minute. So, I I would be very cautious from my current position and my boss sitting across from me to recommend any
speculative real estate move. I will say this that when you take the conglomeration of those three properties in downtown Sanford, it's the most significant impact to downtown Sanford that has happened in decades and and if not handled with care. Mhm.
>> Uh but to your point, the and the mayor's point, I think probably everyone on the commission would agree, the planning and engineering building at the corner of First and Park Avenue could be monetized very rapidly. In other words, could be sold into the market. And remember, if we in any way,
shape, or form controlled part of that conversation and zoning uh and planning and engineering, our folks, Eileen's team, you know, we could guide that. they would be subject to uh you know downstairs retail, all of the things that Julie Scoffield would want to talk
about. And so um I I I think there's an opportunity for the city and the county to work together, but but it it's it's a task. So mayor, members of commission, it is now quarter to six and you have a meeting at 6 and you still need to have
some time to eat. Um, as Brady said, the county will be looking to have their retreat in March. So, we do have another meeting before that. This is something for you to think about digesting and then we can bring it up again at the next meeting. >> All right. >> Consider it digested. Thank you, Brady.
>> Thank you, mayor, commissioners. Thank you very much. >> Mr. Mayor, members of the commission, real quick, I'd like to have Cindy talk about the budget calendar. We had our first budget meeting today for the budget for the 2027 year. And while she's coming up, I'd like you
to invite you to see the artisan square next to the information center that we have some artwork done >> as well as in the clock tower. Um, >> Magnolia >> Magnolia Square. Yes. So, the lights if you go by there at night, you'll see
different lights. It's beautiful. It's done by uh Parks and Recreation, Mr. Jerry. So Cindy in two minutes. >> Good afternoon. Um I just wanted to um speak a little bit on the dates for the workshop session. Um currently we have
them scheduled for um July 8th and then the second for July 15th. I just wanted to check with the commission to make sure that those are okay. >> July 8th, Wednesday. Yes. >> Yes. >> He's doing some jamming out there.
>> They've already started the party. >> Okay. >> July 8th. >> I'm available. >> Yeah. What time are we going to do that? >> Hoping two or three. >> Okay. July 8th and what? >> 15. >> Two or three.
>> So, both dates and one day. >> Well, we hold both dates, but usually the last couple of years we have not used the second date. I'm good. >> Eight's good. 15
>> probably. >> Either two to three. >> 15 to two to three is good for me. That's the That's the sweet spot. >> Okay. >> Well, you're still awake. I'm going to smack you.
>> What time, guys? >> True. >> That's between Main Street and Main Street and Toy County Week of Cities. >> All right. Got it. We're good. >> Good. >> Good. >> Is that it? >> That's it.
>> All right. >> Got them. >> Two. >> All right. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. >> Thanks, Andy. >> Anything else? Okay, we're journed. There's dinner upstairs if you hurry. Um, >> hurry, hurry, hurry. >> Outside at 6.
>> Step right up.