--------- Good evening. I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting of February 3rd, 2026 to order. Um, if you'll join me in standing, the mayor is going to lead us in the prayer and the pledge. >> Please follow me. >> Lauren, thank you once again for the fine city that we live in. Thank you for the staff that keeps it running smoothly. Thank you for the first
responder that protect us. We appreciate you bringing a little sunshine and warm weather today and just keep it up. We ask so all we do we do in your name, Jesus Christ. Amen. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, Kathy, can you call the role, please? >> Here. >> Here. here. >> Here,
>> here. >> Stewart >> here. Uh, if there's anyone in the audience that has something they'd like to speak about that is not an agenda item, if you could fill out one of these public comment forms and turn it into clerk Haley, we'll get to public comment later on in the meeting. Uh, mayor's report. >> Well, just a few things I attended. We
had went to the Advent Health Groundbreaking for 120 to $150 million addition for a Kath, not a Kath lab, but a heart lab which includes open heart surgery. And so that's a huge expansion that they're doing. It's really kind of
exciting. Going to be big for our community, for the whole county. Um we had our uh uh coffee with the mayor. What's up downtown attendance? I think we had probably 50 people there and a lot of good comments. And we're going to try to
help us give us some ideas of how do we keep the momentum going from the HTTV and service our customers. ing our uh visitors and and the people in the downtown and how we make the downtown stronger. So, it's a good meeting. Uh up
bear is coming to town this weekend. If you haven't seen all the rides and the corn dog machines and everything else out there, it's here. So, just be careful with your cash if you get something from somebody. So, can happen a lot of fraudulent cash we see coming with the fair. But other than that, it
should be a big fair. That's all I have. Um, council members reports that >> round two. >> Well, staying longer. Just want to say thank you to Jared uh for hanging out
with me last week in Tallahassee. So, I think it was a pretty successful trip all in all. Hopefully, we come back with something between 300 and 2.8 million from that trip. So, we're looking to get some more answers on property tax and we
don't have answers to property tax. It's uh I will say everybody is aware of it. Everybody's knows that it's going to impact the communities and municipalities, but there isn't anything yet to to bring back solid. So, >> good question. >> Uh oh.
>> How are they going to replace that? Or do they have any idea? >> If you find out, let us know. But we haven't heard anything. >> Well, nobody said anything. That's what I wanted. >> We're going to talk about a piece of that here in just a little bit. I think >> fire assessment,
>> right? Yeah. >> That's the report there. >> It'll just it'll have to be assessments. >> It has to be and people are going to be unhappy with us >> allowance from the state. >> We all have to chip in our dollar. So
hopefully we get some clarity in the coming weeks as they finish up session. >> Okay. Uh, I just want to mention one thing for those watching. We did have a workshop today on the golf course that's available to watch online on YouTube if you got a spare three and a half hours to watch. It was a marathon one.
>> Mr. I want to add something else. >> Yes. Okay. >> Yeah. A McGowan stopped by, dropped a flyer off. It's for all first responders on Saturday. This Saturday at Bountiful Blessings Gym on MLK Boulevard is a uh
lunch in that they put on for first responders and emergency personnel. So, and they invited the city council also. So, any of you that are out there that haven't gotten an invitation, it's uh from 12 to 2:00 p.m. at Bonifa Blessings Gym. Um so, they've done this the last
couple years. So, all invited if you're a first responder, emergency personnel. Uh, we're going to now move on to the consent agenda. Um, I do have one thing I would like to pull to table from the
consent agenda if council is willing. Item number 8H, appointment to a planning and zoning board. Um, I had someone I know interested in applying to that board and I would rather us table it for another meeting to have more than one application to consider.
The rest of council is amenable to that. Any other questions or comments on the consent agenda from council? >> Did they just not get their application turned in on time or interest was shown after? >> I don't think they were aware there was an opening. Got it. You know, I I find that a lot. You know, unless people are
watching it like a hawk, um sometimes they're not aware that those openings are are there and they get quickly at times and sometimes they sit for a little while. Just don't know. >> Um but that's it really. Any questions or comments from the
public on the consent agenda? >> I'll entertain a motion. >> Make a motion that we accept the consent agenda as proposed. Pulling 8H be tabled until further. >> Second. Right. We have a motion in a
second. Uh Kathy, could you call the role, please? >> Bishop, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Stewart. >> Yes. All right. There is no old business, no new business, no business from the audience, no city attorney's business.
We're going to move on to item number 13A, city administrators business. >> Good evening, council. 13A is uh a request establishing uh fire assessment rates for fiscal year 26 27.
We do this annually. We've already budgeted um for the process to implement the annual fire assessment. Uh last year when we were doing this we raised our fire assessment
to the cap and if you wish to go above the cap we would have to notice all of the rest and or
so um um and the cost of doing that is $9,266. 6. Uh if you wish to do that, what I would ask if you're looking to raise the assessment and or I would ask you to
also establish a new cap. We had talked priorly about doing a new assessment next year when we have EMS call data. And if we're going to do that, um
hopefully we can get that done in that time frame, but for some reason it didn't happen, we'd want to have flexibility to move towards, you know, say that cap chose to do so.
>> So you're saying it cost us 9,000 to >> to notice >> to notice >> to notice everyone, which we must do in order in addition to the 15 >> addition to what >> the 15.
>> Okay. >> So I I mean I kind of drove this bus whenever we brought before us at our meeting what was a couple months ago and it it wasn't even really a predetermined thing. It just kind of hit me in the moment that we're using ad
valorum taxes to fund our most expensive budget and adorum taxes are very possibly going to go away. So I thought, you know, why are we trying to do that? The fire department should fund itself.
Um it's the biggest portion of our budget. I don't even think I've had a conversation with the fire department on assessment rates. it just kind of hit me at the moment like I say but that was my thought process. Um
I mean it's a big number coming out of our adalorum every year. >> So any potential changes to adalorum state probably won't come until next tax year right
2728 tax year. >> We think we need to have flexibility to raise rates this year. I don't really want to spend 10,000 bucks if we have no intention of right
>> of raise raising the rate this year. >> But if we want the flexibility in budget time, then we have to do that. >> I think we need the flexibility. >> I got a shake from the mayor just trying to stay awake. I understand that.
>> So when we >> can do that >> to renotice >> and set it up for me to predict. >> So if we we've already budgeted to do the study, correct? >> Yeah. >> No, that's what he's asking for. >> No,
>> 155 is just to implement our current fire assessment. That's it. Okay. >> Pass the resolution, all that stuff. study won't come till next year until we have new data. >> This is not for the study, >> right? I'm just asking >> not for the study and the study is likely
it's probably going to be >> my guess and you will be renoticing the customer base at the end of that study >> no matter who does the stuff. So
let me if we do if we notice the customer base now do we have to notice them again after we get the results of the study then I say we don't do >> so we say 18,000 >> study won't be till next year so it means we won't have >> it's a new point why would we do this
the noticing if we're not going to know what to raise the assessment to right >> then we have to re you're going to have a new dollar yeah you're gonna have new algorithms and new dollar figures after the studies. >> Yeah. I don't think we're going to raise the assessment until we get the results
of a study. >> Right. >> That would be my thought. >> Well, if if if we would have to do another 9,000 to notice after we got the study, I would say we don't want to spend this time. >> Right. >> Right.
>> Okay. And that's my thought as well unless unless we had a strong indication we were going to raise rates this year, you know, which I don't >> I don't plan on doing it until we get the results of >> Right. >> Right. Okay. >> the medical costs and what what that's actually costs are. Yes.
>> Okay. >> I have a pretty good guess what they are. >> All right. So, I need a motion, but let's go ahead and get a motion to leave the Do we have any public comment on this before we
>> Okay. I make a motion that we leave the uh as is this year. >> Second option is what you're doing.
>> Correct. >> Yes. >> And that generates roughly >> right. Okay. >> All right. We have a motion to second. Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Ch. >> Yes. >> Stewart.
>> Yes. >> All right. Moving on to item 13B. Uh, city administrator project report. >> Take it away. >> So, the, uh, only material changes to the project report. U FDOT road swap. The mayor sat in on a meeting
and I believe Steve Kramer sat on a meeting as well. Uh so we're proceeding forward with the road swap. Uh but they will start paving repaving Kennorth I mean from State Road 17 from
Kennallorth to roughly the Parkway. Uh that's supposed to start in May. That's really time. They're still drafting documents. Then TDC did pass a motion at their January 29th meeting to recommend a 50%
cost share to the county commission uh of the synergy proposal that you all entertained at your last meeting. And then I've added merit system for employee evaluations staff will be undertaking soon to have it ready to implement for budget year.
>> Thank you. Any questions or comments? Um, when when do you foresee the RFP being ready for the women's club? >> So, like >> just curious. >> I think it's going to be ready.
>> Shortly after >> Just curious how soon we're going to have another workshop. >> Shortly after your next >> after the 19th. >> What did you say? >> Shortly after the 19th. >> After the 19th. Yes.
>> All right. Great. Um, anything else for Scott from council? Anything from the public report? Okay, we're going to move on. Last but
not least, item 14A. Cla. >> So move. >> Second. >> All right, we have a motion and a second. Call, please. Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned. Part: 2
lease RFP presentations of Thursday, February 3rd, 2026. Um Kathy, can you call the role, please? >> Mayor Shu >> here. >> Fish >> here. >> Carla >> here. >> Avery >> here. >> Coch >> here. >> Stewart >> here. So before we get going, just want
to introduce the purpose of this workshop. It's to allow uh proposers responding to the request for proposal for the lease of the Sebring municipal golf course property to present their concepts, qualifications, and proposed terms and to provide city council and the mayor with an opportunity to ask
clarifying questions. Uh one thing to note again, this is a workshop only, which means no votes will be taken. A vote on these proposals will happen at our meeting of February 19th here in these chambers at 5:30 p.m. There will be additional public comment available
at that vote. Um, and the way that we're going to do this meeting, the order, we're going to start um with the the presentations. So, they are going to be drawn randomly by the mayor, the order of those presentations. Each presenter will have 30 minutes to
go over their proposal. Uh, 30 minutes for council and the mayor to ask questions, and we'll move on to the next one. After all three proposals are done, uh, council and the mayor will have one more opportunity for discussion, remarks, then we will open it up to public comment. uh for everyone and then
some followup for presenters at the end if necessary. Um again just just reminder this is being recorded and livereamed so if you know someone who is not available to be here it will be uh up on YouTube right now um and no vote will be taken. You'll have the
opportunity to to add your comments or concerns before that meeting and again before a vote is taken on February 19th. Okay. Oh, and one last thing. it's not on the agenda. I expect this to be a pretty long workshop. Um, we are going
to probably pause for a bathroom break about halfway through uh likely after the second proposal. Um, I don't know that I can make it for the full length of this workshop and I imagine that that is uh a consistent trend throughout this room. So, we'll
we'll assess probably after the second second presentation and go from there. Uh, all right. And I think that's it. And so the first thing that we are going to go ahead and do then um oh to to name the submitts we have three submitts. Uh
the first was from the H&L golf group. Second Harter Hall Historical Hotel LLC/Blackman Family and third Sports Med Properties. Mayor is going to draw the the names from each one of these and once proposals start he'll be keeping the clock. Um and same thing when we get
to public comment, Mr. Mayor. So this is for proposal number presentation number one. Get my hand in the workshop's done. First up, the historic Carter Hall Hotel black. Go ahead and draw.
H&L Golf Group second and then Sports Med. So, okay. So, Carter Hall/Blatin family, uh, you guys are up and 30 minutes for your presentation. Thank you. Good evening, mayor. Good afternoon,
city council members, city administrator Neley here and members of the public. Thank you for your time and your service and your commitment to the future of Cran. On behalf of our entire team, I am honored
to present our proposal future golf course in the city of Sebr. At its core, this proposal is about relieving the city of a long-standing financial burden while preserving and improving public asset. At its core, this proposal is about, excuse me, over the last four fiscal
years alone, the golf course has lost the city 1,694,684 and is projected to exceed this year's estimated loss of $333,45. By the end of this year, 5year operating deficit will surpass $2 million.
For perspective, the city's total annual add tax revenue is just over $7 million. That is not a sustainable trajectory. Before getting into specifics, it's important to clarify the fundamental choice before you today. This is not simply a decision between golf course
operators. It's a choice between a short-term management proposal and a destination resort anchor proposal with long-term capital risk. To understand how we've arrived here, it's important to remember that the golf course have always been intertwined. The original developers built and gifted the
first clubhouse in the city. When the hotel entered bankruptcy, the new buyers agreed to resume construction only if the city assumed responsibility for operating force in perpetuity. In exchange, developers gave the city the land with stipulations attached to its future usage and construction
continue. 100 years later, the city shoulders that cost burden. Today, that structure no longer serves the city's financial interest. We are requesting a long-term lease, provides the certainty necessary to invest
significant capital, improve operations, and attract visitors from across Florida and beyond. This type of public private partnership is neither novel nor experimental. It has been used successfully elsewhere and has even been used previously to see itself, allowing long-term private control underlying
public ownership. The city's RFP stated that its goals were to one, transfer operations to a qualified entity. Two, enhance tourism in Sever Island Highlands County. Three, foster job creation, economic growth, and four, establish a financially
sustainable long-term plan for property. When measured against those criteria, our proposal stands apart. Other proposals focus primarily on offering developers standalone business. Our proposal is the only one that addresses all three goals together. long-term financial sustainability,
tourism generation, and economic growth beyond the fairways. Highlands County is an extremely competitive golf market with more than 11 courses currently in operation today. There is a reason public courses across the region struggle financially. Even experienced operators tell you that
breaking even, let alone turning a profit, is not bad. You'll hear shortly from our partners at DTE Golf Management and Drew Locker. DTE is one of the most respected golf respective golf course management firms in the southeast
actively operating more than 30 courses. They initially had no intention to respond to this RFP because of the financial challenges inherent to this market. Their participation reflects confidence not in easy profits but in our broader vision. We do not need the golf course itself to
be profitable. We are willing to back stop any and all losses that may be incurred. That is why TT agreed to partner with us. This distinction matters. Other proposals must rely on golf course profitability to succeed. Ours does not.
We are structured to absorb losses of golf continues to struggle because success is driven by the resort as a whole, not by golf margins alone. We intend to operate the course of the loss leader using to support the success of Harter Hall as a destination.
In doing so, the city benefits from job creation, increased tourism, expanded tax revenue, and a revitalized public amenity without carrying the financial risk. No standalone golf course in this market can function destination driver on its own. Every other course in the region
relies heavily upon a budding homes, the HOA drive revenues. A resort anchor changes that equation entirely. Our lease proposal is $1 per year. This is not a revenue trade-off. It is a risk transfer. The city does not give up income. It gives up losses. In an
average subsidy of approximately $400,000 per year, this proposal removes a significant and ongoing financial drain from the city's budget. If the lo if the course continues to lose money, we will absorb those losses. That is a commitment no other proposal can make.
Our team brings proven experience. Drew Locker was the director of design and construction for Mosaic Corporation for the construction of Stream Resort. Today, all three of Stream's courses are ranked in the top 100 public courses nationally, and Streamong's Red consistently ranks as the number one
public force in the state of Florida. Streamong has become a nationwide destination will manage capital improvements here. Just as important as experience is commitment, our proposal is the only one that includes defined capital investment, ongoing reinvestment, and long-term stewardship
rather than improvements made only if operations allowed. GT golf actually manages more than 30 courses based in Florida. Florida Golf is not the Northeast. Climate, turf, insurance, labor, and seasonality are different. Experience operating here matters. This
is the only proposed management team currently operating forces in the state of Florida. The community has been clear. At a recent town hall meeting hosted by Commissioner Don Elwell, only 8% of attendees p supported converting the golf course into additional sports fields. The number one choice of
attendees with 59% support was quote, "I don't want to see any of these projects." Understandably, residents want their tax dollars used wisely. Desire would exist now to be made better. We are offering to do exactly that at our own expense. If another group is selected in the course
continues to struggle, the city resumes the There is no buffer. There is no back stop. Under our proposal, the risk stays with us. A vote for this proposal delivers immediate return on investment. Overnight, hundreds of thousands of dollars are freed up for playgrounds, Max lawn, the new city hall project, and
other community priorities simply by eliminating the golf course subsidy. It also provides the certainty required for us to continue investing confidently in Harter Hall, using local contractors, creating good paying jobs, and strengthening Sebring's reputation as a place to visit.
Just last week, a national auto race publication contacted us for an interview on Harter Hall. That kind of attention does not come from standalone golf course. It comes from destination level investment. Our goal is true public buyin. While not every resident will stay overnight at the hotel, they will come for drinks, dining, the golf
course, and the amenities. That is how this project benefits everyone. In closing, this proposal delivers immediate financial relief, long-term sustainability, and meaningful economic impact without sacrificing public access or control. This is not just a golf course contract, but a city-shaping
proposal. We are looking 100 years at the future of SER can craft a brighter future for everyone. We believe this is the most responsible path forward for the city of Sever, and we look forward to building a strong partnership together. Thank you for your time. Next, you'll hear from TT management.
I director golf division for down to earth down to earth got our start as a landscape and irrigation contractor I don't want to bore you with the details but a long time ago uh we were heavily involved with the
villages and the villages wanted an outsource maintenance solution for their golf courses. We were doing a lot of landscaping in there and so we agreed to do it. We hired some good golf people and kind of the rest is history. We have grown it to like Robert said, we have
grown it to actually 41 golf courses. Uh we have courses as far north as Ohio, Texas, Carolas, but the majority about 36 of them are in the state of Florida. Um, we have three main divisions within our
golf division. I know that sounds weird, but uh, we have a construction division. We renovate golf courses. We build golf courses and we we basically do everything on a golf course you can think of. We also have our our core
business, which is the outsource maintenance. It's kind of unheard of. A lot of people in the golf industry don't even know what outsource maintenance is. But if you can think of it like if you're familiar with like a TR or a big company that manages the golf course, the owner hires them and they kind of
lose control of the golf course. TR's making decisions for them and all that kind of stuff. We sit right there in the middle. We are experts. We handle the golf course side. They still run the the management of the golf course. Um over the years we've partnered with many
municipalities um and and we did a good job. It was for outsourcing only. Uh those municipalities said, "Hey, we're not in the business of of owning golf courses and running golf courses. Can you help us out?" So we manage golf courses.
When I say we've got 38 in the state of Florida, um only seven of those are complete managed golf courses where we handle the food and beverage, we handle the pro shop, we handle everything in the golf course. But our our main primary focus is golf course uh golf
course maintenance and uh been very successful. I believe in our proposal, this is not proposal, but um uh in our proposal it shows. I think I showed probably 17 or so different um
references and I I encourage you to call each and every one of those and obviously I picked them for certain reasons mainly because they're similar to yours, municipalities or um this is just part of our proposal goes over kind
of what I just said. This is our core competencies. We do partner with a third party um and we have the ability to we're one of the first ever to do this but we use um kind of it's like AI and satellite
imaging. So satellite imaging of of a golf course. You can think of Google Earth. Well, this then measures turf health on a golf course which is really great. You can you can notice hot spots, notice problem things before the naked eye can see. And we're able to get ahead of it. which is one of the reasons why
on average we increase revenue and number of grounds played at all of our golf courses by 25%. Um we do have a dedicated aronomy team uh led by Chris Shamro. He was the first um ever hire on the golf division. Uh
he's a superintendent. Got a start at reunion. He ran all the golf courses at reunion but he was the first hire. He's my direct report. Um and then director of operations is Travis Anderson. He handled a lot of the purchasing and that
kind of stuff for uh equipment for materials for um chemicals all that kind of stuff. So he'll work hand in hand uh with the regional superintendent. Um the regional superintendent would be Dave Smitty. We have uh six regional
superintendents within Down to Earth. And what a regional superintendent does is each one of our regional superintendents has uh six and 10 golf courses that they're in charge of. All of our golf courses has a on-site superintendent just like your golf
course has now or 99% of other golf courses as well. But we believe that the superintendent should be out in the field understanding the golf course uh working hand in hand and not sit behind a desk looking at you know irrigation parts and that kind of stuff and doing a bunch of order. So the regional
superintendent handles that and it's kind of a a backup plan as well in case the super something happens to the superintendent. And then our our business models we like to keep as many employees as possible. Each one of
the references that I'm going to show you if you call them you can ask if we kept kept the majority of the employees. We want to keep it. It would be business suicide for us to get the reputation to come in and we fire everybody and bring in new people. We are a large employer. We have over
4,500 employees within down to earth 900 or so which are in the golf division. But because we're a large employer, we are also verified. Uh we are a drugree workplace. We have all the benefits that you could imagine. 401k, health, dental,
vision, all that stuff. So the employees that are currently there all have access to that. They do not have to participate. I don't know exactly how your benefits work with them now. They don't have to participate, but it's offered to them. And obviously, we we do participate paying about 50% of their
benefits. Um because, as I said, we have 4,500 employees and we're a large employer. Obviously, safety is our number one concern. Just kind of threw that in there, everybody. Um it's It's it's one of the most important hot
buttons with our CEO and with the top down approach. So safety is comes number one. Um okay so here's some of the municipal courses. This is not all inclusive as I said but uh Highland Park just threw that in there because it is Ohio. Just
kind of show you that we do have uh golf courses outside of of Florida. Uh Char Springs is pretty close to you guys. I'm pretty familiar with that. clubs in South Carolina. These are all um all three of those are between
rivers. They're all municipal golf courses and they're very similar to kind of what you have here. Um and we we not only maintain these, we we manage all these municipal courses as well. And then the U golf course as well. Um on
top of just municipal golf courses, we we don't just specialize in municipal courses. We have ship style golf courses. We have pay to play courses. We have private golf courses. It's we've got nine hole golf courses and executive golf courses. Essentially, we are golf course
aronomous and professionals. And if it's got, you know, people are playing golf there, we can handle um here's just some of the championship golf courses that we have. Uh and I can provide actual contact people and that kind of stuff if
you're interested in calling them. I I do encourage everyone I talk to um to call our references. I think that's that's the best way to figure out that we um and then obviously we've got all the
licenses, certifications, we are bonded, we have all that, anything that you could want. Our insurance coverages are are way exceed kind of what your expectations or requirements would be. Um and Lastly, I just want to touch on
kind of how I got with Black Families. They uh I've been doing this for a long time. It's the first time in my career that anyone ever talked to me about partnering with them uh with the goal of not to make money at the golf course. Um
that's not their main goal. Uh obviously the hotel and driving, it will be a goal for them, I'm sure, over the course of five years, but the golf course in order to be profitable, uh I don't have a magic I can't tell you that we're going to go in there with
your same employees pretty much and just because Down to Earth is there, you know, who are going to turn a profit like that. That's it's not going to happen. And honestly, if anyone says that that's what's going to happen, it just won't. Um, so I I I believe that the best partner
would be the Black family just because obviously they're willing to take the losses. As I said, it's a risk transfer. We are a strong partner for them and we believe that best suited to get the golf course to where you guys want to be.
Drew, >> good afternoon. Uh Drew Locker, work with the Blackman family. Um quick update just to give you a 10 second update. Um the golf course and the restaurant located there are important to the resort. And just to touch base on
resort roof is on if anyone's noticed. Windows are installed in the north wing. And if I could get the temperature to come come up a little higher, we can paint the north wing. So in about two to three weeks, you're going to see the north wing painted. We've moved on to the south wing with windows and grand
doors and a lot of other work. Um the Black Leafs have invested a significant amount of money. Um I pay the bills for it. So I see it going out the door. So we look at the golf course and you look at the restaurant and I'm going to talk about a little bit about the restaurant group that we brought in. Brought in a
company called the Landing Group out of Tampa. Um big um operator of they do kind of a consulting group aspect of it. They have their chefs on board. It's it's actually interesting. The guy who is their uh head head chef on staff,
Robert H. Um, if you look him up, he's from Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay, all over TV, which is kind of a very nice guy just finished a restaurant with him. But when we look at the golf course and the restaurant in particular, it is part of the FNB program at the resort.
Currently, when we look at the resort, there's four FNB venues right now. We consider the golf course restaurant one of the four. It probably falls third um in there uh because the fourth one that we're proposing um is the pool bar that
has cold sandwiches where this would be third and then we have higher um kind of a higher end uh restaurants and fine dining that will go with the resort but we look at this as part of the FNB program for the whole resort. So one of the challenges that you have when and
you know I spent 10 years of my life out in stream. So the biggest challenge that we had out there was you bring in you have the food and beverage operations guys who I said were used in landing groups very well. They can do high-end. They also they also do a lot of things that are on the water. They do some
lower end very casual stuff. The problem we always have out is finding that balance. Um you know Joe and Robert and I are avid golfers. when you come off the golf course, you're not looking for, you know, a $62 truffle infused filean
burrito or whatever some chef's coming up with. You know, you want you want to you want to come out there and it's like, all right, we're hot. We're this. I want a hot dog. I want a pickle. I want a cold beer. You know, I don't want to spend $50 on lunch. So, you find that balance because there will be days at the resort during lower occupancy times
that we have 10 minutes. >> Thank you very much. So you you may have times um at the resort during the slower seasons where the restaurant across at the golf course may be the only venue open for lunch. So you may say, "Oh yeah, we have lunch today is over
there." So it's important that that restaurant over there does a lot of things. So when we talk to the group there and we we're doing FNB programming, we talk about three meal restaurants, we talk about fine dining, we talk about bars, um and we talk about
the golf course restaurant which needs to be good for a golf course. You got to go in and get a burger and not spend a lot of money. As everyone knows here, it's a popular place. People people come there for lunch that have nothing to do with golf. So, you need to be able to keep that thing, include the brand
standards that we're going to set the standards pretty high at the resort, but be able to understand that this thing needs to do a lot. It needs to do a lot as far as that restaurant goes. Um, it needs renovation. You know, there may be, again, we Robert and I have talked a
lot about this. Um, you know, it's going to need a new kitchen. It's going to need renovation on the inside. So, there would be some time where you're going to have to come offline where you're going to have to do renovation work to it. But, would be programmed and designed as part of Harvard Hall and that's how I
think it's different from any of the other people who are presenting to us. It is just one component of many for us. It's very important for us to have the amenity of the golf course, the amenity of you know the golf course restaurant,
the pro shop. When you have all that the hotel will be successful, the hotel will drive people to play golf which will do that and it's very at least two things to coexist. You can have resort so many rounds for Zark golf. Your local players still get to come play and enjoy the
course the way it's been for years as a municipality. And like I said, they can go into the restaurant, have lunch. They can go in before they're around and grab a egg and cheese sandwich that doesn't cost you $48. So these are the things that I try to instill with the group
here, especially Robert gets it because like I said, he's a golfer. He gets it. You need to find balance and we need to understand that having this group together and the group of professionals that we've put together. I've built a lot of golf courses. It's actually funny
you had Remington on your list was the first golf course I ever built when I was out of college and knew absolutely nothing about golf courses. But it's probably why I had problems with it. But they have a uh they have they when when you go through and we and we do this and
you build the resort, it it will drive traffic. Will they be able to invest more into the golf course? Yes, absolutely. But we can't ever lose sight. And Robert and the Blackman family totally understand this. You can't lose sight. It's a municipal course that people have to go do. When
we did streams on, it was very important that streams on state as a public course. Now, it's prohibitively expensive. I get that sometimes, but for what we have here, it needs to be missile course that people can use and enjoy. But it also for us is much much more important. And it's why willing to
take such a big loss to cover this so we can have the amenity to the resort. So, Carter Hall is going to be beautiful. You're going to see it. Trust me, I spend a lot of time in that place. So, um, thank you for your time and, uh, I hope you understand that we have a
long-term vision. We're not just here to come operate golfers. Thank you. >> Robert, you have six minutes left. of your presentation for complete. Okay. All right. So, we're going to move on to 30 minutes for council and the
mayor questions and comments. Who would like to get us started off? >> Robert, if you want to step back up there so we can hear you. Um, you know, this is a public course and when we've talked in the past you were going to keep it a public course on our lifetime
memberships and are you still is that still in the plan? >> Make it affordable for local. >> Okay. >> And make it an affordable course for >> right. I mean that's the main thing is we were talking about you already have
such competitive market you can really When you have an issue like we have with the market in county, you have to either compete with price or with quality. So you're not going to be able to to undercut much more. It's already basically all the courses are within $10
each other in the county right now. So what we're planning on doing is making the experience better so we can get more traffic to then, you know, incrementally have that profit on each player to try and decrease the loss. On that note, um, talking about making
the experience better, what changes do you envision regarding the layout of the course or do you envision any layout changes? >> Uh, don't really have any plans for layout changes. Uh, I think there's a lot of
areas for improvement. I think the first couple things irrigation is going to have to be redone um you know in the next three years uh tar paths uh need to be uh adjusted redone and then I think the greens the
greens are aging um I think they're going to have to be redone but I don't think as rerouting the golf course or changing holes that's kind of up to the black but uh I I don't I don't foresee a need to have to change the entire golf course or
another route. >> Yeah. To be honest with you, um the course is old enough now uh you know it's 100 years old that you want to you don't want to make major changes because then you're you're competing against the
newest and the best. want to try and lean into the heritage tourism of it and the fact that it is a historic course of health trail publicizing we do want to put in over the next few years a couple at least a couple uh
bonds for drain because we know heard a lot of feedback from the neighborhood we've seen ourselves there drain problems in the neighborhood any kind of relief will help the entire area so that's kind of the one big topography change. >> Are you planning on doing any additional
structures or buildings on the on the property or to increase the amenities? >> Yeah, what we're hoping to do is right now is um enhance and renovate the current clubhouse.
>> Um we know in the kind of groundskeeper area there's issues with those buildings. uh roof issues, some roofs not existing. So, we're going to try and repair basically what's there first and then do an entire facility assessment, but the plan is basically
take what you have, make it better, and then if you need expansion, you know, go for that. >> Okay? >> Like there's no plan in place now for expansion. >> One of the one of the things that we that you've noticed, you have there's a lot of small kind of lost leaders there. One big miss I think there is some
outdoor dining. We have some areas in the back um of the building right now that can immediately for very low cost, add some outdoor dining, add some areas where people can, you know, get their lunch, come outside and do that. But the the building itself, you know, when you come in, you're going to have to start
renovation of the kitchen. I mean, that's obviously the first thing. Hoods, all a lot of things need some attention in there, which is not it's going to get new equipment, everything will go in there. But there are some areas where, you know, that building um it's an interesting you're going to have to take
a little bit of time to add to the architecture to it, especially if it's going to be, you know, basically a sister property to the resort. They don't look anything alike, and you're going to have to do something to do that. But there's some lowhanging fruit that immediately we can increase the uh
you can increase the just just the feel of it there because there is there is some wasted space. So, is your intention to make the facade somehow match or be reminiscent of Carter Hall? Is that what you're >> So, we talked with with with three
different architects that we work with right now on Carter Hall. Um, so what we'll do is you're gonna it's going to have to speak to it without you're not going to go in and change it, put a tower in it, make it pink, but you're going to you're going to have to do some things. So, just just to make it more attractive because when you drive up to
the building, where's the front? Where's the back? Where's the side? There's no real the parking lot's a huge giant parking lot. You know, there's a lot of things that weren't done great that we can enhance landscaping. We can work on entries, canopies, things to make it feel a little more so you know where
you're going when you get up. But, by the way, it is a good building. So, you I'm I'm all about renovating buildings like we're doing with the bank building downtown. There's no reason to come in and tear it down at all. It just needs to be needs to look a little
One of my big concerns would be looking just specifically this property knowing that 100 years ago somebody gave it to us as you know I want to make sure that we're fostering that trust that somebody gave the city to maintain this space for public use for recreation for golf
course too. So 100 years from now too when we're all not here um making sure that that place is still used for the public. So that's one of the questions too of not necessarily adding additional things outside of that purpose too. I wouldn't want to see 50 years from now
saying, "Hey, part of the amenity is we need to build some condos out there or we need to build new developments." I just want to make sure that we're locking that up kind of per se for the next hundred years and that we're honoring that commitment somebody gave to the city 100 years ago. Do you have
any issues with that? saying, "Hey, this is what the future use is going to be and ensuring that that public trust is still there." >> I think you make a great point. Um, a really good point for a number of reasons. Number one, um, under the structure, it would still be publicly
owned and not only would we need to permit anything, right, trying to get that built, but we'd have to get permission from the owner. So, there'd be two levels of stop there. >> But additionally, u, you know, we are going to maintain this public. We have a lot of unutilized density on the hotel
side right now anyway. We have 15 acres over there and we're not even looking to expand into that. So there'd be, you know, no need for us to ever build over at the golf course. But I agree with you on the intent. You know, you looking back at the tent. It was given to the city to go with the golf course so that
the city would assume the loss because the golf course or excuse me, the hotel owner saying, "Hey, this is going to be a tough go. We need you guys to to have some skin in the game by taking the loss of the course and we'll do the So the intent I think is you know the intent is for them to be together and this is the
rejoin of them kind of officially. So we're excited for reason on the drainage more ponds won't fix can't stack water. You have to figure out how to get the water off the
property which a permit. >> No, we we agree that that would stop it. We're talking about uncertain low areas directing water off of course to try and alleviate something. It's there's a lot of drainage problems. You're absolutely right. This is just the first trunch to try and start alleviating it, but it's
going to be a longterm problem for ever, right? to get this solved is you're just going to have to be trying to get better and better progressively and of course without adding impervious space so you want to have your green space you want to have swailes different ponds to catch up.
>> Thank you Mr. Car. I bring up a very good point. When we also do the site development work for the resort, that gives us an opportunity to work with Swift Mud and work with all of them to okay, we have these very large pieces of parcels together. You have lakes. How
can we reroute drainage? How can we do that? Because you're right, it's not going to it won't solve it immediately. You may say, "Okay, hole three doesn't get wet in the center anymore. Awesome." and may add a little bit of that, but it's ultimately an underground drainage correction problem that's going to have
to go across the road eventually or somewhere else in storm water retention. So it is it's it's a much bigger problem. But when we go through, we're the only ones who have the ability with the ownership of the hotel and the properties there to work with the
municipality as well as you know, you know, swift mud and I guess people here to be able to find a way to help with that drainage which will help aronomy, it'll help growing and all the other things. But it's a very good point. You can't can't solve problems.
So I had a question kind of regarding the the lease terms um for for you Robert. Um 99 years is what you proposed. Every severing resident would probably be dead, you know, right? Maybe maybe my eight-month old son if he eats
his vegetables. Um would you be open to still a very long-term lease is a little shorter than that? Um in part that freaks me out because 99 years might as well be forever, right? at least for the way the rest of us are concerned. Um I thought a
more amendable might be 20 or 25 with a renewal for that same amount. What are your thoughts on that? you know 99 I know it seems like a long but you know you're in construction that is a common you know long term when you
still have fun control but you don't want the responsibility and that's kind of what I guess you're getting into incentivization here where you know we heard from you guys before like hey there's some questions about doing a a disposition this um we were looking at
structuring it this way because we want to show that we have true buy in for this so that we can not cut corners because 20 25 years you know I mean you're already talking about a lot of terms but you know we now have 50ear mortgages you know people would be
looking towards any uh if you have a shorter term we want to do something truly have a buy in the long and long term you know at least we feel ownership willing to do things the right way so that's why we're >> you don't think 50 years would be a long enough horizon for
I mean, if you had a if you had an option, right, it' be but we want to have the option at least for because you have to look at it in terms of the ability to truly make a product what it should be and that's I mean that's where a lot of these things look into like
there's a lot of these public private you said that uh Carter Hall gifted the golf course to severing because they didn't want to have the lost. Why did they build another one? >> That's great. No, that's an excellent point. So, what happened? Seriously, it
was a wonderful. So, what happened was the Builtmore group still in the hotel 75% done. They went bankrupt. They had 2,000 acres they were going to build. They were going to do a football field. They were going to do a baseball field. They actually did open a chartered yacht club at the hotel. When they went
bankrupt, a group from the Northeast bought the hotel at foreclosure auction and then I g newspaper articles on this. They said, "Hey, we will continue construction if you guys should the burden of a golf course." The golf course was nine holes. They gave the land to the additional
nine. And the previous owners had built the clubhouse. That was the deal that was agreed to by the city council and they should burden the creation of as well. They paid for development. That land sat vacant until the 1950s. That was under the Jacobson. They opened another golf course they own themselves
so they could have a golf school. They got more control. So that the harder all force you know so to speak in the 50s because they had the land and it operated years years because they had a golf course. The hotel has never operated without a golf
statue. Never one day operation whether it be the harder all the never once in the proposal you said that you want to start this in line with art this school year October 1st 26 um hindsight
I think we should have did the RFP two years ago so I'll be the first one to say if we could go back we would have done it differently but we've been working on that contract together for what 18 months, maybe two years at this point, too. How confident are you that we're going to be able to actually, if
we say yes, that we can actually come up with a contract city initiated that we can move forward as of that that date? >> You tell me. >> I just don't want to get in the same situation, too, that we're we're really close. We're about to to reach that
point, but we're just something falls through at the last 90%. agree more on the same page. >> Okay. Um, so I'm I I do agree with Josh, too. The the 99-year lease is first off, thanks for being open to even a lease
and not just the for the purchase, too, because that's that was probably one of my biggest sticky points of the whole thing is not losing ownership of the golf course. So, just being open to to that lease, too. And that would feel better, if possible, to do maybe a 50-year and then another 50-year
extension, too. I know we talked about that a lot to get into those details. I would just be concerned too we we move forward with something but we can't we run into the same situation that we did last time. Oh, same thing with with potential clawbacks
too. looking at what your actual deliverables are on for the hotel and all the other properties too is we can talk about that later too or as we get further in discussion. But making sure that there are reasonable guidelines and milestones that that we set collectively
to make sure that uh if something doesn't happen it reverts back to to the city assuming that you're still open to that just like the original contract. Yeah, I mean the one thing I'd say it's, you know,
I would still be agreeable to that. It's just we have to look at judging all three proposals on their face value of nobody else. We don't want callbacks nobody else would have, you know. >> So, I would expect there would be call backs on all all three.
>> We're happy to be with whatever callback think, but you know, we don't want ones signal us out. No, for sure. You know, condition the golf course, what we say we're going to do, we do it is upgraded, doesn't go, you know, downhill >> because we're comfortable with that with partners we have, you know, get so we're
fine with, you know, whatever you guys think. Well, I think we talked about that before about a bunch of different, you know, stipulation and we're still fine. >> What's your projected date of opening the hotel? That is uh
that's the million dollar question. So right now just just to give you a quick kind of time frame there. Um roofs on the whole building is complete. Windows are about 40 10 38% complete. Um just ordered a astronomical amount grand
doors absolutely beautiful that are going in. So I would think by June we've got the exterior buttoned up and at that point we'll start rolling into interior architectural design. We've only done some schematic design.
Um fortunat unfortunately for us one of the things holding this up is the if we get this restaurant because if you don't get the restaurant the golf course then we have to change our FMP program for inside the resort. So we'll start going it would be about six months of um
architectural design and then I would say about 18 months for the construction once we get once we get the interior button up depending on swift mode and you know getting power and all the things that we need because the hotel as far as utilities me everything
there's nothing salvage so everything's going to be replaced so but that's kind of my timeline again it all depends on how how long it takes us to design and do that. Fortunately for us, the city of Sebring is fantasting
on that and sorry, I know schedule is a dirty word for construction professionals. Um, if I read the proposal correctly, regardless of the the work that you do in the restaurant side, the golf course is going to remain open continuously. Is that accurate?
Yeah, plan is there's nothing that's currently planned. >> Okay. Excellent. I had um our uh our attorney, Mr. Swain, did send in a couple of questions for different proposers and one for um you guys and is
more a question for Robert. >> Uh the proposed contractor and operator are qualified. Um, if the operator leaves for some reason during the lease, would you be agree would you agree that the city has the ability to approve any replacement operator? And same thing for the contractor.
>> That's the question again. >> So, can I can say it in in plain English? I think this is I'm interpreting you know lawyers speak too because um down to earth and Mr. Locker are part of your proposal. If during the lease period it's a long lease they leave would you agree that the city has
the the right to kind of approve a replacement operator? >> No approve who who you would replace to bring in to run it. that you would go in and just I think I think that yeah because we cannot tell what the future holds would be if if I
was to leave the team or if down to earth would leave the team we would have to come back to you to say here's our replacement here's why they're qualified this is who we're using but this the municipality shouldn't be able to dictate who you can't bring us xyz and
say this is you have to use >> set criteria that we that we could say okay This is we're both reasonable. They're comparable to DTE or better and that's what it would be. But I think you would I think it's the in when you do write the contract that somewhere in there it
says hey man provisions are here. You need to bring somebody who's at least as qualified. >> Okay. I think that answers what our lawyer is asking. >> Okay. >> And we will be giving both of them a lot of >> excellent. All right. 99 years.
>> What about their employees? >> Um well, as I said, kind of in speech, we keep employing everybody. Now, when I say keeping everybody, it's not for 99 years considered. Um but we're going to offer as long as they can pass a drug test.
How we do it is we have on for different golf clubs that we have on our website or if they went to LinkedIn or Turf Net or all these places that golf people go. They have a open wreck that they apply for. We lock it down for everybody acceptable
team that's there. They're the only ones that can have access to it and we will offer them a position. We talked to Robert about as long as I know as long as I know what they're making. it's a superintendent that's making X. I
just wanted to know that up front so you know I can figure out whether or not believe it or not superintendent depending on the market um can make you know anywhere from 60,000 to 200,000. So
yeah, our plan is just like every other golf course, not just one partnering with a developer with you guys. If it's a private owned golf course, like talked about Remington, it's privately owned. We we kept everybody superintendent that was there then when we took it over,
he's still there. He's just got his checks coming. Robert, one one more question on my end and I think just a lot of people have been asking me this and maybe you can provide some clarity too. I feel like a lot of the projects that you have and and no offense to this. It's it's like a loss leader here and a loss leader there
and a loss leader. I feel like when you just keep on saying it you're not going to make any money. Where is the money coming coming from too? Is it just a holistic view too? Once once all the projects are lined up and everything is operational then you can maybe make some money. I think it
would just put personally put me at ease to figure out this is your your plan to actually make something profitable. >> I was hoping this would turn great for us after we were done presenting. No, the truth is we we said this from day
one. Sebring has so much potential for every part of Cring has potential for greatness. Um it has to be cohesive. It can't be operating over here and over there. It can't be siloed. And that's kind of why we really We've been on this project so much is we don't like the
silo of a golf course right next to a resort. Let's make it a golf resort. You know, the downtown plays into driving, you know, business to the hotels on 27. All of this holistically has to play together. Um where we're making money is we're hoping to make money on this hotel
sometime. We know we're quite aware that we are already overinvested in the hotel for what it's worth, right? We we couldn't exit if we wanted to put so much money in. It does have partial value. The hope and goal is that we will be able to have enough stuff in one
basket that it will generate money as a standalone project when it's done. Um, you know, I used to be a successful business person before I came to see invested in stuff. We used to make a lot of money on stuff and we've been burning that money and lighting on fire recently.
That's why we want this certainty is because we can't continue just to light stuff on fire because you're right at some point you have to say this is insane if it's not going to happen and that's why we've been pushing to to have some clarity on this you know a couple years there's a burn ban on so please don't
light anything >> we've got about five minutes left for for questions anything else from council mayor still a chance. >> I know. No, I'm thinking >> I'll ask one quick one. >> So, I've got one quick one for you and I
would expect this to be the same for every proposal as well. Your lease terms, it's a dollar for 99 years. I'm assuming that means a triple net lease. It would go back on the and you would take care of any insurance that would not be a part of the city's responsibility. Is that accurate? >> Yes. Okay. Thank you.
>> So on that note too, do you intend or do you have any plans of coming back to the city to ask for any kind of uh rebates, tax abatement, um anything from us in the future? >> No. >> Okay.
On the on the hotel and golf course as well. those >> you guys want to kick in. Go nuts. So, we've got it. Assuming that's not gonna happen, but um I will say that they reminded me we did put um a finance
I think we put a letter said we were finally bank. So, uh there was a contact there that worked closely >> in asking that too just because of the past too. You said, "Hey," and I think you're really proud of the idea that,
"Hey, you haven't asked the city for anything yet, but that changed a little bit up several months ago with CRA now that they got you some grants, too." So, I'm wondering if there is going to be an ask in in the future to say, "Hey, we just need a little bit more from the city. We need more participation." I
want to know what we're getting into as much as we can with the information that we have now. >> Right. I get it. Um, you know, we we kind of given up on getting money from the city in that respect. We know that you know the previous owners have
gotten stuff as far as CRA projects. Um we're putting in you can ask that's going to be you know personal investment about three and a half million >> on top of you know got 15 16% of that back which we're thankful we're very thankful CR because that got us with the
hot um that was also not a project was able to be financed that was a capital project for us um because you couldn't get financing valley wouldn't touch that so we had to come up with another three >> folks I used to have common sense before I got the secret you know time warp here
where we're burning money all the time. But I do think, you know, when you look at that bank project, I mean, who else has put in three and a half million dollars in the downtown CRA in the last 10 years of the project? I I can't think of any. Maybe there are some, but I mean, this is a pretty significant
investature on that project and Drew is also tell uh bank just so um a lot of people at the ground breaking there. Uh demolition's complete, start framing tomorrow morning. Um starting to run duck work, starting to go. So that
project is going to move very, very quickly. Um the only thing I'm waiting so I'm concerned about is whether the carpet makes it in time because it's moving pretty quickly. But again, one thing I have to tell you guys building department is fantastic to work with. So and believe me, I complain about
building departments from Jacksonville to Key West. So for me to say something good about them, they're wonderful to work with. that project cruising right along. >> And Robert, I think the only difference too is like, well, now we're now the city's going to get potentially working
with you too directly. So, I just want to make sure that we're knowing exactly what we're getting ourselves into. Um, because if it's we want to not lose all this money every year on the golf course, but we want to make sure we're covering ourselves priding ourselves on this is that, you
know, we're not going to come back if a business plan doesn't where it doesn't make money because we're already prepared for it not to make money. You know, we talked internally, we have an internal goal of between year four and year five getting close to break even, but we're aware that you know, you're
going to be multiple years before you approach break even point and that's at a dollar a year. >> And that's what, you know, we were just and that's why TT passed on this thing when it came across their desk at first is, you know, it's a really tough market out here. I'm not saying you guys have
done a bad job running this thing. You guys have a ton of competition. You know, I mean, in St. Pete, we have what, one of course, it's not hard to make it when you're the only public course. But when you guys have so many courses, they're actually going out of business. You have land where, let's just say the
market took off, somebody else built something, you're never going to, you know, bubble that price up. So, you have to compete on quality. Okay, that's time. Thank you very much. All right, next up uh on our list here, H&L Golf Group
have 30 minutes for a presentation. City Council, my name is Golf Group. A little history about our company. We're based in New Jersey. My fathers back early and one day he was doing
retirement committ all the landscaping stuff like that. They said, "You know what, Harry? you know, build a golf course. He arrived and said, "Yes, he does." So, he built a 9hole golf course for us. Didn't know what he was doing. And then the community down the street, same thing. Can you help us with our golf? It turned into a golf course.
Uh after in 2011, we uh partnered up with another company to turn into a golf management company to do the pro shop, to do the maintenance, and to do the restaurant up in New Jersey. We got a state lease up there with Spring Metal Golf Course. State of New Jersey owned it. Uh when we took that lease over,
they were doing $750,000 a year gross revenue. So less than what the did last year. Our last year there, which was last year, we ended up doing 2.3 million in gross. And that's just on the golf. That's not including the restaurant. So what I do is I can go into golf courses
that are not profitable and make them profitable just with little things here and there to get started with and then you move on to the capital improvement side. like torn uh Sebr. I saw pictures from 2023 of what it looked like and I just tooured it a couple times this past week. What Fred and his crew have done
with the manpower they have has been remarkable with the greens, with the tea boxes, a lot of the bunkers. But what I would do, the first things I would do in there is I would edge bunkers, add sand to them because that's a big selling point. A lot of people are in the bunkers around where I play, so I'm sure
they're down here, too. And turf cleaning 15 fairway. That's the biggest drainage issue that I saw that people have told me. They did it on nine fairway and I would probably do it on 15, too. That will alleviate a lot of that drainage issue that you see on 15.
Landscape around the entrance, around the clubhouse, around the restaurant, around the golf course. If you make a left off 27, you see in on the lakes, it's beautifully landscaped. I'm sure when the black ones are done with art hall, that's going to be beautiful landscaped. It looks like a pit on the right hand side of that road. So, I
would start right away with doing like that. I already talked to a couple of people down here that own some nurseries that would be willing to work with us and uh I would get started on that right away. Clean out drainage ditches. That's another problem with golf. Again, Fred does a wonderful job and his crew, they
do not have the manpower to do stuff like that. They just don't. And that's where we come in and we're able to provide them with that and get a lot more things done. Edging the existing car pads. Again, aesthetically, that would look fantastic. That needs to be done again. and his crew did not have
the time to do that. Also, we would pick certain places around like tea boxes around green complexes where we would take out the existing pavement and put a crushed sea cell look next to the TE's, next to the greens, which would be aesthetically a lot more pleasing than just CADM or any other pavement that you
guys can put out there right now. One thing I want to clean up, I'm sure a lot of questions with my financial projections. That was including the golf course and the restaurant because that's what the bid was for. So that 1.6 I had for the first year included gross revenue for the restaurant and the golf
course. That wasn't just me thinking that I could double the revenue of the golf course in one year because can't do that. when it comes to saving money now with us taking it off your guys' budget and us offering just the first year alone
$200,000 just with employees benefits because we offering benefits we do the 401k we do the health insurance dental vision all that stuff but just with the six full-time employees you guys got there now we'd be saving $30,000 per employee when they come to us and also another
$60,000 for like computer services and clerical work that the township or the city does for the golf course force already. Just with those two things, that's $240,000 in the first year, the same. So, there's that lease payment and $40,000 extra on top.
I also will honor any deal that the city has made with the SGA. I know their memberships and everything like that. I don't want to come in here guns ablazing saying we're going to do this. No, they can't do this. They can't do that. I want anything the city already has in store. The only thing I would ask for is
maybe a little adjustment with times uncertain because 8 am on a Sunday prime time that's you want those $50 people playing you don't it's hard having those lifetime memberships but we will not have a problem on any of them going forward
now you might say the 200,000 per year first year and then going up 3% might be a lot well with spring metal when I took that over in 2011 our first pay first year payment was $120,000 and then we had to do 15% of any gross revenue We made over a million dollars.
Well, like I said before, our last year there, we did $2.3 million. So, we had to pay 50% on top of $1.3 million. So, in the 14 years we were there, we paid the state of New Jersey $3.3 million. Cedar Creek, I took that over eight years ago. I was also up in New Jersey.
Over the last eight years, I paid them $1.7 million. The first 10 years with Sebring, the city will be getting $2.3 million. And that's just in lease. And Josh, you brought up the triple net lease. It would be an absolute triple net lease with us as well. Now, some
history of the company. I know the other nets before and this is just me. Wanted to be completely transparent with everybody of my company history and everything like that. Uh, two years ago, I had to kind of pump the brakes on a few things. I had to file chapter 11
with my one company, Atlantic Golf Management. It was a little reorganization of debt. I'm not out to screw anybody. I had to sit everybody down, tell them, "Listen, this is what's going on with me. I got to do this, I gotta do that. Everybody understood. You can call the mayor of the golf course I work out in New Jersey right now. He'll tell you I did not miss a payment while
going through all that. I did not miss a payment with any of my vendors. I have letters that I can if the council wants to see them, I can provide them to you guys. All my vendors are completely paid. The township completely paid. And it just kind of I was at the point where I thought I knew everything and I was
young and thought I could figure out everything on my own. And then you learn that you can't. You got to let the people that know what they're doing take that reign. I'm good at providing good golf conditions and making money on golf courses. That's what I'm good at. Now, I have actual CPAs that take care of my
finances and everything like that. And I have recommendations on that as well if the city would like to see it. Uh I know we're in competition with each other right now, but I I mean when they get Carter Hall up and running, I I would love to work with them. I I I mean I understand why they would want the
golf course to go with the hotel. I totally get it. But this is what I do. I go into places that don't have profitable golf courses and I make them profit and the city can sit back and collect a rent check every month. That's what you guys do. That's what you guys
will do and you'll have much better conditions. Like you asked Robert before about any structural changes to the golf course or anything like that. The only like one of the things I saw would be on 18 maybe moving the tea to the right. So you hit over the little pond there and
then you're staring at the American flag down at the end of the fairway. I think something like that. But structurally like there's not a lot that can really go on there with changing the course around because then you have to move around irrigation and everything like that. But I did basically a the pumps
are working great. Just a lot of the irrigation problem there is just wiring some piping and stuff like that which is that's easy compared to dealing with pumps or dealing with that. So, I know the pumps were replaced what, six years ago or five years ago or something like that, I think. And we they have an extra pump there as well, just in case
something happens with the pump that's currently in use. Uh, with Max Hall, I know you guys are going to or Max loan, I'm sorry. I have no problem still sharing the maintenance bill with you guys. I mean, I have no problem sharing the fuel with you guys because I know this is probably going to be a big headache trying to come up with some
other place to do this or do that. Maintenance building still you guys. And I have no problem, like I said, sharing fuel and sharing the build with you guys. Uh, with the uh brush pile,
uh, every golf course in the United States has a brush pile. Uh, one at Sebring is nicely hidden. I can understand why they would want because probably from up top of the hotel, you can kind of see it. Uh, I have no problem doing a whip chipper when need be in there to just clean it up. But like I said, it's already pretty much
hidden. You can't really from the fairway if you're not really looking out for it. So, uh, yeah, that would be another thing I would do right away. Also, Fred, Renee, their whole crew, Gabriel, Sonia, their crew in the Caddy Shack,
they've been doing a wonderful job. Uh, in early January, I know I don't have any Southeast turf knowledge really. I've always been up in the Northeast and I' said, you know what, let me call down there and see if they would be interested in staying on board. I got in
touch with Gabriel. I talked to him for a while. I got in touch with Fred, talked to him for a while and they're all excited to stay on board. They said it's going to be an uphill battle, but yeah, if you were to get it, we would absolutely stay on board. So, it's been a pleasure getting to know them. Renee, all those guys. And uh yeah, by giving
it we're saving 42 people's jobs if it's awarded to us. Residents receive 42 32 in the restaurant $10 along with the $200,000 per year going up 3% each year. And in your contract,
if you if I miss a payment, if the course looks like crap, listen, you guys can get rid of us. You guys will be well protected. We prove ourselves by the quality of the golf. I could stand up here. I could take up the whole 30 minutes and say we're going to do this, we're going to
do that. You'll see if you give us the contract what we do with the golfers and what we do with the restroom. And that's basically it. Okay. We're going to go ahead and open it up to council and mayor questions then. I'll jump in. Um, so the the bankruptcy
freaks me out. >> Um, especially that it's ongoing, correct? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Um, >> I don't know. That freaks me out. It's a pretty explain. >> Yeah, I'll explain to you. What happened was, >> uh, back on our golf course in Spring
Meadow, we had a very large sinkhole develop. Uh, we got prices and stuff like that for $400,000 to get it all fixed. The state told me they would reimburse me through the project. I put out the money, paid for it to get done. Got done. State came back and said they can't legally do that. So, I stuck with
a $400,000 bill right there. My own fault. I got in, if you ever heard of MCAs, merchant cash advance companies. I signed up for a couple of those. And basically, their whole thing is to put you out of business. So, it got to a point where my girlfriend told me I was going to keep playing the game, keep
trying to borrow from Peter to pay Paul and all that stuff. Then my girlfriend told me she was pregnant. At that point, I talked to one of my adviserss and said, "Ed, I I got to stop this sh I got to find a way out of this." He met gave me an appointment with a bankruptcy
attorney. Bankruptcy attorney told me, "You file for Chapter 11, they'll disappear because they already made 200% of their money at that point." So that's what I did. It's the best thing I've ever done to be honest with you. I mean, it's embarrassing to stand up here and say it in front of everybody that I had
to do that, but that's what I had to do. and it's made my life a hell of a lot easier. It's made my family's life a hell of a lot easier and it's made my company's life a hell of a lot easier. >> So, I guess the worry I would have with that, Mr. Leonard, is >> you talk about how we would have an easy out, you know, things started going
south. I think what we're trying to avoid is the easy out, at least Oh, yeah. I want to do this once and be done. >> Yes. >> Um the other concern I had looking at your your projected P&L, >> um they're th it's thin. It's a thin very thin margin. Absolutely.
>> If you're off 5% on your revenue, you won't you'll be underwater until 2033. >> Um, >> how confident are you or do you have back financial back stops? >> I do have financial backing and I you guys I'll give the number. You can talk to him. He's been in the banking industry for 34 years.
>> Okay. >> And he'll talk me up and say he has anything that I need. But also that was the first year of the bankruptcy. So if you look at the reimbursement on that that $216,000 that was all going to back then that number drops every year.
>> Okay. >> So that won't be again and again that was just what with the one and a half golf courses because I had spr >> Okay. Um you mentioned that you could save 30,000 per employee. Does that does that effectively mean just no benefits? >> No, they'll still get the 401k. They
still match 4% and they'll get health, dental, vision, all that stuff. >> Then then where are you saving 30,000 per per person? >> I think your benefits are a little more expensive than what I say. >> That's probably an understatement. >> Yes. >> Okay.
I think that's all the questions I had at this moment. >> Yeah. >> Thank you for verifying that 1.6 million because I was very curious how you were going to increase sales that quickly. Um, >> out of that 1.6 6 for 2026. Do you have a breakdown of what you're estimating on
the restaurant side versus the the golf side? >> Uh golf side would be about 850 I would put down and then the difference would be the restaurant. >> So on the from the restaurant side of it then then the current owners become employees, right? >> Yes. >> And I'm guessing you talked with everybody, everybody's on board with that.
>> Yes. >> So why Sebr? to be honest with you, I've it's always it's cold in New Jersey this time of year and uh we it's always been a like this was our place to vacation. We'd go down we were at Disney World when I was young. Drive down to Disney every year and it's always been a dream
to have a golf course in in Florida and my parents moved down to Fort Myers area in 2012 and my dad slowly was always looking for something and and then I signed up for a bid prime membership it's called. And then literally the next day I got an email saying the city of Cedar Ring in Florida is playing after
forbid. And I said, "Why the hell not?" >> If you haven't noticed, it's cold here today. >> Yes, I brought it down with you. Sorry. >> Well, yeah, it's been unusual for us. I just want to say, um, the chapter 11 don't give me heartburn. Uh I started a
business in 1984 and not long after I got in business I got behind the eightball and u you know the our government or whatever they gave us like chapter 11. So I
didn't file a chapter 11. I just went to all my suppliers and told them I would pay them. and uh every one of those that suppliers today, I can call them and get anything I want because I I honored
what I said I would do. >> Um but I chose not chapter 11, you know, and every one of them said, "Glad you honored what you did because it was a lot of money." >> Yeah. And especially right after I
started business probably five years after I started business and you know when you get started my I started from the ground up. Yeah. So so that doesn't give me heartburn. Kind of makes me honor you that you're honoring
do. So u but you know we don't want it back. >> Yeah. >> We want your 200 plus thousand dollars. >> Yes. So u I think that's the concern is it's that but uh I would recommend that hand
that you would give everybody here the letters that you have so they can see and and if they >> if any of us want to call and talk to them >> you know um that would be a great help >> you know but I do know as a at the time
a young businessman um I was told not to take the job I took and I was hardheaded and I took it. >> Yeah. >> Well, I've been there. >> When I got through it, I finished the job. Yeah. >> But I finished in a big old hole. So,
>> I understand you can get in trouble >> uh >> so thanks for being up front because that's that's important. would like to see the letters.
>> Yes, absolutely. >> I'm sure everybody else, but thanks for coming and thank you for tell us you're going to do. I know the restaurant owners are here. I know they would love to stay there.
>> Yeah. >> And I know a lot of people would love to see them stay. It's not a fancy restaurant, but it is u people like to go there. >> Yeah. >> And the drainage part. Uh I know there's
people sitting in the audience that's concerned about that because they live on the course. >> Yeah. >> Their yards get wet and stuff and u you know I know it's going to take some permitting. >> Yeah. >> Clean that up because uh the thing is
you're between two lakes. He's at Well, I was out there this morning. You're below the Lake Jackson. You're below it, >> right? On the 15th. >> And And the water table uh you're dealing with the water table. >> Yeah. >> So, uh cleaning the ditches >> uh and getting that water moving because
it goes out to the big lake and the little lake, >> but you got to get it >> Yeah. >> to move. >> So, that would help a lot. >> Okay. >> But you got to deal, you know, the water table is going to be the water table. >> Yeah,
>> you can't can't change that. >> Yeah, >> but you can change >> the flow. So >> and I deal with water. >> Really? It doesn't seem like you do. >> So anyway, thank you.
>> So Lonard deals with water. I deal with numbers all the time. So, kind of going back to what Josh was saying too, the looking at the projections on that net income, it is and I know there's different reasons strategically to keep things lower bottom net bottom line,
>> but seeing 15,000 projected net for the first year, that's just that does seem really low. Is that just more of a strategic of your >> I'm always very very conservative when I do always very conservative. So 15,000 is what I think that that could that's basically our bottom line. That's our
zero number is $15,000. >> So if I have to pull back a little bit here or there just to make sure we stay there, that's fine. But I'm not in this to make money the first year there at all. I'm in this to do my stuff and then continually make money after that.
>> I just I have a hard time with all these people coming in saying they don't want to make money. >> Well, it would just be lying if you said you're going to make money right off the bat the first year. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Harrison, I wanted to make money from the first day, but I did.
>> Would would you be able to qualify for any sort of a >> I don't know exactly how this works. So, >> performance bond or anything like that? Yes. >> You would you have the underwriting to do one? >> Yes. >> For what kind of a term? Like how long? >> It could be usually you update those yearly. >> So, that's what I do.
>> A rolling one year. >> Yeah. you do it for the like the contract like say it's offering $200,000 do a performance bond for $200,000 for the first year and then if it's going to be $26,000 next year you do it for that next year and continually keep doing that. >> Josh, could you explain that to to everybody?
>> So the idea is right he's promising a lease payment of $200,000 that goes up by 3% per year and a bond would would basically be like an insurance policy failed. we would get paid for that amount of that term, right?
>> It's saying he has to perform for the contract. Now, what he's saying is it would be a rolling one one year. So, it's not like we would get 20 years worth of lease payments if defaulted. It would it'd be for that one year, you know, continually moving forward to the next year essentially.
>> Yes. Correct. >> Okay. question. >> Just appreciate your willingness and openness to cards on the table. >> Are you plan on moving? >> Yeah, actually Lake Wales. I'll be going back and forth basically. Going back and
forth. So, >> why Lake Wales? >> I have a baby and a girlfriend to bring down with me today. They like Disney. So, I want it somewhere in the middle. >> So, on that note, you're going to be on site. >> I would be on site like I told these
guys, it would be three and a half weeks per month in the winter >> and then two and a half weeks per month in the summer, slow season, because I still got to go back up. I got to set things up up there. I have all my employees up there have been with us over 20 years. So, I trust them to get the things done. So, obviously in the
beginning more I would be down here every day. But then when that when I get Fred and Renee and stuff like that into what how I like things done and stuff like that, I can kind of go back and forth a little bit. >> And you're willing to work with harder hall and >> absolutely
and on the lake. >> Yeah. And fill it in on the lakes. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. >> And you know, I know we talk about golf course not making money, but south of here they just build a 18 golf course. >> Yeah.
and going to build another one. >> Yeah. >> And uh it's I work there. >> Yeah. >> I work around >> and uh they got to be there's got to be something they they're going to make money. >> Those initiations help.
>> Yeah. >> The initi help, but yeah, they uh spend a lot of money just buying. Oh yeah. Well, my whole thing I like to provide go private course conditions to public operators. So, I'm not going to charge Norman and a leg for a round like I put
in the proposal. We are not raising any green fees or any membership fees for the first year. I want to be able to prove the things we're going to do to the golf course so the public actually sees it happening and then maybe they'll then they'll be more comfortable paying a little bit more here. So, I know that
was brought up, but that's what I would be doing. >> Would you be bringing anyone with you from your staff? uh in your existing company or is it just going to be you and then everyone else? >> It's going to be for everybody that's here. Everybody that's here. Like I said, they are so under man right now.
And like I said, the job they've done being under man for the last year and a half, two years, it's pretty remarkable. Those greens, when I first came down to look at them, I was shocked how because you hear all these comments, this and that. I mean, they they've gotten them so much better than the pictures I saw
in 2023. >> Oh, yeah. >> They know what they're doing. They just now the handcuffs are off basically. >> Do you have any um any capital improvement plans? Yeah. >> Oh, yeah. >> What What do you have in mind? >> Well, it's in the proposal. >> Just refresh my memory.
>> All right. For the benefit, >> like I was talking about the car pads by adding sea shell like first I'm going to start with the tea area, the green areas and stuff like that. But a crush sea shell, it's a nice white look and it makes the turf pop even more. So, I'm going to do that all around. I mean, I
think is one of only two golf courses in the area that has continuous golf paths around the entire golf course. So doing that all sea shell I think would be a really good look. Uh like I the greens the greens still need a little work here and there and Fred's got them back around 85% I would say but but I
wouldn't count that as a capital improvement per se. Uh like the blacks mentioned uh the roofs by the maintenance building they need to be addressed immediately. Uh that would be day one stuff basically. uh the
landscaping. I would again I don't know if that's a capital improvement or not, but that would be day one stuff as well. >> What about anything in the the restaurant or pro shop? >> The restaurant would be rugs. It needs new rugs. It needs new insulation. It needs new windows. Uh that's the first three things that come to mind with the
restaurant. Uh with the pro shop in there, the pro shop itself is pretty fine in in the inside. Uh there's some outside, some ceiling fans that would need to come out. Uh again, I would do the outdoor dining there because like they said, it's a cheap way to get people to sit out there and and uh the
building itself, I would have to do like a complete audit of it before I could sit here and say, "Oh, we're going to do this, we're going to do that." But those are the few of the things I would start with to get the ball. >> Well, the Melon has good balls. >> Yeah.
questions or or comments. >> Okay. All right. >> Thank you guys. Appreciate it. >> We're moving a little faster than anticipated. Um I think we're still going to go ahead and take a very quick bathroom recess. So, we will take a 10-minute break and this meeting will
recommence at 1:32 p.m. Okay, thank you. >> If everyone everyone can find your seats, please. >> We are next going to move on to our third presentation. I give everybody a moment to to sit
down. Uh this is going to be Sports Med Properties and they are presenting to us uh remotely today. And Paul, I think we got everything set. Okay, we're good to go. All right. Uh
Mr. Stewart, you are up. >> Thank you. Thank you. Uh good afternoon to Jamie, mayor, and the council members. Uh appreciate the opportunity to be with you today virtually. I assure you
not as large as on the big screen behind you that I'm seeing in the background. Uh I am Mike Stewart. I'm director construction management at Sports Med Properties. Um hopefully you can see my slide presentation. Please confirm that for me. >> Yes, sir. We can see it.
>> Uh the name Randy Russell is showing on the slide. Unfortunately, Randy, our CEO, president could not relationship going back many years with Jason working on similar sports facilities across the southeast and the
country. Um I've listened intently to the previous two proposals and what we're presenting today is not just a redevelopment plan. It's it's a long-term vision to transform what we've
heard and we know as an underutilized public asset and and transform that into a multi-use sports and recreation campus that serves not only the resident Sebring but attracts visitors and strengthens
Sebring's economy while respecting the city's financial realities. I am an avid golfer. My friends are golfers. Uh and I enjoy the game of golf. I am also a parent and a newly
grandparent. Um our vision is to engage and involve parents and grandparents alike, which I would contest is a larger segment of population than the golfing segment, and bring them to watch their
children and grandchildren engage in competitive sports, learn from competitive sports, and and grow into potentially future golfers and other athletes. Um before I walk through uh the few slides
that I have with me today, I want to I want to make three key points here. Um and emphasizing how approach this project. Um first and foremost, we we bring an ertise in sports facilities
um along the full life cycle from conception all the way through and into operations. Um our experience is specific to sports facilities um multi-u multi- types of sports facilities for recreation competitive
sports um we're very good at at planning design development and uh scheduling and cost control uh for these types of facilities where durability and
operation performance are critical once once it becomes operational. Um we have coined the phrase worry hard early approach. And what I mean by that is um we work very diligently early on
in a collaborative process alongside the city um to identify risk and tradeoffs and develop key decisions early in the process. so that when you're fully
included along the way, you're empowered to make decisions with us. This this isn't just sportsmen properties. This is a public private partnership and partnership to the truest sense. And we want you included. This creates a
transparency that reduces surprises and builds trust throughout the project. Um, our involvement with you goes well beyond design and construction. This could be as much as a 30-year relationship. So, we want that trust to
begin day one and continue all the way through. Um the third thing I'd like to point out to you is um and I I touched on this briefly is we we have a proven ability to um establish measures and u
structure our projects to control quality and cost and schedule. um the while they function and look nice when completed and opened uh and with a ribbon cutting, we want a durable
facility that can stand the test of athletic use. So um what we look at is um early stakeholder alignment so we know we're building appropriately what works well within the performer and we
have an active oversight. This face you see very large on the screen is a face you would see often during the course of the project. Um and we focus on delivering what was promised and agreed upon during the course of of the
projects beginning early in the planning stages. We do that um and we establish those goals and milestones in a collaborative way and we we we appreciate taking measurements on how well we're succeeding during the course
of the project. Um we uh through the RFP process do understand um the city goals. Um and our approach we believe best aligns with
those goals. Um we want to focus uh through our effort on an economic impact, positive economic impact, not a loss leader. Uh an employment enhancement of not only
keeping jobs, increasing employment opportunities through this project. um financial stability. We want it to be profitable for the city. Um and we want to expand recreation opportunities. Um,
so all of that being said, we feel like we're the best suited to put that under our umbrella umbrella and we're qualified done the these facilities across the southeast and uh and and and
ask as far west as West Texas where we're now working on a project, one of the largest facilities in the country, might I add. And um we do this um um Well, by relieving the city of
operational burden and I'll I'll come back to that later in the slide, but there is a key component to the team that will uh work and be in partnership with the city just as we would be. Um,
continuing on um want to just point out some demographics. Some of these you know well um those in the community participating probably know this from the traffic. Uh but it's important um
that we believe by the early work from Jason Bodri that this uh market uh and demand supports this product that we're presenting. Um within a 60 mile radius I'm pointing out here this population of half a million people u with high youth
sports participation. Um, if you go even further out to 120 miles, you're looking at six million people. You start to get into the regions of Tampa, Orlando, West Palm Beach. 3 hours drive, 75% of Florida's
population as a whole reside. Um what we're proposing are activities that are in high growth among youth sports uh soccer, baseball, lacrosse and we
believe u population growth demographics that there is a shortage of high quality tournament ready facilities and and this could fill a a need for Um
so we have a vision. Um I I want to make it key in our presentation that this vision is something that while we share it, it's something we want to share in with the city and and and they have that same vision. Um
uh we're not going to be dependent upon one sport. U the previous presentations um again applaud them. They're they're focused on golf and and we will include
golf but um we are re we're trying to reimag the municipal golf course as a flexible community centric destination. Um we would maintain a 9-hole
executive style court with multiple um including focus on adding youth TE's um under the USGA guidelines that would allow organizations like first TE and other others that are youth focused to
utilize the remaining nine-hole course and promote youth golf which which right now it's the second fastest growing uh group segment of golfers only behind 18 34 year olds. So, u and that's that's
going back to uh 2006 for those numbers. Um so, while we would improve the golf course for some discuss some of those improvements, um we would be integrating broader
recreational uses and I mentioned soccer and baseball and uh softball as three of those. Um, but these these were addressed and identified in the 2023
uh tourism development commission TDC study that I'm sure as council uh members you are aware of and um we we're after positioning Sebring as a competitive yearround destination.
Um we want to maximize land efficiency uh with the turf flexible turf surfaces for soccer, baseball, softball and other activities. Um again uh you are aware of
the work that geosurfaces tingi are currently doing or planning to do uh next to us. Um so our operational strategy again I mentioned reimagine the golf course with
modern amenities enhanced playability. Um we we we're developing the flat fields and diamonds that would enable multi-use sports play. Okay. Um we as the others would maintain and renovate
the pro shop and restaurant. We understand the restaurant operators do a fine job. Um and that would be there um and approved to serve both golfers and others in the community. Um and those dots uh or opportunities would be
retained. Um but we also look at this as a destination and a commute from a community standpoint for family components. And we mentioned your playgrounds and walking trails and event spaces and a dog park. Um
we go through a collaborative programming phase and and we'll look at other opportunities. Simple ball is a growing sport that could be something that we are integrating in other locations that could be looked at as an opportunity here and I just make that as
one mention. Um, but along with us, and I've previously noted this, there would be a private operator that this once the facility is built, it doesn't fall on the shoulders of the city's parks and
recreation staff to operate this facility. We believe in hiring a skilled operator u that would actually maintain and oversee daily operations.
Um uh have the staff at hand to to manage all activities and take any operational risk out of out from the city and but still preserve that public private public ownership public private
partnership. I'll speak more to that uh very soon. Um this slide um and I believe we included some some of this in in our proposal response materials is a conservative financial model that if there was an
estimated 20 to30 million expense that would be to create the fields enhance on the golf course and enhancements to the golf course and then the other amenities I've mentioned improvements to the shop
in the restaurant um walking trails. We see that this would be a a net positive revenue income um beginning in year one and continuing this is a projection of
five years. Um this is a model that we um we put together using information for similar operated and maintain facilities that are now uh built in the southeast. Um
you know um we our proposal differs in that I feel like we're we're not looking at this as a loss leader. We're looking at this day one to be or year one to be profitable and uh and we actually believe that our profitability and our
efforts would enhance that of hotel owners uh as the first presenter is and others within the community retailers. Um so these are this is a uh initial projection as part of our process we
actually um had in our pre-development put real construction dollars to to the greed programs and have a performance with real operational projections from a qualified operator
presented to you to show what we real time will be before we're turning dirt. Um, so I'll speak to that in just a moment. That's part of our pre-development effort. Um, but this again is just a model um that we believe
accurately describes what a facility like this could could do. Um, economic impact. Um we, you know, our and I'll show you the
sites in here shortly, but our um our belief is and again this is historic numbers that we've seen little numbers in the last uh five years that um a facility like this could generate
approximately 6.5 million in direct spending into the community. um with um the programs that are uh brought in the tournaments, the local
programs for you, regional, national tournaments. Um, you have locally Airstream Ventures I that I understand is working currently in uh with Sebring or in the community to bring tournaments and other sports activities using assets
like Airstream Ventures and others. Um, we believe an estimated um 150,000 visitors in it annually and 40,000 hotel room nights uh would occur.
um as a result of uh adding 16 more diamonds and eight uh flat fields with the diamonds uh of being multi-use uh on the flat fields when baseball softball
is in season and soccer is not. Uh so um this this by adding the 16 fields and including the max lawn facility, this actually would create 24 total fields, the second largest diamond
complex um and the largest turf synthetic turf complex in the state of Florida. that that's something you can market and is tangible to sell to these tournaments um that are trying to find great locations,
all weather locations to play. Um and again that would attract regional national tournaments. It would drive significant visitor volume, visitor spending to retailers, visitor spending to hotels
and support local businesses. That's once operational. Uh and that does not even factor construction dollars that we bring in to out of that 20 to30 million project volume that will be spent will be uh from local
subcontractors. Usually 80% of the work performed as local subcontractors when we build these facilities. Um I mentioned working closely with Airstream Ventures. Uh there are others as well, but um understanding they're
doing a fine job, we would definitely reach out with them uh to them immediately upon selection uh to to help us begin to lay the groundwork of the program uh and to
understand uh 12 and 24 and 36 months out once things are beginning to code to schedule those tournaments. We're doing a facility in Odessa, Texas, 100 acres, uh six uh tw
12 baseball diamond, 10 soccer fields, and an indoor facility. And there are already scheduling tournaments and and we broke ground two months ago. So, that's that's the way the these properties work, especially with an excellent operator.
Um I I I want to be sure and and we've submitted qualifications, but uh we feel as though we're highly qualified team. Um we we build sports facilities, sports
sports med is in our name, D1 training facilities as part of our repertoire of facilities that we've done over the years. We built those across the country. Uh there for rehabilitation and training of athletes. Uh indoor and
outdoor sports facilities is what we have focused on for a number of years. We have uh we provided uh some of those credentials to you. But while we're very good at the development side, we also
know that we want to surround oursel with adequate and highly qualified uh team partners. And that begins with a construction team partner. We noted Lee Lewis Construction who we're working
with now. They're nationally known for sports facilities, community based sports facilities, and educational based sports facilities. Geosurface Tinkati is another name that you're familiar with. They're the largest turf supplier uh I think
internationally and nationally and we bring them in early in the planning and design stages so that we're thinking about things like uh turf design and drainage. We've heard drainage brought up several times. you know there's mitigated drainage to to occur on this
site but uh we we bring these team partners involved so that we mitigate risk early it's this gets back to my worry hard early comment that I had at the beginning of the presentation um because mitigating risk controlling cost
controlling schedule uh that ensures predictable delivery okay um we also work with a number of highly qualified architects and engineers. U civil engineers, there would be uh probably a
higher demand need for a facility like this when we're looking at turf uh in fields more than vertical construction. But be that as it may, we we look for those or we have actually those qualified engineers that are accustomed
to working alongside geocurfaces and us to design the fields for durable play um and and to address those issues like drainage and runoff and water quality management. Uh so we we have
those resources uh a lot from Florida that are at our disposal. Uh and then I did mention and I touched on earlier that we would highly recommend engaging a nationally recognized operator. It's a
key team player. if you're entrusting us with bricks and mortar uh and fields. Uh and we we know that it's a it's a three-legged stool that an operator also is a key component to a facility like
this. And um so we have something we can recommend uh that have a proven and tested ability to profitably operate these facilities. um they have a track record of doing so
and they understand the dynamics uh required to to balance community use and that's important. Um so that >> Mr. Stewart just want to let you know you've got 10 minutes left. >> Excuse me.
>> Just want to let you know you've got 10 minutes left on your time. >> Okay. Yeah, we'll be finishing up. Um so that so that those within the community can utilize facility in addition to attracting regional and national
tournaments. U so uh we want this to be u a profitable year round uh financially sustainable asset and a revenue generating asset to the city. Um
just a few more slides. Um the structured lease in our proposal was u discussed. Um we would to a credit tenant lease structure um which preserves the city's flexibility
um based on the credit of this facility. Uh and then the operating revenue covers expense and capital repayment. Uh we as the developer take the initial 100% of capital uh operating uh funds at at risk
under the GMP agreement. Um and then the the public side partner uh of the lease uh during his it term and uh we've proposed a 30-year term uh in our document. At the end of 30 years paying
the lease back, the city would uh have freed ownership of of the assets. Um yeah, the advantages of this credit t lease advantages um uh They're treated similar to the debt service. Um
it the financing costs are much lower than traditional lending. Our nonprofit lenders that provide this service and there are a few that we can bring to the table. Um there with the credit uh excellent by the city the rates are very
very attractive. Um so again this is a quick site utilization plan. It's showing um where um one concept where we would take a portion of the golf course and transform that into eight flat fields that could
also be used as uh 16 diamonds. Uh and then um that that flexible use is is you more for bang for your money, so to speak. Um it doesn't show walking trails, but we would look into walking
trails. Uh we would take a look at if if it makes any operational sense to include something like pickle ball. And then we would include amenities like concessions for those a sports activities and restrooms obviously. And
then Uh again, I think a focus will be just like everyone else of uh new access to these areas, improvements to the golf course, improvements to the pro shop and restaurant. That would be part of our early program uh analysis. And then
again longterm uh looking well ahead uh this is all pvious mostly pvious uh material looking at drainage improvements and environmental mitigation uh that's probably needed now I understand
um I do want to note that we are in statutory compliance uh with the various statutes that I've outlined here that is discussed in our proposal. Uh needless to say, there are other similar
facilities already in Florida and and then we fall under the guidelines that follow these uh statutes that make sure that everything is appropriate and legal. Um
annual appropriations remain subject to your city council approval. I point that out. Um So that'll be an annual vote. Um, quickly, and I know I'm about out of
time, we I mentioned the lean project management. Um, and this is just touches on the fact that this worry hard early approach where we uh we want to empower you to make decisions. We're very transparent in how we we plan and design
these facilities. Uh we have sharetses and workshops with stakeholders including the city especially the city and and then we prepare prepare operational performance well in advance and a control budget well in advance
before we go into formal design and it becomes our guidance. Um, in closing, um, you know, we appreciate this opportunity. We we feel we're not a
golf course operator strictly. We're sports facility developer. Um, we're we understand how to work with sports facility operators to include golf and soccer and lacrosse
and baseball and other sports. Um, we believe we're uniquely qualified for a project of this nature and we believe this is an opportunity that's differing in that um, it brings and enhances u sports for youth and the families uh,
locally that would have children and grandchildren that could participate. I appreciate this opportunity. All right. Thank you, Mr. Stewart. We're now going to open it up to council questions and comments for 30 minute
period. Who would like to start? All right. I've got a couple then. Um, so Mr. If I understand this setup, um you're you are the development company. Um the the city would be ultimately on
the hook for either the profits or losses of this facility. >> Correct. >> That that is correct. >> Okay. Um >> you're the least, >> right? And so 20 to 30 million is the estimated cost that you've put together
just based on kind of a a rough overview of the plan. That is that is a rough overview based on similar you know similar scope um trying to put it in today's dollars as I mentioned earlier we would want to
go through a uh a program programmatic uh phase early on to to ensure that we've got the right mix of fields and scope that matches a a profitable operation.
operating uh from >> okay so one thing that I don't know if you're aware of this or not so we are working on a potential um much smaller scale plan like this at the max long facility with Synergy Sports we're in the early stages to see if it's
viable >> if >> okay yeah >> if council >> I'm not with all the details >> okay so just in the max long area and kind of updating fields turf and that sort of thing um I Synergy is the one who are preparing some of those plans
and and projections for us. If that was to go through and and your proposal, how would those work together or would they be at odds with each other? >> I mean, we're seeing that as working together. they're they're in close
enough proximity that that they would be marketing to to to regional and national tournaments, state, regional, and national. Um so that that utilization of those fields
could occur with one use. So we we do not see we see that as an enhancement to max long not as a competitive >> and in the way you would envision this a single operator would would operate the entirety of that max long and the >> I would believe that would be best. Yes.
Okay. I would like to know more about the max but yes that would be our recommendation. Would that operator also operate the nine-hole course or is that generally a separate discipline? >> In some that we have worked with, they
have that capability and I would certainly recommend that that be entertained. Um, it could be that our dollars could be spent to improve on the golf course and we find that there is
another operator that should be discussed strictly for golf. >> Okay. Um, I just had two. >> I wouldn't rule out either either. It makes a lot of sense for the youth tournament sports uh that one operator
be involved. >> Okay. >> Team team sports. >> I have two other just quick questions and I'll pass this to someone else. >> Um yes sir. >> The first one uh there's a lot of discussion in the state legislature about advalorum tax changes. Does that
if if any of those go into effect does it mess up the financing structure of a project like this? Meaning we might not have the back stop from a space that we we previously had. >> You know, we we're looking at we would look we have to look a lot
closer at how you're structuring or if you're doing hotel tax contributions or not, you know, and and that can vary by community. So, if the tax structure changes, we we would want to know and look at what those changes could be and
see if that should be or should not be included in proforma. Okay, >> that makes sense. It does. It's very difficult to ask to answer a hypothetical, but I do know often >> the the tax laws do play a role in
reforming. >> Okay. I guess for for your knowledge, um we don't directly benefit from TDC tourist development tax revenue. U that goes directly to the county, not the municipality. So that I guess that would be my concern. Um, and then my last
question, you mentioned you've done projects similar to this in other cities in Florida. Um, would you be able to provide us with those cities and and how long have they been operational for? >> I know that I'm asking you a lot of questions here, but >> for for the we can provide you a list of
facilities that we've done, >> but I mentioned that we have operators that are operating facilities in Florida, so I could do both. >> Okay. All right. I'd be interested in both. like to have Jamie I can follow that up with Jamie on that.
>> All right. Thank you. >> Mr. Stewart on that note as well. Um generally speaking with municipalities that you have worked with are they generally always showing a profit or are they subsidizing any losses? Could you go over a little bit of those numbers if you're able to?
Generally within a se by with within a sevenyear projection and we do seven to 10 year projections they're profitable by year three to four. Some are profitable in year one. It depends on what type of facilities that and what
kind of investment they had to make initially and other factors. Um some some understood that the and without naming specific names but we have one
that has an indoor and outdoor facility currently that uh our operation projections are that is profitable in year three and beyond. Uh but they understood that the the gap um in the
first two years uh was worth that expense that they the first first cost expense because of the facilities that they want to provide. >> Thank you. Uh when would the lease be? >> Ideally, it would be every year, but in
in in reality, sometimes we're balancing u the demand and the request and the actual first cost with how we can ramp up that with the operator. That's that's why we want to work collaborative with the operator from day one.
>> Okay. >> Yep. >> We're excellent at first cost answers, but we we we like to have operation uh input as well. Okay, thank you. Then uh when would the lease payments start? Is that when operations start themselves or is it when you break
ground? >> Ask ask me that again. >> When would those lease payments start? >> At the at the completion facility. >> Okay. >> Yeah, we're we're fully at risk until
it's completed. >> Thank you. I think we put some time frames in our proposal. Again, scope would and scope and your decision making process may may influence it, but I mean I think
we were 18 to 18 to 24 months in our proposal and that would be not be too surprising to go from um commence commencement of programming and planning through construction
>> and uh sir, what happens after 30 years? So, is there a is there a plan for the operator to continue that contract or is it completely back on the city to to maintain the facility that was built? >> So, to be clear, the 30-year agreement
is a development agreement and that's based on the cost of lease payments. Okay? your operator agreement can be can vary in a shorter term uh and extend beyond that. So that's a separate uh management it's a management agreement
and the cost of that is normally factored into your operating expense. So you may you may entertain proposals no different than you're doing today for how do you use this land uh city own
property asset um how best to utilize that you you may uh entertain three more operator proposals and and discuss different terms and what that look >> okay thank you
any questions for Mr. Stewart, our sports med. >> Okay. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Stewart. >> Okay. Thank you, guy. Thank you all. I really appreciate it. >> Yes, sir. >> All right. So, the next step on our
agenda is to open it up for mayor and council discussion and remarks briefly, and after that, we'll go to public comment. Is there anything that anyone would like to mention or say? Uh after hearing all the proposals
I mean I I can start. I got a few things from each each presentation. Um the only major concern I have with the blackman proposal of course is the lease the lease term. Um we would be wonderful to to kick in some money per year. Um,
but I do understand the financial realities of negative -250 is worse than one. Uh, when it comes to dollars, um, really it's the least term that that is mined. Uh, I think only that I can think
of on that one right now. I would much rather see something closer to 50 or 25 or the 25 year renewal or even a 50 to 50 renewal. Um, for H&L Golf Group, the the idea of the payment is very nice. I'm concerned about performance and
being able to deliver that especially. I know there was some explanation of the the bankruptcy, but that happening so soon um is a a big red flag to me and I would have some concerns there. Um would want to see some vetting and definitely a performance bond if we selected that
presentation. Um and the sports med one is a is a really cool concept. We've kind of visited this in the past and to me the price tag is very high. it still puts the city at risk on on this and u
uh you know I'm I'm our representative to the TDC so I've heard a whole lot of sports marketing tourism and it is growing and profitable um but it it does freak me out a little bit to put the municipality in at risk like that especially since we don't directly
get tourism development tax funds um the county is a slightly different story because they have the TDC to back stop if uh if facility maintenance costs are more than expected and you know profit is less we don't have that luxury so that kind of freaks me out from that
standpoint >> else have anything that they want to mention or >> I agree on the permanent just had my six great grandchild U 90 years she probably wouldn't be
uh and u H&L know anybody's been in business has had financial problem they just don't want money but with a performance bond
you really can't lose >> well that performance bond is a rolling one year So we could be back here in two years. That's what I'm trying to >> Well, I understand that. But we could be back here in two years with any of you. So
anyway, and and the thing, you know, TDC proposed that I think it's a great idea, but finances gets me. Um I agree with that all y'all have said similar concerns and thoughts um long
lease um performance for H&L and then um this is similar to what we've considered before for sportsman. all the same. >> Okay, >> Roland. >> Yeah. Um, one, thank you Jamie. Um, I know a lot of work has been put into this for a long period of time. Thank
you for the the the three presenters for putting in the RFP and working with us and figuring out what's the best thing for the city and for the taxpayers and for the not just getting out of a long or a shortterm problem with losing money with the golf course, but what's good
for the next six months, the next year, five years, 10 years, and going into the future when none of us are here. So, I think this is a good foundation to set of what's the best thing for us next. Um, I think looking holistically, if
everybody's proposal was at 100% and best case scenario, there's really really good options for the city, too. If things don't go perfect and don't go the plan 100%, then I think the city has a lot of liability. So, I there's a a
perfect answer that shields the city. We know it has a crystal ball of what's going to happen the next five years. So, we need to do what's what's best. Looking at all the information, I think all three proposals have a huge amount of value. Starting with with with the
sport met at at the and then moving up. Um what I would like to see, I don't know if this is realistic or reasonable, but I would love to sit down with county commissioners and looking County is a holistic view too of what do we want to do together with TDC commissioners
council um and see if there's a plan that we can really work on this side of it together. Is that Max Long? Is that the the MUN? Is that the sports complex downtown? Um I think there's ways that we can figure this out together and
answer a lot of questions. Um I talked a little bit to to Casey today with kind of the the future of what that could look like. Um I have some questions on just even getting TDC dollars. Is that something that TDC
would be able to support the the city if there is uh kind of that that stop gap? And if if the city potentially is losing money for the first couple years, is there do we have to fund that loss for the first couple years or can somebody
step in and help us out knowing that long term it's going to benefit every place? I would like to see that that me joint meeting happen. That's something that we could think about and work work on. Um I think it has the highest benefit if everything goes perfectly. Um
but I also am very hesitant about the the lease payment of 1.8 8 million and then if something doesn't go right and we're kind of in the same spot that we're at right now that we're we're funding u a loss and we that's I think clearly what we don't want to do. I want to make
sure that we're covered there. Um H&L they're excited about the idea of having money coming back to the city consistently. Uh I share similar views with with Josh too and a little bit worrisome too but I think that could be a great option.
Um, and then with the black men's appreciate all your time and effort into this, like we talked about too, I would be I feel better about how a maybe changing up the lease terms a little bit. Um, just 99 is a lot
in general that that's where I'm at with all of it. That's some good proposals, but I think what we really need to do is a long-term economic benefit to the community. not just the community but to the county what what is the best overall what's going to propel us into the future and what's going to do that so there's a lot
that we have to weigh out I agree with a lot of your comments and a lot of your comments I think you know a debt service position is is pretty stout if something doesn't go right um then what happens we're we're stuck and uh have to
renovate but I think that's really something that we've got to really kind of weigh is what is what do we see as the best economic side for the community. So, >> all right. So, next up is public comment. Before we begin, just want to
remind everyone, uh, we do a threem minute timer per person on this. Five minutes, excuse me, five minutes. Um, when you come up, you can just line up, state your name. Um, one thing I will mention, just a reminder again, uh, this
is a workshop only. We're not taking a vote after this. After public comment, there will be a time for presenters to do followup and maybe address anything that's been brought up by council or the public. U but we will vote on this particular RFP at our council meeting on
February 19th, which is a Thursday, at 5:30 p.m. here in these chambers. And there will be an opportunity for public comment again at that time. And of course, in the intervening two weeks, uh everyone is welcome to to kind of weigh in and contact any one of us if you'd like. Um, so
we do have a council meeting at 5:30 tonight. So that puts an implicit time limit on public comment. I hope we're not here for three hours on that. Um, five minutes per person. When you come up to the microphone, please state your name. Try and pull the microphone close to to your mouth so we can hear it and hear it on the recording.
Okay, great. Uh, Paul said, "Disregard what I just said. Don't touch the mic." Um, but please state your name for public record. And um, you don't need to raise your hand. You can just form a line and have at it. Terry, you're up. And and the mayor will run the time
clock. My name is Terry Mendle and um I recently completed a three-year term on city council, which I very much enjoyed and appreciate all y'all do. And I was um I termed out in April at the at the
end of March this last year. And I was really enjoying my retirement time. And um and I was keeping an eye on this particular project because I had been involved with so many things that have to do with our future for Sebring.
And uh I just felt like I needed to come back onto city council. So, I am running again to try to bring some more businessfriendly voices and common sense because I've worked with the Blackman
family for the last four plus years. I've watched what they went through from the beginning. I've had people ask me, "Well, why didn't they tie down the golf course when they first began?" And uh I've had it explained to me the reason why they didn't tie down the golf
course is because they were very upfront with their plans for Harter Hall and their plans for a resort. They were assured by the city that uh there wasn't going to be a problem getting the golf course later on to make this outstanding
idea of Harter Hall being revived and being even better than it was in the past. I'm an old-timer from Sebring and I remember how glorious Harter Hall was and we would love to have that again and
um in my time with the Blackman family I've been amazed at their love for city for the city of Sebring their integrity their plans their excitement and I've seen a lot of goal changing or is that
the right word when you move the goal around with the city. A lot of obstacles thrown in their way, which didn't need to be because common sense for the big vision of a Sebring is that we would have a beautiful Harter Hall resort,
five-star gold, wonderful, high tier uh resort with a golf course. And I've seen everything that the Blackmans have done. They have had unbelievable problems with Harter Hall and they've
addressed them very carefully and um studiously, strategically, and they're progressing same way with the Wakovia building downtown. And I'm so grateful to the Blackman family for coming in and loving Sebring and for the top tier people in
business that they have brought to invest in Sebring and quite frankly are not interested in the current city council um attitude toward business. non-friendly. But anyway, um
I believe in speaking a little frankly and this is my opportunity to do it. And it would be a terrible shame for Sebring, Florida if we don't support the Blackman's and let them continue to develop our Sebring and our downtown, I
mean our our uh Harter Hall uh resort. and some of the ideas they have for our downtown. Robert Blackman especially has spent hours with me on projects or that have nothing of any benefit to him and
his family uh mainly historical society. He's very much for the whole family for preservation of our historical buildings and I really appreciate that. And the integrity of these folks is we could not have prayed in a better bunch of people
to come and save our harder hall that's been on the edge of demolition for years and years and years. one minute >> has a bright future now and we need to be supporting the blackman's be respectful to them be doing everything
we can to help them to help Sebring so um if you hadn't guessed I'm totally in support for them the other group um you know how are you going to come in use the same equation and and come up with a
better uh end result if all of a sudden you're going to make all this money. It's not feasible. And then I love the sport. As a grandma of eight, I love the sports idea, but that's for another place. The Harter Hall has historically
been a golf course. The uh connected with Harter Hall, but thank you I would imagine there's some other comment. Haven't started yet. >> One minute. >> Jeff Carlson, for the record, that was an interesting campaign speech for one
issue. I really enjoyed it. Um, by the way, Miss Haley, while I'm here, have we gotten a response to my public records request from Miss Mandel? >> There was no report. Okay, thank you. >> Back to the topic at hand. Um, I wanted to remind council that just doing an RFP
does not encumber you to make a decision or to pick one or the other. You can reject them all. Um, gives you the opportunity to look at other options. All this is is a, hey, let's get some ideas on the table. Let's get some presentations and see how it goes. Second, if the goal for the city is to
save money, then we're based on their numbers, by the way, which I disagree with, 400 to 500 to 2 million, whatever the the numbers are. And if that's really the goal, then let's think about other ways we can do this at without the opportunity costs that you're about to
have. The county just went out and purchased additional land to expand recreational facilities. I'm not sure what the total is, but I'm sure it was millions. So the land might be losing you a few hundred,000 a year, but all parks do. Every park you have in the city is a net loser. That's just the way
that it goes. From Max Along to the Circle Park, which probably cost you almost as much as the golf course the way it's maintained right now. But the opportunity cost to me is the important thing that you've got a space of 108 acres in the middle of Sebring. The
southwest side of Sebring is going to grow fast as fast as it has in the past. it's the only direction to go other than to the northeast. Let's think about this not as ball fields, soccer fields or or um or uh baseball fields. Think about it
like Bonnet Creek Park in Lakeland. I would encourage you to go look at their website if you haven't been there. I think some of you have been there. It's a beautiful park. Thinks outside the box. It gives not only kids but every age group the opportunity to recreate on a huge facility with multiaceted
recreational opportunities. something that the city could be proud of for years. In doing that, we could put to um uh Commissioner Councilman Hvery's suggestion, have a workshop with ARPAC, with the county, with TDC, come up with some sort of ideas. When we John and I first started the um the playground
committee probably 25 years ago that we started with Max Long, we literally went to elementary schools with white pieces of paper and threw them on tables with elementary school kids and said, "What do you guys want?" And we went and built that. So, I think there's a way to maximize the space, preserve it for
future generations, and give us true recreational opportunities. Even Monday at Mr. Shup's um downtown meeting, uh there were several people in a b group of business people saying that there's not enough stuff for kids to do. Let's give them things other than baseball and soccer. Give them something that that gives them a lot of um recreational
opportunities in the city. Thank you for your time. I appreciate everyone's willingness to spend so much time on this u effort and good luck. Christopher Toughley, I tend to I I support a lot of what uh
Mr. Carlilele just said. Um I we have a unique opportunity to think outside the box and I'm worried that we're just sort of following the same old trail. Some specific questions I have would be
how does changing an 18 uh hole golf course to a 9hole golf course, how is that going to change the people that would be coming here or not? Um I have questions about um artificial turf. Um
I'm just not so sure about that. And uh finally, and I'm really sorry to bring this up, but I worry about our country over the next several years. I worry about the economic situation that we're facing as
a nation. And I worry that if we put all of our hopes for the future into drawing people in to spend money, that the money may not be there for people to spend. I just I think we really have to
consider a lot of different things. Um, thank you. I'm George Hensley, a senator, a resident of Sebring. Um, I've got to say, how much longer are we
going to how much longer are we going to manage or um work on this project? Um, understanding that we really want the best for the city of Sebring, but how much longer?
And also, as I've listened to these presentations today, I had no idea that somebody was going to come in and want to turn an 18hole golf course into a n a 9-hole golf course. And I would doubt that uh you would be
supported by the residents of our city if you selected that option. But anyway, um, point is that to me, and while I'm not necessarily agreeing that our city council is not
business visioned, by the way, I disagree with that point. But I certainly think that having a quality resort and resort golf course here, if you look around other
areas where there are resorts and people like to go there, that's an important impact to the community. And uh I think that to me the Blackman family have brought to our attention
um quality at least as I see the presentation which needs to be vetted but brought to our attention the uh quality people that have done operations of this nature. They have a vision for
making it a a resort type golf course. And I realize that u that's important. It's important for me and as a golfer as well, not so much anymore, but uh as a golfer as well who would like to play on
the city course, uh I would expect that it would be uh as well to be able to be done at a reasonable cost. Um people go to resort golf courses and pay a lot of money to play there.
um think Pebble Beach. We're not that. But if just think about that and uh so anyway, I just want to share with you that I think we need to really evaluate. We've asked for RFPs. We got them. I think the people of the city wanted to
say, you know, don't just accept one. Say what else is out there. How much longer are we going to say, let's see what else is out there? And we've uh we had proposals. We've had uh folks make presentations now and I think it's time
for the city council to do a reasonable thing in thinking about having a resort and a resort golf course here and there are ways that you can work that out, I believe. Thank you. Bobby Lee, can you hear me? All right, sir.
Uh, interestingly, I'm only going to talk about the lease concept. About 20 years ago, I was uh the lead, if you will, in developing a Marriott hotel in downtown
Cabbell, Afghanistan. kind of a strange thing to be doing. But what we worked out with the uh Afghan government who owned the property that we got, 10 acres downtown,
was that they gave us a 50-year lease and it could be extended another 50 years. The unique thing was it was our option to extend it, not the K Afghan government.
So, just thought I'd let you know that there are other ways to do things. >> Hi, Bernard Flex. And I just um want to thank everybody. I don't think y'all are stalling things off and I appreciate the fact that you're taking the time to
really investigate things and we already know they are going to make a decision. and it's been announced that they are going to be making a decision on the 19th. So, I don't think that's an issue. I am happier with the idea of someone who actually is going to pay for leasing
the golf course and I think that um it's a nice idea to keep what we have and improve on it. So, I think that's the best deal. I too don't like the idea of a 99 year lease basically for free.
>> Hi, my name is Diane Judy and I have kind of a unique perspective because I grew up in St. Petersburg. My father's and grandfather's medical offices were two blocks from the Venoi Hotel. So I grew up during the time when the Venoy Hotel was closed.
What has happened to St. Petersburg with the re renovation of the Venoi Hotel, which was like $92 million to renovate, seemed crazy at the time, is extraordinary. I don't know if anybody has seen the art center that St.
Petersburg has become. It's an entirely different town. My brother's a police dispatcher in town. It's a different city than it was. You all have made such an incredible start with this this this home and garden TV show. I mean in the summers I'm in North Carolina now people
have heard of Sebring. Now if you go ahead and support the blacks who are who have that vision because they've they lived with the Benoy Hotel also create a resort people will come. I mean I saw Dutch people last week on the
on the streets of of downtown Seaburn. I would suggest don't get sidetracked. We do need these sports facilities. I'm 100% for them. We have a lot of land in this county and probably in the city of of Sebrurn. That doesn't have to be what
will shut off this amazing families project and make it not viable. So that's my suggestion is that you just stick with the family that has already invested tremendous amounts of money and keep going. You guys are doing amazing things in this town. And as I say, for
the first time, people know where I'm from. So, thank you. >> Hi, Frank Cardosano Long historical society. I know two of you kind of sort of I've talked to the rest I don't know. I've watched what's
gone on and just listening to the to today's uh presentations. One man said, "We're going to turn into a sports facility." and I was thinking of the uh YMCA area and I said, "Okay, we're already doing that." The other guy came in and said, "Listen, I'm going to pay you a quarter
of a million dollar and I'm going to take over something that's lost $300,000." So, in my small mind, I'm going, "Wait, we're losing 300,000." So, he's going to make that $300,000 and come up with another $250,000. So, that's a half a
million dollars. If you guys aren't smart enough, and I can't see you being dumb to make it work, how is this other man geniusly going to change it and make it profitable for you? Question number one,
I heard you. The other thing is, talk about karma. You guys made a promise as a group. You reassured that family that this was going to go forward in that way. He wants to develop it. He wants to make it nice. He wants to make it
grandiose and he's not going to threaten us, the common people. Oh, you're going to pay $100 to come to the golf course. No, he's already pronounced the fact that I'm going to keep the the fees the same. But what I'm going to do is enhance the
thing. I'm going to draw. We've got the facility. We've got the thing, but you're on a verge making this a great city. We've got Sebring Racetrack. I work there occasionally. I talked to people from all over the world. They know Seabbrink. You took go down the
street, couple of towns up frost roof. Where's Sebring? Duh. We have the ability to do that. That will bring a tax dollar revenue. This is the money that we need as a city to grow. Local money, not money that goes to the
county. Local money. Please use your heads. Vote responsibility. Vote that way. These guys have proven their fragrance. They've laid money out of their pockets. How many of us have done that? How many
have risked everything for something? We made a promise as a city council back then. Yeah, it's going to happen. We promise. Karma's a witch. She doesn't listen to man-made rules.
Be wise. So before you come up, sir, I don't normally interject in public comment. I do want to make it clear for the record that at least three of council members up here were not even in office at the time that they fought the golf course. >> So all right.
>> Well, I just I just want to make clear because you said we made a promise and I want to make it clear that that that is not the case before we move on. >> I'm just making that comment. I don't want to go back and forth. I'll be happy to talk to you afterwards. Yes, sir.
>> Hi. Uh, Dan Dilts. I've been a resident of Sebring for about 10 years. I'm originally from Bunksatani, PA, but don't hold that against me for the ground yesterday. Anyway, just I I want to make it clear. I've been to these meetings and I I live
in Southern Lake, but I play golf at the MUN occasionally, you know, up there, but I still come down and support them. And I just want to relate something that uh in Pennsylvania, a project similar to what they're working on. Bedford Springs
Resort. I don't know if anybody knows that. Look it up. It it predates the Civil War. Same situation. Closed for 30 years. Desol kept the golf course open. It was a bunch of weeds, but the hotel
was closed for probably 25 years. Someone came in and bought it, restored it. And to put things in perspective, Bedford's Bedford, PA is a smaller town than Seaburn. Big hotel. I don't know how many rooms
are at hotel. Do you know approximately how many rooms are at Carter Hall? >> Yeah, 100. Well, this Bedford Springs had probably 250 units. The closest big city would be Pittsburgh, two and a half
hours, similar to here. Washington DC, three hours away. They restored that hotel. Same thing that they're going through now. Took them a couple years to do it. Redid the golf course. Okay, this closed. And this place is out in the
middle of nowhere. This sort of like Sever is very successful. Not that they would sell it because it's a lease. They ended up restoring the hotel and they there's clips on the internet you can see and it was so successful that the
Omni hotel chain bought that resort and it has been in business for over 20 years. Very profitable. It's a little expensive to play golf there, but they kept it open to the public with golf packages, things like that. It's a very
similar situation to what you're looking at. the same size of an area of town and like they took a chance on doing that. They've worked with the local people and it's been very successful, you know, and it's just something to look at that what
they're trying to do. It's very similar to that and it's uh it it can be done. I mean, and then the people come. It's not like, you know, that it was it was successful in in the fact that even though they're out in the country, the
resort having all the uh amenities and things like that. And they years ago prior to the Civil War, the hotel was the summer residence of Buchanan, the 15th president, the only one from Pennsylvania. But this place goes back
200 years, but it was originally they went in there for the mineral springs of the the healing waters is why this place started. But it's very historical. be something for you guys to look up to see, you know, the history of Bedford Springs compared to what the Black ones
are trying to do. And I I fully support that. Thank you. >> I'm Charlie Lance. As you may know, I was on the city council and I take uh great exception to people saying that there was a promise made from the
previous city council in 2017 when Mr. Blackman and his party bought Harter Hall. There was no promise made about the golf course. He said he was interested in it and we said, "You know what? You get Harter Hall open, come on back. We'll talk about it." That's all
we said. no promise that we would give it to him, lease it to him, or sell it to him in any regard. Lonard was on that council. Mayor Sh, you were there. Unless somebody made some promise in private, it was never made in public. I know I never made anything in private. I
just wanted to get that clarified for everybody. There was no promise. >> You weren't on council. So, >> you got the year wrong. We were here August of 22. We were not on council. >> So, I appreciate this, but let's keep it to public comment. You'll have
>> When you bought Harter Hall in 2017, there was no >> You're thinking of somebody else. >> When did you buy Harter Hall? >> 2022. >> Okay. You changed entities, but Mr. Black, >> I don't know. >> Who did we sell Harter Hall to in 2017?
It was to that uh REIT that they were going to put a nursing home in there alfert >> and they were gonna they were looking for bonds and couldn't get the bonds and that's when they sold it to the blackman. So >> the blackmans purchased it after that but it was a different it was a
different group. >> You when did you buy it from >> August 2022 August 31st >> and you're saying the city council at that time made a promise to you? >> Hold on. need to be careful about people speaking the mic.
>> Yes, sir. So, let's end the back and forth. I apologize. You'll >> you get a chance to speak at the end, of course, and keep public comment to the microphone, please. >> I believe that the city sold it in 2017 and there was no promise. >> Okay. Hello, I'm Jackie Andrews. I've been a
resident of Sebring for 52 years. I currently live on Golfside Lane. My property backs up to the six fairway of the admissible golf course and I'm not a golfer. Our neighborhood is compromised of middle inome housing with both
retirees and families and was developed by Jean Shack in the 70s. At that time, Hart Hall was a functioning hotel with a namesake golf course and the municipal across the street on Golfview Road. The houses backing up to the municipal course on that side have a mixture of
old and new um dwellings at basically middle income. Our neighborhood is a quiet community with the exception of the occasional exclamation which cannot be repeated here um by golfers and a golf ball hitting a tree in my yard or
the distant cheers from the soccer fields on Saturday mornings. A natural wildlife quarter of woods actually buffers the sounds and lights from the current ball fields which would not exist with additional fields. So, here are my concerns with the proposed
additional ball fields. We currently have drainage issues throughout the perimeter of the golf course in addition to the flooding and ponding on just rainy afternoons, not to mention during hurricanes, creating additional fields, parking will certain, etc. will
certainly compound this problem. Lights, noise, loss of wildlife habitat, and traffic are another issue for our quiet neighborhood. Also, why would we want to turn our are over our locally controlled ballpark program to outsiders who don't
even live here. My boys and my grandchildren grew up using the fields at Max Long. It has always been a community complex and I see no reason to make it otherwise. There is additional land available at the S softball complex
which is a much more logical location for large tournaments and tourism dollars. The Blackman family's lease proposal makes absolutely the most logical and financial sense. This family has already demonstrated their commitment to Sebring. Their ability to
financially follow through with their obligations. Their resolve to improve the quality of the golf course facility, bringing experts in to address drainage and maintenance issues to be resolved forth with. their desire to enhance our quality of life, bringing tourists who
have time and dollars to spend here at a high-end unique resort facility, encouraging longer visits which will showcase and benefit all aspects of our unique Circle City. Thank you. My name is Marsha Ward. Um, I'm a member
of a Citrus family. We've been here for 102 years. So, some businesses do last longer than the 25 years that you'd like to pro propose for a lease. I want you to all stop and think about where would we be if the constitutional fathers
said, "Well, let's put a 25 year mark on this and come back and let's let's look at it and see if we think we need to change things. We're we're pushing 250 years with that one and it has not been readressed in all of that time. I'm not suggesting
that they get 250 years, but I think you should realize that 99-year leases are an an historical thing. They came along when people who had the money to go into business wanted that business to stay
within their families and they built it as a legacy for their families. And it was important to know that generation after generation was going to stay within it. We know for a fact nowadays that generally the third generation
after that first generation dies generally doesn't hold on to it. Thankfully my fourth generation is in our business. But in their case I don't know if you have I don't know this gentleman. So, I don't know if you had
grandchildren, but I do know that they're not going to invest that kind of money without thinking, is this going to still be here for them, for us, for our family? And you can't stay in a community
those 99 years without committing yourself to that community as well as to your family. Um, now I lost my train of thought. I don't normally get up and just speak. I usually have a script, but I I really
would appreciate if you all think about allowing more than one generation to look at it. We are in such a fastmoving world. We think everything is supposed to be at our fingertips right now. It may take them 25 years to get it to that
point that they feel strong and comfortable with it, you know, but if you put that stop on them, it's always is going to hover over them and they will not be inclined to invest more money into it. It's one of those things
you don't walk away. I mean, you don't stick with it if you don't know that you can still be with it. I mean, we've lost our business three times. Hanker wiped us out and my father said, "Oh, you know, I'm not
going to go back in business." My mother said, "Over my dead body." So we started up again. The same customers came back to us. If you are a good member of the community, they'll support you through
the time and so on. We have the same problem with greening. Greening is trying to wipe out everybody in the citrus business. We've probably gone 10 years without taking any money of our own as as far as profit goes, but we're staying there because we have 25
employees that need jobs. And every farmer thinks another year is going to make it. So I mean give them that chance. 25 years is going to restrict them. 50 years is going to restrict them
because the next generation isn't necessarily going to be ready to come in and commit to it. If you don't want to see them sell out and walk away from it, you've got to give them the chance to grow, not just throw the money into it
and let's have it all of a sudden. It's going to take time. They might get there a lot faster than we do with citrus trees, I'm sure, but they've got to have the time to commit themselves. They've already proven that they can do it.
They've done it in St. compete to the point that they're looking for a new place to go and this is where they chose. I think you should be really thrilled that we have someone that is willing to put that sort of effort in here.
So, I I fully back everything that they said that they were going to do. I've seen a lot of the things over in St. repeat that they've done and I like the idea that they were looking for other places to grow and hopefully there'll be more generations of them if we let them
stay here. >> Thank you. >> Good afternoon. I'm Clinton Davis. I've been a resident of Sebring since I was 2 years old. Um, I'm excited to see the things that are happening in Highlands County and in Sebring in particular. And
that's thanks to a lot of the leadership, um, even though some of you guys are new that have been here and have been, you know, ushering us forward. I just had a couple of questions. I don't know if they're going to get answered right now, but um, one of the things in respect of the sports
facilities, uh, there's a difference in property values. my profession as a real estate agent. Um there's a difference in property values if they're next to soccer fields or next to a golf course. Um so that's one of the things like what kind of setbacks would we have those
kind of buffers uh to kind of preserve people's privacy to a certain degree and people's property values. Um the other things that I was uh wondering and it may have been mentioned, I may have missed it. Uh, we kept talking about the
potential tax implications with the triple net lease. Do we have like estimates on what that property is going to be bringing in? Like because assuming their proposals a dollar that they're technically paying us, but if there's $200,000 in property taxes a year, um,
you know, that's something to consider. Um, and obviously he's bringing a two $200,000 lease, uh, I think the first year and then going up 3% after that. Um, is that $200,000 to pay that tax or is that in addition that's $200,000 of
profit with the addition of the triple net aspects with property taxes and maintenance? Um, so that being said, uh, one of the other things is I'm not I'm with you guys. I'm not a big fan of a 100red-year lease. I
mean, if we're talking and we're we're considering what what the Blackmans are doing on a 100-y old building that's been shut down for what, 40 years. So, a 100red-year lease is a very long
commitment to make to anything um and anyone. So, I would suggest a little bit longer than 25 years. I'd probably go 35 with a 25 renewal, something like that. Gives them I mean, Mr. Blackman's a young man. He's going to be work, you
know, presumably he'll be working through that time period and maybe around that that point he'd be passing it on to kids or things of that nature. It would give us an opportunity to come back to the table if the market changes, if the needs of the city change, if ownership changes and discuss those
things. And then uh in the lease if it does go to the golf courses, they're independent evaluators. And I think that that should be a standard that we set, not just uh Mayor Shupe goes out to the golf course
and he sees a puddle he doesn't like. And he's like, "Well, we need to void this lease because these guys aren't taking care of it. Have it annually or maybe have it by annually inspected. have action plans and things of that nature so that we can assure that they
are living up to the standards they set. So, um I'm assuming that that'll get flushed out by you guys. I really do appreciate your interest in the the area that I call home. So, uh I'm thankful for your investment. I'm thankful for
your time to come down here. Um and uh although I don't look athletic, I do love to go to sports facilities from time to time as well. Um, I'm cheering mostly now. So, uh, but anyway, thank you guys and I appreciate the council. And this is my last comment. This is
something to take incredibly seriously, guys. This is over a 100 acres of prime real estate in the center of our town. If we if we develop that into just properties, that's nearly a $10 million value to the which I'm not prop I'm not proposing. I'm just saying there is a
there's a significant um cost to giving up that land long term uh without some safeguards and obviously with respect to business people doing business we need to make sure that they can make money in that time as well. So
thank you guys. I'm James Dean of Sebring. I'll be very brief. I actually don't play golf. I'm not going to talk about the golf course. I am I actually moved to Sebring originally uh to say in the Santa Rosa
Hotel. So I'm in love with historic buildings. And we all realize that in the last two years, two historic buildings have been lost in Sebring. The Blackman family figured out the problem with these buildings is they have hundred-y old heartpine beams that had
become detached at the end. And so I think if you look the the Blackmans are the only ones who are doing foundations, the only ones who are doing things correctly in historic buildings. So I think if they had been here five years
ago, we'd have two more historic landmarks. And if they continue what they're doing that historic landmarks will be continue to be safe. Thank you. >> Okay. >> At this moment and also elected official
of the city for 30 years. Um I'm sorry. I think it was an insult for anyone to call this council or any previous council not businessminded and and they were going to run to bring common sense. I take great disrespect to that as I know how hard everyone on this
council works and as you all know I have not always agreed with your decisions and would probably have voted a different way at certain times. But to say that publicly at a meeting is an insult to the hard work and everything that y'all do for a dollar a year. Also um with respect to the and things that
have been said online. It's been basically the city against the blackness. At no point have I ever heard and I'm in this office every single day. Has anyone ever said anything negatively towards your family or to your proposal
or anything. Um and I want that publicly said. We are not against the Blackman family or your proposal or any other proposals that are being put out there. It has not been said in this office or on this council or at any meeting and it's been said in social media where people like to say things because they
don't want to unlike y'all who have called and asked for public records and asked to see documents people do not do. Josh even was on that's you're the only one I kind of the other day on the D&D show. Their numbers are out there. They put their um emails out there and say
please call us. We'll meet with you. We'll talk to you. Call us. Whatever. Get all the facts. Nobody does that. We are in city hall every day. I've received three phone calls. Three. And that's what we get. But people want to put on social media their comments and
and the reactions without getting the facts. Again, you y'all excluded because y'all have asked for information. Y'all have asked for research. And I'm going to address the agreement because I have been here longer than anybody in this room as far as up here on this DIY and
probably in the city. I've lived in the city limits of years. That may be very sad to some people, but that's that's my story. And so, I know a lot about this town and um through my elected official business up here. I am not saying that
when y'all met with council that they did not promise you or or make agreements with you. That could have very well be done. And I am not going to speak that. But I am telling you as my title as keeper of official records that there was never an official voted upon
agreement that the golf course will ever directly go to the black. I am not saying that those conversations did not happen. I'm not saying that at all because I don't believe you would get up here and lie about that. And I think that maybe those conversations were said personal. What is said personal and what
is sent as official actions are absolutely two different things. And that never happened. There was never an official agreement that that would happen. So anyone that thinks that or says that whether it was 2017, 2023, whatever, that was never an official
signed agreement. So that perception needs to be done. And I'm sorry to prolong that, but I wanted to make that clear. So whether it was this council or past council, that was never done. But this council works very hard. And I would hope that no one would run for office, whether it's my position, the mayor's position, or any council
member's position, they would run for one issue or one family to make their cause come through because if you did, I hope that you would not be sitting up here, but they work hard and they try to make the best decisions. They don't
always get it right. They will not always get it right. But if one of y'all were up here, you would never always get it right either. And I just take great offense to that was said because y'all put in a lot of lot of long hours without very little appreciation for that. And um that's all I had to say.
But I needed to make those a couple of things very very clear. >> Is there anyone else who would like to speak? Got a line for me here. Sorry about that. Uh my name is James Shupe. No relation mayor, I don't think. Um I am
not a native son of Highlands County. Uh, I've been here in Sebring for about five years, but my wife grew up in Lake Placid and we moved back home to her home. Um, didn't plan on saying anything today and thought even if I did, I knew exactly what that would be. Um, but today things
kind of hit me as I was listening to the proposals and the council's questions and things of that nature and everybody keeps talking about what's best for the city. I hear that a couple of times. U, you guys have the unenvi unenviable task of figuring that out. What is best for the city? And I found it interesting.
The proposals kind of fell for me uh in like a past, present, future kind of a parameters, you know, present as is. If the city wants to get out of the golf course business, save the overage and expense that you have and generate a
little bit of revenue, H&L has a proposal for that. Past Cring has a rich history. I'm not from Highlands County. I don't have the emotional attachment to Harter Hall that many of you do. Uh, but I've been coming to Highlands County for almost 25 years and I hear the stories
every time we drive down 27 for my wife. That's me, you know, is the blackness. They're honoring the past, right? And the money and investment they're making. I can see through my wife and her eyes how that means so much to them. I'm a
business person. I've been a contract negotiator for over 20 years. So, I thought I would approach this from a business standpoint, which brings me to the future. And honestly, Sports Med, I didn't think anything of that proposal when I looked at it online. But the more
I sat here and thought about it, um, I'm a golfer. I played 200 rounds a year. I was a member at the MUN before they redid the greens. That's when I left. Um, not because they redid the greens, but because I wanted to keep playing. And Spring Lake had opened up and that's
where I live. I live in South Sebring. So, But my point is, I'm a golfer and it pains me to say this, but golf is on the decline. We've already mentioned how many golf courses there are in the area. Um, this space that the city owns, and I
know that youth sports are exploding. I can't All the people I play golf with are 70 and 80 year old retirees. I can't get people my age to come play golf because they got kids and they're going to youth sports tournaments every weekend. You know, you think about race week,
that is 52 weekends a year. The kind of people that come in, it's crazy. People my age with, you know, teenage and pre-teen kids, they spend so much money just taking their kids to play sports. It's absolutely amazing. So, that to me,
you want to talk about creating a revenue generator for the city, you've got the property. It's going to take a little bit of risk. It takes a little bit of foresight and and the ability to, you know, the to stick stick to it, but it's there. That's the future. I I I
when he said the largest in the state of Florida or whatever it was, second largest, that blew my mind. Like, you don't know the draw that is. I'm originally from Virginia. In the winter, my brother brings his daughter to Florida to play travel softball. So, I know this is real and that is not going
away as far as I'm concerned. How many people going to want to come just keep seeing the history of Sebring. I don't know. So, that's the challenge you guys have is what's uh what is best for the city. Do we want to live off of our history and hope people come to see it
or do we want to create a revenue generator for the city that we know will be there? And, you know, when we're talking about our kids not being here and all this good stuff, that could still be there and that's an investment we made now for the future of this city. So, thank you very much.
Who's next? >> Good afternoon, Greg Griffin, resident city of Sebring. Um, thank you gentlemen for all your proposals. I've read through all of them. They uh good proposals, good options. Uh, a couple things I'd like to address. Uh, some are wider on topic than others. First, I
have a son who plays travel soccer. We drive an hour and 40 minutes every day of the week so that he has a facility to practice in and teams to practice with. Um, he plays nationally and internationally. So, we get a firsthand view of facilities across the country
and also international facilities. Uh as such I can tell you this uh our area is ripe for development of such a facility whether it's on this parcel or one in the city limits or near the city limits because as a gentleman from sports med said we are centrally located to the
vast majority of Florida. We played in a tournament last week at uh Lakewood Ranch called the Demetri Cup. There are thousand teams over three weekends. So that is you know conservatively 18,000 kids in their families. That's a lot of that's a lot of heads and beds and
that's a lot of seats and restaurants. U you know from an economic development perspective that is certainly something that's worth looking at and digging deeper into. Um from a golf course perspective when I was a kid you know many of you know I I've grown up here.
My family's been here for generations. Se municipal golf course was busy and there were a lot of good things that happened there over the years. The in the facilities aged out. You look at other governmentr run facilities. Closest that we have here is Sun and Lake. Sun and Lake puts, you know, I
would say at least a million dollars or more a year into their facility. They built a multi-million dollar clubhouse. They've created it. Yesterday I was at True Golf uh at a True Golf facility down in Cape Coral, a municipally owned, but Trunolf managed facility. They're about to build a $20 million clubhouse.
That's what's pulling people away and into. Now granted, population density is a lot higher there than what it is. Uh from the onset, my concern and my only concern with the uh with the black men synergy as they refer as they referenced is the pace of play to use the golf term
in which things have been getting done locally. Um the horseshoe building, they got not one, not two, but three bites at the apple. The first bite was the building with a promised restaurant. We heard Cheesecake Factory, Ford's Garage. We heard a series of restaurants that failed. We had a second bite at the
apple where they had the opportunity to come in and provide an office building. That did not get done for the contract guidelines during the time. And somebody feel free to correct me if they'd like. The third bite at the apple consisted of the blackman's coming back and asking
for and receiving a $600,000 grant plus five years tax abatement and other concessions. I don't have a problem with any three of those options. The problem I have the parking lot got shut down about a year and a half ago and I was at a CRA meeting with Mr. Lidell I don't know few
months ago Mr. I know ask this was before the Christmas break. Our local businesses are being impacted negatively by this parking lot being closed. Why can't we and I'll give you a specific example. D's place D has been here for decades and serve this
community that people will have no idea. But it has impacted her business horrifically. People don't come because they don't have they aren't within walking distance. And what was I told? It's not our parking lot to tell people what to do with. When this Christmas
parade came up, we made some phone calls, juggled around, and we were told that the property wasn't insured, wasn't insured properly. It was insured as a as a vacant parking or a vacant lot, and it's a construction site. Well, I have real concern over that because if it's genuinely a construction site, nothing's
really happened other than some painting up to recently. And a construction site by definition should have a construction fence around it if it's going to be governed and managed to that degree. So I have concern about the local impacts that we've seen. I hope and I'm going to
be sincere in this that you are capable of doing what you that you are capable and willing to do what you say you will do should this should the city give you that golf course. For the city's perspective, I would suggest that you ask for perform that validates a the financial capacity, but also the
operating cost that they're expecting because on numerous occasions they said that they started this project as a passion project and it's had to evolve because of the cost into a business project. Based on $250, $300 a square foot, a low
conservative number for the restoration of a project of this type, >> you're looking somewhere around 24 to $25 million just for the building. Okay? >> When you do an ROI analysis on a pro on a project of that size, does it pencil out? I just want to make sure that we
aren't asset stacking for collateralization by giving all of these properties away. Thank you. Any any other public comment? Are you guys coming up to speak or are you leaving? Okay. All right. Last last
call. Okay. So, The end of this meeting is going to be some followup by the presenters if you'd like. Each have up to 10 minutes if you want to speak and address anything. Um, >> could we take a short break?
>> Sure. All right. We a uh a bathroom break has been requested. We're going to do five minutes. So, we'll be back at 3:21. All right, we're going to go ahead and call this meeting back to order. Give everybody a minute to find their seats. When everybody's back, we're going to
start with the followup by presenters. All right. So, each presenter will get up to 10 minutes to do followup or respond to questions or concerns, um make any closing remarks. So, we're going to go in the order of the of the presentations.
Uh, so the Blackman group is is up first. So you got a 10 minutes. >> Uh, Drew had to leave. Um, he's got to get back to coach softball, but you know, I just want to say truly um we are thankful to to be doing this today. We
appreciate all you guys putting this forward. Um, you know, no matter what happens, I mean, you know, I used to get more highs and lows emotionally. You know, it's something's going to happen. We appreciate the certainty honestly. Uh we are thankful for you guys service and
you know you guys all ask great questions of us guys and gals excuse me but you guys all asked great questions of us of the other groups. Um we're excited. Um and we appreciate all the the public comment. Um it was really insightful. Um,
you know, the only thing I would say is it does make me, you know, and this is kind of what we've been trying to deal with and it and it's tough and it's emotionally tough is, you know, when the building official comes and introduces himself as the building official and then trashes us, says, "Do they have
money? They've had all these permit extensions." That just seems like a slap in the face and something that should not have been done at I've never seen something like that in my life. And I I mean, I'm not even angry. I'm just shocked that the building official would come and say, "I'm Sebring's building official. You guys should check these
guys out more." And how do you think we feel when we're trying to get permits from the same guy who's a private provider, too? It's just it's scary. And this is the challenges we've been feeling in Sebring is we just want everything to be out in the open and fair. And, you know, we do appreciate
you guys vetting us and you know, you have a tough decision ahead. You have three offers and I completely agree. I think the sports med plan is a great plan. I think it's something that's been being pushed for. I think it should be done in this county. I think it should probably be a county project. The fact that they're willing to visit Sebring is
great. I think you're going to have problems in that neighborhood and that's what LOL's presentation, you know, when he had 8% say they supported it there. It's the right plan. I think the wrong location. Um, and of course I feel we do the most community value with the golf course, but I do appreciate the other
people coming forward. And it just does show that you guys are doing the right things in Sebring to grow your brand and you guys are willing to do outside the box thinking. You know, again, we want to win. We badly want to win. Uh, we want certainty, but more than anything, we are thankful that you guys have pushed this to the point where you're
going to make a decision. I I don't think there's much more I can ask for. Um, and I appreciate it. And that's it. you know, best of luck to everybody. I think the public's happiness is coming in for a landing and I think no matter what, you guys are going to win because you are eliminating your downside hopefully. Um, and I think we're the
best way to do that. Um, but I think it's going to be a great future as you guys look at other projects that you're freeing up all this this money and I think you guys are should all be commended for the the effort and the time you've put in. So, that's all and we really appreciate everybody. Thank you, sir.
>> Okay, Mr. Leonard. Yes, sir. >> I just want to thank you guys again for this opportunity. Uh, I already started emailing Jamie the letters of recommendation, so she'll have those over the course of the next few days. And anything else you guys need for me, just reach out. I'm available at all times, and I'll be happy to provide. And
thank you everybody for listening. Appreciate it. >> All right. Thank you, sir. >> Mr. Stewart, would you like to say anything? >> Um, I can appreciate so much passion today and public comments and that kind
of passion that we actually see carried out on the sidelines field and play. That kind of community is what really begins to be the route that supports a multisport facility that we
proposed. We were tasked with responding to an RFP that suggested the location and property of use and we brought our vision to that location. Um, as one of
the speakers elantly stated that you have proposals at hand and we do believe we are the future vision. There is demand for such a facility in that area and if not here
to you about where possibly within your community could we talk to you about a similar flight facility um Mr. Blackman's historical renovation has actually works
hand in hand with what we're proposing. We don't view that as a competing proposal. As the other gentleman stated, heads and beds are very important to these types of facilities and having a
historical renovated with door hotel nearby would be an asset for those visiting and participating in those tournaments. So we we wish him the very best uh for that property. So um again we appreciate um on your time and
allowing us to present. There was a question I believe one of the folks there that asked about setbacks um and how we separate ourselves from residential or other uh juris jurisdictions within your code of
ordinances. We always defer to the local community ordinances and follow those in our site planning and so um and setbacks are often something we have to include in our site planning. So whether it's
here or again we would still hear your local uh in development of that. We thank everyone. We thank everyone's time to have a day off awesome and see this kind of participation and if we can answer any further
questions after today I will share again my contact information with Jamie and be ready to >> Thank you very much sir. All right before we adjourn today just want to thank everyone for attending. Uh this was an incredibly long meeting. Thanks for sticking it out and caring. Thank
you to each of our proposers um for the tremendous amount of work you put into this. And a reminder that we will be voting on this item at our Thursday, February 19th city council meeting here in these chambers starting at 5:30. >> Hey Josh, can can I just say one more thing? Uh I'm close down.
>> This meeting is a very