WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=R26ET2137as

Part: 1

1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:17.600
ask the mayor to lead us in the prayer and pledge. >> Please bow with me. Lord, thank you once again for the wonderful city that we live in. Thank you for the staff that keeps it going smoothly and running f like it does. We ask that you watch over them in these hot days and keep them

2
00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:33.280
cool. We also ask that you watch over our first responders as they protect us our city and everybody here. We ask that you watch over the city council and help them make sound and right decisions. We do all we do in your name, Jesus Christ. Amen. [clears throat]

3
00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:53.199
>> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Kathy, [clears throat] could you call the role?

4
00:00:53.199 --> 00:01:13.760
here. >> Here >> if anybody has anything that they want to talk about that is not on the agenda, there's a form that you can fill up up front and then you can just give that form to clerk Haley. Uh later in the meeting we will get to you and you can talk about anything that you want to. U

5
00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:29.439
so moving on to mayor's report. >> Actually I have nothing to report tonight but I would like to welcome Mr. Bert Harris, our legal counsel that's going to guide us through the next century. I hope so. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [laughter] If I can live that long.

6
00:01:29.439 --> 00:01:47.840
>> Except he's got to take that tie off. I just told him he had to, so he had done a hit. So, you're welcome, Bert. Thanks for coming. >> Thank you very much. >> Is there 68? >> Oh, I did have something. I'm sorry.

7
00:01:47.840 --> 00:02:04.479
We have back back >> back in September, we had done a resolution for the Highlands County Fair Association. They're uh going after a $500,000 grant to be used for educational purposes. Basically, what it is is to air condition uh one of the

8
00:02:04.479 --> 00:02:19.120
buildings out there, do some improvements to the buildings and open it up so more events can be handled for kids in uh grade school and high school. and they did they did not receive the grant last year so they're reapplying.

9
00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:35.040
So we have to update the resolution which is uh 2026-9. Do you have any questions? Not to have a motion. >> I'll make a motion that we approve resolution number 2026-9

10
00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:51.120
as presented. >> Second. Any other comments from the council from the audience? Hearing none. Bishop. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Stewart. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Anything else, Mr. Mayor?

11
00:02:51.120 --> 00:03:08.000
>> No. Thank you, K. >> Trying to speed the meeting up. >> Yes, sir. >> Thank you for doing that. Moving over to the council members comments, uh, concerns, and leaison reports. Start with you, Josh. >> None.

12
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:22.640
Davis. All right. >> And I have none. Moves us to the consent agenda. Any discussion on the consent agenda? >> Make a motion that we approve the consent agenda as presented. >> Second.

13
00:03:22.640 --> 00:03:37.680
>> Motion. We got a second. Any comments from the audience? >> No. Kathy, >> yes. >> Yes. >> Stewart. >> Yes. >> Yes. Uh there is no old business. So, moving on to 10A new business with the

14
00:03:37.680 --> 00:04:07.360
Synergy Sports Proposal. Going to ask Mr. Jason to come on up and give us a presentation. talk to us about this. >> Hey, good to see you guys again. Jason Bry, uh, Synergy Sports, >> All right. So, just to set the stage and

15
00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:32.080
to refresh everybody's memory, um we were here several months ago now, um and were asked by um so we were asked to take what we originally did conceptually for Max Long um and to come back with more specifics

16
00:04:32.080 --> 00:04:47.840
u do some more homework uh reach out to different community groups, users, uh, and then get more detailed information on, uh, construction costs, financing, financials, economic impacts, really to

17
00:04:47.840 --> 00:05:04.000
bring to council a more wholesome package um, and let you guys decide if renovating Max Long is is something that y'all want to do. Um, and so I'll go through this. You also have the summary

18
00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:20.880
report in your packets that's a little bit more words and and less pretty pictures. And so we'll go through this happy to answer any questions. Um but just to give some background too as we start uh we as a firm we are completely agnostic

19
00:05:20.880 --> 00:05:37.199
right so we were engaged by the city um to bring our recommendations forward and so we look at this from uh from the lens of what's in the best interest of Sebring um and so as we go through this

20
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:52.000
that's kind of the the vein that we that we approach this [clears throat] and So again, this is just the the background information. Um, if city council were to move forward with renovating Maxong, is it

21
00:05:52.000 --> 00:06:09.120
financially viable? Does it bring more uh visitors? Does it bring more visitor spending? Does it provide a better place for local kids to play? What does it cost? How does it perform? And what are the results? Right? That was kind of the the task.

22
00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:25.039
And so we had eight deliverables that that we worked through. Um they're listed here. We don't have to go into a lot of detail on each one, but we reached out to um national organizers um the current event organization

23
00:06:25.039 --> 00:06:41.039
company Airststream Ventures that does a lot of stuff in the region. uh to get a more concrete plan of what kinds of events, how many events, how many events would those or how many uh participants and spectators would those events bring

24
00:06:41.039 --> 00:06:58.720
um with certainty, not just oh yeah, that sounds like a great idea. We would love to come to see her, but with certainty. Would you commit to bringing x number of events? And so that was deliverable number one. based on that deliverable. Uh and then layering in um

25
00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:15.039
some known and projected uh operating revenue potential expenses. Uh we completed a more detailed financial model for operations. Uh and that will go a little bit to um

26
00:07:15.039 --> 00:07:30.800
an operating model that we'll talk about here in a minute. Um economic impact, right? Again, you've got the community And then you've got the sports tourism piece. And so we we did a better job of drilling down into what the economic impact could be

27
00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:47.599
for a renovated facility as compared to where it stands now. U put together some additional renderings. Um we've shown the site plan before uh but just to get some perspectives uh ground level view. Uh we did that. Uh we went out to a

28
00:07:47.599 --> 00:08:03.680
couple of of national contractors and asked for um cost estimates and were provided with uh guaranteed maximum pricing and so or not to exceed pricing uh however you want to look at it. And so these are more than just u pie in the

29
00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:21.039
sky or conceptual quotes. Um these are contractable uh budgets that that these two contractors would u would move forward with. So, we take that as as accurate as can be. Uh, as we sit here today, um, we did look at financing and

30
00:08:21.039 --> 00:08:37.519
funding options uh, for the the renovation of the park and then how do we implement all of that? And so, we've got kind of a next steps and a and a process of where do we go from here, right? If you guys want to move forward.

31
00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:53.680
And so, again, I'm not going to read through all of this, but this gives you a really good idea. um you know working with with and through Airststream uh which does a lot of the tournament organization for Highlands County [clears throat] and for Sebring uh got commitments from these various uh

32
00:08:53.680 --> 00:09:10.080
tournament groups and organizers uh the numbers of events that they would conceptually bring and how many teams each of those events uh would command. Uh, and this is kind of extrapolating data, but we then took these number of

33
00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:25.760
events and number of teams, assigned a visitor count to those, and that's what helped populate our our economic impact assessment. And so, as you [clears throat] can see, we estimate about 30 weekends of sports tourism

34
00:09:25.760 --> 00:09:40.480
based use. um you know given the first quarter of the year is is uh not as conducive to things outside of the races um 30 events gives you know ample time for community

35
00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:58.080
use and allows for community use throughout the week whether that's from youth baseball >> are these uh mostly Friday to Sunday th or >> for the most part >> Thursday to Sunday >> usually Friday to Sunday um is what we

36
00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:14.720
kind of benchmark it as. Now, you will generally have, especially like now in the summer, you will have some week-long summer baseball tournaments, summer softball tournaments. Um but that's a small portion of your total year. And so most of these uh they'll run either

37
00:10:14.720 --> 00:10:30.399
Saturday, Sunday or Friday, Saturday, Sunday. >> How do you 500 lacrosse teams? And >> so >> how does that work? >> Yeah. So look at USA lacrosse one event um with five this look at that

38
00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:47.640
more as as participants like they have their some of their national try out events here. >> Um so rather than 500 teams it's one event of 500 kids >> looking to make a a national or a regional team.

39
00:10:49.200 --> 00:11:06.079
>> Any other questions on that before I move forward? And so again, as we extrapolated that data, um, it extrapolated out into about 13,000 participants. Two and a half players is a benchmark or two and a half spectators per player is

40
00:11:06.079 --> 00:11:23.040
a benchmark um, industry number that we use, right? The younger the kid, the more people they bring with them. And so, you know, you've got eight year olds, 10 year olds playing and they're bringing mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, and the dog. As you get older, you'll have less visitors. So, or

41
00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:42.240
less spectators. And so, that gives you roughly 50,000 uh new out of market uh visitors to Sebring as part of of a renovation. So, this now kind of moves into we

42
00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:59.040
didn't include in in this slide deck the actual financial model. It is in your packet. uh just to not muddy this up with a bunch of individual numbers. Uh but the way that it's projected is uh essentially year one of new operations

43
00:11:59.040 --> 00:12:16.240
is your break even year. Uh maybe you're plus a little bit, maybe you're minus a little bit. After year one, uh you have some modest uh net income numbers mostly because uh Max Long is a known asset

44
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:32.480
that's just getting a renovation and so we're not going into a a new market that's never had baseball before and really isn't on the map. So there's some precedent there that uh you know with fields that is easier to fill than than

45
00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:47.920
if this was going to be a new market. And so after expenses on average the estimate is that it's going to produce net income of about $450,000 a year uh over the first 10 year period. Again

46
00:12:47.920 --> 00:13:03.360
first year is is probably break even maybe plus a little bit maybe minus a little bit. >> One question on that. Who who secures the naming rights? So, we have and and we can talk a little bit more about that a little bit later, but there are we

47
00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:20.720
reached out to um national contractors for the general contracting side. We reached out to these national organizers, national finance companies that'll get into the funding and national naming rights branding companies, right? Again, we don't we

48
00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:36.160
don't say we don't do that, right? But we're going to go find folks in the industry that do. Um, and a group that we've worked with in the past generally has and and and I asked for some clarification um before submitting this,

49
00:13:36.160 --> 00:13:53.680
their actual naming rights sponsorships versus their projections is about 14.3% higher on uh for their actuals than their u than their projections. And so again, these are people that are out

50
00:13:53.680 --> 00:14:11.199
there. Um, and so they would be the ones typically those firms will work on a percentage, right? Kind of a success fee. And so, you know, where you guys and and the city have good relationships with local uh local small businesses,

51
00:14:11.199 --> 00:14:28.000
local mid mid-size businesses, these firms that are are national have the relationships with those regional and super regional and national businesses where they can say if XYZ baseball is going to come here, they're going to bring Texas number of people, Rawlings

52
00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:45.959
or Gatorade or Bass Pro Shops may now be interested uh because they have those relationships. Um and so there are national firms that that we've reached out to to get uh their estimates on on what this would be.

53
00:14:46.160 --> 00:15:03.360
Um tourism benefit, right? So again, kind of rolling this up into uh 10 years u about $35 million $36 million of total economic impact. Uh and then about $11 million over 10 years. So about a

54
00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:20.320
million dollars a year in new county and and TDC uh tax revenue. And so obviously uh you know that helps bring other events through their grant process and helps support the sports tourism piece of of of what this this whole

55
00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:36.000
development is about. So operations is something that that again we have some thoughts on. Ultimately, again, it's our our job to give you guys the information. But

56
00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:50.880
generally speaking, these facilities, if they're recreational facilities, then your local parks and rack are generally equipped to handle daily rentals and and local youth youth baseball. When you start getting into sports tourism and

57
00:15:50.880 --> 00:16:07.440
organizing events and logistics, our strong recommendation is to uh to put this out to a national operator um that can balance that community use and the sports tourism piece. And so to be

58
00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:24.639
clear, we're not saying or we're not suggesting that you just lease this out to a private operator to make all the money that they can make, right? And so there are different models, but generally the model that works is a essentially a contracted management

59
00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:42.240
company that manages this facility to uh city council's recommendations. And so if that means a certain amount of time is reserved for the public, then so be it. Uh it's not a private model where um local kids and local families don't have

60
00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:58.399
access. Part of this community balance is with the current local users, right? The YMCA um is uh is supportive of Max Long being renovated. Um Sebring Youth Baseball, uh

61
00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:15.199
you know, the flag football organizations, other community partners. Um there is or there has been submitted uh by the county a letter that they would be uh willing to work with the city on additional uh time at the county

62
00:17:15.199 --> 00:17:32.480
sports complex or local users uh if it means moving this project forward. Um and so you know that's this coordination with local partners. And then the last bullet point here is really to um our recommendation is to to take a look at

63
00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:47.600
the current pricing and operation structure of max law. Um modernize it where it needs to be modernized. U bring it more in line with market pricing but still accommodate local users, have free

64
00:17:47.600 --> 00:18:06.240
and and reduce cost use for certain user groups. Uh but just to to be more in line with with what other tournament capable facilities are charging for rentals. Uh this is a little bit of a reiteration of of what I mentioned earlier. Um so

65
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:24.080
about 30 35 weekends per year are reserved for tournaments. U first quarter obviously is is held back for community use. um during the ra the race season um parks and rack the Y seing youth baseball um will would remain a priority

66
00:18:24.080 --> 00:18:39.600
as far as um as use goes especially during the week and that kind of goes back to Roland your question on how long are these turns right and so uh you know generally the local uses Monday through

67
00:18:39.600 --> 00:18:56.640
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday are are generally seen as tournament weekends. But if you're only if you've got 22 24 weekends left that you're not running tournaments, then you get some additional time uh for the community.

68
00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:14.160
Um we've shown this several times before. Uh and so this is is kind of a a list of improvements. So right, the thing that that uh we worked through originally in working with Dimmitri and the YMCA is obviously their field goes

69
00:19:14.160 --> 00:19:29.360
away. Um but in order to be a tournament capable facility, there is not adequate parking um as Max Long currently stands. And so this was part of the uh the reason for

70
00:19:29.360 --> 00:19:45.760
the county to offer um additional YMCA use at the county sports complex if the YMCA was willing to u to be okay with paving over the soccer field from a youth standpoint. Uh I understand that

71
00:19:45.760 --> 00:20:00.960
it's the city's field anyway, but I know they do a lot of their programs on that field. Otherwise, we're looking at um replacing the uh the turf on the fields, uh replacing the batting cages, uh

72
00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:16.240
laying in soccer fields inside of some of the infields. You'll see that in a second. Um new lighting, a new playground, uh not taking away from the current playground that's there. uh adding temporary fencing where we

73
00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:33.919
need to and creating two champ more championship fields on the right side uh that are currently not being used. Right. And so this is a couple of just conceptual images. Uh on the right is is

74
00:20:33.919 --> 00:20:50.960
where the current gravel dirt block is. Uh just to orient everybody with with where we're talking about. Uh you can see the pool in the foreground. This is as if you're looking off the roof of the YMCA. Uh again, new parking down one side, new

75
00:20:50.960 --> 00:21:06.799
concourses, batting cages, playground on the right. Um the old playground or the current playground is still on the left. And then this just shows conceptually um these inlaid soccer fields. Uh these are not full soccer fields, right? the

76
00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:22.880
fields aren't big enough to accommodate full soccer fields, but the bulk of um YMCA after school programming, the bulk of youth soccer is not played on full-size fields. Uh when you need full-size fields, there's the county sports complex uh and other fields

77
00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:42.000
around the city. Any questions on on any of these images? Again, they're conceptual at this point. um they'll get refined probably several several more times, but uh this gives a a good visual um of kind of where we're

78
00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:57.840
going. So, from a construction standpoint, um this is what I I mentioned earlier. We reached out to a couple of different national firms uh both that have a Florida presence and got uh both were

79
00:21:57.840 --> 00:22:13.760
very similar with guaranteed maximum pricing not to exceed $14 million. Both of them had about a million half dollars in contingency which doesn't have to be used unless it needs to be used. And so I'm not going to read through everything

80
00:22:13.760 --> 00:22:30.799
on the right. You guys can can take a look at it. really just put that in there to show that this is really soup to nuts. This is everything from a contracting standpoint that would take Max long from where it is to this conceptual version of of what we've been

81
00:22:30.799 --> 00:22:49.840
talking about. Similarly, um reached out to a couple of different um national finance companies uh to provide a a proposal uh uh for financing as part of either a

82
00:22:49.840 --> 00:23:04.880
public private partnership um or what's called a municipal lease back, which we've kind of presented that concept several times. And so it would be about a million dollar a year um annual lease payment. that payment is factored into

83
00:23:04.880 --> 00:23:22.400
the financial model. Um that's in in your packet and that was was presented with the executive summary. Uh there's no down payment. There's one year of deferred payments with the thought being it allows the complex to get up and going, start generating revenue without

84
00:23:22.400 --> 00:23:37.679
saddling it with a million dollar lease cost. on the financial model, we assumed the lease cost from the beginning, right? To be overly conservative and from a budgeting standpoint, I would rather be conservative than assume the

85
00:23:37.679 --> 00:23:54.159
other way uh and and and be overly optimistic. Um there is a Florida statute that governs kind of what we're talking about. And so one of these next steps that we'll get to in a second is further working with legal counsel uh to

86
00:23:54.159 --> 00:24:10.559
work through this statute. Uh whether it's a public private partnership, it's an RFP or an unsolicited proposal. Uh and so we can you know again I'll answer any other questions after after we get done about this. And so we have a

87
00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:26.640
projected first payment of September 2028. Uh it will take about six months to get through the pre-construction phase, legal, compliance, all of that. And then it'll take um 6 to 12 months to to renovate

88
00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:43.679
all of the fields. And so this starts to get into that process. Again, there's probably a thousand steps in each one of these um these numbered steps that we'll work through, but this gives kind of a general overview to city

89
00:24:43.679 --> 00:25:00.880
council of of the next steps that have to be taken um as we work through this uh this Florida statute and and either an RFP process or an unsolicited proposal process. We've completed phase two. Um the next

90
00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:16.720
two phases from an advisory standpoint uh this this mirrors uh some of the same work that we're doing with the county is pre-construction advisory and then construction advisory u and so through pre-construction

91
00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:32.880
we synergy stays on again as the the advisor and advocate for the city um to help guide them you guys through this RFP process through the procurement process through uh you know bringing on

92
00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:48.960
uh different contractors, subcontractors, vendors. Uh we continue to work on the financial model. We continue to work on securing these users. Uh work with marketing, branding, uh and then work with those contractors

93
00:25:48.960 --> 00:26:03.120
on kind of the value engineering piece of this. >> So Jason, real quick, so this isn't included in the 14 million. This is just like phase two. We're just adding you for the additional phase three. Yes and no. Um, it is part of the the 14

94
00:26:03.120 --> 00:26:20.320
million. The city would have the option uh and I can go back a couple slides if we need to either to contract this outside of and it reduces that number or just include it in the total finance cost and it's just part of the project

95
00:26:20.320 --> 00:26:34.799
cost. >> Okay? >> Uh it doesn't matter to us. Uh and then we get into construction advisory and again staying on through that 6 to 12 month construction period. Uh working on some technology, working

96
00:26:34.799 --> 00:26:51.840
on the operations plan, you know, helping the city with um you know, a a staffing model or an outsourced model for operations, branding and marketing. Um putting the best surfaces and the best lighting and the best whatever in there in working with some of these

97
00:26:51.840 --> 00:27:08.000
contractors. um not just you know the lowest priced turf or the lowest priced fencing or or what have you. And so those are the next two um phases. And when we get to the the end of that phase four uh this is ready to open, right?

98
00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:22.960
And at that point there's an there's an operator identified. They've been part of this process. The the keys get handed over to them and everybody u understands what's going on, how it's going to operate. there's agreements in place with the Y with

99
00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:38.000
CBring youth baseball with the county and so uh it's it's a much easier seamless transition uh to start operating this and so you know again in closing and then I'll answer any questions we view

100
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:55.279
this as a financially viable project uh you know is it going to make a gazillion dollars no is it going to be an amazing place for kids yes will it generate tourism dollars and spending and addition commercial development. Absolutely. U with some of the questions

101
00:27:55.279 --> 00:28:13.840
u around adorum taxes and and you know the uncertainty there uh having more commercial development and and new investment in mixed use and places for people to eat and sleep and go have fun um can certainly help uh with some of

102
00:28:13.840 --> 00:28:30.360
that uncertainty. So um that's kind of where we are. I'll answer any questions and then we can talk about kind of what what the most immediate next steps are. >> Thank you, Jason. >> Thoughts?

103
00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:47.120
>> So, I got a few questions. >> Um maybe a couple statements. So, the first one, and I had called you earlier kind of asking about this, is the naming rights and the advertising and sponsorship lines. Um, do you have have actual examples of where this has

104
00:28:47.120 --> 00:29:04.159
occurred to this level in a market sized like ours that you could provide? >> I can provide that as a followup and we just talked about it this morning. >> And so I reached out to one of these national partners. They gave me that statistic of their >> the 14% >> 14% higher.

105
00:29:04.159 --> 00:29:19.760
>> Um, and so I've asked them to compare other markets that they've worked in similar to Sebring size. Okay. To give me what data they can that's not protected. >> Okay. Yeah, I'd love to know specific ones if possible just because that that to me is um

106
00:29:19.760 --> 00:29:35.440
>> is the lynch pin of the finances working, right? And um the part that I don't know what I don't know, but the number freaks me out, right? Um one other question on the and I feel like maybe we've talked about this

107
00:29:35.440 --> 00:29:51.919
before, so forgive me if I'm being redundant. Um, is turf replacement factored into this financial model? >> In your packet, it is. Um, on the slide deck, it's just kind of a summary. >> Okay. >> Um, it's part of the reserves.

108
00:29:51.919 --> 00:30:07.360
>> So, the other expenses maybe. >> Yeah. Other expenses is generally kind of a contingency. >> Just just your 10% reserves. >> And then we got 10% reserves. So, between um other expenses and your reserves, >> um, by the time you get to year 10, you

109
00:30:07.360 --> 00:30:23.200
got 772,000 in in reserves and then you've got over two and two and three quarter million dollars in contingency that's been accumulated. >> Um typically you wouldn't take all of your fields offline at one time to

110
00:30:23.200 --> 00:30:38.720
replace turf. >> Um turf replacement usually happens on the infields, right? Just practically speaking, you've got >> they get the most wear, >> right? You've got six players on the infield and three in the outfield. And so the replacement of turf is about

111
00:30:38.720 --> 00:30:56.000
$200,000. Um you're not looking at >> per per field we're talking about. >> And so you would stage those, right? Three would get it this year, three would get it next year, three would get it the year after that. Um and so you've got those buckets. Most of this turf has

112
00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:10.799
12 to 15 year warranties and 15 to 20 year lifespans, right? And so you've got the ability to accumulate quite a bit of reserve capital for those capital improvements before you're ever going to need to use it.

113
00:31:10.799 --> 00:31:27.440
>> Okay. Um so talking about local use and and what would potentially go away. Um so weekends a lot of the weekends right would be booked for tourism events. Um I I know it's been mentioned maybe in our packet, maybe in some prior

114
00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:44.080
presentations, but probably some of the like ad hoc use of the fields where you know a couple guys want to just go hit balls that would pretty much go away under this model if we're trying to to to hit these financial pro projections, right? >> Yeah. So, and we had this conversation

115
00:31:44.080 --> 00:32:01.120
earlier. The way that I think is is smart to approach it is weekends are reserved for sports tourism. Now that being said, you know, if you know, here we are July 21st. If there's no tournament scheduled

116
00:32:01.120 --> 00:32:19.360
for this weekend, there's no reason you and your kids can't go out and hit a baseball, right? Or if there's not you you put some guardrails on that to say if there's not a a sports tourism uh event booked within 30 days of X,

117
00:32:19.360 --> 00:32:34.559
then it it reverts to local use. So while 30 is kind of the the benchmarks number, if it's 24, if it's 32, we say that that's kind of the because nobody is going to host hold the tournament on Tuesday morning, right?

118
00:32:34.559 --> 00:32:50.640
>> Uh other than maybe some, right? But if we reserve those for sports tourism on the weekends, but still have it available should nothing be scheduled, you know, a a baseball tournament that's going to have 60 or 70 teams, they're

119
00:32:50.640 --> 00:33:07.200
not going to call you today saying, "I want to hold a tournament this weekend, right? It's going to be a month out, two months, three months, four months, a year out that they're going to be looking to do this." And so from an operational standpoint, we'll be able to get a pretty good idea of what what the

120
00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:23.679
utilization is for 2027 pretty quickly or 2028 a year out or 2029. Uh but you would want to try to keep as many of those weekends free or allow some of these users to u book

121
00:33:23.679 --> 00:33:40.000
further out than maybe the community would. U because a lot of these national organizations are going to want some certainty on I want to hold a tournament there the first weekend in August for the next three years. >> So yeah, that that all makes sense. I guess what I'm trying to get at is I've

122
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:54.880
never um I have no experience with a field that's privately operated like this. My oldest kid is three. I haven't gotten there yet. Um is my athletic ability too. We might never get there. But um I just want to make sure that you know if we we go through this process

123
00:33:54.880 --> 00:34:10.800
that suddenly the the fields would wouldn't just be closed if someone wants to go out and hit some balls with their kid, you know, without having to pay some high fee or something like that. >> No, it's and that's a great concern and it's something we talked about earlier, Casey and I did. There's a difference in

124
00:34:10.800 --> 00:34:26.879
operating models where as a city you're not leasing Max Long to a private group to run, >> right? You're contracting with them to run it the way you want it run. >> Okay, cool. >> Does that make sense? So, you get to set

125
00:34:26.879 --> 00:34:43.679
the rules >> and you're paying them to be the operator. >> Okay. >> Right. and versus if you were just going to lease me all of Max's law. Say Jason, you handle all of it. We don't want to deal with it anymore. Great. Doors are locked, right?

126
00:34:43.679 --> 00:35:00.160
Nobody's coming in unless you're paid. That's a completely different model. >> Okay. >> Under that model, I'm paying you and then if I make a gazillion dollars, good for me, right? This is a contracted management company that operates it to the city's

127
00:35:00.160 --> 00:35:16.880
pleasure. Okay, that makes sense. >> So Jason, on that note too, what does that practically look like from your experience with that model? What's the responsibility for city staff and who's managing what? Who where's the communication? Do you see an additional liaison for city staff working directly

128
00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:32.560
with the management company? Is that less work or is it basically completely handsoff? What's where's the balance? >> Yep. And so the balance is and again we had this conversation earlier with the county sports complex is the private the

129
00:35:32.560 --> 00:35:48.079
management company will take on whatever the city doesn't want to do. Right? So that could be operations it could be operations plus facility management. Right? Do you guys not want to cut the grass out there anymore? Fine. That could be part of the scope of

130
00:35:48.079 --> 00:36:04.160
work that that the management company has to take on if they're going to sign on. There's a cost associated with that, but there's a cost associated with it if the city were going to continue cutting the grass, too. And so, they can take off your plate whatever extent that you

131
00:36:04.160 --> 00:36:19.280
want them to. Operationally, you most you likely will want them to take most of the operations, if not all the operations off of the city's plate, right? And there's mechanisms, there's technology where the where the public can still

132
00:36:19.280 --> 00:36:35.599
reserve fields. There's uh you know, a schedule online that says the fields are open, the fields are closed. Um, and so from a a from the standpoint of liaison, then usually what happens is there's a

133
00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:51.920
monthly or a quarterly uh get together, if you will, right? Because they're going to want to true up the books, you know, hey, we brought in this amount, we paid this amount, here's where we are. And so either somebody

134
00:36:51.920 --> 00:37:09.520
from parks and w is that person. Uh we can continue to be that that you know advocate and advisor be that role for the city. Um TDC probably has some role in that. And so a lot of times we'll see kind of a a you know conquer by

135
00:37:09.520 --> 00:37:23.520
committee >> if you will where we don't want the city to necessarily have to staff up by another person just to outsource the operations of of the sports center or the sports complex. And so a lot of times that can be

136
00:37:23.520 --> 00:37:39.359
handled through a a combined effort of somebody at parks and recck, somebody on TDC, us, you know, one of you guys has a personal interest in diamonds, that's fine. So you said shoring up the books

137
00:37:39.359 --> 00:37:56.560
too. So are like you said too it's whatever we want to put on management company but so >> typically are is the management company dealing with the books and all that or is that ran through the city with an enterprise fund that would manage to create >> you would typically create an enterprise fund um you would have it would have its

138
00:37:56.560 --> 00:38:13.599
own code u because remember if I'm a tournament organizer I'm not going to pay the management company to bring my tournament to max lawn right I'm going to go through some technology ology platform, some booking system to say I want to book all of Max

139
00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:29.119
long for the first weekend in August and here's my checklist. I have to have a proof of insurance. I have to do these things. And so a lot of those can those issues can be solved through technology rather than just more and more people trying to do the same. And so the

140
00:38:29.119 --> 00:38:44.160
manager really becomes kind of the logistics person, >> right? Who's going to unlock the gates? Who's going to change the toilet paper? who's going to cut the grass, who's going to make sure that, you know, the the the portable mounds are in place,

141
00:38:44.160 --> 00:39:00.560
right? And so it's that coordinator level person that the manager, the operator will hire and it will typically be somebody local um or somebody that they'll put on site here. And then part of their role and responsibilities and

142
00:39:00.560 --> 00:39:16.720
what they get paid for is if you say, "We don't want to cut the grass anymore." Well, then they're going to build in money for landscape. They're going to build in money for, you know, some of those people that they need. They're going to build in money for occasional services like parking

143
00:39:16.720 --> 00:39:34.000
attendance or people to collect gate revenue or, you know, whatever the case may be. So on that note too, we were looking at the million dollar payment a year. So what I don't want to end up with is a million dollar plus now it's another quarter million or another half

144
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:49.839
a million because of all the additional add-on services. >> So that's that's accounted for um in the management fee in the in the proforma in the financial model and so those fees are already built into the budget. >> So I guess with with what's built into

145
00:39:49.839 --> 00:40:06.160
the budget at what level of service It's typically not facility management. It's not cutting the grass. It's not >> um you know, you're going to have altered fields. So, you're still going to have grass around the outside, you know, so it's not going to include some of those things, but anything

146
00:40:06.160 --> 00:40:27.680
operationally it would. >> Is there a at what point do you typically know in the life cycle of of this project spinning up? um when naming rights are secured. >> So that so the process would start at

147
00:40:27.680 --> 00:40:42.640
the point that city council says, "Yeah, we want to move forward with this," >> right? Because now we've got a a viable project that you know, we can go reach out to firms, we can put out an RFP, right? But this project's moving forward, right? Anytime before right

148
00:40:42.640 --> 00:41:00.640
now, it's just a great idea, >> right? But at the point that it that city council, you know, I we approve this project to move forward, then we can put those uh puzzle pieces in place again through an RFP or just through introductions that

149
00:41:00.640 --> 00:41:15.440
once there's a timeline, right, and we've got a general outline, those comp those national firms will go out and start securing those naming rights. Now, will you get money in before it's actually open? Maybe, maybe not. Just the promise of money is what I'm what

150
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:32.480
I'm looking for there. Okay. Um, so just a comment for the rest of council. I I'm generally on board with this as a concept assuming that Jason brings us some concrete examples of naming rights and you know sponsorship

151
00:41:32.480 --> 00:41:49.359
dollars in a market of our size where where it works. If the if those come through in any uh respectable percentage of what is budgeted, this works. And you know, for the for the benefit of the public, right now we're starting not from zero, but

152
00:41:49.359 --> 00:42:06.160
from what it costs us to run this facility as it stands, which is around 700,000 bucks a year. Um, so reducing that number in any way while also bringing in a higher quality field for our residents, I think, is a good deal. a good deal. I just want to make sure

153
00:42:06.160 --> 00:42:22.240
that then that we can actually get there, that the numbers work out. You know, the the worst case scenario of this, if we if you pull naming rights and all of the advertising and sponsorship, then we're in trouble. You know, we have a nicer field, but we're paying for it, too. Um, so that's my

154
00:42:22.240 --> 00:42:38.319
only real holdback, I guess. And and the other thing that has been maybe mentioned by our finance department is understanding um how this would affect the city's ability to borrow capital in the future.

155
00:42:38.319 --> 00:42:54.480
And I don't think we know the answers to that yet. I don't know if you have any insight into that at all, Jason, but >> yeah, it it will depend. That's kind of part of that next proc part of the process, right? I've talked with Bob about the legal side of this and said,

156
00:42:54.480 --> 00:43:11.760
"Well, let's get past this and then we can figure all that stuff out." Um, a couple of other things I'll mention uh real quick on the financials what you mentioned. So, you know, if you and I'm just looking here, um, I was looking at year six just because that was the page

157
00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:27.119
that I was on. But, you know, by year six and and I would I can go back and do some rough math, but even if you took out advertising and sponsorships and naming rights, you're still losing less than you're losing now. Right? So, that's one point. And the second point,

158
00:43:27.119 --> 00:43:44.400
I don't want to speak for TDC, but that this becomes more of a tourism generating asset. What's not reflected in in these financial models is any either backs stop that TDC would be

159
00:43:44.400 --> 00:44:02.319
willing to provide subsidy etc. Um because you're generating for tourism dollars through this now versus just a community asset before. So my my kind of assumption on the TDC portion is that the TDC would effectively be subsidizing

160
00:44:02.319 --> 00:44:16.400
this by paying the user fees of the tournaments that they bring in >> a lot of time too. >> Okay. >> Um I I kind of doubt if it especially if it has to be approved by the county and you know their own budget issues that we're going to get more of a formal

161
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:32.319
backs stop than that. Um, but even that being said, right, and and that's where you get these these these revenue numbers on the on the fields is if you going back to one of these slides about modernizing the pricing structure,

162
00:44:32.319 --> 00:44:50.160
right? Where now very little revenue is being generated out there just because it is, right? It is what it is. But when a national organization will pay 15,000$20,000 per weekend, you know, to rent a certain number of fields,

163
00:44:50.160 --> 00:45:06.240
if TDC pays that as a grant, >> well then you're at least getting that revenue, right, as a as a city rather than just waving fees. And so part of that is is not necessarily waving fees, but using TDC dollars to reimburse or to

164
00:45:06.240 --> 00:45:24.560
pay those fees for those user groups. >> Okay. So for the rest of council, um I generally think it's a good idea. I think that it has promised to be very helpful for our budget while also giving us better facility for our residents. Um

165
00:45:24.560 --> 00:45:42.079
I would I would want to have the the information on the naming rights um before we move forward with something. Personally >> I agree with Josh. Um I think one clarification too or because I asked Jared to pull the numbers today. So

166
00:45:42.079 --> 00:45:57.440
looking from the 2015 to 2016 all the way to the 2425 amended budget u 11 year on average uh we're putting in about 503,000. The fiveyear average the last five years has been about 601. >> Okay. >> So, it's a little less

167
00:45:57.440 --> 00:46:13.359
>> a little bit less, but it's I didn't realize it was that much to be honest to what the investment is. >> Um, >> somebody said this once and I think it really sticks. I think the things that people fear most and don't like are change and then the lack of change. So,

168
00:46:13.359 --> 00:46:30.000
this is a definitely a big step for the city. Um, but going into some uncertainty with adorum, I think this is a an investment that we should be willing to take and not looking to make money, but 600,000 back in the general fund is

169
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:44.880
going to do a lot for the city. I think this is great opportunity. Um, naming rights though, few of those other things. I think if we move forward with this, um, if we could potentially, I don't know what you all think. I would

170
00:46:44.880 --> 00:47:03.040
personally like site to a few of these other facilities that are similar or send staff to see what it practically looks like and answer some questions that staff might have too. I would like to to see it firsthand if possible.

171
00:47:03.040 --> 00:47:19.280
I'm in I'm in favor of it. It's a the numbers scare me a little bit, but the the upside is really good for the city. Um, I know that means changes for the public that it's not going to be what it used to be, but this is going to

172
00:47:19.280 --> 00:47:35.040
be a better, more improved facility. Hopefully bringing a lot more people um, getting better views and generally a better game. I wish the county well, I'm thankful for the county for offering to

173
00:47:35.040 --> 00:47:52.240
move over YMCA soccer and a lot of these other things to a county facility. I would feel a lot better if county wanted to backs stop some of it, but like Josh says, and I don't disagree, I don't think that that's a necessarily a possibility outside of TDC with the

174
00:47:52.240 --> 00:48:08.240
funding mechanisms that you just brought up. I'm in favor of it. If we can do some more due diligence as we move forward with it, >> I got a followup question to what Josh was asking about when it comes to local use. So on weekends, the Y would not

175
00:48:08.240 --> 00:48:24.160
have any soccer games scheduled for there. Correct? >> I hate to sound political, but it depends. So u it depends on the operating agreement, right? And so it depends on the agreement between the city and the county, right?

176
00:48:24.160 --> 00:48:40.559
Conceptually, and I I may be off here, but as we were looking to uh to redo the the county sports complex, they were going to have new soccer fields, let's say. And again, I may be off by one or two. The

177
00:48:40.559 --> 00:48:57.280
agreement between the city and the county could say, um, hey, city of Sebring, you're welcome to use these fields Monday through Thursday, 4 to 8, whatever. And you can always use one field every weekend.

178
00:48:57.280 --> 00:49:12.960
That's what's in the operating agreement, then that's what's in there or the joint use agreement, then that's what it is. >> One field at the max loan complex. >> I'm just saying like Hypothetically, it's whatever you put into it, right? It could be um you can use all the fields

179
00:49:12.960 --> 00:49:27.680
once a month and then you can use one field the other three weekends a month. There's no right or wrong. It's, you know, hey Demetri, what do you need? How much of this can be done during the week? How much of this do you need to

180
00:49:27.680 --> 00:49:42.640
have on the weekend? How does that play in with sports tourism at the county sports complex? Because If you take all of their new fields offline because the wise using them or Sebring baseball, then they're in the same position right

181
00:49:42.640 --> 00:49:59.760
now. They don't have fields to use for sports tourism. And so it's just this balancing act of of balancing community use at each individual facility, but then at at the combined facilities uh at the same time, if that makes

182
00:49:59.760 --> 00:50:17.119
sense. So again, there's not a right or a wrong. It's just working partnership with the county and with Dimmitri and with senior youth baseball to say who needs what and when and you guys can't take everything because then the numbers don't work and we can't pay for this and

183
00:50:17.119 --> 00:50:33.680
then nobody gets any. >> And is the county going to charge the Y for use of the soccer fields on their facility? >> I don't think that's the way that it's been presented. Um but then TDC also has

184
00:50:33.680 --> 00:50:57.280
waivers and I know board of county commissioners does does do that sometimes >> because it seems like it could potentially if we don't have soccer fields here and we don't have access to soccer fields at the county then the Y soccer program which is pretty significant goes away

185
00:50:57.280 --> 00:51:14.240
>> right and in talking with the the county administrator and I don't remember Casey the verbage of that letter the county was was more than open to working with the city to find uh common ground to house the YMCA. Again, the YMCA is

186
00:51:14.240 --> 00:51:30.720
currently using one field at at Max Long to take that to four fields at the county sports complex. Maybe a bridge too far, but the county has said that they're they're open to accommodating >> there. Actually, if I mean, there's four playing fields on that one field, >> right? >> Yeah.

187
00:51:30.720 --> 00:51:46.559
>> Yeah. I I will say the [clears throat] Y is already running soccer programs at the county sports complex like my son did last season and we never stepped foot on Max Law everything was at the county sports complex >> but they are using Max Long though I mean it's packed

188
00:51:46.559 --> 00:52:03.680
>> you know every Saturday >> um so also and this is sort of just for kind of clarification I guess so there's a group that plays ultimate frisbee on the weekend there so they would lose access to that kind of as well if you've got regularly schedule and it's one

189
00:52:03.680 --> 00:52:18.960
small group. I mean it's that's not but I just want to make sure that you know we're we're not they would not really be able to have regular access to play out there. Right. So on a do they play on a full field? Do they go >> they play at the perimeter?

190
00:52:18.960 --> 00:52:35.839
>> Yeah. So, and again, I don't won't go back there, but in some of the fields, in the larger fields at max long, the the plan is to put four soccer field line fields in the outfields. They won't be 330 ft.

191
00:52:35.839 --> 00:52:51.920
You know, they won't be 110 yards long. And so maybe there's accommodations there for ultimate frisbee. But again, that goes into the the conversation with the county of, you know, here's our user groups right now. How can we accommodate

192
00:52:51.920 --> 00:53:10.000
them in some hybrid fashion of maybe the why some of their smaller kids that are out at max long now stay at max long and they go on one of these outfield turf fields because yes there are four fields on a regular size soccer

193
00:53:10.000 --> 00:53:26.319
field and each of those four fields is the same size as what's going to be out at max long in the outfield in right so you know we're trying to multiply you know, some of the the the sports fields without having to go build new ones.

194
00:53:26.319 --> 00:53:42.160
>> And how does in the event that we did utilize some of those outfields for some of the youth soccer, how does that impact the uh the usage of that turf? I mean, is that going to accelerate the decline of it? Is it going to require it to be redone

195
00:53:42.160 --> 00:53:57.200
more often? >> Uh, hypothetically, yes. But practically, it's not going to make that much. You're not going to play eight hours a day, >> right? >> Five days a week of soccer in the outfield, right? I mean, if you have,

196
00:53:57.200 --> 00:54:13.440
you know, four games on a weekend. >> Okay. Right. That's not going to long-term affect the the useful life. >> Nothing's probably going to damage it more than the sun. >> Right. >> It's a good point. >> Or the or the three outfielders standing in that exact same place,

197
00:54:13.440 --> 00:54:29.839
>> right? And my last question is just um so the races I realize are a big part of our area in that first quarter, but the people who are coming for these tournaments I don't think are race bands. So how come we're >> we don't have hotel capacity? >> Hotel capacity.

198
00:54:29.839 --> 00:54:46.800
>> So because of that we can't even compete with that. I mean >> we have people staying in Orlando that drive down for races. I think if we had the same conversation in five years, um I think you know again Max Long

199
00:54:46.800 --> 00:55:02.640
County Sports Complex, some of the other things that are on the horizon, maybe there's more hotel capacity at that point. Well, that's what I'm I'm thinking is that if you if you up it to where the capacity is a bigger issue, there's less supply, then that would be more encouraging for hotels because we

200
00:55:02.640 --> 00:55:18.240
that's the thing we battle the most is traffic count, >> you know, and if we start limiting the traffic count then to, you know, our own, then we're not encouraging any more hotel development to come in when we obviously could use it. >> Right. Right. No, I think it's a good point and and again I think there's

201
00:55:18.240 --> 00:55:35.680
there's probably a place for again at some point city council says yes, we want to do this. You've got 12 to 18 months right before newax long is operational and so economic development could start laying the laying the groundwork and and putting out some

202
00:55:35.680 --> 00:55:52.160
breadcrumbs of hey hotel developers are you interested? If they are great, then you can start scheduling in early March, in late February, and kind of backing into meeting that that new hotel capacity. And if you find there's not interest right now and they want to kind

203
00:55:52.160 --> 00:56:08.400
of wait and see, then you keep doing what you're doing until you've got a a proven model that would justify more hotels. >> Thank you. On the hotel note too, um if the county moves forward with their facility, do

204
00:56:08.400 --> 00:56:23.520
you know what we're we're going to be at with capacity? Are we going to be pretty close if there's two tournaments going on? >> Yeah. No, I think it's a good point. And so, yes. I mean, I think if you use the races as your benchmark,

205
00:56:23.520 --> 00:56:40.960
then the combination of a baseball tournament at Max Long and a soccer tournament at the county sports complex is probably get you that near that same level of utilization from a hotel room night or a hotel room standpoint. Um,

206
00:56:40.960 --> 00:56:58.319
and generally what we find is the city's going to maximize their inventory to some level. You'll always have some spillover, right? You'll have people going other places to stay or they're driving back home or doing whatever, right? So, you're not going to get 100%

207
00:56:58.319 --> 00:57:14.400
capture rate, but you're going to maximize whatever your inventory is. And then it's just managing the experience, right? Because, you know, after only so many times of bringing my kid to a baseball tournament and then having to drive an hour and a half to a hotel, I'm

208
00:57:14.400 --> 00:57:30.000
just not going to come back right at some point. And so that's kind of the balancing act from a hotel standpoint that economic development can start putting out feelers to to hotel developers in strategic locations,

209
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:44.799
right? I mean, you know, strategically, if you put a hotel in proximity to the new Max Long or the county sports complex, if that ever happens, then that's going to, you know, 35 weekends out of the year, that's going to be full, right? Because they're only going

210
00:57:44.799 --> 00:58:01.599
to have 100 rooms and you're going to have a thousand players, right, at some of these larger tournaments. Um, and so that's some of the the development incentive that economic development can advertise if some of these projects

211
00:58:01.599 --> 00:58:23.200
start. >> I've talked to a couple Severing Youth Baseball board members, active people, and they all had the same raised the same question that you did. And I brought up the fact that, you know, you're proposing 30ish

212
00:58:23.200 --> 00:58:38.559
weekends out of the year. And I said, "Is it worth those 30 weekends to get this?" and they all agreed that it would be more beneficial to have that than miss out on those couple of weekends. So, they're not going to want to play

213
00:58:38.559 --> 00:58:54.319
out there every single weekend, right? So, it would be a fraction of that 30 where it would be inconvenient, but >> in the in the grand scheme of things, it's definitely a benefit to the whole area, not even just the city.

214
00:58:54.319 --> 00:59:12.640
Um, obviously, the issue is always going to be funding. If we can make the naming rights work and find the money. Absolutely. How many how many facilities of this size in community in a community of this size would you say

215
00:59:12.640 --> 00:59:28.480
you develop successfully? >> Uh the majority of ones that we're currently consulting on which is 30 35 are in smaller midsize communities. um big community, big cities. I don't know for what reason, but

216
00:59:28.480 --> 00:59:44.880
politics probably is is a lot harder. >> But there's more of a an interest by smaller communities to be the catalyst, right, for sports to be the catalyst for bringing in tourism and some of this stuff. Um historically

217
00:59:44.880 --> 00:59:59.280
between again, right, we stay on as we're a consultant, right? So, we're not building these projects. And so, of past projects we've consulted on and brought in, you know, either contractors or

218
00:59:59.280 --> 01:00:15.760
trades to to renovate turf. I would say probably 60 60% 70% are in a seabbering size of community >> and have any been unsuccessful meaning that five years down the road they said, "Oh man, this ain't going to work."

219
01:00:15.760 --> 01:00:33.359
>> So, only I is sort of tongue and cheek only when they don't listen to us, right? When they say, "Well, we can do this better. We can, you know, you guys recommended six fields. Well, if six is good, then we're going to build 12." >> Okay? >> Right. But we try to stay, you know,

220
01:00:33.359 --> 01:00:48.240
very conservative um in how we model this stuff. And and these are act like we're not just making numbers up, right? We're going to contractors and saying, "How much does this cost?" and we're going to these event organizers or we're

221
01:00:48.240 --> 01:01:08.000
going to operators and saying what can you bring in to this size of city in this geographic location. So Josh, I'll get you those numbers. And then Harrison, you asked um about on-site some on-site visits

222
01:01:08.000 --> 01:01:25.920
where there are naming rights in place or just where there's an outside operator. So you can see how that model works. I think whatever is closest to what you're proposing for us right >> Mr. Mayor do you have any thoughts?

223
01:01:25.920 --> 01:01:42.240
>> I think I mean I think we really have to work with the county as to how we balance this out if we're both going to have that same competing thing. I think also what we need to do is you said there's 35 [clears throat] projects out there. How much of those are going to be

224
01:01:42.240 --> 01:01:57.359
competition? And if you all 35 come at one time, how you going to spread all the teams out to the different, you know? >> Yeah. So on that, I mean, we work nationally, right? So, uh,

225
01:01:57.359 --> 01:02:13.680
you know, we've had this conversation before, right? Whoever does this first wins concept. So, when we first started working with Sebring, I can say, you know, there's no other city or community in Florida. That would be

226
01:02:13.680 --> 01:02:29.359
competition from from the consulting work that we're doing. Right. We have a a big project that we're working on in Flaggler County, but it's 20 soccer fields and a state. >> Are you proposing a facility like this

227
01:02:29.359 --> 01:02:45.119
within 100 miles of here? >> No. >> Okay. >> Right. Because I if if you know a city within 100 miles of here were to say, "Hey, Synergy, we want to do a feasibility study on a baseball complex." The first competitor that we're going to

228
01:02:45.119 --> 01:03:02.319
present to them is, "Hey, Sebring is doing the same thing." And they're two years ahead of you. So, you may want to think twice about that. >> Uh because it doesn't do us any good to say yes to everybody and then they're not successful. Right. To your point,

229
01:03:02.319 --> 01:03:20.160
And so we would kind of have them pivot to soccer or swimming or you know whatever the competitive mix would allow as an opportunity, right? Because part of our original feasibility study, we we plotted on a

230
01:03:20.160 --> 01:03:35.839
map on a heat map where your competitors were, right? And that's where we landed on why ren either renovate max law or expand it to the point where you are the biggest fish in Florida, right? Anything

231
01:03:35.839 --> 01:03:58.920
other than that, you're just going to cannibalize somebody else's customers and they're going to cannibalize yours. >> Where is the closest competitor? Aubberdale. Yeah, I can I mean I can >> I'm just curious. I don't >> I know Bumba is a big competitor.

232
01:04:02.960 --> 01:04:36.960
Do you know of any within 3 hours? Yeah, I've been to that one. >> Well, and and the majority are >> grass, right? The majority are grass. Yeah, >> I think Boom's, >> but you know, again, from a playability

233
01:04:36.960 --> 01:04:52.559
standpoint and from a a reservation standpoint, if I'm one of these big organizers and I know I'm not going to get rained out in Sebring, but there's a good chance I'm going to get rained out on any given weekend in the summer in Bradon, I'm going to go to

234
01:04:52.559 --> 01:05:14.240
Sebring because as an organizer, I get paid when teams register. So I want to hold that >> turn. >> And so having turf gives you a competitive advantage that that you know other other places don't. All right. Any other questions? Sorry I

235
01:05:14.240 --> 01:05:31.280
took a lot of time. Good. I'll follow up with uh naming rights, on-site visits, and then mayor, I can work with Casey and the county on uh at least something more

236
01:05:31.280 --> 01:05:47.599
concrete. >> Send us all the naming rights stuff. Don't send it to me. >> Okay. >> Again, send it to all of council. >> All right. Great. Thank you guys so much. Thank you, Jason. Any questions here before we open up to the public?

237
01:05:47.599 --> 01:06:08.640
>> All right. You have a comment question. Come on up. It's a matter of we know who you are, but do you want to state the name for the record for anybody who doesn't know who you are? >> Christopher Toughly for the record. Um the one thing that hasn't been mentioned

238
01:06:08.640 --> 01:06:25.440
and that's why I'm curious is um when we say turf and we grass. Is is there going to be any irrigation? Do we do we need any water for these fields or is it artificial? >> I would imagine there would be irrigation for any landscaping on the

239
01:06:25.440 --> 01:06:41.039
outside areas, but the fields do not require irrigation. >> So, that would be included in in the blah blah blah. >> It's a it's a turnkey for the construction portion. Includes all of those features needed, but yeah, you don't you don't need irrigation on the turf itself.

240
01:06:41.039 --> 01:06:57.440
>> Well, you don't. No, it's artificial. >> Oh, that's what I wanted to find out. Thank you. >> Artificial turf. >> Now, thank you. Anybody else wish to speak about this? >> So, Scott, what are you looking for us?

241
01:06:57.440 --> 01:07:17.760
Looking for kind of motion or guidance? >> I'd like to just I'd like to just revisit once we get some of that. >> Yeah, once we get his [clears throat] stuff back, then we'll get it back on the agenda. And I guess just Jason Casey, this is a

242
01:07:17.760 --> 01:07:34.480
long time coming and talking about this. I feel like next time I can do the presentation for you. >> Um but but thank you for all the the work and the effort you put into it. Means a lot. Looking forward to seeing what comes next. >> We're on the 5 yard line. >> All right. So moving on over to 10B

243
01:07:34.480 --> 01:07:49.599
going over the audited financial statements ruling F. Favorite part of of the meeting and favorite time of the year. >> You read every page. [laughter] >> Good evening, council. The audited

244
01:07:49.599 --> 01:08:07.760
financial statements have been issued. You should have a copy in your packet and Julie Ber is here with CLA to present over. >> Thank you, Penny. Good evening. I'm going to be presenting a very summarized version of the financial statements

245
01:08:07.760 --> 01:08:25.759
tonight. I'm happy Any questions you have as we go through, just let me know and I will do my best to answer those. >> All right, the next slide is our disclaimer slide. Just to remind you, this is summarized information extracted from the city's

246
01:08:25.759 --> 01:08:42.400
audited financial statements and you should refer to that complete document when making financial decisions. So on to the next slide, we have the scope of the procedures that we performed this year. So the primary purpose of the audit is always to express an opinion on

247
01:08:42.400 --> 01:08:58.000
whether the financial statements are prepared under generally accepted accounting principles and we perform that audit under government auditing standards which is a higher set of standards and those standards require that if we identify any deficiencies in

248
01:08:58.000 --> 01:09:14.080
the internal control structure that we report those to you. We also have to issue certain information to you at the conclusion of the audit that explains how the audit process went. Something that's kind of new for this year, the city hasn't had what we call a single

249
01:09:14.080 --> 01:09:31.199
audit in several years. That's a compliance audit specific to grants. And based off the level of state grant expenditures for the year, you were required to have that compliance audit this year. And then finally, we report on your investment with public funds. So

250
01:09:31.199 --> 01:09:48.080
up next we have a summary of the results of those procedures and we issue a lot of reports. I'm sure you have read those and memorized them. They're very exciting. Um but up first we have the opinion on the financial statements and that's an unmodified opinion or a clean

251
01:09:48.080 --> 01:10:02.960
audit opinion. So that means we believe the numbers are materially correct. When we look at the compliance with the state grants, we actually issue an opinion on whether you we believe you have complied with the material compliance requirements and that's also

252
01:10:02.960 --> 01:10:18.400
an unmodified opinion. So that's great news. Our opinion on your compliance with investment of public funds is also unmodified. So all great news there. When we look at the areas where there might be improvement in the internal

253
01:10:18.400 --> 01:10:33.440
control structure, we did not have any findings or recommendations that rise to the level that they need to be reported under the auditing standards. When we looked at the compliance, however, we noted u one area that um we consider an

254
01:10:33.440 --> 01:10:50.159
exception to the grant reporting and that was just timeliness. The reports were submitted as was required by the grant agreement. However, the grant agreement said they needed to be submitted within 20 days. Just due to administrative processes, they didn't quite make it to the state within 20

255
01:10:50.159 --> 01:11:06.159
days. So, since uh we brought this up during the course of the audit, staff has already put procedures into place to make sure that does that going forward they are submitted within the required time period. So, overall a very clean audit. Um city staff should be very

256
01:11:06.159 --> 01:11:21.600
proud of all the accomplishments this year. Up next, we have a summary of those required governance communications. The most important item here for you to know about is there was a new accounting standard adopted this year related to

257
01:11:21.600 --> 01:11:37.600
the way compensated absences are accounted for. So that's generally acred sick and vacation time. It does not change the way city staff earn time or the way it's paid out upon their termination of an of employment. It just changes the way that we have to account

258
01:11:37.600 --> 01:11:54.800
for it. So it was a very heavy lift on the part of staff to come up with all of the information needed for this, but it was successfully implemented. We didn't have any difficulties during the course of the audit. City staff is always very cooperative and helpful as we go through and request lots of

259
01:11:54.800 --> 01:12:12.239
information to complete this process. So next I just wanted to hit um you want to go forward two slides some very summarized financial information and the first starts with the general fund and this is a trend of the last five years

260
01:12:12.239 --> 01:12:27.199
revenues, expenditures and the changes in the fund balances. So if you look at that trend, you can see that generally um revenue continues to increase. This year it wasn't any one significant area that increase but increases in taxes,

261
01:12:27.199 --> 01:12:42.880
your intergovernmental revenue, all of those continued to trend up. On the expenditure side, we're seeing across the board, you know, increases in personnel related costs, health care, pension benefits, salaries, all of those

262
01:12:42.880 --> 01:12:59.120
things um as we're all aware continue to increase. The most significant part of the increase this year, however, released to capital outlay. We have some significant purchases and improvements that were made that caused that increase. So

263
01:12:59.120 --> 01:13:14.159
overall, when we look at the difference between revenue and expenditures, the general fund fund balance did decrease about 8 43,000 for the year. So on the next slide, where does that leave your general fund

264
01:13:14.159 --> 01:13:30.000
fund balance? You're in total at about $10.4 million. And that's made up of various components based on what it can be used for. The two biggest portions are what we call assigned. So that means it's it's not

265
01:13:30.000 --> 01:13:46.719
restricted by law for a specific purpose, but it's something that's already set aside for a purpose. Um, in this case, it's about $2.5 million just for cemetery care and it was already planned to be used in your 2026 fiscal year. So, that leaves the rest about

266
01:13:46.719 --> 01:14:02.880
$7.8 million in what's called unassigned. So, that's really what's up to the discretion of the council to use. Now, keep in mind this was as of September 30, 2025. So, you're already a large portion through your 2026 budget

267
01:14:02.880 --> 01:14:18.880
thinking about the following year. So, just want to keep that in perspective. You don't just have all this money sitting in the bank waiting for you to spend. Then, when we look at the next slide, the city does have a policy that you'll

268
01:14:18.880 --> 01:14:36.159
maintain at least three months of your regular expenditures in your unassigned fund balance. And the yellow bar there is what would be required to keep your minimum policy. And the what's in excess. So, it just illustrates that you

269
01:14:36.159 --> 01:14:52.640
have a very healthy fund balance. You're at about 5.9 months against a policy of three months. So, the city's in excellent financial condition at this point in time. Up next, we have a summary of the water and wastewater fund over the last few

270
01:14:52.640 --> 01:15:10.080
years. Revenue does continue to increase. However, this year, the largest increase was really due to capital grants that you received. This goes back some of the big projects you're doing related to utilities expended expenses in the fund are going

271
01:15:10.080 --> 01:15:26.480
up. We're seeing this consistently with the governments we work with. The cost of maintaining chemicals and supplies and repairs, all of those things that go into enterprise funds continue to increase. So overall, the fund did have an increase in net position. So very

272
01:15:26.480 --> 01:15:42.159
healthy net position left in the water and wastewater fund. And finally, solid waste fund. Your revenue did decrease a little bit, but this is related to transfers. The recurring charges for services did

273
01:15:42.159 --> 01:15:58.719
increase a slight bit while your expenses did go up a little bit for the same reasons I mentioned on the utility fund. Overall, this fund stays about flat when we look at the change in net position for later.

274
01:15:58.719 --> 01:16:20.800
So, that is the conclusion of my report and I'm happy answer any questions you may have. >> Thank you. [laughter] >> Any questions from the audience? >> I should have left some questions for today. Answer all that later.

275
01:16:20.800 --> 01:16:41.679
>> Just going to rate the city. >> No questions. >> John Griffin question is how do you rate the on a scale one to 10. >> My my least favorite question. Um, are we doing a scale of 10 or a scale of five? >> Let's do 10. >> Okay.

276
01:16:41.679 --> 01:16:57.440
>> Sounds better. I hope >> I'll go with a solid nine. Overall, the city is in very good shape. Um, as far as the compliance items we look at, your staff does an excellent job of administering grants and keeping the internal controls in place. So,

277
01:16:57.440 --> 01:17:16.159
great shout out to city staff. think this is one one of the times we really highlight thank you for everything that you all do. Um no one really knows about it until this time of the year and truly can recognize and point it out to the public that this doesn't just happen overnight and you've

278
01:17:16.159 --> 01:17:34.000
seen a lot of cities who don't do it as good as s does. So really grateful and thankful for everybody and finance team. Um I think we got one of the best cities that shows today. So thank you all. with uh Penny, do you have anything to add?

279
01:17:34.000 --> 01:17:49.120
>> Not. All right. Well, there's no questions, no comments. I'm looking to entertain a motion. >> I move to approve the audited financial statements for fiscal year ended September 30th, 2025 as presented. >> Second.

280
01:17:49.120 --> 01:18:05.280
>> Motion. Second. Comments. Are you sure you don't want to talk about audited financials? No. Okay. >> Kathy, call the roll. Yes. >> Yes. >> Stewart. >> Yes. >> H. >> Yes. Kathy, I don't see any slips. So, unless

281
01:18:05.280 --> 01:18:21.440
there's anybody that wants to talk about something that's not on the agenda, we'll move along to Mr. Harris. Not a thing. Going into the ordinance? >> Yep. Going over to 12. >> You want me to read the ordinance by title? >> That'd be great.

282
01:18:21.440 --> 01:18:38.640
>> Ordinance number 1575. An ordinance annexing approximately 4 acres of land located in Van Villa subdivision lying in the southwest quarter of section 4 township 35 south range 29 east Highlands County Florida into the city

283
01:18:38.640 --> 01:18:57.520
of Sebring Florida and establishing an effective date >> this before we go over to looking at approving this. I move to approve ordinance 1575 on second and final reading as presented.

284
01:18:57.520 --> 01:19:15.040
>> Second motion got a second. Any additional comments here? >> Comments from the audience. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Stewart. >> Yes. >> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Harris. Moving over to Scott time. Did you give us a project

285
01:19:15.040 --> 01:19:34.280
report? >> Yes, sir. The uh changes for the project report are Relocation of public works utilities. $500,000 appropriation designated in the budget by legislature was vetoed by the governor

286
01:19:34.640 --> 01:19:51.920
under the purchase of 126 West Center Future City Hall. Legislature appropriated governor approved million dollars towards renovation and hardening of the building. and an update on the Illinois pond leaf staff is coordinating with FWSC on an

287
01:19:51.920 --> 01:20:11.600
agreement and we're also reaching out to uh some contacts that are being provided to us. >> Are there any time constraints associated with that million dollars?

288
01:20:11.600 --> 01:20:29.000
>> Yes. So, yes, there are. I believe if I remember correctly, is it June of 2028? Right. June 2028. >> Shouldn't have any problems there. >> June of 28.

289
01:20:39.850 --> 01:21:00.800
[clears throat] >> Any questions for Scott? Okay, moving over to 14A. >> Second motion. Got a second. Any comments from council audience? Hearing none. >> Yes.

290
01:21:00.800 --> 01:21:06.719
>> Yes. >> Stewart. >> Yes. >> Yes. That is it. We are.