meeting. >> Mary, would you call the role? >> Chair Collins >> here. >> Vice Chair Reed >> here. >> Board member Clark >> here. >> Board member Gobi >> here. >> Board member Rich >> here. >> Board member D Bard and board member James >> here.
>> And we'll have the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> And do we have a approval of the agenda? >> Move approval of the agenda is published. >> I second. >> All in favor? I >> I >> and approval of the minutes. >> I don't I didn't see any minutes, Mr. um chairwoman.
>> There are actually no minutes. >> Okay. >> This one. >> Moving on to comments from the public. Do we have any comments on non-aggenda items? >> I have no public comment. >> All right. >> Comments from board members?
>> I have none. >> I have none. >> Waiting for the commission meeting. >> None. I'm just uh for again this is um what March of 2026 and this is a CRA meeting. I am just
appreciative of things that have been achieved by the CRA over the years and um I'm appreciative of Miss Miss Scander Savages and her service in the city and I know that um for the work that she's
done in the community. Uh the NAACP is going to be recognizing her coming up soon. But I just think that this is about community. That's the exact reason why the CRA exists, a community redevelopment agency. And um it's a part
of a job to do for the city, but it also reflects when we have things that uh come from the CRA that makes our city such a wonderful place to live in and to be in the slice of paradise and to be
able to access funds and to do project. And um Pinol is in a lonely area whether it's in your ivory tower or whatever you may call it. I'm sure she doesn't think of it as an ivory tower. >> She's got Jordan. >> It's well okay. So now Jordan saves the
day. Um so it's a lonely area and for our city and it's a unique position because usually most CRAAS are independent of uh the city but we are tightly closely tied with the city government here. And I just want to give
appreciation for this CRA and for what we've achieved and I hope what we'll continue to achieve in the CRA. That's my comment. It was a comment. >> There's no comment. >> Was not a ceremony or anything. >> Vice chair. >> No comments.
>> No comment. >> All right. >> My comments would be what I had emailed you with regard to Guy Davis in the skatepark and just hoping we can get moving faster. >> I know you're doing everything you can. So hopeful for for an update in the not too distant future would be my hope. But
>> sure, >> beyond that, we'll move on to action item number one, presentation of the community redevelopment agency annual report. >> Thank you. Uh Panel Gandhi Sabda, CRA director for the record. Uh we did have uh significant progress in advancing our
projects this year. You can see some uh construction work uh being uh in in progress uh in the CRA. Uh we've seen some improvements in public spaces. Uh we're preserving our neighborhoods and want to improve the quality of life. Um
every year we're we're required to um uh publish uh in the newspaper uh of this available annual report for transparency. Uh this is a requirement by Florida statute. Uh we will also mail a copy of this approved report to the
county and all the taxing authorities. Uh and uh it'll be also be available on the website. Um you have the complete uh annual report in your agenda package. I'm just going to highlight some of the key projects and what we've achieved uh in 2025.
Um so in 2025 we funded six applications through the Burke program uh with a total funding of $56,000. Uh this does encourage property owners to invest their own fundings uh to improving and maintaining their properties to improve the overall
appearance of the property uh within the CRA. Uh the tree infill program is underway. Um I know this is a a a very talked about pro program uh not just in the CRA but also outside of the CRA. uh we are
working with the consultant in preparing a master plan and identify identifying preferred uh tree species based on the recommendations we've received from Clay and Bonnie uh when they were working on the uh through the committee and uh we
we expect to present the master plan to the CRB and the CRA board uh in June. uh we've identified the locations where we can uh plant additional uh plantings and uh shade trees. So we'll present the
locations and ask the board to prioritize those areas in June. We funded one project through the mural matching grant uh with an award of $3,000. The way finding signage program was expanded to include additional poles on
Ocean Boulevard and Southeast Denver Avenue and Oyola Street and Detroit Avenue. We want to continue promoting businesses not just within the old historic downtown but also east of um east of old historic downtown to uh
bring attention uh to those businesses and expand our downtown area. In 2025, we installed uh four additional mosaic artworks uh bringing a total of 10 mosaic throughout the um throughout the sidewalks within the creek district.
In 2025, we received three applications for the residential facade improvements and paintup program. Uh we reimbured up to $3,000 uh for those projects and we planted 27 trees in the residential neighborhoods uh for a total of $9,000.
Uh the CR is also working in implementing a demonstration project on seven parcels along the west side of US1 between Joan Jefferson and St. Lucy Crescent. Uh this is part of our federal highway street tree program. Uh we are doing a field surveys and um preliminary
plans to widen the sidewalks on US1 on the west side of US1 between Joan Jefferson and St. Lucy Crescent uh and plant additional trees. Um, this requires us to coordinate with property owners and secure necessary easements uh
per the US1 uh street tree program and Jordan is taking the lead on this project. In 2025, we received one application for the heirs assistance program. Uh we coordinated with our probate attorney to clear the title uh for property located
at 1620 Arapaho Avenue. Uh just last week we were informed that that first application for the program was successfully completed and the probate was closed. Uh we received two additional applications since then and um uh and we're going to I'll provide an
update on those application and have those moves forwards. Uh but we are starting to get a lot more interest from East Stewart and um applications from that area which is where we identify most of the um property that needed clear the title.
In 2025, we completed wrapping of 12 traffic control boxes within the CRA to enhance the visual appeal appeal and showcase public art. We've also been working with a consultant to designate East Stewart on the National Register of Historic Places. This prog this program or
project has been in progress for three to four five three to four years. Um during that time we held many community meetings to gather feedback from community uh collect historical material create a website for the historic district. Um and just last two weeks ago
we had the state visit the community for their feedback. We did get some push back on the name uh for the for the district. uh the community would like to rename it to East Stewart Historic District and that was wellreceived by the state and we will be changing the
name to East Stewart Historic District. Um also everybody that signed in received a nomination application package for their review so we can capture anything else that was missing um in the in the application. So we are continuing to work with the with the
residents. Um and then the final nomination application will be reviewed by the National Register Historic Review Board in May. Uh they'll make their final recommendation um to list the district on the National Register of Historic Places. And once that board
approves it, the final decision will be forwarded to National Park Services for official listing. So, uh, this could all happen between May through July where we'll formally get a a letter from the state of this national register designation for East Stewart.
Uh, in 2025, we were awarded a $1.6 million grant for the Stman neighborhood drainage and sidewalk improvements project. Um, we presented that project to the CRA board. Uh, we presented the conceptual plans. The board approved it. We're currently developing the
construction plans and anticipate construction for this project in fall of this year. Uh the CRA provides funding and support for the tram system uh which serves about 39,000 riders every year. Uh they
also offer historic tours. Um we also rent out trams for private events which generates about $1,300 in revenue. And in 2025, we also completed wrapping all six trams. Um in 2025, the seminal streetscape project was substantially completed. Uh
final landscaping and sidewalk restoration will be completed once the poles are removed. Um we also completed all conduit work for the undergrounding project and and started installing the transformers. So you could see those transformers already are are within the right of way. Um this year we'll also
start energizing the undergrounding system and switching the customers to from overhead to underground service coordinating with FPNL Comcast and AT&T to remove all those overhead lines so that finally we can remove those poles and restore all the sidewalks and
complete with milling and resurfacing of all the streets. The Riverside Park neighborhood project, which is just north of the um the old bridge, uh was completed in November 2025. Um following completion, we
enhanced the neighborhood park also uh with upgraded walkways, new benches and landscaping. Uh we're going to also do new signage and decorative fence. Um this is the the small neighborhood park known as Aliender Park, uh within the Riverside Park neighborhood. Uh so once
that's completed uh we've all not just improved the sidewalks and crosswalks landscaping, we also improved the the neighborhood park. Uh we applied for a grant for MLK Streetscape project that came before the city commission last last month. Uh the
commission uh authorized staff to apply for the grant. Uh we're currently advancing that design to 60% and we plan to bring that to the board in April uh so we can get feedback on the 60% design. Um in the meantime, we are also implementing interim solutions to
improve safety uh at the intersection of MLK and Georgia Avenue including four-way stop signs as it was mentioned by the commission and pedestrian signal to address sighteline issues. uh Guy Davis Park Community Improvement
Projects. Um uh we're we just have some final components due uh to finish up so we can apply for building permits. Uh we anticipate to apply for building permits by May and go out for bidding in summer, award contract and then go in
construction by October, November of this year. uh and the construction would take about 18 months to complete and I am pushing the consultant to keep this moving forward. I know there were some delays but we'll continue working with the consultant on this.
>> Uh fabrication for phase two of the gateway signage is also underway uh including the horizontal monument signs and Stuart's at Stuart's entry points. Uh we anticipate installation of the additional signs this summer. Um there were some delays with the production and
uh tariffs. So, um that's why um we wanted to use the same material that we've already used for the vertical signs. So, um there was some delay with fabrication. So, hopefully we can get back um uh in order and and get that fabricated and install the signs uh by
summer. Uh at the Dixie Highway Improvement Project, we received FDOT grant for the Dixie Highway improvement project from Joan Jefferson to Ocean Boulevard. uh we had a kickoff meeting in 2025 with FDOT and submitted the preliminary and
initial plans uh for their review and comments. Uh so this year we're just going to continue meeting all the grant requirements and deliverables for uh throughout 2026 and then uh once we have the final approval from FDOT we will enter into a grant agreement with with
them and uh we anticipate to start construction in early 2027. Uh we are successfully implementing the CDBG COVID grant program. Um if you drive by this site, construction is underway for project lift facility and
we anticipate to complete the construction for project lift uh by August of this year. Uh we're also working with the city attorney to draft the lease agreement uh which is expected to come before the city commission uh for discussion and
approval this summer. uh the CDBG housing rehab program we completed seven projects. Um one project in involved demolition rep re uh replacement which is uh currently under construction. Another project is is awaiting approval on the scape scope of
work which is Mr. Hamilton's project. However, uh we have not come to an agreement uh so far on that application and uh Mr. Hamilton has retained an attorney to address the issue and that matter is currently is pending.
Uh Main Street received state grant to support the submitt of the nomination application for historic district uh for for downtown and Main Street hired a consultant to and took a lead on that project. Uh the state visited two weeks ago to gather additional community input
uh for the downtown historic designation and um we didn't receive any major issues with that and that application is moving forward and it's expected to go before the the National Register Review Board in May and make a recommendation
uh and hopefully uh the recommendation is positive and it'll be in the final decision will be forwarded to the National Park Services for official listing. So, we have two projects that are underway for for listing on the National Register of Historic District.
That concludes my presentation. I'd be happy to answer any questions. >> Who was first? >> That's fine. Go ahead. You >> go. You were first. >> Okay. Um, I received an email from Bonnie Moser and she's asking would it not be beneficial that if she were able
with her committee to present to the CRA or even the board the commission meeting uh, regarding the trees? I think that would be really isn't CRA because it's really outside of the CRA district. But understandably, I think that she and you
mentioned alluded to the fact that there might be grant money out there for outside of the CRA >> for the tree program. >> For the tree program, >> right? Yeah. So, the city does have work with grant work. So, we could apply for a grant to uh for for any tree program
outside of the city, >> right? >> And she does sit on the CRB board. So, uh, when I present the tree and fill program for the CRA, she will be able to make recommendations on tree species or any other items. >> So, I'm going to respond to her and let her know to reach out to you so that she
can make that presentation whenever you whenever >> but is this for outside of the CRA because that would be city for like the LPA. >> If it was going to go to an advisory board, what she's recommending is for outside of the CRA boundaries, >> right? that it is for outside of the
either it would come to us or if recommended would go to the LPA. >> I don't It's outside the CRA, right? >> Well, but if there's money is available, I mean, it it's not the only tree program. >> Clay, do you are you aware of other programs out there?
>> Can I just come to the microphone? >> Yes, please. >> Um I'm so happy that uh that you were discussing this. So, the um it's my sense having looked at this in the last year or so if it's the CRA then obviously it's not CRB or CRA funds that we're going have to go and let's say
from the city to the city. Um and discussions that we had last year with city manager and some of you guys involved was kind of like yeah let's just do it with the city outside the CRA and seek funds if if they are available that would require >> the mic mic is not on I apologize
>> who have I been talking to >> we can hear you but we heard you >> but it does make sense to pursue grants and that would obviously involve some of the the staff time and so on. So once once we have some clarity on on that, that would be helpful, >> right? >> Who who is it the city manager or is it
Milton or >> So if what I really want to know is what to advise Bonnie at this point, I think she's a little frustrated. She keeps asking she keeps bringing it up and we don't move any further down the line. So it's not not my most popular thing either really like to move this forward. So someone tell me how do we get her in
front of the LPA, in front of the commission. Let's advise her, you know, she'd like to make a presentation. We should be looking into what programs and grants are out there for trees outside of the CRA. >> Could I make a suggestion? >> Yes, please.
>> Um perhaps uh uh direction from you. I don't think it takes a motion during the commission meeting, but for staff to help start to look into this as to how we would seek funds or where in the budget do we seek funds. Panel has an example of, you know, maybe almost 10 grand for 27 trees. Well, if we end up
with 150 requests for trees and we do it outside the CRA, that's going to cost something, right? So would would that fit into the current city budget or would you need to seek grants? All that kind of stuff. It would take a bit of work. Again, I'm assuming that would be from the city staff, but they would need
your your direction. And even before that point, >> this board discussing what the scope of a tree program, there's been recommendations to >> um you know, we had discussed in the past with the half cent sales tax money,
>> expanding the existing CRA uh tree program to citywide and using that half cent sales tax money for that, which looks something like if people request to have a tree in their rideway, we would pay for that. >> Mhm.
>> But part of the discussion around project uh shade >> shade maker >> shade maker >> shade maker >> was more like uh targeting different parts of the city that would uh be be more ideal to really install trees
into people's uh right ofways whether or not maybe they wanted it there. So that there there needs to be some consensus from this board as to what we're even looking to do in terms of tree. If if I could add on to that, since we discussed it more recently, I think the
>> the team, for lack of a better word, which I include Bonnie in that, although I'm not speaking for, I think we would we would proceed, if you all agree, with basically taking a copy of the CRA plan to outside the city, so it's a bit more uh voluntary, let's say, for planting um
with that same approach. >> My my ask last time when Bonnie was here, though, is just to wait till Mike gets here, >> right? because that's really something that he would oversee before we put anything else on Roz's plate since she's managing like three different departments. >> No, I understand. >> So, but you know, not to tell you what
to tell Bonnie, but >> well, I did mention to her that she had spoken to the mayor and to be patient, but you know, at this point, I want to give her some direction. So, basically, the direction would be that we need to discuss it and move forward and then maybe at that point, either when we're discussing it or on the next meeting,
she could come and give a small presentation on what they're thinking uh combined with what we're thinking might make a plan that could move forward sometime before the next millennium. >> The the great news is we have a a great
playbook from Panal and team and and in a way it's just copy paste. So a lot of those relationships that that she and and her team have me uh have established with uh contractors and how to do it and all that they kind of exist. It'll come down to what the the mayor mentioned.
It's a matter of do you want to use funds from the existing city budget or would you want to try to tap into other sources like the halfsent or not or or grants that that that then gets a little more tricky and where you would need staff I think involved. >> So if we can wait till Mike gets here >> right which is the end of April we can
have it on the agenda sometime end of May beginning of June >> maybe wait till he gets here and make sure he's comfortable and then because he's going to be handling it. I mean, we can start now. And I mean, like I said, >> but then really it's it's also hang tight, Clay. Having her here presenting
to him. Yes. >> Is a big part of it, too. So, he can get caught up >> with everything that she's come up with >> and then he's going to be taking the wheel. >> Okay. >> With our direction. >> Okay. I will get that message to her. Thank you, Clay. >> Thank you, Clay. Happy to help.
>> Okay. >> You're up. >> Anybody else? Yeah. >> Um You know, I I this is not the annual report, but um just to clarify for most people, and I don't
think I didn't ask you to have this up, so you wouldn't have it, but with regard to the name of East Stewart and the historic um designation, so East Stewart has been a name that has
been used since after 1913 when the community was established but the community is established based on subdivisions and I think they're Lincoln Park, Little Dixie, McDonald's and Bogan
subdivision. There may be one more, but those are the subdivisions there. And East Stewart itself is not a place like you could go on Wayfinder or with the post office or with the census and find
East Stewart as a place anywhere. It has just been a name that's been localized and has been adopted by the commission. I think Miss Ordale Landers came to the commission back in the probably early 70s or late 60s or sometime around 75
because they had a big um uh 7576 there was a big independent celebration in the community at that time. But Miss Landers had pushed for that East Stewart to be recognized by the community because even the school that you're looking at there from back in the 30s was called East
Stewart Training School. So, it has been in in use, but it's not a geographical name. It's not a post office name. It's not a map name. And if the city of Stewart really wants to recognize the Stewart, and I know that we're going to
be wanting to add that um I think Lincoln Park was the biggest um part of that subdivision, which is why I thought it was McDonald's, but because we don't have the map that shows the subdivisions, but Lincoln Park, I think Mr. Weaver pick Lincoln Park. The folks
said Lincoln Park reminds them of Fort Pierce Lincoln Park. They don't want any confusion. They wanted to go by the name East Stewart, which includes all of those subdivisions. And that's what they want to use. But if the city of Stewart
needs to look deeper into East Stewart and officially really give it an East Stewart name, that means a post office. That means naming. That means a lot of things when it comes to maps, even when it comes to doing a birth certificate or
something like that. Even though birth certificates will say Stewart originally people weren't born in the East Stewart area, it was called Colored Town at the time. That's what's on the plat maps. That's what's on the original historic
documents. So if we really want to look at the importance of the name and giving true significance to the name, doing the historic district is one thing, but if we want to have it official official, it's a lot of work. I know when Martin
Luther King changed from Seventh Street, the post office and other people had a lot of push back on just that little section because it takes a lot to change a name with the post office, with the building department, with with everybody. It just takes a lot to do
that. So, um I would, you know, want us to to agree to name it East Europe because that's what it's been named. That's what the school has been named. But I will tell people that uh it's several
subdivisions within that uh geographic area that is considered the historic East Stewart area. Uh that's it. I think I had I had questions on Confusion Corner because Bonnie has
also brought up something about Confusion Corner and she and I and Milton have met, but I think I'm going to do that at the city commission and try to see if we can start to get moving on that and maybe it'll be something that will still come back to the CRA.
And then the the other thing was um uh there was thing for Bonnie. Oh, housing. We had a system and I think this was through the CRA also. We had a system where we were looking at vacant lots and we were trying to work with um
Habitat for Humanity to try to get some housing done. We probably haven't done that in maybe five or six years maybe eight years we haven't done any housing but again that's also at city commission level I think. So >> we would need to acquire some
properties. properties to housing authority projects. >> Yeah. >> Board member Gio. >> Um first to the East Stewart historic. I think that's the first part that we need to do once the state gives them the
historic status of East Stewart. Then from there we could go to different map quests, things like that and start changing officially the name of the area. I think we really need to focus first on getting to do this. That's >> what we're doing. >> Yes. Uh that's number one. Um, number
two about um, confusion corner. I really don't want it to be at the commission level because the monies are in the CRA to correct the confusion corner issue. So, it really needs to be and I've brought it up several times. So, I'd like to know where are we on that? I, you know, has anybody been asked to get
some sort of proposal, look at different things of ways to change um, confusion corner to protect, you know, maybe different avenues of signage or whatever. Have we gone to the next step? We talk about it a lot, but we've been talking about the CRA and the confusion
corner. I've been here two years and I'm sure you talked about it before that. I'd like to see something move forward and I'm hoping that Milton and maybe whatever they're doing with Main Street that that we're trying, but you're right, it needs to come up and maybe Main Street will be able to bring that
up to us. That's going to be a main thing for us, especially when we move to the Wells Fargo building. That is going to be our front door. whatever happens if we change the design there. And Bonnie had some very good um ideas that kind of reflect some of the things that
happen in Jensen Beach when you're there in front of the Publix and the way that that roundabout is is done right over the railroad track similar to Confusion Corner. But that probably does need to come back. Um and again, Mr. Jodino um
you know there's so many things to happen and I think that maybe Milton between Milton and Ros and Bonnie and whatever um Main Street is looking at if that was one of their focus in their presentations we can add that to our list to bring it back to the commission
and it may not even be in this um budget cycle because budget is coming up where it's April. Um, so it's just something that we do need to look at. But I agree. I'm willing to bring it up at a city commission meeting to or I mean I'm
willing to ask today that we need to include that in our considerations for this. Um, >> absolutely. I think the CRA needs to have a list to sit with the new city manager and go over those things to put them on the agenda. We do a lot of talking and I have to be honest, I'm
tired. I want to see it on an agenda. I want to see us moving forward, working on it, looking at options because that's going to take six months. >> Yes, definitely. >> Right. And and that I would like to do. No more talking. Let's sit down with the new city manager, have these things on the next or well, not the next, but probably two CRA meetings from now.
Yeah. >> And that's going to be a goal. And no one wants to hear me if two CRA meetings from now we're still saying we're going to talk about it. No, no, no. I'm really done. Well, let's get >> every year we have a we adopt a CIP, capital improvement projects, right? So,
um that project is not prioritized right now, but that's something I would need to add to the CIP and I can discuss it with the new city manager what our existing list consists of what you've mentioned about the confusion corner. Add that to the list. Bring that to the board for adoption when we do the
budget. So then I can identify funding for the design because it's going to require us to go through a design outreach process before we even start talking about >> Absolutely. But it has to start somewhere. That's the point I'm trying to make. It's not waiting until it's at our door at at Wells Fargo because
that's a couple of years away. It's important to the community on the whole whether we move or not because it's still a dangerous corner and it needs to be addressed. >> I'll make that a priority when city comes in. I have one more question for you. Uh on the um program for the uh
heirs program, >> do we know how many uh titles need to be corrected within uh the city? >> Uh I don't have I I remember it was like 25 in East Stewart and there were some outside. So total of about 30 about 30
>> 33 and so far to date we've had three. >> Well, one we've we just completed one. Um Joe Flanigan is really helping to promote that program in East Stewart. I'm also going to NAACP meeting next month. The probate uh attorneys also coming to that meeting in
April. So we're really starting to promote that program and we're starting to see applications. Once we get the application, it does take some process and you know the probate attorney to uh talk with the applicant and all the family members to figure out how how we clear the title. I think that's the key
is getting the families in and not at a meeting. Getting them in individually. I did notice at the East Historic um when they were having the Shipo there, a lot of people I spoke to really weren't I mean they know the program exists. They really don't know what the program does. As one gentleman said to me, "Well, my
uncle's still alive." Well, this is the time to do it while he's still there and you don't have to go back another generation. Right. And so, I think it's more education and maybe getting them in. We know who the 25 or 30 people are. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> somehow set up an appointment for them to come in and really on a one-on-one
basis or with the family, have them understand what the program is, how it could benefit them, and then maybe they'll put in an application. >> Sure. Yeah, we are we are starting to see a lot of applications. So, >> we'll continue. But if I'm not a lawyer
and my family hasn't ever really discussed deeds or any of that title, I'm not going to know. That's just a program the city has. I'm not going to know what it means to me. And that's what I think that's the level of education that we may have to provide so that we can help get this heirs program to work.
>> Right. So I'm hoping the NAACP meeting in in April um you know a lot of people attend that meeting the probate attorney will be there the expert is there so she'll be able to answer their specific questions. Um we can give the her information to anybody that wants to
talk to her after the meeting. So yeah it's just getting the word out and continuing >> right to work. The suggestion would be at that meeting to have a signup sheet for them to actually get an appointment with the at with the probate attorney. >> Okay. >> Because that's going to be the first step on a one-on-one family and attorney for them to realize what the program is,
how helpful it is, and what it could do for them. >> Right. >> Vice Chair. >> Yes. Uh Ula, for clarification purposes, are you trying to like fix property appraiser the neighborhood code so it's under one for East Stewart? Is that what you mean by
>> No. No. It's see if you have it as a name like it's Stuart East Stewart is not a city by itself. >> Correct. >> But so the it we're just doing the Lincoln Park or that was given as using the name because that's one of the
subdivisions there. But I think people want people are asking for East Stewart to be more recognized. But when you rec when it's like that, it's like a name like you'd say. Even though like Palm City and Jensen Beach have subdivisions,
but they're also on a map. East Stewart is not on a map. If you go to a wayfinder, you won't find East Stewart like you'd find Jensen Beach or Hope Sound or something like that
as a place name, but locally it's a well-known name. All right. Um, and Panol, this this one's for you. Um, with having East Stewart on the National Registry, what benefits are
there for the residents? Are there any? >> So, um, there are two, one is for nonprofits. um they'd be qualified to apply for grants and especially being on the national register of historic district area. it it gives them higher
points when they apply for for grants uh through the historic resources and other is if they're forprofit then there's tax abatement for any improve additional improvements that they do to their property they can get some tax credit
>> and is this for specific parcels or lots or >> it could be for any uh any properties within the district. >> Okay. But it does not restrict them from doing any improvements, demo. It does
not give any restrictions. >> No protection. >> No, not real protection unless they are on the local register of historic district. >> Uh which is a separate ordinance that the city adopted and they would have to go through that process separately. >> But even then, if nobody wanted to save it, it's still going to get
>> No, not if you're the local registry. If you're on the local registry, then anything that they do, the board has to approve it, which is the CRB also serves as a historic preservation board. So, they would have to make recommendations if they're on the local register. We only have three or four properties on
the local registry. >> Okay. All right. Thanks, Benol. >> What are the primary benefits of having clear title? >> Uh, they could get homesteaded first of all, which is, you know, they there's a lot of tax benefits. um they can get
loans um they can apply for >> hang tight. Do we know that there's a deficit of homesteaded properties in East Stewart? >> Do we number of the properties? >> We did have I don't have the uh value but we did look at what the property
appraises value were for those for those homes. >> 25 properties um without homestead. >> They were without homestead, right? >> Okay. Plus, they can apply apply for grants, um, state grants, city grants. If they're if they're they have clear
title, mortgages, right? Any improvements that they want to make on the property, they can apply for different loan. Yeah, loans. >> Right now, they can't do anything. They're kind of stuck. Another thing we could look at is once
they get clear title, I'm starting to hear that they don't have the funding to make the improvements. So that's something the CRA might want to consider maybe adopting a specific program for those properties once they clear title
make some funding available uh for those property owners so they can make those improvements >> in improvements. >> Can I ask a question on the on the the benefits? One of the other benefits is that and it's an intrinsic benefit basically when people have several
owners to the property and it's going in various generations. It may be a grandchild and it's their grandfather that was the last person who had lived in the property or something like that. And so the property is at risk for
foreclosure. If people aren't paying the taxes, people don't care. it's somebody else who lives there. It's not me. It's And so because it's a part of the family and there are several people associated with it, you you you run the risk of
that property not being um and it's probably one of the first properties also that gets involved with or code enforcement. If somebody's not taking care of the property, then it's code it's going to be code enforced and then that also runs into foreclosure if the
code enforcement gets um too expensive and they get tied up. So it it it's really uh one of those benefits that you have to look at. It's important to have a clear title and to have somebody responsible and accountable and paying
the taxes and providing for any type of services on there. And again, with something like the way our code works, if something happens and the property runs into disrepair, nobody's living on it, then you're looking at what happens when the property comes back and
somebody wants to redevelop the property. How do they redevelop it? and who's going to deal with the conditions on it. So, >> so that's that's the point I was getting to is having clear title makes it easier to sell the property if
>> No, I think one of our requirements one of our requirements >> the property >> if we're paying for something they're required to stay in that property for 3 to 5 years. There's a requirement if they're applying for our program. Yeah. >> They have to they have to stay in the property >> for five years though. >> I don't remember the number but three to
five years. I can't give you exactly if they use the funds to clear the title. Yes, >> they have to stay. It's not to clear the title and go sell it off and create uh I won't say any names but no it's for it's
for re it's for redeveloping to maintain that that again that family unit that sense of uh redevelopment in a community that needs to literally come from the ashes and rise as a phoenix to be a beacon of the community
>> for the family to redevelop. I mean that. >> Yes. Yes. Yes. >> And we probably need to check on what is that time frame where they have to have >> let's get the title three years or five years. >> Three years. Yeah. And it's recorded. Is it five years? Okay. I couldn't remember. Three to five years. Okay.
Thank you. >> Okay. How much money do we make available? >> So, it's $3,000 per probate depending on how many probate that uh the property requires. The last one required two clearing of two. So, we paid about $6,000. Ask
a question of Mr. Bagot. >> Mr. Bagot in probate matters is $3,000. >> The problem is being currently involved in probate for a friend. It's incredibly complicated and expensive. >> Yes. >> And the problem is with these E Stewart
owners is we're talking generations >> potentially and they have to be all >> tracked down. Right. Right. and all so >> or several levels. >> I mean we're it's we're giving them seed money but unfortunately they face >> a considerable expense.
>> We we reached within the last year we increased it from 3,000 to 9 a total of 9,000 because there could be multiple parties in that the one that just got completed in fact fell under that. So we end we ended up increasing it a total of 9,000 because >> there could be three different family
members that each need >> easily >> right a probate setup. >> So originally it was only three grand but we then found the problem after the lawyer told us you know there's multiple kids that each need a $3,000 you know retainer. >> Yeah. And not every family member wants
it cleared up. >> Yeah. There probably could be some family members benefiting that wouldn't benefit otherwise. >> Right. Right. So there's a problem there. >> You might not get cooperation from everybody. >> Yeah. If there's no cooperation that we wouldn't even take the applic Yeah. Because that becomes a mess.
>> No, it's a lengthy complicated and expensive process >> unfortunately. >> Okay. Are there any other questions? >> Seeing none, we'll move on to item two. Thank you panel. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. What a great report from our CRA.
Panel does a great job. I'm Jim Carrollski. Yeah, you can applaud her. Look at her. You starting something. Uh, and I am your community services director. And through my time here with the city of Stewart, I've served on a lot of capacities. The one role that I haven't done was city historian. And
actually, that's what I'm here to do today is to present to you the history of City Hall. >> There he is. There he is. >> He's bear with me one minute. Okay, I should have brought popcorn because
this is going to be a long one. Wanted you to know that everything that you're about to see came from several sources, including this big giant book here. So, um, it's big, it's thick, and there's a lot of information on it. So there was a
lot of scans. There's also some information that came from past presentations. I know the former city manager presented to you about city hall before. So I listened to what he had to say. So if those parts are redundant, you'll forgive me. But I've added an awful lot to that as well. And the first
thing is um I wanted you to know what our subject area is. I call it God's green acre. Everyone wants to be there. It's what we what is known as the area that's located between St. Lucy and down over to Hudson's. And so we all know
about Flaggler Park. You're sitting on this particular property right here which is 121. In this map you see that white area that was at the time the map was drawn used to be called Dockside was 131 Flaggler.
Um it's had several owners from that point in time and the city has recently well not recently the city has purchased that property. So, the city owns this entire green area, including the white area that's in the center.
This all goes back to 1999. I remember I was working in Vero Beach, Florida as a Main Street manager, the role that Candace has. And I remember listening about what was going on in Stewart at that time. And there was a gentleman named Joel Channing and he
presented an idea. I wish I had a picture. I really wish I had a picture of this project. I looked and looked. I scoured. I couldn't find it. But we did find some documents. And the city published a request for qualification, an RFQ. The
number was 99.9 seeking qualifications and proposal form uh proposals uh for development within the CRA district. Channing discussed his proposal with city officials and groups including the city land planning agency, Steuart Heritage, and Steuart Main Street. The
response was favorable, so Channing proceeded with a letter of agreement. There's a theme that you're going to see throughout this entire um presentation. And what I did is I highlighted in white areas that support what the theme was.
And uh as we knit this entire story together, there were some commonalities that came up time and time and time again. So I highlighted them as we go through this is just a form of entertainment, but also a throughine to the entire presentation.
One was to move city hall to a less valuable location. Joel Channing and Mayor Krueger at the time entered into a letter of agreement. Then the commissioner and Joel Channing agreed to allow city hall to retain where it stands and the city agreed to
utilize bonds to do a facade res renovation to city hall. The project ended based on community response. So he basically dropped a pebble in the pond and said I think I can put these condos over here in Flaggler Park. And it went pretty far. He did get some uh he got
some support and then according to the records that I could find it the project basically died because of some of the community response. We don't want to have private condos over in the park area. So we can understand that. So with that
Max Stucky wrote a letter and he said listen the biggest problem that we have in downtown is what? parking. Our current city call and annex building are grossly wasting space which could be utilized in a more costefficient way. The city
should retain a fourstory building. Can't believe he said that but he did. Three stories would be for parking and the fourth would be for waterfront offices or restaurants. He also suggests in this letter was to move city hall to a less valuable location and also to do
some research if Docside Restaurant, which is 131 Flaggler, that white space that was in that map is interested in selling. We know that as waterfront um now, but it used to be Mulligans and before that it was >> Spotos.
In 20 in ' 05 in the calendar year, city commission continued to discuss the email from Mr. Stucky on October of November or on October or November of 25, 2025. The city received an unsolicited offer from
Calumo Construction Development to build a hotel on city hall property. The city manager Dave Collier put placed the offer on the December agenda. In the December 2005 meeting, the city commission scheduled a two-hour workshop to discuss 131 Southwest Flaggler, which
as we know is right here. On January 4th, there was a draft RFP so all developers could submit a proposal for additional concepts. So, what was interesting about this is that um Calumo decided that right around the same time
period, just thereafter, two three years after that he would do the same thing. So, there was a proposal that he did and the city said, "Well, why don't we go out and do an RFP and see what's out there? We can't just give it to one vendor. That would make one solicitor. That would make absolutely no sense."
So, they did a RFP at the time, and this is what that RFP looked like. And of course, it made the paper a new vision for the downtown Stewart Riverfront. and it showed what um CalFumo's project might look like as
well as it mentions Joel Channing's project as well. During that relative same time in ' 06, there was a special meeting and at the time there was discussions about taking city hall and kind of swapping it with
where the community center was. Now, you may remember in 206 that that's when I came to work here. We were my first office is over at the uh community center and at the time it was running as the second of our two community centers >> and as a point of information we decided
to go ahead and lease that building after we hit the great recession because we felt that it was probably the most responsible thing to do. We didn't want to actually displace something from the neighborhood and we also had a grant from the community from the children's services council to be able to retain the programs over there with the kids.
So during that meeting, um, Mack kind of he's he stood up and said, "Listen, why are we doing this? Maybe we should hold a referendum prior to selling or leasing any of the waterfront property." And, you know, I've heard this said before,
and I do agree with it. It's a good idea. You can come up and do architectural renderings and do master plannings, and I love master plannings because it just gets your mind around what can actually be done. But as soon as you start putting some things in there that somebody in the community doesn't like, they get their friends and
then the next thing you know it's a big deal. So this way you can actually go ahead and do some proposals and when the community comes out with pitchforks and say we don't want this. We don't want this. It's too big. Then you can just say hold up, hold up, hold up. You know,
we're not doing this yet. We're just giving you a picture of what can be done. We haven't even gone out to bid with that and you're going to have to vote on it. So, we put a referendum together and this is the results. And these are the actual referendums thanks to our city clerk Mary over there who
was able to dig these things up. And we see that when that referendum was handed back, we had 356 yeses and 772 nos, which was to make sure that we needed to be able to get the people's consent about whatever project that
would be bu developed cont um contiguous to the waterfront. Then something happened. Everything kind of came to a stall. We all remember that. Sometimes we forget, but boy, when you start looking at it in a chronology, you kind of remember. And
it lasted quite a long time and everything stopped. There was really no developers that were knocking on our doors and saying, "Hey, we want to build anything." And they were just kind of hoping this would go away. And it did. Um, what we did do during that time period though, there was a couple of
more studies. So, in 2009, Leedto and Associates did a presentation. They did a study which meant they looked at these two different maps and they said we I know what we need to do. We need to extend Oyola Street. Sounds like a theme, right? They also included an
amphitheater and also include retail and mixed use along with on street parking. The design essentially extended the downtown. And then there was another study that was done in 2010 by Treasure Coast Regional Planning. And guess what their
answers were? They had some criteria. The best and highest use of property. Public use to the waterfront. View the corridor of the water. Waterfront park. Positive economic impact both public and private. Economically feasible and sustainable. Ensure vehicular traffic
flow. Pedestrian friendly. Public municipal buildings. Green buildings. architecture of of building is significant iconic buildings. Making sure that we have green space, preserving the architectural character of our city, making sure that there is a
parking component and making sure that it's logical and common sense approach to city hall functions. So that was the second study that was done during them. Then the city got together and this was a city initiative. They decided to have a discussion and
deliberation in 2012 and this was their redevelopment analysis and you can see the city seal that's right over there on the right hand side. You can read through these things. These are basically um different configurations to try and make the determination of what kind of revenue
would come back to the city if any of these developments would happen. There again on the bottom left hand part of the slide there there's a theme. They wanted to know what the ROI or return on investment was. They looked at a hotel, retail space, restaurants, public and open green space. So the city looked at
that probably right on the heels of the recession and says, "Woo, that was tough. What are we going to do to make sure that we're able to go ahead and actually develop this and make some financial sense?" In 2013, we re we reviewed a revised RFP to
redevelop the city hall location, obviously subject to a public referendum, and that's what the proposal looked like. In 2014, Steuart Main Street held three public meetings to solicit community input. So, we went back to the drawing
board. The three meetings were on January 30th, 2014, January 31st, 2014, and February 14th, Valentine's Day of 2014. It's basically what they were doing is hold a meet and greet, present how the
use of this use of the current city hall site could be used and then have stakeholders identify key characteristics of successful site utilization. What came out of that was their criteria when they were working with this and let's see if we see any
similarities to the rest of these studies. Providing public recreation opportunities including boating. There's one we haven't seen yet. Generating a positive economic impact including job creation. Enhancing tourism including all city demographics. Developing downtown Stewart as a destination for
both residents and visitors. Being compatible with the downtown rail station. preserving or creating green space. Having a neutral or positive impact on traffic and parking, being financially feasible for both public and private partners, having a positive impact on the natural environment,
supporting historic preservation, and being rooted in responsible stewardship of public funds. In 2014, there was a study that was done and it was done by the city and it was at the time there was a lot of um discussion
about whether or not that we were going to have a train station here or not. We ended up um drawing up some renderings, but I think what's very important for you to see in this whole thing in every case, everyone really all agreed that we should have some kind of linear park or public water space that would give
access to the public. And I think what was happening at the time, Azu wasn't built. And so we're thinking, I don't know, the train's got to make a turn. Why doesn't it stop here? And that was a thought then. And as we all know, the whole train situation has gone through es and flows of support and, you know,
or non-sup support through throughout the time period. This happened to be one of those times where it was looked upon favorably. Um, but the important point what that I'm trying to make with this slide is is that the public space and waterfront was always contemplated with every idea that was here.
Then in 2016, we had Michael Houston, which is HJA Designs, and he did three renderings. And on the left side of the screen, you know, we can, you know, there's basically three approaches to this thing. And they're really just
different phases of intensity. Um, I think the themes that I highlighted in white were again parking, mixed use, riverfront park, again, parking is over there, and riverfront pocket park, and they had a plaza. So, as you can see here on this one, there was a two-story
city hall, 30, it was 20,000 square feet. It had 46 spaces for parking and 265 of retail square footage of mixed use area. And then there was some additional parking of 96 parking spaces.
As you can see with the next slide, gets a little more intense. 19,000 a square, 65 spaces of parking, and 26,400 square foot of mixed use. Same as Riverfront Park. All those things remain the same
except for the 102 parking spots. And then this is the third one, which is obviously the most intense, which is 100 spaces of parking. It actually had a parking garage. And I think what's interesting about this, you can never do this now um because of Hudson's being
down there, but because of the elevation of the bridge, the thought was is that you could put the parking garage sort of underneath the bridge itself and that would serve as a parking garage to be able to serve it. In every one of these plans though, it shows um a linear park obviously by the waterfront that allows
um public access and then extends downtown um along Oyola in order to be able to provide more retail opportunity. I think what we've got going here is that downtown is fairly tight. We have about three or four blocks. And so with this,
it would allow this to extend a little bit more um in order to be able to provide a little more um commerce. Then in 2018, and Vice Mayor Reid, I listened to Mike's presentation and I remember you asked or somebody asked, "Does this include the McCarthy plan?"
Well, this one does include the McCarthy plan. Um, again, the key words on Mike's design here was extended um, Oyola Street and include of a amphitheater and a historic village, linear waterfront public park. Look at there. Typo, two
commas. I need to fix that. The design essentially extended the downtown. Um, and Steuart Main Street was behind this whole thing. I think I think Mike was on the board at that time, wasn't he? Yeah. So, Mike served on Steuart Main Street. Warden came up with these ideas. Again,
very similar with very similar um uh needs that the community put together. And then we had this little thing. Remember that? Everyone walking around with masks and everything. We were kind of closed. So everything stalled again. So nothing really happened. But then
during that same time period, David Dice was city manager and Wells Fargo was purchased. So, we finally went ahead and actually um bought Wells Fargo. I did a little research on it today because I didn't know, but I think we spent $7 million on the building itself. And then there was
another $1 million that was spent on some CRA property that was next to it, which was that plaza that's now into a vacant lot. Um, which was a wise investment. And uh this was the vote because it was this commission who decided to go ahead
and vote for moving staff there by the year 2028. So that one was signed by you guys. And we also had a couple of strategic plans that kind of support this. In 2013
commission discussed relocating city hall and redeveloping the location in a manner that would be beneficial to all the downtown residents and businesses. In the 2024 strategic plan, the commission continued with the vision for relocating city hall and holding public hearings to design a project on the city
site that would enhance downtown and provide access to the waterfront. Interestingly, both plans highlighted active downtowns with special events and cultural programming and that city hall should be moved. So, a part of the strategic plan that we
just did, there was something called a citizens vision plan. It referenced Dewani emphasizing waterfront access. So, that goes way back before anything got built here at all. Way past Joan Jefferson's day, right in the right in the beginning. Renovate a new city hall location. Integrate long-term mobility
with with a parking structure. extend downtown to include Oyola and Southeast Ocean. So, they wanted to expand the footprint, redesign Flaggler Park. And at the time, this was with that living shoreline that I know you so fond of that I loved, but it's a little hard to explain.
So, to summarize all of these things through the years, the projects and proposals and policies in 1999 to 2000, we had Joel Channing. In two 2005 we had Max Stucky's proposal. In 2005, we had
the CalFumo pro proposal and then we also had the referendum in 20 the referend Oh, that's wrong. That's not 26. It's 206. Sorry, >> excuse me. 2006. >> Um, the workshops that we've had, there's 12
workshops. The one that Steuart Main Street is going to uh present tonight and all the statistics will make lucky number 13. So, we have really kind of studied this thing. Um, and if I were to summarize
this based upon everything I've read in that book and all the things that I've listened to from past meetings, it comes down to this. Extend downtown, add parking, provide public access to the waterfront, mixeduse development, not only private
ROI to the city. in 20 years, 27 years. That's pretty much what the survey says. So, with that, I've got the slide show still back up here. If there's any questions on this, I know that's a lot of information. I'm happy to answer them
or we could wait till the end. I'm going to eventually turn this over to Candace who can tell you what happened with Main Street. >> Questions for Jim? >> I see that, Mr. Mcrist. So, okay. Okay. So, we're just going to do public. Candace, you're going to make a
presentation first. >> She is. >> Yes. >> Okay. So, Frank, >> unless Mr. Mcrist has a direct question about >> Yes. >> You got to get on the mic. >> Sir, if you go back to the
>> Get up on the mic, Mr. Mcrist. >> Sorry. Sorry. Sorry, man. >> I got you. >> I was I was listening along as well as I could. Uh we go back to the 2005 referendum. What was the wording of it? >> And what did the citizens decide in
2005? That was the citizens of the city of Stewart. >> It was like a third of the way through. >> Yeah, I know where it is. >> And that's my only question. >> This one right here. >> Okay. >> You're going to make me read this, aren't you?
>> Sure. >> Resolution of the city. Maybe I should have Lee do this. I won't put you on the spot. Let me see if I can make it bigger. Oh, that's better. A resolution of the city commission of
the city of Stewart, Florida, certifying and confirming the results of the canvasing board of Martin County for the city of Stewart chapter amendment ballot question on the general municipal election held November 7th, 2006 providing for certification and the
approved charter amendment providing an effective date and for other purposes. See Lee, I can do it too. Um Whoops. Whereas 2006 general elections of the
city of Stewart, Florida include one ballot question to wit. Shall the city charter of the city of Stewart, Florida be amended to add the following provision? And this is probably what you want to hear right here. Right. >> Here we go. The city commission shall
not convey or lease more than 10 years, including options to renew any interest in new real property owned or controlled by the city if or any contiguous parcel has
frontage on the St. Lucy River or on a tidal creek unless proposed conveyance or lease is first approved by the public referendum including the pro procedural started in charter section 9.04
for vacating public streets providing water access. So you're probably wondering what properties does the city have that have done this? >> What was the results? The results were right here on this slide >> 3505 to 720.
>> This is the official results. It was 3,56 yays and 772 nos. >> So that's right. So in simple terms, a huge majority said what? That
>> they they voted for having a referendum of developing anything that was contiguous to the waterfront or a title property. So they voted to move city hall. >> No, >> no, this was just to this was just to develop anything on along the waterfront,
>> but city hall was never voted on. >> It wasn't about moving city hall, Frank. In >> in essence, any property owned by the city along the St. Lucy River or on any other title. It could be some Frasier Creek, Pleton Creek, some of the other creeks as well. anything owned by the
city, the city could convey without going to referendum, i.e. a vote from the public electors if it's if the lease was for 10 years or more or you're actually selling the property. So you could the city could lease uh
property along the water for five years without going out to the electorate for a vote. But if it goes 10 years or longer, the the population has got to vote for it. Or if you sell it, So, if you think about this, um, what do we when when has this happened? It
happened with the waterfront. It happened after the Pelican because the Pelican didn't wasn't under this law, but it did happen with Hudson's. So, those two examples show that we had a referendum in order to be able to do those two properties. There's probably others, but those are the ones in this
district. >> The feed store, >> Duffy's, I mean, >> whatever. We just >> on the Anchorage >> feed store. >> Oh yeah. Well, the feed I think the feed store was >> feed store. >> Yeah, you're right. Because >> historical society.
>> You're right. You're right. You're right. We were thinking that was sort of grandfathered in, but I do remember there was a referendum for that, too. And all of those pass, by the way. So, um, any more questions, >> Candace? >> All right. >> All right. I got the cue from the mayor,
so I'm going to dive right in. I'm Candace Callahan, the executive director for Steuart Main Street, your proud partner for almost 40 years in making our downtown great. Um, so I'll be honest, I don't exactly remember how or why we got involved in this, but I'm
happy that we did. I think it was yours and you probably heard took some information from our board meetings that you've attended um and hearing some conversations and concerns that we had as an organization. So, thank you for allowing us to assist in any way with
this. So, as Jim had shared, we've been talking about this a long time. I even met with Joan Jefferson recent um not too long ago, and I told her some projects that we had been working on. And when I mentioned this, she said she rolled her eyes in a very polite way and
said, "We already did this." Um but I but I'm doing my job and my due diligence um per your request to be here to report on where we stand with our community survey um and talk a little bit more about those findings. And I think you'll it'll sound familiar. Um so
the goals for our um survey um is to gain consensus on the future site of the current city hall property which is where we are currently to gather it's it wasn't the whole peninsula. Um, we wanted to start small because we knew this was the exact
concern for right now and I think that could lead to further discussions um, once this is decided on to how it affects the rest of the surrounding area. So, we wanted to start small macro versus micro those kind of things. Um, so to gather vital public input on how
the future project should enhance the quality of the urban fabric, improve the downtown streetscape and support the CRA in their endeavors. And the last goal for us was to um that the results will help identify the key elements that reflect the beloved uh downtown
waterfront charm that we're so known for. Um and to help protect the city from any proposed redevelopment that was unwanted. Um so how does this all relate to Main Street? Well, this is Main Street's work. This is our very mission um is to create and promote a positive
downtown experience for all that's residents, businesses, and visitors um through our community-driven preservationbased economic development efforts and how that ties into our four pillars um which I think you'll I'll touch on some points as it regards to our
specific pillars of our mission which are again economic vitality, design, organization and promotion. the two biggest um ones as far as so the work of the survey is what falls in line with our organization pillar um but it works
in tandem with all the other pillars so but this being an economic vitality project as well as a design project and I will also make mention that not only was Mr. Mccardi on our board but so was Mr. Houston and Mr. LED at a time. So
you can see the alignment between our organizations, the city and Main Street and the work that we do. And here is a long extensive list of the major projects that we have helped with over the years. Um I won't bore you with all of that, but happy to share. And then
community vision plan steps. So for us again, what makes sense? >> Hang time. >> You might blinking. You know what, Candace? >> Sit up there, Candace.
>> Yeah, >> we got an extra. >> Sorry. >> Thanks, dear. I like these though. I need to get some for Flaggler Center. All right, so um community vision plan steps. We obviously the first step is to do a survey, right? Get that community
feedback. Um giving them some general ideas. That's why our survey was multiple choice um based on the previous findings from past workshops and surveys and all of that. Um the next up would be a workshop and the third being a full-on
sharet and that's where we're actually actively working on sketches and design concepts. The fourth would be an RFP and then the fifth step would be the selection process of what concept we go with. Now, I say we, but this all comes from the commission and what their their
and staff as to what their vision is, so long as it's a shared vision, of course. Um, so the first thing I just wanted to point out is we asked everyone to describe downtown, right? So, we're still finding the same information. People still consider it charming. They
still consider it quaint. Um, the next one would be walkable. They still think our city is walkable, which is a great feature. Um, vibrant, it's all the things. Is it successful? Yes. Is it busy? Yes. So, to me that screams
success. So, you're welcome. Responses from the residents are the responses that we did get. I just wanted to point out that 65% of them were actual residents of the downtown area. 24% of our results were from business owners
and employees of the downtown. and then 32% were actual property owners. And then collectively 40% of that um of the results 40% of how should I word this? 40% spend at least half of their week in downtown
at some point. So that's important. The downtown is still vital um in the lifestyle of the people that you serve. Um so the next slide is what's most important. What's the most important improvement needed? We're not even talking about the property yet. We're
just talking improvements to the downtown district. And as you can see, green space. They want green space. They also want improved traffic patterns and flows. Um the following would be other
there was a lot of comments in that which I didn't share at I won't share at this meeting, but I can definitely share at another time. Um because I don't find them relative to what we're trying to work towards tonight. Um, and then of course more on street parking, better pedestrian um, sidewalks. Again, stuff
that we've all talked about. This is just a word cloud to kind of see where the concerns are. And as you can see, parking is very big and bold right there in the center. Uh, you might even notice some bright line um, feedback in there.
um which category of use would you most like to see for the building and the property? And overwhelmingly we saw a huge number um people want it to remain a public and civic use such as a park, green space, public plaza, a community
center, museum, but we have a beautiful little museum right at our Steuart feed store, but that's another conversation. Um we did have about 20% that were looking forward to maybe some more commercial mixeduse space and then
another 20% um looking for more parking um public parking space. Uh let's see the next slide is to prioritize the following categor cate I'm sorry characteristics of the redevelopment. So
a lot of them are looking to preserve the current building um and also maintaining and increasing the amount of public parking. So those two are the two major um characteristics that our folks are looking for and generating new sustainable revenue for
the city. So that came in at third. We asked if the building is renovated, what type of use would be the best fit? and an overwhelming response. They want a market and food hall with local vendors.
>> That says two things to me. A, y'all don't come to the farmers market, >> right? >> But they are looking for, it says indoors. So, this is looking at, well, maybe we move the market indoors so there's, you know, I guess better a better environment for the summer would be nice. I don't know. We can talk about
that. Um, and then you can the other results are Boutique Co Hotel, but we've you've already approved three I believe, right? Or two within the downtown area. I don't think that's viable, but that's what the community is saying. And then an art gallery/cultural center. Well,
hello friends. We've had a lot of conversation lately about our friends at Martin Arts, and they're doing a beautiful job on spearheading a project that will introduce that for the community. So, stay tuned from updates from them on that. Um the next item would be if the building is demolished,
so instead of renovated, demolished, what's the best use of the waterfront? Well, public space, public access, waterfront, park or plaza. The next would be a tourist attraction/entertainment venue. We have that essentially with Rock and River with the River Rock
stage. So maybe that's just an included in the expansion of the green space. Lots of opportunity. So, it's important to also know why they come to the downtown. And of course, it's for dining,
shopping, entertainment, socialization, cultural activities, events. I mean, the downtown is the hub for shared um you know, memories, economic vitality. >> Okay. >> The next Yeah. Oh,
>> was there a government use included in that or was it >> was it like maintain it for access to you know like people come here to pay their bills right now at the current place was there an option there for government activities civic activity?
>> Yeah. So back in one of the earlier questions >> we did ask we combined it to a public civic use. So again, taking all this other additional questions and findings that would be up to staff and the
commission to decide how much of what is, you know, because I think there's opportunity to answer a lot of these wants, right? So, but again, we're not we're not doing design concepts right now. Um, okay. So, we talked about that. We talked about why they come to
downtown. We talked about what businesses do you want more of. So, this is also important to know, right? Because, um, as a more commercial district, um, they want more shops, which is
interesting to me. They also want more, um, businesses like restaurants. They want more variety within those shops and restaurants. Um, and then you can also see Bright Line up there at the top right, but I digress. I'm not going there with y'all today. >> Did you ask him who should pay for it?
>> No, sir. No, sir. that if you want me to do that kind of survey, we'll have to talk privately about that. Don't be getting me in trouble, sir. Uh types of um types of events. Jim, you're not the only one with typos today. We were kicking this out pretty pretty late last night, so sorry about that. But types of
events and activities that you would like more of. And as you can see, it's pretty clear that they events are important um for not just us as a district, but it's important for our residents and our visitors. Um, it helps to promote that
we're still small town America. So events, as you can see, are very important. And of course, we had to ask what the b biggest obstacle is to coming to downtown. And I don't think I have to say it, but overwhelmingly everyone said
the parking. Um, the next items would be the hours of operations, but that's more of an internal conversation that I would need to have with the businesses. um types of businesses. We already discussed pedestrian finances. We all we're all struggling
with finances, that's for sure. Findings. So, our final findings, which you'll hear, it sounds very similar to what Jim was reporting. We still want um urban, they want uh connectivity, so between the water and the district
itself. They want to improve the streetscape and more um create more of a pedestrian experience. They still want and um appreciate the work of the CRA and economic development efforts. And then of course number one is always to maintain um and protect our
little town here. Keep it small, right? Um, I did want to point out that also 51%, which I thought it would be more, but 51% actually said that they would support the city if the city was going after something
that was more of a to to make money for the city, a more revenue driven source, then as long as there was still accessible, you know, it was still accessible for the public to access the waterfront and enjoy all of that, then they would support it. Um, so it's
either sounds like it's either public use space or if it's going to be more of a private, you know, making money for the city that it's still accessible for the residents. Um, it still proves all of this information still proves that downtown is still important and there is
a strong desire for it to continue to see reinvestment and improvements into the district because there's still always work to do as you good people always know. So the next steps, I mean, I'm at your mercy. Um, so whatever you
want to do to move forward. I personally think we would like a little bit more time to survey the community. Um, I don't think we yielded enough results that I want to see given our increase in population. I think it's important to try to touch as many people as possible.
Um, but again, I'm at your mercy. Did you mention that there was um 200 responses or how many how many? >> I didn't Jim. >> I'm sorry. >> I didn't I didn't. Okay. >> No, I gave a basis of percentage of responses
>> and results to each question. >> Questions for Candace. >> How much was I sorry I had to leave the room for a minute. How much was the number of people in that survey? >> 200 >> who responded. >> 200 >> 200 responded. >> Okay. And that was in about a 30-day
period. >> Did you make a specific effort with the Do we still have the DBA? >> Did you make a specific effort with them or any >> Yep. We walked around as a committee and gave the survey individually to each
>> the city. The city's been pushing it too. We just need >> I shared it with our business development board of Martin County. I shared it with the Martin County and Stewart Chamber. I shared it with tourism department. the economic council basically all of our economic I also
shared it with Martin Arts so that so they can share it with their networks >> if you're going to go again another round I know we're going to discuss this a little bit but we have our event um department for the city of Stewart
that takes uh applications of people using city facilities and maybe we should try to capture those emails people who've used our facilities in the last three, four, five years and see if we can survey those people whether they've had events at your place at the
Flaggler Center or someplace else in the city >> um that they've uh so that we can capture some people. >> It's a good idea >> that would be under my umbrella and I'm happy to >> Yeah. from community services department. >> I know it also came up recently about
maybe adding it to the water bill >> for residents. >> The water bill. Yes. I think we need to figure out >> it's it's it's it's maybe at just a note with a QR code and I know that a lot of people don't have don't use QR codes and
some of the older people residents but even just a phone number if you're interested in the future of the city of Stewart or have any input for uh whatever Stewart Main Street please contact so and so if at least that goes
into the water bill um if we can get it in there cuz I know the water bill, it's summer time now and there's so many notices regarding fertilizer ordinance and all these reminders that people have to get in their water bill. But I think whatever we're going to do um if we're
going to do it, let's let's do it. I I was also holding off on doing paid ads on social media to push it out because obviously being budget conscious as an organization. Um but if now seeing what we yielded, I do want to put a little money behind it and push it out that way as well.
>> What about the business license people? They get approved and reapproved all the time. I mean, they have to come in, you know, whenever they have to do their thing, but we have the September date coming up. Well, that's that's information that I normally not to get
into a topic here, but normally I every quarter I reach out to finance department to help me pull a report of those business license and unfortunately be due to the staffing constraints that you all are going through right now. Um, I haven't been given that most
up-to-date information, but I'm happy to try to work with staff again to get to get that list. That's a great idea. >> We'll get it to you soon. >> Yeah. And and so can I just go one more, Mr. Mayor? >> I don't know how much collaboration we
could get, but I think um Jenny feels that in property appraisal, they send out something to people for different reasons at different points in time based on their business and their different relationships. Absolutely. the property appraiser that that might be
something that we can coordinate with another agency that's outside of the city to see at least if it's even just to contact. Do you have property in the city of Stewart and is interested in future s send suggestions to if we could work with her on something that some
kind of effective message that's in two lines or left? >> Sure, be happy to write that down. That's a great idea. >> Thank you. I I think maybe the sentiment is that that wasn't enough of a >> of a group census, but I think I suspect
that as you scale up, you're probably going to hear very similar >> similar things. That's true. >> Because everybody I talked to saying the same thing hearing for >> 20 years, >> 27 actually. >> So, >> I'm sure you'll report back as you get more data.
>> Yes. But I think it's us really just sort sort of deciding synthesizing that into something actionable >> to start having workshops about. Yes. >> And Mr. Mayor, I know that we're going to get a new city manager. We're going to get a new finance person and we're coming up on we're coming up on
elections. We're coming up on um uh budget and so on, but you know, parking has been a big thing and the whole bright line thing has been a big thing. And if it's if the city needs to at least do something, if it's at least
in-house with our finance person to tell us about the possibilities, if the city had to do a a parking garage, is it X, is it Y? And what are the sources that could happen? And where are the funding that we could get? And do we need to do
a a bonding or whatever needs to happen? I think we at least need to have that education among ourselves. even if we don't do it or we don't do it for the next 10 or 15 years, but I think that the city has some responsibility and if we're not going to coordinate with the
county or with somebody else, the residents are asking and if we're going to have people even with just what we have, we're not talking about growing the downtown. We're talking about meeting the needs of the downtown in some logical way to make people feel
safe and comfortable when they come to do business here. And I think we just need to get even if it's just to get a white paper from our legal department or finance department to says here this is what's going on with parking garages
these days so that at least we know >> well last time it came up panal um had mentioned potentially the the masons they're building in that parking lot and having that be a garage maybe. >> Yeah. Yeah. The acacia parking lot. saved a lot of money not, you know,
putting a note out for Bright Line. So, we should have money for, you know, buying that property and turning that into a garage if the Masons will sell. I >> was going to say, yeah, there's some available property that our design committee had identified maybe a year ago. I think two of those properties are
still available for sale. So, if that's an opportunity to also set, you know, it's another branch of, you know, arm of this project, but happy to help where we can. So, just to be clear, what are my next steps? Oh, and >> we're talking >> Vice. Okay.
>> So, who's who who >> who's next? Who had comments? >> Questions. >> A comment. Lee, is there any way to limit the the height to twotory for any of this redevelopment? >> Yeah. Didn't we do that for waterfront? Two story.
>> I'd have to look at the urban code. I know like in Creek District, I think they can go up to three and get permission to go to four. I'm not sure about urban which we are here >> but if we own the property we would ultimately >> yeah you own the property you would control you would put out what you want >> when you go out for bid
>> well the only reason I mention is because I'm now I'm a temporary employee so like and some of this might be more appropriate for the regular city commission because like we are talking about referendums like tying up baseball fields so they can't be developed maybe
this should be a part of Because if the commission changes, you know what I mean? >> Well, this would be it would go to referendum because any anything that would be uh for a 10-year period at least, you'd have to go >> but not for not for heights or site plans. >> Well, anything you do downtown that's
more than 10 years, you're going to have to get permission. >> Well, if you're going to convey it or lease it. So, I I know some of the options were like a hotel or whatnot. If you're anybody that's going to want to enter into a contract to do a hotel on city property on waterfront would do it more than 10 years. >> Yeah.
>> Just like most of the restaurants are as well. If you decide to do a restaurant, >> you're going to need to go out >> for referendum to do it more than 10 years. >> And even a museum. We we did that with the feed store recently. >> Yeah, that's just my comments. I think
it should be a twotory height limit. >> I agree. And I thought we had discussed that about the on the water especially >> comments. >> Any other comments? Um board member Rich?
>> Um I just want to say that we have three stores right next door to us in the waterfront property. Is it we have two levels or three levels right here? >> It's two waterfront. It's kind of goes
down too. So, it's sort of a it's a deceiving example. >> Yeah, I know. Because the >> So, if you guys don't have any other comments, I'll give mine. >> All right. So, again, I think you did a really good job. I think you captured the sentiment
of most of the people that I talked to. You know, we will all have slightly different ideas of what it could be, but generally um the main issue seems to be having it stay green space and accessible to everybody.
My my slightly contrarian view at this point is actually along the lines of what Frank has mentioned is I would like to see city hall renovated which is a little bit contrarian and I don't know exactly how you do that logistically because I can't imagine it's cheap but
having wells available for the rest of staff and then having this facility stay public use for meetings for you know coming to development getting your permits Um, having the commission here, having
your attorneys here, having your your um, most engaged with people, I think offers a very unique opportunity and the sentiment of moving city hall to a less valuable space. That's kind of the opposite. I I
think I get the the mindset of raising ROI and revenue for the city, but you should want your your space that all of us own to be the most valuable space. You're saying something by having that be the case is my opinion. Um, and you
still have wells for, you know, all the behind the scenes people who make all the magic happen at the city. Um, so I would love to see this particular building renovated with beautiful roof lines, old Florida, you know, made new.
Um, and h let the public continue to have access to this very valuable property. In terms of like the annex, I think you could make a good case for um doing away with the annex. And I don't know how that would work with extending downtown
or shops a little bit, but I think all of those people should probably be at Wells and you consolidate everybody to that spot. Um, >> start in terms of, you know, when you look at a lot of that mixed use and
development, especially as you go down the peninsula, the the thing that's easy to lose track of because it's very pretty, you know, you see these beautiful buildings, it's like parking. So unless you're going to put serious parking down there and the same people that might love beautiful mixeduse, you
know, newer buildings may not necessarily love the four-story parking garage in the middle of the park uh that's associated with that. So any any real sense of what is going to be developed down here needs to start with the parking. So, you know, again to the
point of maintaining this space, same scale, maybe creating a little more parking by getting rid of the annex building, but um not going in the direction of for my opinion large scale mixed use, what's going to make it even harder for you to
have anybody there to do any kind of event, including the market. Um, and that way that would allow continued green space, which is what everybody wants down here, civic and public use the public to own the most valuable land
downtown. Yeah. And again, a central location for people to come and pay their fines, you know, get development applications, um, and then offices for city business. So, those were my comments, but I'm glad you did this so we can start this conversation.
>> Well, Main Street hasn't pitched their idea, >> okay? >> Because we weren't asked for it, >> okay? >> And I can't do that tonight because I wasn't prepared and neither is my committee. It's >> okay. No rush. We'll see. >> But I think we can accomplish a lot of goals. >> Um, with the right design and the right
conversations, >> I think everybody's needs would be met. I think there's a way to achieve that. Um, and there's some there's we're trying to play as devil's advocate, right? You know, and appeasing everyone. Um, and some conversations
that we've had as a design committee, um, I think we've had some really great conversations based on the data that we got from those surveys and the 20 20 plus years of data that's been collected. So, um, I think what I'm hearing, um, and Panel, correct me if
I'm wrong, but I think honestly the next step, I mean, if you want to run the survey for another couple weeks and me try to reach out to the the groups that, um, Commissioner Clark had suggested and also do some paid advertising to get it, you know, to try to meet the masses for
a couple weeks. But I think the next step we need to start working on planning is a workshop >> as long as >> to talk about these ideas >> organic. I think it can get a little bit myopic if it starts being all chamber people or BDB people. We we know what they want
>> and as long as it's the people who actually interface with and use downtown generally as well >> i.e. >> Well remember 65% of the survey the people that have taken the survey >> that's why I like it so far. It's not a huge number of people, but I think it represent >> 65, right? 65% are
>> the residents. >> So, um, >> and then the next one was the the business owners in the city that had opinions about it. So, you've got your two big groups, your residents being obviously number one. >> Um, so I think we're doing pretty good.
So the next step would be this board beginning to solidify some sense of of the direction that we want to go in so that we can even have workshops um for people to throw ideas
at. And so potentially if it's a pleasure of the board having a future uh DND on this topic where you also present what you would like to present. >> What do you guys think? >> Sure. >> So we can keep this going.
>> Yeah. >> I did have a question. You only mentioned the the two stories of parking. What was the thinking behind that? Just to keep it quaint or would it accommodate what you're trying to do with the parking down downtown?
>> Parking or or the actual shops? You have >> said parking >> in general. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, so my twotory height limit was so it wasn't overdeveloped in my opinion. Even though you can do four story doesn't necessarily mean you should. I could have done a two-story house, but I didn't want to do it
because I didn't want to block the sun from my neighbor. So, I don't know. I'm up here for a reason for small development. So, that was my reasoning >> and I think it just I mean it depends on the property where you're proposing where the parking garage is proposed. I
mean it I think it'll depend on what that space allows to be honest. So, but ideally yes, keeping it small and quaint is ideal, right? >> Comments. >> Uh my comment is >> having come from a big city that
fourstory garage is not attractive looking. It's not the look I don't think that we want for the city of Stewart for downtown. >> They're not cheap to maintain. O and M on a garage is not cheap, >> right? >> And >> um all other issues, too, just with
crime and whatnot. I mean, people go in and out. They're usually dark or, you know, they're >> it just not a good look. I mean, it just becomes then a big city. Uh, and there are host of reasons not to have a large garage, right? >> I mean, I know that we need the parking,
but the reality is is what it looks like. Just envision, look at some park. I mean, people can go to the websites and look at parking garages and then envision it smack in the middle of downtown Stewart. It's not an attractive look. >> When we make our proposal, we will
definitely want to keep the aesthetics that we've worked so hard to maintain. Um, so I assure you, um, you know, and I've been to so many downtowns that are smaller than ours that are working to achieve the great stuff that we've have so far, and their garages,
you don't even know their garages because they blend with the facades of the existing architecture. Murals help a lot, too. >> But as a board, I mean, you're you're the governing body. if you have that ordinance in place that says we're not going over two stories and you find that
appropriate property that's going to be able to accommodate that build, but I'm not a builder, so I'm just going to stop right there. >> Board member Clark, >> thank you. >> Yes, >> Kenderson. Mr. Kroski uh you didn't mention I don't maybe you did Jim but um
I want to find out the status of Flagler Center in terms of a a historic building with the USO and all that has happened there um and technically removing the Flaggler Center itself and doing
something else in that spot. What what is what is the we have a history behind the Flagler Center. We have a history behind the three buildings that are right here that we've created like a little historic yestery year village.
And um we need to be very careful when we say certain words. >> So we >> nobody was talking about doing anything with it till you brought it up. >> Well, somebody said something about getting getting rid of me of of Flaggler. >> No, the annex. >> Well, that's what I thought you called. Well, he said he was talking about the
annex. >> He wants he wants to get rid of my thought. >> Have a beautiful view with the river. You're good. >> Wrong building. >> Yeah, let's not talk about Flaggler Center today if you don't mind. >> Okay. Well, no. I thought this why he kept referring and I thought >> Thank you for helping clarify.
>> I thought you were walking down there towards the Flagler and Okay. >> Thank you. >> Yes, sir. >> So, I think this was really timely especially with Mike here so he can get caught up. So, thank you for presenting that, Jim. All that history.
>> Thank you, Jim. >> And let's um do you guys want to give some direction to our interim manager? >> So, can I ask a question? >> You want a month? You want How much time would you like to poll? And >> that's up to you. Fine folks. >> So, we're just going to continue with
this and there won't be any consultants in the future. >> I mean, for now, I would like to just keep it at house >> at some point later down the road. I think we need to come up with a vision >> solidify >> of sending it out there for consultants >> to guide the consultant on what? Yeah. >> Right.
>> Okay. So, Candace, you agree with >> Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. >> We can all take tonight and some of this history and marinate in it. You'll come back with some more results in a month. We'll have some new help that can help organize and herd cats. And >> this book will be in for your reference
for more detail. We'll have it in the city manager's office. It's a wonderful collection of >> Good job, Jim. Thank you. >> I have a copy of that book from Helen McBride. >> Maybe Candace, keep in touch with interim manager andor Mike with how your results are coming together for when
you're ready to present as well and we'll make it happen. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Okay. All right, >> great. Go team. >> Yes, Frank. Thank you. I think Frank had a comment >> and if there was any other public comment typically we don't do with discussion but if anybody did.
>> Yeah. If you just clarify when when you were talking about the percentages of the results and the numbers of people who who who responded, did you say Steuart residents overall or I thought I heard you say downtown
residents? Which which which was it? Thank you sir for your question and clarification. So responses the total responses 65% were Steuart residents and 24% were downtown business owners or in
the downtown area or employees. They kind of fell in the same category. Does that help? >> Yes, sir. Yes, sir. >> All right. Any other questions from the public? Seeing none from the commission.
Okay guys or from the board. Seeing none we will and this meeting. >> Thank you. Thank you.