I call to order the regular session of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs. Tuesday, March 24th, 2026 6:30 p.m. Roll call
please. Mayor Collins here, vice Mayor Eisner here, commissioner here. Commissioner De Donato, Commissioner Banther here. Okay. Our reflection
tonight will be the Reverend Torrey Hoff of the new Spring Church. She. It will be followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance. Please stand. If you would pray with me. Father, we thank you for your grace and your goodness. May your face
continually shine upon us so that your ways may be known in our community and neighborhoods. Lord, we come to you tonight asking for your guidance, wisdom, and support as we begin
this meeting. Help us to engage in meaningful discussion. Allow us to grow closer as a community and nurture that bonds of connection. Fill this space with your grace, Lord, as
decisions are made that might affect this community. City leaders, first responders, businesses, and visitors of Tarpon Springs and continue to remind us that all that is done
here tonight, all that is accomplished is for the pursuit of truth and justice, for the greater glory of you and for the service of humanity. We ask
all these things in Jesus's name. Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it
stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Kiger, are
you going to come down? So we are. We have some certificates of recognition for some employees that have gone above
and beyond, and. Mr. They work for Mr. Kiger in the water department, and he's going to. Introduce them and say what
you're going to say. Here you go, Mike. Today. Excuse me. Today it's my distinguished
pleasure to introduce two of our staff from our water and wastewater utility, Calvin Halsey and Daniel Davis, and acknowledge them for exceptional service to the public, you know, above and
beyond the call of duty. We received an email a few weeks ago from Miss Nancy Turner, and back in August of last year, she was going for a walk and she had an incident where she.
Miss Turner, I believe Miss Turner might be here. Yes, there's Mrs. Turner, please. And she wrote us a really great email talking about, you know,
how she helped or how these fine men helped her. She had an incident where she had a medical incident and she had passed out, and she required first aid. And I'll read a little bit from some of her
summary. I had a broken nose. My mouth was split open. The two men that came to my rescue were Calvin Halsey and Daniel Davis, and I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart. They remain calm and comforting
while supplying first aid ice and towels. They kept telling me I was okay. They. They helped her call her husband. They. They sat with me until I got there and lift me up and helped me in the car. They were
so generous and kind and I cannot say enough about how they treated me and helped me through this terrible, scary time. Please tell them I think of them often and I do not have enough words to show them my appreciation and hope that you
know how special they are. They are shining example of heroism and compassion, and I hope that you recognize them for their efforts. Please extend them my gratitude and thankfulness for them being there for me at such
a terrible time. Sincerely, Nancy Turner. So we have Calvin
and Daniel. So you see that the city government is not just
some nebulous bureaucratic institution. It is made up of really wonderful people who do wonderful things and want to serve their community. So these
two gentlemen exemplify that, and anyone who has. And you saw well, there it is on the on the screen. And not only is it here,
but it's all throughout the community. It's on the YouTube channel videos. It's on the, the city's website channel. If you were watching the meeting,
everyone will see those acts of kindness. So if anyone experiences acts of kindness throughout the town, please get on the website. Do that. We love to honor people for doing
wonderful things like these two gentlemen did. So we have certificate of recognition from the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, presented to Daniel Davis and
Kelvin Halsey. This. This certificate is presented in recognition of your swift and professional actions. On August 27th, 2025, to ensure the
safety and well-being of Nancy Turner, a resident of our community. Your dedication and commitment exemplify the high standards we strive to uphold for the care and support of all
residents. We expressed our heartfelt appreciation for the efforts and care you have shown, and it's signed by all the commissioners, Commissioner David Banther, Commissioner Frank Di Donato, Commissioner
Bonnie Koullias, Vice Mayor Mike Eisner, and myself. So I
want you all. And thank you. Nancy. Thank you so much for writing that email, but thank you for writing that email and
and shining a light on our good people that work here at the city. So thank you. So again,
my favorite. Oh, good. I'm thinking, I'm thinking you
understand? No. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Bug. Okay.
With. President Nikita and Vice President Harry Patsalides and Chairman Angelo and Gallardo's, would you please come forward
and also our consulate general. Constantine Damascus, our good friend, a friend of Tarpon Springs. So this this
proclamation is in honor of Greek independence. So, you know, we were we were talking up and we had a cup of coffee upstairs. The consul general myself, and we were talking
about the city, about the Greeks of Tarpon Springs and the Greeks that came here and started this community in the
early part of the 20th century and came here the the the brave men and women who were in the sponging industry that put Tarpon Springs on the map and
made it the city that it is today. And it was it's not just the Greeks, it's the whole community, because the Greeks
that. And Mayor Pro Duce can attest to this. We, the Greeks and the non Greeks meshed together and created a community. And even to this day,
like our Rotary Club is getting ready to celebrate 100 years, their 100 year anniversary in Tarpon. And that Rotary Club is made was always made up of of
of Greeks and Non-greeks always together. Because right now we only the Greeks are about 12% of the population of Tarpon Springs, but yet we are, we
honor our heritage together. We're proud to all of us together to live in a town that honors our Greek heritage. You see that we even fly a Greek
flag in our in our parks, because that's how much it matters to us. And I always say that the there's only about 1.2
million Greeks in the United States. Out of 350 million. But how one small country has has had such an influence on our
nation and on the world. You know, when you think about this government that we have here today, this was modeled after what the Greeks did in in
democracy. When you look the western part of the. Okay. All right. Well, I'm going to give you a chance to talk. So. But
but we, you know, it's so it's it's not just the 1.2 million people that are here that are Greeks that have made such an impact on America and Tarpon
Springs. It's again, our government, it's our medicine, it's our science, it's our mathematics. All those things that have been important. And I want to thank not just the
Greek community, but I want to thank the non-Greek community for embracing us all together. And and so that we can continue
to honor our Greek heritage that belongs to our whole city. So would you like to say a few words, please? I don't I fully
understand what you said and as I said, okay, at least the western part of, of, of the, of the world, you know, the Western civilization has been heavily impacted by the Greek
culture mentality of the classical era of the Greek civilization. 2500 years ago.
Yeah. So thank you so much. Yes. Thank you. Any other gentleman wants. Thank you, thank you, thank you very much. Is this is
the 250th anniversary of our country and the 205th anniversary of the Greek independence. We all have one thing in common. Freedom,
freedom and unity. And that's why we say that Greece was there. But the United States is it. And we thank you all. And one of my favorite sayings is,
as you know, I'm very cool, calm and collected. If y'all all know me, especially the police department, that we're very we love our country and we're very ferocious. And
that's why Winston Churchill said, Greeks don't fight like heroes. Heroes fight like
Greeks. Okay, so whereas March 25th, 2026 commemorates the 205th anniversary of the
commencement of the Greek War of Independence, during which the Greeks sought to achieve freedom and declared their independence from the Ottoman Empire. And whereas we honor
the legacy of these courageous Greek women and men and rededicate ourselves to the cause of liberty and democracy for all. And whereas, Greek
Independence Day is honored by Greek communities globally, including through public gatherings and parades across the United States, where many Greeks have established their
homes. And. Whereas today and every day we honor the enduring friendship between the United States and the Hellenic Republic and continue to derive inspiration from the principles
and examples established by our two nations. And whereas. Saturday, March 28th, 2026 has been selected for the Greek
Independence Day Banquet and Sunday, March 29th, 2026 has been designated for the Greek Independence Day Parade in the city of Tarpon Springs. And
whereas this year commemorates the 38th anniversary of the organized celebration of parade between the City of Tarpon Springs and the Greek Independence Day Parade
Committee. Now therefore, I, John, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the City of Tarpon Springs, do hereby proclaim March 25th,
2026, as the 205th anniversary
of Greek Independence Day. Thank you. Absolutely. Yes.
Man. Ray, why not? Going up? My
grief, I did the Irish thing. You do this one.
You. You stand. You're going to stay. All right.
So our next proclamation is for Volunteer Appreciation Month. So anyone who serves on a
volunteer board in our city right now. Okay, come on up. Come on up. Come on down. Come on up, mayor. Don't fight with
me. Just come on up. She's always arguing. Come on. Anybody else that serves in our
community as a volunteer. Okay. Eric. I love that one. It's
okay. I'm a safe space person. Thank you. So, you know, we we can't do the functioning of the city without the volunteers.
They are they are we have volunteers that work in our library. We have volunteers that serve on our code enforcement board. We have the
historic preservation board, the planning and zoning board. I'm missing sustainability parks and recreations. I know I'm missing them. We have budget advisory. All these are
really important because they do their job. Many of them are actually standalone boards that that when they make a decision, that's it. Unless it gets
appealed either here or at in court. Some of them are are, you know, again, the last the last destination. But many of those boards service us here on
the Board of Commissioners. They they like our planning and zoning board. Why aren't you up here? You. Yeah. Our our
commissioner elect, who is on the our planning and Zoning board. Did you resign already? All right. That's all right. No. You can. Come on. Don't you
want a board to sit up there? Get up, get up there. Oh, Denise Menino, come on, come up here. So anyways, these boards are critical to the function of
the city. They don't get paid. They are. Have they attend meetings monthly? Semimonthly. They work very hard. And it's
really important that we appreciate them. We're going I'm going to do this proclamation. That's only one part of it. We're going to have an appreciation banquet of some
sort. I know that Irene is planning such. So we really do appreciate and respect all of our committees that help us run this city. Okay. Whereas the
month of April has been designated nationally as Volunteer Appreciation Month to recognize the hard work, dedication and passion of volunteers and national service members throughout our nation.
And Whereas, the Board of Commissioners believe that government alone cannot meet all of city's needs. So we partner with businesses, faith
based organizations, nonprofit organizations, foundations, and individuals who serve in city government and our community to make a difference. And Whereas, volunteers enhance the quality
of life in Tarpon Springs by volunteering for city advisory boards, schools, places of worship, hospitals, youth groups, and with other organizations that benefit our
community. And whereas, it is fitting to honor the many individuals who lend their time, skill and efforts to making our community a better place by
recognizing our valued volunteers. And Whereas, the city is committed to encouraging volunteerism among its employees, citizens, partners, businesses, and
organizations, and thanks all volunteers for their dedicated service. And Whereas, the city will be honoring its volunteers at a dedicated event scheduled for the end of April, providing
an opportunity for all participants to share in this significant occasion collectively. Now, therefore, I, John Collins, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor
of the City of Tarpon Springs, do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as Volunteer
Appreciation Month. And. I. Can't because I can't hear you.
I'm on TV. Well, that's all right. Thank you. What you see here tonight? This room. This is the dining room of the
community. This is your home volunteer. Get involved. Keep this city clean and and beautiful like you keep your home. But we need your
intellect. We need your personality on all these boards. Don't worry about what you say and what people think of you. You're doing what you think is right for your community. Come
and volunteer for these boards. We need you, your bright people, your interested and keep this dining room for the city of Tarpon Springs. Going to make
it one of the best communities in the South. Thank you. Commissioner elect. Do you want
to say something? Commissioner elect any commissioner elect.
Congratulations. Okay. And water management. Water
conservation. Okay. So. These two we have two proclamations here that are kind of coincide with each other. We have Earth
Day and we're also celebrating Water Conservation Month. So would. Carol make it? Would you? Where's she at? She her. Okay,
well, everybody who's supposed to be up here, come on up. It looks like it's got the same.
Anyway, so we please come forward. You know, we really respect our environment here in Tarpon Springs so much that we
created our a sustainability committee to help us to do everything we can to preserve our all of our nature. Here we
have if you if you see, we're surrounded by nature. We have so many parks, so much green space. I can't imagine many more cities that our size that
have the amount of parks and recreation and all the things that we have here in the town. And yet we're always trying to make it even better. We
encourage recycling to help the earth, and I think we do a pretty good job of that. I know I put my plastic in there and then when my wife or throw some
things away in the garbage can, I pull them out and she hears about it. So we and we all do it one person at a time. You
know, you wonder like, oh, why does it matter if I recycle my, my plastic? Right? Well, because it doesn't really make that much difference. But when
you look at all 26,000 of us doing that, it does make a difference. So. All right, so I will read the first
proclamation. Whereas on the first Earth Day in 1970, 20 million Americans rallied for a healthy, sustainable environment. And whereas all life on earth has the right to
a healthy, sustainable environment, and as caretakers of the planet, we all have the obligation to preserve the Earth's beauty and abundance. And whereas this obligation
extends not only to today's caretakers, but also to the future generations of environmental caretakers who will inherit the earth. And whereas Tarpon Springs is
fortunate to have 740 acres of parks, open space, natural land and trails which enrich the lives of both residents and visitors, provide habitat for a
wide array of flora and fauna, protect natural resources and offer recreational opportunities. And whereas, the City of Tarpon Springs supports
and recognizes the efforts of citizens and the service of the Sustainability Advisory Committee, which demonstrates and encourages the protection of our natural resources and
sustainable actions within the community. And Whereas, the city's goal is to build help build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature and
wildlife by preserving biological diversity. And whereas the city of Tarpon Springs will continue to advocate for Earth Day and will work to increase environmental
awareness, support natural resource and wildlife conservation, educate about sustainable practices and spread awareness related to the well-being of our planet. Now
therefore, I, John, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the City of Tarpon Springs, do hereby proclaim
April 22nd, 2026, as Earth Day. And now let's talk about water conservation. You know, we do
our best here to try to keep the water rates as low as we can. Obviously, costs go up on chemicals and things that are
are required to help keep our water clean and safe. But the city is dedicated to and committed to helping you to reduce reduce your water bill
and your water consumption. So if you have any concern about your bill and how much you are consuming, call the city and we'll get somebody out to come
and look at how and analyze how you you spend your and use your use of water. So that. And we so that you can. Even though
the rate may go up on the on the price of water, if you use less of it, then it can help you in your pocketbook. And it also helps our, our earth as
well. So whereas water is a basic and essential need in every living creature, and whereas the state of Florida, the Southwest Florida Water Management District and the
City of Tarpon Springs are working together to increase awareness about the importance of water conservation. And. Whereas the City of Tarpon Springs and the state of Florida have designated April,
usually a dry month when water demands are acute as Florida Water Conservation Month in which to educate citizens about how they can help save
Florida's precious water resources. And. Whereas the city of Tarpon Springs continually encourages and supports water conservation through outreach, educational
programs and special events. And whereas, every business, industry, school and citizen can make a difference when it comes to conserving water. And. Whereas every business,
industry, school and citizen can promote a sustainable community by saving water and. Whereas outdoor irrigation compromises comprises a large
portion of water use, the city encourages citizens and businesses to focus on improving outdoor irrigation efficiency. Now therefore, I, John Collins, by virtue of the
authority vested in me as mayor of the City of Tarpon Springs, do hereby proclaim April as
Water Conservation Month. Good evening. I'm Holly Langston, the sustainability program manager, and I'm joined tonight
by three of our sustainability Advisory Committee, current and former members. And just want to thank the mayor for doing these proclamations, especially right now with our severe water
shortage that we have. So just wanted to reiterate to everyone that there's no time like the present to look at your habits and just kind of check in with yourselves, especially again,
outdoor watering use being comprises a huge chunk of our freshwater use. So just keep that in mind and you will see a lot of messaging from the city coming up through your utility
bills, through our social media about things that you can do, maybe some tips, tricks, especially in April being that it is Water Conservation Month, and I'm going to invite our committee members to come up and say something about Earth
Day and just want to thank them for their service and for that of all the other volunteers in the city as well. Hi there. I'm Siobhan and I'm the vice
chairperson of the sustainability Committee, and Doctor Miket cannot be here with us tonight, but I'm here with the other members and we
want to say every day is Earth Day, especially for for us on the sustainability committee. We're working really hard. We're currently doing outreach,
planning, outreach to the community. We're working in unison with Saint Pete College. We we already had one workshop sort of outreach. It was on
coyotes and it was fascinating. And we had a really good turnout for that. So look forward to more things that we're going to be doing in the future. And also we're always
looking for members. So that would be great if anybody wants to join us. And thank you to the Commission and Mayor, thank
you very much. Just to let you let you all know that last year in 2025, our our sustainability
committee and our sustainability Board are department won the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council's award for the best plan,
sustainability and Sustainability plan. So now we have a plan. But a plan is no good if you don't go ahead and
implement the plan. So now we need to start implementing that plan. But we have a, the, the the area has decided that our plan was a sound plan and a
good plan and we received an award for it. So I want to commend everyone and congratulate you for that. So
thank you, thank you. Okay, so let's go to public comments. So
anybody have a public comment on anything that's not on the agenda going forward? Good
evening, board members. Anita Protest, 91 Bayshore Drive. Mayor, I have four items tonight. First, I want to congratulate our chief Taurine
Sunday, he was bestowed a great honor in his church. He has come a long way. He's achieved so much. And now he's a deacon. And when I found out he was a deacon and he forgot to call me
to go to his church, he has come a long way. And I do mean a long way. He'll tell us what he was like before he's raised. Wonderful. That's what I want to hear. I want to hear what he
was like before he got along with you over coffee. Not hearing the public. Second thing is, take it easy on. Our city attorney had a bad weekend. The Gators lost their
championship title. I was worried about him all weekend. I was afraid he was going to go jump off the Skyway Bridge, but he didn't. But we will rise again. The Gators of Florida
will always rise again. The third thing is. The sponge docks. There is a lady involved with, I guess, the cannabis
business there. She does exotic dancing in the street in front of our tourists. And it's not the nicest dancing you've ever seen. We need. And you can go
ask the business people down there. I don't have a business there, but I've seen it. It's got to stop. That's not who we are. And if she wants to dance,
let her go to a club and dance. But not in the streets or the sidewalk of the sponge docks. I think Commissioner Panagioti may have heard about this before, but is not the best
thing that goes on down there. It's got to stop. It's not nice for our city. And I'd like to ask mayor, if you and the city
manager and the commissioners can figure out something to do. We have a lot of people, a young people graduating this year. They can't find jobs to help them get money for when
they go to college. When I was mayor, we used the graduating young people to cut the grass along the right of ways of the city, to work in the parks, the
wash, the police cars, wash and shine, the the fire engines. Is there anything we can do? If we just hired 8 or 6 of these young people to help them earn
their money for when they go to college, and the school can help you find out which ones need these jobs. There are no jobs for these young people this summer. It's very
difficult, and I think if our community can work out a program to use their services before they go away to college, it would be very, very enticing for the young people thinking
that their hometown helped them. So I don't know if you can do that, but we have money for everything else. We need to do something to help these students find a job here in the city, to help them for when
they go to school. Thank you, thank you. Next, please give your name and address. You have to do it. Olga. I'm sorry. And your address? The whole thing I
will. Olga Savchuk, 232 West Lemon Street. My issue is Craig Park and the art show. The art show was the worst I've ever experienced since I moved here
in 1979. And it has. It's not to do with my location right by the park. It's the fact that it has to do with my location back at the park. One of the wonderful things about the art
show in the past was on Friday morning, artists were starting to come, the fence had been put up, there was music playing, people. The food trucks were coming in and it was kind of
nice. We were part of that energy. And then Saturday the people would come in. It was the same thing. There was music in the park, there was no music, there was no food, there were pretzels. I mean, it was really
disappointing. And a lot of the artists, you know, as they're walking by my house, were expressing major disappointment. And then the other thing is the parking on Lemon Street. It was
eastbound and the traffic was eastbound and there was parking. And a couple of meetings ago, we talked about public safety, getting through the streets and stuff. When I came back from
Tampa, I was at Lemon Street and banana cars this way, cars that way, cars all over. And there's a Greek expression I had to get to Athens by going through Piraeus, I did, I had
to turn down, down, banana, go right on lime, come back on on bath. And then I was still stuck with traffic coming east and I had to go west so I didn't lose my temper. I just
turned and there was a lady and I just did this and I was able to go around her. But next year, please, no parking on Lemon Street. It's the only east west movement we have for the for
our community. And it was really a pain this year. And then finally, the Craig Park Memorial Gardens. It's really
disturbing. And I don't mean to insult anyone's memories of their loved ones, but there is one tree planted and there's rocks and signs and pictures, and I get a creepy feeling when
I walk by. It's it's meant to memorialize people that we've loved. I understand, but all of that other stuff, it's kind of creepy. So I think if we could do something about that and not
let it happen again, because that's not park. The park is for, it's a public park and it's not a memorial gardens. And then finally the trees. Someone decided to put that big
fence around the big tree. And if I lived directly in front of it, I would have been very upset because it it ruins the view and the trees need maintenance. We can't fence every tree and there's a couple
of them where the limb is coming down and they're putting signs. Just cut the limb off, you know, make it better. So that's about all I have to say.
Thank you for listening. And thank you. Next.
For us 514 Ashland Avenue. Before I get to my reading, I want to follow up from what I spoke about last
week. We had the veterans here, so. These are some of the members that were killed in the
refueling crash. Major John Klenner, Captain Ariana Savino, Tech Sergeant Ashley Pruitt,
Captain Seth Koval. Curtis J. Angst. I took that picture off last week after that, and I know there's been more since
then. So tonight's reading is Isaiah 59 1 to 10. Surely the arm of the Lord is not too
short to save, nor is here, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from God. Your sins have hidden his face from you, so
that he will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken. Lies in your tongue. Mutters wicked things.
No one calls for justice. No one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies. They conceive trouble and give birth
to evil. They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Are we not getting spider webs? Whoever eats their eggs will die. And when one is broken, an
adder is hatched there. Cobwebs are useless for clothing. They cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil. Deeds and acts of violence are in their hands.
Their feet rush into sin. They are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil. Thoughts ruin and destruction mark their ways. The way of
peace they do not know. There is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads. No one who walks in them will know peace. So
justice is far from us and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness for brightness. But we walk in deep shadows like the
blind. We grope along the wall, feeling our way. Like men without eyes. In midday we stumble as if it were twilight. Among the strong. We are like
the dead. As Martin Luther King said, if you stand by and not speak out, you're just as guilty as having done it
yourself. Any other public comments tonight? Okay, let's
move on to the consent agenda. Are we all feel. He's all right? You don't have to worry. We're good. We're good. The consent
agenda number six, satisfaction release of leans number seven, special events. Tarpon Springs Rotary Triathlon, 2026. Cops and kids. Easter Egg Hunt 2026.
Number eight attorney fees. Eunice Saltzman. And then attorney's fees. Johnson Jackson, number nine. Ward file
furnishings for library renovation. Number ten. Ward file for the internet services and number 11 approved fire department interlocal agreement with Pinellas County to collect
and remit construction plan reviews fees for all projects in unincorporated Tarpon Springs. Does any commissioner wish to pull any of these items?
No. Okay, can I I'd like to entertain a motion. So moved. Second roll call, please. Commissioner. Yes, Commissioner. DiDonato. Yes, Commissioner.
Yes. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes. Mayor Collins. Yes. Okay, let's go to the business items. Our first one is number 12. Is.
This is a good one. I think we got a lot of good ones here. So this is ratification and oath of office for the Assistant
city manager and our former fire chief, Scott Young. So, Tabitha good evening, mayor
commissioners. Tabitha Adkins Director of Human Resources item 12 on the agenda is the request to ratify Mr. Scott Young as the Assistant city Manager. Back in September of
2025, the position was created and agreed that Mr. Young would serve as a dual role. He has been the fire chief and the assistant city manager for a period of time. We're now
asking that Scott be moved to a full time assistant city manager, effective March 26th. This move will allow Mr. Young to focus on administrative leadership, short and long term
strategic planning efforts, including several ongoing projects. Mr. Young's salary will not increase by this appointment, and the job description and position were already created within the pay
plan. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions. Any commissioners have. Any questions of Miss Adkins? No. Are there any public comments
on this item? Let's come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Second, if is there any other comments from commissioners? Yes, I do, thank
you. Mayor. I wanted to publicly state that I've known Scott Young for quite some time, and I know that he knows I've said this to him numerous times.
I've watched him grow and improve at this job. He has become a statesman, and I'm very proud to work alongside
you. I really appreciate exactly what you've been doing, and I just look forward to working with you in the future. So I think it was you did your
best you could with being a fire chief and you served well, and I think you'll be serving very well as the assistant City manager. So thank you for what
you do. Appreciate you. I concur with those comments as well. I'm sure all the commissioners are more than excited about having Scott full
time in his new position. And again, we want to thank you for keeping us safe. For how many years did you serve as Fire
Chief? 37 years. So serving our community and we want to thank you for that, especially. So we
have a motion. Let's have a roll call, please. Commissioner, I asked for. Yeah. Yes. Commissioner de Donato. Yes.
Commissioner. Yes, yes. Vice Mayor Eisner. Yes, mayor. Yes.
So are we doing doing the oath. Okay.
Do you want the commission? Let's have the all. Let's have all the commission come up. Come on. Mr. Saltzman. You two and Assistant Chief.
Come on. Let's all get up here. Frank. I recommend. You keep me
out of the frame. Could you raise your right hand and repeat after me? I, Scott Young, do solemnly swear or affirm,
solemnly swear that I will support, protect and uphold, protect and uphold the Constitution of the United States, of the United States, and of the State of Florida, and the State of Florida, and the charter and laws, the
charter and laws of the City of Tarpon Springs. City of Tarpon Springs, that I'm duly qualified and duly qualified to hold the office. Hold the office of Assistant City Manager, the Office of Assistant City Manager that I
will faithfully perform, faithfully perform the duties of that office, the duties of that office which I am now
about to enter. I am now about to enter. I try to do this
without getting too emotional. Most people know me, so. I just want to thank the board mayor, commissioners, City Manager for having the faith in me to do
this job, I really do. It's been a growing process. It's not something I ever had on my radar by any means, but it just kind of happened. And I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for the trust and I'll do the
best job I can and I hope you all come to. I think they're having a retirement thing a couple of weeks, so hope you all can make that. So thank you
very much. I just wanted to acknowledge, Scott. You know, when I after I was selected, I came to town with my wife to look for a place to live, and
we were having breakfast at Tula's. And as we came out, this guy came up to me, hey, Charles. And it was Scott and his wife had been having breakfast as well, and he welcomed me and offered to help
out. And ever since then, he has really been there helping me out, being a real partner in, in leading in the transition and leading the team. And I really want to acknowledge you
and appreciate your, your, your being there. I consider him the other side of the coin and our management team, and I'm
looking forward to working with Scott.
Lack is 514. Just got to thank Scott for his dedication. And I want to point out something that's coming up also with Mr. Meissner or Captain
Meissner. The city has a history of those who are loyal and work hard and are dedicated to reward them and move them forward. You're going to see a couple of those items on the
agenda, but one of the things that I'm most proud of, of knowing about Scott is that he put our emergency management
department center really up at the forefront. And I know you guys know that. And I just appreciate all the hard work he's done over the years. Whenever we've had hurricanes
and camping out in the center there. And you guys know about that too, that sometimes a lot of those things don't get noticed. But he's worked with
the city and how the Public Works Department had devised themselves to be able to act in emergencies. And those responses, I just have to give
my hats off to all those guys and, and what you created and I know will be carried forward. And thank you, all of you guys out there too. Appreciate it.
God bless you. Okay, next item is item number 13, ratification and oath of office for our new
fire chief, Craig Meisner. Okay. Miss Adkins yes. So item 13, with that being said, is the the is the request to ratify the promotion of Mr. Craig
Meisner to the City of Tarpon Springs fire chief from his current position as deputy fire chief and is also serving as interim fire chief. Partially attached to the agenda is the
employment offer and agreement for Mr. Meisner, and if approved, he will be. He will fill the role as the new fire chief, effective March 26th and will be sworn in tonight. With
that. Any questions? Okay. Any comments or questions of Tabitha? Okay. Public comments on our new fire chief. Okay,
let's let's come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. With that said roll call please. Commissioner. Yes, Commissioner. Donato. Yes.
Commissioner. Yes. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes, mayor. Yes.
Okay. Let's go back up. I like when I get to these fun things.
Okay. Okay. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I. I say your name, do solemnly
swear, affirm, do solemnly swear and affirm that I will support, that I will support, protect and uphold, protect and uphold the Constitution, the Constitution of the United States, of the United States, and of the State of Florida,
and of the State of Florida, and the charter and laws and the charter and laws of the City of Tarpon Springs, the city of Tarpon Springs, that I am duly qualified. That I am duly qualified to hold the office of Fire Chief, to hold
the office of Fire Chief, that I will faithfully perform, that I will faithfully perform the duties of that office, the duties of that office on which
I am now about to enter, upon which I am now about to enter.
At this time, before pitchers. If we could have his wife and his daughter do the pinning
ceremony of his badge. Of.
Gotta draw blood, gotta draw blood. David. Before you say
something else. Craig, I. We are so very proud of you. The whole city is very proud of you. You have a big job, a big job
to fill. Keeping us safe. And we all very much appreciate all of our first responders and the fire department and the
firefighters do so much more than just fires. These guys go to all all actions, whether
it's, you know, health issues that come up in the city, safety issues with gas, you know, car accidents that that
they have to keep safe. They go, they, they risk so much to keep us safe every single day. They work hard and we really, we all of us extremely appreciate what
you guys do. And now you're going to be led by a great chief. And we're really proud of you, Craig. You you're going to do an amazing job. You got some big boots to fill. But
thank you. Thank you for thank you. Thank you. I'm really, you know, honored to be able to
move into this position. And I want to thank the mayor and vice mayor and the commissioners and of course, city manager. Most importantly, you know, I want to thank Chief
Young. You know, he's been a great mentor to me. He's led this department and been progressive, which is something we all strive to. When we first
moved upstairs and we all kind of came up at the same time there. So he's been a great leader and I just hope, you know, I'm able to maintain that.
Thank my wife and daughter, of course, the two most important people in my life. And it's tough. And most importantly, I
want to thank those people in the back. They're the people who are out there really doing
the job. And, you know, I hope I can maintain the standard that they set for us to a very high expectation in the city. And I want the citizens to know that those people in the back
of the room, they're there to serve, and they do their job better than almost anybody I know. So I really appreciate everything they do, and I'm
really happy to be able to lead them into the next chapter of
this department. So thank you. To be able to see. Okay, wow.
Okay. Number. Let's go to item Business. Item number 14, code enforcement supervisor status change from part time to full time. Miss Adkins yes. This
request is to change the status of our code enforcement supervisor position from part time to full time exempt position, and this would be effective March 26th. Also, Mr.
Tony Boone is currently filling this role. Back in October, we moved the department from the police department to. It is now directly reporting to the Assistant City Manager and
since that time, Mr. Boone has done an extraordinary job resolving lingering cases and processing new cases. Over the last six months, approximately 90 new enforcement cases have
been processed. Working through those is extensive. They have a team of only three. That is, the needs of Mr. Boone's positions are just not being
met with the current allowance of 29 hours per week, Mr. Boone hourly rate will not change, but would become a salaried position increase of about
$20,000 plus benefits. And with that, happy to answer any questions about this. Are there any commission questions of
Tabitha? No questions. I'd like to see if Officer Boone would do a bench press competition with. I know he's you know, I strive to be as strong as him at his age. So he's a he he's
he's he's always a pleasure to have. I think he has a unique ability to convince people to comply. And like the nicest way. And he's very fair and consistent. So I'm, I'm very
happy about this. Thank you. Anybody else want to. Yeah. I just wanted to say that congratulations to Officer Boone and Mr. Ralston. They've really been a great face for
the Code Enforcement Department. And as Commissioner Banther said, they do a great job in helping people. Take care of their responsibilities, come in
compliance and do and have a soft approach about it. That's really representative of our city values. So I just want to thank them. Thank you. You know, I'd like to just reiterate what
Commissioner Coolio's just said. The. Tony Boone is the more hours we can get of Tony Boone, the better. He's amazing. He
really does try to help residents come into compliance. He he's the operative word is helpful. And he's always looking for a way to help people. And you and all of you
out there that ever have to deal with him, you know, help him help you. So as long as you are open to being helped, he
will try his best. So anyways, I'm all in favor of this. So yes. So if you don't know Tony Boone, it's his size that will
make you convinced that you should just go along with what he just asked. But it's really not because when you get to know him, he has a great
disposition. He has a great way of relaying common sense. And you, you have a, a, a unique
way of convincing people that it's just, it's not a personal thing. It's just that you're trying to get people to comply.
And I know some people are kind of in awe of your size, but you know, when I see you, I see your personality as larger than your body. So, you know, and
I've watched you speak to people and everybody seems to like, you know how your disposition is. So I congratulate you and I take nothing away from you, Mike.
You pretty good as well. You know, you you do a good job. Both of you do a good job. And we do get some good compliments about how you guys handle the code violation, you know,
issues. So thank you for what you do. I know it's not an easy job. You're always dealing with somebody who's somewhat irate and yet you're you have to keep yourself calm and just explain this is the rule. You don't
make the rule. You just want them to follow. So thank you both. Appreciate you both. Okay, let's go to public comments. Any public comments on this item? Okay. No public comments.
Let's come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Second. With that said, roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes. Commissioner. Donato. Yes.
Commissioner. Yes. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes, mayor. Yes. Congratulations. Number 14, code enforcement supervisor. Status change from part time to
full time, Miss Adkins. Oh, we just. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I was reading. I was on 1314. Okay. Number 15, support the grant application to the Florida Department of Emergency
Management hurricane loss mitigation program. Mr. Tiger or PJ, PJ Grant project specialist. This is just a recommendation to the board to
support a grant application through the Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program to apply for funding for flood barriers at the wastewater treatment facility. We're potentially
going to ask for 245,000. There is no required match from the city. It's just a cost reimbursement grant. If we're awarded the funding, it just require a letter of support.
Okay. Any questions? Are there any questions, Commissioner, do you have any? No, sir. How about you, Commissioner Donato? Commissioner coleus, just want to thank. Miss Harper has been a bright light in this
community with the grants, and she's bringing in millions every year. So thank you so much. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Quick question. How do you know these grants are out there?
Just explain to the residents how you delve into finding these things out. I have a lot of websites that I go to pretty much every day and check to see
if they're updated, especially the state of Florida ones I can go through and figure out with FEMA partially shut down right now, some of those are not coming through as quickly as they used to, but I still go
and check all the websites just to keep up with them. Of course, there's a lot of grants that you could apply for. Is that correct? Yes, yes. So thank you for what you do. We really appreciate it. Thank you very
much. Thank you. Since you mentioned FEMA, let me ask you a question. Any idea when we're going to get the rest of our money from the cleanup? Good luck. I don't know, honestly, when you say good luck, are you
thinking. Not at all. Or just I would hope some day. Yeah, I just put in for a reimbursement today for the fire department for 53,000. And it said right on their website, like we won't
be processing this. So wow. Okay. They do take long. All right, let's go to public comments. Any public comments on this item? Let's come back to the board for a motion. So
moved second that said roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes, Commissioner. Donato. Yes. Commissioner. Yes. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Mayor.
Kulina. Yes. Let's go to item number 16. Approved project administration Department audit.
Mr. Pulos. Mr. mayor, commissioners, good evening. I placed on the agenda item or order number 12 2026 of the
Project Administration department. There were no findings and five observations. I'll just I'll just read each. Each observation is a pretty,
pretty straightforward, clear, clear cut audit. The first observation was the department has comprehensive, up to date set of policies and procedures that address typical phases of
project management. And. Because they had such good policies and procedures, I used their I used I used that as my criteria to, to test all the other the other audit objectives. So made it kind of
easy. I didn't have to look at industry standards or, or best practices or anything like that. And the three risk areas that I, that I looked at were change orders, additional service
authorizations. Those are similar, but but have a few distinctions. In fact, I think you'll be talking about a change order after I'm done tonight. And they were I, I
judgment judgmental sampled ten files and scrubbed those against their their, their policies and didn't find any, any, any issues with with any of them. The third observation
was that the department has strong controls over concerning task work orders as written in policy and demonstrated by substantive testing. Again,
reviewed Judgmentally sampled ten of those files as well, and didn't find any issues with those. And then the most important one I thought was invoice controls, because I
mean, we're talking some, you know, some invoices are for, you know, hundreds of dollars or thousands, but some are in the, in the, in the six figure, six figure range. So I wanted to make sure and there's,
there's specific time limits on those as well, but I reviewed those for completeness, accuracy, whether they were timely approved and whether the project administration
department or whether our contractors are doing what they're, what they say they're doing because these invoices aren't you know, some of them are they can get complex. And, you know, finance has to rely
on the project administration department in order to to approve them before they can they can cut their check. And then the last thing was the department's proactive and
transparent with project updates. I wanted to note that because some of these projects. You'll notice the scope as well in the in the, in the audit, sometimes you do like a quarter
or half a year, sometimes a year. But I kind of threw that out the window because some of these projects take many years to do. So. It was kind of a like a floating scope, if you will, is a little, little,
little, little, little strange. But so the updating the public and updating the board, which they do through the website and through through monthly updates to the board, I thought was
important because of the, the large time frame that some of these, some of these projects can, can, can go through. So that that was pretty much it. Like I said, there was no
findings. It was it was probably the clearest cut, easiest audit that I've done here. And, and it's not because because of my ability, it's because they just had everything laid out really well.
And all the policies and procedures, their manual was clear cut and dry and all the information was readily available. I mean, it was just kind of matching stuff up. So
if you have any questions, be more than happy to answer them. Commissioner Panther, do you have any questions? No, sir. Thank you. Commissioner de Donato. Commissioner Gulyas, just thank you ■for the report.
Billy and I already knew Bob's staff and everything would be have everything in order, so that's great. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. No questions. And thank you again for the
audit. And and did you found the I think you said this, but you found the department to be cooperative and. Oh yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. I met with Bob several times. In fact, I
was kind of just a side note. I was actually a little worried about doing this audit because they do so many different types of projects, and I couldn't kind of wrap my head around how I was going to attack it. And
then once I talked to him, I realized I was at too much of a granular level. And then once I started looking at more of a process level, it all made sense. And had I not, had I not met with Bob and spent, you
know, a couple hours with him, it would have been a lot more difficult. But once I talked to him, it kind of made sense. So yeah, thank you all very cooperative. So do do we do we
vote accepting the accept or approve. Okay. So is there any public comments on this item? Let's come back to the board for a motion to accept the
approve the audit. So moved. Okay. And second, second, if there's no more comments let's have a roll call please.
Commissioner. Yes, yes, Commissioner. Yes. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes, mayor. Yes. Thank you. Mr. Pulizzi. Thank
you. Let's go to number 17 Award, invitation to bid Craig Park seawall. Phase one rebid. Mr. Robertson, I may never get
a better introduction in my life than having that precede my item, so I just want to bask in that for a second. But thanks, mayor. So I'm Bob Robertson, project Administration department director, and for this item,
we're requesting the board award a construction contract to Florida Solid Solutions, LLC in the amount of $2,785,727 to replace and raise the seawall
and sidewalk around a portion of Spring Bayou in Craig and
Craig Park. The project scope starts at
Some savings that could be
So it's raising it. Given the the trend in rising seawater, how many years do you believe that two
feet gives us at the state of of increase the target elevation is five feet. I think that gives us 50 plus years. The last numbers I saw. All
right. Commissioner, do you have any questions? Thank you. Commissioner Donato don't have any questions. Commissioner Coolio's. Yes, there was one item where it talked about that
we only need to be borrowing a certain amount from the feds. Instead. It was. It's a reduction of 814,000. But let's say there's like a change order that happens, you know, and
it's a couple hundred thousand more or whatever. Are we able to still have them split that with us? We do. Well, I'm not sure what you mean by have them
with us. Were you going to use all of the federal grant, and then the rest is going to be supplemented by the borrowing. So if we don't use all that borrowing, then the money could come from the borrowing package,
or it could come from savings from a penny fund or some other source if we needed it. But I will point out to you quickly, we do have $100,000 contingency in here, so we would use that before we would touch or come
back for any kind of change order that's built into the price here. Okay. So the, the grant that we got from Congressman Bilirakis and all of them were going to be able to use that full amount. Yes,
sir. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Okay. No further questions. Vice mayor. Yes, I just have one question. I know there's a stipulation in there that they have to have it finished by
epiphany. Is it possible they could start by where epiphany is when we're going to talk to them about it? Okay. Yeah, because I mean, that would make sense to at least start there.
Then there would be no question on, on where, where, what, what point they'd be at. And then they could finish up. My other question is, when it comes to
the boat launch, do they have to raise the ramp as well, something we're going to have to look at later, but for now, we need to address the sidewalk. So the ramp is not part of this,
not part of this. No. Okay. To the south side of the ramp there is still a little wall. Is that included as well? South
side of the ramp? No. So what would be then the purpose of raising it two feet on one side of the ramp and not two feet on the other side? I can show you the contours and why that
matters. It it does prevent the water from getting up into, excuse me, from getting up into the park. I can show you that offline. But it does. It does accomplish that. Okay. But you
definitely we do realize we have to raise the road two feet otherwise. Right. And that doesn't yeah, it doesn't make sense. And what you're talking about is potentially part of the future Whitcomb Bayou project, because that would be
the, the, the boundary that we drew between these two project zones. You know, we have to draw the line somewhere and. Right, I understand. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Vice
Mayor. Okay, let's go to public comment. Any public comments on this item? Let's come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Second is yes, yes. I
just want to make and there's this is a project that's been long in the making. I do want to recognize Mayor Vatikiotis, who when he did get in, he helped help, made an effort to try to get the funding for this.
And so there's a lot of projects that do take five, six, seven years to come to fruition. And I just want to make those other board members from those time periods recognize as well,
including Vice Mayor Allen at the time. Thank you. I concur. This is many of these things like, like the commissioner said, are continuations of
boards working in conjunction with each other. So it has to be a board to start something. And then obviously we're a board to try to finish it, but
it has to get started. So let's. Anybody else have any comments? Okay, we have a motion and a second roll call please, Mr. Panther. Yes, Commissioner.
Donato. Yes, Commissioner. Yes. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes, mayor. Yes. Scored a number 18 consideration for of new
clerk's office building. Contract change order. I'm going to let the city attorney instruct us. Yes, mayor. Commission, commissioners, just
want to remind you that this is solely about the change order. No other issues are before you and really should be no other discussion other than the merits of whether you want to
approve or disapprove the change order. After you hear the city's presentation and public comment. All
commissioners understand that. Thank you. Mr. Robertson. Thank you mayor. Okay, so for this item, I'm presenting a request from General Contracting for a
change order to the construction contract for the new clerk's office building. This item has been discussed in one on one meetings with each of you and again at a work session. So I'll try to be
concise on my staff report here. This is the second change order request from DMR for this project. The first change order in the amount of just over $213,000 was approved by the
board in September 2025. For this request. The contractor who is here tonight is requesting an increase of $398,000, as I was told by the
contractor and as stated in their letter, that's in your backup, this $398,000. This change is submitted as the minimum amount required by DMR to complete the project. In
response to some of your inquiries, the contractor provided more details regarding the reasons for the request. Most of these claims are debatable and we in the architect dispute. Some of them,
however, just point out that the contractor has been clear that $398,000 is the minimum amount needed that they need to complete the project, regardless of the cause. So a
reminder, again, I'll point out that the city has worked with the contractor, try to be as collaborative as we can. We provided more than $300,000 of additional funding on this project. When factoring in the
first change order and the released contingency funds that have been released through the project. A couple other thoughts and clarifications. DeMar is aware of the issues with the roof, and while the
current roof is not leaking, it was not correctly installed and has not passed its final inspection. This board has expressed a preference for a tear down and a complete
rebuild before we install the solar panels, and the architect has also denied the approval of a TPO secondary roof overlay system. So DeMar is aware of that. They're currently working on the claim against the
roofing subcontractor that did the installation that would pay for the repairs, the funding they're requesting from this change order does not include funding for the roof. I wanted to point that out. It was a
question that had come up because it's being handled as a warranty claim. There has been some discussion about the paying of subcontractors. We're aware that some have not been paid, but failure of a prime
contractor to pay its subs subcontractors is not directly a city issue. However, the surety has been notified of these issues and now all our payments are routed through the
surety to ensure payments. And so your decision tonight is, as the City Attorney pointed out, is to approve or deny the change order. If you approve it, the funds would be split evenly
over four funding accounts as described in your backup. The contractor would resume full scale construction operations with the stated completion schedule completion in August
this year. One final note here as I wrap up my staff report as a confirmation step, I asked one of the city's current construction manager at risk contractors to come take a look
at the independently at the remaining work, and give us a ballpark cost estimate of what it would take to finish kind of a reality check the estimated around $700,000 to complete the
work, some part, or all of which could potentially be recuperated through contractual or legal means. But if we have to go that route. But that's that's looking many steps ahead. Tonight's consideration is whether or not to approve the
requested change order. So, Mr. Mayor, that concludes my staff report. Okay. Would any
representatives of DeMar wish to say make any statements? My
name is Andrew Cordell. I'm vice president general Contracting. I want to say thank you to the board members and the staff. They've been
very gracious with muddling through all of this. It's been a difficult project for us. Our company has gone through a dramatic change, starting
basically with Covid. Our business was primarily corporate business and was airport business. And on the 20 in the when Covid came about,
air travel went from 2.4 million travelers a day to seven 79,000. All of our contracts got canceled. So we had to retool our company. We lost a lot of staff. They went
to other places to work because we were more of a we did a lot of self-performing and we weren't doing that. We couldn't do that anymore because we didn't have any business because it was. We would
primarily. That was our business. So in that change, we hired new staff and that was during a time when everybody was changing jobs every few
months just to get a higher paycheck, and that's what they were doing. But like I said, I want to thank the staff. They've been very gracious and tried to work with as best they
can. I met with staff prior to on site, prior to breaking ground on the project, and it was expressed to me how much pressure they were under for this project to break ground
and not be turned over to the bonding company at that point. So at that point, Demar's exposure was the value of the bond, the bid bond, which is
roughly about $150,000. So that was our exposure. So we went back, reviewed the budget. I saw in the budget, there was
about $200,000 profit, and I discussed it with Doreen, the president, and we went over the project. And unfortunately,
because we had new staff doing a lot of this bidding, things weren't very clear. So as best we could, we figured we had $200,000 of projected profit,
and we realized that was probably going to be at risk, not realizing it would be worse than that. So we went through the process and we said, okay,
to protect the city and keep them from having to have the same condition they just went through. And Gross Avenue, we said, okay, we'll, we'll do it, we'll do it. We'll go ahead and
do it. So as we. Let's see. We've. The project was complicated. Not so much. Well, it had a lot of small complications in the beginning.
And then it, it just seemed like there was issues that we had to continually work through. A lot of it had to do with maybe the design wasn't quite
right. There was some mistakes on the elevation of the building. The building is three inches lower than it should be, which only leaves two inches of
freeboard between the ground or to the top of the control structures and the finished floor of the in the building. So we've we've worked
diligently to stay involved, caring, wanting the project to be done correctly and complete, trying to protect from inherent problems that we may have in
the future. Because of this grading issue, we went to the trouble of cutting, taking the control structures and cutting a notch in them to make sure that you had another four inches of floor space between
the finished floor. That was just one item, and that entailed having to change the the roof runoff from it because it was designed as a the all
the roof runoff of the adjacent building flowed onto the ground. And we changed that to capture it underground. So it didn't end up on ground so that it wouldn't flood that area. That's between the two
buildings, because that's where it's very close. And I spent a lot of time when we did the finish concrete out there to make sure everything flowed and stayed and float away from the
building. So and then we, we also changed the, the landscaping work with Jevin on that. It's great to work with. He's very practical guy. He we
took all the landscaping out so that there wouldn't be any organics in that space that might be with maintenance if they weren't being maintained. If leaves caught, caught there
and they piled up or sometimes road roofs heave up the ground around it as as plants grow. We took all that out just to make sure it didn't. It kept that
area safe. We had troubles with the. With the drive up window. The drive up window was not what was expected when it came.
So we had to make a change. We couldn't get the the. To get a window that would fit in that opening. We had to completely modify that opening. I drew all
the details in order to convey to the architect and the city what we could do and how we could do that. So that was there was just my point to all
this is we've, we've, we've continually stayed engaged in the project. But, you know, as I said, we, we've, we've worked through things in our office.
And that was part of the problem. Part of the problem with some of the, the way that things were designed that were confusing and took a lot of
effort. So up to this point. We've invested nearly $400,000 in. $400,000 in unrecoverable
direct and indirect overhead costs in this project, and another $100,000 of miscellaneous materials and labor costs of Self-performed work to keep the project moving
as slow as it's been. We kept trying to make it move. If the board if the board approves this change order, we still
will invest another $300,000 to to pay all the bills and make sure everything's covered. So all the bills are paid and another, probably $125,000 of
indirect indirect overhead costs. So we've put a lot of money into it. We've paid we paid a lot, a lot to do this. And we're and we're not asking
for any of that for from the from the from the board or from the Tarpon Springs. And we also we forfeited all of the profit, the $200,000, we forfeited that
as well. So that's where we're at. I, again, I greatly appreciate, you know, the board. They've always been cordial to us. The staff has always been
cordial to us. And I you know, we took it on because there was immense pressure to not let this go to the bonding company. That was one of the major reasons why we even didn't just
let it go. So anyway, that's there. Any questions? Thank you very much. Let's let's go to any public comments on this
item. Did you want to speak as well? Good evening mayor, vice mayor, city attorney, city manager and staff. I've been on
both sides of that dais. I'm on this one now, but I've served as a council person in the city of Clearwater and also on the Community Development Board, developing all the development
on Clearwater Beach for a number of years. So several decades. And I first of all, want to thank the city staff here at Tarpon. They really have worked with us. What Andy
is trying to say is we took this project on knowing that per the design of a government project, you're the lowest bidder. This where we are in
this number in which that the city staff has put before you this evening. We are not even to the highest bidder of 2022 when the when this job was bid.
Additionally, what Andy was trying to explain is that we have struggled with moving this project forward, not only because of the outline that he had provided tonight, but also
because the plans were not complete. And additionally, we also, I just want to put. For the record, we went through three hurricanes and we also,
in the beginning of doing this project, our staff and Andy basically went and above and beyond and mitigated an issue with, with the flood waters of
another storm that had happened. It was like a no name storm in addition to the three hurricanes that we had. So all through this project, we have had run into so many different
issues, and we really do appreciate all of you this evening as it relates to this project. We. We would like to get it to the ribbon cutting and, and the, and the groundbreaking or the ribbon
cutting and, and successfully have the ladies use this building as the clerk's office. Get the old building down. Mayor, we know that you want your parking. And I think that our excavating guys, we. The
way that Andy had to get this schedule, you know it's a remobilization to get everybody back. So we've got everybody in line for this schedule to make sure that this parking is all
done, that the landscaping is done, that the demo of the building that also has an asbestos mitigation will be removed safely and will protect
everybody with that regard in that effort. So we would just like to see this be something that you can celebrate. And we really hope that, as you know, with the experience that you
had with the roadway job, when you do go to a bond, you're going to be stalled for a while because it is a process and that process is not a pleasant one for all of us. So I really
do feel that we can get to the finish line and we can all celebrate. And perhaps one day I will be a volunteer. I think the volunteers are still here because we all also are looking
for real estate to move into the city of Tarpon Springs. We've moved from Clearwater to Palm Harbor, and we're actually considering moving into Tarpon. So with that, I'd be happy to
take any questions. If you have any of my. We're not going to have we're not doing questions of you. You can have a seat. Thank you though. Are there any
public comments on this item? Anita? Protest, 91 Bayshore Drive. Mayor Anita, pull the
speaker down so we can hear you. Why? Between the Gross Avenue project and this, we had so many problems in the past.
We've never had so many problems on a project. And you hear other communities that don't have the problems that we've had. What's happened? There's too many mistakes and
too many problems in our our projects. On Gross Avenue, there's still ponding water and look what it's cost us. And now we're looks what it's costing
us for the the clerk's office. Something's wrong someplace. Y'all need to find out what it is because we're paying through the nose for it. Any other
public comments? Okay, so let's come back to the board before we make a motion. I just I want to start off some comment that
we're not, as the city attorney has advised, we're not going into any of the construction details or anything regarding the the construction of this project. All we're deciding
tonight is whether to accept this, this offer and whether either yes or no on this on
this offer. And I'd like you, Mr. Robertson, give us a a summarized expression of your
thoughts on whether you believe we should accept this offer or, or not. And obviously, if we do not, then it's you know, I would probably go to to the
bond, but give us your opinion. Okay. I trust this contractor. Their sincerity. I trust their commitment to getting the work
done. Their ability. I believe they can do it. But I, they, they have remained committed to the project, as you've heard. I
do feel that if the change order is approved, that they will complete the job as they promised. I don't know for sure, but this is my gut feeling and
working with this contractor. You asked my opinion and that is it. And your. The timing of how we disburse these funds express. Explain that again and
how we so that we can hold them accountable incrementally, of course. So they'll submit pay items that will be reviewed by me and my staff. And those
items will have to be commensurate with the work that has completed to that date. So in other words, if you know, there's 20% of of the remaining work that's been completed, that invoice should, should
match 20% of, of the amount. So no advanced money, no advanced can't do that anymore. Okay.
Let's come back now. If the motion would be to accept the recommendation for it would be
to accept the change order number two on the new clerk's office building. Do I have a motion? So moved. Do I have a
second? Second? I have a second. Okay, so now let's go to discussion on this item. Commissioner Banther. Thank you. My my main you know, when this
is this is an area that's way outside of my, my, my, my expertise. I want to follow the, the, the advice of staff. I'll be honest, I came into this meeting with some different feelings about it. I know these
people well and I definitely trust them, but I know there's been some troubles and. But if Bob believes that we can get this done this way, then I'm going to support that. We have
to rely on staff when they when they when they tell us what they think is, is, is the best advice. And what really did it for me was the fact of that it's not an advance money. I
would be opposed to that to anybody. Not not just to them. The fact that it's being controlled basically via escrow, if you will. That gives me. You
know, you know, some confidence. Obviously, in my opinion, this this this is like a last ditch effort. If this doesn't work, we know, we know, we know, we know what we have to do. But if Bob feels that we can get this
done, obviously calling the bond his last resort and won't get done quicker, I'm prepared to do that if we have to, but I'd like to. But if but if Bob says this is the best way to go
at this time, I'm going to go with that. And that's the basis of of my reasoning. Okay. Commissioner Di Donato, this is this has been a very difficult
issue. I, I struggle with it as well. I have to be honest, but I still understand and a lot of the problems that have been
there, some are a little easy to understand, some are a little more complicated. There was even a God given acts that
occurred in this. It's perplexing the whole situation. It's already been quite a long time. So that's all I have to say. Commissioner coleus. Yes,
I've. And I've talked with Miss Caldwell from before in our meetings. And, you know, I would tell her I would support her. I've, you know, just there have been variables that have come back and forth. And
today's another variable, but I trust, Bob, I've always wanted to listen to Bob first before hearing about other things. And you know, what projects are the work session we had, you
weren't there. So it threw me off a little bit. But hearing you talk, understanding the process that Commissioner Panthers helped talk about, I'm
willing I'm willing to move forward. I just want to see it work out for everyone. So thank you, Vice Mayor. So I only want
to touch base with a little bit of this. We right now owe them $153,000. Correct. We don't owe them that. That is a that would be the completion of what's out
there. Yeah. So how did how did we get how did they get ahead of us in the first place? We authorized some early payments just to help keep the project moving in good faith. As I mentioned, the collaborative
effort, that's part of what we did as, as, as the owners. You know, there's I don't want to go through the whole list of things that we went through at
this meeting. I do believe that there is a lot of blame to go around. I, I really yeah, because I don't know how this
will end up. Okay. I really just you, you all just need to concentrate solely on the change order, whether you have questions about regarding that or whether you all are
comfortable voting one way or the other on it, I just don't want to get into the details about the project, please. I'm not comfortable with going
ahead with this. We already have advanced money. That's all I'm going to say. Understood. Okay, so we have a motion. We
have a second. We've had discussion. Let's go to roll call please. Commissioner. Yes, Commissioner. Donato. Yes,
Commissioner. Yes. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. No. Mayor. Yes. Okay. Thank you. So let's go to
item number 19, recommendation for organizational changes to facilitate career progression in water and wastewater utilities, Mr. Geiger. Thank
you, Thomas Geiger, for the Public Services Department. This is similar to the item we brought you in December. It facilitates a career ladder style organization and career
advancement for our frontline staff. This actually pertains to one of the groups in this memorandum is the Wastewater Collections Group, which was
two of our men that we had up here today receiving awards. So what the goal of these types of organizational changes is, is to have a little bit more flexibility in the combinations of wastewater staff or
mechanical staff or environmental science staff we have. So to allow them to advance their careers as they pursue additional licensure and certifications. Currently, we
have a discrete number of each level of staff within these groups. So we might have something like you're allowed to have three mechanic twos and two mechanic ones and a certain
number mechanic threes. And over time, these people develop our staff, they develop skills, they gain experience. And if you stick around for ten years, you might be in a mechanic two position. But if no one in a
mechanic three position retires or resigns or moves on, you don't have the ability to advance in your title or in your your pay grade. So what this does is it allows a little bit more flexibility. So like
for in the utilities maintenance group, we'd be a little higher. Any combination of mechanic ones, twos and threes based on skills and qualifications, so that each
individual staff member's career progression is tied to their staff development, their ability to stick with the city, develop skills, develop
additional licensure and certifications, and not based on the retirements or resignations of the staff above them. So right now we're recommending this to implement
this for the wastewater collections group, utilities maintenance and the environmental science group. This was has been very successful so far. We're still a little bit in the rollout for the the water plant and the
wastewater plant and the water distribution crews. But so far it's been very helpful from a hiring and staff standpoint, and we think it's worthwhile to implement in these other work groups as well. Commissioner
Barnier, do you have any questions? No, sir. Thank you, Commissioner Donato. Commissioner Julius, I just like the new process that, you know, we we understand that from time to the organizational
chart that was career positions. And it was hard to elevate or get those same certifications unless someone retired or moved on. And so I think this is good for everyone and good incentives, motivation for
people to stay with and learn and get more certifications. A great item, Mr. Kiger. Thank you, Vice Mayor. No comment.
Okay, let's go to any. Is there any public comments? Come back to the board for a motion. So moved second. Okay. If there's no further comments on the
board, let's go to vote. Commissioner. Yes, Commissioner. Donato. Yes, Commissioner. Yes. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes, mayor. Yes. Okay. Let's go to
ordinances. Resolutions. City attorney, would you read the resolution by title resolution 20 2616, a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida,
approving application number 2618, requesting site plan approval for construction of a clubhouse building of approximately 8536ft■!S in gross
floor area, including parking on 116.5 acres, more or less. A property located at 1310 South Pinellas Avenue on the west
side of South Pinellas Avenue, approximately 1500 feet south of Mayor's Boulevard in the Agricultural Zoning District, providing for findings, providing for conditions, and
providing for an effective date. Mayor, do you want me to read the quasi judicial. Yes. Thank you. This is a quasi judicial proceeding where the Board of Commissioners acts in a quasi
judicial rather than a legislative capacity at a quasi judicial hearing. It is not the board's function to make law, but rather to apply law that would that has already been established in a quasi judicial
hearing. The board is required by law to make findings of fact based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, and apply those findings of fact to previously established criteria
contained in The code of Ordinances in order to make a legal decision regarding the application before it. The board may only consider evidence at this hearing that the law considers competent,
substantial and relevant to the issues. If the competent, substantial and relevant evidence at the hearing demonstrates that the applicant has met the criteria established in the of ordinances, then the board is
required by law to find in favor of the applicant. By the same token, if the competent, substantial relevant evidence at the hearing demonstrates that the applicant has failed to meet the criteria
established in the Code of ordinances, then the board is required by law to find against the applicant. Mayor. Commissioners can, if there's any ex parte communication or
conflict of interest, can you please declare that now? No, we're talking about the golf course. Yes, I mean, I well the the building. Yes. I guess I've
spoken to Howard several times over the course of this. Mr. Chiger, over the course of it, Paul Smith from back in the day, old city manager, of course, I've definitely talked with a
whole bunch of staff on this item just in the process of it. Thank you. Thank you Commissioner. Okay. That doesn't constitute any no, no,
no, that was confused on that actually. Let's go. Well, let's do your presentation. You swear and swear in city attorney. You're swearing. Anybody in
there? Anybody else? Could it speak? I doubt it unless you have questions. Tommy, please stand and raise your right hand. Yeah. Oh, now we got a hold in
case there's questions. Do you do you swear or affirm your testimony before the Board of Commission shall be the truth, so help you I do, I do. I hope you got a whole group now. All
right. Okay. You want to do your presentation? Thank you. Good evening. Mayor, vice Mayor and Commissioners Renee Vincent, planning and zoning director. The site plan application 26 dash 18 for the construction of
a new Tarpon Springs golf course clubhouse at 1310 South Pinellas Avenue. This is the location. I think everybody's pretty familiar with this, so I'll keep it high level. This is the hospital, obviously our
golf course, current clubhouse, is going to be built in close proximity. Just a little closer view. This is just the zoning
surrounding area. Survey. This is existing clubhouse as it exists today. The parking lot. This is the new site plan or the proposed clubhouse kind of
overlaid on the existing aerial. So the new clubhouse will be oops, sorry, new clubhouse will be here about 8000ft■!S, little over, and the existing
clubhouse is here. It will be demolished and repurposed. This area will be part of the circulation and parking. And a little bit more of a detail
view. They have an extensive landscaping plan around this. Around the site itself, we are a little bit limited in what we can do. Around the parking lot
itself. There was a lot of discussion. I think you're aware the hospital does use the existing parking lot, a helicopter landing location for patient transport, so we can't
do a lot of improvements to that because of that, that use. Here's the building elevations. These were previously approved by the board. And just a
rendering of what the site will look like after construction for review criteria. Basically everything is in compliance. There are a couple of minor things, additional details that
we need for utilities and stormwater. Those come, you know, when they do the ground truthing and everything before they apply for the site construction permit. So those are fairly normal details
you'll find on just about any site plan. There's an incremental increase expected on water and sewer requirements. We have the capacity infrastructure to serve
everything. The staff recommendation is to approve the. We have five conditions. Final details of the on site utilities need to be submitted with the building permit. Final
details. The stormwater handling system need to be submitted with the building permit application. Construction plans have to meet. Be consistent with the site plan. All the Land Development
code provisions must be met and the site plan will expire in six months unless the site construction or building permit is obtained at the Planning and Zoning Board. This was reviewed
on March 16th, was a unanimous recommendation of approval after some considerable, considerable discussion around, you know, things like the public art requirement, the
fact that the the parking lot is doubles does double as a landing site for the hospital. Ultimately, they did recommend two additional conditions. So number six would be that the
applicant is encouraged to include some sort of compromise in the landscaping, whether it's curbside or other places of a low height scale that would not interfere with the aviation use. And number seven,
explore whether there and this is already being addressed by the by staff getting that actual formalized agreement with the hospital. There was no public comment during the
application period or at Planning and Zoning board. So with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Mr. Kiger is here. He has intimate details of the the site itself. So between the
two of us, hope we can satisfy any questions. Thank you. Okay, Commissioner, do you have any questions? No questions. Thank you. Commissioner Donato. Question. Commissioner Gulyas.
Yes. Once approved. How long will this take to go out to bid? Oh, I'm just going to have
Tommy come up for that. Okay. So this is a unique project delivery method that we're using for the first time. This project is being delivered via
Cmart or Construction Manager at risk. So there will not be public bids on this project moving forward. What we did about this time last year was we put out an RFQ for construction managers, and the
way that that process works is it's often described as sort of an arranged marriage between the contractor and the design team. You put them together and have everyone work together and you make everyone work it out.
So we have a construction manager already on board. They've been providing professional services through the design process for Constructability review cost,
you know, value engineering, trying to identify cost savings in the project early on during the design process. And then the plan is to when we get to
90%, we will ask them for a 90% design guaranteed maximum price. And we would go through the procurement process with that to keep them on board and allow them to proceed directly into construction phase. From the
90% drawings, was there a time in there? I think he asked you how long? How long? Yeah, we're looking at depending on when we can get things agenda and
everyone bringing their, their final, the final bids in and things like that from the subs for the construction manager, we're probably looking at late May or early June to bring this
back for approval for the guaranteed maximum price for the construction manager, and we're hoping to kick off in June for construction and the anticipated project delivery
time frame is 10 to 12 months potentially. But again, that'll be something that'll be contractually negotiated as we get past 90% design. And this process that we're going through, wasn't that one of the
processes the city manager helped that we pushed forward several months back about the construction manager process? I believe this using this process. This is one of our first times
using this. Right. Okay, good. So we'll give it a shot. Just a little worried about the first tee box in case people are hitting. They're curving right into the building. But other than that, it'll get worked out.
So thank you. I'll make some comments at the end during the vote. We'll offer instruction
in case you're slicing badly. Yeah. All right. So Vice Mayor, I have another one question. Will this be interfering with
the work that's going on on all 19? I don't believe that it'll interfere with the work on alt. 19. The we've coordinated with we've been coordinating
extensively with them in the department through utilities, with the OT for that that project and also with project administration. Who's overseeing that work or the coordination with d o t the
extent of that project is that it only really goes the. The underground work really only goes up to about her place, like kind of south of the hospital, moving north from
there. That's a mill and resurface project. So yeah, there might be a little bit of like minor, you know, the traffic disruptions and things like that as the d, o, t goes through and does their military
service in that area, but it shouldn't be impacting the the construction. So did we. By some chance in advance, let the f d o t know that we will be
making a building there. So we have new tie ins with new pipes, new sewer lines, new everything that's there. Yeah. As we proceed into the next phase, as
we start towards construction, will be applying for like any necessary dot permits and things like that. Okay. The only reason I ask this is because I'm sure everybody knows here Facebook is just
exploding with stuff like that about, you know, the traffic. And I'm not looking to add to it, extend it. I know it's going to be more traffic moving up north, but I don't need to
have the more traffic over there by advent. Certainly. Thank you. Let me ask you one question. Are we will we still
allow during all this construction, there'll still be play on the course, right? Absolutely. Yeah. The goal is to you know, obviously there's still going to be a little bit of, you know, fencing and, you
know, you know, ongoing work signs and things like that. But we're going to try and fence that area off and minimize impact to play. We started with that as a design principle to
avoid disruption to the existing course. So if you hit your ball along a hole number nine, you know it might land on the other side of the fence. You might not get it back, but
other than that, we're going to try and keep it as open as much as possible. And you know, because we want to continue to get the revenues to support the project. How about for parking? Are we going to have alternate
parking spots available if we if part of the parking lot is being has construction equipment, we've had preliminary discussions with the contractor, with the construction manager about how
they might do phasing. That's something that we'll be working on as we get closer to, you know, the the construction manager, the construction phase is like lay down yards and things like that. But we've
been able to have talks about potentially utilizing some of the maintenance areas for like material storage and things like that. And so, you know, there might be a little bit of an impact to parking. Our goal
is to try and get a lot of the work done over the summer before the the busy season ramps, ramps up in December and January to minimize disruption to the course and parking
disruptions. Thank you. Let's go to go to public comments. Any public comments, should I.
Anita pros, 901 Bayshore Drive. Our golf course used to be a PGA destination golf course, and it was highly used. And at
when they used to have the old building there, the most important thing there were the chickens years ago, full of chickens on the golf. Chickens, chickens. You don't remember it,
but it was a a very productive restaurant. And people used to go just to feed the chickens. But please explain to me why we are not going out to bid on a
piece of taxpayer's property. I don't understand what he was explaining about how you got a contractor already, and the public is talking about it.
They want to know why we're not going out to bid. Again. This this is a quasi judicial hearing. We can't we can't be answering questions from the
from the public. So really, no we can't. Something new. Yeah. Things might have changed since your time. Yeah. Okay. All
right. Any other public comments? All right. Let's come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. Are there any additional comments? Yes, mayor. I just wanted to
bring up I had a good talk with the city manager when this item came up. And, you know, I just gave him a little history on it. When I first got in the office, this golf course project wasn't
even nowhere in sight. And so I made sure I got with Howard and Tom Geiger and, you know, some staff and I said, we need to push this project. This is a good foundational piece for the
community, and I'm happy to see it move forward through overall board support. And it's going to be a great thing, a great addition to our community, and it's going to be a great return
on investment. And I am actually proud that this is one of the backbone projects for the loan, in which it will help regenerate and come back for it. So just want to thank you. This
stuff takes time. And, and Tommy and Mr. Howard have done a great job in implementing. We're going to get a full liquor bar over there too, and I just saw in the plans that there is a, a hedge wall on
hole one for errant balls. So thank you. Anybody else have any comments on this? Okay. I just want to say, yeah, we this
this is of all the things we're doing. I think I'm most excited about this project. I think it's going to be well received by the community. I think it's going to bring our golf course
even more play. And our golf course has been successful to this point. But I believe it's going to be even more so. And Howard, thank you so much for all you do. And we're excited
to get this thing going. So with that, we have a motion. We have a second. Roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes. Commissioner de Donato. Yes.
Commissioner Coolio's. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes. Mayor. Colonies. Yes. Okay. That concludes our business. Tonight. We all the commissioners need
to stay around. We have a Community redevelopment Agency meeting afterwards. Let's go to board and staff comments.
Assistant chief, you got anything? Nothing. All right. What was she commending you about? I took on a leadership role in church. That's all
right. So. And I didn't invite her. So we're not going to break it up again. All right. City attorney, city attorney,
thank you very much for guiding us tonight. So, City Manager, I just want to mention that we just about have the first draft completed the master plan. So
we're going to be scheduling a workshop probably late April to go over with you all. Seems like Thursday's afternoon seems to work out, but Tricia will coordinate with you all to do
that to to go through it before we bring it to you for any kind of approval. And city clerk, I have no comments. Thank you. Thank you as well for all you
do. And Commissioner Banther, thank you. First off, because I see we have Renee back there still and we saw we saw her retirement announcement. I don't recall approving that
whatsoever. She has a great number two to step up, but she's going to be sorely missed. I recall her all the way back to my days on the on the Historic Preservation Board in 2007. I didn't know anything
and she really helped me then and then. I'm glad she came back after her after her brief hiatus. So you're going to be missed, Renee, but I'm sure it's a it's a it's a well-deserved retirement. Thank
you. And also, and this isn't against anybody. I want to make sure either at our rules or procedures meeting or sometime soon we discuss the process for workshops and CRA meetings. This is my eighth year up here.
I think my, my, my, I had, you know, six years before and came back. I've never had so many workshops and CRA meetings if they're needed, that's good. But if things are presentations are just kind of fyis. I think
we as a board need, need to discuss how we want to do meetings. I mean, I know some of us are retired and some of us are employed, and I'll be here whenever it's required. I signed up for this job, but
this is in stark contrast to how we did things before. And I just would like some clarity and some guidance, a move, you know, moving forward. So we can discuss that either in either
either in rules or procedures or on an agenda item. Either way is fine with me. Thank you. Commissioner Donato, I'd like
to congratulate our new chief fire chief. Chief Meisner, I would like to congratulate certainly our first assistant city manager, and Scott Young.
I would tell you some things about Scott, but it would take too long for this evening. But I'm happy for both. I also would suggest even though I'm
on my way out of here, I would suggest that we do have an empty chair, and I think that either the assistant city manager or the fire chief should be sitting in there. At one time, the fire chief was up here, but now we have a new
position. I really think that he should be up here on this podium in the future. Just a suggestion to the left of you. Right over there. There's a
good chair. Commissioner Gulyas. Yes. I just want to thank staff and this board and the city manager. We had a very productive meeting, a lot of great substance and and
projects and appointments and moving forward, a great obviously I was, you know. Disappointed a little bit that
to see Miss Renee because I think she's one of the brightest and I mean brightest people on our staff. And I've learned so much from her going into what I thought I would
expect, as opposed to what I know now from her and her staff. And they're top tier and very helpful and insightful in so many different ways when it comes to the community and just
pulling it all together. So but I'm sure we'll give her a nice send off when that time comes. And I just want to recognize her too, because she's been fabulous. And we have the Greek
Independence Day parade this weekend. Hope to see a lot of people there, and just looking forward to a lot of things are over with. Now it's time for all of us to work together and
get some good stuff done for this community. So thank you. Vice Mayor. Thank you mayor. Well, I said earlier and I'll say it again, congratulations
to the ex chief of the fire department. And I'm glad to work with you moving forward. I think you'll do just fine.
Congratulations to the new fire Chief Meister. He has my almost my full name, so I'm liking him a little bit more than young.
But all kidding aside, you know, I spoke with Renee today, and you'll be sorely missed. Renee, you know that you're a wealth of information. I've yet to be
able to ask you a question where I can play Stump the Stars. And. And now I'm adding my fourth year. And it's interesting. The longer I work
with you, the more knowledge I get from you. And, and you just, you just have a wealth of information. You have a good memory. And I wish you the best of luck where you're going. And you know, you're always welcome
to come back just in case you don't like that cold and snow where you headed? So. And you know, you have your sidekick
that's hiding half out the door there. I've worked with in the board of adjustments for eight years. So I know we're in good hands moving forward. And I
know if she does get in a little bind, your number is not that far away to make that call. But I've also watched you in the Board of Adjustment
meetings, and you've been doing a lot better than when I was on the Board of adjustment. So you're learning and learning and learning. So I'm very happy with the staff and how they're
handling the city. It's always sad to see somebody go, but when one door closes, another opens. And I just wish you all
the best of luck. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Yeah, we I got some I did get receive some comments about the art
show. I think it's important that the residents know that it's not. This art show does not belong to the city itself. It's being put on by the
chamber. However, it does represent us as a community. So I think we'll have some conversations about that matter.
The the bid process. You know, I, I'm happy that we're going to this process for the golf course to get us and find us
the absolute best contractor to, to do the job and, and get us across the finish line in, in, in a prompt manner. And then
we'll have opportunities to talk about that going forward about, you know, maybe looking at how we do the bid process going forward. I had some
conversations with Mr. Joe Kokolakis, and he gave me some ideas of what he the process that he goes through and in other municipalities. And I
think he can and he's willing to come and speak to our our staff and talk about that. So I think we should definitely take advantage of his expertise. I
want to thank Brandon for all that he did with the art, the performing arts. He'll be moving on now to to Eckert,
Ruth Eckerd Hall. And so he'll be putting on even bigger and better performances in that in that big stately facility. But
I hope he doesn't forget us. And and maybe he could give us some kind of Tarpon Springs citizen discounts, you know, on, on stuff over there. So as far
as Renee and, and Ali, you know, Renee, obviously we you have been amazing. You know, I know we've, we've had conversations and you're one of those people that's a consummate
professional that's doing her job all the way up to the end. And I remember one time I asked you a question about it was on some project and I said, I know
you're leaving, but would you be happy with this project being as it is in this town? And she gave me her opinion and and she cared about how she
left our, our city. And, and so obviously this is your home as well. So, you know, you're always welcome to come back and we'll make make a big deal out
of you. So and Ali has your cell number. So she's got backup whenever she needs it. As far as Frank DiDonato, it's
your last full meeting here in the city again, you know, we'll have time to to give praise to you at the the swearing in and
swearing out meeting. But, you know, again, you stepped up for your community one more time. You've done it all throughout your life here in Tarpon
Springs. And you know, you will always be respected. Again, congratulations to Scott and Scott Young and, and obviously
Craig Meisner. And, you know, it's just a testament to, to tarpon how there's so many opportunities in our community and in our city government to
move up. Obviously, Ali is an example. You know, hopefully we're going to ratify her someday as the, the next planning and zoning director. We, you know, Craig moved up
through the ranks and now is going to be our fire chief. Scott, you went up through the ranks and became fire chief, and now you're the assistant
city manager. You better watch yourself because he's he's. So. But it just shows we have opportunities here in the city for people. And that. And it's
important just like the just like Mayor Proto said, you know, we having opportunities for our residents is really important.
And then yeah. And, and what Commissioner Donato said about charter officials. Yeah, all the charter officials should be up here, including Mr. Pulos
and including the fire chief. So maybe we'll make some space for everybody. Okay. With that?
The meeting is adjourned at 841. Okay. Now let's let's take a little bit of a break. How much do you want? Whatever you want.
Okay. Let's take 15 minutes and come back in 15 minutes. Oh, I
don't need any time. All right, guys, everybody ready? What are
those? Crazy? I like them, but in stuff. If cranberries. Yeah,
we cleared out. Over here. Does anybody want. I called to order the Community Redevelopment
Agency meeting for the downtown Tarpon Springs redevelopment area. Tuesday, March 24th, 2026
at 8:51 p.m. Roll call please. Check here. Vice chair here. Commissioner. Yes, here. Commissioner DiDonato here.
Commissioner Banther here. Okay. We have two presentations. So city Manager, you want to start us off? Thank you. This is the requirement of their contract
for service to us is to report to us each quarter on how they're doing, give you an opportunity to ask them questions. And Casey is here to present for you're the vice
president of the organization. And we have she'll give you an update on their activities. Good evening. I'm here in place tonight of Kristie Howard, our president of the organization. And hopefully by our next
meeting, we will have our executive director in attendance as well. So for our first quarter, our big win, our big takeaway was we've hired an executive director, Don Hyatt. She actually started with us
about two weeks ago. She comes from Plant City. She was there for four years. In Chrissy's quarterly report, she identified some of those accomplishments that Don's had in her career so that we could
point those out to you guys. Would you mind? Karen? Sorry. I think we've got our financials on the next page. And when we looked at quarter one, we've really just got payroll. That
was our biggest takeaway this month was payroll bringing Don on board. The board also went to training with Florida Main Street. They were in New Port Richey last month. The state
came in and did board training, so we had five of our board members attend that conference. Currently, we are working on filling out the rest of our board seats. We've got a city
liaison seat that Charles is currently filling. We've got a seat for the Greek church. We've got a seat for property owners, we've got a resident seat, so we've chamber seat and
merchants. So we're really looking to kind of fill the board with different stakeholders from the community for Main Street. And if there's any questions you have, I was told to make it brief. So
hopefully that was brief. Like your book. Yeah. Nice. That's a CRA book. Yeah. It's not hers. That's on Main Street one. We'll take the kudos. John got your store though. Right on the
front. Commissioner, do you have any questions? I just want to say thank you for everything you and the board are doing. I realize this is purely volunteer, pretty much besides a few positions. And you guys
have businesses to run. You're doing the registry a lot of great things downtown. And I'm very happy that that that that that you're involved in Christie's involved. So thank
you very much. Thank you. Commissioner Di Donato. I too would very much like to thank you and encourage all your committee people and people that you worked with to let us know, you know, how this
commission can help. You've really helped our community, and I'm sure you're going to continue to do so. And as as others that you work with. So I just really appreciate it and want to thank you. Awesome.
Thank you. Commissioner. Yes, yes. I want to thank you, Casey, and all the board and just the business owners down at the downtown CRA and, you know, just Main Street because you
all come together, you take a lot of pride and passion in your work, and it shows in the community. And you know, the amount of people you guys bring here is just it's amazing. So thank you all your guys's show
and I know you'll take care of it. Thank you, vice Mayor. I think you have way too much free time on your hands, young lady. So I think you should be taking on a project more. I'm
just kidding. You know, I, I know that you're very hard working, and, you know, I just want to thank you for all that you do. I see you everywhere, and that's good, because that
way, you see, I'm everywhere with you. But no, I appreciate the fact that you're, you know, you have this city in your heart and you can it's easily seen by everybody. So, you know,
we're in good hands and thank you for what you do. Appreciate it. Thank you. So I concur. Thank you so much for all you do. I also want to thank the city manager for, you know,
bringing this Main Street idea to Tarpon Springs. I, I see it really it's really bearing fruit in our community coming
together. I actually went and had a attended the Saint Nicholas Parish Council meeting to inform them about the main
street and obviously the the president of the parish council came and visited us at City Hall and was working with. You know, I met with the merchants
and the. And obviously they want to put a member on your on your board. So it's really important now that we're all the communities coming together to, to coordinate, you know,
having again, the master calendar, some at some point where everybody knows what everybody's doing so that we don't have events at the same time and cannibalize each other,
that we're everybody's helping each other to prosper and, and succeed. And, and I thank you guys for, again, stepping up, like the commissioner said, as
a volunteer and, and such. So thank you. That's it. Thank you. It's nothing we're voting on on this matter. Okay. The next
item is the CRA annual report. So. Karen. I thank you. Karen Lemons, economic development
manager. I'm happy to be here tonight to present the CRA Annual report for Fiscal year 2025. So this is a look back to the prior year October 1st,
2024 to September 30th of 2025. The annual report is a statutory requirement of CRA that we provide the information with the financial statement
prior to March 31st. This is our downtown CRA. The boundaries are. Mirrors Boulevard on the south, the river to the north, and then it takes the central business
district on alternate 19 and the major downtown area from Spring Bayou. The eastern boundary is. Levis was created in 2001, has a 30 year life. We
do intend to request an extension from Pinellas County within the next year or so for. A ten year extension has about 230 acres, 600 tax parcels.
It's guided by our master plan, which I'll be talking about a little bit later. We're working on a refresh of that. And then the goals are to stimulate redevelopment and attract
private investment into the area. So business activity, one of the goals is obviously to attract new businesses and to help our existing businesses to
relocate, expand, make upgrades. So this is a sampling of some of the openings, relocations and expansions that we had in FY 25. Point out the baking
soda. She started out in a little upstairs room at the Taylor Arcade building, and she has now relocated in the past fiscal year to a freestanding storefront across from the
Greek church. She's doing really well, actually. She's she's getting out of that area because she needs more space already refined roots. Stay
tuned. Records and next picks are some other examples of our diverse businesses. Our incentive grants are major part of what we do in the CRA. We
have four of them the facade grant, the restaurant grant building code, and the mural grant. Each of these are 50% reimbursable, meaning that the applicant pays upfront and then
they're reimbursed at the end of the project, 50% and capped at various amounts. The facade is 10,000 for single story, 15 for two story. The restaurant
grant is 7500, as is the building code grant. For a two story. We offer 10,000 and then the photo mural grant is a 2500.
The facade grant. We had six grants approved and FY 25. This is the oldest and most popular of our grants. It started in 2011. We've had 104 grants approved during that time
period. 2015 we started the restaurant recruitment grant. At the time, we only had two restaurants that were open after five. We wanted to get some downtown nightlife. When
that started. We have had 22 so far and two grants approved in FY 25 2020. We started the building code grant to as an incentive for property owners
to do interior upgrades to their buildings for plumbing, electrical safety and fire suppression, those kinds of things. We've had 15 since that
grant started and two in FY 25. And then 2021, we had the mural grant. And on the right you see the pictures that used to be Dan's pawn Shop Boutique and
then Turpin Tavern. That's a picture from 2012 when the current owner first bought the property, and it's almost unrecognizable now. What it looks like, with help from
several facade and code grants he's received. So economic impact. We've had 141 projects over the 14 years, about
850,000 grant funds expended about 5.2 million in total private investment. And this number is derived from the value of the project that the applicants provide to us. A
very healthy return on investment, annualized ROI. And then the average grant amount is a little over 6000 per year. Or I'm sorry, per grant. Here
are a couple photos of the before and afters from FY 25. This is Tear Penney Department store. This is their Court Street entrance before and after. And this is the
restaurant grant that the baking soda received this past fiscal year. They got some new modern equipment that they needed upgrades to their electrical and plumbing. So
this is a water heater. And then Tarpon Tavern, they did an enclosure of their outdoor patio. And for that they were required to do air conditioning
for their for the enclosure. So they received a building code grant for that. And they also are looking to do a second project, potentially adding another story onto the top of
the patio enclosure. So the upgraded electrical will also work for their future needs. The projects that are ongoing now, the Tarpon Springs
Apartments. These are just down the street along Pinellas Avenue. It's eight unit multifamily building. This was built according to the SAP
standards. So you see that the project is up front, close to the street with the parking in the back and the porches. This helps to fulfill one of the goals of the C, r a that we add
more residential dwellings downtown and trying to fill in that that area between downtown and the sponge docks make the trail a little more pleasant for pedestrians and people.
Using the trail delivery guest house. You all have probably driven by this a million times. Coming here to City Hall. This picture on top was taken about a week ago. The rendering on the bottom of what it
eventually will look like. Eight room boutique hotel. It's an adaptive reuse of a contributing structure in our historic district. The developer has gone to a lot of lengths to keep the historic
preservation aspect of that building, keeping the original masonry vernacular and doing a lot of interior rebuild using sustainable design, preserving as much as possible some of the
interior fixtures and wood timber. They're doing some solar associated with it, and they're going to have an EV charging station. We also are
giving a CRA funded historic marker that will be put on the property when they have their grand opening. The Tarpon register, we talked about this
a little bit briefly, but just to look back on February of 25 is when we held the industry day to get interested parties to look at the development we did issue. Then in April, the
invitation to negotiate, we received three proposals, and in October of 25, the Tarpon Registry Group was awarded the proposal. The series providing
several incentives on this. One is the reimbursement of the winning proposals, development costs for their proposal and then ongoing now will be payment of permitting fees,
impact fees, and then at the time that the property is sold to them, the parcel will be offered at less than fair market value. And this is the
Noble Hearts Distillery. This is along the Pinellas Trail on South Pinellas and East Boyer. Another adaptive reuse, a Quonset hut building. The
construction progress on the left was taken about a week ago, and the artist's rendering on the right is what the project will look like when it's finished. The CRA provided both facade and building code grants
to help with this development. The facade grant, obviously, you can see a lot of work is needs to be done, and then the building code grant is for fire suppression. They're going to be sprinkling the entire
building. And then the Pinellas Trail properties came to the board very recently. These are 23 lots that are located along Safford Avenue and to the east
of Safford. They're owned by the county Housing Authority and the city. So the CRA will be purchasing 11 of those 23 lots. The 11 lots are the ones
that are located adjacent to Safford Avenue that are in the CRA. This project was identified in FY 25 and then the purchase of the properties
and eventual redevelopment will be taking place later. Downtown parking is always an issue and a challenge. A good one, I
guess. Over the years, for the last five years, the CRA has leased out for private parking lots for additional municipal parking, which resulted in 113
new spaces. In FY 25. We installed these blue municipal directional signs in areas throughout the downtown, so helping direct motorists to
where the parking is. Bulb outs are removed along the 200 block of East Tarpon Avenue, and then about 12 on street spaces were identified on East Court Street to help to provide additional
parking. And then just recently, the CRA installed free parking banners. These are on Orange Street, the orange and hibiscus lot to again help to identify to motorists that there is free
parking available. And you'll see more of these popping up as we get more produced. And then off site business signage for
for several. For a long time, merchants have been asking for off site signage, especially the stores and restaurants that are located off of East Tarpon
Avenue on Hibiscus, on Ring on Safford, and on alternate 19. So we did a project in the last fiscal year we installed on the existing poles these
directional signs, they list the street name and they list the names of the businesses and point to where they where they are. So this is a prototype. And when the new branding initiative is finished, we'll
be able to swap that out with a newer sign. Downtown Lighting. There will be a project coming up along North Avenue from Orange to Live Oak, to place
new lighting along the trail for extra lighting, pedestrian safety, and visibility. This, again is a project that the merchants have identified as
something that's needed when you cross Orange Street. It just looks dark. There's not a lot of lighting there, so this is going to help bring some visibility to the area. The
place to be by form, function and design. I think the city manager mentioned that in his comments. We're doing a refresh of the 2001 master plan, which we're identifying downtown infrastructure, infill,
beautification projects. It will give us an implementation matrix going forward. So each year during budget, we can look at the projects that we want to do in different phases and priorities for each year. It's
going to lay the groundwork for a ten year extension to the C r a. We looked at a gap analysis where what was done in 2001, what projects have been finished, what hasn't been finished, and what are the
projects that are still relevant that we want to do? We hired inspire Placemaking, and FY 25 had a lot of public engagement and stakeholder
meetings, and we have a final draft that will be reviewing within the week, and it'll be ready to come forward to you, I think, as the city manager said at a workshop in the next
coming weeks, and hopefully then we'll have it adopted in the next couple of months. City branding, you're all familiar with this. We're waiting for
approval on the final design and inspire. Inspire 365 degrees doing some marketing and other marketing plan for us
so we can launch this and move forward. And we expect that to be coming in the next couple of months. And then our historic markers, we now have 32 historic markers that commemorate the history of the
city that are located throughout the city. Within the C, r a, we have 15 local markers and two state historic markers. The state markers are at the top. The local markers
are the ones on the bottom and FY 25. The livery guest house applied for marker. They did receive the approval, as I mentioned, and then a future project that we're going to be working on and has been
identified in our master plan. Refresh is a walking tour to promote cultural tourism, to let people explore the city by learning about the preservation
and the history of the people and places that make this such a nice place to be. And then we have lots of festivals and events. Here's a list of them. The CRA does not provide any
funding for events. It's not an eligible expense. But we do encourage our partner organizations to chamber the merchants and Main Street to put on events, put on quality
events. They bring people downtown and it helps the city as a whole. And then just future projects. I mentioned our master plan refresh and
special area code amendments. The branding on the parking garage is still a discussion item, and we're hoping to keep moving that forward. Orange Street reconstruction will be there. They're in the planning
and design stages now. That project will start in FY 27. I mentioned the lighting project on Safford downtown Main Street. You heard an update on that. So we're excited to get the Main
Street going and partnering with them. West Tarpon Avenue property options. This is the the property on West Tarpon Avenue right by Spring Bayou, where the Community Development
Center is. And the city clerk. Several years ago, we did a highest and best use analysis on what to do with that property. Once the. Once it was purchased and there were other
priorities. So it hasn't gone anywhere. But we'll be bringing forward to you some potential RFP to see what we want to do with that property, and then alternate. 19 beautification
North and south. That continues. There will be a coming project on South alternate. 19 going down to Merritt Boulevard. Some extensive landscaping,
including Lemon Street. With that, I want to thank all of you on board for your encouragement and your support. Thank the business community and property owners for
everything that they do within the CRA and everything that they do for the city as a whole. Commissioner, do you have any questions or comments that that
was a very, you know, you know, robust report. Thank you. I at least from a real estate standpoint, I can say that that that the CRA grants are crucial for people and helping update
these buildings and get some new buyers in, as we've seen in, in light derelict buildings and improve as we've seen countless times downtown. And I hope that we can continue to work with the state and the county to
keep this moving forward. This was a great presentation, but unfortunately it's 912 at night and I doubt there's many people watching. So next year or whenever we have some, you know, something like this, I like to
find a way to have it in the beginning so people can see it. We had an auditorium full of people, and this would have been excellent things for them, for them to see. I mean, I didn't know some of this stuff
that's that's, you know, going on. So next time I like to rearrange some things, we can get more eyes on this. And also, this is the best piece of printed material I've ever seen, you know, you know, from the
city in my entire life. And I think it's excellent. I if we have extra copies, I'd like to have this in the clerk's office and not by our, you know, security guard guy. And then I think too, this should be a
template going forward. I'm not sure if this was your idea or who it was. Karen was your idea. This is excellent. I think we should do after we adopt our budget each year. It should be
in something. Obviously it has to be bigger than this, but something like this. This was very easy to read, captured attention and just clearly outlined everything. So this is a great product. Thank you.
Thank you. I have to give a shout out. She did the design. Who did Ali Ali. Well I can't draw a stick figure so it just impressed me. But this is an example of how we should do our
printed materials. And this is a great way to, to, to, to showcase stuff. So thank you Karen. Appreciate everything you do. Commissioner Donato I would, I would add on, I
certainly agree with what commissioner just said. I want to thank you, Karen and Charles. I want to thank you as well. Is that having the privilege of
being here when they first started to. Today, I'm seeing things happening more in the last few years and especially the last year or two than I've
seen in a long time. And it's encouraging. And I just want to keep this this group very active and going forward to make our town as beautiful as
we all know it is, and how much more beautiful it can be. So kudos to Charles and Karen. Thank you very much, Commissioner. Yes, yes, thank you, Mrs. LeMans. This
presentation was amazing. Charles, this was fascinating. I just want to touch up as there is a master street landscaping plan, you know, coming down. Alternate 19.
That's going to be done in the next several months. It does take some time as I spoke with the city manager. So it's going to look town's going to look beautiful. And once that all
gets taken care of, I like this distillery from that place that from the old heavenly era, I think it was. And so that is the start of that trail that we talked about and all the
different properties that we purchased. And I just want us to strongly, progressively push this and implement it as soon as possible to maybe incur
other, you know, grants opportunities or, you know, for anybody else over there because that area is going to change and for the well-being. And also, I'll bring it up now with, you know, we had that one
special presentation where Mr. Grimm came and, you know, he has some properties and he has some ideas. But as this land development, the CRA gets
developed in that area, I want us to communicate with him because he's got some two valuable properties. And however, you know, it serves the city. I just want to get him involved. That way he
doesn't go about creating something that falls outside of our special area plan and our goals for what we want, because it's, it's all going to tie
together and. Other than that, just thank you and I appreciate the report. Thank you ma'am. Vice mayor. Thank you mayor.
Yes. Thank you. It was short and concise, so looks good. I actually know quite a few of the grants that went down and
they were extremely helpful. My question to you is, can all four of the grants be for one location? Yes. Okay. The beauty
of that is bundling them together. So we've had sponge City Brewing is an example. We have a big project like that. They use the facade grant for the facade. They use the restaurant grant for their
kitchen equipment. And they use the building code grant for their Ada bathroom. Okay. So yes, they can get all three. So in my whereabouts, there are a
lot of people, when I speak about this, they're completely unaware of these grants. Is there any way possible that we
can send out a flier, a notification or some sort of information to let people know that these for grants exist?
Because like I honestly, the baking soda had no idea about this. I spoke to her about it and there were a few others that in here, I don't want to
go through the list that when I spoke to them, they said, we had no idea about that. So I guess if you're coming in and you're new and you're building something new, maybe you get
all the information. But I think to have this valuable piece of information is, is more important to get it to all the people that could utilize
this grant. So I leave that to you. Thank you. My question also is, since these are 30 year projects, what do we do when it's at the end of the 30
years? Do we extend it again? Do we end the project? What do we do with the money that's left over? I'm curious on that kind of thing. Okay, so if it
ends in 2031. So if we do not get the extension, we will know that ahead of time. We have to put together a succession plan for those funds. Okay. The only
other thing that I have for you is in that lighting on Safford and on the trail. I've requested numerous times at Forward Pinellas to have a
motion sensor put prior to the flashing lights that we have on Tarpon Avenue, and any place else that we have, can we put a set of motion sensors? So as
people are approaching or with their bicycles, that it sets it off so they don't have to stop to press the button? It would really, you know, I'm sure
everybody up here has seen these bicycles go 30 miles an hour zipping across top and avenue. And it's, it's just a mass. Hit the brake because
you're going to hit the person. So, you know, it's, it's the normal bicycle riders stop. It's the ones in the skintight suits. They have no, no, no
reason to stop. And they're just flying across. So if we can put a motion sensor there, I'd like to. I know I asked this about the forward Pinellas
and they have a protocol. They got to ask this one and the fDOT has to have it. It's ridiculous. So, you know, I've kind of given up trying to speak to them about that. But
because we have our own city, we can actually do whatever we want. So I would like to get ahead with that. Okay. We'll pass that along. Thank you. Mayor. I just want to say I
talked to the city manager about potentially some bike enthusiasts that want a bike tracker somewhere in that corridor on the trail, as people bike through, it counts the bikes. And it's a cool
incentive to get people to ride the Tarpon Springs and back or through it one way. So we could just try to look at something like that. And device counter. Yeah, it's like a bike device counter, but it looks. Yeah,
but it looks like it has a cool display to it. And it shows the number of people have come through and it get interest to people to bike through here too. To be part of that counting thing too. It's like a
decorative, you know, addition. Okay, okay. All done. I'm good. Okay, so I really appreciate
your presentation. I, I, this, I, this is a great piece right here. It's really nice. It's got my favorite store on the
front. So. Well, what are you laughing about? So let's, you know, on the walking tour, you
know, I, I was up in Boston and, you know, they have the Freedom Trail, you know, where they, you, you follow these, there's like bricks that are put into
the sidewalk and they go to all the different historic places and there's markers there. There's actually a QR, QR codes
that you can get on your phone and get information about things and all that stuff. And, you know, would be nice at some point to have something in tarpon where you could and
again, promoting healthy living, where people are encouraged to walk. It's not that far to walk through downtown. It's not that far to get down to the sponge docks, you know, again, we
maybe we need to work on some of the sidewalks and things to get it more inviting to walk. Also the planting of trees so that it's it's cooler to walk,
especially in the summer. But, you know, we could definitely work on something like that since we're talking about the trail and bikes, I'm going to
be asking the city attorney to help us research. What regulations and ordinances that we can pass to regulate some of
these e-bikes and how they're handled. I know Clearwater has they actually are pretty strict on their restrictions on, you know, children being able to
ride in the streets on e-bikes that are unlicensed. And they they do cause a lot of trouble on the trail as a, as a runner.
And as, and I understand, and I know even even the guys who like to bike on the trail, they can't compete with an e-bike that's coming, you know, 25 miles an hour, you know, even a
good biker, you know, Lance Armstrong can't maintain that that speed. Okay. And so they're flying. And, and the thing about bikers that are
serious bicycle riders, they, they know protocol and they know rules and they know how to, to navigate up and down the trail. But these kids do not
and they're flying and they're, you know, I won't run on the trail and I know all the, all the, I, I belong to a running group and they won't go on the trail. It's just gotten too
dangerous. So that, you know, we, again, we need to look at what we can do to help regulate that. And they're like all over the sidewalks downtown. I saw
bikers there in front of your store riding bikes up the sidewalk, and they're all and they're kids and they're, you know, they're just out of control. I mean, I came out of
my gym and opened up the door, and one just came flying by one step. And I would have been, you know, vice mayor would have been in charge. So yeah, so
that alone should get you to pass the. I have an answer for you. Well, you ain't getting a chance to answer. So anyways, so and as far as like parking,
you know, we, you know, it, it's, it's a delicate thing because, you know, we, we're. A lot of the communities in our,
in our area have gone to private, public, private partnerships where private developers have built the parking garages and their lease back its Dunedin, New Port
Richey. And, you know, we we're trying to get that cultivated. We've got some impediments with
some of the people that own the properties that are there now. You know, and anyway, so that it's. So I think what we're going to end up probably having
to do is go baby steps, kind of like what City Manager Lucas wanted to do all along is let's find some more surface parking. We also have the parking behind
the flagship bank that's not utilized enough. So I'm glad you guys are going to do better signage to get people there. We need to have the sidewalk, the,
the streets and the, the you navigate. Once you park over there, you're kind of like, how do I get to downtown? Even though, you know, it's, it's just, you know, less it's a pitching wedge from the parking
lot to get over to downtown. But you, you aren't sure exactly where to walk. So especially you don't want to cross a Pinellas going like
towards the, the old City Hall building. You don't want to go across that street because there's really not a place to go. But you see people trying to navigate and rush across the street. So I think we need to
work on ways to get people downtown from and utilize that parking. There's 75 spots, I believe, there. So that's and they're and they're not
utilized. And then as far as the future of the Cra's, I had a coffee with Commissioner Eggers and we were talking
about the effects of the no tax on homes and what it's going to do and cra's like low hanging fruit so that it definitely
would from the commissioner's standpoint, he thought that that was going to impact what monies that the county would be have available to give us for CRA. So that's something for
people to keep in mind when, if, if in fact, that shows up on the on the referendum and. That's it. Thank you very much.
Thank you, thank you. I had some answers. Thank you for all the suggestions, I appreciate it. I appreciate it. I have I have an answer for your questions that you had asked if you're interested about what?
Well, the e-bike rule and regulation law, but they're trying to pass is if you're within 50ft of a pedestrian, you have to drop the speed down to ten miles per hour. The
problem that's coming into play is how to enforce it. And of all of the trail, it's the Tarpon police that have been doing the best of the jobs of
all of the, you know, when when forward Pinellas has those days of of enforcement. It's always Tarpon Springs that has the most stops, the most
information and whatnot. But they're trying to do licenses to kids and they're also trying to, like I said, if you're within 50ft of somebody that's a pedestrian, you need to bring
it down to ten miles an hour. The issue they have is just how do you enforce it on a sidewalk anywhere? Okay. That's the new law that they passed, right?
That's enforcement. Yeah. You know, I wanna make a personal comment. You know, we have we
have right now 50% of our youth is either diabetic or pre-diabetic. Okay? We have our we are unhealthy. Okay. So now
we got kids. And this is to all you parents that want to indulge your children and buy them these expensive e-bikes. And it goes for adults as well.
But our kids are not exercising. They're now they're on. So now they have their video games that they're involved in. And now instead of actually riding
a bicycle, now they're going to be on an electric bike. It's going to get this is going to get worse. You want to talk about, you know, how we can really go off on a tangent, but you want to talk about the
health care system. It's going to go bankrupt as long as we are unhealthy. And this just adds to that problem. Okay. So and and you want to go on, get
a bicycle, go, go to a bike shop, get yourself a bicycle and pedal. It's much better for you. Trust me. Okay. With that said, thank you so much. On
that positive note. So let's go to board and staff comments. And anybody down the road you assistant chief. All right.
Okay. City attorney, city manager, just to mention that the Safford Avenue lots, they're the they're at the Housing Authority Board this month. So we our intention is
to bring it to you next month to authorize that purchase. Okay. Awesome. Thank you, city Clerk Commissioner Banther, I do use an e-bike for, for for
turkey hunting, but that's it. Turkey hunting. That's just me. That's just being lazy. I won't catch me riding around town in one, you know, I take my truck.
Commissioner De Donato, Commissioner Gulyas, you know, it's pretty discouraging when you're busting your butt on one of them bikes going 14, 15 miles an hour and you see some,
you know, an individual who's, I guess, out of shape to say the least, you know, or cruising 30 miles an hour past you and you're just like, whoa, you get deflated. Pedal pedal
that. Yeah. Thank you. No further comments, vice mayor. So as a bike defender. All I'm
going to say to you is if you want to have exercise, there's 5 or 6 controls. You could pedal your tail off those things. Those bikes are 70 pounds. All you got to do is
once run out of battery and you will have some exercise rope pedaling home. But know you could control how much you want the motor to work versus how much you want the pedal. You
have to be on it to understand what it's about. It's not just a, you know, you could use it as a motorcycle, as an electric bike, but you know, if you have some brains, you put it in
stage two or stage three, you pedal some and you use some electric to compensate so that we're not 18 years old anymore. That's all I want to say. All
right. Okay, so I have I'm ordered to announce the eggstravaganza. Where's this at? Sports complex. The sports
complex? At what time? 10 to 1, 10 to 1. So bring your children out to do the egg hunts and have fun, and they'll be a big bunny. I mean, the big bunny
before was was our city manager still. Are you going to do the bunny? No. Yeah. All right. On.
On that note, meeting adjourned. 932. Trusted. My kids don't need that. That was a good one.
Really well. And stuff like. I need something to snack on like.