Are you ready, guys? Yeah. Should we just go by that time?
With them? Okay. Okay. I now call to order the regular session. Meeting of the Board of Commissioners of the City of
Tarpon Springs on Tuesday, March 25th, 2025 at 6:32 p.m. Miss Jacobs, roll call, please. Mayor coleus here. Vice Mayor Giuliani's here. Commissioner
Eisner here. Commissioner DiDonato. Here. Commissioner Banther. Here. Tonight's invocation will be given by myself. If everyone can please
stand and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. Heavenly father, we come to you today asking for your guidance,
wisdom, and support as we begin this meeting. Help us engage in meaningful discussion. Allow us to grow closer as a group and nurture the bonds of the community. Please always look
out for the blessings of Tarpon Springs as we all come together to make decisions in the best interest for everyone. Please keep us blessed. Watch over all of us and thankful for this
opportunity for all of us to come together as one to talk about our great city. Thank you. Amen. Amen. 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. We have two announcements. Item 17 Ratification of Tabitha Atkins as Human Resources director has been added to tonight's agenda.
And item 18 Saint Nicholas Resurrection Service. Orthodox Easter has been withdrawn. There has been a communication between the applicant and city staff for this year and moving forward as
well. So first, we will begin with the first proclamation of the day, which is Greek Independence Day. Parade. Is
Miss Georgia Fotopoulos here? We don't have our microphone today. That's alright. So what we're
going to do? And first I do want to say I, I don't care what side of the
political aisle anyone is on. We did have President Trump at the Greek Independence Day proclamation in Washington, DC, did recognize or did recognize our beautiful city of Tarpon
Springs when he said, from Philadelphia to the world famous Tarpon Springs. And yes, you know about Tarpon Springs, Florida. So I just want to say it's an honor for our city to be
recognized by the president at this time. So thank you. City of Tarpon Springs, Florida
proclamation. Whereas March 25th, 2025 marks the 204th anniversary of the start of the Greek War of Independence, where the Greeks rose up for the cause of 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 celebrated by Greeks around the world with their public gatherings and parades, in the United States, where Greeks have made their homes.
And whereas today and every day we celebrate the unbreakable bonds of friendship shared by the United States and the Hellenic Republic, and continue to draw strength from the ideas
put forth in the example set by our two countries. And whereas Sunday, March 23rd, 2025 has been chosen for the Greek Independence Day parade in the city of Tarpon Springs, and
Whereas this year marks the 37th year anniversary of the organized celebration and parade between the city of Tarpon Springs and the Greek Independence Day Parade Committee. And Whereas Greek and
Greek immigrants have celebrated Greek Independence Day in Tarpon Springs since the early 1900s, with parades and gatherings. Now, therefore, I. Panagiotis Kollias, by virtue of the
authority vested in me as mayor of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, do hereby proclaim March 25th, 2025, as the 204th anniversary of Greek
Independence Day. There you go. Miss Florida. Would you like to say a few words? I'd like to say something on behalf of the Greek Independence Day committee, I
would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Mayor Julia. The Commissioner, the and the Tarpon Springs Committee for this meaningful proclamation recognizing Greek Independence Day. This gesture honors not
only the rich history and enduring spirit of the Greek people, but also the contributions of Greek Americans to our community and to this great nation. We deeply appreciate your continued support and recognition of our
heritage. Thank you once again, mayor. The Tarpon Springs Committee and your helpful administration office for standing with us in celebration of freedom, democracy and
cultural pride. Zito, Yolanda. Long live Greece and God bless
America! Thank you. What would you. Next? We're going to have
hometown heroes proclamation. And I would like young man Kaiser Campbell to come on up.
Sir, please. All right. So I met Kaiser when we had the two hurricanes. There was we obviously have our Tarpon
Springs community page. And I saw this young man go above and beyond to make sure to let the residents know he was there, to help, there to give his muscle with his friends, to be there
and help everybody who was in need during the hurricanes and the recovery process. And so I got to see him around town and I said, good job, sir. You know, we're seeing you everywhere and
you're out making a difference in the community. And I thought about it. I said, if there was a way for me to give this young man an award to recognize him and future young men and women to help lead the community, I
wanted to do that. And so I did find out there was a way. And so as my last meeting, I told Kaiser, please come on up on this day and we're going to recognize you as being a
hometown hero and helping out your community. The City of Tarpon Springs, Florida
proclamation honoring hometown heroes. Whereas hometown heroes are people who go above and beyond, exhibit unparalleled dedication and selflessness, demonstrating that even in the face of disaster, individuals
can make a profound impact on the lives of others and their community. And whereas, through their actions, these heroes inspire all Tarpon Heights to believe in their ability to
effect positive change, serving as role models and beacons of hope during challenging times. And Whereas this year, the City of Tarpon Springs is proud to honor a young man, Kaiser
Campbell, who has shown extraordinary commitment to the community by assisting countless citizens in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and Milton, embodying the true spirit of
heroism. And whereas, by honoring our hometown heroes, we celebrate the strength, courage, and generosity that define the character of our city. And we encourage and we encourage all
residents to aspire to such noble qualities. Now, therefore, I, Panagiotis Kollias, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, do hereby
proclaim the week of March 23rd through March 29th, 2025 as Hometown Heroes Week. Here you go, Mr. Campbell. Thank you for
the words. I just want to say thank you to everyone who supported me and especially my parents, my mom, her car, my dad losing his car. Just all the support for giving back to the
community. And I just want to thank you guys.
Next, we have a resolution honoring a great man who served so much to his community. Mr. Alfred Quarterman senior. And we
have the family. Look at the amount of people here. Look at the amount of people here. This is just a blessing to be able to read this resolution in front of
everyone. This man, when you hear his story. He was born in Tarpon Springs, made a couple ventures outside the area, but was able to come back and give back to his community
tremendously. So members of the family, we have a couple extra pieces, and whoever would like
to be someone who would like to receive the proclamation.
Please everyone, just take a moment to listen to this man who just did so much for this community. Resolution 20 2525
City of Tarpon Springs, Florida. Resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida. Extending the city's deep and heartfelt sympathy on the passing of Alfred Corderman senior. Whereas Alfred Corderman
Senior was born in Tarpon Springs, Florida, to Idalia Willie and Richard Quarterman. He attended Union Academy, where he completed his early education. He attended Pinellas
High School in Clearwater, Florida, as there were no high schools at that time in Tarpon Springs for African Americans, and graduated in 1947. After graduation, he relocated to New
York City and enlisted in the Army. He served four years, which included two years in combat in Korea, and Whereas Alfred Quarterman senior. After being discharged, he returned to
New York City and married his wife, Hazel Oliver, in attempt to begin a career. He attended Kubic Tailoring School. While attending school, he was
employed by a dry cleaner which was part of tailoring. During this time, Alfred and Hazel began to start their family after realizing that tailoring was not an open field for African Americans, he decided to
choose another avenue to better support his family. And Whereas Alfred Quarterman Senior was then employed by the New York City Transit Authority as a bus operator, he was promoted to a
dispatcher, then transferred to budget control. During his tenure in budget control, he was promoted to superintendent, which eventually led him to the position of Director of
Managerial Payroll, from which he retired in November 1990. And Whereas Alfred Quarterman, senior after retirement relocated his family to Florida,
he reinstated his membership with Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church and began to work with the youth and young adults for a short period of time. Under the leadership of Reverend
Willie Edwards, he was made an honorary deacon and Whereas Alfred Quarterman Senior visited Rose Cemetery and upon visiting and seeing the deplorable condition of the cemetery, he
was spiritually led and motivated to, quote unquote, do something about it. Due to his persistence and determination, along with working with the late Janie Wilson and the board of
directors at that time, Rose Cemetery is now listed as a state historical site, the only black historical cemetery in Pinellas County. His ultimate
goal was to see Rose Cemetery acquire national registry status, which it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places March 2017. And
Whereas Alfred Quarterman Senior, along with Rose Cemetery, was also dedicated to helping in the Union Academy neighborhood, he was the coordinator of the Paint and
Rehab program. This program allowed him to assist in painting and rehabilitation of over 70 homes in the community. He also served on the Tarpon Springs Historical Society
board. Mr. Quarterman enjoyed what he did free heartedly and strictly voluntarily. Now, therefore, be it resolved by the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida,
that the Board of Commissioners, with profound regret and sorrow, extend heartfelt sympathies to the family members, namely Hazel E Quarterman, wife. Alfred E
Quarterman, son, and Leslie G. King, daughter. Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be spread upon the minutes of the City Commission, and that a copy be transmitted to the family of Alfred
Quarterman, senior, the State of Florida Department of Archives, and the Tarpon Springs Historical Site Society. Passed and adopted this 25th day of
March, 2025. Here you go, ma'am. Congratulations.
I was just telling, ma'am, I've. I've never seen an applause like this. This this was amazing. It was very breathtaking. Ma'am, would you like to say a few
words? I would just like to thank everyone that supported the family during his illness. I just can't thank you enough for
all of you that came out tonight. I appreciate each and everyone that participated in whatever I needed and they were
helped to me and my family. Thank you for coming. Thank you. Thank you so much. We're actually we're going to go back
to our seats now. We'll take some public comments on these proclamations as they were
definitely important. Thank you. We will now go to comments on the resolution for Alfred
Quarterman, please. Here. Yes, sir. We didn't have a mic today.
I had to do my little improv, but it was good. You did good.
My name is Glenn Davis. My address is 444 Pine Street, Tarpon Springs, Florida. I'd like to thank the commission for the acknowledgment that they
gave to Mr. Quarterman tonight. And I would also like to ask and encourage the city. They can do more to recognize a man that
unselfishly gave a lot. I'm quite sure that there were times that him and Mrs. Quarterman might have had some words, because he was late for dinner
or missed dinner altogether, because he was out giving of his time, and to my knowledge and recognition, everything that he did was without pay. This man
showed a lot to the city of Tarpon Springs and to Rose Hill Cemetery, and I just feel that the city could do a little bit more in some type of
acknowledgment for what he's contributed to this city of Tarpon Springs. Thank you. Thank
you sir. Are there any other public comments? How are you doing,
man? We're making it all right. Your lack is 514 Ashland Avenue. I can say I didn't know. Mr.
Quarterman, as many of you do. But I think, as Glenn said, it's time to do something more. And I was thinking about this before. I thought about it before, even
when I used to stand up here to help Annie Debs ask for an African American museum. Now,
the city foreclosed on William Emerson's property there. Over. What is it on Oakwood Street and Levis. And they saved some of it. And for many years she came
here and I supported putting a museum there. The city's got the land to do it. But here's the bigger inequity that I've seen over the years. And maybe it's
time to be rectified. As Glenn said, a bigger step, a bigger step. I don't know all the intricacies that go on between
the Rose Cemetery Foundation and various peoples. I don't care about that. What I do care about is that finally the city steps
up and let's have some equality. You work out an agreement. We're. Buy or purchase or lease the cemetery, and we treat it
just like we do. Saichania, just like we do Saichania you drive, I go visit my mom and dad and my aunts and uncles, guys out there
on the mower. Everything's nice and clean. It's all purdy. And these people, because of the inequalities from the past, have had to struggle. Pennies, dimes,
nickels, quarters, fundraisers, whatever to pay to fix up their cemetery. It's time to do it right and get it right. You want
to honor Mr. Quarterman? You want to honor Annie Davis. You want to honor Willie Emerson. Do it the right way. You put in you
you get Rose Cemetery under city management for the maintenance, and we work on getting that African American museum where Willie Emerson owned the
property. And it was between him and the churches. There was a church there back and forth as I looked at the records and again, I don't know all the history, so
I beg my ignorance, but I'm pleading to you now because you are the community that is affected, and I can't do it
alone. And he's dead. William's dead. We need your help. God bless you all. Are there any
other public comments for the memoriam resolution? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no comments. Thank you. It
we will now go to public comments on items that will not be on not be discussed on tonight's agenda. Please state your name and address for the record, and you will be given four minutes to speak and two
minutes to speak. If you are on zoom. Athena Sardelli 634 East Orange, scandalous 935 Bayshore
Drive and 627 Bayshore Drive. Happy birthday mayor. I want to do. Thank you. It's the mayor's birthday today, so I thought
we'd all join in and sing Happy Birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. Mr.
Panayotis. Happy birthday to you. You got a cake for you too.
All right. This is a. My last meeting as mayor on my birthday. You can't make this stuff up. You know. I got one more.
Really? We. Yeah. We got one more small meeting on the eighth. You are hungry. We have to ensure that we have to zoom in a little bit. That's actually
really cool. Wow, this is beautiful. So nice. Sponger helmet. Oh. Thank you Phil.
Thank you all so much. It's really an honor. Thank you. Yes. So now everyone can go eat it in
the back while we get to work. Let them eat cake. Okay. Thank.
Yep. And there's two legged rodents back there. There we.
Are. There any other public comments?
Okay. Hello. Jane Harrington, 1021 Jamaica Way, Tarpon Springs. Might want to hold up a second. It's. Yeah, it's kind of noisy. We'll just wait a minute
while we get things to calm down. If this doesn't go against your time, don't worry. No. We
could eat cake. It looked really good.
Okay, Mr. Mayor, commissioners and city manager, the election is now over. I would like to publicly thank Commissioner Eisner for running for office.
He has risen above the noise that continued and continued to represent the people of Tarpon Springs. He has always made himself available to all citizens. He has provided
tremendous support to the people during hurricanes and the aftermath. He should be proud that he is a board member elected to his seat by the
voters twice. Commissioner Eisner remains true to his word, focusing on improvements for all of Tarpon Springs. Mr. Mayor, it's unfortunate, in my opinion,
that you are not continuing in the mayor's seat. You have done a wonderful job in keeping the city focused on tangible improvements that will carry us into the future. Thank you for
what you have achieved as a mayor in such a very short time. I do look forward to your continued influence as you return to Commissioner position for this new term. Thank you,
thank you and happy birthday. Thank you, thank you.
Katie Taylor, 1991 Douglas Lane, Tarpon Springs, Florida. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for recognizing Mr. Quarterman. That was beautiful, beautiful. And I'm so thankful he got honored here
tonight. And maybe we can see future things that we can do to honor him. I wanted to address Mr. Gaddis's comments, though, about the city and Rose Cemetery, but I want to thank
the city for bringing garbage cans, putting all new garbage cans around Rose Cemetery. So thank you all for helping us. The city has opened a gate on the side where we have access to
go to the dumpster. The city has put Rose Cemetery on for the cleanup that we have. They helped us during the hurricane and they put a dumpster out there for us. They also have
regular rounds for the city maintenance guy to come and pick up the garbage and some old cemetery. So Rose Cemetery, if you haven't been out there
lately, it might have been a while since you've been there, Mr. Gaddis, but I invite people to stop through there because we are doing a we are doing a we are improving Rose cemetery with the maintenance that's being done. And I want to personally
thank the city for the part that y'all are doing to help Rose Cemetery. Whenever we call for y'all to help us. Thank you.
Thank you ma'am. Happy birthday mayor. Thank you, Sir David Ballard Geddis Jr I live on Georgia Avenue down the street in Palm Harbor. Tonight
I'd like to talk about the phosphate mining industry, the phosphate, the mosaic phosphate mining company, held a public meeting in Plant City earlier
this month on March 11th, to inform us that they intend on injecting the wastewater from their phosphate mining operations into the ground. The
Mosaic Phosphate company wants to take the same type of toxic sludge that the Piney Point disaster spilled into Tampa Bay and pump their toxic wastewater
into the ground, infecting the groundwater with the caustic waste fluids of their phosphate mining operations. The mosaic phosphate mining has unearthed
nearly half of central Florida in search of nitrogen based fertilizer and raw material that is ultimately refined into the making of plutonium, desecrating
the Florida landscape. In its process. The phosphate mining has proven to be a horrible steward of the Florida's eco structure. When the mosaic
industry tries to explain their logic of injecting caustic, noxious, corrosive phosphate wastewater into a confined layer of the aquifers substrate, what
could possibly go wrong? Trust me, I don't trust them or their chemistry. Intermixing chemicals or components into a confined, salty, saline or brine like
substrate of the aquifer could very well cause a chemical reaction underground. Using the salty substrate as a catalyst, causing things underground to
react, causing gases to build up, causing an expansion of such or an eruption, possibly even an explosion underground. Once the
phosphate water is interjected underground, such potential catalyst will remain in the substrate indefinitely, interjecting toxins. Possible
carcinogens causing gases to build up underground could cause an explosion. It's all a ticking time bomb just waiting to go off. I feel as though we have a
possible national security issue in regards to the phosphate industry. Injecting wastewater into the substrate. Thank you.
Thank you sir. Good evening mayor. Council members, my name is Tanya Khoury. My husband and I own Acropolis Greek Taverna on
the sponge Docks, and I'm here tonight to advocate for preserving the unique charm, character and economic stability of the sponge. Ma'am. Are we are you referring to the this food
truck? Yes. Where? If you could save those comments for that item. But you're more than welcome to talk about anything that's not on the agenda just for general public comments, so I apologize. So point of order.
So when the item comes up then you open it up for comments. Yes, ma'am. And every single item. Wow. That's fantastic.
Thank. And we like compliments. Okay. Parallax 514 Ashland Avenue. I picked this one out
for you, Mike Samuel eight, titled Israel Asks for a King. When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel, but his sons did not
walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Rama. And they
said to him, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your way. Now appoint to king to lead us such as all the other nations have. But when they said this,
give us a king to lead us. This displeased Samuel. So he prayed to the Lord, and the Lord told him, listen to all that the people are saying to you, it is not you. They have rejected as
their king, but me as they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods. So they are doing to you.
Now listen to them, but warn them solemnly, and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do to them. Samuel told all the words of the
Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. And he said, this is what the king who will reign over you will do. He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in
front of the chariots. Some he will sign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of 50s, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves, and give them to his attendants. He will take a 10th
of your grain and of your vintage, and give it to his officials and attendants, your menservants and maidservants, and the best of your cattle and donkeys. He will take for his
own use. They will take a 10th of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the Lord you have chosen, and the
Lord will not answer you in that day. But the people refused to listen to Samuel. No, no, no, they said, we want a king over us. Then we will all be like all
the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles. And when Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. And the Lord
answered him, listen to them, and give them a king. Y'all can think about that later now. So elections last week. I have to give you a little recap for
people you can verify with Elaine. Irene. Sorry. My mistake. We have about 18,000 registered voters, 791 votes for
Mister Eisner, 721 for Miss Frances. That comes out to about 1500. You divide that by 18,000, you come out to 8.4%. Mister
Eisner got 4.39%, and Miss Frances got 4%. So again, disinterest in elections, no bus
to Mister Eisner. Congratulations. But he was elected by less than 5% of the registered voters. It's just
sad. And then I spoke to Irene about it, and I mentioned it previously. With the way this legislature is going, the way they passed the law, that after the last November election, if you had a mail in ballot, they
wiped it out. You had to go back and reregister. And a lot of people didn't know that. A lot of people didn't. So if you look at our numbers compared to what we normally have mail in ballots
versus what we got, pitiful. So elections matter. Who you put up in Tallahassee makes these stupid laws. How they restrict
us, how they do this. Just just be thoughtful. Thank you. Are
there any other public comments? DNA 124 Athens Street, Tarpon Springs. Hello, everyone. Mr.
Mayor, my nephew. Happy birthday. Hello, everybody. Mr. Eisner, congratulations, Mr. Collins. Congratulations. And Mr. Glass, congratulations.
Before I begin, everything I want to say, my nephew Panagioti, you have done an outstanding job. Be proud of yourself and how much you've
accomplished in such a short time. And with everything that has happened, I don't think anyone could have done a better job than you. So be proud of
yourself and what you have shown this town that you've done. Now I want to talk about when you recognize people in this town
and give proclamations. It's so wonderful how you always have a personal story to show. Like when it was Don Tacos or
Johnny's Tap House, or the spot you made a personal. You made it personal. It was so emotional. You had a personal story to share. It wasn't just now. It went back ten years ago, or it
went back to your childhood, growing up with Tori or what it was. And that's what shows you're a people's person. You're a true person of Tarpon Springs.
You show that you love this town. You showed diversity. You showed energy to this town, and your smile brightened up this
town. And every picture of the chamber at every ribbon cutting. You shined more than the sun. Now I want to go back to the
night you were appointed. It was a very disturbing night for many of us. You had two of your peers support you and one that didn't.
And it was disturbing because I don't know the reasoning. Maybe it was because you were a young man so determined. Or maybe it was your demeanor or your
determination. But this board is about teamwork. It's about working together and working within. And but he wanted an outsider, and that's fine. But
at the end, it all worked out. But remember, you are all here to work together as a team. First work within, then work
your way out. Also, when you're making decisions, make the decisions for the best and what's best for the town and how we're going to show progress and
how we're going to put this town on the map. Because you guys can do a great job. You guys have done a great job these past few months and keep up the good
work. I love you, you've done a great job and we are all proud of you. Thank you, thank you,
thank you. Are there any other public comments? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no
comments. Thank you. We will now go to consent agenda items. Item four A Attorney Fees Unit.
Salzman PA invoice 861704B Johnson Jackson PE, LLC. Invoice 144775. A Special Events night
in the Islands 2020 55B Special Events Easter Extravaganza 2025 item six renew file number
220139-C, j l Security Equipment System Services item seven increase File number 240092-NAS.
L dash flow line parts and services. Item eight ratify file number 250145. Dash n dash j l single source purchase of legal
and promotional advertising. Item nine increase file number 220153. Dash c a s wireless data, voice and parts. Item ten
increase file number 240118. Dash n dash a s single source purchase of O. Vivo slash e I,
MCO oem parts and Services. Item 11 approve Novation for file number 230176 dash. C dash a s fire equipment, Supplies and
services. Item 12 increase file number 240123-C-JL. Maintenance, repair and operations MRO Equipment and Supplies. Item 13
Award file number 250121. Dash n Dash H. Single source purchase of Ford original equipment manufacturer OEM automotive
Parts and Services. Item 14 two four Dash plc. Dash 16 Tarpon Springs Public Library construction grant agreement amendment. Item 15 Award. Award
file number 250149. Dash C, Dash h tires and related equipment. Item 16 Award file number
250141-, p h. Fire extinguisher and hood suppression services commissioners. Are there any items you would like to pull?
What a. Commissioners on either side. Any other items? Okay, we will now go to public comments
on items for consent agenda items four B through 16. Are there any public comments on those consent agenda items? It
are there any zoom comments? There are no comments. Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to approve consent agenda items four B through 16. So
moved. Second, there are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner. Panther. Yes. Commissioner. DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner.
Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Kelly. Yes, mayor. Yes, yes. Item four A Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Thank you. Mayor. I'm not sure everybody knows this, but since
I've been a commissioner now, it's dating back three years. I have kept tabs of the attorney's fees. Every single bill, every
single month. And this is my point where I wanted to thank Attorney Salzman for not only being there to answer all of the
staff's whims on a, on a, on an emergency basis, on a regular basis. But he's also done this at a economical to the city
rate. Some people work because of the love of their job. Some people work for the finances, and I did want to just call him out and explain that. I have
watched him in action, and I've watched all the attorneys in action, and he has done an amazing job and done it at a very efficient rate to the city. So I just want to thank you for
that. Thank you, thank you. Are there any public comments on item four A. It are there any zoom comments? There are no
comments. Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to approve consent agenda item four a second. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Mr. Banther. Yes,
Commissioner. DiNardo. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Culianu's. Yes, yes, yes, we are now going to business.
Items of the day. Item 17 ratification of Tabitha Atkins as Human Resources director. And we have City Manager Charles Retzer. Thank you. Mayor. Yes,
we went through an extensive application process. We had several hundred applicants for that position. And Paul Smith did a great job of narrowing it down. And then with the panel, we narrowed it to about a dozen
and did zoom interviews to narrow that further to four. Two of those dropped out, finding other opportunities. And then we interviewed the last two here in
town, and we selected Tabitha based on her qualifications and her how she got along with the group. And just we think she'll be a great fit for the staff. We recommend approval. Thank you sir. That's great to hear. Are
there any public comments on this item? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no comments. Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to
approve business item 17 ratification of Tabitha Atkins as Human Resources Director. So moved. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll
call please. Commissioner. Panther. Yes, Commissioner. Donato. Yes, Commissioner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes, mayor. Yes, yes. Item 18. Saint
Nicholas resurrection service. Orthodox Easter has been withdrawn. We are now going to
item 19, appointment to Tarpon Springs Housing Authority board. City clerk. Can you take it from here? Yes. Thank you. So we received a notice from the
Housing Authority that the resignation of Martin G. Cola, who was a regular member, and Jillian Joy Jackson Torres, who was a resident member, had
resigned. So they're asking to appoint the two applications they forwarded us, that is, to appoint Karen Gallagher to fill the unexpired term of Martha Marty Jean Cola. Regular member.
This term expires November 22nd, 2025, and appoint Katherine Blevins to fill the unexpired term of Jillian Joy Jackson Torres, who's the regular resident member. That term would
expire November 22nd, 2025 as well. Thank you. Are there any public comments on this item? It
are there any zoom comments? There are no comments. Thank you. The chair will entertain a
motion for item 19 to appoint Karen Gallagher to fill the unexpired term of Martha Marty Giancola, regular member. This term expires November 22nd, 2025
and appoint Katherine Blevins to fill the unexpired term of Jillian Joy Jackson Torres, president member. This term expires November 22nd, 2025. So
moved second, so no further comments. Roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes, Commissioner DiDonato. Yes, Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Mayor.
Cool. Yes, yes. Item 20 appointment to public art committee a city clerk. Can you please go over the item? Yes. Thank you. Currently, the committee has four vacancies. At
this time. We have one application we are bringing forward for the board's consideration. We do. I'm going to advertise two. If anyone's in interested in serving on any of
our boards to please get Ahold of the clerk's office. But the board action would be to appoint Martha Hickey at the bottom to fill the unexpired term of
Graham Jones. This term would expire October 31st of 2025. Thank you, City Clerk. Are there any public comments on this item? It are there any zoom
comments? There are no comments. Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion for item 20, the appointment of public Art Committee to appoint Martha Hickey to fill the unexpired
term of Graham Jones. This term would expire October 31st, 2025. So move. Second. There are no further comments or discussion.
Roll call please. Mr. Banther yes, Mr. De Donato. Yes. Commissioner Eisner yes. Vice mayor. Yes, mayor. Yes. Yes. Item 21 appointment to
Sustainability Committee. City clerk. Currently, this committee has four vacancies. The current alternate number one, Mrs. Ngiam, would like to be considered for one of the vacant
regular member positions. Also, at this time, we have one application we are bringing forward for the board's consideration. So you can either you could appoint either A or B
to fill the unexpired term of Dory Larson. This term will expire September 30th, 2025, and then you would need to appoint A or B to fill one of the regular
member positions. This would expire September 30th, 2027. Okay. And those are both two regular member positions, correct? That's correct. Okay.
Are there any public comments on this item? It are there any zoom comments? There are no comments.
Thank you. The chair will make a motion for item 21 to appoint. So neon to fill the unexpired
term of Dory Larson. This term will expire September 30th, 2025 and appoint Diane Brown to fill one of the regular member positions. This term would
expire September 30th, 2027. Mayor, quick question. Yes, for the clerks. So Siobhan is currently on there as an alternate, correct? That is correct. And for appointing her
as the mayor has suggested, to fill the term of Dory Larson that expires on September 30th this year. Correct. Is she eligible to be reappointed at that time? It's not going to prevent her from doing anything.
I don't want her to get caught in some technicality, you know. We just need to check to make sure I can get. I know it gets tricky. Trust me. Yeah. Yeah, those those months are coming up
soon. Yeah, I've gotten myself, so I understand.
I don't believe sustainability has term limits. They have terms but not term limits okay. So they would be able to serve of a maximum of ten years. Otherwise
in this case I would have to go back. It is not in the backup. Okay. Well then if that's the case then I'm good with. With what the mayor suggested a motion to approve. Second, there
are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes. Commissioner DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice
mayor. Yes yes yes yes. Item 22. Code enforcement lien settlement proposal 1145 River Edge Drive. Attorney Salzman, can you
elaborate the topic? Mayor. Commissioners, this is a situation, and I believe the requester is here, so he'll be available to answer any questions. But in this
situation, the city was approached to see if we can resolve a code lien. Normally, you don't see these kind of cases directly to you. The
difference in this particular case is that in August of 2024, a foreclosure proceeding began on this property. For those of you that are familiar with these
foreclosure proceedings, the city actually is a defendant in those proceedings. However, we are second or third in line for payment, and the mortgage is
usually the one that's paid first. In this particular case, the property's actually going to be put up for sale. We were approached by Mr. Smith
Gillespie to try to resolve the code lien. Frankly, his proposal would probably be the only way the city would receive any funds in this case. So the proposal is
for $25,000 for the code liens, the property right now, the mortgage holders are asking for 151,000 at the sale time. So
there are some other liens that are on the property that could go before the city. So really, we're bringing this forward to see if the board is interested in recovering some monies. In
this case, this was a maintenance issue on the property. I don't I do not believe the city has $25,000 worth of costs into this case.
It's just one where the fines just continued on for a long period of time. They were $100 a day. And I believe if mayor if it's okay, we would ask the
requester to bring forward any additional information. Sure. Board. Please do. Thank you very much. So I just wanted to kind
of outline how the situation took place in the first place. One minute sir, does he have a certain amount of time city clerk or not? Usually. Okay. Could you please identify
yourself though? Sure. I'm sorry. Brandon Smith Gillespie 1145 River Ridge Drive. So just to outline how this situation happened in the first place, at
the time that these liens started or the fees started to be accrued, I was traveling around at the time. I owned a fairly successful company, and I
was paying a property management business to take care of the property. They said they were taking care of it. Turned out they were just taking my money,
did not, and I started getting charged $100 a day. You know, unbeknownst to me, I was never served legally or anything like
that. So Covid then destroyed my company. I kept it up as long as I could, but I blew through every dollar I had trying to
accomplish that. And where I stand today is I have a good friend of mine that's willing to loan me $25,000, and I have a
buyer for the property. The money will go to the IRS. You know, the sale of the property. As I try and kind of rebuild myself financially. But I wanted
to make a good faith effort to, number one, try and compensate the city. And number two, try and help me resolve this issue because with without it, I can't
close on the property and I I'm ruined. So? So that's where I'm at. Thank you. Sir, we have a couple questions from the commission for you. A commissioner banters light was on first. Yes. Thank you, city
attorney. This is. I'm trying to understand this situation. In my seven years I've never seen this in this manner come before us. So I'm not trying to let him off from paying us. Period. But what
is his incentive to do this? I think this would give him the ability to sell the property before the actual sale by the courts. And the original, I
believe it was April 3rd, was the original sale time, but they postponed it in an effort, I believe, for Mr. Smith Gillespie to try to resolve this and pay
off those. So I think he's coming forward. It will obviously help him to some extent and help the city if he doesn't, if he doesn't pay off these, these, these liens, I
mean, like from us and the property sells, I'm just trying to figure out how how this benefits him. Well, you are correct, Commissioner. We probably won't see any money in
that situation. Yeah. If I can just chime in. So I have a buyer that's willing to purchase the property I've paid the mortgage for, you know, 15, 16 years. So
there's some equity there. And that would allow me to pay off the IRS lien, which, you know, is going to take priority over everything else. So I figured it
was kind of the only way of a win win, right? I mean, luckily, I have a friend that's willing to, you know, to lend me that kind of money. And it would allow me to sell the property
and pay the government part of what I owe them and compensate the city for, you know, for the pool issue with code enforcement. So you could not do
this plan without settling with the city. Correct or correct? Yeah, yeah. The buyers are said that's. And what's our cost on this? Again? I'm looking at this here, chief. I don't know if we
had. Chief. Do you have it I don't I didn't I don't yeah I think this has been a. I don't
think we maintain I don't think we came in and cleared, cleaned up the property. So it is really the cost of just bringing the case forward on a code enforcement manner, which is
usually about $1,500. Well, when somebody comes before us like this, which, which which takes a lot. Okay. And you seem you seem like you're pretty up front. You've gone through this type of vetting. I would obviously
happily accept what you're offering, but I'll hear what my colleagues have to say. But I wouldn't be opposed to less, Commissioner. I also would point out, as the deputy city clerk
reminded me, there is still a utility lien that the city has. It has it has to be resolved. Yes, yes, as far as the code. But that's separate from the code enforcement. Yes, sir. Utility lien has to get paid,
obviously. But as far as a code enforcement lien, which I know we have we have we have we have discretion on, I would be in favor of what he's offering or less, depending on what my colleagues have to say. Thank
you. Thank you. Commissioner. Commissioner Eisner, thank you for coming before us. How did you come up with 25,000 out of the 300 plus thousand dollars as a number? Frankly, that was the
most I could get anyone to loan me. I like I mentioned, I mean, when coach. So just to give you some background, I owned a company that provided educational software to
companies that did in-person training around the country for information technology. So when Covid hit, without people being able to be physically in place,
it just collapsed. It just went from doing several million a year to nothing. So I just blew through all my savings, just trying to keep the employees
paid and in hopes that it would end. And, you know, I can get it back going again. So I asked everyone I knew, and I asked for
as much as I could possibly get. And that's, you know, I mean, to resolve the issue. You know, I sold I'm sorry, I sold off, you
know, anything of value, sold my car, etc, to get the pool fixed. And, you know, resolve the, the issue that was occurring. And this is just that's all I have.
It's well my other question that I have for you. How long were you away from the house? From the time you allowed the managing agent to handle this
until you became aware, did you not come back to see the house at all during any of this time? No, no, that's that's why I was paying them. I mean, I, I just,
I guess I should have been more diligent, but I just assumed that when you pay a property management company that they, you know, that they manage the, the property. And, you know, I,
I didn't get any letters in the mail or anything like that. So I was just under the assumption that everything was fine. And it turns out what the issue was is the pool was green and I, you
know, I, I know that is an issue, but that's that that was the extent of the, the issue. You know, the lawn was being mowed. It wasn't like the
property fell into disrepair. It's just the pool was sorry. The pool was green. Is it your intent that when this foreclosure goes down that your
friend buys this house for you and returns it to you? No, no, I have a different buyer. You know, I've known my friend since we were kids. And, you know, he
trusts me to rebuild the a business and pay him back. And he's nice enough to do that, right. That's for the 25,000 that you're borrowing. I'm referring to the profit. You
said there would be a little bit of a profit in the house owner's equity. That all goes to the IRS. So there is no equity in the House that wouldn't be given over to the IRS and whoever else the debtors are. Yeah. I'm
sorry, I should have clarified. Yes. So the basically the IRS lien is 300 and some odd thousand dollars. So they take priority. So they're going to
take all the capital, you know, from the sale of the property. And that's kind of why I'm trying to resolve it this way is I just have no you know, the IRS
will take priority. And then I don't know if the bank takes next priority. I don't know how it works, but I'm just trying to make right with the city and sell it to the buyer. Get the
government their money. That will allow me to set up a payment plan and allow me to kind of rebuild my life. I just want you to know, I'm very sorry that what's happened to you. You
know, a lot of people did get hurt during Covid. And my condolences that, you know, this was a really bad set of circumstances for you. So thank you. I appreciate you coming
before us and letting us know your hardship. And I don't know how I'm going to vote on this, but I, I appreciate Your honor and coming before us and
speaking up. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Commissioner. Vice mayor, your light was on next. Yeah. You. So
just so we're clear, the. If we don't take this and this is actually to the city attorney, if we take no settlement here and this goes to the courthouse
steps, it could be. Yeah, we're down the line. And priority. Right. Code liens are usually low anyway. We're always behind the mortgage. There are other
liens that are ahead of ours. So I would say if you do not accept the $25,000, your chances of receiving anything on the code lien are not very good. Not very
good. Okay, so, sir, I don't I don't know. I mean, I hear what you're saying and the circumstances that led you here
today, but this couldn't be easy for you to sit up here and have to, you know, bury your, your soul here today. And so I
respect that, you know, you're a young man and I'm sure you're going to move on and, and, and things will work out for you. I'm going to go ahead and
support receiving the 25 and settling for that. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Commissioner DiDonato. Your light. Well, I concur with what's been said. I would add
that that the purposes I see code enforcement has always been to bring violators into compliance. And I right now it looks like that's what you're
trying to do. And I support and respect that. Thank you sir. Yeah. Just to clarify, it's I fixed the pool and did the landscaping and everything 6 or
7 months ago once I was made aware of this. So the property is under compliance. Thank you. Commissioner Banther. Your light
was on again. Yes. Thank you. I mean, I've often seen us settle for less in situations like like like this. We don't have any information as to how much. You
know, usually we see the admin costs and this and that. We don't have that here. So I'm assuming it's not significant from what I, from what I hear today, the applicant has brought
it. Are we in compliance. Is that we are we are in compliance. I see no reason to take $25,000 from from from from this man in the sense that
that's just way too much. I think he's paid his penance. What he's doing up here in front of us is what most people don't do. So I would be in favor of $5,000 on a motion to that.
Thank you sir. Okay. One moment. Commissioner Iser brought his light on police Commissioner Iser. Be quick. So that all
sounds good. And I appreciate what my fellow commissioner has to say, but I kind of agree with the vice mayor. I don't think when you owe 300 plus thousand
dollars, you know, I feel bad that it got to that point. But, you know, there's a lot of paperwork that goes on. There's a lot of follow up that goes on. I honestly don't think $25,000
is the end of the world for this. I know that means a lot to you, and it definitely means a lot to us as well, but there has to be some sort of a, you know,
a penalty because there is a utility bill as well. We don't know what the utility bill is, and we don't know how much of it is a code violation. So if I
could just offer that so that I was unaware of the fact that if you turn off your water, that you still incur fees. I just had
no idea. So I called and I said, I'm not going to be at the property. I don't need any water. They canceled the water, but apparently there's a fee just to just to have the rights
to water, I believe. I don't understand that, but anyway, it's $7,200, but the seller or the buyer rather has agreed to pay that. So I just wanted to
make you aware of that. Mayor. Yes? Can I go ahead and make a motion to accept the settlement as proposed? Great. Just for clarification, Commissioner Banther has already made a
motion. We need to know if there's. I mean, I'll withdraw it if there's no support. Obviously, I didn't realize it was a motion. I thought it was just suggesting. Yeah, I didn't I didn't I didn't take it as a I
will withdraw the motion for official okay matters. Can I I'd like to make a motion that we accept the settlement as presented. Second, there are no further. Can I ask one mayor?
Sorry to interrupt. Sure. Time period for payment. When can you pay this? Immediately. My friend said just come pick up a check or a wire however you want to
want it done. I can pay tomorrow. What's reasonable? City attorney's ten days. Yeah, okay. Because we have to get a he. He gave us a proposal, but I need to put it a little more in
legalese for settlement. So ten days. So the motion is to accept the settlement offer as presented and to be paid within ten working days. Second, there
are no further comments or discussion. Roll call, please. Yes. A lot of. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice Mayor
Giuliani's. Yes. Mayor Coolio's. Yes. Item 23 discussion and direction, golf course, clubhouse and business plan. And we have Public Services Director Tommy Kiger to present. Thank
you very much. Thank you. Good luck.
Thank you. Thomas Kiger, public Services Director. And today, we'll be presenting a brief update on the golf course business plan and clubhouse. And we'll be asking the board for
discussion and direction on our path forward for the golf course. And also with me today I have Howard Hunt, our golf course manager, and Georgina Gotsis with WJ architects, who
is representing the architect for the conceptual design for the golf course for the proposed clubhouse. So we'll start off
with a brief intro into the general background of the general business of golf. So the board has a reasonable understanding of the sort of business environment that we're operating in. And the good news
is, is business is doing very well. Since 2020, golf has been growing dramatically in America. It is the largest growing sport by numbers. You might hear about pickleball. Pickleball is the
largest growing by percentage. We have a lot of golfers already, and in 2023 for 3.4 million Americans played golf for the first time. We're seeing lots of growth in juniors. We're
seeing growth in women and young adults. The popularity of Topgolf and YouTube golf content is really exacerbated this post-Covid golf boom, and we're seeing record pace of play here. You can see a few examples of
some of the things that we're seeing, you know, young folks, YouTube, the Valspar tournament right down the road. All of these things are generating interest in golf course and particularly in municipal golf. And also we're seeing shifts in
demographics. People like to think about golf as a, you know, sort of retiree sport. And we do have a healthy amount of that. But now the average golfer is under the age of 50. 57% of golfers in America are now under
the age of 50. So it's definitely a growing game and a good investment within the golf business. You'll within the golf business, you'll see a lot of discussion and golf trade
industry magazines and Golf Digest about the golf municipal renaissance or the Renaissance in particular. Municipal golf is growing faster and outpacing performance in private golf courses. You're still seeing a
little bit of a correction in some of the very exclusive private courses and the smaller private courses, but overall, many communities are reinvesting in their municipal golf courses, and they're seeing this as a
smart investment. For example, right down the road. Dunedin has recently invested $4.5 million in a course renovation. The Saint the city of Saint Petersburg has recently invested in Cypress Links. Tampa has been
reinvesting in Rogers Park through the Tampa Sports Authority. The Babe Zaharias course, which is also part of the Tampa Sports Authority's, got an all new greens so other folks are following suit and strike while the iron's hot.
We're in a good business cycle for golf, so they're reinvesting in facilities. We've also been reinvesting in success over time at the golf course. Currently.
Over the last few years, we've experienced record play. We've been over 60,000 rounds a year over the last few years. And you can see here we've got a trend
showing up that's a little hard to see. But in in the past, the 20 late 20 tens were sort of a record low time for golf. And we were sort of growing out of that. And the post-Covid golf
boom has really helped us in particular. In the past, we've been around 50,000 in the good times. In the early 20 tens, we were around 50,000 rounds a year. We're really growing up
over 60,000 rounds. Last year we did 68,000 rounds of golf. And we've because of that, we've had to reinvest in the facilities to support that level of play. So we recently completed a quarter
million dollar renovation to expand the tee boxes to accommodate all those new people teeing off and beaten up the turf a little bit. And we also it's become time now to reinvest in the clubhouse facilities
themselves. We need new parking, so we need an updated site plan, and we also need the space to be able to host tournaments and to accommodate all these golfers that are visiting our facility a little bit. On the financial
position of the course. Over the last five years, we've generated an operating profit, which is very good. I know there's been some discussion in the past about do we make money or not? With golf operations? The answer is absolutely yes. You will note
here on this graph the green line is annual revenues. And it was slightly below that red line. And that was the golf course paying off the last of its operating debt that it owed the city from some historic
practices back in the 90s when it was under private operation. So absent that last debt payment, over the last five years, the golf has generated a net operating profit and has sustained that over a period of
time. In 2024, we generated $800,000 in operating profit, and in by the end of 2024, our final fiscal position has over $1 million in the golf course enterprise fund as a cash
balance. So we have a positive cash balance. We have money to begin reinvesting in those facilities, and we're on a firm financial footing for reinvestment here. You can see
some year over year performance numbers for humiliated annual revenues by month. You'll notice that Purple Line is 2021. That was the sort of first post-Covid
golf year. That's conversely, also the lowest annual total revenues. And pretty much every year since then, we've been meeting new record annual revenues. And the blue line here that you'll see that's partial
up through January, that's this year. And even with the disruptions to play during the hurricanes and things like that, we are still on track to beat our previous revenue targets.
And that's due to record pace of play and also good revenues per round. So what are our next steps? We're the current clubhouse has been in place
since the 1960s. It's an end of life. So yeah, it was a little bit poorly maintained when the course was under private management back in the 90s. There was a lot of deferred maintenance. You had a private
operations company. They put exactly what they needed to keep it running, and not really much more into the facility. So there was a bit of deferred maintenance and that's all sort
of coming due. We also do need to add space in order to host tournaments. Currently, we don't have the facilities that we need to host tournaments on site. We have two annual tournaments. One
of them is the Ahepa League and or tournament and both those facilities, both those tournaments go off site after the tournament is over to do their award ceremony and their their banquet and all that sort
of thing. And it prohibits us from basically holding more tournaments and more events. So we also need some additional parking. We've been working on plans with the architects and
the engineers for how we could expand that. And at this point, we've been working on a conceptual design and it's complete. And we also have money budgeted in this year's budget to fully self-fund within the Golf Course Enterprise Fund, a
full design and site site plan for the golf course, clubhouse and other site improvements. We also had some goals that we wanted to be considered when we were while we were doing this work. Number one was to create
an event space. Number two was to create that additional parking that we need. We did want to add more food and beverage capacity, including a liquor bar. I know that's been a priority for some folks, and
perhaps myself included, the and we also wanted to create a destination. We wanted this to be somewhere that can draw people in the city that will draw people here, and that they'll come play and stay, and then go out in the city and see
the rest of Tarpon Springs. And most importantly, we wanted this to be financially sustainable while maintaining affordability as a community asset. So here you can see the site plan, the conceptual site plan for the new
clubhouse. On the left you can see the existing building dating to the 1960s. And this is to the south of that. We have one of our two practice greens, the concept as it stands currently
is to convert the is to construct the proposed clubhouse on the one of the two existing practice greens, right in front of the parking lot. Keep the existing clubhouse in use through construction so there wouldn't be disruption to
customers or to minimize those disruptions. And then the other practice, green would long term become our main practice area. And this would also allow us to demo the existing clubhouse and
add parking. So here's one concept. The first concept that we have for the clubhouse. This is one of the renderings provided by WJ architects. This is sort of our old Florida
concept. The course is on the Florida Historic Golf Trail and interestingly enough, it is the oldest currently operating municipal golf course in the state of Florida, which is very cool. And so we wanted to honor
the sort of historical nature of the golf course as part of our community, with a little bit of a historical styled building. So here's the site or the layout for the pros clubhouse, some of
the details. We're going to have a front porch up front to welcome people in. Right by the pro shop. There will be a wraparound back porch for outdoor space. We'd have about a 1400 square foot event space,
which would be enough to host an event of about 100 folks. We'd have a really cool indoor outdoor bar, a catering kitchen to service those events independently of the other food
and beverage facilities for the main customers. Outdoor facing restrooms for people that want to come up and park their carts and use the restroom, and then go get a hot dog or whatnot at
the at the outdoor bar, this would be about 5400ft■!S of condition space and 2300ft■!S of usable outdoor space for dining and recreation and whatnot. And we would get 22 new parking
spaces. Here's a rendering of the back. This would be the wraparound back porch. This would overlook the ninth green, which would be really neat. You could watch people hit their approach shots and putt while you're enjoying a beverage or a
or a meal. And here's some of the renderings of the elevations. So we've got the north elevation, the south elevation. The north elevation would have carte parking for people making the turn from the front nine to the back nine and
the south elevation a little bit less windows because that's near a tee box. So but we would have access for the people to be in the clubhouse and looking out from the pro shop to see when
their tee time starts over. The starter shed. We've got some interior renders here of the bar and the pro shop, and this is the other design concept that
we've been exploring with the architects. Again, this is a little bit inspired by our current clubhouse, which is a sort of mid-century building. So this is sort of an updated mid-century modern concept that was provided by the architect.
Very similar layouts. You're getting a lot of the same stuff. Indoor outdoor bar, the wraparound porch, a little bit more square footage on the inside. You're still getting the
same event space for about 100 people, but again, very similar layouts, just different architectural styling. And here's the concept for what that back porch and bar would look
like. And similarly we've got the renderings for the north and south elevations for what that would look like. Once again, snack bar and pro shop very similar inside. It's really
about the exterior architectural styling. So in summary, we've got two options that we're currently considering. Option A, the sort of old Florida clubhouse style. That project
concept, inclusive of all the site work, would come to about $4.1 million, including the parking improvements and everything that goes with that and all the site work. Option B
a little bit more square footage, so a little bit more costly. Current conceptual cost estimate is $4.3 million, provided by the architects and also reviewed by the engineers
that we've had working on this. And that's also inclusive of the site work. So the big question is what can we afford? We've been working on a business plan.
The goal is to complete the design in 2025 and to fully self-fund the clubhouse via a ten year construction loan with $500,000 in cash financing from
the current fund balance. We would begin construction in 2026, phase that to minimize disruption, to pace, to play. This would result in about
400,000 plus dollars in annual debt service. And this would also enable us to support future CIP expenditures of about 100 to $200,000 a year, which is very
similar to what we see in other golf courses managed by the Tampa Sports Authority, for example. And we're also planning for, you know, annual operating costs increases. That's all in
there. And also a little bit of an increased bump in revenue in 2027. Once the clubhouse is in place for improved food and beverage margins and event fees and things like that, to help
self-fund the course and long term, our goal would be to maintain a fund balance of at least $500,000 at about 50,000 rounds a year. So you can see here we've got a little snapshot
of what one scenario might look like for our projections for golf course revenues and projected expenses, as well as our historicals. The yellow line here you can see, is operating
costs. Only the red line that you see is all expenses inclusive of debt service and capital. So you can see from gross revenues to that yellow
line, still a healthy operating profit. And that could support that debt service. But we didn't just look at one scenario. We looked at lots of scenarios. So we did a sort of sensitivity
analysis to look at different levels of play and what might happen if there's a bit of a market correction in the golf industry looking between 50,000 rounds and 68,000 rounds, which is what we saw last year, and a
few different scenarios of what if we're doing about 60,000 rounds a year, but we had a little bit of an economic contraction, and we really dropped quite a bit for a couple of years and then sort of
bounced back. And what we found was that the golf course could, in almost every scenario, sustain, sustain the debt service for a $4.1 million clubhouse, down to about 52,000
rounds a year, which would be a dramatic contraction from what we're seeing currently and is probably an overly pessimistic view. So you can see here the this is the graph of the fund balances as they would grow or
contract over time. And all these different scenarios that we were considering. And in the vast majority of them you see a healthy growing fund balance. And minimally, you see them able to sustain a sustained level of
fund balance and not be burning down our reserves over time to support the debt service. So long story short, we believe we can afford this. We believe it's good business and that it's self-funded through the Golf Course Enterprise Fund. We're
also going to continue to maintain focus on affordability for the community. This is a quick snapshot of some of the affordability efforts that we've been trying to maintain for the community. We want to be a
community course, not necessarily a destination course, and make this an asset for the average citizen that wants to come play golf. So some of the things we're going to continue to do maintain that $4 per resident discount for a full
round of golf, maintain an affordable junior rate to keep growing the game, all sorts of other things that we're doing that some courses do, some courses don't. Having an early bird rate, having a nine hole
rate, having a twilight rate, having a discount card or a membership. Those are all practices that we plan to continue doing to help make sure that we're being a sustainable business, but also being a
community asset for our residents. So with that, we're looking for discussion and feedback from the board on two things, one of which is the preferred clubhouse option,
option A or option B, and two positive direction to proceed with finalizing the clubhouse design and then to move forward with the budgetary process for financing the project. Thank
you, Mr. Kiger. Are there any public comments on this item? It are there any zoom comments? There are no comments. Thank
you. Back to the commission for questions. Commissioner Eisner, your light was on first. Thank you mayor. So let me understand
this. This would not incur any money from the city to help you. The goal is to fully it's all city dollars. Let's let's be clear. So this but the goal is to fully self-fund this through
golf course revenues under the golf course enterprise fund and to not it's designed in this with this business plan to not need general fund dollars. So what would happen to the money
that we depend on that we make from the golf course now that we would not be getting because you would be putting it back into the golf clubhouse? Currently, there's not been a lot of
dependency of the general fund on the golf course in the past because, you know, we it was mostly paying off old debts. So that wasn't money that was going into support general fund operations. So right now the general fund is not like
dependent on golf course revenues for financing. Okay. What is the break even point that you would need. Like what is the maximum amount of funds
that you can take in if you have people golfing 24, you know, constantly because there's got to be a you know, I know you
have here the number 68,900. Can we just make 70,000? Can we make 75,000. Where is that number? I we've talked to Howard about this quite a bit. I mean, if
you're just going slap full and you're operating at maximum capacity through the summer, which is probably not terribly realistic, you're probably looking at like maybe like 90,000 rounds a year. Well, I
mean, it can get that high, but that's. That's I'm Howard Hunt, by the way, the golf course manager. Most of you know me, as Tommy said. Yeah. If you wanted to max it out, you could
probably get 90,000 rounds on an 18 hole golf course. But not real realistic. What is that in money? Oh, in money? Well, then, if you go from 68 to 90, let's
say if that is attainable, you're looking at what, 30% increase? Okay. So this so we did we did 2.3 million last year
was 30% of that. Okay. Well you kind of answered all of my questions except did you think of retiring this golf course over to a Hollywood movie from
back in the 60s? Because I was I was in there and it was quite it was quite a relic. So I'm sorry. It's very historical, but. And
let me just give you my I would go for plan A, I think it looks better. I think the back area looks more enticing. It actually
looks more like the Palm Harbor. You know, I haven't seen their updated, you know, golf course, but I know from the old one that's where it looked like a so
where it looked out onto the course. So that's the route I would go. I'm not too much fond of multiple roofs. I don't really care for that look. And just to answer your earlier
question, I actually we have the business plan spreadsheet up here. I just we ran it. I just put some numbers in. We were planning for about this year, about $2.6 million in revenues.
Conservatively. Yeah. That's inclusive of the hurricane impacts and things like that. Next year, if we were to go to like, say, a hypothetical 80,000 rounds a year, running it through our anticipated revenue
per round, that would be about $3.5 million in gross revenues. Last year was our record year at 2.4. So we think like 2.6, 2.7 and kind of growing from there is a pretty realistic target in
this business plan. Did you look into at all catering, and did you put any of those numbers in? Because that could be extra as well. Yes, we did factor that in
as far as the goal would be to use it as a catering kitchen and have outside catering done for the event space. But we did factor that in and we had an escalation factor for operational costs. Okay. I just thank you. It was a great
presentation. I appreciate what you did. Thank you. Commissioner. Commissioner Banther yes. Thank you. That that that that was a great presentation. I don't know anything about golf. I'm much
more of a gym rat, but I think, you know, it's a great idea that that clubhouse is beyond its useful life. So just for the public knowledge. So to date, the money you'd be paying in
this new debt service to date had been paid to like to like prior debt. Correct. It wasn't a stack of dollars up there or something. Yes. The long and short of it was back in the 90s
the course was under. It was totally subbed out as a private operation, and there was a desire, and they were paying a certain amount of money back to the city, but not necessarily reinvesting in the course. Over
time. The city got a little bit hooked on that, and we want previous boards wanted to continue that revenue stream from the Golf Course Enterprise Fund back to the general fund, and whether or not the golf course was making that money or
not. So it it accumulated a debt largely through transfers from Golf course enterprise fund back to general fund. And so what we've just been working through the last basically ten years, up
until about five years ago, was paying down that that old debt that was largely from a sort of internal city transfers. Right. Well, I think it's I think it's a great idea. I'm definitely
also in support of option A and the old Florida look, I definitely think once this is done, I obviously the building is not going to be historic. The design might but we need to have
some kind of a placard there on the golf course to show that we are the oldest municipal golf course in the state of Florida, which which I think is a very important thing. So I'm in full
support of this, and I definitely look forward to like, you know, future progress. Thank you, thank you, thank you Commissioner banter vice mayor
Giuliani's. Okay. Thanks, Tommy, for let me ask you did did Ron Herring help you with these numbers? Yeah, Ron reviewed all the numbers, but this was developed the financial model
and all that was developed largely in public services with input from our golf professionals. Yeah, I didn't I didn't think a hurricane grad could do this, but. That was a
that was a joke. That was a joke. Okay. He went to the University of Miami. So that's why I was making the joke. The.
So anyways on did for this debt service, have you confirmed that interest rate? Yeah. We discussed the interest rates with with Ron and we think that's a realistic interest rate
okay. And these numbers these revenue numbers they include the food service as well. Or these are just rounds of golf. The
financial model is basically it's a fairly simplified model, but it runs through a gross revenue per round and a gross expenses per round basis. And
actually the expenses might be a little bit over represented if we were to have like a reduction in pace of pace of play because, you know, people are buying less beer, we're going to buy less beer. But that's not built into
the model. So you want an A or B choice on on what we're looking for guidance on that okay. Can you stick the side by side A or B option right there. Since we
have a big crowd today. Clap if you like. Option A oh. And how about B. All right I'm for I'm
with a thank you. And that was some community engagement. That was good. Much easier than a workshop. Commissioner DiNardo,
your light is on. Yes I would concur with most of what's being said. I just for grins and giggles, I'd like to know what
the different square footage. Where's that other 200ft■!S in e in option B versus option A? Just curious. It's mostly in the interior space, in the snack bar
and things like that. But you can also kind of see it's yeah, the way we have the sort of protruding. Building feature there. So and also that was an effort we were working with the
architects on value engineering and trying to control costs. So the option A was sort of a further development of previous designs to help make sure that we're keeping our construction costs down. Okay. Well, now that
we've said this had the survey, I would certainly go along with option A first. But I just wondered where the extra square footage was. That it self-funded, because I've
already had two people ask me, why should we spend that money? So that's a that's a good point. Thank you, Commissioner DiDonato. Mr. Kiger, thank you
for the presentation. We see the club. The golf course is actually turning a good profit and reinvesting into a nice building to bring some more community around it and stay there for a little bit longer
and be around is a good thing. I like option A, if we could please look at possibly making that snack bar or bar just a little bit bigger. And I mean, just from when I look right
here, I just think it has a potential to be a little bit bigger for more of a hangout as well as. Are there any locker rooms in this? Do we need locker rooms at all with the way that
that was an early design choice. And we talked with Howard about that. And yeah, that's that's a little bit of a something you see more in like private country clubs and things like that. It's
a lot less common now in modern, you know, municipal courses. And some of the folks, you know, younger folks in particular, not not so keen to go change and shower in public anymore. Sure, sure. No. And Howard knows best.
Howard has done a great job in turning around that golf course and doing great things over there. And one more thing. Just the kitchen. I don't know how big it is, how functional it is,
but I know it comes at a cost point. If we could just try to get all the good things in there to make it a fully functional kitchen to its best ability with pricing, of course, please do.
And just some of the renderings inside, like the snack bar area. I know they're just renderings and stuff, but they sort of look like a college cafeteria, a
college campus cafeteria. Thing is, there's a way to make it look a little bit more cozier warmth for that beautiful building would be nice. So.
Thank you. Yeah, Billy. Conceptual phase. We'll make sure that all the interior trims and things like that are very welcoming. Perfect, sir. Now, do we have direction from the board? Do we need to make a
motion? I'll make a motion to approve the so far rendering of a choice. A second, second.
There are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Mr. Banther. Yes, Mr. DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Mayor. Coleus.
Yes. Discussion. We are on item 24. Discussion and direction. Duke energy wholesale water rates. Tommy Kiger, public
services director. All right. So we are going to switch gears. And again, Thomas Kiger, public services Director this time we're talking about utilities.
So today we're again looking for discussion and direction from the board on an item related to our wholesale water rate to the
Duke Energy and Power Station. Okay, so a little bit of background about why we're bringing this. We've been very focused on the financial health of the water and sewer utility
over the last couple of years. Some of you were here when we were discussing our last big financial updates in 2023. And for those of you who might not have been here for those
discussions, we want to give you a quick snapshot of what we were looking at back in 2023. So in 2023, we're looking at our initial no action scenarios under the previous water sewer
rates. And it was it was not looking rosy. We were experiencing lots of inflation and operational costs and construction and things like that. And the effect was that we were expenses were exceeding
revenues and we were burning down our reserves. And there was a scenario that we were looking at where we were going to miss our fund balance targets as early as 2024 and potentially have negative fund balances in
the water sewer enterprise fund as soon as 2025 or 2026. And you can see right over here, those are the fund balances, these little columns. And the red is negative. So that's not good. So
we updated we've taken the action since then. And we've been focusing again on the financial health of the utility. For those reasons. This included updating water and sewer rates on a two year basis in 2024, and
also finding other ways to improve revenues while minimizing costs to citizens. So what have we been doing to try and control those rates while generating revenues to support a healthy water and sewer utility?
We've done some cost cuts. We were able to find a some regulatory mechanisms that allowed us to eliminate the need for a costly injection. Well, that was required by emerging regulations back in 2021. That
results in a capital cost savings of about $5 million to the utility. We also cut a $1.2 million ops building for the distribution staff and replaced
it with a lower cost modular building. We delayed lots of capital projects, we cut operational funds. We've been focusing on other operational efficiencies, like investing in solar to reduce our electrical
costs at the Ro plant, revenue recovery, focusing on the health of the meters, which are the cash register for the utility. Make sure that everyone is paying their fair share for what they're actually using and that we're not missing revenues
there, and also on alternative funding. So this year, we're on the list for a $2.2 million grant award through Resilient Florida to fund a really critical electrical resiliency
project for the wastewater plant. We're also anticipating some significant settlement dollars through participation in the three M and DuPont, PFAS, or forever chemical settlements, or which are nationwide, and we're
getting ready to participate in some additional settlements there. And while the other so we've been looking for those dollars in a way that doesn't impact the average citizen.
Before we come back for anything else. And so one of the things we looked at was our unique wholesale rate to Duke Energy. So background on this. This is fairly unique. This is a one off
wholesale rate that is only used by Duke Energy. So back in 2012, the city prior to construction of the water plant signed a wholesale water rate contract with Progress Energy, which is
now Duke. Prior to the construction of the water plant. And we are now their current sole source water provider for the Duke Power Station. These
Duke Energy has a special wholesale rate that's established by this contract, and it basically says that the cost for providing water shall not be greater than the actual cost to produce and deliver the
potable water. So basically, we're looking at the cost of production, treatment and conveyance of that water. So that includes things like in the contract, like direct operating costs such as salaries,
chemicals, power, those sorts of things, operating reserves and bond payments and also repair and replacement replacement costs, which includes some capital. It also has some other
terms, like the cost can't be higher than the charge made to any other city customers. So we can't, you know, basically says we can't gouge Duke higher than by charging them a much higher rate than the average ratepayer.
And there's also some other nuts and bolts things in there, like 30 day noticing. And we're allowed to determine this rate from time to time at a city
commission meeting. So because of all this, staff identified the Duke wholesale rate as one opportunity to try and realign revenues with current operating costs without impacts to the
average resident. This wholesale rate has not been evaluated since 2017, and as many folks know, there's been a lot of changes in the markets since 2017, so it was really time to
catch up and look at those numbers again. So we worked with Stantec, which is our rate consultants, to complete an updated study similar to what we did in 2017 to examine the total
wholesale costs of water treatment and conveyance. And we've got some results. So you can see here we've looked at the total cost of water supply and treatment, as well as the cost of transmission. And we
separated out eligible and eligible costs under these under this particular contract. And it basically came to about $7.52
per 1000 gallons. So Duke Energy is currently paying $5 and 50, I'm sorry, $5.32 in some change per 1000 gallons, which you'll notice is less than the cost of
conveyance and treatment, because that's advanced more rapidly than the contract's been updated due to electrical and chemical costs and things like that. So the staff is proposing
that the BOC update the Duke Energy wholesale rate from $5.32 and change per 1000 gallons to $7.52 to reflect the full cost
of treatment and conveyance. To provide this wholesale water service. We did look at a comparison of nearby utilities to make sure that we weren't doing anything that would be
dramatically out of line with the market. That might cause Duke to reevaluate who their wholesale water supplier is. FGA is the nearest utility to the Duke Anclote Power Station. Their wholesale rate is
currently over $10,010, and Pasco County does not really have any service near them and their wholesale rates a little bit lower. They're beneficiary
of a lot of the grant awards through Tampa Bay water from the water management district. So their wholesale rates a little bit lower at $4.80. And they have a different structure than
their nearby utilities. They have a different financial situation. So we're not seeing this as something that would cause Duke to want to reevaluate their water supply options. We think this would be reasonable
based on current market conditions. All in all, Duke Energy uses about 62 million gallons of water annually. They're our largest customer, and so we want to make sure that we're charging them the full
cost of treatment and conveyance and not losing money on this operation. And ultimately, this will increase utility revenues by over $130,000 a year, with that will not be borne by by the
average resident. So for next steps, we're looking again on BOC guidance to move forward with the updated pricing proposal. And if directed, staff will then, you know, prepare the
Duke Energy pricing notice according to the contract terms and then prepare a resolution for adoption at a future board meeting. And with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Mr. Kiger. Are there
any public comments on this item? Yes, mayor, I have a question in regards to
residential rates versus, you know, the rates. Duke energy wholesale rates that they they are supplied water to. A comment
was made moments ago about a resident who had turned his household water off. Yet he still, after turning off his his water with the city, still
receives a bill from the city. And that bill has accumulated over time, which would mean residents in effect aren't being sold wholesale water. And it's
not a rate. This. For instance, if Duke Energy would turn its water supply off, would they be sent a bill for something that they're not using? The residents
are, in effect, not being given a supply and rate bill. They'll be given a fee or a bill, a levy of such. And I feel as though if
we're going to charge the residents for something that they're not getting, if they don't take water from the city, why should they receive a bill?
It doesn't seem as though it's equating properly. Uniformly. I'm not quite sure I understand if I could get that clarified. Thanks. Thank you sir. Yes, so
we do have readiness to serve fees and we have, you know, special rates for folks for like seasonal residents and things like that that have temporary disruptions to service when they like go back up north and things
like that. Realistically, this is a power plant and I'd have to go back and look at the contract. But, you know, because this is a special rate that's established. But I think it
would be exceedingly unlikely that Duke Energy would shut down all of their water use to the power plant for an extended period of time. So it's a little bit of a different business
condition that wouldn't be captured by the normal rate structure. That's why we have this contract. Thank you, Mr. Kiger. Are there any it comments? There are no comments.
Thank you. Now we'll go to commissioner questions. Do you say commissioner? Yes. Yes. Thank you. Mayor. One of the lines here says cost shall not
be greater than the actual cost to produce and deliver the potable water. And on another line it says cost must not be higher than any charge made to
any other city customer. Are they talking about commercial customer or are they talking about residential customer? That would be all customers. So that all customers. So all customers
across classes. So as city residents we get constant increases. And it also states here the actual cost will be determined from time to time by
the city commission at a public meeting. But you also claim that we haven't seen an increase from 2017 to 2025. So that was eight years that the commission never
got to see anything. So we were giving them water at a loss for eight years. Is that correct? I know you don't want to answer that, but it's a true question.
I would have to go back and look at the historical rates and the historical cost of water production. We have been escalating this rate based on the, you know, typical annual percent increases in our that
we, the board has been adopting. So it hasn't been unchanged, but we haven't reevaluated the basis for providing that wholesale water cost. So that's part of the reason why we did this
update a few years ago was the operational costs were increasing faster than the historic rate increases had been, and we found this. And now we're trying to catch up on this rate as well. Does that make
sense? Why do we not increase them as need be when our increases go up? Do they give us the same cost for their
electrical energy and electricity and don't give us an increase? I'm not going to ask you questions that are easy. So
sure, that's why we're here. We're here to update it. This is something that's been identified. We want to stay more on top of this and make sure that we're getting our full cost recovery back, and that's what
we're proposing. But I just don't understand why we're playing fair in the sandbox. And they're not. What? Let me let me say it a different way. We have
to lock in our rates with them and charge them X amount. They don't lock in their rates with us and they charge whatever it is. So when electricity costs
more, they increase it. When water costs us more, we have an increase in eight years. Yeah. So that might be something that we could consider in the future
is perhaps we could have this evaluated on an annual basis. And so we make sure we keep up with that as we move forward. I will say there is a yeah, this is a significant revenue source
for us as our largest customer. But there also is a cost to doing these studies. So we don't want to do them overly often. But if it was if we were directed by the board, I think we could evaluate this on an
annual basis to make sure that we're keeping up moving forward. So it could be our largest customer, but it also could be our largest loss. It says here
that actual costs will be determined from time to time by the city Commission. I know in the last three years nobody's asked us anything about this. And I know that inflation has
run rampant and it had to cost us more because we turned over a bigger bill to all the residents. Why didn't we turn it over to Duke Energy? I will say
we have been increasing their rate at the whatever annual percent increases. We've been adjusting the rates for all customers. So but because this is a unique contract and because
this is a unique rate, we're doing a full catch up on the wholesale on the total cost of production to do that step function and bring everything up to where it's at and hopefully moving forward. The goal would be to keep those in line. How
long do we lock into this 7.5 per gallon? This would go into effect upon adoption and with no action from the board, it would continue to be increased at the annual rate of increase that's
adopted by the board for all rates, like I said, or if directed, we could bring this back to you on an annual or semiannual basis as a check up.
I I'm not trying to pick on you. I know it's just when I read this, it just didn't sit pretty with me. Anytime I see something that's sitting stagnant for eight years, and I can tell you
that everybody in this room has not seen a stagnant electrical bill, I'll tell you that. So, you know, here we are. And we're their only supplier, correct?
Yes. So we have a monopoly on this, and we're treating them like, you know, as you said, they're they're our biggest, you know, vendor or our supplier or
whatever you want to call it. But, you know, I don't understand why we've agreed to just give it to them at cost. I mean, next week, these filters
from the Ro could go up in cost. Do we eat that? No. The goal would be to again continue to adopt, you know, rates that are
inclusive of all costs. And perhaps with further direction if the board, you know, wish to explore renegotiation of the contract at some point in the future, that's also something we
could explore. Well, I don't want to go on time to time to time as was written. What I want to go on is as as the world
turns, as things get more expensive, I want it to be turned over to them because it shouldn't be turned over to the residents, because that's who's paying for it. We get hit, they
don't. And I would like you to let me know down the road. I don't want to put you in the spot when we've given them increases. And how much from
2017 to the current 2025, because in my knowledge, we have not given them an increase at all. So we've been losing every single year. That's exactly why
we're bringing this back. And I want to assure you that in this city, we're not treating Duke Energy with kid gloves. If I could interject, Commissioner, you brought up some great points. I want to get to Commissioner Donato real fast,
and I'm done when there's that motion made. If you want to include evaluation every year to look at that, please, please include it with the motion. And
I think that would be great. Commissioner Donato. Yeah, I'm going to repeat some of the things that Commissioner Eisner brought out. The first thing I saw when I read the backup was,
okay, well, what's our discount rate with electricity for the city? That was the very first thought in my mind. And I don't have a question that we should be charging them what our cost
are. We should not be supplementing that. And I think they would agree with me that they shouldn't have to supplement theirs for us. So I,
I would like to see this rectified and make it reciprocal. I have no problems giving you a break. You give me a break. And right now I'm with Commissioner Eisner. I see us
giving him a giving them a break. But at this point, unless I missed it somewhere, they aren't giving us one. So I have no problems going forward with
what we've got. And in fact, I would ask Mr. Saltzman, maybe we should look at if there's like from 2017, how much have we lost
because of that? And certainly whenever the energy bill or negotiations come again, that needs to be a major factor, because as I see it right now,
they owe us more than we owe them. So correct me if I'm wrong, but that's the way I see it. Great points, Commissioner DiDonato, vice mayor, just in case. Did you want to say
anything? Yeah. So what does what does Stantec charges for that study? That's a good
question. I. I want to say it was in the 10 to $20,000 range, but I would have to check that. And if we do it annually, do do
we have the expertise within the city to be able to calculate those rates that rate increase without Stantec? Typically we use the rate the because this is
like contractual negotiations. We use, you know, basically the financial expertise of Stantec to make sure that everything is defensible and would hold up in court as like our expert witnesses and our subject matter
experts. So that's that's best practice is to have external rate analysis. So if we did this annually, we'd have to pay Stantec 10 to 12,000 every year to do this. And the cost might
come down if we're doing annual updates, but there would be some cost to the city that we could explore. But once, once it's you got the format, why couldn't we do it internally? That would be something we could look into,
and we would have to probably discuss that with the with the finance department to see their level of comfort on that. As far as doing that level of analysis for contractual negotiations. All right. Thank you. Okay.
There's there was a lot said from the commission with this. One of the commission members can make a motion with conditions or amendments they'd like to be seen in into it. That
would be great. And you can move the item forward. I'll make one. Unless Mike wants to do it. I, I would would move that we go ahead and certainly charge them what our costs are. And I would
also like to find out why we they aren't discounting what the city pays for its electric bill. So I don't know how we would word that, Mr. Attorney, but I
think both need to be looked into and that's what I would I would move that we do. I mean
that it's kind of a general general direction motion. So I think that's fine the way it is. I mean, we can be directed to look into those things. It
doesn't necessarily have to be as part of the okay. So does that classify as a motion then? Well, the general direction does
not usually classify as a motion. So I would ask for a different motion cleared. Do you mind if I take that. Well he's going to have to remove that
motion. I can't really hear what you're saying. So can you withdraw your motion or. Well, what do you what do you what are you saying? Streamline this motion. I'm sorry. I certainly
if the attorney can give me the words, that's fine. I just wanted to be reciprocal, and I think it should be, but those are. I mean, no, I think I make
a motion to approve item 24 and to give for the BOC to give staff to move forward with updating pricing proposal and prepare Duke Energy pricing
notice per contract and prepare an adoption resolution. I think that's good to know. You also got a motion from 2017. That's a direction okay. That's direction
to the department. I think what the mayor is proposed motion covers what what we're looking for. The rest of it is so moved. Okay. You you seconded I so
that's the motion. Mr. Mayor can't make a motion, but is that a suggestion of a motion, mayor? Yes. The mayor so suggested motion. Yes, and I say so. Moved. Second, just point of
clarification. So we're we're saying what I'm saying. You're saying it differently. I mean, we're going to look at the electrical. Exactly. Yes. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Why don't we do that? I'm a commissioner. The rest is direction for staff to
do those things and bring it back for the commission. Right. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes,
Commissioner DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes, yes, yes. We're now going to ordinance and resolutions. Mayor, can I just make one comment? Go ahead. I
just I just wanted to acknowledge Mr. Kiger. He's I guess you've been a director for about a year now, or and this is obviously some a ball that got dropped, I think. And for him
looking for ways to look at our revenue sources and cut expenses, I just want to acknowledge him for that. Yeah, absolutely. I know it's a tough a tough agenda item, but this was you've just been public
service director. Not in about a two years or so if less so. Thank you sir. Thank you. Item 25 resolution 202526
ratification of Executive Orders 2502522 and two five and 202524. Extending a declaration of state of emergency for Tarpon Springs due to Hurricane Arlene. City
attorney, can you please read the resolution? Yes, mayor. Resolution 20 2526, a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, ratifying Executive
Order 20 2522, extending the declaration of local state of emergency to March 25th, 2025 and ratifying Executive Order 20
2524. Extending the declaration of local state of emergency to April 1st, 2025 and providing for an effective date hereof. Thank you, City Attorney. Are there any public comments on
this item? There are no comments. Thank you. It no comments physically okay. The chair will entertain a motion to
approve resolution 202526. So moved second. There are no further comments. Roll call please. Commissioner Donato.
Yes, Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice Mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Yes. Item 26. Resolution 202527.
Resolution of Executive Orders 202523 and 202525. Extending a declaration of state of emergency for Tarpon Springs due to Hurricane Milton. City attorney, can you please read
the title? Yes, mayor. Resolution 20 2527, A resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, ratifying Executive Order 20 2523, extending the
declaration of local state of emergency to March 25th, 2025, and ratifying Executive Order 20 2525. Extending the declaration of local state of emergency to
April 1st, 2025 and providing for an effective date hereof. Thank you sir. Are there any public comments on this item? It are there any zoom comments?
There are no comments. Hearing none. The chair will entertain a motion to approve item 26, resolution 202527. So moved. Second is there are no further
comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner Donato. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice Mayor Giuliani's. Yes, yes, yes. Item
27, ordinance 202505 establishing establishing section 12.527 of the Code of Ordinances operating hours for city Parks. City attorney, can
you please read the title? And this is the second reading. Yes, mayor. Ordinance 2020 505, an ordinance of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida,
establishing section 12 .5-7 of the Code of Ordinances. Operating hours for city parks. Providing for conflict. Providing for severability. Providing for codification and
providing for an effective date, that is, ordinance 2020 505, read by title only on second reading. This is previously been published in the Tampa Bay Times
on March 12th, 2025. Thank you, city attorney. Are there any public comments on this item? It are there any zoom comments?
There are no comments. Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to approve item 27, ordinance 2025-05. So moved. Second, there are no further
comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner Banther yes, Mr. Donato? Yes, Mr. Eisner, yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Mayor.
Coolio's. Yes. Item 28, resolution 202524 Relocation of Pinellas County MGP funds for Hurricane Helene and Milton to elevate Florida program. City
attorney, can you please read the title? Yes, mayor. Resolution resolution 20 2524. Resolution. Board of commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida,
regarding the reallocation of Pinellas County MGP funds for Hurricane Helene and Milton to. To the Elevate Florida program.
Thank you so much, City attorney. And we have our project administration, Bob Robertson and also our great grant project specialist writer
PJ Herbert. Can you please go over the item a little bit? Yes. We have a new program after Helene and Milton. It's called Elevate Florida. It's to help with residential mitigation.
They've combined funds from MGP and from their Swift Current. Basically, what we're asking the board to do is tomorrow there's going to be a vote with the local mitigation strategy
working group. We're going to get funds from our hazard mitigation grant somewhere in the area of like $416 million between Helene and Milton. What
they're suggesting is we can either give all of that funding to the Elevate Florida program, which will help the residents directly, or we keep the money
for ourselves, for the city, with the possibility that you may be able to fund projects that are on their priorities. Priority list. Right now, we
only have 3.2 million in projects on that list, whereas we have 34 applicants already for Elevate Florida just from Tarpon Springs alone. We just need direction on how to vote
tomorrow, whether we want to give all of that help allocation to elevate Florida, or if we want to say no, we'd like to keep it in Pinellas County thinking that maybe we'll get
some of our projects funded through that. Thank you, Miss Herbert. Are there any public comments on this item? It are there any zoom comments? There
are no comments. Thank you. Questions from the commission to staff. Commissioner Eisner, your lights on. Thank you. Mayor. The funds that would go to the
residential rising, does that go to the residents or does that go to the corporations that are buying up these properties left and right? Note that goes to the residents. It goes to the
Elevate Florida program. They accept the applications from the residents. They make a determination on who's qualified, who's not qualified. And then they work directly with
the resident. Okay. My next question would be, do we have with the amount of money that we're supposed to get, does that cover the 30 some odd people that we have, or would we be
still be short? If we covered every single person in Pinellas County, we would still be short. That's we only got 300 million for Elevate Florida. There's
over 1500 applications statewide. So even if we put all 416 million into elevate Florida across the state, it still wouldn't fund every single applicant. But we would only we
would still get all of ours back to Pinellas County. Our 416 million would only go to Pinellas County residents. Okay, let me rephrase the question. I was referring to the people of just Tarpon. Tarpon Springs
would fall under the Pinellas County umbrella. So however, they rank those residents, because Elevate Florida is going to look at all of those applications from Pinellas County. And then they're going to prioritize those. So I can't
speak directly whether or not only Tarpon Springs residents are going to get funded. So of the 35 we may get ten, we may get nothing. I can't speak on that because Elevate Florida
would make that determination. Okay. I'm just asking because, you know, we could be voting for something and get nothing out of it. Correct? I know that if we try to use it for the city, we have more of a chance of getting
nothing. I'll tell you that, because they're not in the gift of giving. So, I mean, I the only thing I would do is I would like to see it go to the
residents to help them, you know, lift the homes. This is something exactly that happened after hurricane Sandy in New York. There was New York rising, and I was expecting it to come
here to be Florida Rising. But I'd like to see that it does go to the homeowner, because otherwise, if there is another flood, you know, that's when
FEMA starts shutting you down and saying, we're not going to insure you anymore. I think you only get two, two X's on your page and then it's you're on
your own. So yes, I know that's not a good thing. So okay, that's the route I'm going to go I'm going to go with it. Going to the resident. Thank you Commissioner. Mr. Commissioner
Donato. Yeah my question would be it seems like that if we took our portion, which is 4 million and something that directly to us, then we can make sure that
more of our people are taken care of. Is that the correct assumption? Well, that 416 million is going to come back to just Pinellas County. And then based upon how Elevate Florida
ranks all of the applications just from Pinellas County, I mean, the chances are that there's going to be at least Tarpon Springs residents somewhere in those 1500 applications from Pinellas
County. We have 34 of those. Well, I'm more interested in how we can make sure that Tarpon gets its share of that to our people. Well, elevate Florida
has criteria that they base it upon. And I don't know, I'm not I don't have access to every application. So I don't know how they're going to prioritize that. I know one of the priorities is it has to be or it
doesn't have to be. They're prioritizing primary residence, not so much those that use a home in Tarpon Springs as their secondary residence. I'm not
sure how they're going to rank those. It's a brand new program. I'm not sure, you know, if they have everything in place as to how they're going to rank it. So I can't make any guarantees as far as how they're going to
rank. What would what would be our share then if we were to say we want it for tarpon people, or is that an option? I don't even know. It's not an option. The only other thing we could vote
on is that we're going to keep the MGP money, the local mitigation strategy working group then would say, okay, well, we're going to rank all of our projects on this list. They
score it. And then depending on how we score with our three projects, we may or may not see any funding from that either. Where's the win for us? That's
what you have to decide as a board. Either. That's what I'm asking you. Where? Where is the win? We have no guarantee if we if we go into this, there's no guarantee either way. No, sir.
But is there a way for us to win? Two or more of our people are covered. That's what I'm asking. You know, there's. I mean, there's no way I unless elevate Florida, there's no guarantees that they're going to
give all 34 of our residents the funding. It's just going to go back to Pinellas County. It sounds like it's either going to be a lottery pick for the residents, or a lottery pick for capital improvement projects
wherever we put the money. So I would just rather we had some control over who gets what. That's all I'm after. Thank you, Commissioner DiNardo. Vice mayor
Collins. So, PJ, based on the way you the tonality of your voice when you were giving that presentation, you seemed to be leaning towards Elevate Florida,
right? I don't have a preference either way. You kind of were going there, but okay, so you don't know how any of this money
is going to get apportioned, right? No. So if it if the funds. So the choice is we do elevate Florida which then goes does not come through the city
goes directly to residents. Correct. If we have the funds go to Pinellas County. We don't even know how Pinellas County is going to give us our share.
Right. You may not see any money from that at all, depending on how they rank all the projects. That's correct. When you say how they rank the rank, the
projects. So. So let's say that. They Saint Pete got hit harder than we did, right? So the money going to Pinellas County could
end up being used in Saint Pete. Not any of it funneled over here. I will say Saint Pete got their own allocation. Saint Pete is not included in that. Pinellas County, because Saint Pete got hit so hard that they
got their actual own allocation. The rest of us are fighting for the rest of the pie, so why wouldn't we get yes, the question is, why wouldn't we get
our share if it came straight to Pinellas County? We should. I mean, same with Saint Pete out of the game because we know they got hit harder than you mean with MGP or with Elevate Florida. The direct not not
elevate elevate Florida. No not oh yeah. They rank all of the projects. That funding is different. Saint Pete got their own Elevate Florida funding. They didn't get MGP funding by
themselves. They have to go into all of us with the prioritized list through MGP. So again I'm asking since you're our maybe
Bob, maybe it's more of a Bob Robertson question, but which of these choices give us the best odds of funds going to our
residents? Elevate Florida okay. And you gave me your answer. Thank you. City manager. Your light came on. Yeah, just I wanted a question, maybe to
muddy the water a little more. So if we if the board were to tell the staff to vote to keep the water for our projects, keep the money for our projects, but
all the other delegates vote to elevate Florida, it'll still go to elevate Florida. That is correct. It's a majority vote tomorrow for the LMS working Group. So even if Tarpon Springs votes that we're going to keep
the money for MGP and every other jurisdiction in Pinellas County says, nope, we want it to go to Elevate Florida, it's going to go to Elevate Florida. We just need to know how we're
going to vote as a city, how we want our funds to go. All right. Thank you, Commissioner Eisner. Make your comments and then we'll get a motion going. Okay. So I did want to answer Vice mayor, I think the whole program
was $813 million and they got theirs. And I think we have that 400 some odd for us. But my question is, who makes who makes the determination? Is it the
Pinellas County commissioners that are going to do this at their meeting where the money gets distributed? Will it be at Forward Pinellas for which funding elevate our. Yeah. For
elevate for elevate that's a whole separate program through FDM. They are their own separate division. They are. It's a brand new program. They are going to solely decide who gets that
money. The cities and the counties will have nothing to do with that. Do they like Greek food? I mean, we could throw it out there. I couldn't resist. I
just each individual homeowner will apply directly. Excuse me. I just wanted to know if there's any shot at having forward Pinellas make this decision or
whether the county commission is going to make it. You know, I don't know, how do you how do you justify this? How do they, you know, just on a vote, okay. We all vote. We want the
residents to use it. Now, how do they distribute that? To elevate Florida? If we decide to if everybody tomorrow decides to give the money to elevate Florida, elevate Florida will
look at every single resident's application, prioritize it and decide who they're going to fund and who they're not going to fund. As far as HMP, that's through the LMS working group,
and that's a panel of people through Pinellas County. They have the prioritized list, they score it, which is how we've got scored high enough last year with our Sponge Docks Vault
project through Adelia. But there's a lot of projects on that list now. And because there is so much money out there so they don't go by the population.
No, no. And they don't go by the amount of damage each town took. No. Or the volume of homes that are damaged? No. It's like
throwing a dart at a donkey. Commissioner, please. If we can get a motion going and we'll have to take a break because we're going to have a long agenda item coming up. I'm done. Thank you. I rather support it.
Going to the Elevate Florida. There's 35 applicants from Tarpon Springs. And we get a percentage of them that get this program. That would be a huge blessing. We're helping out everyday people if we can. All
of them. That would be amazing. And hopefully we can just, you know, let people know about this program, sign up for it. And that's why I want to support the Elevate Florida program. So with
that said, the chair will entertain a motion to approve item 28, resolution 202524 for reallocation of Pinellas County
MGP funds for Hurricane Helene and Milton to the Elevate Florida program. So moved. Second, there are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Mr. Mayor, may I
interrupt for a moment? There is. Today we just stayed on a webinar about Elevate Florida and residents only have until April 11th to apply for that
funding. So if they are interested in pursuing that kind of funding, then they need to go on. They can contact me or Bob or anybody here at City Hall. We can get them set up to apply for
those funds. If we can hit a nice, hard social media campaign. We have been we've been great, at least for the rest of this week. Yep. And we'll just pump it out there and try to get get it going. If
there are no further comments or discussion, roll call please. Mr. Banther. Yes, Commissioner. Donato. Yeah. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Kelly.
Yes, yes, yes, yes. All right. We're going to take a I'm gonna take an eight minute break. Okay. We're going to come back at 852. Everybody be ready. We
got a nice agenda item coming up.
Can all get please back to our seats so we can start the next
agenda item. Okay. So. Yes.
Yeah. Mr. Coffee out here. Just in coffee. Very tasty I like dark, I do too, meeting back in
session at 8:54 p.m. We are now on to agenda item 29, ordinance 202501 Land Development Code amendment amending article four
Special Regulations Section 56.05 mobile food dispensing vehicles. Temporary application 24 Dash 85. First reading and
City Attorney. Can you please read the title? Yes, mayor. Ordinance 2020 501 An ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, amending the City of Tarpon Springs. Code of
ordinances. Appendix A comprehensive Zoning and Land Development Code. Article four special Regulations Section 56.05 mobile food dispensing
vehicles. Temporary providing for severability. Providing for inclusion in the Code of Ordinances of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida and providing for the effective date of this ordinance, that is, ordinance
number 2020 501, read by title only on first reading. Publication in the Tampa Bay times was February 5th, 2025. Thank you, City Attorney. And
now we have our city planner, Miss Vincent, who will give the presentation. Mayor, I'll just I'll just lead it off. Go ahead. Just to let you the commission know. You know, this first came up during the hurricanes. We
waived a lot of our rules for RVs and shipping containers and food trucks was one of them. So became aware of them. And so we looked at the food truck ordinance and knew there was
some concern about local businesses and brick and mortar. So we came up with something where the we think it's a compromise where the trucks would, could only be invited by
a brick and mortar business that's currently existing and could meet a list of requirements, such as not violating their parking requirements and no generators. And you know, it has to hook up
to the building and so forth. And that limited, actually limited the number of spaces where it could actually be based on alcohol permit to where there would only be a couple spaces
down to literally two spaces at the docks, which I think would allow for the donuts Lemanis donuts. We received quite a bit of support for them being able to bend at the docks. This would
allow for a couple locations for them to do that, and to provide our recommendations to provide a sunset provision such that after a year, you would be forced to actually to review this and see
how it went and see if it's something you want to modify, continue or repeal. Additionally, the board has the ability throughout the year at any given meeting to roll back
or repeal any ordinance that you passed. So with that, planning director has a more formal presentation. Thank you, City Manager. Miss Vincent, our our
city planning director. Good evening. Well, since it's been a while since I've been here, Rene Vincent, planning and zoning director. I'll just go through a very high level overview of the
ordinance. We have some maps and exhibits that hopefully can answer questions, and we'll do our best to explain this. So just a little history. Most
recently in 2020, the state kind of how we got here. The state adopted some rules under state law that basically said that we couldn't prohibit food trucks. So we had to put something in
our ordinance to regulate them. So that led to the ordinances 2020 Dash 22 and oh two, where we established them as a temporary use. We had a couple
of different categories. These have been further amended in 2022, again to allow some additional multi-day food trucks
for temporary as a temporary use. And then in January, we came in front of the board to discuss potential updates to allow some flexibility. The Planning and Zoning Board reviewed a first draft of that
ordinance and ultimately recommended denial. Some of the some of the issues that were brought about or brought up during that planning. First planning and Zoning Board hearing was again potential
competition with bricks and mortar restaurants. Potential for occupying required parking, potential impacts on neighbors from generators, the and then
some other possibilities or some compromise. Things were brought about that the city manager talked about, you know, can we restrict them to foods or
drinking establishments. And we also even talked about, you know, providing specific, you know, you could remove certain areas if you from the ordinance as a whole. With that, we did do
a redraft of the ordinance, and we went back to the Planning and Zoning Board, and we got a recommendation of approval with two members dissenting. So what I'm going to present is actually what the Planning and Zoning
Board reviewed at their February meeting. The red font indicates changes that were presented to you that took place along the way. So the major changes to the
ordinance would, you know, allow again, two trucks between 7 a.m. And 10 p.m. The truck has to be accessory to a legal primary use and can only operate when that
primary business is open. So even though you have a 7 a.m. To 10 p.m. Window, if that primary business that wants to have a truck there is only open until 8:00 at night, then the truck
would have to shut down. So you have to follow any kind of mirror. The primary business we did put in a requirement requiring that they operate with battery or electric service, so no generators would be allowed.
There would not be permitted on vacant land or unimproved land. And I'll consider a parking lot, you know, as legally established parking lot is approved land unless that that doesn't have
permanent restroom facilities. So you must have restroom facilities for patrons for multi-day events where the truck would remain on the property. Does still require a temporary
use review by the Technical Review Committee. So the ordinances that that that we're talking about the changes would allow the truck cannot stay on a
property on the normal course of business. If business A wants to bring a food truck in or allow them to come onto the property, they can't park there and stay there overnight. They have to come and go. Unless you have a
multi-day event, you know, approval as a temporary use. So we currently and allow in the industrial, the highway business and commercial plan development.
We allow you know like Lowe's they can have a food truck come on the property. We already have this set up in the code. So what this ordinance does is it expands to all the non
residential zoning districts. I'll call them the traditional zoning districts. This is outside the special area plan. We expanded those to include all non residential districts within
the special area plan and the smart code. And I'll have a map that will show this. We identified specific transect zones where they they could
operate. And we put a restriction that you must have an alcohol license to serve on premise consumption. So what that looks like on the maps then. So the, the areas that are
colored in red, these are our traditional zoning districts. So we're not talking about the docks and we're not talking about the special area plan in the downtown. These are areas where you can come and go. You
can operate your food truck under the under the rules. The primary business just has to have an occupation or a business tax receipt stating that, you know, they they're allowing
trucks on the property. So this is where they can come and go between 7 a.m. 10 p.m. With no tie to an alcohol license within the special area plan, which is
what this map is. So everything that you see in color here, those are the areas where they would be allowed in the special area plan I want to call attention. There's a couple of
transect zones in here, the downtown Tarpon Avenue and the Spring Bayou district that we excluded because there's really no room on this on this section of Tarpon Avenue. And this is
like just really residential property here. So we excluded those. So then the we the requirement that you must have an on premise consumption for
alcohol is represented by these dots that you see on the map. And I want to call attention. There's a green and there's a red. A green dot is a restaurant that has a special food service
license, meaning their alcohol license is tied to a requirement that they have to have make 51% of their sales in food. These are restaurants that also have an alcohol license, but they're
primarily restaurants. Logically, they're probably not going to be interested in having a food truck because they need to demonstrate to Dbpr and the state that their revenue is 51%
is coming from their food sales. So the red dots are those alcohol serving establishments that are not special restaurant license. So I just wanted to provide clarity of what you're
looking at, and I'll zoom in a bit. So if you look in looking at just the sponge docks area and it's a little hard to see, but this green outline, these are the properties that are in the Sponge Docks character
district that are in a special area. Plan. The dots represent alcohol serving establishments that have been further classified. And these are these are just the ones we kind of did
a spot check. These are the ones that actually have space available to park a food truck. So the ones that are in blue, those are those already have the
food truck that is tied directly to the restaurant under the 5606 ordinance. So these are kind of all the they have their own branded food truck that is the same as the restaurant. The ones
that are in yellow are the special service. The 51% sales from food licenses. So really you've got two places, as the city manager alluded to, you've
got the bridge lounge and you've got wine at the docks as potential locations where if you're tied to an alcohol license, where you could have a food truck and you have space available, this pink one is a
current application that's pending that may turn blue. It's for a permanent food truck. So this is what as it's drafted now this is what this is your
limiting factor. You really would logically have about two places where you could have a food truck. These other special restaurant ones could, but there's no incentive for them to
have a food truck. If we remove the alcohol service requirement for the sponge docks. This this is a theoretical map. These are all locations where there's a
primary use that where you could invite that has space available. We have not verified bathrooms and things of that nature, but we wanted to present a realistic, you know, look at
where you could potentially have food trucks if you remove the alcohol service requirement in the sponge docks area. And then
this is a the rest of the special area plan. I know this is a little hard to see, and if you want to look closer, I can zoom in identifying the on premise alcohol licenses again
that have space available for food truck and also identifying the special restaurant licenses and things of that nature. So again, really the green dots are the ones that most likely places
where you would probably find a food truck operating. So with that, hopefully I've been able to demonstrate what the ordinance shows. Right. Or as
it's written right now, and I'll be happy to answer any questions. All right. Do we have any questions from we're going to do some questions from the
board first. And then we're going to go into public comments because maybe there might be some questions. And that could help some comments here in the future. Go. Commissioner Eisner,
thank you. Renee, could you go back to the blue dots? Yes. So Rusty Bellies, Bayou Bistro, Turtle Island Bar and Grill. No,
no, the all the blue. Oh, all the blue dots. Let me this this map. Yes. Right there. So are these all blue dots attached to brick and mortar locations, or.
These are all blue dots that are on just blank pieces of land. They we included anything that we knew was a legally established use. So you'll notice that you do have a
parking lot here with a blue dot in the middle of it, but that's a legally established parking lot. They don't have any bathrooms. They would have to do things to be able to bring a food truck in. But the way that
the code is written now, it says you have to be accessory to a legally established use. Doesn't say a building, it says a use. So I do want to be clear about that. But all the current food
trucks all have attached to a brick and mortar place. So this the you're talking about the existing ones. The existing ones. Yes. They those and those
are under the 5606 ordinance. These are the ones that have to be branded and basically be operated by the restaurant. So Rusty Bellies has their own Bayou Bistro, has their own
Turtle Island. It's their own their own food truck. But you don't have a diagram to show which one of these blue dots would be having to be affiliated
with a brick and mortar location. Any any of these blue dots could potentially. These are where there are legally established use. This is if you
remove the alcohol service requirement. Right. So theoretically all these blue dots could potentially host a food truck where these are recognized. These are places
where there's space available and there's a legal use. There's a business tax receipt on the property. Doesn't mean that they have the bathrooms. They have, you know, there's other things
that may have to be quantified, but we didn't have time to do all of that. But these are space available. Uses in the in the
docks to the best of our ability at this point. So where I'm going with this is this can be if we saw that we removed the
alcohol, but put in that we would have to have it affiliated with a brick and mortar location. This would be a different map. Do you know how many blue dots there would be? I mean, meaning like so if you
took the parking lots out of play, is that what you're saying? Yes. So you have to have a physical building on the property, correct? You'll I mean, you can look at the map and see, I mean, you know,
there's, you know, here, here there's, you know, the, the parking lots, you know, you would logically probably take the parking lots out again. Doesn't mean that they somebody can't do something to meet the
requirement down the road. What's a brick and mortar. So I mean that's well my question will also be they're not allowed to use generators. No they're not. They have to plug in. So
you can't plug in in an open lackly. Exactly. So you need to be attached to a brick and mortar location to realistically you may have to. Yes. So that's why I was curious what those blue dots would be. And we don't
have that number. I don't have that number. Okay. I have no further questions. Thank you. Commissioner Banther, your light was on next. Thank you. So at
its proposed now we it is with the requirement of the alcohol sales. Correct? It is. Yes. I'm sorry. Thank you. So as of now it is. It is well as proposed
rather it will be a requirement for alcohol sales to have a food truck there. And that severely diminishes from these blue dots. Correct. It. It does. And I want to point out have that map. You
can pull up this. This map is where they would be allowed based on the alcohol licenses available right now. These are the locations. And then we further broke those down by, you
know, the you know, the special restaurant license probably aren't the yellow ones and yellow probably aren't going to have a truck logically because they have just under ten spots. Maybe. And you're saying
realistically, as proposed tonight, if it passes as as it's written, realistically, all 9 or 10 could, but only realistically two probably would the bridge,
lounge and wine at the docks. Correct. And that's what would change there. Anything change downtown or anything like that, or on the old 19 corridor. So downtown, let me see. Let me
flip through here. So again, with the on premise requirement, we did the same map here. This is a little harder to read. So you do have more you know,
breweries. And in this area. So the green dots I'm seeing 1234.
I'm saying about 4 or 5. Lots of those I don't think would really have an incentive. They may not they may not. City could bring in like, you know, we all love Millie's donuts, right? Sponge. You know I can see Sponge City
doing that. But they serve actual food. They serve food having like a like a grilled cheese food truck there. Right, right. So you know, the Elks Lodge, maybe for a special event, you know, Brighter Day
Brewery. I can see doing that. I don't see ours doing that. They could they have a special restaurant license so they're not going to unrefined possibly could. Okay. That that that I think that paints the picture.
So in your view is as proposed tonight. If it passes, this would be kind of a baby step per se. I would say that, yes, opening the floodgates. It is not whether you like that or
not. Okay. And then if we don't require alcohol sales, then that would open the floodgates more per se. Correct. It's definitely going to open up the, you know, more locations. If you, you
know, if you take out the if you remove that restriction. We didn't do the same analysis that we did for the docks for the rest of the special area plan. But but yeah, logically, there
would be, you know, quite a few more places that would be revisited annually as been discussed off the top of your head. Are you aware of what
Dunedin or Oldsmar does? No. County at large. The county have any. County doesn't. They don't regulate food trucks. They don't have any say in the matter. Really. So Palm Harbor is just free. Just just my understanding
is it's pretty wide. Pretty pretty free range at the county. Yeah. Okay. All right. Okay. Thank you. Vice mayor
Giuliani's. Renee, do you remember when we met with the city manager and had a conversation about this, about the what's transpired since
then? But remember, I had we had the city. I received a letter, an email from Irene Inglis. She
it was addressed to us on January 28th. We met shortly after that and we had a conversation about about her
request, and we talked about the uniqueness of her product. Right. Remember? Don't you remember that? Do you remember? I'm sorry. My memory really is we were at we were at we were at
Karen Lemon's office. Yeah. Okay. So and I know we don't make ordinances to specifically
for one applicant, but, you know, we talked about the uniqueness of our product. You know, she sells something that is very cultural, but it's very
difficult for a bakery to have those because they need to be served fresh. Right? They're not something that can sit in a, in
a, in a case. Right. So we talked about that. And then what I, what I asked you was can we again not making an ordinance
for one person, but she's an example of someone who should well be on the docks. She's perfect for the docks. Her product is perfect for the docks. So could we draft
something that's so narrow that would allow somebody like her to be able to do it without, as Commissioner Banther says, open the flood docks. Right. Well, I
think that's what we've done. And that's my question. Do you feel like what you have, what you guys have created here? Obviously not the nonalcoholic
one with massive amounts of dots, but the, the, the narrow version with that really limits it to about two spots on the sponge docks currently. Yeah. And let me say I don't want this
to sound like that. We're crafting something for. No no no no. There's a rational nexus between what we're proposing and what we're trying to regulate. I
agree again, she brought it into our consciousness. Right. And then I said, yes, she's ideal for the docks. We shouldn't draft something for one person.
Right. But she's an example of something that could be a welcomed addition to the docks.
Okay. So also. Is it possible, you know, I watched the planning and zoning meeting and they talked about, you know, they were getting into all worst case scenarios of, you know,
everybody on the docks gets a liquor license, which isn't really, you know, very practical that that's going to happen. Liquor licenses are extremely
expensive. But given, you know, following that thought process of worst case, is it possible, let's say that this this is a
temporary ordinance for one year. Right. And is it possible? And this is something the city attorney can answer. Can we have a window? Let's say it's a 30
day window to apply for this coming year. So that way everyone will know what is happening right away and they won't have to sit there and
expect the possibility of additional ones coming in throughout the next 11 months. Is it possible to narrow that? I think you could do that? Yes.
Okay. Yeah. Just for clarity, I think it would have to be tied to the business tax receipt. That's the only real regulating mechanism we have. We could have the window for application to be
narrow, small. Everyone would know who's going to be there. They won't have to worry about over the next 11 months, a whole bunch of other trucks appearing. And that way we can, because
we're really the real issue here is mostly the sponge docks. And I would assume that most of the people here that that's their biggest concern. So with that, can we can we draft it where
it's narrow like that also for the application process. So we don't have any surprises the next 11 months. We don't have to even think about it. Are you
saying that the application to figure out all the trucks they're going to have, like if they rotate a truck every Saturday night, they got to figure them all out a year? No, no. Okay. If a food truck is
going to be allowed on a property, right, they can make their arrangement. They would have to apply for a business tax receipt within X amount of days. That would cover them for a year to have whatever truck they want
come and go, and then then they can come and go. It's not like they're they're not applying. They're not applying every single month. They're just going to apply one time, which gives them the whole year. Would you,
would you want to propose that for just the sponge docks area or for the special area plan just the sponge docks just for the sponge docks? I'm just going to defer to the city attorney on, you know, if we're getting
so narrow and so prescribed that we're I'm going to defer to him. You have to look into it. But I think we could probably draft some kind of requirement, especially if we're isolating it
to one area. Yeah. And then then the rest of the justification for doing that, we would just well, it's the cultural nature of that, of that area. That's something we could do between
first and second reading. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Right. How would. It just you know, the only I guess that's the only caution I would
say with that is. I guess it's really that much of an administrative burden to try to track that. But we'll, we'll we'll figure it out. Yeah. You guys can figure it out. Yeah. Sorry. Are you saying we have
seats for the food trucks themselves or the restaurants? The business owner? The business owner? The primary property owner is going to have to pull a business tax receipt anyway, so they would have to do that
within some defined time frame. And then. And that keeps it from getting out of hand. Correct. So yeah, you would yeah. We would know where they're going to, you know what locations have been
approved and that's it. That's it. You know. So we just got to be cognizant that on day 31 or day 35 of the business tax receipt comes in that they need
to apply. They need to apply early and get their name in and be done with it. I just I that that that's theoretically yes. I think we need to probably talk about the logistics of it. You
know, between you guys, you guys work out how to word it. But I think that would be the I would be I would be good with something like that. But again we're going to hear from the from the people. But I think if
we can narrow it like that so that it doesn't, there's no opportunity to get out of hand. But yet it still facilitates at least the two that could possibly be there. I mean, I
mean, candidly, I just, I I'll just push back a little bit. I mean, if you're going to keep the alcohol restriction in place, I don't see well, I don't see the need for that. But
that's, you know, that's just my yeah, I want to hear from the rest. I don't want to make work that I want to hear from the rest of the board. And I want to hear from from the residents as
well. Thank you. Commissioner Donato. Excuse me. I concur pretty much with what's been said. I also would like to commend staff and our planning
and Zoning board, because they have put hours and hours and hours into this. And I think that all of us up here, at least what I'm hearing, want to be fair about it, but there's some
reservations. And that's one reason why I think it's being proposed for years trial. And we can see what works and what we need to consider down the road, those kinds of things. But I too
would like to hear from those that would like to. They waited this this hour, and I certainly want to hear from them as well. Commissioner Iser, can you be real brief? And then I'm going
to make a couple comments. And as always, thank you. So there's a couple of things that I did want to say as I've been listening to this since. You
have no generators, no overnight, you can't have this being open while the stores are closed. You can't be on any
empty lots. You need to have toilets, but the toilets do not have to be with your mobile truck. And. And it has to leave every night. Why can't we just
change this to be only affiliated with a only a brick and mortar location? There can't be that many of them. And I
think that would open up and allow them to have theirs. Maybe there would be a hot dog stand, I don't know, but, you know, it
wouldn't be inundated and we would remove the stipulation of the alcohol, because that's the stickler that we do have. And at the same time, if it, you know,
to have it only on a 30 day, you're talking about making only a 30 day application, and then you have to stop people from 11 months of applying. They'd have to apply what, the next year. I
mean, I think we could possibly have a little bit of a lawsuit because we're kind of like, yeah, it just doesn't make sense to me. So if we put these
stipulations in, we don't allow it to affect any of the brick and mortar places. Not all the not not all the brick and mortar places are going to want to have
a food truck there. Right now we have kiosks there that that are selling things without a bathroom, without a generator. And then the best part is you
got to be hooked up to a somebody's location. So it's not like there's just going to be food trucks everywhere. We don't want a food truck, you know, area. We don't want a food
truck, you know, in the sponge docks. We just want just a couple of things for the populace that want to just eat and run and not have to have a
sit down dinner. That's what I see about this. Thank you. Mayor. Thank you. Miss Vincent. This sunset rule that
potentially, if one way or another, any variable situations approved are earliest or and this might be city manager. We would come back in a year to
review it. Correct. We unless you requested earlier we would agenda it a year from now for review. So there is a possibility to request even
earlier. Okay, I want to. This the type of trucks that you know, any situation like this arises. We can't as a city give
licenses a certain amount of different types of food trucks depending on what their food is that they're offering. Correct. We don't license the food trucks themselves. That is that is reserved to the state. We would
only require a business tax receipt from the primary property owner that's hosting the food truck. So we won't even need a business tax receipt or business tax number from for
Tarpon Springs for these food trucks. No. Okay. I'm I'm focused on the blue dots with, you know, any potential
situation. And you know a lot of these restaurant owners, they have great concern about. The floodgates opening. And literally I mean, if all those
dots could be food trucks, it would be pretty unsightly for our community. You know? But at the same time, a lot of these
properties, they would really have to improve their properties tremendously to be able to at least just put one food truck on there. Miss Vincent, how would
installing bathrooms on some of these properties to be able to make the conditions available for these food trucks to be placed on, do they have to go
towards new FEMA height standards or with with everything that's happened in our community? And, you know, they would I mean, any bathrooms
would have to be able to meet FEMA requirements in one way or another. And there are different methods for that. But but yes, they would have to be able to,
to meet that. So some of these parking lots aren't necessarily just going to be able to build on that first, you know, on the concrete slab, a porta potty on there and call it a bathroom.
No. Okay. Is there any way we can restrict a section in, let's just say the sponge docks, where
the alcohol attachment doesn't have to be included, because a lot of this I see is a lot of the outskirts of this, of the of
the docks. You got a lot of these parking lots, a lot of some of these buildings are the blue dots are really behind the building, which, you know, the
building faces the lake, so you can't, you know, you're gonna have to walk behind the building and go get food. If there was a food truck there established, so do we have the ability to even
condense more the area in which we're talking about for not needing alcoholic beverages to be able to attach, I think there's some just like, let me
flip back to the when I was talking about, you know, this, you know, so we, you know, we excluded because you really can't physically put it. There's nowhere to put a truck on, you
know, Tarpon Ave and that particular transit zone. We eliminated that from consideration. So you know unfortunately we don't have as many transect zones up in the sponge docks. And that's this
area here. So this kind of pinkish color is one transect zone. And then you've got your waterfront transect zones 2 or 3 of those. This is a city owned property. So you know you could
potentially say you know you could you could limit it, you know, to a certain transect zone or exclude a certain transect zone. You know, that, you know,
that's one way that you could do that. You know, it's I'm to me, it's a little arbitrary. You know, I, I'm a little concerned about just saying, oh, let's just, you know, take out the
whole sponge docks character district out of consideration or, you know, because this is a little too I just don't I don't have a better word than arbitrary. I'm just. Okay. Yeah.
You know, my main concern is if there's, like, a few blocks in which a food truck could be attached to a non alcoholic building, like, let's say, from Hope Street to the Deaconess. I
mean, we, we could, we could do a section that says, you know, properties fronting on certain streets, you know, would be allowed. I mean, you know,
again, we're getting really. Nitpicky. I yeah, I think we are. Okay. I, you know, I. I
think if you, if you, if you want to loosen up, if you want to remove the alcohol restriction since that effectively removes things down to basically two spots in the
docks, I think, you know, probably the logical way to do it is to, you know, something that Commissioner Eisner has, has suggested is that further
refine it to you must have a brick and mortar establishment. You must have an approved electric service. You must have, you know, that would you know,
that's probably the, I think, the fairest way to do it. And there's a logical nexus to what you're asking, you know, what you're putting in the ordinance and you're not being arbitrary
about it. And those are legally supportive as opposed to doing I mean, if we did either zones or the restrictions that they're discussing, those are legally supportive. They're not
arbitrary as opposed to doing individual streets in an area, the whole area. It's easy. Okay, I have no further comments at
this time. We're now going to go to public comments. I will say if you've if you've submitted an email into the record and you come up to speak, your email
will not be read into the record. You either have one or the other. So if you're coming to speak during public comment, any email sent in will not be
read. So we've opened the floor to public comments. Yes. Okay.
My name is Demetrius Olivares, 1504 Gopher Loop. I also own two businesses on the sponge docks. This weekend we had a trailer right next to my restaurant, which they didn't have
bathrooms. They used all mine, which cost me money. So I had a lot of people that came in to use my bathroom because they were eating at Meli. Then all
the bees from Meli pushed employees and customers away from my business because I have people that work there with allergies, so they couldn't work that night. I had customers that
come in and denied to sit down outside because of the bees. If you're supposed to have bathrooms, why didn't they have bathrooms? And this was on Sunday. You even pass a law yet
or passed whatever you're doing. And they were on public property. These are things that need to be thought about. First, this needs to be reviewed because I've been down there
many, many years. My father would be turning in his grave right now. What's happened to the sponge docks? I don't see any of you down there, John. I think I saw you once when the
hurricane came by to ask if we got permits. Not one of you have come down there to see us. That's all I have to say. I'm
just. I'm upset because I work really hard. I've built a heart, a restaurant. I put a lot of money in it through through idea that I got destroyed with. And I got no help from no one. I
didn't need any help. I did it myself. But now I got people coming down there to do the same thing. When I wanted to build my Tarpon Springs Coffee Company and Planning and Zoning didn't
want to give me the, the, the permits to put a hood in because I wanted to do loukoumades in a brick and mortar store. So we're
just going to let somebody with a trailer come down there because it's cultural or it's a Greek thing. I'm Greek buddy, I know Greek food, and we've got a lot of things down there that are Greek. I got businesses down
there that sell Loukoumades, so it doesn't matter. And please, please, please, civility, please. What I'm going to do is please put my loukoumades machine out there and I'm going
to sell it. I'm going to give them away for free. I'm going to give them away for free. See, when you were up here, when you weren't on that board, I remember you because I used to sit here and listen to you. You
barked and pointed and made things happen. Comments should be made directly to the board. Well, I'm talking I'm talking to this man right here. I understand, but comments are supposed to be made to the
commission, not to individual commissioners. Like I said, I haven't seen one of you down there. None of you. But you're all here to make decisions on it, on something that you have
no idea what goes on down there, because none of you spend any
time down there. Thank you. Irene Mangos, 1307 Meares Boulevard. So for the record, I
never sent any of our customers to use his bathroom, but I know he used his bathroom and I'm. I apologize for the bees. It's because we use real honey. Okay, so first and foremost, I just
want to say that I have no intention in changing the integrity of the sponge docks, nor am I hoping that it gets saturated with food trucks. In 2020, when House Bill 1193 was
passed and the city had to rewrite the ordinances for food trucks, it was written in such a way that it kept small entrepreneurs out. Like me. It allowed the current businesses in town to continue to obtain and operate their food trucks. A
win for them. I didn't have a dog in that fight. I didn't know if I would make it first pass my first year. Fast forward five years later, I am still trying to spread my product and feed as many mouths as I can. On the
contrary, in the last five years I have lost a significant amount of revenue because I'm only able to operate twice a month. It was three times a month with the Sunset Beach concerts. However, they changed the rules so we
only are able to get two concerts per year and the occasional festival. I am in no direct competition with anyone at the docks. No one does what we do. Mobile food vendors are all over the world. You can get
fresh loukoumades in Kalymnos, Greece, right in front of a sponge boat. I am trying to create the same experience here. The BOC has the authority to reject and accept, approve and disapprove what you all feel is
good for the city. I'm asking you all to take the time and see how these unrealistic laws have affected me. A local born and raised in Tarpon Springs, I'm just asking for more opportunity in my hometown making an honest
living. I am not asking to use the right of way of any city property. I just want to rent private property. The city has continuous pattern of creating unrealistic conditions. Now food trucks are required to be on a
parcel with a bathroom and a liquor license. I'm sorry that is not work for us. I don't even have seating. I have no intention on collecting. I had I had no intention on collecting signatures for my petition until
there was one circulating against us at the sponge docks. We have support from pretty much all the stores just west of the of the of the fudge factory. We have collected about 200
signatures in support and still collecting in certain states like New York, only certain amount of permits are given. Maybe that can happen with the sponge docks, or our private property can be grandfathered in, like many other things in
Tarpon Springs have been in the past, my business pays its operating expenses just like any other business. We aren't built brick and mortar. We're more like vintage steel than a lot of personality. I appreciate your
time. I appreciate the work you all do. I respect everyone at the Sponge docks and their livelihood. Thank you. Next
public comment. Oh yeah, my name is Tom Frick. I speak on behalf of Lost Restaurant and Bakery on behalf of Nick us and
approximately 300 employees. We want to keep food trucks off of the sponge docks solely. Sponge docks, tarpon and wherever else we don't mind. We just want to
keep them off the sponge docks. We have 15 brick and mortar restaurants competing for X amount of business, and there's already limited parking for all of those businesses. And I want
to keep it short. And that's all I have to say. Thank you sir. Jane Harrington, 1021 Jamaica
Way, Tarpon Springs. Mr. Mayor, Commissioner, city manager, I've spoken about the proposed changes to the food truck ordinance prior. Some of the details are certainly
justifiable as such as their temporary nature, the concerns for side effects on neighboring businesses and homes. A significant concern, however, for some people is the potential
competition for established brick and mortar restaurants. Often those restaurants are very busy, with many people waiting a long time to be seated and served. They tend not to be set
up for a quick turn, takeout of lighter food items. Food trucks can offer a variety of options, potentially more attractive to families and people not interested in the long wait time
sitting for a meal or the complexities involved. My view is that food trucks are in a totally different market than the brick and mortar restaurants. If there is competition, it would be good
for everyone's business, bringing more people to the area, stimulating more innovations in menus, prices and service. More people being
attracted to our city should be good for all retail businesses. I believe that all businesses, not just alcohol based establishments, should be allowed to benefit from this
ordinance as long as they meet all of the city criteria private land, electric, etc. For example, if I drove past a
gathering not necessarily on the sponge docks, nice little plaza on all 19 and I saw a food truck or Melis donuts. I would certainly stop or maybe even
have to turn around, go back and check out that happening. And of course I would have to get my donut fix. But similarly, the requirements for on site restrooms seem very restrictive.
Restroom availability is a community characteristic, not just that of a single business. You have public restrooms on Tarpon Avenue and on Dodecanese.
There are people going up and down. They have a public restroom, people, the bakeries, a lot of places do not let you just go in and use the restroom. You have public restrooms.
Several elements of this approach to the ordinance seems more concerned about preventing worst case bad consequences than enabling new business and
growth. So if this ordinance would enable new ideas rather than create complex barriers, I believe you'd be surprised at the results. I really do hope
you think about expanding it rather than making an ordinance so tight. You can say yes, Tarpon allows trucks, but oh, there's no truck that could be
allowed. Dodecanese has two places if you stay with alcohol business wine at the docks, in the bridge. Those two places would not live by donuts alone.
They need a variety of food trucks. And that's only two places. And everyone is so upset that we're taking away. We're giving options, not taking
business out of place. Thank you. Have a good evening. Go ahead. Okay. Sorry. That's all
right. Tommy Scott, I'm one of the owners of Unrefined Brewing on Tarpon Avenue, and I live at 704 Pine Street. So not only do I own a business in town, but I own a home in town as well. I've
been here for about five years. Before I get into what I prepared. I do want to make a clarification to help you all out, because I'm very familiar with the food truck industry. Food trucks don't go places without a minimum guarantee if
it's not an alcohol business. So if you if you do allow businesses that don't have alcohol, I mean, they're going to have to guarantee like a $1,000 minimum. And that's tough for an arts and crafts shop or something. So consider that as
well. But anyhow, I want to speak about downtown. I know everybody's focused on Tarpon Avenue, but the breweries downtown, Brighter Days and myself in particular that have private lots. We don't have food, we don't want to be
restaurants, you know, and we struggle because tarpon, we love Tarpon Springs. But, you know, at the at the end of the day, what we're seeing in the industry, according to many industry publications, including
Harris Poling from the Craft Beer Insights Panel, is that the frequency people are drinking is less, but it's the millennials who are occupying the most. Up from age 21 to 45 is where
you're seeing the increase in beer drinking, beer consumption once you hit about 45 and on, I think 45 to 55, the average beer consumption has dropped 8% and
it just goes up. The older people get. And the reality of the situation is Tarpon Springs is an older community. In 2023, the census in Tarpon Springs, it
said, we have 25,872 people, and only 68.9% of those people are under the age of eight, of 65. Now we're trying to get down to 45 since this didn't have that data. But that's not a ton of
people for the local breweries. So when we're looking at food trucks, especially specifically the breweries and maybe the distillery, we're looking to bring people into town. The millennials make up 40. I think
it's 48% of food truck consumption. So what we're trying to do is we're trying to tap into Palm Harbor 61,534. We're trying to tap into New
Port Richey and Trinity, who have a combined population of 36,000, all of which are younger populations than Tarpon Springs. So when I want to have a rotating food truck on a
Saturday afternoon, while I'm having live music in my back private lot, I'm trying to bring new eyeballs to Tarpon Springs. I'm trying to say, hey, these food trucks all have followings,
and the followings bring these millennials along. Whether it's a sushi, whether it's grilled cheese sandwiches, whether it's tamales, people follow these food trucks, and then we get a younger population that comes
into tarpon. If I've got live music from 2 to 5, if I've got a food truck from 2 to 5 people come into town and then they wander around Tarpon Springs, you can ask a lot of the business owners in town. At many
of the meetings we've been to with the downtown business district, my focus as one of the business owners in downtown has been to try to bring new eyeballs to Tarpon Springs, and
I understand the Sponge Docks is a little bit of a different beast. But you know, our what do I say? My widget is about seven bucks. I got to sell a lot of
widgets to pay my bills and pay my staff. We employ five people right now down there, and we are the largest production brewery in Tarpon, and we want to continue going on. But I think it's important for us to have
that food option. And we don't want to become a restaurant, you know, requiring us with the current ordinance to be a permanent food truck attached to our business, that makes us a restaurant, which makes us a direct competitor to a
restaurant. We don't want that. We want to be able to rotate these trucks that are attract, that are attracting these millennials from outside of tarpon to come in and see how great tarpon is and to see everything tarpon has to offer.
And I will say that, you know, the Brewers Association did some studies. And, you know, what they have found is that breweries that offer food see a 20 to 30% increase in average
customer spend per visit. So for someone like us, if a food truck comes in that requires a $1,000 minimum, it's about 50 to 60 customers. If those 50 to 60 customers buy just two beers
from us, or one and a half beers, is what I like to say. It's almost a $1,000 difference for a small business like ours to keep us in town, because it's really it's really tough to make
all that money on that $7.50. So look at downtown. I don't know if you can separate it or not. You wrap it up in 10s. Yeah, I can just just thank you for
listening. And, you know, let's get this done. Next speaker, please. All right. Take two.
Good evening. Mayor, Council members, city manager. My name is Tony Khoury. My husband and I own Acropolis Greek Taverna on the sponge docks. I am here to
advocate for preserving the unique charm, character and economic stability of the sponge docks. The sponge docks are not just another part of town. They
are a huge part of Tarpon Springs identity and revenue source. Tourists from all over the world come to the sponge Docks for its unique character in Greek history, and Greek food
is a huge part of the experience people are looking for when they visit now. Sometimes when you live in a place so long. I'm from Chicago and I never went to the Sears Tower. You forget what
a unique place is. Just a friendly reminder of the sponge docks. People come from around the world for that experience. It's different than downtown. It's a living, breathing part of
our culture, not just a venue for passing trends. Allowing food trucks in this area threatens to undermine what generations, as my friends and neighbors here have told you,
generations have put their blood, sweat and tears in and have built. Unlike our beloved brick and mortar restaurants, food trucks do not make the same long term investments in our community. But let's talk
revenue. Food trucks do not contribute to our city the way traditional restaurants do. And if you take some of the revenue from our restaurants who do contribute it to the food trucks who don't contribute it, we all
lose. For instance, property taxes, brick and mortar restaurants pay commercial property taxes. That money supports our schools, infrastructure and essential city services. Food trucks pay
none of that. Second, utilities. Restaurants use city water, sewer, and sanitation services. That's steady revenue. Food trucks bring in their own water.
You have not allowed them to use generators, so that's good. And don't pay any revenue for trash. So in short, restaurants invest in our community. Food trucks just visit it. But we also must
consider the cultural impact. The sponge docks are a destination because of their authenticity. Tourists don't come here for food trucks. They can find that at any fairground. They come for the rich
experience of walking our docks, shopping in our Greek shops and tasting family recipes. Hand down passed down for generations, introducing food trucks risks diluting that
experience. It invites a transient, carnival like feel into a place that has always stood for tradition, family and pride in our culture. Now I'm a small business owner. I am not
against small businesses. My husband and I recently came to the Sponge docks and it is a dream come true to be on the Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks. But you know what? We had to save
money and use our savings to do that. We paid for it. And no offense to this lady behind me, but if you want to be on the sponge docks so bad, we all do. But you got to pay for it. Rent
a building and sell all the donuts to your heart's content. Because again, I'm all for competition. That's what makes America great. But on a fair playing field, then it's fair
competition. We're just asking for a fair playing field. So this is not about against food trucks in general. There are plenty of other areas in Tarpon Springs where they may be appropriate. The golf course
would be great for food trucks, but the sponge docks are not one of them. Let's protect what makes this place unlike anywhere else in the world. Well, except
for maybe Greece itself. So please vote to preserve the integrity, economy, and the soul of the sponge docks. Thank you.
Next speaker, please. Hi. Jason Edwards, 307 Cypress Street. I just want to say I live here, I work here, I'm a local. I don't have any businesses here. I'm just basically up here because I
love Tarpon Springs. I love enjoying it. And I'm for food trucks. I do frequent the breweries and distilleries sometimes, and I'm kind of more there for him or for them rather. And you know, when you
go there, you know, so I mainly go for music, I go there, you know, they usually have music for about three hours or so. So if you're there, you know, to watch music and you want to eat, you have to, you know, leave to
get somewhere else or have something delivered. So it's just really convenient to be able to have that come to you there and have their patrons stay there longer and support that business. I understand that, you know, the food trucks
aren't helping the city in that way, but they're helping those businesses that are utilizing the food trucks. Basically, we just want variety. You know, I do frequent all the local
restaurants here. I love them, I want them to do great. I want to support them. But we want variety. So basically, you know, we just think that'll give us more choices more, more, more
bring different, unique culinary options to Tarpon Springs. I think it will help boost local economy with more foot traffic. Like Tommy mentioned, it'll help
people just see what Tarpon is all about. It'll help people, you know, realize, oh, this restaurant's here. Maybe next time I'll try that. Or just get people in the shops, the cafes and the entertainment
businesses. Lastly, I think competition is good. I think it, you know, makes you strive for higher quality, a better menu selection, hospitality and service increases and the design
and ambiance will increase because they're trying to, you know, compete with that and keep up and want people to come there. So it kind of discourages stagnation and complacency in those restaurants. Thank you for
your time. Thank you. Next speaker please. Come on. Now's your chance to speak. Tanya
Pilarinos, 1307 Myers Boulevard, Tarpon Springs, Florida. Tarpon Springs is a beautiful small town that has a strong Greek heritage. The Sponge Docks is a testament to the city's historical roots and cultural
richness, and Loukoumades are a significant part of Greek tradition. But by allowing Meli to sell fresh made to order loukoumades, the city preserves and celebrates these cultural traditions by allowing locals
and visitors a delicious taste of Greek heritage. By giving Meli the opportunity to be at the sponge Docks, the city would be supporting one of its own residents, promoting small business growth and the presence
of more food offerings, particularly ones that focus on local and traditional Greek delicacies, which would only enhance the cultural experience for visitors and bring bring in
additional tourism as well as locals and more foot traffic. Increased foot traffic would be benefiting all businesses at the sponge docks, not just the restaurants. You go to the Sponge docks past 7:00. It's a
ghost town. We all know that locals don't go down to the sponge docks as much as they used to, unfortunately. So food trucks. I'm not saying to flood
the sponge docks with food trucks, but giving certain food trucks a chance. I don't think there's an issue with that. I understand the position of many on the sponge docks do not want
to fill the docks with food trucks. It's understandable, but at the same time, some of the same people do support Meli, and we appreciate that the BOC
represents the interests of Tarpon Springs residents and ensures that their voices are heard. You promote the growth and prosperity of the local economy by supporting local businesses while attracting new businesses, and you're
responsible for governing the city and ensuring that policies and decisions align with the best interests of the community. So I respectfully urge the board to find a way, because when there is a will, there is a way
to support Meli, who is passionate about sharing a cherished Greek tradition with her community. Irene lives and breathes tarpon. She loves this town with all her heart and this is an opportunity to showcase
our culture while supporting a local Tarpon Night that will boost the town's economy. As the lady behind me said, Irene has been in this town. She's grown
up. She, she, she's gone to school here. The lady behind me just came and bought Acropolis. She's from Chicago. Nothing against it. Good for her. I wish her the best. But we are talking
about someone that has been living here for their entire lives. And with the ordinances that are put into place, food trucks in general are made to fail. Other than maybe several
people, if you haven't run a food truck, you don't know what goes into it. Those generators are 120 pounds each. I work with Irene and we literally lift
those things up twice a day, 120 pounds each. And I understand not wanting the generators. Absolutely. They do make noise. There are inverter type generators which Mel has which
do not make as much noise, but with consideration to the parking lots that you guys were saying, there needs to be an RV hookup, you can't just go plug
in the food truck into a normal plug that any restaurant has, and for a food truck to go on any one of these properties, again, they need permission. I can't go into any parking lot
and just be like, I want to park here. They're going to need permission from that owner so everyone can say that we don't want the docks to flood with
food trucks. But again, it's the residents. It's the people of the sponge docks to not allow any food truck that they want. If they want Meli, great. If they want maybe another dessert
truck or something else, that should be their decision. But again, we should have the I mean, the BOC should be able to decide that maybe 1 or 2 food
trucks are allowed down at the docks. Thank you. Katie Taylor, 1991 Douglas Lane, Tarpon
Springs. I go to Greektown to eat my mama's for my for my shrimp. And I go to used to be Yanni's for my octopus. And I go to Kostas for my lamb. But I
also like the food trucks because it's like a new generation thing going on. People follow food trucks. So I was going to ask city manager at one of the meetings. You mentioned that down by
Winn-Dixie, the old Winn-Dixie, right behind Rodi's, the restaurant, that big parking lot, that big complex that's just empty, rather than them having food trucks just
periodically here and there on the beach somewhere doing special events, can anything be done in that area so you can have food trucks more often, maybe every weekend, have a food
truck alley down there, a food truck where they can go and set up their food trucks and just have a big place just for food trucks. So is there any place in tarpon that can handle food
trucks on weekends? Mr. Taylor, I'm going to ask you to get each and every question you want out. That way we can not go dialog. So he's got that one question. Any other questions you want. That's it. Time out. Can you
find out? With Winn-Dixie, parking lot can be used for food trucks. The old Winn-Dixie parking lot. Yes. So we'll be looking into it. We'll definitely have our economic
developer reaching out to the property owner. Thank you. Ma'am, are there any other public comments? Questions? I
don't usually do this. Okay. I'm George Villiers, 872 West Bayshore Drive. I don't have a restaurant that has to worry about competition from the food trucks or anything like that,
but I am concerned about the image that if you start opening it up, you're going to take, just like she said, sponge docks
have an image of Tarpon Springs people coming for the Greek. Your your truck was next to me this past weekend. Okay? It was great. I ate too many of those
things. But I am concerned about where the locations are going to be. We did, you know a Dmitri mentioned something about the
bees? We did have a lot of bees sitting around our counter. I did have customers moving away because of the bees. Now again, where's the locations going to
be? It's in an open area away, away from a confined space where I do business or other people's business might be affected by that. You know, the bees aren't
the biggest issue, okay? But it is a concern. The other is the impact of the trash and residue and stuff that's that's brought
about from these people, from people walking around with containers. If they start overflowing the city baskets, that means more work for the city employees. They have to
clean up and deal with. Again, not a major issue, but the restaurants do have trash bins and refuse places where they
take their trash to. Now they. Irene did a good job on keeping her area clean, so no problem there. And it it is a nice product to have. Okay, I have no
objections to her specific product, but I do have objections to other food truck types that are not consistent with the Greek culture down
there. Okay, that's that's my biggest concern. If you want to put it someplace, if you want to have a specific area designated for two food trucks, do it away
from there, just like the woman just said. Now, about the Winn-Dixie parking lot. You know, other cities have locations where they set up where all the food trucks can go to, and that's basically a
permanent location where they set up all the time, and that's where they go. So if people want to go, go to food trucks and eat food truck food, fine, no problem. But they do it in a
specific location now attached to a brick and mortar building. That's great. Like the like the little breweries and stuff here where they could use something like that. That's okay. That's in a different area. But at the
sponge docks, I just don't want to see food trucks popping up all over the place. Because you open up to one, you're going to have a hard time trying to trying to restrict it to one
type of food. And I'm concerned about that. So thank you. Thank you. Next public comment. Are
there any other public comments before we go into our emails? I
see are there any zoom comments? On zoom attendee you are unmuted. Please state your name and address for the record.
Juliana de 413 East Oakwood. Welcome everyone! On the topic of food trucks. I know the audience. The audience that you all read was specifically
targeting certain places with food trucks. Is that. Is this is like a first reading. Is there going to be places open up for
other areas where that you can use food trucks, for instance, in your city parks? Would it be allowed in parks? Would it be allowed along the roadway, like
when you're having a certain parades and stuff? So that's my question to the to the BOC. Thank you. Thank you, miss De.
It. Are there any other zoom comments? There are no more comments. Okay. And. City Clerk,
can you please start reading the emails? Excuse me. The first one is from Annie San Marcos. One
I'm sorry, 1110 South Florida Avenue. When a young entrepreneur who loves her hometown and her culture and her family special recipes wants to share that love and operate a food truck business in her
hometown, it should be feasible for the Board of Commissioners and the City of Tarpon Springs to find the parameters to make that happen fairly and feasibly for all involved. Yes, some business owners own the
buildings in which they operate their businesses. Yes, some business owners lease the occupancies in which they operate their business. A food truck business owner operates a
business from a truck that could be either owned by them or leased by them, if financially benefit if financial benefit to the city of Tarpon Springs is
the concern or issue, meaning rental of land space or paying sales and use tax, there should be a way to make that happen fairly for all business owners who would like to operate a
business in our sponge docks, Greektown Historic District The Sponge Docks is the main reason tourists come from all over the world to Tarpon Springs. That's the reality of it. So in
closing, please keep in mind how important it is to be helpful to and thankful for young entrepreneurs who care about their hometown, history and culture. Sincerely, Annie
Marcus, fourth generation Tarpon eight. Mathias Pinellas, 1109 Goshen Road. I believe allowing Millie's Donuts to conduct business business at the Sponge
Docks would be an attribute to Tarpon Springs. Not only are the donuts delicious, but the team brings hospitality and friendliness better than most stores in the docks. I believe
they will bring a tourism, new and fun things to do and try at the docks, which is much needed for visitors. Not to mention they are also providing a top grade dessert. It is not
competition in comparison to Hellas and the other bakeries around, because Millie's is their own style, flavor, everything. This is 100% a beneficial addition to our city.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Linda Scotus, 1420 Oleander Drive. Mellie should be allowed to present for all purposes, at any time, for any
event as they are the best food truck around. Irene Mangles is an incredible business owner and eats at 1040 Wide View Avenue.
As a citizen of Tarpon Springs and growing up with my family owning multiple shops in the sponge docks, I think that having the food truck would benefit everyone. The patrons of
Tarpon that love Maley's product so much, but also the businesses in the sponge docks. The docks can't progress with time if we don't start making some changes,
and adding a food truck would be great. Tony Curtis, 1311 Mayors Boulevard. This is a great asset to our community and also to our sponge docks. Jelly donuts bring
people to our community and a great asset to the sponge docks, rather than the ones that are frozen and offered to you in certain restaurants. Claudia
Rieger, 4738 first Street Avenue North, Pinellas Park. The board should encourage local businesses and allow locals to operate and serve the community, stop being a hindrance and start
being a partner. Enforce laws that make sense and not laws that and not laws for their own sake. Allow me to continue to operate in the sponge docks and
remain an integral part of the community. Jennifer Hartke, Halkias, 305 Holly Hill Road, Oldsmar. Allowing private property business owners to host
food trucks would would bring much needed additional foot traffic and revenue to the sponge docks. Trucks would not be taking any business away from existing businesses, but on the
contrary may bring new customers. Food trucks are an attractor and will draw from a customer base that is likely not yet shopping at the sponge docks. Please reconsider the
ordinance and vote for growth and sustainability at the Sponge docks. Samantha Silver, 614 Palm Avenue. As a proud resident of
Tarpon Springs and a lover of Greek culture meals, Greek Donuts should without a doubt be allowed to operate at the sponge docks. Not only is Irene an amazing person, but her business is an asset to our community as
a successful business and showcasing Greek cuisine in a fun way. We love Mellie. Dacus, 64 West Park Street. Let the
jelly donuts at the Sponge Docks. Sheila Fowler, 1110 Gray Wood Avenue. Food truck. Please
allow me at the docks. Christy Loveless, 8332 Bluebonnet Place, New Port Richey. Irene should be able to operate her business at the Sponge Docks. There are so
many businesses down there that would benefit her as well. Growing up in Tarpon, I would be extremely disappointed to not allow someone who has grown up, created success and loves her
hometown. There are other businesses in the parking lot that sell their food. Why not her? I would really consider this as she is a tarpon native.
Not only that, her donuts are the best ever. The renos, 4524 Ontario Drive, New Port Richey, Meli Greek Street Donuts should
have the right, just like any other food truck to succeed in Tarpon Springs. To be able to have an area to park their food trucks and give back to our community as we all come
together to help and support each other. Eleni Tavares, 1720 Atkinson Avenue, Whiting,
Indiana. Food truck. Judy Aquino, 811 Virginia Avenue. This is my letter of support to request that Maley Donut food truck be allowed to operate at
the sponge docks. Katerina. Kostas Constance, 501 Sanibel Court. Mary would be a valuable addition at the sponge docks. It incorporates perfectly with our
Greek heritage, and they are deeply loved and supported in the community. Stacy Milos, 715 Wesley Avenue I am 100%
supportive of food trucks, especially donuts, in Tarpon Springs at the Sponge docks, although I love seeing them at First Friday, it would be great to have them more often, not only at events. Not only is
merely one of the best food trucks around, they are locally owned and truly authentic. I also feel that the food trucks would bring in more business there and to the community,
which is what Tarpon Springs needs. EV Milos, 3643 Lincoln Linkwood Street, New Port Richey. I would love to see food trucks in Tarpon Springs. I
don't understand why people are so against it. I feel it would be a great add on and bring in more businesses to the city and sponge docks. I'm especially rooting for belly donuts since
they are delicious and they are local. Well, I do Zopoulos 8906 Frodsham Way, Winter garden, Florida. My name is. Vilardo and
I am originally from Tarpon Springs, Florida. I currently live in Orlando and try to come back often to visit family and friends, all who will still live
here. I attempt to support belly donuts whenever I am back in town, but due to the tight restrictions, I have only been able to see them in the beginning of the month because
that's when their events typically occur. I have been gone many years, but sponge docks have remained more or less the same. It would be exciting to see something new at the Sponge docks. Living in Orlando,
food trucks are everywhere and have a huge following. I believe Jelly Donuts would open the doors to online following and bring people to the beautiful, beautiful city of Tarpon Springs
who have never heard of this town. In addition, we should allow Millie, which serves Greek traditional desserts, to be able to operate on private property
because she is a local who is heavily involved and devoted to her community and always gives back whenever she can. I don't feel Millie would take away from the sponge docks, but on the contrary, it would add to the
beautiful hidden treasure we all know as home. Briana Wiskowski, 1447 Mears Boulevard. Allow food
trucks and Tarpon Springs is essential to Tarpon Springs. Artemus Stephens, 1031 Hamilton Avenue. Vote to allow food
trucks at the sponge docks. Michelle Bozart, 308 High Street. Please allow local business and resident to operate out of Tarpon Springs. Mainly
donuts deserves to be a part of our town. Calliope squirrels, 448 Athens Street. We did extend
our a reply to her. We're not sure if she's for or against because her comments didn't go through, and we have not received anything back from her. Sophie Stamatis, 1332 Hillside Drive. Dear Tarpon Springs Board
of Commissioners, I am writing to express my strong support for allowing food trucks at sponge docks, with focus on permitting local community based vendors a well regulated approach, issuing a limited number of permits will
ensure food trucks complement the existing businesses, rather than overwhelm the area. One standout example is Greek Donuts, a woman owned, family
run food truck operated by a member of our Greek community, mainly offers authentic loukoumades, enhancing the culture and culinary experiences that make the sponge docks so
special. Supporting local food trucks like Millie's keeps business opportunities within our community while providing visitors and residents with diverse, high quality options.
By allowing a select number of local food trucks, we can boost entrepreneurship, support small businesses and enhance the vibrancy of the sponge docks, all while maintaining the charm and balance of this beloved
destination. I urge you to consider a thoughtful permitting process that prioritizes, prioritizes home grown businesses, and preserves the unique character of our city.
Sincerely, Sophie Stamatis Nancy Olson, 793 Chesapeake Drive. Please find a way to allow milk trucks to sell their donuts from the coolest food truck ever at the Sponge Docks. They are such
fun loving, dedicated, hard working ambassadors for our Greek community. I am not Greek, but I am a Tarpon Springs voting resident and would love for our guests and my family to have the
opportunity to buy mini donuts when we are shopping at the Sponge Docks. Thank you. Nancy
Olson. Alexa. With me. Alexa, part 817 Golf Road. I am for Irene Inglis to be granted the ability to conduct business with
her food truck Maley. She has already reached out to several restaurant or property owners that pay taxes, and they will allow her to be on their private property for her sales. As a
taxpaying, long time standing resident of Tarpon Springs, I am for this decision and think it will bring nothing except different type of customers to our area that follow her
business. If not granted on private property, then the city should find a suitable spot for her to be able to park her truck and pay a fee every month that would go towards the property
tax if need be. I am for and always will be supporting our locals. That is what our city is about. Thank you and I look forward to seeing that this part
of the agenda will be approved. Maley has been such a blessing to our town that keeps our heritage alive. In a town of locals who are generations of
our beautiful town. So many people benefit from Maley locals and tourists. Nobody has the Maley has to offer. Thank you
Irene. Mary Koulianos 115 Cleaveland Place I am writing to express my strong support for allowing food trucks to operate on private property within our city. As someone who has lived
in Tarpon Springs my entire life, I deeply care about the success and vibrancy of our local businesses. I firmly believe that permitting food trucks to operate on private
property will not be a detrimental to the restaurants and businesses in the area. Rather, it will be beneficial for our local economy and community. Food trucks have a dedicated following and bring in
business wherever they go. By allowing them to operate on private property, we open the door for increased foot traffic, which benefits surrounding businesses. People who visit a
food truck are likely to explore nearby shops, restaurants and attractions, helping to stimulate local commerce rather than compete with it. Additionally, food trucks
provide entrepreneurs with an opportunity to earn a living and contribute to the diversity of our town's food scene. Just like brick and mortar restaurants, they offer unique culinary
experiences that attract both locals and visitors, restricting them from operating on private property only limits economic growth and prevents business owners from using their own land
as they see fit. Their businesses deserve the opportunity to thrive just as much as other establishments in Tarpon Springs. Sophia Dennis,
537 Noella Drive, Pittsburgh Melissa should be permitted to have her business at the Sponge Docks. We look forward to patronizing her business when we
are in Florida. Rene Hartley, 2241 Andover Circle, Palm Harbor Irene, from Greek Donuts, is an ambassador for Tarpon Springs, Florida. Not only is her product a staple in Greek culture, but
her business is like no other. Working with Irene and seeing how she runs her business and how amazing her donuts are. Having her at the sponge docks
is a slam dunk. Nancy Bannan, 1607 Gulf Beach Boulevard. Mary Melissa would be an asset to the sponge docks or anywhere else she wants to park her little
food truck. Her food is delicious. She gives back to the community, and she is a local favorite and resident who deserves to run her business on our local streets. Her little trailer will look so much better
than the wooden shacks that have been built along the sidewalks of the docks. Recently. Susanna Andropoulos, 907 Bayshore Drive. The Andropoulos family is in
favor of Mary Greek Street donuts being allowed to sell at the sponge docks. Reni Jusis ten
six, one four Gata Drive, Trinity. Food trucks should be allowed on private property. I don't live in Tarpon, but am affiliated with the Saint Nicholas Cathedral. We often plan events where food trucks
can be hired. Private entities should be allowed to hire food trucks. Renee Scandolara, 1502
Oleander Drive I would like to take this opportunity to express my concern to have Mary Greek Donuts food truck, be allowed to operate on the sponge docks on a permanent basis. The company would not only enhance the Greek
experience for visitors by being able to enjoy the delicious dessert that is a staple in the Greek community, but contribute even more visitors to the beautiful sponge docks at Tarpon
Springs by the many people from across the globe that seek to enjoy the scrumptious dessert made by Bailey. It is an outrage that Irene Manolis has not had a chance to be heard in front of
the committee, or given the opportunity to conduct her business on a permanent basis. Her business should be allowed, especially since she would be operating on private property
and at an even more enriched taste of Greece, to the beautiful sponge docks. Panagiota Santos, 443 Riverside
Drive, Mary at the docks Christy Bulfinch's, 1408 Gulf Road. My name is Christy Leventis and I am a proud resident of Tarpon Springs. I am writing to express
my support for Mary Food Truck and to request your consideration in allowing them to sell the delicious Loukoumades Greek Donuts at the Sponge Docks. Mary has quickly become a local favorite, known for their absolutely outstanding
Loukoumades Greek Donuts. Their presence at the Sponge Docks would not only be an exciting addition for both residents and visitors, but it would also serve to further elevate the food scene in our wonderful city. The Sponge Docks is a
historical popular location that attracts many tourists, and I believe Mary would be a perfect fit to enhance the experience for all who come to enjoy the area. As a Tarpon Springs resident, I understand the
importance of maintaining the charm and heritage of our city, but I also believe that fostering local businesses like Mary will help grow our community in a positive and exciting way. Their commitment
to quality food and customer service would make them an asset to the sponge docks, and I trust that their addition would only strengthen the appeal of the area. Thank you for considering
my request. I sincerely hope that the city will allow me this opportunity to contribute to the unique and vibrant atmosphere of the Sponge Docks. Kathy Sprecher
917. Lindley, Elaine. Mary Donut style. Emily Greek style street donuts. She is a local and lives in Tarpon. Her food is fabulous. Let her be on the sponge docks.
Thank you. This is another one from Nikki Azaleas, 1502 Cromwell Drive that has submitted something that we replied to and we did not get
any response back. Her message did not come through. Nikki Samaras, 1502 Cromwell Drive. This is for Mary to be allowed
to rent a place for business. Irene Ross, 520 Wafer Avenue. Put Mary at the sponge docks. Stavroula avocados, 523 Wafer
Drive. Put Emily on the sponge docks in Tarpon Springs. Eleni Patterson, 1506 Tallahassee Drive. I am in favor of food trucks at the sponge docks. Mary
has a large following and will bring more businesses to local establishment. What Mary has to offer is a beloved dessert to many, and I see no harm in
allowing her to run her business where she has seen her roots.
Athena Frisella 723 Cajeput Lu Mary Greek Street donuts should 100% be allowed to rent private property and operate to sell donuts. Thank you. Eleni Hasi
Theodora, 855 Riverside Drive I am writing to express my support for Mary, the beloved local business that has been serving our community with quality, affordable desserts while fostering a sense of connection and vibrancy. Mary has become a
valued part of our neighborhood, providing not only delicious desserts but also contributing to the local economy and creating a welcoming space for residents and visitors alike. While current regulations may
not explicitly permit this type of operation, I urge you to consider the positive impact that has on our community allowing this business to continue operating on private
property would support local entrepreneurship and foster community engagement. The food truck has become a gathering spot for friends, family and neighbors, promoting social
interaction and community pride. Additionally, it stimulates local economy by attracting foot traffic and visitors, indirectly benefiting other nearby businesses. We kindly ask for
your consideration in amending or revisiting the current regulations to allow for responsible and community oriented food truck operations on private property. Your
support would not only uplift a hard working local entrepreneur, but also demonstrate a commitment to fostering a vibrant, diverse community. Thank you for your time and consideration. We sincerely hope
that you will support our local businesses and the positive contributions they make to our community. Naomi Christakis 931
Bay Shore Drive. Please say yes to allowing it. Be so. Mr. Vasilis 1258 Highland Avenue. I'd like to have donuts in the
sponge docks. They should allow it and we need something like that in our hometown. Irene Renaux 14 1145 Clippers Way. Milly should be allowed to rent
private property at the sponge docks to operate. Thank you. Jessica Wolkoff. Five 15 minute, Pennsylvania Avenue, Palm Harbor
I write in to ask you to reconsider your position on food trucks at the sponge docks or anywhere in Tarpon, for that matter. Not only do I think it would be an asset to the docks, but also to the surrounding
establishments, it could only help by drawing more people to into the sponge docks and the businesses there. Additionally, being that they are self-sufficient and removable,
they are also a low impact to the environment. Thank you for taking the time to read my comment. I am hopeful you all will make the right decision for the community and the hard
working people in it. Sammy Phyllis 2040 blue River Road Holiday. Milly is absolutely amazing. Everyone loves Irene and her famous Loukoumades people come from different
states just to eat them. We deserve a good loukoumades place down at the sponge docks. I know I crave them all the time and I wish she was closer. Instead of waiting for events to go to go
and eat them, Milly needs to be at the sponge docks all the time. Rose Koulianos 3061 Jacob Crossing Lane holiday. Growing up in Tarpon Springs, I respect
all business owners that keep our town alive, especially our heritage in historic Greek town. So please know this comment is not against anyone. I believe
Milly deserves to be a part of the sponge docks and Milly would be paying rent just like anyone else. Restaurants bring a dining experience when people want to sit down and enjoy lunch or dinner. They also bring a lot
more revenue in, which helps justify the rent cost differences. Sometimes you're in the mood for a sit down, and sometimes you want to be on the go. Sometimes you want octopus
and sometimes you want just dessert. Neighboring Greek restaurants have similar selections of food, and people will still choose their favorite place or what they are in the
mood for that day. It's not a competition. Sometimes I want katerina's, sometimes I want Mr. Souvlaki each bring their own flavor and experiences. I believe Milly can bring more
excitement and attraction to the sponge docks. Irene and Tanya are also very respectful and will follow city rules and won't cause any problems. I pray Milly gets the opportunity to grow
just like everyone else at the docks, and have the opportunity and had the opportunity to please consider the opportunity for them. Thanks. Mercury Gallery, 209 Earl Street. It
would be nice to have appropriate food trucks that go with the area's facade. Irene Wright 202 Hibiscus Street. Allow food trucks to place to be
placed at the sponge docks. Sophia or 465 East Orange Street, Orange Street. Please vote yes for food. Good food trucks at the sponge Docks.
Christine Shands, 209 Earl Street. I'm in favor of having food trucks at the sponge docks. Loretta Lynch, 209 Earl Street. I'm in favor of food trucks down
at the sponge docks. Pamela Sepulveda 505 New Leaf Drive. Although I'm not originally from Tarpon Springs, my husband, Michael is and he has known the owner of Millie's Greek Donut
for years. When we found out that Irene has opened had opened for business, we made it a priority to support her startup at various locations across Pinellas. It struck us as odd
that Millie couldn't operate in the heart of Tarpon and the Sponge docks. Irene has successfully built a community of people who enjoy Millie's delicious creations, and they
support the business because of her strong connections with Tarpon community, I hope that Tarpon will continue to support Irene as she has supported the local economy and allow Millie
to operate at the sponge docks. Millie's present will not only draw in their loyal customers, but also bring the tourists and locals who will explore the other businesses along the
docks, ensuring the steady flow of foot traffic for everyone. This one is from a Michelle Y. 716 Crimson Trace. Allow Millie
Greek Donuts to do business from the Sponge docks. They are a tarpon staple and the nature of their business and the adorable truck would be beneficial to
tarpon as well as our community. Penelope. Congress 10161 Woodland Avenue I request that the board make the right decision to allow Irene Mangos to rent space at the Sponge
docks to operate her food truck. Not only is Miss Mangos and her small business a huge part of the community, she gives back so much to help without hesitation. Her business is unique and would
not hurt any other business at the sponge docks, on the contrary, has a huge following which can only benefit the local businesses in the area. This just makes sense. George Ellis,
280 Terrace Road. They have the right to sell their products at the Sponge Docks. They live in the city of Tarpon Springs. If the Eleftheria Moskos 115 East
Center Street. Yes, Millie truck should have a spot at the sponge docks. Maria. Leonidas, 1739 Hampden Lane. Irene Mangos has
worked very hard and efforts have gone unnoticed. She has notably from petty from pretty much everyone in Tarpon Springs.
I am not sure why someone who is truly a pillar to the community has won countless awards for her food truck, is having issues getting a rental. Give her the
property she needs to get more people to Tarpon sponge docks, which we all know is suffering and could really use it. Barbara Perkins, 1002 Riverside Drive.
As a business owner and property owner who pays property taxes, I vote no to allowing food trucks. Allowing one food truck is opening doors to allowing all food trucks to come and change
the Greek culture. And the entire dynamic of the sponge docks. Kathy Mccreless Olive 808
Langston's Court. Please allow Millie at the Sponge Docks. Victoria Casares, 1317 Castlewood Lane. I believe the Millie Greek Street Donuts should be allowed to rent from a
private residence residence located at the Sponge Docks, Tarpon Springs Sponge Docks to sell their donuts to the public all the time instead of only
First Fridays. Nicoletta Cox 12312 Courtfield Lane, Odessa I am writing to express my feelings pertaining to Millie's food truck. I wish nothing more
than to have this truck in a set location on the sponge docks. Not only does Irene Mangos deserve this, as a true Greek and local patron to our community her entire life, but I
also also, as a fellow Greek and Tarpon local my entire life, would love nothing more than to see this food truck as a permitted staple in our neighborhood. This truck and the loukoumades that they serve
fresh would be absolute, would be an absolute brilliant addition to the community, not only for tourists who visit, but also for locals as well, adding
attraction to our beautiful piece of history, the docks, and bringing more money to the current surrounding businesses. I personally wait all year for epiphany and few Greek festivals
in our home, in our area and surrounding just to have this treat made fresh. How wonderful would it be to be able to experience it daily? Please consider making it possible for
Millie to be a permanent staple. Thank you kindly for your time in reading my thoughts. God bless. Rene Corfiots 740
Margarita Terrace. This is another one that the comments didn't come through. We emailed them and had no response. Theodora saloons, 1206 Gulf
Road. Dear Board of Commissioners, I'm writing to express my support for the presence of food trucks in Tarpon Springs by permitting food trucks to operate in designated areas on privately owned property, we can create
additional opportunities for business and property owners while ensuring that food trucks have a stable place to operate. This approach would not only help local entrepreneurs thrive,
but also maintain an organized and regulated presence of food trucks within our city limits. Many travel travelers specifically seek out food truck scenes. This increased foot
traffic benefits not only the food trucks, but also surrounding businesses. As more visitors explore our town, a prime example of the potential potential impact is Greek street
donuts. If they were allowed to operate at the sponge docks on privately rented property, it would undoubtedly attract significant foot traffic. The popularity of this unique and authentic Greek dessert would
draw in both locals and tourists, further enhancing the area's reputation as a diverse and exciting destination. Real estate is limited, and brick and mortar restaurants should not be
the only available food option. The enhanced tourism generated by food trucks contributes to the local economy, further strengthening Tarpon Springs. Thank you for your time. Teddy
Kelly McNeil, 822 Riverside Drive. Please allow me to serve at the Sponge Docks. Naomi Keats's 510 Dodecanese Boulevard. Hi, my name is Naomi Keats's. I am a land owner at
the Sponge Docks and also a taxpayer. I am totally against the idea of allowing food trucks on the sponge docks. It is not fair to those who rent a brick and mortar. Allowing this will destroy the beautiful. The
beauty of the sponge docks. It will destroy a lot of businesses who are already struggling to survive. Michael Keats, 601 North Florida Avenue I vote no to allowing food trucks on the
sponge docks. If you allow one, then the city is opening up a door to allowing all that will destroy the sponge docks. Sean McNeil, 822 Riverside Drive.
Maley would attract tourists and more people to the Sponge docks, as she has created a popular following. This would bring more traffic to the Sponge docks.
Alexia Renaux, 3022 Roxbury Drive, Holladay Millie is on Millie on the Sponge Docks.
Katherine McGinnis, 1208 Castlewood Lane. My name is Catherine McGuinness and I am a small business owner. I own on Avenue Salon here in Tarpon
Springs. I want to address food trucks and mainly Greek street donuts in particular. I cannot see the reasoning behind not letting Maley rent space on private property in the sponge docks. She would be paying rent
just like the rest of us. As as for restaurant owners worrying about the competition, it is quite the contrary. Maley would be drawing more people to the
docks with the amount of advertising she does on several social media outlets. Let me share my own experience. I had a one year anniversary for my salon, more of a client
appreciation day, and mainly set up at my shop. That day. I had three new people make appointments and not because they heard of the salon, but because they follow me. Irene
has a following that everybody would benefit from. Oh, and how about what they do for everyone in this community? After the hurricanes, they were out helping everyone restore and
repair their shops and homes, including myself. It's our chance to pay it forward and help get them a spot where they rightfully belong. At the sponge Docks in Tarpon Springs, their
home town. Let's aid this local entrepreneur growing a thriving business. Not to mention, her trailer brings so much charm and charisma wherever it is parked.
Kristina Kalafatis, 1532 North River circle. Food trucks such as Millie's should be welcomed at the sponge docks. The business is an integral part of the community of Tarpon Springs
and should be encouraged and celebrated. Sebastian Margallo 1709 Gulf Beach Boulevard to the Board of Commissioners, I'm writing you to give my full
support in favor of granting access to Mary Greek Street donuts, trailer to park and operate on private property as a proud Tarpon night, I am excited and optimistic that tarpon can
grow and evolve with the times, while still preserving the integrity of our beautiful, cultured city. The time is now. With growth comes change, and with change comes hesitation and
resistance. In my opinion, allowing Greek street donuts to park their trailer and operate on private property will not have a negative impact on the long standing and well established restaurants or any other businesses for that
matter. I don't see how selling Greek street donuts out of the small food trailer can even compare or compete with the restaurant's full menu options and seating capacity. In fact, it will only enrich and deepen
the culture experience Tarpon Springs has to offer. Who visits and live here. Thank you for your time. Melissa Douglas, 1446
Sail Harbor Drive. Let food trucks come to the sponge docks and breweries. Anastasia. Cancer concerns. I'm sorry. Could Santos 225 Hibiscus Street. Dear
City Council, I'm writing to express my strong support for Maley Street Donuts and its owner, a proud Tarpon Springs native. Maley's business is not only a local gem serving delicious loukoumades, but it
also plays a key role in preserving and promoting the Greek culture and traditions in the integral, and is in our community as a local business.
Maley helps share the flavors and heritage of Greece, enriching the experience of both residents and visitors. Supporting Emily's efforts to operate the Sponge Docks would
ensure the culture history of Tarpon Springs continues to thrive and be celebrated. I'm respectfully, I respectfully urge the City Council to approve the necessary permits for mainly
Greeks, Greek Meli, Greek street donuts. Local businesses like Maley are essential to maintaining the unique character and cultural vibrancy of Tarpon Springs. Tina Fishman, 203 South
Spring Boulevard. I've lived in Tarpon on and off my whole life as a resident and business owner in Tarpon, I've seen the sponge docks thrive when they remain true to their Greek heritage.
Maley Street Donuts embraces that tradition with their unique twist on loukoumades. Their offerings don't compete with restaurants. They enhance the experience for visitors, come
expecting Greek food, pastries and a connection to sponge diving history, not Mexican, Italian or Japanese fare. Food carts like Maley's are not a problem. The real issue is
non-Greek businesses taking up space, which harms the dock's integrity, allowing these businesses in with short sighted supporting personal agendas while failing to consider the
community as a whole and blocking Maley and Irene Manolis, who supports our small town and promotes the Greek culture, would be another mistake. And that is the end.
Oh, let me finish. I'm sorry. There was another page. Mayor Melis. Advertising draws people in and increases foot traffic for surrounding businesses. Instead of blocking them. We
must have the vision to see how beneficial they truly are for our town, not Greek businesses. Confused tourists and dilute what makes a dock special. Over
time, this could erode its identity, turning it into just another generic waterfront. Let's not make two detrimental mistakes if we want to keep the
sponge docks authentic. The main reason we get tourists belongs, and that is the end of all of my emails. I'm going to allow, as a
special thing, public comments that were thought were submitted that were not read into the record either side. This is your last go around. If there are any
public comments. You got the email. I sent it to you. But oddly, if you want to come up
and read it. I'll read it for you. Come on. Mayor, these were just just for clarification. These were only admitted into
the portal. I know, I know, I know were I made it I made it clear here, I got it. To the
mayor, commissioners of Tarpon Springs. We, the undersigned, business owners and community members strongly oppose the proposed changes to the food truck ordinance that would allow food trucks to operate at the historic sponge docks. As
stakeholders in this community, we believe permitting food trucks in this iconic district would be detrimental to the cultural and economic integrity of the area. Why we oppose food trucks at the sponge docks.
Unfair competition for established businesses, local brick and mortar restaurants, bakeries and cafes pay higher rent, property taxes and operational costs to maintain their presence in this historic
district. Allowing food trucks would create an unfair playing field by introducing vendors who do not share these same financial obligations to preserving the Greek town identity. The sponge docks are not just another business
district, they are nationally recognized Greek heritage site, attracting visitors seeking an authentic experience. Food trucks do not align with this identity and could dilute the cultural atmosphere that has been that has made the area so
unique and successful, successful, successful, real threat to the historic and tourism economy. Visitors travel to the sponge docks for its authentic Greek restaurants, traditional bakeries and family
owned businesses that have been part of Tarpon Springs for generations, diverting foot traffic to temporary food vendors could harm long established businesses that have been foundational to the city's
economy. For opacity decision support. The stance there is a historical precedent for keeping food trucks out of the sponge docks, as previous council members and the mayor approved a ban to protect the integrity of
the area. That decision was made for good reason, and we believe it should be upheld. Five A better alternative placing food trucks downtown if food trucks must be introduced, we are
supporting placing them in a downtown Tarpon Springs, such as the open lot next to Acropolis Meat Market, where they could contribute to the village to the revitalization of the business
areas without disrupting the authenticity of the sponge docks. And here are the members. Here are the names and business members who have signed it. Mama's Greek Cuisine, Nikos
grill house. Dimitri's on the water. Mykonos restaurant Spongeorama Costa's restaurant. Mia's cafe, Acropolis Greek
taverna. Emanuel Soma's, GM the lemon Dan Esteban Cigars, Inc. Boat. Bocce or bocce. Candy
barrel. Eurasian lady. Katina's. Mini market. G scored us my favorite store. Marilina.
Orpheus. Yusef Bulos. Kostas restaurant. Vegetable, ivory vendor. I can't read this next
one. Candle boutique Kathleen Mitsos jam spice. Wine. Smoothies. Softee, the King National Bakery, Patty Cokinos
and Nick Cokinos. Thank you for protecting the historic Sponge Docks and ensuring its legacy
for future generations. And that was submitted by Sakis.
And the honorable members of the board. As a lifelong resident of Tarpon Springs with property at the Sponge Docks, I am not in favor of unlimited mobile vendors cluttering the sponge docks. I do, however, believe
that there is a place for a limited number of mobile vendors who can demonstrate that they offer something unique that will enhance the experience at the Sponge Docks. Meli Greek Street
Donuts is a specialized vendor that offers a unique product which does not place them in direct competition with our businesses and enhances the attraction of the area. Meli has
a loyal following across the Bay area and would bring additional visitors to the Sponge docks. I believe we need to have a pathway for a limited number of vendors like Meli, who add a
unique product that enhances the Sponge Docks experience. Respectfully, Chris Christopoulos are there any other missed emails or comments that you'd like to get out
before this board goes into discussion? II Board of Commissioners my name is
Vasiliki. I am a was a Tarpon resident, went to Tarpon High, been a tarpon Tarpon night I believe so. I believe that Meli
Greek donuts should have the opportunity to be down there. And I can tell you on a few notes that I did hear tonight mentioned about bees and things
like that. I worked the festival with Irene on the What was it seafood festival, and we were swarmed by bees for about a day and a half. It was horrible, and
we found a little bit of a fix to make that work. But it turns out there's somebody in the area that must be housing these bees a little differently than they were supposed to be, so that's
why they're coming and attacking that. And yes, it is real honey. Real Meli. So I understand that that might be happening. And I'm sorry for anybody that might
have gotten hurt by it. I don't see why. There's a few things that we mentioned about the bathrooms. How can we house that? How can you even run the
food truck without those generators? I picked up those generators with Irene myself as well. Those things are very heavy. Working down there would
benefit and give a little bit of a culture background. We she has something to offer that she's that other people could have done but didn't. And so now if
we give that the opportunity to be able to be down there, that'd be perfect. She has a good spot. It'll be right on the water. Hopefully that's what would be
beneficial that I think. And on another note, sorry, but the sponge docks have been pretty dead. I go down there every single day to pick up my husband for work, and between seven,
eight, nine it's dead. And that's sad. And we should be bringing in more people. And I remember when I saw the mayor on the news trying to say, hey,
come back into town. The hurricane might have taken us down a little bit, but come back in. Let's bring more people in. So there's a lot more things I'd like to say, but I'm just going
to cap it at that. And I think everybody else has spoken. Thank you and happy birthday. Thank you. Hi, my name is Sandy Kanis.
I work at Kostas restaurant as a waitress. There's nothing against Irene. She can rent a building and she can do her loukoumades. It doesn't have to
be a trailer or rent a building. And she could do loukoumades down there. Nobody's against her loukoumades. She can rent a building, that's all. Nobody's
telling her not to do her Loukoumades just rent a building and have her loukoumades down there. We don't want the trailer down there, that's all. Nobody's
against her. Loukoumades. Thank you, thank you. Theo. Are there any other public comments now? You've already spoken, Tanya, I
can't. I. Sir. Tanya, we can't do that. Please. Okay. Please. Are there any other public
comments before we go into discussion with the board? All right. We're now going into discussion with the board.
Commissioner Eisner, your light was on first. Thank you. Mayor. I do appreciate what sorry about that. I do appreciate all of the
input. I need to clarify a couple of things. I don't think anybody up here wants to use the word inundate. The sponge docks
with food trucks. I don't see that it would be more than a couple that would be allowed at the most, because you do have
to. As I said, you would have to be attracted to a brick and mortar location that's not a park. It's not just an open
space. That's not just any old place. I wish we had the blue dots to show how many locations that really is, and the thing
that we're all forgetting the most is this is not a permanent thing that we'd be trying. This is a temporary thing to see how it works. We could undo exactly
what we just what what we could try to do and just see. I've heard comments that no commissioner in the past has ever passed this. Does that make it right? I don't think so.
There's nothing wrong with trying something new. I personally think the more venues you have, the more opportunity you have different people to
come. There will be the people that come to your Acropolis, there will be the people that want to stand in line for two hours to go to rusty Bellies. There will be the people for
Hellas, but there are also people that need to walk by and just grab a donut and be very happy to have that. I think
that's an added attraction now, depending if it does get out of hand, we are in control as a board to remove that. If it's a
problem. But in speaking to the city attorney, we can't make rules so stringent that somebody's going to say the way
you tailored this, you have made it so that you you made it prejudiced that nobody else could go except donuts. And we can't do that. So we kind of the
best way, which is what I spoke about earlier, is to make it legal and to make it so where we don't get a lawsuit is a that we're going to try to do it as a
trial basis, see how it works, be we have to make it legal. So it has to be open to more than just donuts. We don't want to do
generators. So somebody would have to make an investment to attract, you know, to install electric. So it would be somebody, you know, whether whether it's donuts or whichever
food truck they would have to somebody would have to make an investment. It should have to only be affiliated with a brick and mortar. That's the biggest
thing. And I don't think there are more than from what I've seen, maybe 5 or 6 brick and mortar places that would be willing to have the room to put
a, you know, a food truck there. It's not good for open lots. We still would have to have a bathroom facility with the brick and mortar. So we, you know, so
nobody could just decide to put it any old place. There's going to be no overnight. They have to, you know, pull out every day. I think that they should also have the generator because
they may not be there every day. They may have to go to Sunset Beach for a concert or go to another town. They'll need to they'll need to do both. I just
think it's something that we should try and if it works out and it it it helps everybody, that's great. If it's something that is causing major issues. I
mean, I didn't really get too big on the bees. It could have been Bee Day for all I know. I mean, I don't know why that was like that. I just I've been around the truck on every
occasion. I've never seen bees. I mean, a gentleman earlier spoke about seeing none of us at the sponge docks. I'm at the sponge docks. Very often. I see
what's going on. I see when we're doing very well, very good business. And I see when it's. It's not doing well. We need to attract people there, and
there's going to be all sorts of clientele, whether some of them want to be sit down and eat for 100 or $200, and they're going to be the people that want a $15, you know, two hot dogs or a
couple of jelly donuts, and they're fine. We need to have a diversified a little bit so that everybody could be part of the part of the joy of Tarpon
Springs. So that is the route I would be looking to make a motion on, but I'm still willing to listen to what my fellow commissioners want to do. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner.
Commissioner Banther, you're next. Yes. Thank you. I want to thank everyone who's here at at 11:00 tonight. I know, I know, if I want to go home, I know you all do as well on both sides.
I'll be very honest with you. I do not think we as a board, and I'm not including staff in this, have handled this very well. And the messaging and I though I'm new to this particular board, I
have a combined seven years up here on the city Commission, and based off the public comments, I heard both both both pro and con, you know, you would think we're trying to ban, you know,
Millie's Donuts from Tarpon Springs, which is the last thing anybody wants to do. And while, you know, she has a very good food truck, that's undeniable in my opinion. You know, she she's, you know, become the poster
child. But it's a broader issue. It's for, you know, any food truck that can legally operate, you know, I, I don't think after
hearing all the comments tonight and the public feedback and listening to staff and thinking about it, I don't think much good. No matter which side of the aisle you're on, tonight's going to happen. We can't, you
know, dig our head in the sand and say no food trucks ever that, that that's that that's just not realistic for many reasons. And we can't have a free for all. We do have a
cultural identity and, you know, certain things that. Well, I'm not for the government protecting businesses at all costs. We have to preserve, you know, some kind of, you know,
stable environment there, especially as it relates to the to the sponge docks. What's before us tonight? I'm not opposed to voting for it. It is very restrictive. I don't know
if it even moves the dial much. I mean, it, you know, again, we talked about there's maybe 2 or 3 places in the sponge docks. And if you want to call the bar off all 19, the sponge docks, that's, that's pushing it. You
know, it doesn't really do much for you. If you want a food truck and you're still going to be upset about it if you don't want food trucks because there's more food trucks coming in. So in my personal opinion, and I
communicated this to the city manager before this meeting, I think this should not have been on the agenda tonight. I think we needed to have more input as, as a, as a commission, because
when I look at the room when I first became a commissioner in 2013, mayor, mayor, mayor Archie said, when you have a contentious subject, you're going to off half the room. It's just is what it is, right? We
have to make decisions up here. We can't make everybody happy. But when I'm up here thinking like no one's going to leave happy to me, that tells me this. This subject matter has just not been handled very well tonight.
And that's on us. That's not on staff. That's on the board of commissioners and, and, and our city manager. So I do apologize for that. I'll see what my colleagues have to say. I'm not
opposed to going along with what seems to be proposed tonight with this. Limited approach. But again, I don't think anybody leaves tonight winning. In my
personal opinion, the only thing that, you know, came to my mind throughout, throughout all of this was perhaps we do need a different approach for downtown Tarpon Springs and for the
sponge docks. And that's the feedback I'm getting. You know, that that that might be a happy medium. I don't know if that can be negotiated properly at at 11:00 at night, but that's the
one new takeaway I have from hearing all the feedback is that one size might might not fit all. I think we need to have some approach on the sponge docks. We can't say no food trucks. You can't just ask the
city commission to protect your business like that, but at the same time can't be a free for all. But I realize the demand for it is not the same in all parts of the city. So I'll see what my colleagues have to say
tonight. But I want to thank each and every one of you for staying this late. I know you all got jobs and lives, so thank you. Thank you, Commissioner
Banther. Commissioner Donato. We're starting. I would agree with both commissioners that previously spoke. We need to
move forward. A couple of questions. I'd like to ask a question. And then our attorney, Renee, it's clear to us, because we have the backup, most of
these folks do not. What is the possible estimate that you would say, of food trucks that would be allowed under this agreement
in the sponge dock area? As it's written right now? There would approximately two locations. How many? There's only, you know,
two locations, really, that you could allow a food truck at the docks as this is drafted? Because I don't I'm not sure everybody understands that. And our attorney, it's my
understanding at least that if we do do this, first of all, it's temporary. So we can assess. But I still believe that if we run into situations that where we need to make changes,
we're allowed to do that. Absolutely during that year. So I guess I just want everybody to know that I think everybody wants to be fair. I happen to
maybe agree somewhat there. There's an exception obviously here tonight with meals, but I happen to feel strongly that there is a difference between
the docks and the downtown, because I haven't heard one person say we don't want it downtown. I may have missed that, but I haven't heard one person say that. So there's a
problem with the docks and if we need more time to look at that, I'm I'm all right with that. So.
Vice mayor. You know, usually I let things pass. But Mr. Olivares, his comments were way out of line. I mean, first of
all, he's a business owner. I get his frustration, but I know he said my name, so I'm going to go ahead and comment. Oh, I'm sorry. Hold on. We need to I need a motion to extend the
meeting to 11:20 p.m. So move. Miss Jacobs, roll call, please.
Sumanta. Yes. Mr. Yes, yes. Yes yes yes yes. Okay. So first of all, not knowing the docks, my
family owned a store on the docks for 70 years. And unless somebody stole my credit card, I've got seven charges since
March. First of restaurants that I ate on the docks. One with you, which I picked up the check, and one with the city attorney. And I also picked up the check. So I think there's a
pattern there. So with that said, well, let's move on. So, Irene, I mean, Renee, I mean,
all we're hearing is Irene. So it's getting late. Yeah. So. Renee. It's state law that we have to, in some form or
fashion, allow food trucks, right? Yes. Okay. So when you talk about other commissions that didn't allow food trucks, they didn't in most cases, they
didn't have to operate under state law. We have to allow food trucks in some form or fashion. Correct. That is my understanding of the state statute. Yes. We can't rule them
out. So we cannot we cannot prohibit food trucks in tarpon. I think that, you know, we want to help the breweries which
allowing them to have food trucks is helpful for their their business survival up on the on on Pinellas Avenue. I
think you have drafted this again going back to our little conversation, I know I'm sure you didn't draft it just based on what I said, but I think you accomplished what we discussed
in having it drafted, that it has a minimal impact on the sponge docks as it's written now, and as all the
commissioners have stated, this can be changed at any time, correct? Through through another ordinance, amendment or another ordinance. We just come it all comes back to readings. Right?
So I think we have accomplished by allowing food trucks in town and not violating state law. And we have narrowed and not we you
have narrowed have have drafted this with the Planning and Zoning Board, which I want to thank them for their hard work. We got a member back there. And
so I think you we've done a really good job here as a city in drafting this. That, again, has minimal impact on the sponge docks as it's written now and as
the facts pertain to now. And we're meeting our obligations. So, you know, Irene, you should
feel very loved when regardless of how this vote goes, you had 71 people write in speaking up. You have to feel good. You feel
good. All right. You should. Okay. And that's it for me. So thank you. All right. Can we all agree that this the CRA or the downtown Tarpon Springs is fine
with, you know, the way we have it written with the food trucks, with the alcoholic places. Say it again. I'm sorry. The way the code is written for the downtown
area, the, you know, the where the brewery is at as it's proposed now. Yes. Not the sponge docks. Tarpon Springs. Yes. I mean, yes, I'm fine with
that. So that just. Basically that would be you're saying excluding the sponge docks, we're just you're just there. Okay. We're just I think the mayor's just trying to get
consensus. Understood? Yes. All right. Now the sponge docks. We got our two options here, and this is. It's time to make the
choice or not. You know, we're either going to go with the alcohol attached. The food trucks to alcoholic places, or
we're going to see what this locations with no alcohol services and then potentially do a short term sunset of six
months or nine months to see how it goes. This is discussion right now. This is going back. We're just trying to come up with something. We don't have to
set a time frame. We can come back and visit this at any given time, I know, but for hope for these business owners, they they need to see at some point. We're coming back in good faith to
say, hey, we got this wrong or this does look like a carnival up and down the place, or there's only 2 or 3 spots taking advantage of this. Okay, you know what I mean? That we have
to reassure these property owners and these landowners that because I'll tell you, if there's blue dots all over this, it won't look good. You we all agree on that. I agree with that. But I don't think all
those blue. I don't think so either. There's a lot of properties. There's a lot of, you know, businesses and the you know, the frontage is good. But the park, you know, the food trucks will have to go in the
backside of the buildings that aren't visible. There's, you know, there's water district working waterfronts, I mean, boat yards and stuff. You know, there's a lot of different
areas. But what I'm saying is if we can try to review it with no alcoholic service, but do it within six months, review, do it within nine months to reassure
these business owners, we're not going to let you know. We're not going to let things get out of hand. And if we do see it get out of hand, we know how to protect the docks right away.
Mayor. Sorry. So are you saying we're downtown? You are not to tie it to the alcohol service where it's more restrictive? Or is the doubt? Because it seems like we want to be more
restrictive on the sponge docks, right? Or am I misreading you? Opposite. The opposite. The. We don't have a map of what the sponge or what the downtown area would look if it wasn't attached to non alcoholic places at the
moment. So right downtown tied to alcoholic because we're. Yeah. And then you're saying sponge docks not tied to alcoholic or not tied to alcoholic but will be reviewed
within six months. What do you think, Miss Vincent? Tell us. I mean that's almost flipping it, though, isn't it? Like making it more strict where we want more
and less strict where we want strict, you know. Well, we're only going to get two trucks. Honestly, my suggestion would be to adopt it as is and just
remove the sponge docks from consideration right now and take another swing at that. I agree, I think you can't way it's written. Now you can remove the
sponge docks completely from the issue and then we could rewrite that doing one. I mean we'll have to make them separate areas. So we would revisit the sponge docks issue. We would
have to bring you another ordinance ordinance on sponge Bob. That's written that would apply to all areas that can have
food trucks. Besides the sponge docks, right? Yes. So leave it. Leave it as is. So, you know, looking at the map behind you, the sponge docks, the sponge
docks, character district is all of this, and it cuts across. And it does pick up, you know, north, this little section of north Pinellas. So essentially,
you know, you would cut that out of the district or out of consideration. Just take it out. And then everything else would remain, and I would keep the
alcohol restriction in place. At this time. We can revisit it all at another point in time. But I think let's take a baby step. We know the breweries want and that's that's a that's a kind of
a do no harm in my opinion approach. Okay. Go ahead. Yeah, I'm good with that. But I don't. Two things I want to be careful
of. I don't want the people that are petitioning against it at the sponge docks to think, well, that's good. You know, the city commission is saying nothing on the sponge docks. That's not the case. The case is, after hearing
all the feedback tonight and listening to staff, we need to dive more into the sponge docks. What we have proposed now is not going to work pro or con, but this will work for the rest of
the area. And are we on the same page with that? That's what I think you were proposing, mayor. Correct. I was proposing to open it up to the sponge docks and let's see who was going to
actually try to do something on all the properties. I mean, everybody's so worried. But at the same time, let's see what actually who's going to put stuff on property within six months and what it's going to look like tied to alcohol sales
or not tied to alcohol, not tied to alcohol sales. If it's tied to alcohol sales, we got two buildings. Big deal, I understand that I my I mean, you know, our sponge docks are dead.
It's, you know, so I have a question for you. Why are we tying it to alcohol in the first place? At Tarpon Avenue? There's
no place that you can not tie it to alcohol. So we could run with this on a trial basis and not tie it to alcohol and have it
with the that you have to be attached to a brick and mortar location. We can. Nonalcoholic across the board. I mean that's
the way I would see and see in six months if it works out or it doesn't. Which way are you saying? Because sometimes y'all turn away from the mic. Yeah. And make sure your lights are
on. I'm saying is to not use alcohol as a determination. Use a brick and mortar association for both locations. Tarpon
Avenue and the sponge docks. I wouldn't disagree, but I'm. And see what we what we what we find out in six months. Let's go, go
back go back to your to your blue dot. We have. Okay. The big the one with the nonalcoholic
blue dots. Potentially. That's where all these food trucks could go. Not true. What? Those
are the open spaces. There. They are potential. They have not been evaluated for bathroom availability or anything like that. But they're potential
space available. Really make this decision tonight with that's what I'm saying. It's not I say I say we go with Rene's
recommendation of let's, let's do something for the rest of the special area plan tied to alcohol. So all the breweries have have it and you bring back
something else for the revisit the sponge docks at another time. You can bring it back. I think that's best, mayor. I'm not saying I'm opposed to what you're proposing, but I'm just worried we're not in a state to
properly negotiate that at this hour. That's my thoughts. I'm not opposed to that. But I mean, I think it's written pretty simple and clear and straightforward. I mean, it was straightforward. I mean, it's
not, you know, how people want to improve the properties all around there. It's going to be up to them and for them to decide, you know, it's but we can't tell from this blue dot
map how many are brick and mortar and how many have bathrooms I don't. Can we tell from this map? No. And that was like an impossible task for staff to try to pull together,
you know, to go with Commissioner Eisner's idea. We need we do need to get it zeroed down so we know what we're looking at, because we can't tell from this. I understand,
but in six months, you'll be able to tell. Let me let me just bring up a what I think is an obvious point. Listening to all of the comments and the number
of people that signed a petition right now, it doesn't sound like that. There's a whole lot of property owners down at the docks that are going to host anybody. Thank you. So I mean, I mean, I don't even really know
what the opportunity is except this theoretical exercise that we have here. So if you have 3 or 4 people you're going to have a lot, then I'm, I'm willing if we go six months. Yeah. That's
what I said. Yeah six months. Make a motion. I'm happy to make the motion. I'll make the motion with the restrictions that I
have no generator, no overnight, but no alcohol, you know, not alcohol related. Only open when the store is open. Must be
attached to brick and mortar and no empty lots. Revisited in six months and revisit in six months. Thank you. That's the whole area. That's everything. That's the whole. That's
everything. Yes. Downtown. Same thing. And we see where it is in six months and we revisit it. Can you repeat it one more time, please? Just so we I'm being
serious. No, it's a lot going on. Confused? They're confused. Trust me, it's a lot. Did you get that? No they're not. They don't have what you said either. So. Yeah. You got I hear you. I'm not saying I'm opposed to
you. Just got to say it again. Okay, wait. Can you start off by saying you moved to approve the ordinance with the following condition. Can I can I make the recommended and give it to him?
Because please do. Because I know how the ordinance is actually written. So the next meeting. So the motion would be to approve as drafted with the following amendments. Removing
the requirement for an alcohol license and adding the requirement for a physical brick and mortar establishment on the property. I'll figure out better wording for that between now and
second reading and requiring a review in six months. And no empty lots. Well, that's the brick and mortar. Okay. I'm sorry, that's the brick and mortar. No generator either. That's already in there. Okay,
okay. So moved. All right. That's say so moved. So moved. Second. Second. It's 1115. Do I know where my brain is? Okay.
There are no further comments. Thank you all for your patience. Roll call please. Mr. Being there. Yes, Mr. DiNardo? Yes, Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice
mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Yes, yes. Would you all like to defer the next two ordinances? Motion to defer. Motion to defer. Number
31 to a date. Certain. Second to. Well, it's not we're not meeting April. April 8th. Ceremonial. So it's the second meeting in April. First reading would be deferred to the next
meeting. And that's how you do it. 32 seconds. Okay. If you want the guy who's been sitting here all day. Okay. An applicant. Never mind then yes, it's an applicant sitting and do it. I didn't I didn't realize
that. Okay. All right, I apologize. I did not realize that. All right, all right. We'll do it quickly. Okay. We are now on to item 30. Ordinance 202502 Land Development Code amendment amending article four,
special Regulations Section 59.00 docks, piers and shoreline stabilization structures. First reading City Attorney, can you please read the ordinance title.
Yes, mayor ordinance 2020 502 An ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, amending the City of Tarpon Springs. Code of ordinances. Appendix A comprehensive Zoning and Land
Development Code. Article four special Regulations, section 59 docks, piers and shoreline stabilization structures providing for codification
conflicts. Severability. Correction of Scrivener's errors. Construction, publication and an effective date that is, ordinance 2020 502, read by title only on first
reading. The second reading will be April 22nd, 2025. Thank you, City Attorney. I need to make a motion to move the meeting to
11:35 p.m. So moved. Second roll call, please. Commissioner Banther. Yes, Commissioner. DiNardo. Yes, Commissioner.
Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Kelly. Yes, yes, yes. Miss Vincent. Yes. This is an ordinance. Amend our code to allow electric
service to be placed on docks, on vacant land. And does require. Now, a new requirement would be a recorded restrictive covenant to memorialize certain
items, certain things that can and cannot happen on the property. Thank you. Ma'am, are there any public comments on this item? It are there any zoom
comments? Thank you. We'll now go back to the commission and just want to make sure make a motion to approve ordinance
2025-02. So moved. Second, there are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner. Yes, Commissioner. DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner.
Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Yes, yes. Item 31. Last item of the night is ordinance 202503, Land Development Code amendment
amending article six sign regulations section 192.02 temporary banners. First reading City Attorney, can you please read the title? Yes, mayor. Ordinance 2020 503 An ordinance
of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, amending the City of Tarpon Springs. Code of ordinances. Appendix A comprehensive Zoning and Land Development Code. Article 11
Sign Regulations section 192.02. Temporary banners providing for codification. Conflict. Severability. Correction of Scrivener's errors. Construction, publication and
effective date, that is, ordinance 2020 503, read by title only on first reading. Second reading is scheduled for April 22nd, 2025. Thank you. Are
there any public comments on this item? It are there any zoom comments? There are no comments. Thank you. The chair will
entertain a motion to approve ordinance 202503. So moved. Second, there are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner.
Panther. Yes, Commissioner. DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Kelly. Yes. Mayor. Coolio's. Yes. This now concludes the regular session agenda. We will now go
to board and staff comments. Staff comments. Police Chief Jeff Young I just want to take this opportunity to congratulate and wish Major Math as well. He's going to be heading up to
the FBI National Academy next week for ten week in house school. It's only 1% of law enforcement executives get chosen for this, so it's quite
an honor and prestigious thing and very proud of Major Mathis. Congratulations, sir. City attorney Mr. Salzman, no comments. Mayor. Thank you, city
clerk. Miss Jacobs, I just wanted to remind everybody we do have a CRA meeting scheduled. So if we do not go through with that, we need to open it up and
defer it. Yes, yes we will. We will do that right after City Manager Mr. Rudd on no comments. Thank you. We will now go to board comments. Commissioner Banther. Yes. Thank you. We are super proud of Turin. Thank you
for what you're doing. I know that's time away from your family and Derek. We do. We do love you as well. I guess I can out you because the public's gone right. So thank you for protecting us in our meetings
and some of the humor you provide. I have some issues with how tonight was handled. No fault of any one person, but I will be addressing it with the city manager. We have to have proper agenda management for our
time for, you know, these are very serious things that we talk about. And sometimes a late meeting is unavoidable. I think tonight could have been handled differently. And I'll address that with the with the city
manager. Thank you sir. Commissioner DiDonato. I would like to thank all those that did attend, even though they're gone now. Maybe they hear this. And I want to say that not only is the
Major Mathis deserving of the FBI Academy, but I'm I'm I know he's smart, but I think his his smile that got him in I think that's that's what did it. I, I
have a lot of things I could say, but I would agree, I would agree. And what I would ask of the mayor's, this mayor and the next mayor and the future
mayors, all the mayors. We knew that this was going to be a long item. And I felt really bad for that young girl over there
sleeping. And I understand that it was important enough to her mom to be here. So I'm glad she was, and I respect that. But I would ask that we have the ability to move agenda items,
and I think something like that in the future we should look at making it earlier as opposed to keeping them up to the 11th. That that's I agree with that,
David. I'm sure. Commissioner Eisner well, first I want to congratulate Turin. I will the will be painfully with the silence of not hearing you for a
while, but I know you'll do the right thing and I congratulate you. You will be sorely missed. The second thing I do want to say is I do want to thank the
residents. I know it was a low turnout, but I do appreciate the confidence that they've instilled in my integrity and honesty in me here, trying to
make tarpon better than we found it. And I just want to thank you all for having that confidence in me, and I will not let you down. So thank you very much.
And that's pretty much it. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Eisner, vice Mayor Giuliani's. Yeah. Happy birthday, by the way. Thank you, sir. Thank you.
So. Marine is look, he went from cops and kids, kid. To the FBI.
That's that was my Clarice. That was my Clarice imitation. No. All the way to the FBI. So, you
know, you guys are gonna have to get used to. I have no original thoughts of my own. They all come from. From movies. Yeah. So. Yeah. But anyway. So.
Congratulations. And, mayor, you know, we're going to have time on the eighth to grow some more accolades at you. Thank you.
But, you know, you stepped up. These was not normal times. And you handled these meetings really well. Thank you sir. And
I learned a lot. And I'm going to I'm going to be at a huge advantage because I'm going to have two former mayors sitting as commissioners when I'm mayor. So that's going to be really
cool. And so I'm excited about that. And I, I'm going to take exception to the two commissioners on the end. I, I
think this went well. I think I think it went well, I think it, you know, governing is messy and we're going to have these kind
of messy meetings. But we came to a we you know, what I loved about it was we figured out how to come together and agree on
something. And that's not always going to happen. But whenever we can, I think it's healthy. Whenever we can get to, you know, five zero votes on things
and come to agreements, I think it's the best thing for the community. So, Commissioner Eisner, you did a good job of helping us get the kitty cats
together and figure it out. So no, I, I'm, I was happy with it. We got we came we came to some conclusion and I think we did
the best we could for both the business owners and for the any small amount of food trucks that may be located there. So anyways, that's it. Thank you.
Thank you. First I do they they asked me to so I would recognize them. I would recognize the Tarpon Springs High School social media platform. They were ranked number one in the state. It's a good way to promote young
kids and everything. So let's give them a big round of applause. I do want to. I know I didn't do it last time, but it did slip my head. I know during
the election I'd gotten a little bit critical of us, some of us board members up here and I know that's not the most professional and. Caring way for us to look forward to take care of one
another. You know, I'm just I'm a competitor to and just, you know, really wanted the best for our town. So please find it within yourselves to, to find
that sincerity. And you know, some of my comments that were made publicly and this is my last day is, you know, regular
session meeting as mayor. It's been an honor. It's been it's been nothing short but a cool dream. And I you know, I lived every last day like it was going
to be my last. And I really appreciate it all. And, you know, you guys helped me so much and give me an opportunity. And we're very fair. And how we ran
the meetings and, you know, that's that's something we need. I need to be able to reciprocate to you because it's, you know, your job is going to be to handle all of us and our personalities. And, you know, I
need to have a better, calmer personality when I'm on the side right there, too. So I do try to take all that into consideration, you know, and
it's been an honor, and I know we'll be able to talk about it more. And I've been very thankful that, you know, being on my birthday, it could could end like this. And I just it's
been a blessing. So I just want to thank you all. And with that said, the meeting is adjourned at 1127. But we will have to open up the CRA meeting to defer
to another date. So meeting adjourned at 1128. All right.
I just wait for him to. Okay. I now call to order the special session agenda for the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Tarpon Springs on Tuesday,
March 25th at 11:31 p.m. Miss Jacobs, roll call, please. Commissioner chaos here. I'm sorry. Chair coleus here. Vice
chair Bolanos here. Commissioner Eisner here. Commissioner Denato here. Commissioner Banther here. All right. And now we are going to agenda item one, which is the
CRA annual report. I would like to make a motion to defer. Item one, the CRA annual report, to a month from now. Mayor, we can we can put the copy of that in your
mailbox. You prefer we don't. There's no requirement to present it. That would be lovely. We can put it in your mailbox because we have we have some other agenda items next month that we'll need the time.
Sure. So we just call it defer or motion to defer and put it in the mailbox. There you go. Okay. Second. No further comments. Roll call please. Commissioner
Banther. Yes, Commissioner. Donato. Yes, Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Giuliani's. Yes. Yes. Yes. And this concludes the special session agenda. We will now go to board and staff comments.
Staff comments. Police chief, no comments. City attorney, happy birthday. Thank you. Thank you sir. City clerk I have no
comments. Thank you. Thank you, city manager. Happy birthday mayor. Thank you sir. Board comments. Commissioner Banther. No comments. Thank you sir.
Commissioner DiDonato. Thank you, Commissioner Eisner. Happy birthday. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I have I have a comment. I looked on my calendar and my
birthday is on a commission meeting. So you need to remind my cousin Fely to bring me a cake. Are you going to bring you a cake? That's right. He sure is. I just want to thank
everybody for the birthday wishes. Probably one of the best birthdays I've had with so many friends and family. So with that said, thank you so much. This concludes the special session
agenda meeting adjourned at 11:33 p.m. Thank you. So.