Still a minute behind. The lost by a minute.
Call to order the regular session of the City of Tarpon Springs Board of Commissioners, Tuesday, May 26th, 2026 at 6 p.m. Roll call,
please. Mayor Collins here. Vice mayor. Here. Commissioner Eisner here. Commissioner Banther. Commissioner Weaver here. Tonight, our reflection will be by the Reverend Danny
Bennett from Grace City Church and will be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Please stand. Well, mayor and Commissioners and Chief, just want to say, on behalf of the people of Grace City Church,
thank you for your service to our city. Thank you for all you do for us. Yeah, our Heavenly Father, we are very mindful of who you are in our lives, and that's why we begin this time together, acknowledging you.
And so we're grateful that you are our creator, our sustainer, and God. We are grateful for. And we remember the men and women who paid the ultimate
sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy each and every day. And God, may it not just be one day that we remember them, but God each and every day of our lives. For we enjoy freedom
each and every day of our lives. So we thank you for them, and we pray that you bring your comfort to their families. God, for these commissioners and our mayor, our chief, we pray that you give them your wisdom, your
discernment, your strength as they lead this city. We're grateful for a beautiful town known as Tarpon Springs. But God, we're also mindful that in less than a week we start a new
hurricane season. So with that said, God, we pray that you protect our city. God, we pray you protect our coast. We pray that any storm that is formed,
God, we pray by the power of your Holy Spirit. It just moves away out to sea and dissipates. God, we just pray for your protection, your coverage over our city and its leaders and
all God's people said, Amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag, United States of America and to the Republic for
which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Well, before we read our
proclamations, I just want to welcome our city manager back.
Now to be referred to as ML to. So. Proclamation.
Oh. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. We have a presentation tonight. So before I do the proclamations, let's do the presentation. Miss Mickey, you want to come
forward and do your presentation? Good evening. Commissioners, I'm Holly Langston, the sustainability program manager. And tonight we have doctor Carol Mickey, the committee chair of the
Sustainability Advisory Committee, here to give the annual update on some activities that the committee has been involved in over the
past year. Can I just push this down? Yes. Okay. Thank you. Good evening. Commissioners. I am doctor Carol Mickey, the
head of the Sustainability Advisory Committee. And with me tonight is Siobhan Meehan, who's the vice chair. Loretta
Righetti and Doctor Melina Scally. So microphone on. So we form the sustainability committee. Holly Langston is
our staff coordinator and Thomas Kiger is the public. Our other. There he is in the back. Our meetings are held the third Thursday of every month from 6
to 8 p.m. And just to review what sustainability is, it is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs. It is providing through our actions the inherent health of our environment, our economy and our social fabric in the
present and for future generations. Sustainability has three pillars social, environmental and economic. All
three are crucial for the sustainability of a community. The environment has always been important to our community, but this year and into this coming
year, we have enhanced our attention on the social and economic. So what did we do in 2025? We received regular staff
updates on the sustainability plan implementation, as you remember. We as a committee had written the sustainability plan. We connected with all
departments on issues relevant to sustainability. We had continued input into the Forestry Management Plan from the vision statement through
the plan's completion, and then engagement. Engagement with Tarpon Springs community has been a top desire of our committee. So we instituted a
few initiatives. Instead of waiting for people to come to us, we reached out and made invitations to welcome people to our meetings. Some of us
attended the Union Academy Neighborhood Revitalization Committee meetings, and in turn, members attended our sustainability meetings. The
founding Director of peace for Tarpon, Robin Sanger, discussed the peace pole with us and the importance of sustainability. She also made suggestions about
how to enhance preservation within our community. The Western Klosterman Preservation Group presented to our committee, and we shall continue a relationship with
them. We now have citizens regularly attending our meetings, and this is a great change. They come. They offer
suggestions and most. They offer enthusiastic support. Through the leadership of Holly Langston, our staff liaison. We
engage with the public Art Committee to institute a storm drain mural program. We
developed a sustainable development recognition program. Thanks to Loretta Ruscetti, the committee robustly approved the
program and passed it on to Miss Langston to review with city staff. And if you have any questions about it, I'm sure Loretta will be pleased to answer them. A major initiative
has been our partnership with the Leepa-rattner Museum of Art. We are coordinating and hosting presentations and panels that address important, timely
sustainability issues. Our first one was called Living with Coyotes, and this took place in November of 2025. This was the time when there were
many coyotes present in Tarpon Springs, and people were showing great fear of them. So we decided that we would bring in an expert, Rhonda Latour,
who's the senior wildlife assistant biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Committee. This was widely attended, and we had
an incredible conversation. And what we know is to have a sustainable community, we have to learn to live with the wildlife that's in Tarpon
Springs and learn how to do that peacefully. Our second one was just last week, and it was developed by Doctor Molina
Galli, and it was in celebration of National Mental Health Awareness Month, which is May every year. And it was called Sustainable Communities
Sustainable Minds, a community center Approach to Mental Health. On the panel was Doctor Molina Scally, Robin Sanger from peace for Tarpon, and
Doctor Shay Goodman, who's a professional psychologist in the Tarpon Springs area. We know that in order to have a good, sustainable community, we don't have to only be
physically fit but also mentally fit. In the future, we're proposing a presentation in September about why
preservation, why is preservation important and how does it work with development? And then in November, the Native Landscaping Tree
Workshop, which Siobhan Meehan will put together and she is a well known professional landscape artist, the Leepa-rattner Museum, with
director Carter, have been enthusiastic to partner with us, and our presentations coincide with shows they're having. And
it also brings in students from the college and faculty members. All of these presentations are
on the city YouTube channel. To conclude, the members of our committee are highly qualified in many aspects of
sustainability, and we are committed to action. We request that the Board of Commissioners views us as a resource and engages us in meaningful ways
to advance social, environmental, and economic sustainability in our beloved Tarpon Springs. Thank you. And
we'd be willing to take comments or questions at this time. Okay. I first, I appreciate all you guys do and, and I'm looking forward to your
presentation in September as well. Okay. Commissioner Weaver, do you have any questions or any comments? No, not not at this time. Thank you very much,
Commissioner Panther. Yes. I just want to thank thank thank you guys very much. And I really like how you're doing this proactive community engagement. And I like how you're doing topics that are
have a wide interest base. I know my wife and daughters went to the coyote seminar. So thank you. And I look forward to more of those. Commissioner Eisner
thank you mayor. I also want to thank you. This is not my wheelhouse type of thing. So I always appreciate somebody giving me information that I don't presently have. So thank
you. And if there's something that I can do to help, I'd love to attend one of these meetings. Please. I don't I don't know if I've gotten that, you know, not that the invite, but the
knowledge that I, that I had, if I, if I did, I didn't see it. But thank you. Appreciate you, Vice Mayor. Yes. Thank you, doctor Mickey and the rest of the volunteers. We really
appreciate your service and sustainability director Miss Langston, I wanted to follow up and say there was a sustainability plan or action
plan that was set out, that was created prior to the sustainability, prior to the other sustainability coordinator leaving. Maybe if there was a meeting, one of
your meetings you can have looking at that document and trying to measure out what's been implemented or and we could have that in a report given back to us at some point.
I think that'd be a good course of action for us to be able to engage what what was, you know, put it into implementation and see where we're at with it and
try to approve. So Miss Langston has that. We review it at our meetings about what's been implemented already and what's being planned to be
implemented from the plan. I was involved in creating the plan, and it's really heartwarming to see it being implemented. So we can do that.
Certainly. Thank you so much. And I'm happy to hear there's citizens coming to that meeting to to give their input. That's probably one of the few volunteer meetings. So y'all should be really proud of of the direction y'all are giving
it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay,
now we go to the. Okay. Our first proclamation tonight is.
Is for our club and their 50th anniversary. So would Miss Tucker like to come up, please? Miss Lynn Tucker, she is the
strategic initiatives director for our club for Child Care. And let me say a few things. I'll read your proclamation. Then you can say some nice
things. As you always say nice things. But. So the then vice mayor and I, Vice Mayor Eisner and I, we went and visited the
our club. And it's really. I encourage everyone to go see what they're doing. What really caught me was, well, one is
they really liked Mike a lot. So I'm not saying anything. Mike, but you were very popular with the kids, so. But they did.
They really did. And he's good with kids. So but the what really struck me was the the
newborns, when you see little newborn children that are in a nursery and they have, I guess these I don't think there are
they volunteers that come. No licensed trained, okay caretakers, but they come and they, you know, give the babies.
They hold the babies, they rock them, they feed them, they change them. They give them the attention that little newborns need. And the and, and you can assume that their, their
mothers are, they're all working, right? So they're all going to work because they have to go to work. And you can think about how heartbreaking
it must be for a mother to drop her newborn baby off. And these kids were small and all day long to be taken care of by
somebody else, but they do such an amazing job. So these children are getting the love and the nurturing that they need at that early age. So they
do just the our club just does amazing work. Not to mention the, the littler kids that were all there, the, the, the, the preschool kids that Mike and I
read to. But it was, but again, I was heart warmed. And they're doing with their 50th anniversary, they're doing a fundraiser. So I would encourage everyone to, if you
want to, if you have something you'd like to give some money to as a donation, consider the our club and what they do because they again, allow moms
to go work all day and their kids are well taken care of. So that is an amazing thing. So let me read the proclamation. Whereas the City of Tarpon Springs recognizes that quality,
early childhood education is essential for children's well-being, learning and growth. And whereas our Club Child Care Inc. has provided exemplary
child care and early learning services to children's. In Tarpon Springs for 50 years, fostering supportive environments essential for healthy development and future
achievement. And whereas, the availability of high quality child care is fundamental for enabling parents and guardians in Tarpon Springs to engage in the workforce with assurance,
knowing their children are provided with safe and nurturing care. And whereas our club has demonstrated leadership in Pinellas County by providing quality childcare,
early learning and youth programs since 1976, supporting families and fostering positive environments for young people. And Whereas the Board of
Commissioners recognizes our club child care for 50 years of service, strengthening children, families and communities across Pinellas County and highlights
the value of quality child care to tarpon to the Tarpon Springs economy. Now, therefore, I, John Giuliano's, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the city of Tarpon Springs, do hereby proclaim
Thursday, May 28th, 2026 as our club's 50th Anniversary day.
Would you like to say a few words? So thank you so much. We really appreciate this. One of
the things I wanted to mention about sustainability, particularly economic sustainability. Child care is
an infrastructure, and without child care, parents can't work. And without parents, working employers don't have employees.
Businesses aren't making revenue, and it has a dampening effect on the economic, sustainability and vitality of a community. So we are really
pleased to work with the city and have them come over and volunteer. If you'd like to volunteer, I'll be here for a
while and you can come up and ask, thank you, thank you, thanks. Mayor. Mayor, mayor,
can I say something? Yes. Thank you. So I did want to say something to you. Beside the fact that I saw every everybody that you have working there is super devoted people. And I
take my hat off to you. You guys do God's work, I will tell you that. But the thing that I got out of it, and I know the mayor did as well, was each one
of those kids was so thankful for the reading that we did. My heart was just spilling over with them, each wanting to give me a hug before we left. And
all I can tell you is I will do it as many times as you need. I love those kids. I love what you do and I think it's a great program. So thank you for what you do. Appreciate you. Thank.
Thank you. Okay. Our next proclamation is code Enforcement Officers Appreciation Week. So would Mr.
Boone, Mr. Rollison, and Miss Lee, please come forward. For those of you that don't recognize Mr. Boone's the one in the jacket. It's all cleaned
up. Look at him. He's in. He's in disguise. Yeah, it's looking
good. Hey. So, you know, we. For those of you that may not know, we moved the code enforcement from the police
department over here into City Hall. So it's now a, I guess we call it a civil group versus a
police group. But, you know, and, and the guys, all of them are doing a really great job of helping people to get into
compliance. That's their job. They're not they're not trying to be punitive. They're just trying to help get people into compliance. So neighbors are
happy with, you know, overgrown this or overgrown that or all the different things. But all I hear, I heard somebody just, just today talking about how
you guys have worked with their community and you're so kind and you are so tolerant and, and all. And Michael, with you even before Tony got on board
and and you, miss Lee, I know you came over from the clerk's office right from the PD. Okay. So but it's it's just really
nice that our code enforcement is really accepted in the community. And when somebody hears code enforcement coming over, it's not like, oh, here come, you know, the, the, the bad guys now it's they're
coming over to help. And I think that's really amazing. So let me read your proclamation and then you guys can say something, okay? Whereas code
enforcement officers protect communities by enforcing codes and ordinances related to building zoning, housing, animals, fire safety, and the environment. And whereas code
enforcement officers are neighborhoods and the quality of lives of the residents in their community. And whereas too many times their efforts go unnoticed even after code
compliance has been accomplished due to their efforts and expertise. And whereas code enforcement officers are committed, skilled and responsible professionals
who approach their duties with diligence and take pride in both their department and the local government they serve. Whereas, the Florida Association of Code Enforcement
designates the first week of June for local governments to honor and recognize code enforcement officers. And Whereas, the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs expresses its
sincere appreciation for the dedication and outstanding service provided by our Code Enforcement Department. Now, therefore, I. John Collins, by the virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the
City of Tarpon Springs, do hereby proclaim the week of June 1st through June 7th as
Code Enforcement Officers Appreciation Week.
I know you always have something to say. Wow. Well, I will thank you, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, city manager.
Attorney, salesman, chief. We wouldn't be here without all of y'all. So we want to say thank you. I have some code board members out there as well. I want to say thank you because
this operation would not work without you and Mike. You make it a great, great partner, Miss New. This is all ours. So we'll
be able to hang out in our new office here in the city. Okay. Thank you, thank you. This time of year, you often. Matthew.
Yes, sir. Thank you so much. I just want to say thank you to the city staff. Ali. Planning and zoning. Keith and the
building department. Tony, Paul, everybody. You guys make our lives infinitely easier when I've got ten 000 questions. So
thank you, all of you. We have so many good people working at this city. And if you see they, they compliment each other. They work in they work in
conjunction with each other. And we're all here to serve the residents of the city and to
make this the best place to live.
Okay, we're going to go to public comment. This will be public comments on things that are not on the agenda tonight. So please come forward. State
your name and your address, please. Peter Lack is 514 Ashland Avenue. First, before I
get to what I was going to speak about. Welcome back Mark. Sorry to have to have you pulled from Lightning Games and
rays games and magic games and all that stuff. And I know it's a big sacrifice and you guys count your blessings. However,
as much as we love Mark and trust him, he's not a savior for all our problems. So don't put all the weight on his shoulders. Okay, so let's look
at, you know. I'm up late at night and I watch BBC, I watch Bloomberg. If you turn on at seven, you get the Asian news, and then at 10 or 11 you get
India and then the Mideast at midnight and 1:00 Europe. And you follow things going on in the world. And we got to look at our priorities. I'm listening to this lady here
about how the structure of our system is. We have to have these support structures. And I agree, they're great, but why do we need that? Why can't women have parental leave for
three, six months, nine months so they can take care of their own kids? Where are our priorities? We have plenty
money to spend on bombs. Now look at what's going on in. The Republic of Congo. Sudan, Ebola
spreading, Ebola spreading now. Interesting what happened early on in 2025, when Mr. Musk came
in and cut out all the U. S a chopped off the legs of all these NGOs. Organizations that were there that were monitoring
and helping were behind the curve. Now it's summertime. People are going to Europe. Y'all are looking about going to Europe. All that cross travel. You better get yourself
checked before you come back. So being that I have a little time left, my reading is from Jeremiah nine, starting at
three. They make ready their tongue like a bow to shoot lies. It is not my truth that they triumph in the land. They go from one sin to another. They
do not acknowledge me, declares the Lord. Beware of your friends. Do not trust your brothers, for every brother is a deceiver, and every friend is a slanderer. Friend is his
friend and no one speaks the truth. They have taught their tongues to lie. They weary themselves with sinning. You live in the midst of deception. In their deceit they refuse to
acknowledge me, declares the Lord. And with my last 10s again will implore you about what's coming on with the property taxes. You need to be
talking to people up in Tallahassee. Thank you. Okay, next. Jane Harrington 1021
Jamaica Way. I'm just here to reiterate what I said last meeting. I feel very hurt after I went back and listened to the
meeting of the prior Tuesday, there was public comments on the city mayor or the city manager coming back. We had already heard that he had had
meetings with people. He had already been contracted to come back. Today we hear about sustainability. We have no sustainability in this system.
When we have people in positions, department heads, etcetera, where when they leave, if there's a problem, we have to bring them back. We had a
vice mayor when the mayor left, our vice mayor stepped up and assumed that responsibility. It is not acceptable in any
business not to have people well trained to take over in any circumstance. Retirement, death, moving on, promotions.
We need that in the city. And I hear when you say, oh, we're not in a hurry to look for a city manager or other positions, that's wrong. We're going to go
back to where we were two years ago. People come back. If I went back to my former job, I'd go back with the same mindset. People have to move forward. I
just ask that you consider that sustainability for the future of the city. And when you ask for public comments, it is rude. If you have already made your
decision, there is no public comment. It feels like we get up here and speak for no purpose whatsoever. You should just hold a private meeting.
Thank you. Next. Hi. Good evening commissioners David Ballard Geddes Jr. I live down the street on Georgia Avenue in Palm Harbor. Coyotes were
brought up as an example of environmental sustainability. When I was a child. I really don't remember much in the way of coyotes being in the area. I
remember other wildlife, such as rabbits and raccoons and armadillos and possums and gopher turtles and moles were crawling through our yards. And
I think somebody actually introduced coyotes as a way of exterminating all the other animals that are supposed to be
part of the environment. It seems as though we have a lack of raccoons and a lack of armadillos, and a lack of possums, relative to what I
knew when I was a child. I didn't know coyotes running through the neighborhoods like we do today. So let's say somebody wanted to exterminate all these other animals.
Introducing coyotes would do the job, wouldn't it? So it just seems to me as though we're drawing light, as though coyotes actually are part of a good thing in an environment. But if they're introduced for
the purpose of eliminating raccoons, then we've got somebody trying to deceive us. And their so-called
sustainability. Delivery in their in their in just focusing us on other animals that need to live in the surrounding, you
know, landscape as well. Thank you. Next. Good evening, board members. Mayor Anita Protestant
on Bayshore Drive. We have a very serious problem in this town. Mayor, these young people on these electric scooters riding our streets is very
dangerous. And they're not wearing helmets. No light, no lights is right. And if you come over the bridge by the yacht club, there are 4 or 5, and they cut in front of you
and you step on your brake in the car behind you almost hits you. Can we have a law? I don't know if it's legal or city attorney could tell us and our police chief and make them put
a get a helmet. And if they don't wear a helmet, put a fine on the family to keep them from getting brain injuries. You you go uptown and tarpon and
they're riding down the sidewalks. You go out to the mall, they're riding down the mall sidewalks. It's very dangerous. And we also have
children ten, 12 and 13 driving golf carts in the neighborhood, dragging their friends on little Willie like saucers around the streets. They don't
have driver's license, and none of them are wearing helmets. It's very dangerous, and we're going to get in trouble with it. So I don't know where it goes from you, mayor, to the police
station to start making rules and regulations so that we can have a safer community for these young people. And I want
to tell you, Monday, the our Tarpon Municipal Beach was horrendous. I don't know how if we have to tell people they got to rent a place to sit down and
eat and keep the cars out of the road. It was so dangerous there. Monday. I'm glad a child or an adult did not get hit by
a car. Next. Good evening. Katie Taylor 657 Haven Place, Tarpon Springs, Florida. First, I want to say thank you and
welcome back, Mark. We're glad to have you. That means the city can keep moving forward with business at hand because you you can step right in and pick up where where they left
off at hopefully and get it moving. I also want to say to the sustainability committee, thank y'all, because when I went to the county session, I
learned about coyotes and. Chief Young, thank you for having your police department post guard at, you know, check periodically at Rose Cemetery
by having your officers drive through the cemetery between midnight and 4 a.m. because, yes, unbelievable. People got time to go out there. That cemetery, that time of night. I don't know what they're looking
for, but they're out there. What a way to waste your time. But the coyotes are there. I did see some. So, Chief Young, please let the officers know that if they get out, the
county is a county out there. And Mark on June a. We've already sent the commissioners invite to Juneteenth, June 19th
and June 20th. Three years ago you helped us start that. So we still we still doing it and we appreciate it. And I hope you still have your t shirt and I
hope you can attend. Thank you. Anyone else like to get up and speak? Okay, let's move on and
we'll go to the consent agenda. Item number four attorney's fees. Johnson, Jackson. Eunice Salzman. Number five special events. Juneteenth celebration
block party 2026. Hippie Fest 2026. Number six designation of acting City Manager. Number seven. Appointment of temporary
part time senior administrator and human resources. Number eight. Satisfaction release of liens. Number nine Award file
field and turf products. Number ten Award file. Sidewalk improvement program. Number 11 Award file for the purchase of a 2026 Chevy Silverado. Number
12 renew file for food products and supplies. Number 13 Award file for the purchase of a dump truck. And does any
commissioner wish to pull any of these items? 13 number 13 okay. Anybody else? All right. Let's I'd like to have a motion
on accepting items number four through 12. So moved second. Okay. With that said, roll call please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes, Commissioner. Yes.
Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. Commissioner Eisner, would you like to talk on item number 13?
Yes. I presume Jake will get up. Come up. We're replacing a 3500 HD Silverado that runs. Excuse
me? In and around 40 $50,000. And we're replacing it with a $100,000 dump truck. It's not a direct replacement. So I would like Jake as he's going to stand here and give us his
reasons of because it's not a like for like, it's not an apples to apples, excuse me. And what I'd like him to do is explain why we now need a dump
truck rather than a unit that has been servicing us since 2013. So that's pretty much it. Good questions. Can somebody answer those questions? So the
reasoning for dump truck instead of a utility vehicle like we have currently, would be to better serve our stormwater department. The utility body vehicle is only
able to be used for a certain role carrying tools, cameras, things like that. Where these new dump trucks, they have storage bins that would allow it to serve not only that role,
but allow allow to be used in debris removal, day to day operations, and stormwater hurricane cleanup, things like that. And I have a short PowerPoint that I put together just to show you guys the
current condition of the vehicle. Sure.
So the asset we're speaking about is 6305 to 2013, Chevy Silverado 3500 HD with utility body. It's utilized by the Public Works stormwater division, who uses
it to support crews while cleaning, performing maintenance and repairs to the city's stormwater infrastructure. And we're recommending to replace the current truck that has utility body with a truck that is
equipped with a dump body, not only to better support daily operations, debris removal and hurricane, and also hurricane response efforts. The replacement dump truck has features that would allow it to
serve in both roles and be more beneficial to the department in the city as a whole. Not only would it allow the department to complete work more efficiently, but would also act as a second medium duty dump truck when their other is out
of service, as they currently only have one other medium duty dump truck. And I'm just I'm giving you some background information before I go through the pictures. With the addition of three new staff members and
stormwater, this fiscal year would be replacing the vehicle with another crew cab to transport staff to and from job sites. And like I mentioned earlier, this dump truck would
also be outfitted with a storage box. It's basically a pass through box between the cab and body, similar to what we've done our previous vehicle five, five, four, seven, and allows for adequate storage
while still having a sufficient dump body capacity. We'd also be moving from a Silverado 3500 to an F5 50 to optimize the payload. The payload and the
Silverado 3500 is 14,000 Gvw, and the F5 50 is 19,500. So it's a significant gain for payload capacity. So moving to
the next slide, you can see some of the areas that show deterioration. Vehicle has significant rust and corrosion. While it's still safe to operate. Currently, several
body cabinets have deteriorated to the point where they can no longer be used safely. Those cabinets have been tagged out, so they're out of service and can't be used. I want to point out that replacing the body is
possible, but it still. It would still require investing approximately 20,000 to $25,000 into a 13 year old vehicle that will continue to deteriorate.
Moving on to the next slide, I just want to touch on a couple other points that advancing the replacement would allow us to avoid costly rental expenses if the vehicles haven't has to be
taken out of service. We saw this earlier in this fiscal year when a similar vehicle accumulated approximately $25,000 in rental costs while awaiting replacement. That's
the asset I referenced earlier 5547 with the current lead lead times of these vehicles from 4 to 6 months, delaying replacement until fiscal year
2027 could push delivery into spring of 2027. While the rust can be addressed, it's not, in our opinion, financially
practical. With an age of a vehicle of this age, the truck operates in a corrosive, corrosive saltwater environment, which has accelerated deterioration to help prevent these issues moving forward, new replacement vehicles are
being equipped with additional corrosion protection measures such as undercoating, plastic wheel flares and aluminum parts where applicable. We also have
new policies in place that force our staff to take better care of the vehicle, and we also have an undercarriage wash rack that has been installed in our wash bay to prevent this
from happening moving forward. So just a few points to go over. Approving this replacement would prevent the vehicle from reaching a point where it must be removed from service, while
also improving operational efficiency, efficiency and emergency response capabilities. This vehicle is already scheduled, was already scheduled for replacement in fiscal year 2027, so we would
be accelerating the replacement by one year, and it would be replaced in the fiscal year 26 instead. And then just to give you a idea, a Silverado 3500 HD,
just the chassis, no upgrades, no body, no nothing is $55,095 and a Ford F-150, same way is
$69,085 for reference. So if you guys have any questions or comments, be more than happy to answer them. Commissioner Eisner, do you have any follow up questions? Yes. Jake and I
did have a nice conversation, and I did want him to bring up a lot of what he did bring up, because we always get some of the responses from residents. I
saw the truck run through salt water, high speed. We've always gotten those. And when I gave him the suggestion of the undercarriage warning system, he said he had it, which was
excellent. So I commend you for that, Jake. I also commend him for using Undercoating. These are all things that, you know, actually the sustainability would appreciate hearing
because these are things that are meaning meaningless financially, but their maximum return on assets for keeping these items. And I just want to
thank Jake. I actually did not want to, you know, I wasn't looking to ride him, but in speaking to him, he he's done a great job. This is exactly what we need to have as, as a person
that's running, you know, our fleet. So thank you very much. I appreciate all that you've done. And I thank you also, Chris. And you know, Tony, I thank you. I just a little bit
over any other any other commissioners wish to ask any questions. Well, I just want to make a couple statements. I want to thank you, Jake, for your presentation. But I mean, everybody in the room understood what was happening
and what we were doing, except obviously, for Commissioner Eisner. Now, what I would say was coming from the stormwater machinery fund, now we get to utilize this same vehicle for stormwater, any type of big
situation that we need, that our city needs. And this could all got presented in a private matter without having to do the presentation and actually writing him during this process.
I just didn't like it. So thank you Jake and staff. Point of order. Can I ask why the Vice Mayor needed to make the dig? The comment that was
unnecessary. I'm not getting into I hear you, it's just it's unnecessary. Why question. He's. He knows what I what I know, right. All right. This is a guy that doesn't know PVC from.
Please stop stop. Please please, please. Okay. Imbecile. Any other. Anybody else have any comments or questions of Mr.
Schaff? Okay. Thank you very much. I'd like to entertain a motion on item number 13.
Motion to approve. Second. Roll call, please. Yes, yes yes yes
yes. Okay. Let's go to item number 14. It's a discussion item discussion and direction on Sister city travel expenses.
So I've gotten some numbers from the college for my expense here. It's right now it's
$3,900 for the. For just the accommodations, not airfare. I want to hold off on making a decision here on this because I want to see, you know, and
probably less than a week, we're going to get numbers from the county on property values. And you know, what's going to happen with our budget. And I
know it's not a lot of money in the big scheme of things, but I'd rather I think the optics of me taking a vacation, it's not a vacation, but going on
the city's dime to Greece probably wouldn't be the best thing. I may end up, if I may end up going and I may pay for part of it myself or. But let me come back to you guys with
something after we know where we stand. So does anybody have any comments on that? Okay. Anybody? All right. So we'll just move on on that item.
Let's go to item number 15. City attorney, would you read the ordinance, please. Ordinance 2020 603, an ordinance of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida,
establishing section 1816 of the Code of Ordinances. Parking of vehicles at Sunset Beach, providing for residential permits, providing for conflict, providing for severability,
providing for codification, and providing for an effective date that is ordinance 2020 603 read by title only on Second Reading.
Published on May 13th, 2026. Okay. Mr. Kiger. Or Jamie Taylor. This is a second reading. Has there been any
change to this item from the first reading that it's only incorporated the changes that were discussed at the last board meeting, and we actually have Jamie Taylor here for additional questions if needed. There's no you're not
submitting any changes other beyond what we voted on in the first meeting. Yes. Correct. Correct. Okay. So there's really no need for presentation
on this. Commissioner Weaver, do you have any questions? I have no questions, Commissioner Panther. No, sir. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Any commissioner
go to Sunset Beach to see what was going on this weekend, other than Anita I did last week. Okay. Well, I was there
this week and there was off premise parking. There was smoking at the beach. There were drinking at the beach. There were jet skis. I did
speak with the two gentlemen that do the overseeing. And the first week that we instituted the trailer boat launch, there
were 25 violations. And the second week that they learned their lesson. So they were only three. So I was glad to get this information, which I know some people up here already
know, because they know everything. So as Anita said, mayor said before, I also did have a conversation with the
assistant chief tureen. And one of the problems is, is not just enforcing is enforcing laws. Rather. So we did speak about it. And if any commission is
interested, they can talk to tureen and see what I spoke about. I don't need to repeat it because there's commissioners here that know everything. So but I was
pleased with the comment of what tureen said. He said, say that Memorial Day is a very tough holiday. And, you know, there is things that are
chaotic. But as Anita said earlier, you couldn't get through, you couldn't drive. There was issues there. And I'd like to see this be a little
bit better controlled and possibly even have the people that oversee who comes in and who comes out that they could do. Maybe the the initiation of
summonses. If there's a rule breaking rather than having police do it. So I know he's working on that and I look forward to having that down the
road. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Well, I'm hoping we can. I wasn't expecting for the beach paid parking because I was I thought you were going to vote yes for mayor, but you surprised me with the no vote.
I'm hoping you can pull on a couple heart strings of maybe one commissioner, maybe flip it and and get no parking there. And as far as Memorial Day, it's a holiday. That place is
going to be slammed. I mean, you guys should have seen what the 4th of July used to be like over there until once we stopped, you know, the parking overall because we brought in the professional fireworks. But
what I will say, it's a bad look when one of us board members go out there picking at people's vehicles to see if they have permits or not, and then forcing the police
department to do something upon it. We legislate. We're not supposed to be out here enforcing laws, because then we're really serving ourselves well to. So if we want to set policy, we set policy. But none
of us up here should be out there trying to pick on people who don't have permits. They're already all right. That's what we do. So I'm ashamed if that is happening. And I really
don't like the park and I never have. I want anybody to come out there and enjoy it. So I'm not going to support it. Thank you. Okay. Let's let's go to
public comments. Any public comments on this item? Katie Taylor 657 Haven Place, Tarpon Springs, Florida. Last time you
presented this presentation, I asked a question about handicap parking. And I guess I was kind of off set because I didn't really get an answer. But
that's a that's a Florida statute. So my question is, my question is to you guys, people that has handicap stickers, state of Florida, you're not supposed to be you shouldn't
have to pay. So does that still apply to people with handicap stickers in the state of Florida and people that's out of the state. Yeah. So the
right after that meeting, Chief Young informed me that this Florida statute and those with handicap stickers would not have to pay for parking. Thank you. Okay. Any other public
comment on this item? David Geddes Jr I live on Georgia Avenue down the street in Palm Harbor. Early on, Tarpon Springs realized that people
moved to Florida for the purpose of enjoying the beach without delay. Fred Howard Park and Sunset Beach were constructed. The Intracoastal
Waterways on both the West and the east coast of Florida to include the mouth of the Anclote River, were dredged for related water activities. The
past vision of our predecessors in their forward thinking was done so for the benefit of the residents to freely enjoy accessing the water. Yet
somewhere along the line of political practices, the obligation of productive forethought on things was abandoned by those trusted to
serve in pursuit of ad valorem taxes and the underpinning of other ad hoc taxes. All the localized governments in the state have been recklessly
overdeveloped, developing their so-called jurisdictions, inadequately planning accommodations on infrastructure such as roads, sewers and adequate potable
water supply appears to have been an afterthought, as disposition to all of the local governments have proactively, under planned the recreation
areas along the waterfronts, thereby underserving the population that they intend on taxing comprehensively. Under planning beach accesses by
local governments in the state of Florida is totally unacceptable. The example set by our predecessors in constructing cul de sacs
forwardly like setting the example of Sunset Beach and Fred Howard Park. All along the coastline, clear up and down the east and the West Coast. If
you're going to over develop this state and inadequately under planned beach access for the residents that move down to Florida for the purpose of
going to the taxing US toll, charging us for rights to go to that beach. I feel as though we have a shortfall in what's taking place here in regards to
our so-called proactive planning within every government along the coastline of Florida, and our liberties
and our freedoms should not be subject to inadequate political. Practices. Underserving the the
residents. Thank you. Anyone else like to get up and say something about the parking at the beach? Please state your name and address. Hi, I'm Derek
Nevada, 115 North Florida Avenue I. This is my first meeting I've ever been to and this issue because I live right next to the beach, like I'm right next to the high school.
So like, I walk to the beach all the time. Parking is really bad. So I was just like wondering how that would work since it's like the first time I'm hearing about this parking
at the beach. I guess that's really it. Yeah, this is just public comment. You can't ask questions. I can't ask questions. You can ask them rhetorically. But we we don't
go back and forth with, oh, okay. Okay. Well, I guess if you're charging people, I think that's pretty good. I do kind of like having the difference of like Sunset Beach being the free beach, but it's not as
good. Well, Fred Howard being like the better beach and you have to pay for it, I don't know, I think that's pretty good. I don't know, I'll ask you afterwards. Okay. Thank you
sir. Thank you for coming to the meeting next. Jane Harrington 1021 Jamaica Way. I
agree, Sunset Beach was beyond crazy. It took me forever to turn around and get out because I couldn't get in. And in. The
closer I got, the worse it was. I had this crazy idea to take my mother there. That was my crazy. But have you ever
thought of having an occupancy limit on cars and people? Many places do. Many beaches, many
amusement parks. There's an occupancy before, as former mayor pro said, someone gets seriously hurt. I mean, we
don't need that in our town, but what's wrong with an occupancy? Think about yes, we should pay people out of town. If they're coming here to enjoy
a beach day. They can afford $5. If you're a tarpon resident, you're not going to pay, but make an occupancy because creating paid parking isn't
going to make more parking. It isn't going to make parking available for city residents. Unless you say all city residents are first, so that
paying for parking isn't going to solve our parking problem. So I just ask you to think about occupancy, and there has to be teeth in those people
that sit out there. If there's something going wrong, they need to address it. It's not picking on people, but if you can get away with it, you will next time you'll try. So make
it easy for the police and everyone else. Here's our rules and here's our occupancy. Thank you, thank you. Anyone else?
Anita, protest 91 Bayshore Drive. Something I was thinking about. Howard Park makes you reserve a shelter. Monday. They
were fighting over a shelter and. They got into a fistfight because we had to stop and watch all this. So maybe one
thing is, if you reserve a shelter out there, you can probably find out how many people are coming and the number of cars. And after a certain amount of cars get in there who have these shelters,
you have to close the beach. That's all. And another thing, I resent seeing adult people urinating between the bushes by the water because they don't
want to walk down to the restrooms. They should be arrested for that. That's indecent. And that's what's happening out there. And again,
I'm going to say this for the for five years, I've asked for a lifeguard out there. The water jets, the boats, the children running in and out of
the water in between the cars, something's going to happen and we're going to have mud on and blood on our face. Anyone else?
Okay, let's come back. I'd like to come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay, let's go to commissioner
comments. Let me go first. You know, I I'm I'm going to stick with my no vote on this. I, you know that that the beach has
been there a hundred years. We're getting ready to go into the budget season and the budget process. We have a lot of unknowns with again, we're
going to have property values on the 1st of June. We have a possible referendum coming up later that could affect some of our revenue and charging fees
for services, maybe what we end up having to do. But I'd like to wait. You know, again, it's been here 100 years. We never charge anybody for 100 years.
I'm not in a big hurry to do it now. I actually like the idea of of controlling the occupancy. That that probably wouldn't be a bad idea. Just keep the
amount of people out of the. So we don't have a, a overage in, in the beach, but Commissioner
Weaver thank you mayor. I'll reiterate what I said on this topic. The last time we spoke.
It's it's our residents. It's taxpayer money that serve to keep that beach in the pristine condition. We would like to see
it. And ultimately, I would like to know that the residents here get the best benefit from it. For that reason, I feel
like it would behoove the city to charge. Perhaps it would limit some of the occupancy. As Miss Harrington, you know, said,
that could be an alternate way of limiting occupancy. But I want to see the beach first and foremost, used and enjoyed by
our residents. That's all. Okay, Commissioner. Thank you. Yes, I'm I'm I, I am still in support of this. I also don't think we need residents of Palm
Harbor to, to come here and lecture us about our about our beaches, our sunset beach is for residents first and and
then and then for outsiders second. Thank you. Commissioner Eisner. Thank you. Mayor. I agree with Commissioner Banther and also Commissioner Weaver.
I've been to the beach, Sunset Beach, three times this past week, not just on Memorial Day. I was there with my wife, enjoying it as a resident. And I just will tell you that
things are a little chaotic and we do need the the taxpayer not to be paying for the cleanup of three quarters of the people that are do not. If they're
going to want to utilize it, it's. There's nothing wrong with charging $5. The Fred Howard Park charges $6. And if
you go down the whole Pinellas County coast, everybody else charges more. They, you know, clearwater's by the hour. There's nothing wrong with it.
Things have changed. I understand. I wouldn't make my decision according to the budget, because the budget is for Tarpon Heights. And this is not to affect Tarpon Heights,
except that we're putting more of a tax on them because they're the ones that have to pay for the cleanup. They're the ones that are picking up the bottles. They're the ones, you know, picking up. I was
with my wife and I'll just tell you, somebody was feeding the kid and the kid was just spitting pieces of apple all over the place, and somebody's got to clean that up. It just
can't sit there. So I will I definitely will vote as $5. And I just appreciate when people do speak about stuff that goes on in town, that they're
knowledgeable and they've shown an interest in at least attending it and not just talking about it without seeing what goes on. So that's what I
will say. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I truly think it's going to be a flawed system. You're going to have, what, two, three towers that are supposed to monitor the parking and people are going to go up, pay their
little thing, put the ticket back in their their car, and once it expires, who's going to be out really monitoring. So it's a, I don't think it's going to be a good approach to actually quantify everybody
who's not really here from the city to park. They're just being honest. And as far as I. It was a Memorial Day weekend, guys. And if y'all can't really
appreciate people having a good time on a national holiday, I really would ask for y'all to, you know, go to Howard then because, you know, it's been a way of life that way for many
holidays over there. And no, we're not going to send any more police officers out there. You know, the regular patrol they do now is the same patrol they're going to do, and there
can't be enough police officers to watch every square inch of the beach. All right. So I think, you know, it's one weekend. It happens a couple times out the year. And you
know, I really don't like the direction. So thank you. Thank you. I want to say one more thing. I forgot when I made my comment. I want to thank Chris,
our director, for putting that fence around the playground because I know the mayor was talking about, you know, kids and running out in the street and all that. So now there's a
fence around the playground. Kids can't go, can't run into the water, and then they can't, you know, their, their, their moms and can watch them better, especially if they have more
than one child. It was really a difficult thing. So I appreciate what you did out there at the beach. So. Okay.
Let's let's go roll call. Commissioner Weaver. Can I just clarify? We are voting for the
fee. Okay. Yes, Commissioner. Yes, Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. No. Mayor. Collins. No. I just asked Mr.
Taylor to get the gentleman's number who wanted questions asked, and give him a call tomorrow and answer all his questions for him. Okay. Let's
go to item number 16. Can you read that by title? Is that is that. Yeah, we have two ordinances. Can we do you want to discuss both of them
together. And then we'll we'll just vote on them separate. Yes. Is that okay. That's right. All right. You want me to read. Yes. City attorney, can you read or do you want me to read both of them and then. Yeah, yeah, read
both of them. And then we'll just do ordinance 2020 605 an ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, amending the City of Tarpon Springs Code of Ordinances. Chapter 20 Water and Sewers. Article six
stormwater management and article seven storm sewer system providing for codification, providing for conflicts and severability. Providing for correction of scrivener's errors and
providing for an effective date that is ordinance 2020 605 read by title only on second reading. Second publication was May 13th,
2026. An ordinance 2020 606 an ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, amending the following articles of the Tarpon Springs Code of Ordinances appendix. A
comprehensive zoning and land development code pertaining to stormwater management. Article eight plan consistency, concurrency management and mobility management. Article
nine Development Standards, article ten Subdivision Regulations, and article 12 Administration and Enforcement providing for codification, providing for conflicts and
severability. Providing for correction of Scripture scrivener's errors and providing for an effective date that is ordinance 2020 606 read by title only on Second Reading.
Second publication May 13th, 2026. Okay, Miss Kean, is there any changes to the original reading? No, there's no changes. Okay. Commissioner Weaver, do
you have any questions on the second reading? I don't thank you, Commissioner Panther. No, sir. Commissioner Eisner, I do not, vice mayor. No, sir. Okay.
Let's go. Any public comments on this item? Let's come back to the board. I'd like to entertain a motion. So moved. Second, if there's no further
comments. Roll call please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes, Commissioner. Panther. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Yes. So
was do we vote on both of those together? Okay. Just that was only the first one. So let's go to can I have a motion on 16 B. So moved second. Okay. Let's
have roll call on that please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes, sir. Yes. Mr. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Yes, yes. Let's go
to item number 17. This is also a second reading. Is there any changes on this item? Okay. I'm sorry. Go read it by title. I'm sorry. I just want to clarify.
We on the just so that we note the ordinance, 2020 606 was the one that you just passed. Just for the record. Yes. And the first vote was on 2020 2605.
Yes. Thank you. Okay. Do you want to do the reading on this? Yes, ma'am. Ordinance 2020 608 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 one general provisions to incorporate general updates and revisions. Party providing
for codification. Conflicts of severability, correction of scrivener's errors. Construction publication effective date that's ordinance 2020 608 read by title only on
Second reading publication. Second publication was May 13th, 2026. Okay. Are we are you doing. You did all three I can
can you do all three? Yes, sir. Ordinance 2020 609 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 two district regulations to incorporate general updates and revisions. Providing for codification. Conflict. Severability. Correction of
Scrivener's errors, construction, publication, and an effective date. That's ordinance 2020 609, read by title only on second reading.
Second publication was May 13th, 2026, ordinance 2026 ten 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 three Supplementary District regulations to incorporate general updates and revisions. Providing for codification.
Conflict. Severability. Correction of Scrivener's errors. Construction. Publication. Effective date that's ordinance 2026 ten. Read by title only on Second reading.
Second publication May 13th, 2026. Okay, Miss Keane, is there any changes to any any of these three items? There have been no changes. Okay.
Commissioner Weaver, do you have any questions on. I do not second reading, Commissioner Panther. No, sir. Commissioner Eisner no, sir. Vice mayor. No,
sir. Okay. Is there any public comments on this item? I'd like to come back to the board and entertain a motion on ordinance
2026-08. So moved. Second. Okay. With that said, roll call please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes, Commissioner. Panther. Yes. Mr. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor.
Yes. Yes. Mayor. Yes. I'd like to entertain a motion on ordinance 2026-09. So moved.
Second. Okay. There's no further questions. Roll call please, Mr. Weaver. Yes, Commissioner. Panther. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice
mayor. Yes. Yes. Yes. And I'd like to entertain a motion on ordinance 2026-0 ten one zero.
So moved. Second. And with no further comment. Roll call please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes. Commissioner. Panther. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Coolio's. Yes. Mayor.
Collins. Yes. Okay. Let's go to item number 18. Yes. Ordinance 2020 607, 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, section 56 temporary uses and section 5605 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
ordinance, 2020 607 read by title only on Second Reading. Second publication May 13th, 2026. Is there any has there been any changes to this item?
The only changes that are on the ordinance tonight is adding the six month review of the request. And we also, just as a reminder, you guys voted to approve with the Planning and
Zoning Board recommendation that included a conditional use approval process and then also reducing the number of nights from 4 to 3. Those are the only
changes. Okay. So. I don't have any questions. Commissioner Weaver, do you have any questions? No. No questions. Commissioner Panther, no. Commissioner Eisner, no
questions. Vice mayor? No, sir. Okay. Do we have any public comments on this item? No public comments. Let's come back to the board for a motion.
So moved. Second, is there any any commissioners have any other comments? I do. Mayor thank you. As I spoke last time, I think we're over regulating.
I know a comment was was made about we're deciding on one food truck. That's not the case. We're deciding on one regulation. And it just so
happens only one food truck is able or willing to comply with the regulation. We are over regulating this, and as long as
we have a six month trial, it wouldn't matter what we do. Back in the day, I wanted to have seven days to have the
friendly Greek sit at a location, and I got shot down. And the person who shot it down only wanted three days and then
denied. He said it, and now he's the one who's pushing the motion again. So. I'm not in agreement to this. I think that
people can determine their own time of how long they need to be there. It's not affecting the sponge docks. It's not affecting all 19. It's not affecting anybody. And we can
always remove it or review it at six months. So I'm not going to support this as I didn't last time. Vice mayor. Yes. We simply can't make legislative
rules just to fit one business's agenda. It's a bad look for us in the city, and the moment we start doing that, we're not creating rules for everybody. And so, no, we can't
do that. And we did give the option to come back in six months to see how it goes. But this is a slow process. It has been a slow process. And, you know, we're not just going to line up Tarpon Springs with
food trucks everywhere. So we've got to be respectful of all the current businesses who have been here for a long time. And the way our town looks each and every spot. So we can't make rules for one person.
Thank you. Okay. With comments made, mayor? Oh, yes. Can I just interject something? Sure. You know, before we come to this vote, I just want to
remind everyone that these are people that once they go away, we may not have the opportunity to see them come back. And there are also people operating
these food trucks who are trying to make a living. And, and I think that that needs to be considered. When I was a commissioner and another
village here in Florida, we we opted to restrict the distance that a mobile food truck could be from a brick and mortar
restaurant. I mentioned this from the podium before I became commissioner. I think it's a better option for us. I want to protect the brick and mortar
restaurants here. I also don't want to see these food trucks either struggle to make a living or to disappear. I don't know, it's probably
unfortunately too late on the second reading, but if in six months this doesn't work out, perhaps we can visit, you know,
a different approach. Thank you. I mean, I'm I'm happy with this being six months. It's going to be during the summer. It's not the season. So let's try it out for six months. And we go from
there. Roll call. Commissioner Weaver no. Commissioner Banther yes. Commissioner Eisner no. Vice mayor. Cool. Yes. Yes.
Mayor. Yes. Okay. Let's go to item number 19. It's. Would you read the ordinance by title, please? Ordinance 2020 604, an
ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, Amending City Code, chapter two, article three, Division one, section 2-36F2 of the City of Tarpon
Springs Firefighters Pension plan to increase the benefit multiplier from 3.25% to 3.5% for creditable service earned
after October 1st, 2025, and permitting the purchase of up to a 4% multiplier. Amending section 2-36Y4 to extend the
maximum period of drop participation to 96 months and permitting drop eligibility after 25 years of service or the attainment of age 50,
providing for inclusion in the code, providing for severability, providing for repeal repealer and providing for an effective date that is ordinance 2020 604 read by
title only on first reading. Second reading is scheduled for June 9th, 2026. Publication on May 27th, 2026. Okay, chief,
you want to give us a presentation? Yes. Fire chief, this is the same ordinance that has come before you there. It's back at first reading due to an
error that was caught in the title. It originally had been mislabeled at 22 years, and it has been back changed to 25 years. Other than that, nothing
else in the ordinance is changed. And all the same things for this ordinance were the same as last time. This is for helping to be able to
retain and hire new firefighters and get their pension. And this was due to an opener in their current contract in the third year. And
it was negotiated with the union and the city for this. I'll answer any other questions if you have any new ones. Commissioner Weaver, do you have any questions? No, not at this time. Thank you.
Commissioner Panther, you have any questions? No, sir. Commissioner Eisner, no questions, vice mayor? No, sir. Okay. Do we have any public
comments on this item? I'd like to come back to the board for a motion so moved. Second, is there any further comments on this item? Let's go to roll
call, please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes, Commissioner. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Colonies. Yes. Thank you. Chief.
Okay. That concludes our regular business tonight. Let's go to board and staff comments. Chief, I just want to remind all our residents June 1st is
coming upon us and hurricane season again. So prepare early. City attorney. No comment.
Mayor. City manager. Well, I'm not going to be long winded my first night. I just wanted to thank this board, this unanimous board, and I may say
unanimous individually, not collectively for each year conversations individually discussing believe me. And there's some people in the audience out there who knows
how well I was enjoying my one year, four months and two weeks of retirement. But the faith, all of you again, individually the same, making the calls. And
plus, you know how much they can say a lot about me over the years, but nobody can ever say that I don't love this city and put my heart and soul into the city. So with that, with the
staff, I'm, I'm meeting the new ones, but many of the ones from before with your endorsement and encouragement, it was a hard decision. I did have to
pray on it and, and all of that and really think, but, you know, I'm glad to be back, ready to move forward, put shovels in the ground, get what you have going done, and work together
with all of you for the betterment of Tarpon Springs. And I thank you and the citizens who've been overwhelmingly contacted me thanking me for coming back for
now. So thank you very much. Thank you city. City clerk. I have no comment. Do you do you
have an item? Do you want to bring up the item? Well, yes, I'm going on vacation. I'm going to be on vacation with my mother, and I'm requesting to
have the July 14th and 28th meeting excused, please. Okay. Is there a is that a motion? I can't make the motion. So moved. There we go. There's a so moved.
Do we have a second? Do we have a second? Lori, I need a second. Do we have. I'll second. Okay.
Let's let's have a roll call on it real quick. Commissioner Weaver. Yes, Commissioner. Yes, Commissioner Eisner no. Vice
mayor. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Yes. Enjoy your vacation. Thank you. Okay. City clerk, did you have anything to say besides. No.
Thank you. Okay. Let's go to Commissioner Weaver. Thank you. Mayor. So. So as the most
recent addition to to the board, I. I never had the chance to work with Mark licorice in the past, but I can tell you that I'm thrilled that he's joined
the city. I really look forward to working with him. The, the the interaction I've had so far has been so positive. I, I can't tell you how enthusiastic
I am about where we're going with the future. So he's approachable, he's knowledgeable. And I think I think we will all benefit from
him being here. So I for one, thank you. I came out of retirement three times in my lifetime, and I may have to come out of retirement one more time. I don't know when. So, so
I get it. You know, I would like to I would like to. I would like to discuss the difference between disagreement and disparagement. All right.
We're public servants. We have to we on occasion have to disagree. We don't need to disparage. I think we we owe the the respect of anyone
approaches that podium to give them the respect they're due to. It's not easy to stand up there and speak. We also owe the respect to each other. With that said, I will continue to
hold all of us, including myself, accountable to. To not disparage each other and to, to, to show respect the respect
that's due. Thank you, thank you, Commissioner Panther. Thank you. I have I have several things. First, and I did email our our our former city manager about this, but I
will not be here at the next meeting. We're taking our daughters to to Alaska for a family vacation. So I never had to get a motion to have anything approved. Is that something we need to do
formally? We end up doing it at the meeting when you're not there. But what days are you going to be gone? So we've gone the first meeting in June. So that would that would be like the eighth or something. June
9th. June 9th. Thank you. Okay. Would somebody like to make a motion? Motion to excuse Commissioner Panther for the June 9th, 2020 meeting? Is there a second? Second. Okay, let's have a roll call on that
real quick, Commissioner Weaver. Yes, Commissioner. Panther. Yes, Commissioner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Yes. Thank you. Second off, I want to thank
Commissioner Weaver for her comments just now. And I had in mind to say that something I've lived by and I've shared with a lot of you individually, is that, you know, I've learned and as I'm getting older, that
you don't have to attend every argument that that that's you're invited to. And I said that to, I think everyone on this board and most people I meet when I was younger, I didn't back down from any kind
of argument. And as I've gotten older, I realize some some arguments can just fall on the face and that just is what it is. But I leave that to each person up here to decide if
that's them or not. I had one. Oh yes, I'm going to be, you know, I'm obviously in my summer attire and I'll be in my in my summer attire. Through. Through. Through through Labor Day. And I invite anyone
willing to dress down to, to, to, to, to join me and want to thank you all in advance for, for covering for me in June and I'll look forward to being back.
Thank you, thank you, Commissioner Eisner. My summer attire is shorts and a tank top, so that's all I. But I'll
refrain. I wanted to thank also Mark licorice for him coming back and with coming back with the type of enthusiasm, more
enthusiasm than when he left. He had a lot of enthusiasm when he left and said, you know, I'm really going to enjoy my retirement. But I do think after speaking with him a
number of times, he has a lot of enthusiasm to try to help move what he saw as issues in the city. And I'm also as as
Commissioner Weaver said, very happy to work with him. He's come back healthy and wealthy and wise, mostly wealthy. But
no, I. All joking aside, I'll enjoy working with him big time. I did want to also make a comment. I was out this past
Friday with my wife and another couple, and it was really a pleasure to see the police boat out there and it was really nice to see Nick Wood's comment,
his his his name on it. It's it's a nice remembrance. I did find out, which I'm sure maybe there is a commissioner up here who even knows this, but I
don't want to inform him the that we cover everything up to three Rooker and I was unaware of that. I just thought we would cover the, you know, Anclote and possibly up to the
North Anclote. But we cover a large area. So I do appreciate. I want to thank the police for all that they do. There's a lot of rescues out there, and the
only other thing I would like to ask is I was also at the splash park, and I was told by the people at Sunset Beach that
we do not have any coverage on the splash park. We had it last year and there's nobody there. I was there on a weekend. It was not. It was a little
chaotic, and I was there on a weekend and it was also very chaotic. Food was brought in, everything else was brought in. And I will always be looking in
on things in the city because as I've said before, I'm a city commissioner. It's 24 over seven. I don't have a job where it distracts me from seeing what goes on in the city. And
last but not least, if we could get an update on the clerk's office since we had a torrential downpour the other day, and I would love to know what's going on with that. Yes,
we're working on that for all of you now. Okay. Thank you. Commissioner, were you using the splash park or was this just a. I was under this. I
went down the slide, if you'd like to see about that. But nonetheless, vice mayor. Yes, I'd like for us to. It's been a
long time since the whole course park situation, and if we could just follow up to see where we're at with with that update, with that park as. And
as far as hopefully we can work towards trying to get the county to give the residents of Tarpon Springs free parking at Howard Park. I think that would be great. We and Mark, we had
mentioned it with the prior CM, you know that we. We collectively gave the authorization to staff to try to do this communication. And there was a barrier that was broken. Then we could hopefully
step in and try to get that because we want to get free parking for all the residents there. And it as far as Mark, and there's something else I forgot to bring up, you know, a
lot when I firstly initially wanted a new city manager, half of it was personal. And I'll be honest with you, personal with myself, my, you know, my life as well. And I was able to tie
it in with the city. But as you work with somebody who's respected and cares for the city grew a very good relationship and understanding a mutual interest to want to
work together for, for the well-being of the city. So I did want to mention that that way that's cleared up out of the way too. And I'm very thankful Mark was able to come
in. It was a no brainer, and he's already won the respect of all the staff, which is awesome. So I just want to say that. And one other thing, I just want us
to, you know, staff should be looked at. They're not here to be propped up here to, you know, just to kill time on an item that's very presentable with
stuff. So I want staff to be respected and not to, you know, as we do on every item. So thank you. Okay, so I have just
a couple items. I'd like to see if, you know, there was a gentleman that worked in youth football for many, many years.
His name is Frank Jenkins. I don't know if I know you you were in youth football. I think he was there when you were there. So Frank Jenkins put a
lot of a lot a lot of time in in youth football. And I know we're bringing up an item. I think you're researching an
item for the coach to have a small plaque put somewhere for another coach. I would love to have something for Frank. Frank
is, you know, besides being a coach for years, being a he was the head of the Football League for years and years. But besides that, he. He had a son,
Mario, who actually played with. I don't know if. Was he your age? His son Mario. Tommy's age. Okay. So his he had a son,
Mario, who was a graduate of Tarpon High, one of our kids, one of the kids of our of our of our town. He went to Orlando and became a police officer. He
was undercover and he was shot and killed. So Frank's had a really tough life. And his only child. You can imagine what it's like to live with the
death of your only child. And Frank is not in good health. So I want to do something for Frank before he passes, where he can still show up and and attend and and get something,
you know, I don't know, I guess we used to play all of our all of our practices were at Sizzler Field because it wasn't all a baseball at that time. But but we can you can figure
out a good spot for, for a plaque. But is is there any opposition to me bringing it on agenda item next week at the next meeting? Okay. So I appreciate that. Everybody good
with that. Thank you. Then as far as you know, I'm we're all, you know, we we can all get testy. I think we really do
need to control ourselves as much as we can. I mean, it's, it's, I really enjoy having the captain here because she always seems to try to steady our ship. I mean, we have we got it on
the other end, too, but I was, you know, I, I was a little short with, with Commissioner
Eisner. I, I, I asked for an apology. I gave it to him. He, he didn't actually want me even to say anything tonight, but I feel like I should I said it publicly, so I should my
apologies should be public. So I want to apologize for getting out of hand and. And I thank you very much. And you're you're a gentleman for doing
that. So. And then as far as Mark's concerned, you know, I think we've all said it, but, you know, he was here, what, 45 years, 47, 47 years, 47 years
as a police officer before he got into administration. He got shot twice. Right? One time, two bullets. Okay. So that
still counts for twice. So here's a man who's worked for our city for 47 years, taken bullets for our town. I can't
imagine anybody loves tarpon more than him. I really don't. He he stepped right up as soon as he was asked, hey, we need him. I know his life has been good with his. He spent a lot.
He's getting to spend a lot of time with his, with his sons and going to a lot of games and doing all that. But I really do want to thank you for everything you do for this city and what you have done, and now
what you're doing again. And we couldn't be more fortunate to have you in our in our community. And nobody I know, I, I, we can all say we love
tarpon. This guy's proved it. With that said, meeting
adjourned 738.