On the button. I gotta do it on the button. There's not a second hand on that number up
there. It's two minutes slow. Or one minutes long when you
watch. I called to order the regular session of the Tarpon Springs Board of Commissioners. Tuesday, October 28th, 6:30
p.m. Roll call please. Mayor Giuliani's here. Vice Mayor Eisner here. Commissioner here. Commissioner Donato here. Commissioner Banther is absent
and would need to be excused. I'd like to entertain a motion to excuse Commissioner Banther for his absence. Second roll
call, please. Commissioner Donato here. Yes, Commissioner Coolio's. Yes. Vice mayor eisner. Yes, yes. So let's have
our reflection tonight by the Reverend Janet Tunnel of All Saints, Episcopal and followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Let us pray. Almighty God, send down upon those who hold office in this city of Tarpon Springs the spirit of wisdom, charity and justice. That with
steadfast purpose they may faithfully serve in their office to promote the well-being of all people. Almighty God, you proclaim your
truth in every age by many voices direct in our time. We pray those who speak where many listen, that they may do their part in making the heart of
this people wise, its mind sound and its will righteous to the honor and glory of your name. Amen. I pledge allegiance
to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. So our first item tonight is a proclamation
for a day. I'll come up, I would like. Mr. Nikita martinez
and the consulate General. Thanassis.
So we had a beautiful ceremony this this morning out. At first we had a beautiful service at Saint Nicholas. Father Theofanis,
would you like to come join us, please? Father Theofanis and Father Athanasios had a beautiful. We had a beautiful service. And then we went to Craig Park and had the raising
of both the American flag and the Greek flag with the anthems. And we had some. I actually read this proclamation. I'm going to read it again, but we talked about the bravery of the
Greeks and that it's historic. The Greeks have a long legacy of of bravery going back to 480
BC with the 300 Spartans that held off the the Persians in 490 BC, the Athenians at the
Battle of Marathon. The Athenians held off again. The Persians and then the Greek War of Independence, which were
freed after 400 years of occupation by the the Turks, and that led us to. Orchid and
orchid. We we discussed the the significance of that of that day and and the consul general is going to go a little deeper into the the importance and significance of that day and
what and what happened at the aftermath of that. But, you know, you need to understand it in context. When the Prime Minister said no to the axis
forces that wanted to come in and occupy Greece, that was in October of 1940. The axis forces and the Nazis had moved
all through Europe and most of Europe. Most of the countries were surrendering to the Nazis without resistance because of the power of of their force, of
their military forces. And they had gone into France in May of, of that year. So by October, when they were at the border,
at the footsteps of, of Greece, for the prime Minister to say, no, we're not allowing you here and we're not going to you're not coming in without a fight.
That was a significant act of bravery. And the Greeks and all these and and there's many, many, many more than what I've
gone over. The Greeks have always been outnumbered. Always. And yet they've always prevailed because of their bravery and their determination
to be free. And that bravery, you know, is, is kind of baked into the DNA of of Greeks. We're never afraid of a fight.
No matter what. We're never afraid of a fight. And, you know, we. And it it you think of the sponge divers that came
here, that came from Greece, that made Tarpon Springs what it is today. And the bravery they had to come across the, the, the, the globe to a
country that was foreign to them and then take on a task of diving for sponges, which was extremely dangerous going down
with those helmets and those hard and those those suits to go down. And many of them died. Many of them got the bends, but
they they persevered. So that's today was not an exception. It was who the Greeks were. So I'd like to read this proclamation, and then I'm going to have the
all the gentlemen up here that would like to speak have a chance to speak, whereas Okie Day, October 28th, 2025
commemorates the events of Greece in 1940, in which the brave Hellenic nation and its citizens boldly stood together for liberty and freedom at all
costs against the axis forces. And whereas the historic cry of Ohi, a reference to the defiant answer of no in the Greek
language given in response to the demands for surrender, and whereas today is an inspiration to those who cherish democracy and freedom, a celebration of
those who served and defended freedom in war. And whereas the Greek people faithfully met their obligation with courage, sacrifice, determination and
dedication. And whereas the city of Tarpon Springs celebrates OG day in honor of the noble heroes, men and women who fought for a free Greek
nation. Now therefore, I, John, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the City of Tarpon Springs, do
hereby proclaim October 28th, 2025, as Ohi Day.
Now, I will elaborate a bit on the OG, as the mayor said, and what it means for the younger generations. So. Honorable
mayor, Mr. Giuliano's. Dear John, honorable members of the City Council, distinguished
guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am particularly pleased that we are given the opportunity to meet again and celebrate the anniversary of October 28th,
which has been established as the second national holiday of our nation, with the doxology. Doxology that has just been performed earlier today, we
honor the 85th anniversary of October 28th, 1940, and the memory of those who fell and fought throughout the period of World War Two and the other
struggles of our nation. Ladies and gentlemen, October 28th, 1940 marks the beginning of our country's involvement in the
deadliest and most destructive war that humanity has known so far, and which led to the overthrow of the pre-war political system and the
redrawing of the European map. The refusal to submit to the blackmailing and provocative action of of a militarily and
economically superior power. Italy, which was recorded in our national memory and history with a one word answer. OG
constitutes the most important event in modern Greek history, the consequences of which were decisive for the further course
of our nation. Faced. Therefore, with the threat of a direct invasion and conquest by Italy, and having Great Britain as its only supporter, given that all
the countries of central, Western and Northern Europe had either joined the axis powers or had been conquered by them.
Greece, a small and poor country with obsolete military equipment, was called upon to face forces far superior to her.
Despite the existing shortcomings and weaknesses, our nation united in its decision to resist the brutal Italian challenge in One breath,
launched itself into the unequal struggle against the superior Italian forces with unparalleled passion and enthusiasm. And it is precisely
this attitude of the Greek people towards the invader that constitutes the most impressive phenomenon of the epic of the
40s. Solidarity, fortitude, unparalleled enthusiasm and believe belief in victory beyond all logic were the main
factors in the victorious outcome of the struggle. Only a few days after the declaration of war, the Greeks succeeded not only in intercepting the
invaders, but also in subsequently repelling them into Albanian territory. Of course, the contributions of
our ancestors to the struggle for freedom and democracy against fascism and Nazism is not limited only to the fight against Mussolini's Italian
troops. The Greeks fought with the same passion and bravery against Hitler's troops. After the collapse of the front in April 1941 and the heroic
Battle of Crete, they continued their struggle by participating in the heroic national resistance in the mountains, islands, cities and villages of
our homeland, as well as in the British led Allied forces in the Middle East and in Italy. Ladies and gentlemen, October
28th, 1940 was one of the brightest moments in our history. In the Greek history. It marked the beginning of the epic of the 1940s, but at the
same time, the beginning of a harsh test for our nation. It has been engraved in our national memory and consciousness as an
insurmountable symbol of heroism and patriotism, as the unbreakable link that connects us through the centuries with the heroic defenders of
Thermopylae and Salamis, fighters with the courageous fighters of 1921 for independence and the other liberation struggles of our
nation. At the same time, however, it also defines our duty towards our homeland, and this is the importance of ceremonies like today's, as
they aim not only to preserve our historical memory, but also to teach us lessons from historical events. In this challenging period, may the
moral lessons of the epic of the 1940s be the beacon that will guide and set an example for us to join forces, and with unity and prudence, act for the
benefit of our homeland and for the common good, and to prove ourselves worthy of the sacrifices of the generation of
heroic fighters of the 1940s. Thank you. On behalf of the Saint Nicholas Greek Orthodox
Parish Council, the Florida Independence Day Parade Committee, who today sponsored the event. And for me, coming here and not have to argue with
someone is really great. The one thing that really reminds us and keeps us going, as you can see, Mr. Panagiotis, he
exhibits it most of the time, is Greeks don't fight like heroes. Heroes fight like Greeks. As Winston Churchill
said. Thank you. All I have to say is thank you for everything. Mr. mayor was amazing. Thank you for honoring our Greek
heritage. And for me, it's very important because I have two names. My first name is Theofanis and my second name is Napoleon. Napoleon. So my grandfather Napoleon fought on
1940s in the mountains in this world. So I'm very happy and proud for this. Thank you very much. Thank. You. How fortunate
we are to have the Consulate General living in the Tampa Bay area. So I know he's not a, a, a he could be a frequent he's
not a guest of Tarpon Springs. He is one of Tarpon Springs. So
thank you so much. Thank you. And Mr. Engelhardt, thank you very much for all you do for
Tarpon Springs. Thank you. See you later. Thank you. It's okay.
So nice meeting you. Come back and we'll have. Okay. We'll go out together. Thank you sir. Okay. Now I'm going to send you an email. Thank you. My father.
Thank his father. Father. So sorry. Next we're going to have public comments. Anyone that would like to make a public comment on anything that's not
on the agenda can come forward. Please state your name and your address, please. Austin, do we
have anybody remotely. No, sir. There are no hands up. Okay. Thank you very much. We'll now go to the consent agenda. Item
number two. Attorney fees. Jock Johnson, Jackson plc. Number three, special event. The longest table. Number four satisfaction release of leans.
Number five award. File purchase of mock alert F, a system number six award file Y
c instrumentation, Parts and service number seven. Increase file temporary office trailer. Lease number eight Award file. Custodial supplies and
equipment number nine increase file for OEM parts and service number ten Award file purchase of public safety building
diesel tank and number 11 award file. Palm tree planting. Does any commissioner wish to pull any of these items? Just the comment, that's all. Which
which one would you like? Seven. Do you want to make your comment now? Sure. The only thing I wanted to say is that the temporary office trailer
lease should be reimbursed through FEMA. Okay. Which I'm sure we know about. It's just I just wanted to make that make the residents aware that it's
not something that's coming out of our initially coming out of our budget, but we will be reimbursed. That's it. Thank you very much. Anybody else other than that, I'll make a
motion to approve. That'd be nice. Well, I just did. Is there a second? Okay. Roll call please. Mr. DiDonato. Yes,
Commissioner. Coolio's. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes. Mayor. Colina's. Yes. Let's go to business. Items, ordinances and resolutions number 12,
application 2555. Attorney Saltzman, please. Mayor, do you want to do this first with Renee? And then I'll read the
three ordinances individually, okay? Renee. One second. These are all second readings. These
are all second readings. Correct. So this is application 2555. An annexation at six 30th July drive. You have three
ordinances. Annexation Ordinance Ordinance 2025 dash 13. Excuse me 2025 Dash 12 future Land Use Map amendment 2025 Dash 13 and Rezoning
Ordinance 2025 Dash 14. There's no new information to be entered into the record since first reading, and staff recommendation is to approve,
as was previously presented during first reading, and I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. You should. Do you want to go ahead and go through ordinance first?
The way we've done this, the way we did this at first reading, but I'll read the quasi judicial rules first and then read the first ordinance, if that's yes, please. Okay.
This is a quasi judicial proceeding where the Board of Commissioners acts in a quasi judicial rather than a legislative capacity at a quasi judicial hearing. It is not the board's function to make law,
but rather to apply law that has already been established in a quasi judicial hearing. The board is required by law to make findings of fact based upon the evidence presented at the hearing, and apply those
findings of fact to previously established criteria contained in the Code of Ordinances, in order to make a legal decision regarding the application before it. The board may only consider evidence at this
hearing that the law considers competent, substantial, and relevant to the issues. If the competent, substantial, and relevant evidence at the hearing demonstrates that the applicant has met the criteria
established in the Code of Ordinances, then the board is required by law to find in favor of the applicant. By the same token, if the competent, substantial and relevant evidence at the hearing demonstrates that the applicant
has failed to meet the criteria established in the Code of Ordinances, then the board is required by law to find against the applicant. Mayor. We previously heard these
ordinances and there was brought before the Commission as to whether or not there was a disclosure of ex parte communication. Can we just make sure that there's been nothing since the first reading? Is
there any ex parte communication anybody would like to disclose? The Mayor Ordinance 20 2512. An ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs,
Florida, annexing 0.30 acres, more or less of real property located at 630 July Drive, approximately 170ft east of Dixie highway, and including
lot seven and portions of lot six and eight of High Point Park. Subdivision application 2525 excuse me 55. Providing for findings and providing an
effective date, that is, ordinance 20 2512 read by title only on second reading. Publication occurred August 27th, 2025 and October 15th,
2025. Okay. Miss Vincent, has there been any additional information or change? No. First reading okay. Does any commissioners have any
questions of Miss Vincent? So are there any public comments regarding this item? Austin. No
sir. There are no hands up. Okay. Thank you. Let's come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Second, is there any comments, any further comments
from the board? Roll call please. Mr. DiDonato. Yes, Commissioner. Coolio's. Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes, mayor.
Yes. Ordinance 20 2513. An ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, amending the future land use map of 0.30 acres, more or less of real property located at six 30th
July Drive, approximately 170ft east of Dixie highway, and including lot seven and portions of lot six and eight of High Point Subdivision. Application 2555 from Pinellas
County. Residential Urban R2 category to City of Tarpon Springs Residential Urban R2 category, providing for findings and providing for an effective date, that is,
ordinance 20 2513, read by title only on second Reading publication August 27th, 2025 and October 15th, 2025. Miss Vincent, has there been any
change since the first reading? No, sir. Okay. Does any Commissioner have any questions of Miss Vincent? Any public
comments? Austin. No, sir. There are no hands up. Okay. Thank you. Let's come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Sir. That said, is there
any any comments? If not, roll call please. Commissioner Donato. Yes, Commissioner. Yes. Yes, vice mayor. Eisner. Yes. Mayor. Kuleana. Yes. Ordinance
20 2514. An ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, amending the official zoning atlas for 0.30 acres, more or less of real property located at six 30th July Drive,
approximately 170ft east of Dixie highway, and including lot seven and portions of lot six and eight of High Point Park subdivision application
2555 from Pinellas County for one, two and three family residential district to City of Tarpon Springs, AR 71 and two family residential district
providing for findings and providing an effective date. That's ordinance 20 2514, read by title only on second reading publication August 27th, 2025
and October 15th, 2025. Miss Vincent, has there been any changes on this ordinance? No, sir. Okay. Does any Commissioner have any questions
of Miss Vincent? Any public comments, Austin, or any remote comments? No, sir. There are no hands up. Okay. Thank you.
Let's come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Sir, if there's no further comments, roll call, please. Commissioner Donato. Yes, Commissioner. Yes.
Yes, vice mayor. Eisner. Yes, mayor. Yes. Now let's go to item number 13, ordinance 2025 dash 15, ordinance 20 2515, 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. Providing for the effective date of this ordinance, that is, ordinance 20 2515, read by title only on second Reading
publication August 27th, 2025. August and October 15th, 2025. Miss Vincent, has there been any change in the first reading?
Okay. Any commissioners have any questions? Miss Vincent, I got one question. Okay. Miss Vincent, as we discussed at the first reading, unless there's a change in one of the conditional uses or there
really hasn't been much movement or any applications for the sponge docks, but towards the rest of the downtown where there are some other, you know, pubs or has
there been any activity because it was those codes helped open it up a lot in downtown. So I just wanted to. Ask you the the only real activity we have is
one of the brewpubs is still working through the process, but and that's actually more for their own permanent food truck. So but the the change
that this corresponds to, we really haven't had a lot of activity. So we're hopefully we'll get some. But it's been pretty quiet. Thank you ma'am.
No further questions. Good question. It's actually what I was thinking. Any other commissioner have any questions of Miss Vincent? Is there any
public comments? Austin, do you have any remote comments? No, sir. There are no hands up. Okay. Thank you. I'd like to come back to the board for a
motion. So moved. Second. Okay. If there's no further comments, roll call please. Mr. Donato. Yes, Commissioner. Coolio's.
Yes. Vice mayor Eisner. Yes, mayor. Yes. Number 14, resolution 2020 five. Dash 61. Resolution 20 2561 a resolution
of the Board of Commissioners, City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, pursuant to section 196 .197830 Florida Statutes electing to
not exempt property under section 196 .19 783D1 point A Florida Statutes, commonly known as the Live Local Act.
Property tax exemption, providing for findings, providing for scrivener's error, and for an effective date. Resolution 20 2561, read by
title and published on October 15th, 2025. Miss Vincent, would you like to give a presentation, please? Just an overview. The board did adopt this same
resolution last year. This what this does if you approve it is that will preempt any of any
multifamily projects that have been built within the last five years or will be built from applying for tax exemptions
under Senate bill. 102 for affordable housing projects? And the exemption is that
parties can apply for would be for units that have rental in rent rents that fall within the 80 to 120% of area median
income. For Tarpon Springs. That's actually, you know, that's that's market for a lot of us. So. It just it prevents them from being able to take
taxes. You know, you take taxes away from the city, ad valorem taxes for those units that really are market rate units and not really serving that greater need of those really
low or lower income properties out there. So we did adopt this last year. We have to do it every year if we want to keep it active. So this would be for
for 2026. And next year we would have to do the same thing again. So let me if you have any questions I'll try to answer them. This is a an interesting one. Commissioner
Donato, do you have any questions, Commissioner Gulyas, this wasn't the one of resolutions where we voted it, but voted it down, right? No,
we approved this last year. Yes, Mr. Vice Mayor. No, the only thing I want to say was a little difficult and wordy to understand. But once it was explained, it's. It's plain as
day. Now there's a there's. Yeah, there's a lot of wordiness. Sorry. Okay. Are there any public comments on this item? Austin. Do we have
any remote? No, sir. There are no hands up. Okay. I'd like to come back to the board for a motion. So moved second. Okay. If there's no further comments,
roll call, please. Commissioner. Yes, Commissioner. Yes. Yes, vice. Mayor. Eisner. Yes, mayor. Killian. Yes. Okay. That
concludes the items for tonight's agenda. Let's go to board and staff comments. Chief, I just want to wish everybody a happy and safe Halloween this
Friday and remind motorists to please drive carefully and watch out for little ones out there trick or treating. Okay, city attorney, no comments.
Mayor. City manager just enjoying the International City Managers Association conference in Tampa. AI is sort of the theme of the event. How much AI
is is going to be prevalent in everything we do, so it's been very interesting learning experience. City clerk I have no comments. Okay. Commissioner
DiDonato, I just want to thank all that everyone today that with their greetings for somebody's birthday and our family, but I appreciate it very much. Also, I wanted to
check with the attorney on. SB one 180. Yes, I'm sorry, I should have reported on that. Vice mayor actually took care of me the next day after the
commission meeting, informing me that the Florida League has been handling this matter on our behalf and, and a objecting
to and trying to get additional legislation for clarification. So we are covered by them and we do not have to enter a separate lawsuit. I apologize
for not telling you earlier. Okay. Commissioner Coolio's, no comments. Vice mayor. Yes, I have two. Thank you. First, I was pleased that I was finally
able to make it to Oakey Day today. I'm sure most people saw the wind that we had yesterday. I unfortunately or fortunately
I had to go help my wife put back up all the signs that were knocked down yesterday. So. And I know the mayor saw me doing
that, so otherwise I would have been there. Number two, I did see a couple of posts about the sponge docks hurting for
business. And just again, I want to propose that we consider and look into getting a golf cart or something to move people back and forth from
Tarpon Avenue to the sponge docks. They need all the help they can get. And there's a lot of business right now on Tarpon Avenue, and I'd like to be able
to enter, you know, interact between the two. So I don't think it's an expensive thing. And I'd like to I'm going to ask the city manager to put it on a agenda item when we have a
full board and a discussion and possibly even go out and, you know, rehash the expenses that we were looking into before the budget was actually done. So I
think it's a positive, and I'm sure that you all think it's a positive to try to help business out. And that's pretty much all I can say. So thank
you. Thank you. Okay, so I got a few few items here. One last at the last meeting, a resident got up and expressed some
concerns they were having that were mostly unrelated to city business. But but the vice
mayor just took upon himself to help this person, and he did a good thing. So we'll keep it at
that. And he knows that I appreciate what he did. So happy birthday, Commissioner De
Donato. Thank you. So. And he's 21 yet 41. Yes. That sounds good. And I think we're having
a Halloween party on Friday. Is that it? That the clerk's office. Nice. Everybody going to come and get dressed up. And we I spoke with the city
manager about just an idea of of looking into a, a city daycare, providing daycare for
the employees. You know, it could be I and if the board is okay with it, I'd like him to just be able to come back and give us some kind of report on,
on, you know, on doing something along that lines. If we have any space in town in our amongst our buildings, it's
something that could be offered at cost to the employees. I think it's and I also want to know how I'd like you to do some kind of research on the
effectiveness of that. I believe that if if we have something along that line, that it would improve absenteeism and actually make us a more
efficient and help with productivity amongst staff if we had such a thing, and I think it could be something and again, we could do it at, you
know, where there is a cost to it, but obviously we're not going to make money, we're just going to cover costs. And it could help save them money and also improve efficiencies here
in the, in the city. So with that said, I have a question for you. Yes, we still got time to 730, you know. No just a quick question. Has has anybody
approached you with that need or. No. Just my own observation okay. Because what all the only thing it's a great idea. The only thing I wanted would add is to try to find out if there
is a need for that. Well, that's what I'd like him to do. Okay. Yeah, it's part of the whole thing. Do we. Do we have a need for it? Would it be effective? Yeah, obviously we wouldn't want to do it if this
if there's nobody willing to do it I don't I don't know how many employees have small children that this would be helpful. But a lot of organizations offer that. And it's and sometimes it's a
selfish thing because by offering it, the employees are obviously less absent because their children are here. Sure. I think it's a great idea. I
think it'd be something positive and but it's worth looking into. And again, we would do it and there be a cost. It's not like that. I'm going to do anything that's going to cost anything on the budget
side, but it could be less expensive than what they're paying outside, and they would have their children nearby, and maybe that would be a positive thing. Said he was ready to
volunteer to watch some of the youngsters. I think. I think children would like pay, so I think you'd definitely be cheaper than what they're paying now. Yeah. So anyways,
it's just something that I think it's worth. Is everybody agree that it's okay to look into it? Yes. Yes okay. All
right. Meeting adjourned 709. What is it?