15th, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. Miss Jacobs, roll call, please. Mayor coleus here. Vice mayor Kolody here. Commissioner Eisner here. Commissioner DiDonato here.
Commissioner Banther here. We have a few announcements tonight. Tonight we have Attorney Glenn. Who will be our city attorney tonight from Eunice Salzman and Jensen, PA.
We also will be moving item 18 up resolution 2025-1 for final subdivision plat for North Lake Estates subdivision application
two 437. This is a quasi judicial hearing. We will be moving that after the consent agenda items. And so with that, tonight's invocation will be given by Pastor Kurt Snare,
chaplain at Saint Timothy's Church. Please remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. The Lord be with you. Most high
God, we thank you for this city. It's your city. Thank you for allowing us to be here. And we pray that you would help us to be good stewards and managers of all that you have given us. Be
with all those who live and work and play here. Be with all those who are in need. Those still recovering from the hurricane. We ask for your relief and your intervention. And Lord, we pray that you would be with these
people that you have called to lead our city. Give them your wisdom and counsel that they might guide us in a way that brings glory to you. We ask all of this in the name of the Most
High, the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. 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. Oh, we will now
go to a special presentation. And that is the peace Pole, Tarpon Springs, or peace for Tarpon and the Tarpon Springs Rotary. And this will be presented by Robin Sanger. Peace
for Tarpon. And Susan Carlson of the Tarpon Springs Rotary Club.
You know the slide that's the peaceful and donating one of one of the peace. So what is a peaceful? A peaceful is an internationally recognized. So
do you want to see if the your light on just the microphone. Perfect. All right. No. A peace pole is an internationally recognized symbol of hope and dreams of the entire human
family. Standing vigilant in silent prayer for peace on earth. The Peace Pole Project was started in Japan by Marcia Guy, who dedicated his life to
spreading the message May peace prevail on earth. Mr. Goi was greatly affected by the destruction caused by World War Two, and the atomic bombs which
fell on the city of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And right now there are over 250,000 peace poles around the around the
world in 180 countries. And it's a symbol of peace that is visible in the community, which is a very powerful thing. So basically, it's spreading visual
peace throughout these 180 countries. The first one was actually in 1955, so they've been around quite a while. They serve as a constant reminder for us to visualize and pray for
peace. The Rotary Clubs in Dunedin are inviting participants to their Peace Pole location at 1920 Pinehurst Road for their fourth annual Peace
Pole event on Wednesday tomorrow, and this is the one they're going to be celebrating. There are three peace poles in Dunedin altogether. Plus they're bringing into the library as
well. So here's a flier for the event tomorrow. And you can see all the sponsors who will be joining them passed out. So the
Rotary Club of Tarpon Springs and Peace for Tarpon are asking for permission to move forward in the planning of placing a peace pole in the Live Oaks
Recreational Complex. Both organizations have dedicated some seed money to this project. We are also hoping for the Garden Club and other interested
locals to participate. We also have Eddie Hoffman, who's in our Rotary Club who will help in designing. The plan, the location, and I'm a member of
the Tarpon Springs Garden Club, and they're also interested in participating with plantings. That's that's pretty much it. This is something we've been working on here for several
years. And peace for Tarpon has been interested. Rotary has been very interested. And I think hopefully this is the time we had several meetings with Mark licorice to find a suitable
spot, and I think we found a really good one. And now it's just a matter of getting Yall's blessing for that. We were moving forward with it this fall
when the hurricanes happened, transitioning new city manager and Mark said, let's just wait till Mr. Rudd's in place before we finalize this. So that's why this is happening now. Oh, thank
you, Miss Singer. I think it sounds like a great idea. If do we have any comments or questions from the commission for the presentation? Okay. Any
public comments on the special presentation? I yes. Denise Menino, 470 Cypress Street,
Tarpon. I would say that let peace begin with me, and I agree that we need something like this. There's a lot of moments
in the community where our differences have risen to a lot of heated words that are probably not meant, but that happens. And I would say that
this is something that would give us a focal point of hope that is so vitally needed right
now on our planet, and unity and harmony. So I would hope that this happens. I visualize it, I've talked to Robin about it in
the past, and I think it's a dream. Thank you. Thank you ma'am. Thank you. Pardon me. Miss Menino said this would be a type of place where people could
gather for a small commitment ceremony, or to remember a loved one who has passed. So this is more of a place for people to be and experience peace in a
natural setting. Sure. Are there any other public comments? It. Are there any zoom comments? And
we do have a raised hand. The first person in. And please state your name and address for the record. Dave 413 East
Oakland Street, Tarpon Springs, Florida. I totally support the Peace pole. I'm also supporting different other locations for the Peace Pole to bring peace
within our community. So I hope the Commission do welcome this as a now joining hands in unity
and hope in our community. Thank you. And we do not have any other raised hands. Thank you. Commissioner Panther, your light is on. Yes. Thank you. I just
want to know what they all need from us to get started. As far as is, you know, is it on city property or what? What do you. What do you need from us? Yes. The site that we determined
would be most likely is by the dog park. Okay. At the overlooking the Anclote River, there's a large field off to the left and just a small space there with a bench, some
plantings and the peace pole. Okay. Yeah. Well, I would look to run as far as what, you know, they need from us to go forward. So I would like to get a vote just to proceed to approve the
request and proceed with the installation. Okay. I'll. Do you want to call for a motion? Sure. I just, like, put it in a spot, like add one more thing. So the city of Dunedin takes care of
this, the mowing and stuff like that. So just so you're aware of that, that would be another request. Absolutely. Yeah. Just it seems like you have a good location already. I just hope a
lot of, you know, especially the young children in the area to get to see it. And this is a good piece for unity and absolutely support it. So the chair will entertain, entertain a motion to let staff and rotary
and peace for tarpon move forward with the peaceful Tarpon Springs. Item one. So moved. Second. Okay. There are no further comments or discussion.
Roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes. Commissioner DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Yes. Yes. We
will now go to public comment comments on items that will not be discussed on tonight's agenda. Please state your name and address for the record, and you will be given four minutes to speak and two minutes to
speak if you are on zoom. Are there any public comments? Robin saying 1630 Lonesome Pine Lane,
Tarpon Springs. I am here to thank everyone who participated in Stone soup, including Mayor Julius was there. I hope you enjoyed soup. You ducked out.
You must have gotten it to go. When I came back in, I was running around. You'd already left, but appreciate that several people were mentioned that you showed up and were very happy to meet you. And also Vice
Mayor Koulianos, you were there as well, and you brought your lovely wife and some friends. It was a great community event. It raised us a little bit of money for the historical society and
peace for tarpon. This is our big fundraiser, so it's very low key. The main purpose of it is community building, and it was wonderful to see people enjoying sitting out on the back
platform. And someone said, I feel like I'm in France. I'm in Paris sitting outside and it's like, well, good. So it'll be in next year, in February as well. We appreciate National Bakery
and all the restaurants who participated, and it was just a very positive, wonderful event. So thank you all for your support in it and we'll see you next year in February. Thank you know appreciate you all hosting
it. And I had the chicken tortilla and the stuffed pepper soup. And they were both amazing. Oh that was the one was from Tula chef Vincenzo. Okay. And then the other one was Chef
Adam at Bayou Cafe. Awesome. Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Peter Lacus, 514
Ashland Avenue. A couple things. First off, I've driven by the new pickleball courts a few times over the last couple
weeks, and they're being quite used and they're being enjoyed. And even though I had some concerns about the potential impact there, I think that's a
perfect spot. It fits with the thing. And it also, I think, also augments what the peace for Tarpon group is mentioning about
community and putting things in an area where you can have more sociability. I want to follow up on something I spoke about last time about our homing home
situation, and I want to thank George and George for even though I have concerns about what's going on there, you'll hear why I'm speaking about this. And you're putting in
single family homes for people to own. Okay. So face the chair, speak to me. But I wanted them to be aware of something. So as I spoke about last week about
the situation that's happening with our housing system. I spoke about the Tampa Bay times article about all these corporations owning houses that
are taken off the market. I also spoke to you about the tax deeds. And here this is the last business observer we've got.
YSL, RTL, LLC. Let's see. They got one two, then we got Vinman Holdings, Florida Tax Lien LLC, JPL Investments Corp, Clear Leaf
short, and as I mentioned, the one last week out of California that owns 20,000. But why do I want to highlight that? That's more houses taken off the market by corporate entities that
basically hold them to rent them out? Business observer this past week article on page six on point states with the most bill to rent units in the pipeline,
nearly 14,000 bill to rent homes are under construction in Florida. Corporations all over D.R. Horton. All these guys, they're buying property. Look,
you can get a free subscription. Please order it. Just when you fill it in, you just say government. There's a box for it. All these houses that are being built for rent. And what
has been the American dream to own a house? And what's one of the best ways to have wealth? Building is land and property and a house. When you have rent
to build communities, people don't have an ownership stake. They're renters. They don't care if something happens. And then on the corporate side, your water, he's leaking. Maybe I'll
get to it. The roof is leaking. All right. What? I don't know what you can do, but I just want you to be aware. So if these type of businesses come into tarpon, we can maybe add some
kind of restrictions in our land code to restrict to home ownership. I know we're getting, you know, apartments and things
of that nature again, that that doesn't satisfy homeownership. But I just want you to be aware of the situation that's going on that's affecting our residents
and our fellow Floridians. Thank you. Thank you sir. Are there any other public comments?
Mayor. Commissioners. Chaplain Milton Smith, 1511 Seaspray Drive that I speak on for the Tarpon Springs Rotary Club and offer this matter. Just want to
thank you for all your support for the first responders car show that happened on Saturday. There was a lot of folks there lining the streets of Tarpon
Springs. I know not everybody's always happy because of the crowds there, but hopefully it brought some commerce into the city and, and, and the residents
got a chance to enjoy the car show. I appreciate the support from the police department, the fire department and all the city staff. I just want to say thank
you for that. Thank you. Are there any other public comments? It are there any zoom comments?
There are no raised hands at this time. Thank you. We will now go to consent Agenda items. Item two special events two A
Taste of Tarpon. May 17th and October 18th, 2025 to be 34th Annual Thanksgiving Arts and Crafts Festival 2020 52C Saint
Nicholas Cathedral Procession 2020 52D Tarpon Springs Rotary Triathlon 2025 three Attorney Fees three A Eunice Salesman
Jensen, PA invoice 847263B Dickman, Law Firm statement number four. Item four Award file number 250119-NAS public
safety health screenings. Item five Award. Award file number 250118-C. A s trash receptacles and lids. Item six extend file
number 190049PC. Video surveillance system. Commissioners, are there any agenda items that you would like to pull? Seeing none. Are there
any public comments on consent agenda items? Two a through six. I t are there any zoom comments?
There are no raised hands at this time. Thank you. The chair will entertain a motion to approve consent agenda items two through six. So moved. Second.
There are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner. Panther. Yes, Commissioner DiDonato. Yes, Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice
mayor Giuliani's. Yes, mayor. Celia. Yes. We will now go to ordinances. Resolutions on item
18, which is resolution 202514, final subdivision plat for North Lake Estates subdivision.
Application 2437. And this is a quasi judicial procedure. City attorney, can you please read the title and then go over the quasi judicial process? 20 2514
Approving the North Lake Estates final Subdivision plat application. 2437 accepting all offers of dedication as described in said plat,
authorizing the appropriate city officials to certify approval thereon and providing for an effective date. This is a quasi judicial proceeding where the Board of Commissioners acts in a
quasi judicial rather than legislative capacity at a quasi judicial hearing. It is not the board's function to make law, but rather apply the law that has already been established and
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 Ordinance, 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 relevant evidence at the hearing demonstrates that the applicant has met the criteria established in the Code of Ordinance, 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 Ordinance, then the board is required by law to find against the applicant. Additionally, the board members must disclose any
ex parte research or communication, including emails, discussions beforehand, inspections of the property, or independent research beyond what is in the public packet. A board
of commission member with a conflict may need to abstain as well. Thank you, city attorney. Are there any ex parte communications between any of
the board members and the applicant? Okay. Other than a text message requesting that the item be brought up for moments earlier before the meeting, that was the only communication I
had. So just wanted to clarify that. So with that said, we're now going to swear everyone in because everyone who's going to participate in this, in this
hearing, please stand. Do you swear or affirm that the testimony that you are about to give in this proceeding is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do.
Thank you. And now we are going to city staff presentation. Miss Pat McNeese, planning director. Thank you. Pat McNeese, planning supervisor. Standing in for Rene
Vincent this evening. What you have before you this evening is a final plat for the North Lake Estates subdivision. This is a
44 lot subdivision. Under the ownership of GR Holdings, represented by Mr. George Stamas. The applicants are here this evening. This is for 44
lots of single family detached homes. The streets will be dedicated to the public. So that will be city maintenance for the streets. The water and sewer is
provided by Pinellas County Utilities. The stormwater system will be managed by the homeowner's association. With
the street components maintained by the city, and the city does have access. Emergency access easements to the stormwater
system for if those are needed. The HOA will also maintain the wetland mitigation creation that's being done on site. So
the project is currently under construction. That is proceeding, but it is not complete. The applicants would like to plat at this time. They
have provided two irrevocable standby letters of credit for the remaining improvements. That's for infrastructure and
for to complete the mitigation. So there's about over half $1 million with the 25% contingency. Posted. And. Staff
is recommending approval of the final plat. I should say. This property and project is the subject of an active development agreement. That was included in
your packet. And the applicant and the city are basically up to date in compliance with the terms of that agreement. Are there any questions? Thank you,
miss McNeese. Are there any questions from the board for staff? Does the applicant have
any questions for staff? Thank you. Staff do you now present a submit your presentation into the record? Yes. Thank you. We
will now go to the applicant's presentation. George Stam is representing Jaeger Holdings
one, LLC. We're the developers. The project's going to be beautiful. It's coming along nicely. We're going to build large homes. You know, good sized homes on real large lots.
Something that Pinellas County doesn't really have very many of available. And I think the community's going to be very proud of the community and the
end. That's my presentation. Thank you. Just one second. Yeah. Mr. Stammers, the staff. Does the board members have any
questions for the applicant? Okay. Thank you sir. Now we're not going to go to public comments. Are there any public
comments on this application? Your lack is 514 Ashland Avenue. Final plat pretty much is basically a formality. Train's
already left the station on this. The only thing I would bring up, as Pat mentioned, the
development agreement. So if you go back and look at number ten of the conditions, there's a lot of things in there with wetland mitigation and tree mitigation
and the enhancement plans and things of that nature. So being that part of the development agreement is that the city takes responsibility for maintaining some of the areas around the
storm water. If you read there's things about the grading and all that stuff. And then, as you heard Pat mentioned, the roads are going to be turned over to things about easements and right
of ways. So I'm not sure if since the county is going to be providing water and sewer, if that's going to be a city
responsibility. And then we have the roads. So just like maybe take a look to make sure there's good clarification on who's responsible for what as this
project proceeds, that inspections are maintained. And then lastly, as it was mentioned, the stormwater management is going to be over
to the HOA. And as you're familiar, it may be not, but with HOAs and condominiums associations, a lot of times now with the new laws, they have
higher reserve requirements. So I would just recommend that then their homeowner's association, there's some make sure there's a
requisite reserve requirements for any maintenance that the city could be subsequently responsible for maintenance. But
otherwise, even though I have concerns about, you know, the environmental aspect, I will trust that Mr. Stamos and Mr. Suits, knowing that they are
people who appreciate, you know, the waterways and the earth. We'll do the best they can to preserve as much that's available to be preserved. Thank
you. Thank you, Mr. Lakos. Are there any other public comments? It are there any zoom comments?
There are no attendees at this time. Thank you. Would the applicant like to make any closing arguments or statements? Thank you. We're now going to go
to board deliberation. The chair will entertain a motion to approve item 18, resolution 2025-1 for final subdivision
plat for North Lake Estates subdivision. Application 2437. So moved. Second. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner
Banther. Yes. Commissioner DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. We are now going to
business items. Formerly known as special consent. We are on to item seven, which is discussion of award file number 250117.
Dash c dash security. Security guard services versus employing a guard. And we have city manager as present. Thank you
mayor. Yeah. This is the normally the renewal of a three year contract for the security for the front door guard and has has been a great asset to the city. And he's made a request to
work for the city. Ron did an analysis. There is a there's a slight savings by doing that. The other side is that currently if Tom is out, the agency would
send a replacement to fill that position. So we would take that on. But Tom is really wants to express an interest to stay with the city until his retirement. And I think he's been done a
tremendous job at the front door. And I would support his request. Thank you. City manager, are there any public comments on this item? I know
these are positive comments, Mr. Lakos. I try to make the other ones positives. You do, you do. So utilize 514 Ashland Avenue.
I'm really glad this is finally come up because over the years I've also spoken to Tom about his situation. And it makes
sense. If you look at the police budget we pay for school crossing guards and they're basically under the police department, and the security in
the front door is sort of like a semi police department function. So I would say as far as ministry, you put it under the police department, and I don't
see if there's a reason that he's not there for either a doctor's appointment or if he has to leave early, that we couldn't have an officer come to
fill in the gap for a few hours or a day. And Tom, he has a good personality for someone at the front door. That's the first
person that people see when they come in to Tarpon, and he's always friendly, he's always jovial, he's always helpful. You can't replace that. Even if you
have come a couple of times when we've had the replacement guard and they're just sitting there. So you want to see. Okay, I'll call him down. Tom. He'll engage
you in conversation. You know, he's just. So that's that's part of what the value Tom brings. And you do save money. And in fact, I if I remember your
quoting him 16, I'd say move him up to 18 because you're still saving money because even if you're with a contract service, there's still going to find a
way to add other fees in. So I would highly recommend that you unanimously accept Tom as a fellow city employee. Thank you.
Thank you sir. Are there any other public comments? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no attendees at this time.
Thank you. We got. Commissioner light was on first. Yes. Thank you. So this would be. He's currently with Allied Universal, correct? Yes. Okay. And this
would be bringing him on over here. Would his pay stay the same? No, I think he's. If he's I mean, I mean, if we take him on, you know, internally as
opposed to the guard service, I think we have a higher rate we would pay him at than what they do. So he would be getting more money that way because we're paying they're, they're they're taking out like a management
fee. I know communities that we manage with like Securitas. That's how it is, right? They they get a fraction of the money that we actually pay. Okay. I'm in favor of this. If you think
that that the numbers work out okay. Thank you. Commissioner. Commissioner Eisner. Thank you. Mayor. I have another question. Did you have anybody in mind for who would be the replacement?
Should he be sick or anything like that as of this point? No, I didn't. It would be up to his his supervisor. Okay. I know in the past we've had some of the. It's been facilities maintenance
guys, right. That have filled in. He's currently part of facilities maintenance. So this would fall under public works. Public works? Okay. The other thing is, I did want to make a
comment. I I'm thrilled that he would be coming on to us because when we've had fill ins, they don't know the system. And I'd
rather have somebody within who knows the system that we have here, rather than having transients where they could be misleading innocently. So I'd
rather have either somebody or have public works put someone in also that knows the system. We should have backup for everything that we do any which way. So I appreciate the fact
that he's willing to come upon us, and he is a sweetheart of a guy has been said. So he's always very friendly to everyone that comes in. He greets everyone. He knows the system
backwards and forwards. So I'm also for this as well. Thank you. Thank you. Any other commissioner comments? I did forget the one question. Yes,
sir. Yes, sir. Did we make sure he doesn't have a non-compete with Allied? Meaning like we can't? Sorry. Janina Lewis,
procurement services director. Yes, we did look over the contract today to make sure that there was nothing of that sort in there. All right. Thank you. Thank you. No, I'm happy to support this item. I see, you
know, being in the temp industry, it's as an employee who's been really a temporary employee for 7 to 8 years. It's the benefits. And he's a very
dedicated man. I've talked to a lot of staff personnel inside cares about the city. He will be getting a $2 raise. Also will be getting benefits that he's not currently getting that city
provides. That will be an interest. And necessarily you know, there's with that situation there. I if he calls out or if there's another you know sick there's plenty of guys
and I can name a list of them that could probably fill in for the day or two if needed. And so, you know, we got got Nick Gerakis. We got, you know, maybe Mr. Swan or Mick Papa or you
know, there's several many other guys or Mike Switzer. So there's a lot of people that I think could fill in if needed, you know, just for the day or two. And I think this goes towards a goodwill of employing a good
staff member who, no matter what, is the face of Tarpon Springs City Hall. You walk in that door, that's the first person you see, and he greets everyone with a smile. So I'm
happy to move forward with. With this item. And if there are no further comments, the chair will make a motion to approve or to
the chair will make a motion for the city manager and staff to hire the security guard permanently. Yeah. Yes. Make a motion. Entertain a motion or
two different things. So. Excuse me. The chair will entertain a motion to have the. Have the city manager and staff hire the
security guard permanently moved a second. Thank you. If there are no further comments, roll call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes. Commissioner
DiDonato. Yes. Yes. Commissioner Cooley. Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Yes. Welcome to the team, Tom.
Item eight. Award file number 250003-PAS employee benefits brokerage and consulting services. And we have human resource director Jane Kniffen
and procurement director Janina Lewis to present the item. Good evening again. Janina Lewis, procurement services director. I'll be filling in for Jane, who
is out this today. Basically, this is the staff recommendation to award the employee benefits brokerage and consulting services to RSP Insurance brokerage. Doing business as
risk strategies company, otherwise known as the Gehring Group. Effective. This will be a five year contract so effective June 3rd, 2025 through June 2nd,
2030. The total estimated amount for the five years is 647,500. And the purpose of this contract is to compete and provide comprehensive employee benefits,
brokerage and consulting services for the city. The scope of these services include group health insurance, dental insurance, employee wellness center, as well as other
wellness initiatives and group life long term disability insurances. Additionally, these services help keep the city compliant with legal requirements and act as a
liaison or city advocate with insurance companies. They provide training workshops and they assist city staff with online benefits. Enrollment. The subject proposal was issued and
we received four submittals and Evaluation Committee, comprised of department representatives evaluated the submittals. Out of the out of the four, Garen group
was ranked the highest overall. And now we are presenting that to the commission for your decision. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Lewis. Are there any public
comments on this item? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no attendees at this time. Thank you. Back. Back to the commission for questions, Commissioner Eisner. Well, this
is more of a comment. It's not a question. I've dealt with the gearing group numerous times. They've been extremely helpful, much more than United has been.
So I'm all for them continuing to help us. They've just been super, really nice. So that's all. That's pretty much it. Thank you Commissioner. There
are no further comments. The chair will entertain a motion to approve item 18. Award file number two 5003. Dash p a s
employee benefits brokerage and consulting services. So moved. Second. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Commissioner
Banther. Yes. Commissioner DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Mayor Cooley. Yes. Item nine. Renew file
number 230214. Dash c a s. Pipelining and rehabilitation services. And we have Public Services director Tom Kiger and
Utility Superintendent Ray page. Okay. Thank you sir. Thank you. Thomas Kiger, public services director. This is an annual renewal for our cured in place
pipelining contract. We utilize this contract for lining of the sanitary sewer system. Particularly aging clay gravity sewer lines. We've. Excuse me.
This is an annual program. We. Our goal is to align about $300,000 annually in in clay sewer lines, which will result in an end goal of lining 70% of
the city's clay sewer pipes over the next 20 years. And we've also included a small contingency for as needed repairs or things like that. As we work through our planned projects, we want to make sure
that we're hitting our targets for long term renewal, but also have a little bit held back just in case there's an emergency. And we need to do a as needed repair at the end of the year.
Thank you, Mr. Kiger. Are there any public comments on this item? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no attendees at this time. Thank you.
Commissioner Eisner, your light is on. I just quickly wanted you to explain the cost savings to the residents of when you reline
versus replace. Oh, absolutely. The cost of doing cured in place pipelining. It's a trenchless technology, which means you don't have to dig up streets. You don't have to restore asphalt. You don't have to
disrupt neighborhoods. You're sort of in and out in a matter of a few days, a truck parked over a manhole, and it inflates the liner, and then they cure it in place of the next couple of days. And there's a tremendous
savings on construction costs and also on impacts to the community. Thank you. Thank you. If there are no further comments or questions from the commission, the chair will
entertain a motion to approve, renew the award. Renew file number 230214-CAS. So moved. Second. There are no further
comments or discussion. Roll call please. Mr. Panther. Yes, Commissioner. DiDonato. Yes, Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes, mayor.
Kolya. Yes. Item ten increased file number 220142-BJL. Tree removal and related services.
And we have procurement director Janina Lewis. Good evening again. Janina Lewis, procurement
services director. I'm looking at the tree increase. So basically this is a request to increase the services for the tree removal and related services that are not within
the. Free. Sorry, the pre established contracts that we have for emergencies. This is our regular tree trimming service. So due to the storm and the debris we are requesting an
increase based on the fact that not only is he assisting with the tree limbs around the city that went down that were not part of the debris removal pickup, but also his regular
services, and that has eaten up a lot of the contract budget that we initially had anticipated for storm related items. Sure. Thank you for clarifying, Miss Lewis. Are
there any public comments on this item? I t are there any zoom comments? There are no raised hands at this time. Thank
you. Commissioner Eisner, your light is on. Yes. Just quickly. Is this a FEMA reimbursement? Some of it is, yes. I just wanted to make sure that the residents knew that it was a
FEMA reimbursement, because some of it is due to the storms, correct? Correct. Yes. That's it. Thank you. Thank you. There are no further comments from the
commission. The chair will entertain a motion to increase file number 220142 dash be JL. So moved. Second. There's no
further comments. Roll call please. Mister Panther. Yes. Commissioner DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Koulianos. Yes. Yes. Next
we have item 11, which is audit of the Public Works Sanitation Division. Number zero nine underscore 2025. And we have
city internal auditor Billy Pulos for the presentation. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Commissioners. Based on the agenda, audit number zero nine 2025, the audit of the
Sanitation Department will go through the findings quickly. The findings are seven findings and three observations. Seven findings obviously being more negative in nature and
observations being more positive in nature. One finding related to the well sanitation. You have public works sanitation then two
separate sections. You have solid waste and then you have the waste facility. Those are the two areas I focused on. The first finding number one is the division manages the solid waste
management contract effectively, but could benefit from a more modern approach in order to gather data that can be used in future planning and contract negotiations. Basically, what
they do now is they're more of a they the solid waste section monitors the solid waste contract, and they act as a liaison between the people and
solid waste. And the only thing there is, it's a little arcane the way they do it, they do it through the email system and kind of a pen and paper system. So it was just the only recommendation there would be to
put it on some sort of maybe an Excel spreadsheet or something. So you could actually capture data that otherwise would be very difficult to do. So that's and they're already in the
process of doing that. The second finding and this relates to both the yard waste facility and the solid waste sections.
And that's that they don't have a comprehensive set of policies and procedures or standard operating procedures and policies. But they do they do have some in draft form. I've reviewed some of them. And you
know, they're on they're on the right track. And those should be done probably within the next six months or so. The rest of the findings relate to just just
the yard waste facility finding number three, the yard waste facility is experienced on this this finding too, just so you know. And I put it in the in the report I noted it it's not
really a finding as in as in it's someone's fault or anything like that. It's more of an informational finding. So the board's aware of, you know, how we got here and maybe start a discussion. Not tonight, of
course, but discussion on on what can be done about it. So I'll explain it to you. The yard waste facilities experienced a sharp increase in yard waste disposal costs due to a new
vendor contract executed in 23. FY 23, which is negatively affecting the net revenue and overall yard waste intake. So it's pretty simple. When the yard waste facility people come
in, they dump the yard waste off, we charge them, and then we have to pay a company to ultimately take that yard waste out. And for years it was around
$21 a ton. We signed a new contract in 23, and it went from $21 a ton to $64 and change, so about $43 difference. And it may not seem like a lot on its face,
but if you just do a quick and dirty math, we do about 9000 tons a year. So for every dollar increase in the in the, in the contract and the disposal cost
comes out to about $9,000 a year. So if we do, you know, say 10,000 or 9000, you're talking, you know, nine, every dollar is 9 or 10,000. So you're talking
hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased cost. On the expense side. So after we and there's a lot of different reasons I talk about them in the, in the report as to why
there's such a big price increase from one year to the other, going from 21 to 60 to 64 is a pretty big shock. There's been some consolidation in the industry. Diesel prices were
were obviously extremely high and some other factors. There's more competition too, from from both the private and public sector landfills. So basically
what what you had happen is prices went up and then we adjusted our prices to reflect that, to claw back some of the some of the some of the expenses. But the effect of that
and it had to be done. Obviously when you're paying $21 a ton, you go to $64 a ton, and now it's at 66 with the CPI adjustment for this year. You have to you have to increase prices. So you can obviously
claw back some of your money. But the net effect of that is the yard waste facilities are seeing less business. The and if you look at charts number one
and two on pages seven and eight respectively, it shows that the amount of yard waste collected has almost have fallen, fallen
by a half from 2023 to 2024. So it's just it's just a crummy situation for the city to be in. And I just wanted to kind of bring it to the forefront. So you all have more information
when you ultimately do discuss this to give you some, some background on it instead of, you know, starting off at block one, you're at block 3 or 4 to make, to make, to make a make a decision. And there's any number
of things you can do. I didn't go too far into the recommendations because it would I could write 100 pages on recommendations for this because there's so much you can do. Absolutely nothing. You know, just keep the status quo and
subsidize the yard waste facility with solid waste dollars. You can. That's one end of the spectrum. The other end is you can you can just not provide the service at all and
outsource it to the private sector. Apparently that was done years ago. It's my understanding and I'm not advocating for any, any any one of those. And there's a bunch of bunch of different options in between. I
think I think the public works director is going to try to maybe renegotiate the contract to bring those costs down, but as you can see, though, in the charts, you can see the net
revenue has shrunk tremendously. And overall, the yard waste facility is, you know, is losing money. And the big driver for that is the is the yard waste
debris disposal fees that were that were paying. So like I said, that was just more for informational purposes. Like I said, they're they're currently
working on that. Number four finding number four. The yard waste disposal contract was not approved as to form and correctness by the city attorney, which is required by
city ordinance. This isn't this isn't an issue for the city attorney per se. It's they can only do what what what's put in front of them. I think this is the third time I've mentioned this, and it's an easy fix.
Like, a lot of these things are easy fixes. Just simply ordinances. All the contracts have to be reviewed by a city attorney. Simple as that. So I know the solid waste contract
was the yard waste debris removal. Removal contract wasn't, though. That's like I said, it's a simple fix. All contracts need to go to the city
attorney. And done. All right. The next. The next ones have to do with more kind of standard wonky type, you know, audit
accounting stuff. The yard number five. The yard waste facilities, limited payment options are affecting its revenue. Currently they they only accept cash and check. And these aren't these aren't
there's some small transactions maybe $2,050 stuff like that. But a lot of these are seven, eight, $900 transactions and not a lot of people carry that much
cash. And almost certainly no one carries a checkbook except maybe my mom. She's the only person I know who carries a checkbook with her. But so, so
the recommendation is just to simply start accepting credit cards. And you'll see, as I go through the next couple, you'll see why why accepting credit cards would, would kind of
almost mitigate or would mitigate the next two findings. And also to just to give you kind of a perspective on on the
breakdown, the actual cash versus checks. It's about 75, 25 cash compared to checks. That's a lot of cash that the department is handling. There is a there is a credit account if
you're a repeat customer, if you own a small business, you can apply for a credit card, but or not a credit card, a credit account and you're billed monthly. But most people that are going to the yard waste facility aren't frequent
customers of the facility, obviously. So the number six, as I was looking through, kind of passing through the data, I found that there's quite a few customers who are driving off
and refusing to pay, and that resulted in lost revenue for the division. So on one side, we have increased increased costs on the expense side. And then you have people that are simply just not paying. They're
refusing to pay or driving off. So obviously I asked, you know, why is this happening? And it comes back to the payments. Some people just obviously they don't have that much cash with them or
they don't they, they don't have their checkbook with them or they just simply can't afford it. So again, going back to the previous to the previous
finding, if you have a credit card system in place, you would you could you could maybe do a hold on their credit card or something like that. Kind of like when you go to a hotel and you, you drink a little liquor
bottles, they charge you for those. You could do the same thing here. You know, put a hold on their credit card and you tell them, hey, look, whatever you whatever yard waste you drop off, we're going to charge your credit card. Because what's
happening now is people. And you have to you have to give your. Since that's supposed to be a deterrent kind of a control. So people don't drive off. But people have kind of figured out how to game the system, and they
know they can go to the tax collector's office down the road and spend $34 and get a get a replacement license. So it's if you have a $700 bill at the at the yard waste facility. And all right, I want to pay that. Or do
I want to go spend $34 and take 15 minutes of my time and go to the tax collector's office and get a new license? Well, a lot of people are doing that, and we're losing. We're losing money
because of it. And it's a double hit to the to the city because it's not only it's not only lost revenue, it's also whatever someone drops off at the yard waste facility the city has to pay for. We have to pay to get
that, to get that, that that yard waste removed. So we lose out on the revenue and then the expense is still there. So it's a double hit for the city on
both sides of the ledger. Then one more finding controls over voided transactions are insufficient to safeguard the city's assets and protect
employees. This is just just a lack of transactional controls. And again, it's all these are pretty easy or easy to fix. So you have employees that have the
authority to unilaterally void transactions or adjust a ticket. And there's no as it stands now, there's no supervisory review. And from an audit perspective, that's that's, you know, that's
opening the door for bad things to happen, especially when you're when you're dealing with so much cash, cash transactions, you can have an employee literally voiding out a transaction and it's a cash transaction. I mean, you can
connect the dots. Bad things can happen. I'm not saying bad things are happening, but it's an opportunity and you always want to if you can put preventive controls in place so no one has the opportunity to
even do that. And it's not only to protect the city's assets, but to protect the employees as well. As it stands now, if you were to accuse an employee of some inappropriate behavior, there's not a lot really they
could even do about it because there's no controls in place. And when you're talking cash, there's not a real there's not a real big trail there. So an audit trail. So it's hard to prove something one way or the
other. So if you can avoid those situations, obviously you want to avoid them. And taking credit cards is a good way to do that as well. The less the less cash we have in people's hands. And
if you have supervisor review over voided transactions, the better off you'll be. From a control perspective. So those are it for the findings. There
were three observations. I'll just I'll just go over the first one. Because I was really impressed with this. The division has been proactive and effective in the disaster
recovery efforts for the city. Basically, in March of 23, they sent a contract with a with a company named Crowder Golf. And it's a they're a debris emergency debris removal
company. And it's sort of a standby contract. So you hope you never really have to use it. But after the hurricanes that we had the contracts already in place. So you don't have to go
through the procurement process, you know, you know, right after an emergency, the prices are already set. So simple as you know, pick up the phone and get them over here. And Tarpon was
one of the first cities in the entire Bay area to be cleaned up and ready to go. So I wanted to I wanted to point out that because I thought I when I first read the contract, I was like, oh, who knows if we'll ever use
this? And then you actually see it right away, put to use. And I thought, I thought, I thought that was great. And it should be they should be applauded for that. Then there was a couple other observations as well. They've taken advantage of some
grants with Pinellas County and received about $37,000 over the last two years. So anytime you can get someone else's money, that's that's always a good thing. And then the division
does work with the clerk's office to help ensure separation of duties with regards to cash and record keeping controls. Now, these are little different than the controls I spoke about earlier. Those are more transactional. These are
transactional. And it's working exactly the way it should be working with the clerk's office, because the clerk is obviously the clerk and the collector, and the whole point of having a
clerk in the charter is that that's a control. And it's a separation of duties type thing. So they come in every day, they grab the balance reports and the
cash, and then they make sure that balances. So that's a separation. It's not the yard waste people doing it. It's the clerk's office. And they also enter that into our financial accounting system the Narva line system. So that's that's that's
a good thing. That's a good thing. So I want I wanted to point that out. And that's pretty much it I that's it. And the Audit Sanitation Department
has agreed with with all the findings. And they're currently implementing some remedial procedures. And I'll report those all back to you when
they're, when they're done. Thank you, Mr. Pulos. We will now go to public comments. Are there any public comments on
this item? It are there any zoom comments? There is one comment. I will unmute him now. Zoom
attendee you are unmuted. Please state your name and address for the record. Good evening Peter
514 Ashland Avenue. And if you listen to Mr. Pulos where he said the price of the yard waste disposal went from 21 to 63, and I think I heard him say went
down about 56. But either way, you're talking about a $40 per ton difference times 10,000 tons is $400,000. And as I mentioned
at a previous meeting, one of the options, instead of paying to have yard waste removed, is to go into private public private partnership with a paper
wood processing company. You purchase the Stoffer site, you put your marine on the south side, you put your yard waste facility on the north side. You put in your private partnership,
and instead of paying someone to get rid of the yard waste, you can earn some revenue. So I would recommend that you authorize the city manager to authorize Karen Lemons to begin
looking at the possibilities of that aspect. Instead of us paying to get rid of stuff, we get paid for them to take it. Thank you. Thank you. I just
want to make it clear, because Mr. Delacruz brings up a good point. We always have staff or planning. Our city manager looking for as many big pieces of property we can to have multi
use, including a third boat ramp with all the other great amenities that Mr. Delacruz worked out. So plannings are always on it and we hope we can bring some an item or property
in the future for the community. We're going to go to Commissioner comments. Vice Mayor Quellinus, your light was on first. Yeah. So, Billy, why
are you making fun of your mom? I, I carry a couple checks with me all the time. I figured you gotta be ready. You got to be prepared. So anyways, let me. I
think you answered my question on the last couple comments. When you do these reports and you find either, you know, internal control weaknesses or
some other deficiencies and you make these recommendations, do you follow up to see whether they are enacted or do you work with the city manager? How does
how does the process work? Yes yes, yes. Yeah. Usually I, I have the audit team fill out a what do I call it, a like an action plan type document. And
then I usually I don't, I don't, I don't send it to the board here. I usually send it when I do updates. Like I update you guys every, you know, month or whatever. I usually put any updates to audits in those memos
that I send you all. So right now there's none outstanding. So like these these suggestions you have or these observations and recommendations you will follow up with those. Yeah. Yes. Yes
okay. That's all. That's all I was asking. Thank you. Thank you Commissioner Barnier your light was on next. Yes. Thank you. Appreciate your appreciate your your your presentation. The two
things that that stuck out to me. Well one major one is we is obviously the, you know, cash and checks. I don't think anybody should be handling cash besides that, besides the, you
know, clerk's office for obvious reasons. And the one area that this city has made waves in the past decade for getting to be with the times and high tech, I still do think in this, pointed
out that we need to make sure anywhere we have an interaction with the public where they have to pay. They should have the option to pay by card, and that's fine. If they got to pay the merchant fee. That happens a
lot these days. But to just accept cash and checks, I think is just just it's just unnecessary burden and opens up the opportunity for problems. So hopefully that's going to be remedied. And as well it might
help the people driving off. But if we have legitimate people driving off like more than a, you know, a handful like that's that's theft. I'm sorry. Like illegal dumping. Yeah. We it's
not fair to everyone else that abide by the rules and pays. So I know the city is covered in cameras. So if that ever happens and it's, you know, feasible and it's more than a few bucks, like, we definitely need to pull
the footage and, and like pursue that because that's not fair, though to everyone else that abides by the rules. All right. Thank you, thank you, thank you, sir. Commissioner Eisner thank
you mayor. Thank you, Billy, for the presentation. So if we didn't have you doing these audits and you've brought out a few, how is it that we just
constantly have contracts, that the attorneys just don't get to see? It's I don't know, there's a disconnect somewhere between when the board approves something and the contracts, you
know, typed up whatever, whether it's the vendor or whether we produce the actual physical contract, I don't know, I don't know if it's I, it's probably just a convenience thing, but I
just that auditors always look to try to mitigate risk. Right. And to me that's just not having an attorney review something and signing it without having an attorney review. It is just a
risk that you don't have to take. And I know we're not shy about using the city attorney, so I don't know why we would be shy about them having to review a legal binding document. And,
and it's like I said, it's the third time I've mentioned this and it's always the contracts that are really thin. I mean, the contract with verandah Group, if you take away the, you know, the pricing structure and
the bid board and all that, all the, the nonsense that's in it, you know, the actual contract clauses, it's only two pages long. My employment contract I think is 6 or 7 pages long and
I'm not an attorney, but I read a lot of contracts doing this, and I can see a few clauses that should be in there and they're not in there. And I think, man, I just I hope nothing ever happens because the city's going
to be in a really tight spot. I mean, you know, the, you know, civil courts aren't, you know, perfect. But I tell you, I've been involved with with lawsuits before and it's not fun. And even if you have a black and
white airtight contract, sometimes it still doesn't go your way. So, you know, you want to have a tight contract, something that's as tight as possible so you don't leave it up to some judge to make the
decision. And if an attorney is not reviewing it, then we're taking undue risk that we shouldn't be taking. So I don't I wish I had an answer for you. I don't know, I just here's the
other thing I'd like to ask. I'd like to I'm sorry, were you were you currently? Go ahead. Commissioner. Yeah. So what I'd like to do is see that we get an across the board all the
department heads to find out if there's any contracts currently not approved by the attorney. Because, truthfully, I don't want to sit up here and hear down the road that we have more
of these. So that was that question. I don't know if that would be up to you or the department heads, but I would like to make sure that we do have attorney approval on all the current contracts that we
have. Oh yeah, that would that would be that's probably a procurement thing. But I mean, I can follow up if you'd like. I mean, I so the other thing that I had is they're the people that
are not paying. And you know, just leaving you didn't differentiate between residents or non residents. Right. That's that's another issue. I didn't
put that down the data. It's kind of my hard luck. Of course it was actually two sets of data. They got a new scale system about two thirds of the way through the year. And I
looked at FY 24. So I actually had two sets of data. The most recent data was the cells were filled in. But there was there's no consistency consistency to
it. The old data is there's a lot of pieces missing. In fact, there was only I think there was 91 voids and only five of them had any reason codes. So I don't know why they were voided
because the new data actually had reason codes there. So I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that a lot of the data is incomplete. So I don't know. It's not. Yeah, it's just not their well being. This is
something that's probably been going on for a while. So I'm not I mean I'm I'm okay with putting cameras there and electronic gates and whatnot. But
truthfully that unless it's enforced, right, you know, otherwise people are just donating US licenses and taking them. And that's just unacceptable. So that's why I
asked the question about the residents, because if it's a resident thing and they're not paying the water bill, they get the water turned off, right? If it's a resident that's putting
something out here and depositing refuge and they're the ones running away, then we have to act and, you know, possibly go to see about putting
a lien out there or whatever form we can do to get paid. I agree with Commissioner Banta's comment about having the credit card, because just the goodwill
that we've had to put a driver's license as a, as, as a collateral is not working. So we need to make sure that we can, you know, just like when you go out and you rent a car and they
charge you $200 to start or whatever it is, I mean, we can see that they have X amount of. So I would like to see the credit card or we shouldn't even
allow them to do the dump. Right, right. It's silly to have this the way it is. I don't think, you know, to put an electronic gate. If they really wanted to, they could drive through the gate. Yeah. What are
you going to do, chase them? Exactly. You know, so it's we have to not be ripped off. Just like we don't want to rip off anybody as well. Agreed. And what you could do too with. And
there's a, there's a row, so to speak, or an item where you put this is where standard operating procedures come in. If you look at it'll say like type of vehicle. And one operator will
put, you know, Chevy truck. The next operator will put, you know, Billy Polos. Next person will put in depending on who's doing it, they'll put, you know, Eisner em. Right. So there's no
consistency in it. So number one they need consistency in that. So we know exactly who it is what they're driving. And then you could also put like a little code like R for resident or you know O for outside or something
whatever. So there is ways to capture that data going forward. And I'll be happy to work with the audit team, you know, and make me make some of the recommendations so that we do know. I can tell you this from
looking at some of them. You can tell by the amounts. When you're looking at the data, you can tell that, okay, that's probably a resident. It's like $20 okay. You know that's the resident fee, right. But when it's 8 or
$900 yeah it could be a resident but probably a landscaper or something. No one's got that much yard waste. You know. It's like so you can kind of tell by just the numbers where they're probably resident or probably not, but it's not definitive.
But we could certainly change the coding to where we can capture that information going forward. Absolutely. But I don't want to have is duplicate 15 licenses from the same
landscaper who just keeps coming and donating US driver's licenses for the cost of his $900 drop off. So. Right. That was my that was my only question. Thank you. I'm kind of done. Thank you, Commissioner
Eisner. Commissioner DiDonato. Yeah, I first off, I just want to thank you for your report and then reiterate a couple of things that have been said. I certainly agree with Panther, who spoke about the cash and
where it should be. I've always felt that it should be only in one spot and that the clerk's office, that's number one. Number two, talking about the people who were leaving, I think
the procedure needs to be certainly dotted and crossed the I's and T's to see that maybe they pay first, rather than allowing that that abuse. And I
the other question I had was Commissioner Koulianos asked is it's great to have the reports, but if we don't have this implemented, then we aren't
doing our jobs. So I would like to see that follow up. So and maybe later the results of how that that's helped. Absolutely, absolutely. Thank you, thank
you, thank you thank you Mr. Pulis for the presentation. Yeah I think we're all in agreement. We want to see what this dump and ditch thing is. I think it's illegal dumping but I don't I
don't know, honest. And I was on the commission when we, when we approved that contract back in 2023. That was the only contractor that bidded on it.
There was nobody else who bid on it. It was about $400,000 a year with the with the increases. So in the future, you know, people got to bid and that'll help us
out and that help us be a little bit more competitive. I agree with the cash debit situation. I think that we should be able to take a certain amount of cash, a small, you know, if it's a ton
or two, these people are dropping off and ends up even $180 is a lot of money. But, you know, one ton for some of these smaller businesses, if we could somewhat remain at cash, that'd be good because they do operate
it. But those bigger ones, they're you know, they're their biggest expenses are dumping fees. And yeah, they would definitely like that to come out of their checking accounts for the business. You know. So as
opposed to giving all that cash to the city hall. So absolutely please consider it. There's any way to if we get a new contract in the future, it's cheaper to
potentially lower our costs for us to consider. And as we mentioned, just look at a couple things as we review our contracts, just to make sure they look that they're set. Is
there is there a report or maybe just a follow up that really doesn't even need a presentation that can come back to us in like a just see how results are going after like three, four months
maybe, or perfect. With that said, now we'll take a the chair will entertain a motion to approve and accept the audit of
the Public Works Sanitation Division. So moved. Second, if there are no further comments or discussion, roll call please. Mr. Banther. Yes, Commissioner
de Denato. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice Mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Yes, yes. We
are now going to item 11 or item 12, consideration of Attorney Services and Change Commission meeting dates. To accommodate. We have City Manager Charles Rudd. Thank you. Mayor. This
item is actually needs to be updated. We did receive the resignation letter from the firm, and they've agreed to help with the transition and make sure that's as smooth as possible. So tonight we really just need to vote on changing
the meeting dates to the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. That would be starting in March. Thank you. Okay. And we will now
go to public comments. Are there any public comments on this
item? There is. Stand by. Zoom. Please state your name and address for the record. Thank
you. Peter LAX, 514 Ashland Avenue. As far as this particular item, if you go back and look at the attorney bills, you'll see it's been due to
have. If you go and look at Mr. Saltzman's bills. Originally he was hired for litigation and he did all the charter review stuff. And there's other things in there that he's been handling. So it makes perfect
sense to have a more local firm now that he's had additional attorneys to assist. I think that's perfectly reasonable and actually more efficient for
staff to be able to have one attorney's firm to rely on. And as far as changing the meeting date, we've been flexible in the past in doing that. So as a
personal person who follows the meeting back and forth is not a problem. But again, I would also recommend that on months where you have the fifth Tuesday, you have some work sessions to hash
out some of the other items that can be solved on a work session other than a regular board meeting. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Lockwood.
Are there any other zoom comments? There are no more raised hands at this time. Thank you, Vice mayor. Your light was
on first. Yeah. I'm definitely in favor of moving the meetings to the second and fourth to accommodate Mr. Salzman's schedule. I am going to ask that
the swearing in ceremonies be kept on April 1st. One is we've advertised some of this in advance. On a personal note,
I've got family that is coming in from up north, and they've already made travel arrangement. And also, you know, the swearing
in ceremonies have always been very, very short meetings so that, you know, we can go out with our families after the meeting, go have dinner,
whatever, especially if you have guests coming in. And this will allow us to have a full, full meeting on the eighth without
having to waste any time on the on the perfunctory swearing in and speeches and all that stuff. So I'm in favor of the second and fourth, but I do want to
keep the ceremony on the first. Thank you, Commissioner DiDonato. I too am in favor of this. And in fact, history shows that we changed it. The last
time was to accommodate Mr. Trask, and so I don't see a problem with changing. I do want to take this time to thank the attorney Dickman's firm for
stepping in when we actually needed that. And I welcome the full return of our attorney, Salzman, and appreciate the fact
that we will have some more some better clarifications forward. Thank you, Commissioner Banther. Yes, I'm in full support. I, I question this to attorney
process from the beginning is just, you know, I realize it was a temporary situation for certain reasons, but it's I'm glad we're going to one firm. I realized last week I might have
a conflict on April 1st. It was booked before I got back on the board. I'm going to try and get it out, get out of it, but I might not be able to. It's a big meeting for a client. I'm going
to try and get somebody else in my brokerage to cover it, but if not, I'll have to work with the city manager on that for the nuances of that. And depending when it is, too, I mean, we're
going to have it at I don't know if you want to have it at like a different time because we're not having an actual meeting. But, you know, I don't want I don't want to move anything too much because of me. I'm going to do
my best to get somebody else to cover the meeting for me. But in the event I can't, I'll just have to work with the city manager. As far as April 1st, I understand April Fools. Yeah. Swearing in sir, I know, I know,
I'm trying. Well, I got sworn in on like a Monday at 8 a.m. Before, so I. You know, I'm just saying I don't I'm going to do my very best. Okay. Sure. Thank you. Well, I mean I'm here's how I look at it. We have a
situation in which we have a city attorney who's coming in, I don't like I don't think we should have three regular BoCC meetings. I actually had plans as well for to do something that
following weekend. And so I think we're going to have the I don't want to support the ceremony being on that 1st April first when we have our if we're going to be the second and
fourth Tuesdays, then we're going to switch to the second and fourth Tuesdays. We're not going to have three meetings just to accommodate the one ceremony and then potentially not have Commissioner Banther
there for April 1st. So, you know, arrangements can be made and changed. And as far as saying in an email, we could just notify the board or the county, this is what we're doing and we're changing the fourth.
The meeting's back to the second and fourth Tuesdays, which would be April 8th. So I'm not looking to do that. So we can have three regular board session meetings when traditionally the first board meeting is nothing but a
ceremonial. And there's really no agenda items besides the appointments of position boards. So I, I get a sick to if we're going to move second and fourth
Tuesdays, then the ceremony will be April 8th. And that's what I'm going to support. I'm going
to make a motion that we accept the item 12 consideration of Attorney Services and Change Commission meetings to second
and fourth. I'm also going to incorporate in there that the swearing in ceremony be on April 1st, as it has originally been planned for months and months.
So second, there's a second. Well, as I said, I'm not going to support it. I see there's items that have come up and you vote no. We all have to support it and run by the second and
forth like we were sat there and told upon. So Commissioner Banther, I just you know, obviously again, I, you know, fairly confident I can get someone to cover for myself,
though, I'm pretty sure. But I don't want nothing to move because of me. I don't sense that why that's there tonight. I also don't want to. I also want us to try like, okay, like right now, if we were betting people,
we can we can count the votes here, right? Like it's not hard to do. Right. But I, you know, there's no I don't want us to go into a vote with, you know, I mean, I know we have vice mayor
situation where you have family coming to town. That's obviously important. And that was pre booked. Totally understand. Mayor what what though if you don't mind me asking you know
what is your objection just because of it. It would just be a third meeting or efficiency or schedule or what. How can we help bridge this gap. Well I mean, I just think we're, you
know, the first meeting of the, of the meet of the year is going to be the swearing in. It's going to be the swearing in. We're not going to change everything and then have two additional regular session meetings when traditionally the
first meeting is the swearing in ceremony. So if that's the case, that's what we're going to do. But now you guys are tying me in to another Tuesday. That's you know, I got to make arrangements
for as well. So that's where I'm going with that. And like I said, we're they're going to do second and fourth like our charter tells us to agree with rules or back to the first and
third. And I'm not just trying to accommodate for that one day so we can all make accommodations and go for there. So no further comments. Roll
call please. Commissioner Banther. Yes, Commissioner. Donato. Yes. Commissioner.
Eisner. No. Koulianos. Yes. Mayor. Coolio's. No. Okay. We will now go to ordinance and
resolutions. We have item 13, resolution 2025-18, ratification of Executive Orders 202512 and 2025-14 extending extending a
declaration of state of emergency for Tarpon Springs due to Hurricane Helene. City attorney, can you please read the title? Sure. 20 2518
Extending the declaration of Local state of emergency to extending the declaration of local, state and emergency to the February 18th, 2025 and
ratifying Executive Order 20 2514, extending the declaration of local state of emergency to February 25th, 2025 and providing for an effective date
hereof. Thank you. Are there any public comments on this item? It. Are there any zoom comments?
Hearing none. The chair will entertain a motion to approve resolution 2025-18. So moved. Second. There are no further
comments. Roll call please. Mr. Eisner? Yes. Mr. De Denato. Yes.
Vice mayor kuleana. Yes. Mayor. Coleus. Yes. Item 14. Resolution 2025-19 ratification of Executive Orders 2025-13 and
202515. Extending a declaration of state of emergency for Tarpon Springs due to Hurricane Milton. 20 2519 ratifying Executive Order 20 2513. Extending the
declaration of local state of emergency to February 18th, 2025 and ratifying Executive Order 20 2515. Extending the declaration of local state of emergency to
February 25th, 2025 and providing for an effective date hereof. Thank you. Are there any
public comments on this item? It are there any zoom comments? Hearing none. The chair will
entertain a motion to approve resolution 2025-19. So moved. Second. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll
call please. Mr. Bamford. Yes, Commissioner DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Koulianos. Yes. Yes, yes.
Item 15. Resolution 202516 authorizing reappointment of a temporary part time staff position of senior Administrator and providing for an effective
date of March 7th, 2025. City attorney, can you please read the resolution title? Sure. 20 2516 authorizing reappointment of a temporary part time staff
position of senior administrator and providing for an effective date of March 7th, 2025? Thank you. Are there any public
comments on this item? It. Are there any zoom comments? All right. Hearing none. The chair will entertain a motion to
approve resolution 2025-16. So moved. Second. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Mr. Banther. Yes, Commissioner DiDonato. Yes.
Commissioner Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor kuleana. Yes, yes, yes. Item 16. Resolution 2025 dash 20 support of a Pinellas County Grant application for the
elevation of traffic signal cabinets throughout Pinellas County and in the city of Tarpon Springs and City Attorney, can you please read the resolution
20 2520? Resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs. Support of a Pinellas County grant application for the elevation of traffic signal cabinets through
Pinellas County and in the city of Tarpon Springs, providing for an effective date here to thank you. Are there any public
comments on this item? I t are there any zoom comments? Hearing none. The chair will entertain a
motion to approve resolution 2025 dash 20. So moved. Second. There are no further comments. Roll call please. Commissioner. Panther. Yes. Commissioner.
Donato. Yes. Commissioner. Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Collins. Yes. Yes. Item 17,
which is the final item of the night, which is resolution 2025-17, ratification of Executive Order 2025-11, allowing for an extension to connect to the city's public
sewer system. Due to the state of local emergency. City attorney, can you please read the resolution 20 2517, allowing for an extension to connect the
city's public sewer system due to the state of local emergency for Tarpon Springs from Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Milton, and providing for an
effective date hereof. Thank you. Are there any public comments on this item? It are
there any zoom comments? Hearing none. The chair will entertain a motion to approve resolution
202517. So moved. Second. There are no further comments or discussion. Roll call please. Panther. Yes, Commissioner. DiDonato. Yes. Commissioner.
Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. And. This concludes the regular session agenda. We will now go
to board and staff comments. Major Mathis none. Thank you. City Attorney Glenn Atkins just wanted to say it was a pleasure being here and seeing so many
familiar faces. And on behalf of the firm, we look forward to serving the city of Tarpon Springs. Thank you. Attorney Glenn, you were great today. We appreciate your company. City clerk, miss Jacobs, I have no
comment. Thank you. Thank you. City manager, Mr. Rudd, just a I sent you an email. I'll be attending the accreditation hearing in Saint Augustine on Thursday with police department. And I want to take opportunity
to attend the soul Food Festival in Crescent City while I'm there. So I'll be back Sunday evening bringing some soul food for us. Okay. Thank you sir. Commissioner. Comments.
Commissioner Banther. No. No comments. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner DiDonato. No thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Eisner. I just want to thank
Miss Natsis. And she's been delightful here. And welcome to the club. Yes. Thank you. Vice
mayor Koulianos. So this past week, the city attorney, I mean, the city manager and myself, we toured the metropolitan
ministries and we saw the just the amazing work they're doing. You know, they are not only feeding people, they're helping
them up. They are. They have classrooms. They're for them to get their GED. They have their assist them with finishing if
they have need. There was one. They gave us an example of someone, a single mom with a couple kids who was three hours short of getting her RN, and
they took her in and they helped her out, and they got her across the finish line. And now she's. You know, making a productive
person, and she's able to support her children. So it was just really great to see that in
action. So and that's it. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Just want to tell we got a few events this weekend. We have the Sunset
Hills PTA Color Run that starts at 830 in the morning at Sunset Hills Elementary. We also have the annual city Touch-a-truck and open house. You'll see city staff with all the different
vehicles that kids can come out and see with a lot of different gifts and toys too. And so hopefully everyone will enjoy that as well. The chief at the change in that color on there is
a change to that. Oh, please tell me the date that was today. I don't have the date with me, but it's going to be later on in March. Okay. So the PTA Sunset Hills Color Run has been
canceled. And other than that, just want to thank everyone for being here tonight. The meeting is adjourned at 8:02 p.m. That.
Was closed. I used to be good at predicting that, but not anymore. I used to be good. I
told them.