For example. My knowledge of. What you're trying to. Do it
every time. You. Pick up. I
call to order the regular session of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs. Tuesday, June
9th, 2026, 6 p.m. Roll call please. Here, here, here. Here.
Tonight's reflection will be by the Reverend Tory Huff of the New Spring Church, and it will be followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance. Please stand. If you would pray with me. Father God, I invite your presence
into this space. Lord, I thank you for these leaders who are sacrificing their time for our city. Thank you for these citizens who care about the
space and the place that they live. God, please bless our businesses, our agencies, and our community. God bless our
first responders who sacrificed their time and their families. God, please be with all of our military and their families and
thank you for their sacrifice. Allow us to continue to prosper in this city and all this for your glory. And in your son's name, Amen. Amen. I pledge
allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please. So tonight we have two proclamations. The first. The
first one is our Hope day proclamation. And we will have a performance by Crossing the Bar by Alfred Lord Tennyson,
and it'll be performed by Mr. Alexander Galt. Alexander is the son of our I.T. director, Susanne Linton. Alexander is a
graduate of the Patel Conservatory and the Marsha Hoffmann School of Arts. He is currently a Florida. A junior at Florida State University,
where he studies acting, film and music. Alexander is grateful to share his musical rendition of Alfred Lord Tennyson's Crossing the Bar for Tarpon Springs Hope day. He is
thankful to be part of the meaningful community gathering, and hopes this piece offers a moment of reflection as the
community comes together in faith, remembrance and hope.
So and Evening Star and one clear call for me. And may there be
no moaning of the bar. When I put out to sea. When I put out
to sea. When I put out to sea. May there be no moaning of the
bar. When I put out to sea. Twice. And evening bells. And
after that the door. And may there be no sadness of farewell.
When I embark. When I am far.
When I am home. May there be no sadness of. When I am fall.
But such a tide as moving seems asleep too full for sound and
foam. When that which drew from out the boundless deep returns
again. Home. Turn again all. Turns again home. That which
drew from out the boundless deep returns again. Home.
For though from out are born of time and place. The flood may
bear me far. I hope to see my pilot face to face. When I have
crossed the bar. When I have crossed the bar. When I have
crossed the bar. I hope to see my pilot face to face. When I
have crossed the bar, I hope to
see my pilot face to face. When I am far. The bar.
Oh, that was amazing.
Alexander, let's start with you. Is he coming? Yeah.
He's coming. Alexander. All right, well, he'll join us. He'll join us shortly. So, you
know, it's it's it's often times we read these proclamations and they have relevance to each other. And tonight these two proclamations
were going to be reading one is about Hope day and the other is Juneteenth. And it's both are examples of all of us
acknowledging that this is the sponging, the brave spongers that went out and helped form the city, which were both Greek
and Bahamian as well. And then obviously, Juneteenth is a celebration of of overcoming obstacles as well. So, Anita,
produce mayor, would you please come up? So when I knew I was going to read this proclamation,
the. Our City administrator asked me, who do I want to come up and accept it? And I thought, no one better than our mayor, who also knows very much about
the history of our town and is always out defending our history. And you're actually on the heritage Board, which is. So she's back to help. See, we
got a lot of people coming back to help. So let me read the proclamation. Then you could say a few words. You're okay,
you're okay. You're okay. Stand with me. Please. Yeah. Suzanne, you must be very proud. You
should. You should be okay. Whereas the city of Tarpon Springs values its parks, bayous, waterways and the river, and is recognized for diverse cultures dedicated to
preserving tradition and fostering hope. And whereas the city of Tarpon Springs was officially incorporated in February 12th, 1887, and
whereas, the U.S. government recognized the town's strategic importance when during the Spanish American War, it established a deep water channel in 1899 within the
Anclote River, to the center of the working waterfront. And whereas the Deep Water Channel was established to support maritime industries, including
the hooking sponging industry of the Key West, Conch and Bahamian individuals of Africa does African descent by moving northward away from the areas
of conflict and. Whereas, in 1905, helmeted divers of Greek origin arrived in Tarpon Springs to work in the sponge industry on the hope of
improving their lives and those of their families. Beyond that, what was possible in their homeland. And whereas those initial sponge divers embarked
from the sponge docks on June 18th, 1905, aboard the vessel Elpis, also known as Hope. And whereas the sponge industry
rapidly established itself as the commercial hub of Tarpon Springs until its decline in the late 1940s. And while various other industries emerged and diminished, the
city of Tarpon Springs and its residents continue to hope and persevere. And whereas, while commercial fishing and other industries thrived, and the
sponge industry endured, and its remaining boats and operators reflect the community's determination to preserve tradition of the past and maintain hope for the
future. Now, therefore, I, John Collins, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the city of Tarpon Springs,
Florida, do hereby proclaim June 18th, 2026 as Hope day. I
want to say thank you, and I thank the mayor on behalf of the entire Greek community and Saint Nicholas Church. When the sponge divers first came, my grandfather came when he was
ten years old with his father, and he said he saw the biggest mosquitoes and the fattest rattlesnakes and didn't even know the word rattlesnake. And he said he thought he would die
before he got back to Kalymnos. When he married and brought my grandmother here, she said, you could walk across the river on the sponge boats. And then they built the sponge exchange. And
then when the city condemned the sponge exchange, my husband was the youngest man and I had shares in it. He became president. We went to the
county. They didn't want it. The city wanted it. But there was a commissioner on the board that had a newspaper, and she killed the vote on it for the city to take it over. So he
went to Washington, and there were some sponge men in tarpon that were using the sponge exchange for their own use, and we were going to have to tear it down. And he did get the
Pappas brothers to buy it, and he made sure all the widows got the first checks that went out on that Wednesday. Then the sponge exchange became important to the County
historical Society, and we moved some things down to the County Historical Society for the insurance, for the history of tarpon, the tarpon sponges
were proud men from see me. They used to die for sponges with just rocks on them and no clothes so they wouldn't have weight. And they came and made the helmets. Mr. Leary came
over and he started making the helmets. When the church burned, the sponges wanted a cathedral, and it was a San Marcus brothers who laid down the
foundation to start raising money. And they raised millions of dollars to build our Saint Nicholas Cathedral. And it became a national historic place because of Kenny
Henderson and his wife's work and working with the historic preservation for the state of Florida and writing the grant. And I can't tell you how many elected officials came down to
Tarpon when it was presented, and the men that kept the sponge going during the times when there was no money. Peter, like his grandfather, sponsored four boats. My grandfather
sponsored eight, where he worked together. They brought money. Mr. Trapani, the old grandfather, gave money to keep the sponge divers going because he knew what it was for
immigrants to come to this country and work hard. The great people of those days, and still are very proud people. They keep their homes nice and they worship very hard, and
they're very thankful they came to this country so their children would have an education and a future. We are proud of our Greek community, and I always say we could have
the most elegant Greek historic community in the South between the black community, the Greek community and the community at large. We have so much in our
town be proud of, and I try and work very hard to preserve the historic heritage of this community. And I invite all of you all to work with us because
once you lose it, you don't get
it back. Thank you, thank you.
Greg. And and around town so people can see. Thank you.
Thank you mayor. Thank you very much. Okay. Is Maggie here?
Maggie Miles. Come forward. And anyone else that you and Katie Taylor and anyone else from
your committee. Oh, good. Good. How are you doing? You good? Good, nice. Is that an
inappropriate communication? Well. Thank you. All right. Pretty much. Okay, so this is a
proclamation for Juneteenth. I gave us a short talk at the at the library this last Friday
about it's a series of talks regarding the 250th anniversary of our country. And it's it's in any any of you that are interested in in attending any
of these library events, there's they're really nice. Mayor. I wish you could have been there, but. Okay, I was going to call you and I, I should have okay. I'm sorry. So
but the anyways, one of the things that we, I spoke about was it was actually I talked about the history of my father and his, his experiences in Tarpon Springs growing up in the early part of the 20th
century. He was born in Tarpon in 1915. And the way it relates to Juneteenth is he told me stories about the the situation
that existed with. The the black African Americans in Tarpon. He told me stories about the, you know, not being
able to sit at. In the main part of the theater, black people had to sit up in the balcony. He told me stories about if an old man was walking
down the street, if an old black man with a cane was walking down the street and a kid is on the sidewalk, the black man had to get off the sidewalk and go in the street and let the the the white kid
go by. He said he saw that happen quite often. He told me about the water fountain situation. There was a water fountain for whites and there was a spigot for for blacks.
And that's what existed in the early part of the century. And, and that existed all over all over the country. But now, you know, we have progressed so
much. And that's something that we're obviously celebrating that Juneteenth is, is about celebration and it's about
persevering over hardship and, and prejudice and all the things that exist or did exist and still probably do a little bit today. But we look at how much better we are in Tarpon
Springs today. You know, there used to be in there used to be a constable. We had we didn't have the sheriff's department and all that that we have today or the or our Tarpon Springs
police. We had a constable and the constable was in charge of, of, of all this North Pinellas area. And he was actually a
part of the Klan. And the when I was doing the little speech and the talk, Gabriel from the Historic Society told me that
they have a newspaper ads in, in the historic building that have. They were advertisement for the Klan that if you wanted to come to a Cross-burning they had it down there in Palm
Harbor and you could go. You could go watch it. And then, you know, so here we are today, and we don't have a constable,
but we got Assistant Chief Mathes down there. So look where we've progressed. We don't have, you know, water fountains for different people. We don't have theaters for
different people. But a few years back we swore in a black mayor of Tarpon Springs. So we have progressed a great deal.
And I'm going to read this proclamation. Whereas Juneteenth Freedom Day is a national holiday honoring the culture, heritage, and history of African Americans. And
whereas Juneteenth marks the earliest celebration of slavery's abolition in the United States, originating on
June 19th, 1865, when Union troops under Major General Gordon Granger brought news of emancipation to Galveston, Texas. And whereas this. This
occurred two and a half years following President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which officially took effect on January 1st of 1863. And whereas Juneteenth
Freedom Day commemorates African American freedom and achievement promotes ongoing self-development and respect for all cultures and provides a
national and global reminder of the events of 1865. And Whereas, across the United States, Juneteenth serves as an occasion for prayer, reflection,
and a respectful recognition of our nation's African American heritage. And Whereas, the City of Tarpon Springs recognizes Juneteenth as an important occasion to commemorate
national unity and acknowledge the resilience and achievements of African Americans throughout history. And Whereas, the celebration of Juneteenth serves as a powerful reminder
of the ongoing struggle for freedom, equality and opportunity for all people, values that are the heart of the American Dream. Now therefore, I, John Collins, by virtue of the authority vested
in me as mayor of the City of Tarpon Springs, do hereby proclaim June 19th, 2026 as
Juneteenth Day. God has not promised sky's always blue flowers, strong pathways all our lives through. God has not
promised. Sun without rain. Joy without sorrow, peace without pain. But God has promised strength for the day. Rest for your labor and light for your
way. Grace for your trials. Help from above. His unfailing sympathy and his undying love.
Amen. I got some, come on. Thank you. To Mayor Giuliani's The City of Tarpon Springs and the Distinguished Board of
Commissioners, and to the residents of this great city we get to call home Tarpon Springs. On behalf of the Union Academy Revitalization Revitalization
Group, the members of the Union Academy Committee and all the residents of the Union Academy and all of those who stand with freedom. Receiving this recognition highlights our
shared commitment to preserving our nation's full history and celebrating black freedom. We
thank you. You want to get a picture together?
Thank you so much. We invite everybody to the Juneteenth festivities next Friday. We have a block party
at Dorsett Park, and then on Saturday, we'll be having brunch at the recreation center from 9 to 11. So I hope to see
everyone come out and help us celebrate Juneteenth. Thank you.
A nice block. Okay. Okay, now we're going to go to public comments. This will be public comments on things that are not on tonight's agenda. So please
come forward. Give your name and your address please. Good evening again, Anita. Protest, 91 Bayshore Drive. Three weeks
ago, I took all the kids to Cracker Barrel. What a mistake. Especially with that store in the front. But they love it. And they're good kids. I was
looking around and I saw this book by Robert J. Morgan, 100 Bible Verses That Made America. I picked it up. This is the most interesting book written
about our forefathers, the Constitution, articles of incorporation, the freedom of speech. Everyone should read this book because it shows how
America was built on its churches, religion, and what they felt in the early years. This is what we have lost in Washington. As I read this book
and dissect it, when I'm asked to speak at the schools and around it is so true. So if you will get this book, it's worth
reading. It puts a lot of knowledge and understanding in all of us, no matter Greek Orthodox. Middle Eastern,
Jewish, Chinese. It's all in here. And that's what we need to get back to in Washington. And it's sad that it's been lost. This is the book that
everyone should read. Thank you. Next, Pastor Victor McCloskey, KGV Baptist Church, New Port Richey, Florida. Soon we're going to be celebrating our
250th year as a nation. And John Quincy Adams, I believe our sixth president, connected the Independence Day with Christmas. Christmas, as you
know, Jesus Christ coming to give new birth and the new birth of us as a nation. I love
it that Ronald Reagan made a proclamation of the Bible. Basically, how it has influenced us through all of
our history. Our Founding Fathers quoted the Bible more than any other source, although I cannot say all of them were
Bible believing Christians. So. In the Bible it says that righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people, and all these proclamations are great. I especially love the ones about the Bible. What we had today is good to. But when we make
proclamations concerning sin and homosexuality, which is against the Bible, against what these United States were built upon, we were built upon
righteousness. God is a holy God. If you notice here, it says Holy Bible, and that means against sin, against sin. Sin
is not what we make sin up to be. Sin is what the Bible says it is. And in Genesis chapter 13, verse 13, it says, the men
of Sodom were wicked and sinners exceedingly so. More than just being sinners, more than just being wicked, it says
exceedingly in Romans chapter one, we have the decline of a nation. The first thing that happens to a nation is they quit being thankful to God. And
then it gets worse and worse. After that, I noticed that for Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving is supposed to be a holiday of celebration to God. And what do we do as people? These United
States, we call it Turkey Day, kind of diminishes the thanksgiving to God. But then then the downward spiral in Romans chapter one, it goes
from not giving thanks to God, being foolish, thinking they're wise, and then God giving people over to a reprobate mind, a reprobate is a mind of not
faith. God is not working in people's hearts. Then and then, right after that, he mentions about men burned in their lust, one toward another, and women
also doing that which is against nature. And he calls it unnatural. God is not politically correct, and
neither should we be. Thank you. Next, please. Allan Siders,
Clearwater, Florida. It's come to my attention that there's been a proclamation in this
city by this mayor. Endorsing and supporting and approving of homosexuality. Now, I heard a lot of talk today about people
loving the Bible, and I heard a lot of people talking today about, you know, loving God and obeying God and things of that nature. Let's read what the Bible says about this in Romans
chapter number one. It says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness,
because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God has showed it to them. For the invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. And there's a couple progressions that happen right after this. People waxing
worse in their sin and wickedness. And it goes on to say in verse 26, for this cause God gave them up to vile affections, for even the women did change the natural use, and
that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust. Not love,
not love, lust one toward another. Men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves the recompense of their error,
which is meet. And one thing to add to the pastor didn't add. In verse 32. It talks about these people who know the judgment of God. See, everybody
in this room knows the judgment of God. Everybody in this room has the knowledge of God and the law of God written on their heart. They know the truth, and so they know the judgment of
God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, and not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. The Bible says you're worthy of death and you need to
repent. You're in trouble with God. You're not of God, you're of the devil. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lust of your father. Ye will do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and he abode not in the truth. That's the problem today. People don't abide in the truth. If you want the truth to set you free, then you need to forsake your evil,
wicked way. God calls you evil. God calls you wicked. God calls you an abomination. You justify the wicked. He says you're an abomination. You declare your
sin as Sodom. He says, woe unto your soul. Jesus Christ told Judas Iscariot after he betrayed him. It would have been better for him to have never been born. And that's
going to be your recompense, except you turn from your wicked ways, renounce that, and get right with God yourself. Because right now you're
perishing. Pastor Tori Huff, I'm a resident of Tarpon
Springs. So I just want to say. God does not call us to judge anyone. Actually, Jesus says in
Matthew 2237 2037, love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is
the first and the greatest commandment. And the second is like it love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the
prophets hang on these two commandments. And in Peter. Four eight it says, above all,
love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. I will say, as a resident of this community, I do not
appreciate outsiders coming in and telling my elected officials what they should and should not do. I appreciate you
loving all and serving all with your governmental proclamations. Thank you for representing all regardless of their faith or no
faith, because that is what you have been elected to do. Thank you. Thank you pastor. Next. And and if y'all want to, it's
going to be a short meeting tonight. So you want to hang around for a commissioner comments. I'll have something to say. Marty. Marty. 1702 Heritage Oaks Court, Tarpon
Springs. On an entirely different subject, but one that also condemns the outsiders coming in and telling us what to do. Our friends up in
Tallahassee have decided that you are elected officials, that no, Tarpon Springs are not good enough to be able to solve our problems. So they're going to
take away your power of the purse if they can, by having a constitutional amendment to limit your ability to raise funds and solve our problems. I
hardly think these outsiders up in Tallahassee know about potholes that need to be filled. How many police we need to have, how many firefighters we have
need to have, or other problems that come before us? You are the people that we elected for that. I suspect you've already thought about this and have
made preparations to have the Budget Advisory Committee and the staff developed the impact it would have if that constitutional amendment to
eliminate most of property taxes passes, because you will have an opportunity to present that to our voters, showing
what impact it will actually have by showing this budget versus that budget. Depending on how much money we have and are able to raise. I'm hoping
you'll do that. I'm hoping you'll send that information out with the water bills so that voters will have that information, because you can
rest assured that the people in Tallahassee that want this. DeSantis othmer those type will try and steal millions of
dollars again, of taxpayer money. That was in the last constitutional amendments they fought, that was raised to help poor kids get health care.
They'll. And nothing happened to them for it. You can expect them to do it again. So it's up to you to provide the truth to
people and do it in a legal way. Thank you, thank you. Next. Jane Harrington 1021 Jamaica
Way. Can you put it down? Thank you. I have not been a tarpon resident for all of my all of my life and all of my family's lives. We came from other places, but we came here
because we love tarpon. I've been coming here for 20 years and just a couple things. I've lived here for six. When you
talked about Sunset Beach, we don't need regulations. We shouldn't have to pay a couple of you don't you don't agree. You do agree. We? It's been 100
years and we haven't needed this or that. I would ask you to look back 100 years ago. How many how many cars went there? How many people were going
there, and how respectful were the people a hundred years ago? So I think Sunset Beach, I was out there the other morning. It is a mess. Early in the morning
after a weekend, so somebody's got to clean it up. So Sunset Beach, I would please ask you to think about occupancy. More people there early in the
morning when boats are launching, people are all around and it's nasty. Many days you need to be out there. It isn't a matter of nitpicking
you folks or police being out there. Secondly, the food truck, I talked about that a year and a half ago. Way back, I went to
the planning and zoning, and you folks have so overregulated the food trucks. Oh, they might smell, they might be noisy. If you live on the main streets,
what do you expect? There are restaurants that have parties. There are restaurants there. We need something different to get
the local people out. I was down Dodecanese just the other day and it was very, very minimal. The amount of people that were there. So do
something that would bring the locals out. We've all eaten at those restaurants and they're good. But having diversity, you
have a diverse city. We don't want to take away the past or preserve it. As Commissioner Weaver campaigned on, I believe that we need to preserve the
Greek, but it doesn't have to be one sided. So please think about the food trucks. And my last thing is the Pinellas Trail. Can anybody regulate?
Why do bikers not have to stop at a stop sign? Why do they have to speed up when they see people coming? So I just think
it's it's dangerous. You don't even want to go there anymore. And lastly, not the Pinellas Trail, but our own streets, electric bikes. Think I should
move so they can walk. Thank you, thank you. Anyone else?
See you Mike. Okay. Fascinating. It's getting so disrespectful. Right here. Right here. Heard all that, but can't stand to hear me. And I haven't even
gotten that yet. I mean, all right. So something interesting. Peter 514 Ashland Avenue that we talked about immigration and
diversity. And thank you for Marty for bringing up Tallahassee, but they've been on this venture to take home rule since back in the 2000.
And this is just a way of you having to go to Tallahassee and beg for money. So that's my comment on that. I've mentioned getting a resolution, something I do want to say that I'm
really proud of about the city. I don't see Tommy here, but last week there was a big water line. Oh, there he is. You
weren't there earlier when I looked sorry. Big water line break on Whitcomb. The guys were there like two, three days straight working. And the
amazing thing, they changed. What a big old pipe. Like this. I never lost water. Nobody in that area. They did it without shutting the water off. I was amazed at that because they
said, you know, that line goes. So kudos to staff. Now, as the mayor mentioned on Thursday, he had the talk of the town and some of the pictures and the
things that struck me in a way, as something I'd thought about before, where you mentioned 1998, I guess it was your grandfather came and then your
father got shipped off and he had to get somebody to write a letter, blah, blah, blah. When my grandfather and your great
grandparents came over, they didn't go down to the embassy in Athens or in Rome or somewhere. Hey, give me papers. They came over on the boat. You came in. What's your name?
Peter. John. Cornelius, where are you going? I'm going to stay at my Uncle Mike's place. Here's the address. You're good. Now, the reason I point this
out. About a week ago, they had a seminar in Portugal about migration, about getting rid of the immigrants. But their stress is not just the ones
that have came over in the last decade. Their idea. And it's that far right nationalists. AfD look it up. They want to go
back centuries saying the elites have allowed over the decades for these people to come in. And that's what this whole birthright citizenship is about. They want to reach back. So the point I want to make is
some people here probably have some grandparents or great grandparents that didn't have papers. And if they get to this migration and reach in deep, some of us technically by way
they look at it, we're illegal. If my grandfather came over here, he didn't have papers. And I'm born here. AM I illegal now? By their definition, are
you illegal? Are you illegal? You better look around you. And see Mike. I didn't even read.
Okay. Anyone else? Oh. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Juliana de
413 East Oakwood Street, Tarpon Springs, Florida. First, I want to start off. Thank you, mayor. The mayor. I invited him to the Union Academy Family Center to
talk to some boys and men's group, some young boys that's in our community. He came him and. Mr. Archie was there.
Assistant Chief Mathis was there. And they really enjoyed you coming. You know, this is something. An idea. I had an
ongoing idea of introducing young men to the government part of Tarpon Springs. And that's something, like I said, is going to be ongoing. And
again, she left. But I really kudos to her. God wants us to love one another as we are. We lift up people. We keep lifting them up where they're at. You
know, I always when I was in education, one of my professors really struck me hard with this behavior. Behavior is something
that's learned. And you know that anything that's learned can be changed. So God is a changing God so he can change
anything. Amen. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Thank you very much. Let's go to the consent agenda. Item number
three. Satisfaction release of leans. Number four. Award file for, well, repairs and maintenance. Number five, increase file for wireless data,
voice and accessories. And number six, award file for the police ammunition. Does any commissioner wish to pull any of these items? Okay. With that
said, roll call please. You need a motion. I know that every time, Mike. Okay. All right. Was there a second? Come
on. Second. Okay. All right. Now roll call. Did you say yes? Yes. Irene, I don't know if you
have your microphone. Sorry. Vice mayor. Yes, mayor. Yes. Okay. Let's go to item number seven. Business item increase file for stormwater engineering
consultant services. Janina Lewis, procurement services director, honorable mayor commissioners. Good evening. Janina Lewis, procurement
services director. Tonight we have. Before you is the. Staff requesting approval of a one time increase of the Stormwater Continuing Services Agreement. The additional funding will
support professional engineering and design services for several upcoming stormwater improvement projects, including the Sponge Docks Flooding Abatement Project, which is
commonly known as the Vault Project. This requested one time increase is necessary to advance the design phase of these critical flood mitigation and resiliency initiatives, and
to ensure the project remains on schedule for future implementation. Importantly, the additional costs associated with this increase are anticipated to be 100%
reimbursable through a combination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant program. It's a lot to say. H g, HMGP
and a funding appropriation from the state of Florida. As a result, the city will be able to leverage available federal and state funding sources to advance these projects with no
expected long term financial impact to local funds. Staff recommends approval of the agreement and the increase, and would be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Commissioner Weaver, do you have any questions? Not at this time. Not. Not at this time, Commissioner Eisner. Thank you. Mayor. So the part that
concerns me is this is an extra $600,000 and it's over a five year period, correct? No. The actual amount we're asking for is 400. Let me see here. I got
to get the right amount. It's a one time increase of 460,001 97.35. And that is all reimbursable through federal and state funding. Right? The
part that concerns me is the sponge docks. Is it going to take five years to do this project? I will have to defer that. I'm not the subject matter expert on the design or
the implementation. It wasn't just the funds, it was the funds and the amount of time. I don't know if we have five years to, you know, and I'll
wait for Chris to wait to do this, that that was my concern. Okay. So the, the design, in order to access all the reimbursable funding, the
design would have to be completed by February of 2027. So the consultant understands that that we're on a timeline and, and has committed to that.
So construction presumably would be, you know, probably within a year of that. So you're talking about 2028. Yes.
I know you've not been around that long, but this has been a project that we've been pushing for a really long time. And, you know, I, I just when I saw
that, I just figured, how could this be another three, four, five years, you know, so I know you can't make magic, but it was just a little concerning.
So thank you. Okay. Vice mayor. Yes. Mr. Cod. I see this is anticipated to be 100% reimbursable, so that's a good thing. I just want to make sure
it does say this will go towards the design of the flood abatement. But are there other projects that you think you're going to be able to, to use that consulting to take care of some stormwater issues, mainly
some of the projects we have with this loan related to them. So there are other projects under design right now that I think are included in the base
of 600 000 amount that was already approved. And this for 60 is just to get us the additional design work on the sponge dock abatement project
itself. I believe there was an audit done as to whether we needed an increase for any other projects at this time, and the answer was no. That's the only increase we need right
now is for the for the sponge dock design. Okay. Thank you sir. No further questions. Okay. Is there any public comments on
this item? If there's no public comments, I'd like to come back to the board for a motion. So moved. Is there a second? Is
not here. Is there a second? I'll second. Okay. Unless there's any further comment. Roll call please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes. Commissioner
Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Collins. Yes. Okay, let's go to ordinances. Resolutions. Ordinance. Item number eight with the city
attorney. Please read it by title, please. Yes, mayor. Ordinance 2020 604, an ordinance of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, Amending City Code. Chapter two, article
three. Division one, section 2-36F2 of the City of Tarpon Springs Firefighters Pension plan to increase the benefit multiplier from 3.25% to 3.5%
for credible service earned after October 1st, 2025, and permitting the purchase of up to a 4% multiplier. Amending
section 2-36Y4 to extend the maximum period of drop participation to 96 months and permitting drop eligibility after 25 years of service or
the attainment of age 50. Providing for inclusion in the code. Providing for severability, providing for repealer, and providing for an effective date that is
ordinance 2020 604 read by title only on second reading. Advertisement was May 27th, 2026. Thank you. Chief Meissner
is this is the second reading. Is there any changes from the first reading? No, there are no changes. Okay. Commissioner Weaver, you have any questions? No questions, Commissioner
Eisner. No questions. Vice mayor? No, sir. Is there any public comments on this item? If there's no public comments, I'd like to come back to the
board for a motion. Motion to approve. Second. Okay. If there's no further comment, a roll call, please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes. Commissioner
Eisner. Yes. Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Mayor Giuliani's. Yes. Thank you. Chief. Number nine is with the city attorney. Read
the resolution by title, please. Resolution 2020 621, a resolution of the Board of Commissioners of the City of Tarpon Springs, Florida, supporting the grant application of the Public
Services Department to the Resilient Florida Program for the Forest Lift Station repair. And I want you that you did a
good job. All right. Commissioner Weaver, do you have any questions? No questions. Commissioner Eisner, no questions, vice mayor, no
questions. Okay. Do we have any public comments on this item? I'd like to come back to the board for a motion, please.
Somebody. Motion to approve. Second. Okay. Unless there's any further comments. Roll call please. Commissioner Weaver. Yes. Commissioner Eisner. Yes.
Vice mayor. Yes. Yes. Mayor. Yes. Okay. That concludes our regular business. Let's go to board and staff comments. Would.
Is there some assistant chief? No comment. Well, I guess I do. You know, I listened to Maggie Miles speech and it's it's like I never call her Maggie. It's
always my my cousin. But she's like an aunt to me. My mom's good friend growing up and my aunt's good friend. But I always say, you are such a powerful speaker and orator,
and what you said tonight was just amazing and awesome. And I thank you and your group for all you do in the Union Academy neighborhood to keep the heritage, tradition, and roots
going from when your mother and grandmother were here. So thank you. City attorney no comments.
City clerk oh. Excuse me. Acting city manager. No. For the night. And city clerk have no comments. Thank you.
Commissioner Weaver, thank you. Mayor. Last month. One of one of our neighbors here asked us to address the homeless
situation on Pinellas Avenue in front of her business, and I just wanted to give a brief update. I know she's out of the state. Perhaps she will watch.
I some of you know, I sit on the transit Authority board, the County Transit Authority board, and while there a few weeks ago, I had the
opportunity to ask the director about proper shelters and benches. Partitioned benches, particularly at the bus stops
here, and I believe that that would provide a better option for people who are driving by to to see people waiting in a
proper bus stop facility. So I am working on that. When I have some more information together, I will present it to the city manager and hopefully he'll
take it from there. Finally, I, you know, I would just really I'm so disappointed that that
we still that we still harbor such bad feeling about our friends and neighbors. It I just I'm baffled. I'm baffled. I don't I don't know what to
say. I'm not going to make this long. I'm not going to steal any thunder here, but I will, I will state that I disapprove of of that kind of rhetoric.
There's no place for it here. We just really need to live and let live. Thank you. Commissioner Eisner. Thank you.
Mayor. I know there was a request for the board to be at Juneteenth. I will definitely be there. I enjoy it every year. I enjoy celebration listening
to the mayor speak and knowing what has gone on in the South. I actually leaned over to the Commissioner Weaver and said, I'm blessed that I grew up in
the North because we didn't have that. And I find it horrific that anybody was treated like that. And I've
heard the stories. I just didn't live it. To me, I feel that my my joke is I hate everybody equally. And it's just a joke because I really do
love people until they cross the line and jump onto my personal space. So I just, I want to apologize for anybody
who has treated you that way. And I just think it's horrific to treat anybody that way. I grew up with prejudice being
Jewish, and I am repulsed by that. As well as racism. So that was one thing. I'm sure you all saw that I no longer
have a beard on, and I just came back from two weeks of visiting my granddaughters, and my older granddaughter asked me to not kiss her because my beard was hurting her soft face.
So I said, would you like me to shave it off? And she said, yes, that's it. So that's the reason it's not here. So it may come back, it may not. But I know I
look a little bit younger. My wife didn't recognize me when she picked me up from the airport. So just thank you all and have a blessed week. Thank
you, Vice Mayor. Yes. Just I'm actually looking forward to the the Juneteenth party. I'm going to try too hard to make it to the block party, the morning breakfast I won't be able to make. But you guys really set
the tone for the block party. I'm looking forward to it. And I just want to encourage this board. And when we're up here, we need to be alert. There's we
need to be ready to second motions. So move motions, make motions. No one needs to care. It needs to be carried up here at this point. So I want us all
to be ready to go and pay attention to the agenda items. Thank you. Okay. Commissioner
Eisner, I would granddaughters tell you to shave. You shave. They don't care that you're a commissioner. They don't care who you are. If they if she
says she'll give you more kisses. If you shave you, you do it. I have it on video. Yeah. So that's for sure. So let me anyways, I had a really I had a
very good time speaking at the library and I was very happy to. And I was very thankful for Eddie Hoffman for inviting me
and letting me tell. It was an opportunity to tell my dad's story. And it, it, it let me take time to build the story and, and it also gave me
something that I can share with my, my granddaughter and grandson that they can look at that someday and know who their great papa was. So they had asked me to tell my story in
Tarpon Springs, but it pales in comparison to my father's. So you know this thing about the proclamation next week I. They better brace themselves because
we're reading the LGBTQ proclamation. So that's coming. And I'm not shying away from any of that. You know, I'm the the ceremonial head of the town.
It's just the nature mayor pro Duce. You know what it's like to be such. I read and sign proclamations all the time. I know Commissioner Eisner asked
me to do one sign, one for his great aunt, who was 100. I was more than happy to do that. Commissioner Banther asked me to sign a couple things for him
that he did, and I was happy to do that. I signed things all the time. I signed Christmas cards. I signed letters going out to the community. I sign all kinds of things, and
proclamations are just opportunities to make people feel better in a lot of ways, and I'm more than happy to do
it. So. So I had there's a gentleman who was born here in Tarpon Springs. Everybody knows, I think most everybody up here
I know, I know the the assistant chief and the chief know and and, and the clerk know that Kelly, George Kelly,
George, she had a son named Nick. She has. And and Nick's father had a bar called Charlie's Bar. And he was, he
was Charlie. And he, he died when Nick was a teenager. And Nick's mom, Kelly, had to take over the bar. And it it was she
was she was tough, right, mayor. She was tough. And she had to be tough to raise a child all by herself. And that was her only source of income was
having that bar. Nick George, her son, comes from an old family in Tarpon Springs. Her and you mentioned both those
families, mayor. His he is related to the Larios who built the all the the the diving helmets. And he's also related
to the Marcos family, who is one of the pioneers of the sponging industry. Nick
graduated from Tarpon High School and he went on to be a highly educated man, probably.
Let's go ahead. Goodbye. So he is a highly educated man. So he went on to get a PhD from
University of California, Berkeley, one of the best schools in, in in the United States and maybe the world. He also did post graduate work at
Columbia University. He got his PhD in genetic biology, and he went on to work in one of the most complex industries in, in,
in the country in biochemistry and worked for pharmaceutical companies. And he was a genius.
His mom worked that bar and Nick, he went to school and he went, he, he kind of had a. I had a feeling this, this fiasco was going to happen tonight.
And so I told Nick that I was going to talk. And he wanted to make it clear that he didn't burn burden his mom with his education because he went on and got scholarships and grants
and internships and worked the entire time that he went to school. He he testified regularly for these
pharmaceutical companies and, and also on the other side of them in in complex patent cases, he was so impressive in what he
did that he was that that he was his loss. They asked him to go to law school and they paid for his law school. And it's
for he went to Fordham University. He worked during the day in his capacity as a PhD. And then he went to law school at night. He is
currently a partner at the firm of Jones Day. If anybody wants to Google it, it's one of the largest law firms in the world. He lives on the Upper West Side
of Manhattan. And Mike, you know, that's pricey. Okay? He's a very accomplished man. Probably, I would suspect. And I'd like to see anybody who could tell me otherwise is
probably the most educated person to ever come out of Tarpon Springs. He probably is. All right. Well, maybe. Maybe
maybe all right. But he is very accomplished man. And he's gay. He has had his partner for 30
years. He decided that he waited because obviously getting married was not legal until sometime recently for gay
couples. And he also didn't want the repercussions that would come on to his mother while she was still alive here in Tarpon Springs. Because as good as we are, you can see we
sometimes can be judgmental. And that's just not Tarpon Springs. That's everywhere. So I was invited to go to this
wedding because I've known Nick for a long time and he I value his friendship and also his
partner, Dan. Dan's also a very accomplished because he's an administrator of a hospital in in new Jersey and a very
accomplished person in himself. So they were getting married up in New York. They did a civil wedding. They didn't go to a church. They did the civil wedding at the at the
courthouse in New York City. And so K and I were invited, and I'm sitting with K and K, what what do we give them? They have all the money in the world. They could buy each other
whatever they want. What do I, what do I give them? And I said, you know what? It was just I called Trish and upstairs, I said, Trish, do we have any proclamations? Have we ever done any proclamations for for
married couples? She goes, let me look, mayor, because that's where she gets all these proclamations. She, she she has them. And she has like a, an inventory of them. Right. So, you know, mayor again, so she
went through and she said, yeah, I found one. I said, could you make it up? This is a same sex couple. I'm going to be going to the. I'd like to read something to him. I'd like, you know. So I went up there and,
and I took the proclamation and they were tickled pink. I mean, I couldn't have given them anything that made him happier. But what. But Nick cried, he cried, and he's a strong guy.
This guy is a accomplished man. Goes to court and, you know, works for the again, this big firm. And he cried because he
said, I never thought that the city would ever. Anybody from the Tarpon Springs would ever acknowledge me because of that
I was gay. So here's a guy with that has. It's so accomplished with PhDs and law degrees and and a partner in in one of the
in one of the most prestigious firms in the world. And he said that his town that he should be super proud of him wouldn't be
proud of him. So I did that. I didn't put it on social media. I just wanted to make him feel good. That's all I did. I'll do it again. Unless this board
wants to make a a motion and resolution for to limit when I what I sign, I'm going to go ahead and do that just like I did it for Mike. I did it for for David. I'll do it for
anybody up here. Just like we all hand out keys and all that stuff, you know, they make people feel good. That's what I've tried to do as a mayor. I've tried to make us a happier,
healthier community. And it's mental. It's, it's it's what matters to me. Okay, I've got another one year and ten months to be mayor. I'll do it again.
But, you know, I called I called Nick, and I said, Nick, I didn't put this on social media. And, and because somebody texted a copy of the
proclamation to the clerk and she showed it to me on her phone, look what I got. I was like, okay. So I called Nick and said, Nick, I, I didn't put it on social media. I didn't do anything with it. Did you? And
he goes, no, I don't, he doesn't, I don't do Facebook and all that. He said, I, I gave it I only things I sent it to my cousin and his wife. Okay.
Enough said. So if if the the point is an I gotcha on me. Go do all your. I got yours because ain't nothing you can do to me, okay? Because I'm.
Trust me, I'm way tougher than that. Okay, so. But what you did is you tried to embarrass this person who should be
honored in this community and not made to feel lesser in this community. So again, I did it. I'll do it again and I'll do it again. You got a year and ten
months unless unless this board chooses to limit my ability to do it, I'll do it. Meeting adjourned at 712. Have a
wonderful evening. Thank you. Good job.