Hey, Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, Hey, hey, hey,
hey. Everybody. So, I'd like to call the meeting to order and welcome everybody to the December 16th meeting of the uh Temple City Council. I don't know where 2025 has gone, but it just seems like it was 2023 yesterday and now we're going
to 2026. So, I don't know what that You guys are all getting older. So, so I'd like to remind everybody to please silence your electronic devices and if you would please stand and join us in the invocation in the pledge. Lord, we ask your blessings upon our
meeting tonight. Grant us wisdom and patience as we work together for the common good of our city. We ask for peace throughout the world as we celebrate the holy seasons of Christmas and Hanukkah. Help us all work together to help those in need and remember those
less fortunate than ourselves. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> So, those of you who are visiting us for the first time or who don't routinely visit us, uh we have a tradition here. We call it a tradition. It's fairly new. A couple years we've been doing this. um whereby we begin each meeting with an interesting or or we call it fun.
Sometimes they're fun, sometimes they're not. Um but some type of interesting historical fact about our city or the region. And so tonight that duty falls to council member Chambers and he never disappoints because he's lived so much of Temple Terrace history.
>> Is that a compliment? I don't know. Okay. All right. Uh my topic uh tonight is the Temple Terrace Police Explorer program. uh that program uh restarted uh last month. Uh this is the flyer that
they had. Uh they had an open house at the public works building on the 20th of November and that was very successful and got the program started. Uh the program exp uh uh provides experience in law enforcement. They learn all kinds of different aspects of law enforcement.
They learn leadership skills and then at uh times they help out the police department with special events and stuff. Again, this program just restarted. Uh, it's also affiliated uh with the Scouts of America and it's for ages 14 to 21. And I said it uh
restarted. The first post was founded in 1973 and it went until 2003. Uh, our post was very very strong here. Uh, it uh met on Tuesday evenings and Saturdays during the day. The Tuesday
meetings took place at the former Abbey Apartments which are now known as Southern Cove. The Saturday training was conducted at the police station police department. Uh they competed in national and or excuse me state and uh different
competitions and won the state competition one time. Now they had advisers. police department uh members were advisers to the post and some of our advisers uh included uh currently Greg Paulie still with us uh
Patty Stanton and Michael Antonitis and then we've had uh some of our cadetses have gone on into careers in law enforcement and one in our department uh that was Tumble Terrace police officer Carl Avery Cooper
uh also Tumble Terrace Nick Dickman Chuck Philippe was corporal with Temple Terrace. John Spala was a sergeant with Temple Terrace. Ruth Kate became the assistant chief for Tampa Police Department.
And our last notable uh cadet going into the police department. This is a picture of him in the police department uh as a cadet and of course currently Chief Staley. So we
So you can see it's a very uh it was a very good program back then and I hope the current one goes to s the same success. >> Thank you. That was very good. That was fun and interesting. So okay see you did you still have a perfect record of not disappointing. So thank you.
>> So next I'd like to invite uh Raquel Ruiz to the podium please. This is always a fun part of the meeting. The beginning is always great of the meeting. So, um, many of you know Raquel from the Family Recreation
Complex. Uh, Raquel is being recognized as the employee of the month for the month of November. She's demonstrated exceptional dedication and leadership through the ETRA migration project, taking on responsibilities far beyond the scope of her customer service role. In addition
to managing her regular duties, which include providing excellent customer service, supporting customer relations, and training team members at the front desk, Raquel also has naturally stepped into the role of the parks and recre division system liaison. She's provided essential training,
troubleshooting support, and operational insight, ensuring the team success and serving as a reliable point of contact for the municipal systems and process administrator. Raquel's initiative, expertise, and unwavering commitment to both daily operations and major projects
make her an extremely valuable employee. Besides all the work Raquel is doing for the ETRA migration project, she's also devoted her lunch hour for several years to leading a spin class for her fellow employees. And I could recognize some of you who
I've seen at that class. And she she will leave you on the floor. I will tell you she she will um and I think she takes it out on me a little bit when I go there. Um she's the kind of person who quietly elevates an entire workplace with her energy. And that's that is true
for those of you who who work there. Uh she gives her time and her encouragement not because she has to but because she genuinely wants to others to feel stronger, healthier, and more connected. All that she gets from the many hours she has devoted to helping her fellow
employees is the satisfaction that she's doing her part to promote a healthy workplace. She is a strong reminder that one person's commitment can make everybody's day a little bit better. And so we all of us who work here at the city would would really like to congratulate Raquel
for being selected as the November employee of the month. And so thank you very much. Would you like to say a few words? >> Um, definitely not expected. I just do my thing every day and I really
appreciate it. Thank you guys. >> She's a a woman of few words even at the rec center. >> Thank you. >> I don't know about at home though. Is that true? >> You bet. Don't say a word. Don't say a words. You live one. You have to stand on both sides of this
black strip. >> Perfect. All right. Three, two, one. >> Awesome. Thank you with >> your family. >> Okay, hold on one second. >> Can we all scoot over just a little bit? Perfect.
>> All right. Three, two, one. >> Got it. Thank you. Council members, have everybody had an opportunity to review the minutes of our December 2nd meeting? And is there if so, is there a motion to approve? >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> Motion to second. Discussion,
corrections to the minutes? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. >> No. Nays. The minutes are adopted. Next we have public comment. Um, this section is for persons wishing to
be heard on items on the consent agenda or items not on the agenda. Request to address the mayor and counselor in the back of the chambers on that little table u back there. Please complete them. Uh give them to the city clerk to my left and your right. We have a 30
minute time limit uh for this portion of the meeting. Uh I don't think we're going to approach that. We don't usually, but if necessary, we stop at 30 minutes so we can continue with the meeting and then we resume the public comment at the end of the meeting and we go on for however long it takes. There's
a 3minut time limit imposed on all speakers. Uh we do ask that speakers come to the podium, state their name and city of residence, please. Uh during public comment, uh we like to assure everybody that the city manager, the council members in attendance, and all the directors do make note of this and
follow up on all of your concerns. Our first request to speak is um Charles Lope. Mr. Lope, welcome. Welcome everybody. Happy holiday. Nice to see a nice crowd here. I do want to go del into the holidays. Uh first of all, of course, tonight's the third
night of Hanukkah and of course Christmas is coming up and so is New Year's before the next meeting. I also want to go a little further and dealing with holidays. I was thinking about the middle of February. Uh middle of February, Saturday will be val Saturday,
February 14th will be Valentine's Day. Uh Monday, February 16th will be uh President's Day. 17th will be your council meeting. But most people probably would not know about the 18th. The 18th has several holidays. The first
one uh the most important one probably in my opinion is the beginning of Ramadan uh for the Muslim people. Also it's uh new moon for Jewish people and it's Ash Wednesday for uh for Christians all on the same day.
Uh I do want to I have to make a very brief comment about what happened in Australia. couple of first amazes me the technology that we could find out even before Hanukkah begins here what happened in Australia there about the tragedy there uh there is a reminder
that uh what death uh death separates but it also unites and that what doesn't harm you personally can make you stronger. Uh I did want to go a little bit into a couple of topics having to do with the city and that first is the Joe Latino
Center because I go over there regularly and see how they're doing. Uh they seem to be doing pretty well as of now. Uh so but again uh starting January some people will not be getting their benefits. So I want you all to keep that in mind. I also have a couple of
comments about the library. Uh first of all uh we were told and I assume that they did the demolition on the bathrooms finally uh today and uh today and yesterday. That's what was on the schedule. Uh the uh thing I was
wondering if the city manager has the schedule for when they're going to start working on the new bathrooms. Now they're going to be using portables, but when the city city managers are scheduled for they're going to start working and putting up the new bathrooms and you know maybe you can inform us. And the other thing is that I thought
about last time uh is about using all the uh digital billboards for library events. The libraries bill uh digital billboard uh does have the libraries events, but it doesn't seem like the digital billboards throughout the city have the libraries events on them. And
again, I want to wish everybody one more time, staff, people in the audience and council and uh a very happy holiday and uh and of course and happy new year. >> Thank you, Mr. Lo. Next uh per person
signed up is Lucas Hutchkins. Mr. Hutchkins, welcome, sir. And um somebody Angel Hay has seated your time. Mr. Hay, is your intent to seed your time to Mr. Hutchkins? >> Okay, so very good. Mr. Hutchkins, that'll give you four minutes, sir.
>> Okay. My name is Lucas Hutchkins. I live in the Riverboom subdivision. Most people know me as the crazy Christmas guy. I'm here today because I'm disappointed in the city of Temple Terrace. The decorations are very lacking. If you go to other cities, the cities are coming together. We're supposed to be a small town. We're
supposed to do stuff as a small town, and that's not here no more. We don't have that in Temple Terrace. There's like no decorations. The city looks depressing. I mean, it's I'm doing all the work, and I live in one subdivision. The city needs to start doing their own thing. I mean, the winter wonderland was all right, but every other city does so
many things. They do parades. They do the the towns, the the downtowns are all decorated. They've got decorations on the polls. You know, there's events that the cities held. We don't do anything here. It's depressing to live in Temple Terrace. And it's sad. And this younger generation, we're all seeing just what
lacklusters we've got going on here. I want to start seeing more things here in Temple Terrace. We need to start becoming the smaller city that we used to be. You know, we've got decorations. We need to put funds into putting them up and doing things. I want to see the city come back. >> It's depressing. You know, I do a lot in
my subdivision and we're a very small oriented community. We do block parties and all kinds of things, which is something that the city used to we used to do things as a city. I mean, I like the fact that we did the food truck thing last week. That was an effort. But my problem I'm noticing is that there was no holiday theme in that. This is a
holiday season. There should have been like hot chocolate cookies. Santa should have came out, which like we did at the Winter Wonderland, there should have been a Christmas tree down there. Things to bring the community together. People aren't going to come here if we're not doing stuff for them to come here. See, I don't come out to Temple Terrace when I live here, but when I'm going to do
things, I go to other cities and to enjoy their decorations, to enjoy what they're doing for the season. We don't do that here. You know, it's like I go to Lakeland, we go to Penllis Park, Plant City. The cities have beautiful displays, Christmas trees, and all kinds of things. It doesn't always have to be Christmas related, but they're doing
something for the holidays and that's what we're not doing here. I want to start seeing a change here in Temple Terrace. It's depressing and it's like this whole and I'm going to point out this whole 100 year century party was kind of a let down. I think you guys kind of boasted it up to be a very big thing and this is a 100 years of temple
terrace and it was a huge letdown. I think there should have been more. There was a lot of disorganization. You know, the river jam was pretty good, but other than that, I mean, I think like there should have been a lot more. or the Fourth of July parade. We've always done every year, so there wasn't much different to that. But we need to start becoming back as a small city that
we were. I'm I'm just very disappointed. I'm very let down with what we've got here. I'm a younger person and we have a lot of younger people in Temple Chairs. We've got people that want to, you know, donate their time and help and get out there. So, if we need volunteers in that, we can do that. But it's I want to
see Temple Terrace come back to the small town that it was because it's just it's Christmas is a big thing. But not just Christmas, the holiday season is a big thing for me. I like community oriented, having fun and and going out and seeing things. And that's what Temple Terrace was, you know, and it's
it's just sad to see what we're in. I'm at this state where either I'm going to move and move somewhere else where they have that or I'm going to fight to try to bring back what we had here. I want to see it change. So that's all. All right. Thank you so much. Your
>> next person is Sean Rhodess. Good evening, Mr. RHS. >> Evening. >> Uh, so my name is Sean Rhodess. I'm a disabled Marine Corps combat veteran, a 12-year resident of Temple Terrace, and the father of a young daughter who passes a home on Sunnyside Road every
day, a road with a school bus stop on it. Across from that stop, a resident has put out a political sign that uses a vulgar term for a female dog, a word that none of us would politely speak in this chamber. Every child at that bus pickup, every child who passes by, including my daughter, is forced to see
it. I'm here today not about political expression, but rather about our law and our unwillingness to enforce it, even after multiple complaints. Temple Terrace Code is clear on this issue. City Code 12-963 states that signal signs containing obscene, indecent, or
immoral words are prohibited. And that signs harmful to the health, safety, and general welfare of the public are also prohibited. It's been brought to the attention of city code enforcement. Yet this sign remains. And there's no ambiguity here. A profane word facing a school bus stop pickup is indecent and harmful to minors. Yet this
sign remains. Some might question whether this word is actually obscene. Florida statute 847.001 has settled that for us, defining obscene language as anything that is patently offensive to prevailing adult standards with respect to what is suitable material for minors. If my
child encountered this word in a school book, it would be removed from the school library. If she said it in a classroom setting, she would be disciplined and rightly so. But on our public streets, directly across from a school bus stop, apparently the sign can remain. Some might claim this is protected political speech, but the
Supreme Court has already address this, especially as it pertains to anything visible to minors. In FTC vers Pacifica Foundation, a 1978 case, it was determined that the government may restrict indecent language to protect children. This is not a First Amendment issue. I see it as an indecency issue
and the law is overwhelmingly on the side of regulating it. So the real question in my mind becomes why hasn't it been addressed and what kind of city do we want Temple Terrace to be? If this city council allows this sign to remain despite violating city code, state law, and federal precedent, not to mention
common decency, you are declaring that profanity openly visible to minors on our streets is acceptable and that public indecency is something that we are willing to tolerate. The council doesn't want to be on the side of exposing minors to indecency in the name of politics. I urge the mayor and the honorable council here to direct code
enforcement to enforce the ordinances that you've already passed and sworn to uphold and protect the children of this city. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Rhodess. >> The next uh order order the next uh person signed up is Ken Toer.
>> Good evening, Mr. Toer. Good evening, mayor, city council people, staff. Um this is very interesting. Two interesting comments just prevailed. um one is looking for something to occur here
in the city which is Christmas and we have 10 days before the 25th and there's enough time you could put a Christmas tree in that lot you'd like to sell south of uh Bush Boulevard on the east side of 56th Street. Uh there are some
lights on this building but not very many. And as you drive up and down 56th Street, all you see are commercial. There's a lot of lights, but it's all commercial lights. And I am uh of the opinion that the city should step up and
do something to enrich the people of the city of Temple Terrace. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Toer. Okay. Order. Order, folks. Okay. Okay, we have some more people
that have come in. Next signed up is Kathleen. Is it Wow. Whoa. >> Kathleen. >> Kathleen. >> Not Kathleen. >> Okay. Welcome. >> My name is Karen Wah
like Limeball and I hope you'll give me a minute. I couldn't get my printer to work and so I'm having to work off my phone at the moment. Um, honorable members of Temple Terrace City Council, I thank you for this opportunity. Uh, I'm here as a 23-y year resident and
before that a 47y year holiday visitor prior to that uh to this beautiful little city on the river. We've always treasured what we found in Temple Terrace. Um, we've come here for the people u as much as the climate. a
taxpaying residents who love this city. And I have some very important questions for you. Uh for the first time in memory, there are no holiday decorations on 56th Street in December. Thus far, this group has given no concrete
explanation for that neglect. Supposedly, the 100year city celebration budget took all the money that would have gone to put up the holiday decor that the city still has, even though a private citizen offered to pay to have those items placed along 56th Street.
I'm happy to confess to you that I'm a Christian. But you should know that my family and I do not celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, but one of joy for children and happiness and kindness to all men, no matter what they consider the holiday to be. It is certainly right
to mark 100 years of Temple Terrace, and we are glad that you did. But we, your voters, ask at what cost. To drop a celebration 10 times the age of this city seems at best a very poor decision on an event celebrated by this city
longer than the 70 years of which I'm aware. As elected representatives, are you believably blind to the social media anger and quiet voter outrage over Temple Terrace's lack of holiday decor on 56 Streets this season? I know you
have been asked about this before in this chamber, but no definitive and believable answers have yet been given. The voters are left with only two possible conclusions. One, there's a question of malfeasance,
misfeasance, or non-feasence in the incredibly poor judgment to fail to fund something that here for spent was spent for more than 70 years. The difference in those charges comes from the fact that even though without funding, you refuse to allow a private citizen to pay
for installation of decor now sitting in a warehouse. That seems a glaringly purposeful omission. Number two, if this is not an appalling budget management, we must wonder if Temple Terrace leaders are more sensitive to the growing number
of 56th Street real estate owners of the Muslim faith. Are their tax dollars more important to you than the non-Muslim voters of Temple Terrace? It is one of these two reasons, and your long and determined silence on this gives us no other explanations. Your voters are
interested in the answers here on record, as will be the Florida Commission on Ethics. Unlike most every other city in this nation, why are there no holiday lights on 56th Street in 2025? We await your answer. Thank you for your
time. >> Tara McDaniel. >> Well, hello again. Uh I've been resident since I don't know 1992. I went to Florida College live on Courtney. So I also would like to ask kind of where that where that h what
happened? Where are the decorations? Um they used to be you know the the stem things on the poles. Those are gone. Are they missing? All of a sudden when we made a comment there was two or four maybe six little flags placed out. That's wonderful. And two wreaths here.
That's great. The thing is is you're missing the point of what it actually means. I went to Newport Richie's parade over the weekend. You wouldn't imagine the amount of people that were there. It brought in business. >> Yes. >> Do you know how much money that this
gentleman brings in to our town? Have you even drove by to see the lines and lines and lines of people that go there? That's an expense for them. They're paying the electric bill. Okay? So, not only are you getting people exposed to
him and that area brings people to Temple Terrace, it brings money to Temple Terrace. You're missing the point. So, it's not about decorations. So, it's about this city doesn't seem to want to bring in anything that we've
done in the past. Where is it? And I still haven't gotten an answer. I can get faces looking at me, but I get no answers. And we've still got no answers. You've got people that want to help. I can I can round up people quicker than you think I can. Him and I
together could probably decorate the whole city and we could probably get donations. I've got stuff I throw out all the time. I have a buy nothing group. I can advertise on there. No, we don't have to make it look cheesy. Just
a little bit. Um, but another thing is if you're not handling or or not handling, I don't want to use that word. If you're not taking this into consideration, something small, then how can we trust that you're going to take care of anything big,
>> i.e. the water as well. >> So, I am very vocal about that. Um, my children enjoy it, but I go to different cities as well. So, my business is not here that night. I ate in Newport Richie. We have a lot of great things
here. We have a lot of great things coming in. But if you can't, you know, our city is just not what it used to be and it doesn't need to be that way. Utilize your people. I'll work tirelessly. You know that. I
mean, he knows how how I arranged the huge King High School event. I had over 12,000 people there and raised $50,000 for the band. I was there all day. >> I organized things like that. I'd be happy to take on that. I'll be happy to
be on a committee. Is there one? Get me on it. >> I'll be happy to help you. So, we need to get back to what Temple Terrace is. And it's just not here anymore. So, you need to be thankful for this gentleman for bringing in all the business. Go by
there. Go check it out. Sir, we're not going to have outbursts in the council meeting and we're not going to have you speaking out. If you are going to remain, which you're welcome to do, you're going to have to do so in silence. >> I apologize, but it's the holidays. I have a young family and this is exactly
what I to talk about. >> Okay. Are you Did you want to address the council? >> Uh, when's my turn? >> Um, >> I apologize. >> I don't That's what was the last request. >> No, I signed up before
What's your last name, sir? >> It's Matthew. M A H E WS >> King 2012 >> for item 12. >> King High alumni 2012. >> Oh, I have a request for Mr.
>> Let me go through the requests. I have and you're you're welcome to speak, but I have Mr. Loe. We called Mr. Hutchkins. We called Angel Hay. We called and he yielded his time to Mr. Hutchkins. We called Shawn
Rhodess. Ken Toer, Karen W, and Tara McDaniel. That's all I have, sir. Would you like to fill out a form and address to council? >> Okay. point.
>> Uh in previous council sessions, we had this discussion at great length and it was established that one could also address the council by a show of hands from the audience. So maybe since there are so many people who are interested in this, we ask people to raise their hand if they would still like to speak and we'd use the other legal option that's
available to allow them to do so rather than having them fill out the form. >> No, Council Member Kravitz, you brought that up before, but that's not the council rules. >> I have the council rules right here. Would you like me to read from them? >> Here we go. >> Is that a yes or no? >> No. Because the council rules because
this goes into the record about who spoke so it can be included in the minutes. >> When people stand up, they're asked to introduce themselves by name and then they provide us with the information that would go into the record. >> That's quite all right, sir. You're you are next. Well, actually, we have to
clear the point of order. >> You can let him speak while I look for it, and then it will be more efficient because right now I'm digging through these procedural rules. So, if you'd like me to find it, it'll take me about 2 minutes because I have to read them first and find what number it is. >> Mr. Matthews, you are welcome. And you
are recognized to speak, sir. >> Good evening. First and foremost, let me apologize for looking a hot mess, but one thing I enjoy being able to do. I love Tampa. Temple terrace is has always been my home. So to sit here, it's a lot
of things that, you know, everybody else has already spoke about, but it's some things that I think that we need to stray from because we still have a lot of homeless people and young people getting involved in things that make our environment uncomfortable to the point where people don't want to go out or bring their kids
around. And I can honestly say that cuz I have a three-year-old and I have a soon to be one-year-old within less than two weeks. So to sit here and both our birthdays are New Year's or we're winter babies. It sucks to sit there. I don't want to go to Buscard. I want to go to Adventure
Island. I want to go to the riverwalk that we have in in in Temple Terrace. But there's so many people that whether I know them or not or they just familiarize themselves with, hey, he's going to give me a dollar. Hey, he's going to make sure to give me some food when I know he he's going to look out for me. It gets to a certain point of
time where you start realizing if you were to even be in that situation, Lord forbid, you can't depend on your your city council or your local politicians or whoever, a small business owner just stops and looks out. So, I'm very proud to see my
my my uncle who used to live a very very unnecessary lifestyle, but that's how he felt as if he was raised in his environment, have his own business and be be thriving and flourishing because at the end of the day, and like you said, I don't like certain profanities being used, of course, especially being
African-American. I don't even like the fact that some of his old friends are dressing as they're nword. and he makes it very clear I'm doing that that part of my lifestyle. Even then, I never perceive myself as that. When I walk through temper, I
don't perceive myself as a wealthy white man. When I walk through that golf course, when I go to Tacoma Trail, North 50th Bush is where I took my first steps. So, to sit there and think about how all it took was a older brother stepping that right path for everything else to fall in line. I don't even want
that to be uh, you know, Lord forbid, a issue for my children, my sons, but I definitely want it to be something that, hey, we don't have to sit here and question where money is going to when it comes to Christmas decorations cuz it kind of sucks that we got to go through neighborhoods that's not even technically Tampa just to drive through
and see their decorations. And we have a way better living society. It sucks to sit there and hey, I want to go to a USF football game. As much as I see the commercials about how we got, you know, love the new coach, love that we beat Boise and be made to the top 25, you know, how amazing it is to sit there and
actually have a conversation about, "Yeah, I know him. I went to school with him. Yeah, I know him. That's that's my that's my that's my buddy's nephew, man. Did you see the game? Did you go to the gang?" These little conversations and topics is what us as as citizens and leaders of
our family talk about. But one thing I definitely want to assess is the whole fact of we need to put our money where it needs to go expeditiously because Lord forbid anything happens. Temple terrace is still a beautiful place but we shouldn't get a bad reputation behind it.
>> Thank you Mr. Matthews. And you are welcome to come here and speak any time and it doesn't matter how you're dressed. You're still welcome. So >> yeah I apologize but once >> you don't have don't don't you're welcome to come speak any >> very long weekend. I just want to say I thank you guys for hearing me out and I appreciate you guys and hopefully we can
grow together as >> Thank you very much, sir. Are there other members of the public who wish to address the council? >> Okay. If there are none council members, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Chair, before we uh proceed, I'd like to
come back to the point of order that you want me want. >> Council member Kravitz, you are recognized. >> Yes. Thank you. So, I'm referring to rule 18 D and I'll just read that into the record so that everyone here is on the same page. So, rule 18D says the
chair, that's uh you shall recognize a citizen who wants to address the council. The citizen shall state his or her name and city of residence for the record and shall limit his or her remarks to the question or issue under discussion. All remarks shall be addressed to the entire council and not
to an individual council member. only the recognized citizen and the council members shall discuss an issue. There shall be no debate from the floor. So the thing that's missing from this provision of course is the piece of paper that has been routinely used to stop people from speaking when they wish to. And I personally know of at least
four or five examples of people who came here and were not called up and then the meeting proceeded and they didn't have an opportunity to speak. So anyone who wishes to speak can ask to be recognized by the chair and they have a legal right to be so recognized under rule 18D of
the city council rules of procedure. So that is what I was referring to and that is all I yield the floor. >> Mr. Mueller, we have um I don't have the rules in front of me. I'm assuming that he read the correct version of the rules. I don't have them in front of me.
Since I've been on council, we have always used the forms. I know that it's important for the city clerk to be able to put the names of the people who speak into the record and it's not always audible on the record. There's also a place for their um contact information
which the city manager and directors use to follow up on their issues that are brought up. So are is this failure to address longstanding practice in the in the paragraph of the rules? Is
that where do we sit on this? >> I uh I read 18D myself and I see that it was followed. Yes. the the form is not specifically stated in here, but it's been a custom for a long time. And for all the reasons that you stated, I do
not recall in the time that I've been here that anybody has been stopped from speaking because they have not filled out that form. They've been asked to fill out the form for that information in or in order for the city to reach back out if they had a question or whatever. But I do not see where 18D has
been invi, you know, violated at all. and no one has ever been stopped from speaking to the city council. >> I may address that point, Mr. Chair. >> Hang on a second. So, I'm still looking for where we are in this. Are these
forms I mean, I don't see anybody that wants to speak that has any trouble filling out the form. Nobody's raised their hand that wants to speak. you ask. >> But again, the form is not specifically in the rule. Uh but it has been a custom
and it has a purpose. Um so I mean do do I feel that we've had some sort of u break in protocol or a break in the in the rules? No, I do not. I mean people have always had the opportunity to speak and that's what 18D speaks to. >> Council member Kravis wants to debate
this with you. Council member, you're recognized. I'm not looking to debate at all. In fact, um it's not that people who wish to speak are prevented from doing so. Uh as I mentioned earlier, it's that the meeting progresses too quickly and they're not
given an opportunity to ask to speak. So, in the past, what has happened is people have come to express themselves on one or the other issue. And I have emails from constituents where they've told me this and they weren't aware that they had to fill out the form. And I'm
not able to necessarily anticipate everyone who wishes to come and speak and make sure that they have this information and the city doesn't have anyone who disseminates this information either. So what happens in practical terms is people will come here with the intention of speaking. they won't be aware of the form. Then the meeting will
proceed directly to the consent agenda just as what was happening a minute a minute ago and they're not given a chance to raise their hand and ask to be recognized which is what rule 18D says should happen. So all I'd think to that would
we we would need to do because of course we don't want to prevent anyone from speaking is we have to give people in the audience a brief opportunity to express the desire to speak instead of relying exclusively on the forms that are filed with the city clerk that
people need to know to pick up in the back if they want to go and speak. Um, and so what we have right now is a situation where people who are coming in and becoming engaged don't know what the process is because the process is not in the rules. So they don't have anywhere to look to learn the process and it's
basically all um closely held knowledge in this body. Right? So it's a long-standing practice. But if you look online or if you look in the rules, you won't actually find evidence of this practice. You'd have to know by seeing other people do it. And people who are
coming in here don't spend a lot of time in city council. They have jobs and they do other things. So they're not privy to all of these little nuances. So that that is my point. It's not that we are preventing people from speaking. It's that we're not giving the opportunity to them to make it known that they have something to say. So that is the issue.
And I yield the floor. >> Well, I feel compelled to answer some of that because here's this comment that as I introduced this section, it's this is what I read a few minutes ago. Persons wishing to be heard on items on the consent agenda or items not on the agenda. Request to address the mayor and
counselor in the back of the chambers on that little table. Um, please complete the forms and give it to the city clerk to my left and to your right. I said that at the beginning of the public comment section and then of course I read the rest of the I
I don't know. Oh, I mean I I I I we council, if you want to abandon the forms and just have people come up and speak, that's up to you. I mean, I don't >> That is it what I'm suggesting. >> Yes.
>> I heard you say at the very end of this after the forms were read, is there anybody in the audience that wants to address the council? >> You made that statement tonight. You always make that statement at the end of before you go to the consent agenda. You make that statement. You look in the
audience and maybe sometimes the consent agenda comes up fast, but you do ask. You made that statement tonight. So, you're asking someone can raise their hand from the audience. They're given the opportunity.
I don't know what was different tonight. So I'm just saying >> Matthews, we passed public comment section now. You did get to speak. >> No, you already had your No, sir. >> So anyway, I the the system we've been
using has worked fine for many many years. >> So I'm I'm good. >> You want to just forego the meeting and just have public comments for the next two hours? Is that what you want to do? >> That's what a lot of uh the rest of the city does. >> Okay.
This is more like Mayor >> goes back on track. >> Is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> Move to approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Motion in a second. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. No nays. Consent agenda is adopted.
Next, we have first reading and public and first public hearing of an ordinance amending the future land use of a parcel of land located south of Telen Lane, east of North 78th Street, north of Lake Island Drive and west of Cedar Drive from residential 9 to residential 18,
otherwise known as CPA-20-02. I will open the public hearing. Uh, city planner Joe Moro will explain and Yikica Mills from the planning commission. Good evening. Good evening, mayor, council members. Uh, Joe Moretta with city planning. I'm going to
introduce Yanika Mills. She's in executive planning with the planning commission. She's going to make the presentation. Uh, they were the lead agency reviewing the comp plan amendment. uh we were reviewing the implementation piece which if the comp plan land amendment gets approved then we'll deal with it through zoning and I
can provide some context of that after her presentation. So without any further ado >> good evening Miss Mills. >> Good evening Yikica Mills Planning Commission staff. I'm here to present TTCPA 20-02. Uh the applicant is bringing this application forward after some time. Uh
though there has been some time since the uh case was last revisited. Uh staff did have another opportunity to do some site visits to see if conditions had changed and the development pattern in the area um was determined by staff to
not have changed um u much in the uh area. >> Where am I? >> I may have to turn it on on the side. >> Is it on? There you go. Thank you. Uh again, this site is located in the
southeastern portion of Temple Terrace. More specifically, it's located on the uh east side of 78th Street uh south of Temple Terrace Highway. Uh the application being brought forth before you this evening has been uh privately initiated. It's small in
scale. It's approximately 3 acres and the applicant is requesting to change a future lane use designation from residential 9 to residential 18. Here is the area of the site outlined in pink. Uh there is single family
residential over to the west. Uh there are um condominiums to the south. There's an apartment complex over to the northeast. Uh there is a single family home just to the uh northwestern portion
of the site. This is the site within its current state is a wooded area not developed. Uh the single family residential uh subdivision that's just
to the uh west along 78th Street. Uh the condominiums located to the south are within the Metalwood uh condominium subdivision. And here's what uh some of the typical sub uh condos look like in that subdivision. And here is that single family home that
I was speaking of that's just adjacent to the uh along the northeastern northwestern excuse me boundary of the subject site. Currently, the subject site has a future land use designation of a residential 9. Other future land use classifications in
the immediate area include residential 18 to the south and east. Additional residential 9 to the west. Residential 12 is adjacent to the north and then the color uh red further north is uh designated commercial.
Again, the applicant is requesting to change a future lane use designation to residential 18. Currently, if the site were to be developed, it could potentially uh be developed up to 27 dwelling units. If approved, the site would have the
potential to be developed up to 54 dwelling units. So, there will be increase in uh density potential on the site. Planning Commission staff reviewed the following plan amendment for consistency with the Temple Terrace comprehensive plan and found it to be consistent with
the following objective goals and policies. Policy 1.1.6 identifies the subject site as being in an urban neighborhood as per the Temple Terrace vision map and policy 1.4.6 which states to foster different residential living choices. Goal two
states to achieve a well-balanced combination of residential, non-residential, recreational, as well as public uses while also preserving the character of neighborhoods. Objective 2.1 and policies 2.1.2 and 2.1.2
speak to maintaining an adequate land uh designated for residential and to provide a variety of residential uses. Objective 8.3 policies 8.3.1 and policy 8.3.7 speak to all new development and
redevelopment having public facilities in place to serve it. Housing policy 1.2.6 encourages a variety of housing types to diversify yet maintain compatibility with single family neighborhoods.
And based on those considerations, planning commission staff recommends that TTCPA 2002 be found consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the Temple Terrace Comprehensive Plan. And I stand for any questions that you may have. >> Thank you, Miss Mills. Prior to questions, we're going a couple more
steps and then so don't go too far. Mr. Mora, >> thank you, Mayor. When we got this request, it was unusual in the fact that there had been a five-year lapse. So, we discussed this with the planning commission. They were unable to upgrade their or update their application due to
the fact that there had already been a vote taken by the planning commission on it. So, what we did is we took a look at it from the perspective of trying to update it. We sent it back to review agencies, the school heartline, uh to see what the status, if anything had changed. Um the the answer we got back
from the school board heartline uh was that the essentially the same uh the schools have capacity. Heartline was not at capacity at that point. They indicated a need for uh transit. Um and they're still indicating uh the same of that. Um in terms of the implementation
of it, the property zone multif family right now. The zoning district does not have a density in it. So the density would the maximum density would be a function of the maximum the plan would allow. However, they would have to go through a site engineering plan uh which at that point they would have to provide
the proper storm water attenuation uh parking drives u any type of improvements that are necessary through site engineering. So as that utilizes space uh to mitigate for that then they would potentially lose density. Um there is one caveat in the zoning code. Uh for
some reason for a town home the site has to be a 10acre minimum. Uh this is a threeacre site more or less. So for town homes they would need some type of other action that would either be a waiver or whatever appropriate. We did talk to the applicant if they were planning on
resoning uh because we did a a pre-application conference a while back um for a plan development. They indicated at this time they did not have any um firm plans in terms of they wanted to reszone or not. So they're going to uh use the comp plan amendment
to either configure a site plan for site engineering review if this is approved um pursuant to the existing zoning or they'll evaluate whether or not it would be in their interest to um seek a reszoning for some type of plan development. So having said that uh we
uh reviewed the planning commission's findings. We reviewed the area. Um there's R18 um on the south and to the east of it. Uh we feel it's a compatible category that fits within the city's uh plan goals in terms of their their infrastructure and services. And we uh
we do agree with the planning commission findings. I'm available for questions if you have any. >> Thank you, Mr. Morita. So is the applicant here in Wishing >> Yes, sir. >> make a presentation. Good. Welcome, sir. >> Good evening. Uh good evening. Uh thank you guys for
taking the time. I wanted to thank the city of Temple Terrace and Hillsburg County staff for uh you know working with us and helping us through this process. I did have a presentation ready. >> We just need your name for >> Oh, sorry. My name is TK Alpha. I'm representing the applicant and the
owners today. Uh one of the owners is my dad. Um I'm a resident of Tumble Terrace. I'm also a licensed engineer uh in Florida. But I had a presentation ready. Um, everything that I was going to say was already stated by the staff. So, um, unless you guys have any
questions for me, then I think we're good. >> Okay. Well, we next step is we go to public comments and then there may be questions from the council. So, okay. Thank you very much. Are there members of the public who wish to comment on this? >> Mr. Chair, are we going to have an opportunity to ask questions?
>> Yes, I just said that. >> I did just say that. >> After public comment, >> yes, >> I did just say that. Yes. Are there members of the public who wish to comment on this? Yes, ma'am. Please approach the podium. Just need your name for the record and
city of residence for the record. >> Good evening. >> Good evening. Um, my name is Renee Mincson. I'm president of the HOA and Meadowwood condominiums. um what type of we're talking 3 acres and we can tell you pretty much it's all
wetland right now and uh a lot of what they're planning is going to affect adjacent property of our condominium complex. So basically what type of structures are we talking about?
Are they putting an apartment building in? I mean, three acres you've got to and you take parking and are they going to it's there's no room for retention ponds in there if you're going to build
what was it 57 50 units 50 54 units. Can they give us a little bit of what they truly are looking at because the storm water drainage is an
issue over in that area and the weather conditions, the storms are a lot heavier now than when they even built Meadowwood Condominiums. um we've had, you know, we're addressing some of those issues the best we can.
And if that's not handled properly, it's definitely going to affect a good number of the units in our condominium complex. Not to mention the apartments that are on the front side off of Bullet Parkway there. That's the units that are mostly
going to be affected. So could we get a little I mean there was a lot of numbers and whatever is read off but it's like reading a Greek map to understand what he was saying. So >> could you do that in English? >> Sure. >> Thank you. >> I'm sorry.
>> The the number that was spoken uh by unique I believe it was 54 right 57. That that's a a maximum. That's a hypothetical. They're going to have to provide the appropriate storm water compensation. They'll have to provide for the parking. they'll have to fit that within a three bit. Uh the
buildings will have to right now we don't have an engineered site plan. Uh this is a standard district so it doesn't require a site plan. I mean at this level we're looking at the comp plan but the setbacks which I believe are 35 ft. Um and the height I believe is in the 30-ish. It depends on the
typology because it has two family, it has multif family and it has a triplex I believe it is. So there's three different typologies in there. But at any rate, they would have to uh you know design for any type of storm water uh issues that they're going to have. The
traffic would be reviewed uh through the engineering department and they'd also uh be reviewed uh uh to be compliant with concurrency. So all the mechanisms that are in place for any type of site plan review would be in place for this when it does come through that process.
And that 54 may not be achieved. It may be somewhere in the 40s. It may be somewhere in the 30s or it may be less than that. Um there has been there was some discussion when we looked at this um earlier about the potential of it being a closed basin. Um if that's the case and they have to provide more storm
water because of their engineering then they'll have to provide for that and they'll lose even more area. Then in terms of the wetlands uh those are regulated by the environmental protection commission. Um so we'll deal with that in terms of uh they'll have to map it. It will be protected and any
appropriate setbacks that are in the land development code would have to be adhered to. uh unless there's some type of waiver or variance asked for. So at this juncture uh we don't know in terms of the finer grain details about um what is on the site particularly in terms of
a site engineering context but that will be crossed when they do file for a site engineering plan and then all those regulations will come to bear in terms of protecting those different resources and also providing the appropriate amount of storm water. Um, I don't know if that
>> it made it any clearer or not. Um, >> we'll dig into that when we get to council questions, too. >> All right. Thank you. >> There's a couple of clarifications, but we're still on public comment. Miss Renie, >> good evening. >> Good evening.
>> Annette Renie, 9512 Woodland Drive, and I'm a realtor. And I agree with the lady who's president of Meadowwood. I had three units back there during the storms and several of the units got flooded. We
do not need any more buildings back there. The the wetlands, the retention ponds flood. It It's a bad idea. Just saying. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Are there other members of the public who wish to comment on
this item? Okay, council members, questions. we have for planning commission or staff or the applicant. Are there questions? Vice Mayor Schisler. >> Yes. Um, two things. Number one, I u I thought that was swamped back there, so I'm a little confused with it. But I
have a question more for for the city attorney and the city manager. Item 12 C. Would that not preclude this item tonight when that gets passed?
No, that would be uh 12c deals with uh plats. >> This is the underlying comprehensive plan >> that governs that area. So, it's two different two different things. >> We're not we're not putting ourselves out in the in in the middle of a for
>> Okay, that was my biggest question on that. It was the the rest of it was pretty self-explanatory. >> Other questions? Council member Fernandez. So to clarify, if the city council agrees to this item
tonight, what this does is actually allow the owner of this property a maximum density of R18. However, the site itself may not be it may not be feasible to
build to the maximum density, but that would be determined based on bringing forward a site plan with all of the consider considerations required with the water retention, storm water, however we handle storm
water, uh the wetlands, if they're there, if they're not there, if they have to be protected. And the obviously the school board doesn't have an issue. They're counting something like a total of seven children potentially. So all
the schools that are under capacity, so that's not an issue. So is that what this action would do tonight? >> This sets the ceiling. So this sets the ceiling for the density. as they come in and engineer the plan, they need to utilize more area that they can't put
dwellings there. Um, and they have to fit between a height and a setback. They have to provide, you know, other forms of setbacks. They have to provide the parking. They have to provide drives. All those things start to eat up property. They also create more impervious surface. So, they have to compensate for that. And they have to
fit all that in. So, this sets the ceiling at 54. They may get much less than that. How much less? We won't know until we go to a plan that's engineered and review that. And in all of this discussion, we haven't talked at all about traffic and Bullard Parkway
because it's my understanding that that road is at capacity or beyond capacity and how can we approve increased density when the road itself is I I don't know the actual grade that
FDOT has given it, but I understand it to be um a very heavily trafficked road. >> In part, that will be reviewed through concurrency management. Um, and in our engineering review, they would have the ability to seek out comments from FDOT
to see if any type of additional access improvements are necessary. Um, I can't speak directly to that process because I'm not totally familiar with it, but I do know that in engineering there'll be an access management review and they'll be reviewed for concurrency which will look at the amount of trips that are um
that there's capacity for to allow this development and that all comes to bear when we do an engineered plan as well. >> Okay. So basically what this action tonight would allow would be to change the designation to what is obviously
consistent with the next door parcel because it we it's also R18. So it would set a maximum residential unit capacity, but that maximum capacity would be
not guaranteed based on the logistics of the requirements of the site plan traffic included. >> Correct. You'll you'll see a site plan again when it comes through site plan approval. So you'll get another review of this when the site plan's before you.
and and that is correct in terms of this sets the ceiling. We don't know what the floor is going to be until we have an engineered plan and then when the engineered plan comes in and that density counts available then the other uh metrics for example like transportation will be more carefully
reviewed at that time. >> Okay. So um I just have one more question and that's about storm water. In the past, we we did see with the large storms that we had issues all over the area with storm water containment,
retention, direction, all of that. What is do we I know that this we're not at that point yet, but when we this does not consider anything to do with the need for storm water retention. Correct. This is just
>> No, ma'am. That that will be reviewed also at engineering. We've been put on notice that it may be a closed basin. We don't know that for sure. Um I know that we have a no wetlands letter, but that no wetlands letter is is outdated. So they would have to, you know, look into that again at site
engineering. Again, all that will come to bear um when they do an engineered plan. this is only uh you know where it fits in the future long range plan uh in terms of if you know at a higher level if services are being planned for that
and if that land use is compatible in this area and so what we're saying is is that at a very high level um we feel like the 18 units is consistent with what's out there with the typologies that are out there and then beyond that um you know when it gets reviewed for
site engineering and we can come in with finer grain detail and you get to take a look at that as well as other review agencies and other disciplines, then we'll have a better idea of how that number will fit and what the maximum number will be. >> Thank you. >> Thank you,
Council Member Kitz. >> I have a question for you, Mr. Marina. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Um I'm curious, apart from your institutional outreach going to the schools, uh did you solicit any feedback from residents in the area? >> No, I didn't solicit any feedback. um
only through the notice. I did get one email. Um I believe it was from um an adjacent it might have been from from you. I'm not sure. It was >> it was >> okay. Yeah, it was from an an adjacent apartment complex and they were asking me what it was for. Explained that it
was for the uh density increase and the zoning was not changing. >> That's great. Um in the photos I noticed that there was a Hillsboro County sign out there. I didn't see a Temple Terrace sign out there and I'm just curious for the sake of consistency. Um my understanding is that this process began 5 years ago which is a little as you
pointed out unusual. Um and based on our statutes uh would it not be required for the notice to be continuously posted for all five years? >> I don't believe so. Um the notice would have met the the requirements from you know when you back it up from the
hearing. I mean it's highly unlikely that you know if it did that any type of signage would have sustained five years. Um but the the property was noticed in accordance with the appropriate um time frames and the appropriate uh signage so
forth. >> Okay. Um and uh I don't have any questions for you, but I do have a couple of questions for the developers representative. I don't >> Thank you. Any other questions from me? >> Thank you very much for answering my questions. I appreciate it. >> Thank you.
>> Um yeah, thank first of all, thank you for building in Temple Terrace. It's great. I appreciate it. Um, and I just have a couple of simple questions. Um, first one being, uh, are you planning for your future development, I know, you know, you never know what's going to happen, any landscape buffers to the
west so that the, uh, single family homes in that area have a little bit of a barrier. >> Uh, yeah, of course, we would have we'd have certain setbacks that are required through the zoning designation. I believe they might be 35. I'm not sure
exactly what they are, but we would always comply with any engineering design standards within the land development code. >> Sorry, I understand that the setback would obviously have to be um obeyed. >> Oh, landscape buffers. >> What I was asking about is if you would be planning any landscaping at this
stage in your process, for example, nice trees or maybe a fence or something appealing like that. Yeah, we don't have any plans as of now, but we are open um to any suggestions, but currently we don't have any plans. >> Okay, thanks for answering that. And my my only other question is why did you
delay for 5 years? I'm curious. >> That's a great question. Uh I think there was just some internal uh I wasn't a part of the project when it was filed 5 years ago, but I think there was some, you know, differences on what we wanted to do in the future in terms of development. And so when it was
submitted, it went through the planning commission. at Hillsburg County and then I don't I'm not sure what the disconnect was between Hillsburg County Planning Commission and then forwarding it to the city council of Tim Terrace but it just never happened and uh I think there was just something on our end that we didn't
like either we didn't forward along to the city council but there wasn't like any major roadblocks that we discovered and we decided to intentionally stop the the project but my dad is here he was the one who uh filed it initially But I
think there it was just a lack of like, okay, what should we do next? And we didn't take that step. If they're Yeah, if Joe has any further information on it, he he's welcome to speak. But >> um that's okay. Um and these are going to be quite small units, I'm guessing,
in the end. Yeah, there are obviously some uh you know some issues with the site. So, we're not probably going to get even close to that 54 uh unit ceiling, but um based on the zoning classification, we're not intending at this point to reszone. So, there's a
couple uses that are that are uh allowed within that. Obviously, there's the three the 10acre limit on the town homes. Um but at this point, we're we're trying to develop something multif family. >> Okay. Well, thanks for answering the questions. I look forward to seeing how this develops. >> Thank you.
>> Vice Mayor. >> Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Um just this is more for staff. Thank you very much. We appreciate you uh putting the effort in on this. Um we've had a lot of we got to do this, we're going to do that. We're What's the next steps? What's going to be the the rest of the process? >> If this gets adopted, the next step is
basically incumbent upon the applicant. Their next step would be to file for a site plan. um that would be transmitted to all the review agencies, partner departments and and temple terrace. Um then it would go through the process and um when that becomes final then their
next step would be the building process >> about how many steps how many more times will it come back to council this council >> um at least one. >> Okay. So that way for people would have an opportunity to hear what's going on with it. people have an opportunity. I'm
sorry. People have an opportunity to hear what's going on, how the development is progressing. Thank you. Thank you, >> Mr. Marie. I have a couple questions. I'd like I want to dig a little deeper into the storm water and the drainage because um Meadowwood did get hit pretty
hard with Milton that and across the street did too. um the water there flows down and kind of bowls up around the new VA hospital, but that's not that's an area that's kind of challenged with this. And so, um I know some of this
from being on council, but I'm not sure that some of this has come out for the public edification. And so, I want to walk through some of this. So, right now, just put it in simple layman's terms, we have 3 acres of pvious service. So
when it when it rains, it rains on all three acres. And all three acres have the ability to form puddles and it perks and you know, we got full three acres of natural um water mitigation. If you build even at 18, I mean, and
we're we're just increasing the potential density, but even if it was at 18, if you if you develop this in any meaningful way, not only are you going to have the buildings, but you're going to have parking lots and sidewalks and driveways and straight. So 3 acres of what's now completely pvious is going to
become probably mostly impervious with parking lots and buildings and stuff like that. So from a layman's perspective, common sense will tell you, look, we got 3 acres of capacity now. We're going to have what, a half an acre when this is
over. When it rains, most of that rain is going to be falling on concrete and roof and stuff like that. So where's that water going to go? And so can you dig into that a little bit cuz I know that there's calculations for this and all of that water has to be
accounted for according to engineering standards but from a common sense standpoint from the public's perspective like well you can engineer it all you want but you got three acres of capacity now you're going to have a shoe you know this much then. So, can you please fill
in the gaps a little bit for the neighbors to and and really for us too to where is this water going to go? >> Intuitively, um I would agree. Um you have an area that you know you go through in a storm event and you see there's standing water and it's
problematic. Um I'm not a storm water engineer. I'm not an engineer at all, but my understanding of how engineering works, and we have engineering staff here that may be able to speak to that at a more um refined level than myself, but
the way it's supposed to work, as I understand it, is that when the development process occurs, the development should not make that runoff rate change to the point where it makes matters worse. So, I don't know if it would be an
improvement to the area, but it wouldn't make matters worse if that area is designed properly. Now, again, I'm not an engineer, so I don't want to speak out of school. Um, but I could ask maybe Ron to to to speak generally to that.
>> Just I don't want to try to get into the design features because nobody even knows what's going to happen yet. So, it would be speculative, but I want people to understand what how the codes deal with this. So if there's calculated that there's ex you know I don't I'm making
numbers up cuz I don't know what they how you calculate that but there's so much so many inches of rainfall there now so we know how much water falls on that annually on average so they in short don't they have to design systems that account for the storage or disposal
of that much water? Um my understanding of it is is that the rate is held to a certain standard and that rate can't change past um the amount that's being put off the site.
Now if it's a different type of area like maybe a closed basin um there may be different rates that apply. Um but personally I've never reviewed a storm water plan so I I I really can't speak to the specific specifics of the engineering standards. I can speak to
the concepts um that I'm aware of. Uh the applicant is an engineer and we have a a city engineer here as well. They could probably speak to a more educated um level than I can on that specific matter. But you know what I do know is that you know when it comes in for site
engineering that will be specifically reviewed and they will be required to compensate at a level that will not make that area flood any it may not make it better but it should not make it worse. >> Well that's what I'm trying to get at is I'm trying to give the neighbors some
assurance that the codes and standards current day building codes and standards take this into account. I I don't want Well, first of all, I want to establish it for us, too. We don't want to vote for something that's going to make things worse, but I I want to provide
some assurance that modern building codes and standards take this into account. And it's not like the 70s when you just build stuff and you build a detention pond this big and everything floods around you. It's not like that anymore. >> No, it's not like that. And again, I can't speak to the specific details, but
every plan that comes before you, um, whether it's this one or any other plan that you've reviewed previously or you will review view review in the future, when the staff says that it's been reviewed, uh, for storm water meets that standard, um,
that meets whatever standard the Temple Terrace, Swift Mud, whoever else is looking at this piece has in place at that time to protect the amount of runoff that comes off that site. how much will have to be captured on it and engineered in a way whether it's in some
type of pond or however they uh engineer for that at the point when they do site engineering. So I can't spec I can't speak to the specific runoff rates. Um but there are standards that have been adopted um by state and local uh regulatory agencies and they will have
to meet that standard. I can't tell you specifically what that runoff standard is. However, we can get that more specifically for you if you'd like us to bring that back. >> Well, it'll be coming back when we get to site plan anyway. So, okay. >> I'm sorry I couldn't give a more
specific answer than that, but uh Okay. >> Any other questions or anything? >> Other questions for anybody before I give the council member >> question to the city attorney. Would it be um illegal or arbitrary for us to move this forward but then with a
proviso attached that the current statutory storm water requirements are exceeded by say 10 or 20% something along those lines? I'm not very comfortable with that. Again, we're here on the comp plan amendment which is changing the
underlying, you know, the maximum density for for that property. We're not into that aspect yet. We don't know what they're going to design. I do want to um perhaps to help with this question. I mean, Mr. Mora, if I could ask you a quick question. Is that okay, Mayor?
>> Sure. >> Um the applicant, they have to, you know, when it comes time to actually develop the property because this isn't giving them the okay to develop the property. It's just saying, you know, how how how dense, how many units they can have there. >> But when they do develop it, they're
going to have to account for all that storm water on the property. Correct. I mean, they're not and they can't let it detrimentally affect any neighboring properties. They have to either have a vault or some sort of retention pond. In other words, that water has to stay on that property, >> right? Or they have to create less
impervious surface. It may need to go up as opposed to out. I mean, there's different ways that they can deal with that. Um, you know, to to to help that design. At the end of the day, it's just a matter of how much are you going to cover and how much are you going to compensate, >> right? >> So,
yes. Uh, Council Member Kravitz, therefore, I think it would be not appropriate at this point to be addressing the storm water. This is strictly a comp plan amendment, the future land use map that we're dealing with. Those types of issues would be accounted for when they begin
development and bring in their plans. >> Thank you for the answer. >> Thank you, Mr. Marita. I always like to give the applicant an opportunity for the last word. If you want to say anything for you get the the last word. don't have to. But
>> yeah, I just reiterate that at this point um we're not sure what we wanted to build at this point, but we're definitely going to comply with any engineering standards within the Tumble Terrace Land Development Code and we're completely aware of all the concerns on the site relating to, you know, capacity
retention and such. So, it's, you know, it's our issue as well and we'll we'll figure it out and uh whenever we come back for final site plan review, we can have these discussions and we'll work with staff to get to uh something that works. >> Very good. Thank you very much, sir.
Okay, council. Um I will close the public hearing and ask the clerk to read the title of the ordinance. >> I I was gonna Oh, I'm sorry, Mayor Ross. Uh we do have another reading coming up. There's going to be two. So, we'll be back in January. Um, what we can do is
look into that uh stormwater question and maybe get more refined information on that to provide at that reading if it helps. >> Okay. >> Um, unless you're comfortable, but uh we can we can do that before the next reading, I believe. >> Okay. Thank you, ma'am. I'm sorry.
Public comment is passed. In effect, we closed the public hearing. So, um, madam clerk, would you please read the title of the ordinance? An ordinance of the city of Temple Terrace, Florida, amending the imagined 2040 Temple Terrace comprehensive plan future land
use map for a partial of land located south of Telina Lane, east of North 78th Street, north of Lake Isle Drive, and west of Cedar Drive, consisting of approximately 3.0 0 plus or minus acres
by changing the future land use designation on said property from residential 9 to residential 18 for CPA 20-02 providing for amendment of the official
future land use map of the city providing severability an effective date and repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict herewith. that. >> Thank you, madame clerk. Council, is there a motion?
>> Move to approve a first reading of public hearing ordinance amending the future land use of parcel located um south of Toina Lane, east of North 78th Street um residential 9 to residential 18 CPA 20002.
>> Second. >> Motion in a second. Discussion of the motion. >> Have a comment that I'd like to make. >> Vice Mayor. >> Yes. Thank Thank you, mayor. Um, again, just for for the public, that's why I asked the question, what's going to be the next step? What's going to be the next process? Just doing today doesn't
mean they can go out and start digging holes and and building and they're they're aware of it. They've been working on this for about 5 years. Um, we are very very sensitive to the issues of particularly storm water, street density. I fought that fight for the
last seven years of of Temple Terrace Highway. Um, it's our staff is very diligent in in putting together the the restrictions or conditions or whatever needs to be needs to happen. Um
let's wait and see what comes out because we don't even know what they don't even know what they're going to build yet or or at least it's not not shared here. So um this is just the first step. We're gonna have another reading in two weeks or I'm sorry when at at the next uh uh scheduled time and
we'll have opportunity for discussion of particular landscaping uh storm water parking the whole nine yards. This is none of that is addressed here tonight. So that's my only comment. >> Other comments on the motion? If not,
all those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Any opposed? No nazs. Motion is adopted. Uh, ordinance will appear for a second reading and public hearing on Tuesday, January the 6th, 2026. Thank you very much.
Next item is the second public hearing and second reading of ordinance 15851585 amending the capital improvement section of the city's comprehensive plan. I'll open the public hearing. Uh, planning commission representative Diego Gera is
here. Good evening, sir. >> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. And again, Diego Gara, planning commission staff. I am uh here in lie of my colleague Erica Larson who is not able to be here tonight. Uh this item is the planning commission's uh review consistency review of the capital improvements
sections schedule of projects update. Um excuse me here. Uh the review was conducted in accordance with chapter 163 that requires the schedule of projects which is a list of projects uh that derive from the capital improvements
program and specifically address levels of service. It is these uh projects that make up the schedule of projects uh and they are updated in the comprehensive plan on an annual basis. um planning commission staff identifies
the projects within the capital improvements um program uh that affect levels of service. Uh and this is what again makes up the schedule of projects. Uh the update is accomplished by ordinance uh which is permitted under
chapter 163 and this is not and this is out of the norm for the normal standard plan amendment process um because it occurs annually it chapter 163 does allow for that for that uh process.
This summary uh the summary is uh of the projects which are placed into six program areas as you can see on the slide. The total funding amount for FY26 through FY30 is approximately $39.1 million for a total of 86 projects.
Uh the LOS priorities are depicted at the bottom of the slide and the slide depicts the total uh breakdown in terms of projects and where they fit within those uh categorizations. As you can see, majority of the projects address
repair, replacement or uh renovation of current uh systems uh which are outlined in uh capital improvement section objective 1.1. Uh a total of 83% of the projects address the
replacement of facilities or elimination of deficiencies. Uh staff also analyzed the schedule with respect to the funding sources requirements required funding source requirements outlined in the comprehensive plan. Uh capital pol
capital improvement policy 1.5 states that general funds should not be used for those facilities with dedicated revenue sources such as portable water, wastewater, and or solid waste. After reviewing uh after review of the general fund expenditures, staff found that none
of these types of projects relied on on those funds. Capital capital improvement policy 1.5.10 and 1.5.11 state that all projects within the first three years of the of the schedule of the city's
schedule of projects be funded with committed revenue sources. These include advalarum taxes, gas taxes, and user charges. staff reviewed the funding sources and timing and found that the schedule funding was in accordance with these requirements as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, the planning commission uh re found the city's FY26 through FY30 schedule of projects consistent with the city's comprehensive plan and recommends the city com uh city adopted by ordinance. Uh that concludes
my presentation. I'm also available for any questions you may have. >> Thank you, Mr. Gear. Are there members of the public who wish to comment on this item? Seeing none, council members, or other questions. Okay. Seeing none, I will close the public
hearing and ask the clerk to read the title of the ordinance. >> Thank you, Mr. Garrett. An ordinance of the city of Temple Terrace, Florida, providing for the annual modification and update to the capital improvements section of the 2040
comprehensive plan for the city of Temple Terrace, pursuant to chapter 163, Florida statutes by modifying and updating the 5-year capital improvement schedule of projects for fiscal years
2025 to 26 through 2029. 9 to 30 and incorporating the 10-year long-term improvements for the multi- mo model transportation district for 2026 to 2035
into the schedule of projects which incorporates by reference per the comprehensive plan cap policy 1.5.13 Helsboro County transportation planning organizations TPO transportation
improvement program, TIP, Hillsboro Area TRA Regional Transits Transit Development Plan, HARTS, TDP, and Hillsboro County Public Schools Facilities Work Program, providing for
severability, providing for correction of typographical errors, repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict here with, providing for codification, providing for an effective date, Thank you, Madam Clerk. Council,
is there a motion? >> Yes. Move to approve the second reading of ordinance 1585 amending the capital improvement sections of the city's comprehensive plan. >> Second. >> You got a motion and second. Discussion of the motion. Council member Fernandez.
>> Um, I just want to clarify because it was read into the record as transportation planning, which it's not the TPO, it's the MO, the Metropolitan Planning Organization. >> No, it's a TPO. It's a trans. >> I'm looking right here on my
>> this chair. >> It says >> it's probably some confusion because it changed their name about three years ago. That's probably why it's >> It says on mine Hillsboro County Metropolitan Planning Organization, MO, Transportation Improvement Program, TIP.
>> Yeah. >> But anyway, we said TPO instead of So, I'm just saying that. But my my other comment is that um just for anybody watching, understand that our long-term capital
improvement projects do get updated every year based on the needs and what the community needs and what our infrastructure might need. So, this is a plan, but it can change and it can be
updated throughout the year or and each year as the city's needs change. >> Thank you, council member. Other discussion of the motion? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> I. Opposed? No. Nays. The ordinance is
adopted on second reading. Thank you. Next is a second public hearing and second reading of ordinance 1586 amending sections 12-357 uh final platin review and 12-354 preliminary platin review of the land
development code. I will open the public hearing and our esteemed senior planner Alyssa Livingstone is here to explain. >> Good evening mayor and council members. I'm Alyssa Livingstone senior planner.
This is the second public hearing and reading for proposed text amendments to our land development code that ensures full compliance with a recent mandate from the Florida statutes specifically
section 177.071. The Hillsboro County City County Planning Commission approved these text amendments on Monday, December 8th, 2025. The overall intent of this legislative
update is to streamline plat approvals. Section 177.071 071 of the Florida statute now requires all municipalities to designate an administrative official
to approve final plats and replplats to comply with this state mandate and streamline or development review process. We recommend designating the city manager for this administrative
function. Implementing this change requires amending section 12 357. Additionally, the city is proposing to make corresponding adjustments to section 12354
which governs preliminary plat reviews. This action ensures the preliminary plat review process aligns with the new legislative requirements for final plat
approvals creating a cohesive development review process. Currently in section 12357 subsection C after the DRC review is complete the city engineer confirmed
confirms completeness and compliance and then the plot is sent to the city council for final sign off in section 12357 subsection D following final approval by city
council. The city engineer coordinates the recording of the plat. The updated text dictates that the plat be forwarded to the city manager for
final approval instead of the city council. This change recognizes that plat approval is primarily an administrative action and removes it from the city's
council's legislative agenda. Currently in section 12354 subsection G, any applicant wishing to appeal a preliminary disapproval goes before the city council.
If amended, the appeal would be directed to the city manager. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Livingstone. Are there members of the public who wish to comment on this item?
Seeing none, council member questions. Okay. If there are no questions, I'll close the question. >> Oh, council member Kravitz. >> Um, I'm just curious. Uh, I read the staff report on this and it was said that no changes are statutoily required
when it comes to preliminary plat review, only to the final plat review. So, I'm wondering if you could just elaborate on what the rationale was for taking the appeal away from city council
and moving it to the city manager. I I read that it was suggested here that it would ensure that the internal process supports the overall intent of the update. Um, what intent is that and what what was the thought there? So the overall
intent of the update is essentially to take away or I would say remove the pressure from city council to review plat review and preliminary plat review is essentially an administrative function. And the reason why we are recommending
that city manager reviews preliminary plat disapproval appeals is in order for the process to be streamlined because it essentially makes sense to do the same thing or the same action or the same flow for preimp plat for and plat.
>> Okay. Thank you for the answer. That's all. >> Okay. Other questions? Okay. Very well. If there's no further questions, I'll close. Oh, >> this is questions to staff, correct? >> We're still going to have a discussion just to >> Yes. Yes. >> Thank you.
>> Y Okay. Okay. We'll close the public hearing and ask the clerk to read the title of the ordinance. An ordinance of the city of Temple Terrace, Florida, amending sections 12-357 and 12-354 of the city code of
ordinances, designating the city manager as the administrative authority for final plat review. Designating the city manager as the arbiter of appeals for preliminary plat review. Providing for severability. Providing for correction
of typographical errors. repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinances in conflict here with providing for codification providing for an effective date. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Council member Kravitz, did you wish the floor?
>> I just have a a comment. Thank you very I have a just a small comment regarding the appeals process. Um it's not directed at staff, but uh something for everyone to think about. Um, an appeal generally goes to an entity that isn't
the entity that made the decision originally. So, when when you go to appeal, you want to have someone new looking at your case. You don't want to have the same body looking at your case again, especially if you've just been rejected. You you went through the trouble of um going to the city, you
went through a process, you didn't get what you wanted, and then you want someone else to look at it. Uh and of course uh at that point in time, you probably want to have a new set of eyes on the matter and not the same set of eyes. Uh and and that set of eyes in the past was city council. So I read I read
through this and I I was struck by that. Um and I think it's better if we send appeals to someone or some body that is not the body that originally rejected the application. um if it goes to the city manager, it
remains within the administrative process. As has been pointed out, um the city council is not part of the administrative process. And so you're getting a second set of eyes now. But if we amend the statute, you're not you're getting the same administration that
rejected your application to look at it one more time. And from my experience, that rarely leads to a different outcome. Uh so it's not very effective as an appeal. So if we want to provide people with an effective appeal,
we'd leave it as it is right now. Um and as the staff report on December 2nd, 2025 stated, the legislative update does not include preliminary plat. So the amendment to this section 12354G
is purely voluntary. So I would put it out there that maybe we should allow appeals to continue coming to city council. I personally haven't seen one in an entire year. I can't imagine that it's that big of a burden. It doesn't seem that it happens very
often at all. So, um I'd invite anyone else to share their thoughts on this topic. >> Mr. Mr. Mueller or Mr. Pauly or Miss I'm not sure who should answer this, but >> Okay, you haven't heard the question yet.
So my my check check my understanding because I read this a little differently, but the point raised is a valid point. I I agree. That's I'm not crazy about this change in statute, but the law now requires that the city
manager be the the decider on final plat correct in that. Doesn't do that for preliminary plat. So, we could potentially, I think, if I'm understanding this correctly, you could appeal the preliminary decision
to the city council, but you couldn't appeal the final decision anyway. Am I correct or am I misunderstanding what I'm reading? >> Yeah, let me back up just a little bit and kind of walk everyone through that process because I think there's some misinformation. >> Okay. >> Um, starting with preliminary plat.
Preliminary plat are reviewed by DRC, not the city manager. Preliminary plat are processed as part of the application for the site plan and site engineering construction work. City manager never sees that.
In most cases, all preliminary plats are addressed through comments from our staff, including our planners, our engineers, and other participants on the DRC. To my knowledge,
I'm not aware of ever denying a preliminary plat to the point that it could not be resolved through addressing DRC comments. So to speak to the previous comment, um you're not going back to the same person. You're if you
were denied and it would have to be kind of a hard stop scenario, um that could not be remedied through a developer addressing comments. If you were disapproved at the DRC level, then that appeal would then go to the city
manager. It sets the city manager as the arbiter for those appeals. Once that application comes full cycle and works its all the way to final plat approval, which is the next stage,
then that then goes through primarily through our city engineers office and it is reviewed through thirdparty surveyors. Um, it is once again reviewed by DRC and the city engineer takes more of a
very active role in that process. And when he declares it ready to move forward, it comes back to my department, it gets it will be packaged um and then delivered to the city manager for final approval. So to answer the earlier
question, it's not the same person that either approved or disapproved the preliminary that would hear the appeal. It's a completely different person. It's the the first part is done through the body of the DRC. The second part is done
through the city manager's office. And for clarity, the statute does not require the city manager, but it does require an administrative authority. It's up to this body to designate who that authority is.
>> Council member Kravitz, do you want to follow up on that or? >> Yeah, I I agree with your statement at the conclusion there as long as you're referring to the final platting, but you're not referring to the preliminary platting, are you?
>> Okay. Again, um the preliminary plat is processed by the DRC. City manager does not see the preliminary plat at that point. If it is disapproved, the developer has the opportunity to appeal that to the city manager as the
arbiter of that DRC decision. So again, don't I know it's a little bit of apples and oranges getting mixed up here, but it's really two different processes. I really think we're still talking about two completely different things. And if if I failed to express myself well, I do apologize, but the
point I'm making is you stated we have to designate an administrative officer to handle the platting, but the statute and this is not only supported by by the statute itself, which I read, but also by the staff report on December 2nd,
that refers not to preliminary plat. It says here, the update does not include preliminary plats. The amendment to section will ensure that the interal process supports the overall intent of the update. So I agree with you about appointing an administrative officer. No problem. What I'm referring to only right now is the statutory change that's
being made to section 12 354G regarding the appeals process for preliminary plat. And my understanding is that the Florida statute that we're trying to comply with right now doesn't address preliminary plat. It doesn't care about them. They are not mentioned. I'm happy
to direct that question to the city attorney. uh or I believe I also have here the the text of the statute which I can also read into the record but but that is what I'm trying to ask which is when it comes to preliminary plats the change we're making right now is voluntary right
it is it is strongly recommended because we believe that the intent of the statute update was to remove the uh elected officials from the process and that's what our recommendation is based upon. Okay. But then if they had wanted to
remove the elected officials from the process, why didn't they just remove them from the process instead of only removing them from the final plat process? They had that option when they passed this law. >> I can't speak to how it was drafted in that fashion. I can tell you that not every municipality or organization
utilizes preliminary plants. >> Temple terrace happens to utilize preliminary plats, >> right? Another way of looking at this though is that in the statute that they just passed, they specifically addressed fi final plats, but they didn't address preliminary plats. And you could conclude from that then the statute didn't want to address preliminary
plats. They wanted to give people the old way of appealing, right? They didn't want to mess with that. So that was that's another way of reading it. That's always the trouble with statutory interpretations. You could go either way, right? So, but what we're what we're doing right now, just to be clear, we're taking from city council something
that city council has right now. Now we're giving it to someone else and we're doing that on our own valition. There's no one forcing us to do this. Correct. >> Again, it's a very strong recommendation >> from staff. >> Yes. >> Yeah. So again, I I think to your point
it's another person. Yeah. I didn't say it was wasn't a different person. I said it's the same administrative structure, right? Like you're you're you're in the city admin with your appeal. you stay in the city admin with your appeal and there is coordination between city staff
at all kinds of levels. They're always talking to each other. They're always coordinating and I can almost guarantee that the city manager is going to know that this is coming down the pipeline and so you're not getting a completely fresh set of eyes. I just think that if you are an applicant, you want to use
your right of appeal, it's better to be able to go to someone else who isn't as enmeshed in that process. This is typically this why you go to a different judge, right? you usually take a different lawyer when you go to appeals too, right? Someone completely fresh so you can start from new and you don't
have all that bias going with you. So I I just I think this is this is a voluntary change that we're making here and I don't really see the the rationale behind it and I don't and and again as you pointed out this has never happened. You've always been able to resolve it which is great. No criticism at all but
this never comes up. So it's also kind of taking something away that isn't all that practically relevant. And if in the off chance that something like this does come up, why is the old way so bad? That's my question to you. >> Again, all I can say uh is to reiterate what I said a moment ago. When upon
reviewing the statutory update, it was very clear that the uh state uh decision makers um did not want local elected bodies uh involved in this process. And that is why we elected to
bring forward both amendments, both sections in the amendment. >> Well, I understand that. I get it. If the state feels that way, then they should make their intention clear. But they didn't do that in the statute. So, as it stands, I'd be happy to vote for this with the absence of 12 354G, but I'm not going to vote to take power away
from city council on if it's not legally required. I just don't see the reason why I would do that. And I think that it's completely reasonable for the applicant to come to city council with their appeal and then have a fair hearing here. So I think that all of us are perfectly capable of offering that and u so that's my position on that one.
>> I yield the floor. >> Vice Mayor Schuster, >> this has not come before. We we don't get preliminary brief reviews. These get handled internally. >> That's correct. >> You've said that a couple times now.
Okay. Um for consistency, I don't have a problem with it. We don't we never see it anyway. So, it's not going to it's you you guys would figure it out ultimately anyway uh and come to a resolution to to to whatever the the problem is. Okay. I'm I'm okay with
where it is. >> Council member Fernandez. >> I do have a question with I I I I understand what the statute says and and 12-357 is not an optional change. We we do have
to do that. However, um for practicality purposes, what would happen? I also agree with someone wanting to appeal to a different body versus the the body that made the
uh decision. So what would be the actual practical process of if they came to so working through the DRC process plat gets rejected and there is no compromise
or and and it's just rejected and right now they would come to city council to appeal it and city council is a totally different body and not an employee of the city the same way. Um, so what if the city council at that time said, "We
disagree with this rejection and we agree with the preliminary plat review." Then it goes to the final review or the final decision and city staff basically
reverts back to the one that city council overrode in the preliminary process and then but city staff says nope we don't agree with your reversal and we have the final say we're the
final arbiter of how this will go based on 12-357. >> I I know you're looking there, but if I could please respond. Um, our our code won't allow that to happen. Our code allows a preliminary plat once it is
approved. That is your plat moving forward. The primary differences between a preliminary plat and a final plat is the final plat is when all of the entitlements come on board when all of
the required uh engineering notations come on board. It's all of the it's all of the technical legal jargon that has to come on board to that final plat. the sum and substance of the plat,
our code will not allow it to change significantly between preliminary and final. So, if that's a concern of yours, um I can tell you right now that our code simply doesn't allow it to happen because one of the things that the city engineer is charged with in his uh
shephering of that review process is he is charged with ensuring that the final plat as presented is consistent with the preliminary plat as approved. >> So, okay. So if it came if if we keep
everything if if we keep 12-354 the same and don't make any changes then city council theoretically would be a different body for someone to appeal to. >> Yes.
>> Okay. And unfortunately, my concern is is that if you do keep it the same and the city council renders a ruling on it, as I just said, he's required as a city engineer to ensure that the final is
consistent with the preliminary, which now means the city council has taken action on the final. You see? >> Okay. Okay. So, >> so even though the intent of the statute was to remove the elect the local elected officials, that inadvertently
backdoors it right back in. And that and I'm not an attorney. I know we have a couple in the room, but that to me seems like a problem. I I guess that would be my question for our city attorney because on the one hand I uh
wholeheartedly agree with uh somebody who's developing a project having a different uh body to appeal something to. But on the other hand, does that put us in conflict if our preliminary site plan is
going to has to be the same as the final site plan? And then if this were to happen, the city council will then have made the decision in conflict with what the state said. So I um right I think that there could be a
concern that we would end up doing indirectly what the uh state statute is prohibiting. I think also it's important to understand kind of practically if again I think that um uh Mr. Paulie has
described how the preliminary plan works. It's going to go through the DRC. There's going to be comments. They respond to the comments. If they were to want to appeal that for some reason, which I actually don't know if they ever would, but if they did, that's going to cause a delay because it's got to get in
front of the city council. And I don't know if that is, you know, what uh even developers would want. They they are going to get another uh look at it through the city manager. But, you know, a separate set of eyes. he's uh he's not
involved in the DRC. But um I guess to answer your question is I do I would be concerned that we would a process that would allow the preliminary a preliminary uh appeal to you and you make a decision which it should then
become part of the final. uh the legal department wouldn't let the uh hopefully wouldn't you know it would work out to where the the what your uh decision would be would stay in the final but I am concerned that that would indirectly be doing what the the state statute or
the legislature has been trying to prohibit. >> Okay. >> Okay. Council member Krevitz >> very brief question to city attorney. Why are we all saying that the state legislature is trying to prohibit the
city council from addressing these final plat things? >> She can't hear your microphone. Your microphone. >> I'm sorry. I turned it off because I was flipping my papers around. Thank you very much. Um I I I just wanted to ask why are we all assuming what the intention of the legislature was?
Because the final plat is, as Mr. Paulie just correctly pointed out, a completely technical process. It's 29 things. You check the boxes and then it goes through. So there's there's nothing you can do as he pointed out from the preliminary to the final stage anyway. There's no decision-making left at that
point. All of it is in the preliminary phase. So So why are we all saying that the legislature why are we presuming that they had a particular intention behind this when there's no evidence for it in the statute? Or what if what evidence Let me rephrase that. What evidence in the statute is there for the
fact that they wanted to remove the city council from this process as everyone is suggesting? Well, I was going by the actual language itself when it says that it can no longer go to the city council for final approval, which I guess I assumed meant they didn't want the city
council to have final approval. They would rather it be done administratively. So, if that's why I'm saying that's where my assumption comes from. >> Okay. I agree that they don't want the city council involved in the final process, but we're all saying city council politicians should should be completely removed from the entire
process from A to Z, but we're up here making decisions on the preliminary process in an appeal. And you know, just to remind everyone what what is in the preliminary process. We've got stuff like setbacks. We have lot sizes, street layouts and access, storm water management. All of that stuff is all
very relevant and and something that people have opinions on. So, I I fail to see other than the fact that the final process is now administrative because it's 29 technical requirements where you're just doing a checkbox. I I don't see why we're all assuming that we know
what the state legislature intended because I think watching them it's usually pretty difficult to tell. I'm just expressing the concern. I'm not that's all. It's just that it could end up being problematic down the road.
>> Made my point. I yield the floor. Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions or discussion? If not, is there a motion? >> I'd like to move to amend this um ordinance to remove the proposed change
uh at 12354G. There is a motion. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Discussion. >> I have some if nobody else does. And so I haven't This is a long statute. Well, it's not that long, but
and I didn't read this from the first reading. I read it at the first reading, but I've just one A of 177071 says a plat or replat submitted under this part must be must be
administratively approved and no further action or approval by the governing body of a county or m or municipality is required. If the plat or replat complies with the requirements of 177.091, 091. The governing body of the county or
municipality shall designate by ordinance or resolution an administrative authority to receive, review, and process the plat or replat submitt, including designating an administrative official responsible for approving approving with conditions or
denying the pro proposed plat or replat. And then um defines administrative authority in the next paragraph means a department, division or other agency of the county or municipality for purposes of issuing a final administrative
approval of plat or repat final. The term also includes administrative officer employee designated by the governing body of the county or municipality including but not limited to a county administrator, city manager, deputy county administrator, blah blah blah blah blah.
So it doesn't say preliminary, but to your point, and I've heard this before, not every city or county uses preliminary plat. Sometimes they just go right to the final. So from that language, it's clear to me that the legislaturator's intent was to make this
an administrative function and not a legislative function of the governing body. So, I don't think that the world as we know it will end if we pass this, but I do think that we're doing this in contradiction to what I consider to be
pretty clear legislative intent. Um, now I concede that I am not an attorney and I haven't reviewed this and gone back and talked to other people about it, so I could be wrong. But, Vice Mayor, >> yes. My my comment to all this is that
that I agree with you. the the intent of the of the of the statute is to remove the political aspect of it in in the review and in in the site plan review the fact that not everybody uses preliminary they can't they're not going
to address every every uh iteration that appears if anything we did anything to this I would like to see the um the uh what was it uh 12 354 the preliminary site plan review
modified so that there is no appeal process. You guys work it out. Okay. I I don't want council involved in it because it's going to it's it's going to be um interpreted incorrectly, I believe. And
then the city manager, you know, we it has to happen. But the city manager knows we're not to code whatever that put puts him in a puts that person in a very very uh awkward position to have to to essentially override um what what uh council has come back and said, "Well,
we know better than you as far as this goes." So, uh, I I if we did anything, go back and review the the the 12th um the the the the preliminary um site plan section so that uh you know, take the
appeal process out of it. We don't have, you know, we don't need it. The the the the kids fight it out in the sandbox. You guys fix it before it ever goes to final. As far as the city manager being the the the final arbitrator, he's not involved in it to begin with. So if it's
and and essentially from the time the site final site plan or the preliminary is approved until it reaches the city manager's desk, it's just dotting eyes and crossing tees. There's nothing changing of the substance from what I've heard. So it's essentially the same thing happening anyway. He's just he he
would come in, he would approve it, and then then there's no appeal process for the for the final. It's just signing off that it's been done and all the eyes are dotted and teas are crossed. I don't see where we need to do anything different than was proposed. >> Discussion of the motion.
>> Okay, seeing none, all those in favor say I. >> Restate the motion. Could we restate the motion? Make sure we're on the same page with this. >> Um, Council Member Kravitz, could you restate the motion, please? >> Going off of my memory. Pardon me. Going off of my memory, the motion was to
remove the modification to section 12 354G that was uh included in the ordinance draft that we have on the table. Okay. Further discussion of the motion? Not all those in favor say I.
>> I. I. >> Opposed nay. >> Um two eyes. Did you get that, Madam Clerk? Okay. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Council, is there another motion? >> Move to approve um uh amendment uh or
I'm sorry, re re move to approve ordinance 1586, amending sections 12 357, vital plant review and sections 12 354, preliminary plant review of the land development code. >> There's a motion. Is there a second? >> Second.
>> Discussion of the motion. I have one comment if no one else. >> Council member Krevitz, >> I just want to put this on the record. I will be voting no on this because I believe in the separation of powers. I don't think we should give away powers that we have. I think we should guard our powers and make sure that we use
them as uh a tool to help the residents in this city. And as I pointed out, stuff like density, storm water management, lot setbacks, landscaping, all of that stuff is involved in the preliminary Pratt review. The situation that we'd have on the table here is that a developer comes
in, they make their application, their application is denied, they don't like the outcome of that, then they come to city council for another look. Um, I don't have a problem with that because when they do that, the public will get a notice. They'll get an opportunity to speak. They can come and share their
opinions about what's going on, whether they approve of the rejection or whether they disapprove of the rejection. and then we can act as a corrective to the administration to the staff um if necessary or we can uphold what they've
decided depending on whatever the uh situation is. So we should keep that as it is if the legislature isn't requiring us to give it up. And I also don't think it's reasonable for us to voluntarily
surrender powers in anticipation of some intention that the legislature may or may not have. Um if they want to do that, then they can make their intention clear. They haven't done that in this case. I feel no obligation to give up powers uh that the city council
currently has that allow us to let the public participate in this process. And so for that reason, I'm just going to be a no vote on this. And with that, I yield my time here. >> Other discussion of the motion? I I just just for the record, I don't disagree
with everything that you've just said, Council Member Kravitz. Um, as far as giving up local council control, I I I don't disagree with you. I I don't like this new legislative change.
I do disagree with you on I think the legislature made their intent very clear and that and it's consistent with what they've done for the past few years and that is they want the local elected officials out of these kinds of decisions and that I think their intent
is clear. They didn't use the term preliminary because not everybody uses preliminary but I think um I think that's the one part I disagree with. I I I don't disagree with you on I don't like it, but I do disagree with
you on I think this is what the legislature intended us to do. And so um so anyway, yes. >> Um and and and to to that point, remember the last meeting when this was first discussed, I brought up the same thing. Legislature was forcing us to do
something that we had done in the past to begin with. So, while I'm against it, um against again giving up power, giving up the opportunity for us to do this as I stated two weeks ago, um kind of making us do this type of thing.
>> Yeah, I I don't want to be removed from office over here thing. >> Um it uh we're we're being forced to do this. Um they didn't say preliminary. We have a preliminary. we know what we we we we we can make an educated guess as to what the intention was really going
to be. Um so that's that's why I'm supporting it in this fashion. >> Council member Fernandez, >> I just want to comment because last reading I did vote to support this. Um and I had not heard the arguments presented by Council Member Kravitz and
those arguments are um persuasive to me and I agree. Um, so I will be voting no on this. However, I do believe based on the conversation that we've had tonight that if this Yes, every jurisdiction in this state does not require a
preliminary plat review, but others there's others that do. So, if the state intended to they they were full within their power to to include that. So, um, that's how my thought process has
progressed through this conversation and that's why I am a no vote on this. >> Okay. Um, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. >> Like to vote no.
>> Never mind. So >> say that >> record needs to be clear on this because this could be um, council member Kravitz and council member Fernandez voted no on this. Yes, please. >> Okay, good. Thank you, Mr. Paulie. And thank you, Miss Livingstone. I know you stood back there patiently for a long
time. Thank you. >> Next, uh public hearing and second reading of ordinance 1587 creating short-term rental requirements. I'll open the public hearing and um our code compliance director, Jack Shanks, is here to present. Good evening, Mr.
Shanks. Evening, >> mayor, council members. Jack Shanks, code compliance. Tonight, I'm presenting an ordinance that establishes a regulatory framework for managing short-term rentals within City of Temple Terrace. As you know, short-term rentals have become increasingly common in residential
neighborhoods across Florida. This ordinance is designed to help the city manage that growth responsibly, balancing private property rights and state preeemption with our duty to protect the health, safety, and welfare of our residents. Our overall goal is simple. and ensure that short-term
rentals operate safely, fit appropriately within our neighborhoods, and contribute positively to the community. Short-term rentals, often hosted through platforms like Airbnb or VBO, have created new challenges for cities across the state. Before 2011, Florida cities
had the ability to regulate short-term rentals under home rule authority. That changed when the legislature passed House Bill 883, which preempted local control. In 2014, the legislature restored some local authority through Senate Bill 356, allowing cities like
ours to regulate short-term rentals for health, safety, and welfare, but not to prohibit them outright or limit how often they can be rented. Based on data provided to us by short-term rental company uh compliant software providers like Grenic and Decer
Technologies, we can estimate that our current number of short-term rentals within Temple Terrace is approximately 150. While many of these are well-managed, others have generated issues. We've addressed complaints at short-term rental properties involving multiple vehicles parked in yards
blocking the rightway, trash not being disposed of properly left to become a nuisance, and reports of excessive noise and occupancy levels. Without consistent standards, it becomes difficult for staff and residents to address those impacts fairly and effectively.
This ordinance provides a balanced and legally sound way for us to address those concerns while respecting state law. To create this ordinance, multiple jurisdictions were researched. Penelis County, the city of Bradon, Daytona Beach, and Anamaria amongst
others were reviewed. It was shown that some cities received challenge from the short-term rental operators who viewed the ordinance as overregulatory or discriminatory. And in those cases, issues were either settled or the ordinance was revisited. Penelis County's ordinance was created with those challenges in mind and is fair and
beneficial to the residents and short-term rental operators alike. I did meet with my counterpart in Penelis County Code Enforcement to talk through their wins and challenges that they faced and those notes were instrumental in the creation of our ordinance. The proposed Temple Terra short-term rental ordinance uses Penel counties as a base,
but is adjusted to accompany the unique needs of our city. The public purpose of this ordinance is to serve the health, safety, and general welfare of our community. It does that by requiring all short-term rentals to meet basic life and safety standards
under the Florida uh building code and fire prevention code, preserving the quiet character and property values of established neighborhoods, promoting accountability among owners and operators, and ensuring fair treatment of both the short-term rental owners and our residents. Ultimately, this is about
ensuring that everyone, residents, visitors, and property owners can coexist safely and respectfully. This ordinance creates a clear and structured system for short-term rentals in the city. First, it establishes a certificate of use program. All
short-term rentals must apply for and maintain a certificate of use, which is valid for one year. Before the initial certificate is issued, our fire department will inspect the property to confirm that it meets minimum life and safety requirements. That inspection will be repeated every two years thereafter.
Second, it establishes a registration fee of $200 per property per year. That fee helps offset the administrative and inspection costs associated with the program. It sets operational standards. Maximum maximum occupancy is limited to
two persons per bedroom plus two additional occupants. In review of other local ordinances, including Sarasota, Penelis County, and Orlando. This occupancy level is standard. All parking must be off street. No lawn or grass parking is permitted. In conjunction with Temple Terrace Code
16-7, quiet hours are set between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. Each property must have a local responsible party available 24 hours a day to respond to emergencies, inspections, or complaints. Basic safety and contact information must be posted inside the unit in a
conspicuous place near the main entry door. It includes advertising requirements. Any advertisement must include the property's license and certificate numbers, the maximum occupancy, and parking limits. That way, guests and neighbors have clear expectations before booking occurs. And
finally, it establishes enforce enforcement provisions. Violations are handled under chapter 1, article 2 of the city code using the standard code enforcement board process. The emphasis is on achieving compliance, not punishment. I'd like to take a few moments to
highlight how this proposed short-term rental ordinance is not only protective of our neighborhoods, but also fair and uh beneficial to responsible short-term rental owners. First, the ordinance legitimizes and protects the right to operate short-term rentals within our city. It doesn't ban or overrestrict
them. Instead, it creates that structured certificate of use program which allows owners to operate confidently without within clear local standards. By aligning with state law, we ensure that owners retain their property rights while the city retains reasonable oversight to protect the community.
Second, it protects owners from liability by requiring those safety inspections. These inspections confirm that each short-term rental meets minimum life and safety requirements under the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code. It's not just about compliance. It's about reducing risk for the owner and ensuring
they're operating a safe property that meets legal standards. It um it levels the playing field. Every short-term rental operator must follow the same rules, meet the same standards, and hold the same certificate of use. This prevents unregulated operators from
undercutting compliant ones and creates a fair, competitive marketplace for everyone who's who plays by the rules. The ordinance offers a streamlined and transparent process for owners. The certificate of use is valid for a full year, and renewals are straightforward.
If a property changes ownership, there's a clear and predictable 30-day window for the new owner to reapply. That way, there's no confusion or sudden interruptions in their operations. The ordinance provides clarity and predictability. Owners know exactly what's required, how to meet parking,
occupancy, advertising, and safety standards. That transparency reduces disputes and helps everyone stay on the same page. It's designed to be fair, measurable, and easy to follow, not punitive or confusing. This framework encourages cooperation
between the city and our rental owners. Each rental must designate a responsible party, someone the city can contact directly to resolve issues quickly and professionally. This builds accountability while also showing again that the city's goal is compliance and not punishment. We're aiming to work with our owners, not against them.
And finally, this ordinance professionalizes the short-term rental industry within Temple Terrace. It requires proper business license l licensing through the state collection and remittance of required taxes and truthful advertising that includes occupancy and parking limits. That approach rewards owners who operate
responsibly and establishes short-term rentals as a legitimate, well-managed component of our local economy. The annual registration fee of $200 per property will cover the cost of inspection, administration, and enforcement, reducing the financial impact on the city's general fund. For
property owners and operators, this cost is minimal compared to the average rental income for short-term stays. Overall, the ordinance is expected to have a neutral to modestly positive economic impact because it provides predictability for owners and operators while improving safety and neighborhood compatibility
for the community. It strengthens public confidence in how these properties are managed, creating a safer, more orderly environment for everyone. At the last council meeting, I was asked to prov to provide uh additional clarification regarding the process for enforcing parking requirements as this
is a frequent concern raised by neighbors. If a parking issue is observed or reported during normal business hours, a co-compliance officer will contact the responsible party 24 hours a day to not notify them of the violation and depending on the circumstances will
attempt to have the occupants address the issue immediately. The expectation is that the violation is corrected at that time. A parking violation constitutes a direct violation of the certificate of use. Likewise, failure to respond or take immediate corrective action by the property owner or
responsible party is also a violation of the certificate of use. Once the certificate of use is violated, that violation is irreversible and that triggers uh a notice of violation and notice of hearing, which will then be scheduled for the next municipal code enforcement board meeting.
During non-b businessiness hours, just as they do now, our police will respond to parking related calls. Officers will have access to the same responsible party contact information and will make the same efforts to achieve immediate compliance. The co- compliance department will be notified of the violation and will proceed with issuing
the notice of violation notice of hearing for pre presentation to the next municipal code enforcement board. In conclusion, this ordinance provides a practical and balanced approach to managing short-term rentals in Temple Terrace. It respects property rights,
enhances neighborhood quality, and ensures that all rental properties operate safely and responsibly. Should this ordinance be approved, we will be fully enforcing it no later than July 1st, 2026. This gives us time to secure the most appropriate software, train staff, and identify and provide notice
to all short-term rental owners. Staff respectfully recommends that the city council approve this ordinance on second reading. Thank you. I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you, Mr. Shanks. Prior to questions, we do have some members of the public who wish to comment. Um, first one signed up is Mr. Neil Oaks.
Mr. Oaks, welcome, sir. >> I'm Neil Oaks. I live on Liberty Avenue and uh since 1983, I'm right next door to this uh multif family home, vacation, rental, motel, whatever you want to call
it. There's a whole lot of reasons why this ordinance needs to be passed and should be passed unanimously. There's as mentioned there's traffic problems at the corner. There right at the corner there's double yellow lines. You you
know you can't leave your lane but they have vehicles parking in there. It's an accident waiting to happen. My understanding is he got no permits and he made significant structural and electrical changes. Remember what happened in Palisades Park last year? California house neighborhoods
completely burned down. 22 feet away from me. I've got a house with no electrical permits. You know, this is not the same as putting up a privacy fence with no permit. This is doing electrical work. He's got microwaves in some of the bedrooms. Are they big
enough to be on dedicated circuits? Did he upgrade his circuit panel? What gauge wire is he using? This is next to my house. And when my granddaughters come to spend the weekend with me, I've got to worry about that. There's a whole host of reasons why this place needs to
be shut down. And this ordinance will help do that. You need to get the fire department in there do inspections. Needs to be We need to determine if it's safe. You know, there's one thing to have an Airbnb and rent a house out to a family for a week or two or a month.
It's still a single family home. This is like a motel. And I I've about had it. This been and I appreciate what everybody in Temple Terrace is doing. Jack has done a phenomenal job in his department trying to work through this.
He really has. I don't fault anybody here. It's just unfortunate what's happened. But we we got to we got to take charge. This will spread all over Temple Terrace when you see how when you have five rooms. And by the way, they all have exterior doors and locks on
them like a motel. Do you know how much money he's making? It's going to spread throughout Temple Terrace unless we take back control of our single family residential areas. And by the way, one last thing. I did a little research. Every 15 to 20 minutes
there is a house fire in the United States from electrical problems. Not from smoking and bad, not from cooking, from electrical problems. Hundreds of people die. Thousands are injured. We can't allow this to go on. Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you, Mr. Oaks. Uh, Joseph Logston. >> Good evening, sir. >> Good evening. Thank you very much. I am Neil Oaks's neighbor and I just want to say that I would like this to go through because I live right next to him and for all the reasons that he did. He did a
phenomenal job um saying everything that needs to happen for safety and for all the other reasons for Temple Terrace not letting this go and spread through. Um, again, I would like to thank Jack and his department, his staff for doing tireless work for this, for you guys
hearing it and knowing that it could just as easily affect anyone else's homes as it would ours and on our street. So, thank you very much. I appreciate it. >> Thank you, sir. Uh, and Sandra Logston. >> Good evening, ma'am.
>> Good evening. I'm Sandra Lton. I live on Liberty Avenue also and um I think that this ordinance would do a tremendous amount to help keep Airbnbs or the other ones in check because all
of the um cold violations that have gone on and the issues with that, this ordinance would help to solve all of that. And it would also I mean right now our street's kind of a scary place to be living and that's kind of sad for Temple
Terrace and I've been Temple Terrace since 1984 and I've never seen anything like this going on. So we hope that you will support this ordinance because it will help Temple Terrace be a safer place. Thank you.
>> Thank you ma'am and Karen Wo. Welcome back. >> Thank you. And it's wah like lineb. >> Sorry. >> Okay. Um, I didn't intend to speak about this, but uh, our next door neighbor who we
welcomed a couple of years ago and did a lot of help for and invited him to a dinner and we had a new neighbor and we were trying to make him welcome and it was we went out of our way to help him as did all the neighbors around us only to find out that he left and turned it
into an Airbnb and Verbbo and since then there's been a steady stream of people coming in and out. One of the things that this does not address, nor does Airbnb, nor does Verbbo, is I never know just steps from my driveway, which comes
all around the back of the house. I have four granddaughters, 10 to one and a half. I don't know, and they don't know whether there's a sex offender next door. That is a glaring error to me. I am terrified. every time I see somebody
new over there that I'll never meet. Don't know how long they're staying. Don't know how loud they'll be or how much light is coming in my bedroom at night. But the biggest thing that I worry about is my granddaughters riding their little bikes up and down that driveway.
That is a glaring error, gentlemen. Glaring. Who do I call and who is responsible once that tragedy happens? God forbid the police. These people may be long gone. It might be quite a while before I find
out. It's something you need to think about and address. It's not just parking on the grass, although that's irritating. I'm sure it's a bigger issue than that. And the more empty houses there are on these
streets, the more you're going to be seeing it. And I'm sure this will come up. So I just wanted to be the first to remind you that it will happen. I hope it doesn't happen to my family or anybody else. But unless you make it a requirement, a check,
who knows? I ask you to think about it. >> Are there other members of the public who wish to address this? Mr. Loe. And uh I didn't plan on talking about this either, but there are a couple of things and I want to kind of follow up with
this lady's point about absentee owners about the notification of absentee owners uh rather or not. You know that you know the person buys a place and they just let it go and do what they said. In other words, how would you be able to enforce this with absentee
owners? And then the other thing I was thinking about was the fire inspections. You know, I hope this I don't think I don't know if you all can do this yourselves uh uh but maybe through the League of Cities that you ought to be negotiating with the insurance companies to get
reductions upon fire insurance premiums and other insurance premiums if you're going to go through all these inspections. That's fair. there should be a lesser risk on those things and that uh therefore this the savings should be passed on to the people and
this might uh give some of the uh uh some of these people or the the rental people a little incentive uh lesser fire insurance in order to cooperate with you all Mr. Little brother there other members of the public who wish to comment on this
Mr. James, >> there is a section in here that addresses the sex offenders. Would you like to comment on that real? Thank you. >> To your point, ma'am. There there is a section that does require a sex offender check. Uh we haven't gotten to this point yet, but should this be approved, when we get to that point, we're going
to design part of our web page. Uh it's going to have the link directly to that to make it easier for the owners and operators to do that. Now, certain sites like Airbnb actually has that built into it. uh they they can do that through their website should they choose to opt
into doing that. Uh but we're going to make that a requirement for the certificate of use. >> Thank you. Council members questions. >> Council member Fernandez. >> So can you elaborate a little bit more about what happens if the people who are
renting the property violate one of the tenants? So, uh, park in an inappropriate location or exceed the noise allowance or do something else and then the owner
will get a notification that they need to either themselves or a delegate delegate come to the code enforcement meeting. But what like what happens? Do they get fined? Because our typical code enforcement process for an owner is that
you receive a notice of violation. You incur a fine for as many days as it stays unfixed. You address it. You come to code enforcement and discuss with that board and then you uh maybe pay the fine or
get it mitigated or something like that. But this is a little bit different in how the process would work. >> Correct. So because this is a certificate of use, the the uh violations that occur are directly
enforceable by that certificate of use. Uh so anything in this ordinance is going to trigger uh an immediate notification uh of violation, notification of hearing. uh they will go even if it's corrected that same day, it's still going to go in front of the
board. The board will hear that and then are going to levy a fine uh much like the the tree uh matrix that we have. We'll probably create something similar to that. Um I have something else that I'm working on which will will come soon uh which is going to uh open up the the
possibilities for different kinds of fines. However, at this time it's going to go directly to the board. Uh they're going to levy those those fines. um they will have the opportunity to uh place a lean in the home if it's something that's more egregious, but we'll address those in the case by case until we build something like a matrix and that's going
to be something we work on over the next couple of months. So, what would happen if you have a property owner who consistently does not follow the requirements that the city would set out that is
consistently in violation of of the tenants that we've set forth here? What would happen to that property owner? we will revoke the certificate of use uh and then we will also contact the the DBPR uh for uh lensure violations and
and whatnot because they're they're not following the the city regulations which is protected by uh the Florida state statute. >> Okay. So because in in the past there has been an issue with localities
enforcing any kind of rules regarding a short-term rental of these of this nature. So we do have some standing here if a property owner is egregious in their management of their business. I
mean it is a business that we do have some recourse. We we do and we would we would engage the city attorney uh to make sure we're we're doing things the correct way. Uh but I will also say that uh right now we we have approximately 150 short-term
rentals. Uh the ones that we don't really know about or see are the ones that are doing it right. And that is most of them. There are probably four or five that are kind of giving us a little bit of a hard time. Uh, and that's because we don't have any any policies in place right now to regulate that or
or uh or enforce. Uh, as we move forward, that's going to open the door for more compliance. I don't think we're going to really run anything that that egregious, but if we do, we'll we'll have something in place. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Other questions, Vice Mayor? >> Yes. Thank you. Thank you for bringing this information back, particularly with the parking. Before I ask my question, just we're we want to put as much teeth into this as we can. This is why we're why we're we're going through this exercise and we have we have to we have
to it this what we're trying to do with this now to we were talking about parking. What constitute a parking violation? Okay, great question. So part of the application process is going to be identifying the parking for the
home. They're going to submit that with their application. It's going to be reviewed by us. Uh, and like the ordinance states, no off- streetet parking, no grass parking. That does not mean that if somebody parks on the street and there's street parking allowed that that's going to be a violation. It's the quantity,
the number of cars. Now, driving through Temple Terrace on any day of the week, we can spot those a mile away. We know when when there's multiple cars parked outside of a house, we kind we know what's going on there. Um, right now again, there's nothing that we can really enforce as far as that goes. But
if it it's a two-car uh driveway, we know that two cars can fit in that driveway. We're going to have the list. We're going to know uh as we go through and we're we're looking for these different things. Uh we're going to know who the responsible parties are. That's going to be part of the training that my my team receives is in the list that our
police officers receive. uh if we pull up to a house and there is three cars there, we will address it and let's say, "Oh, somebody's over for dinner." We're not trying to impact people's lives. Now, when we come back the next day and that that car is still
there. Now, at this point, we know that that car stayed overnight. It's a violation. Our job is going to be to reduce nuisances uh and issues where people are parking around corners. uh if we know that there are more vehicles assigned to that house at any given
time, that will be a violation until we can prove that that is like a short-term stay, maybe a family member is coming in. Again, we're not trying to impact people's lives or reduce the fund. What we're trying to do is make sure that the neighborhoods are consistent, that they're safe, and that um they fit
appropriately within the neighborhoods. Does that answer your question? >> Okay. So, you have a fourc car, you know, two-car garage, you got, you know, park four cars in the park in the driveway and there's you got five cars there. That will be a violation, that fifth car in the street.
>> Once we are able to determine that that thing is staying there, that that is part of the household. First thing we're going to do is we're going to call the the uh the responsible party, whether that's the property owner or the person that they have delegated. That person is going to have to answer for for what's going on there. if they're unable to,
they're going to contact those occupants and then we're going to determine it that way. >> Okay. Uh, second question then deals with the actual structure itself. Um, I know that that the the house next to the oaks and I have one on my street. Okay.
I truly believe um that there has been work done in the past where they've subdivided bedrooms and it's, you know, when the owner's there, it's a rooming house. When the owner's gone, it's a VBO. Okay. Um, will our inspections
be able to go in and say, "Okay, uh, this is what this is what the house is supposed to be. Three bedrooms, two bath. Where did this fourth bedroom come from? Is it permitted or or has it been permitted? Will that become a well that that'll become obviously a health and
safety issue uh as as far as meeting code for all of that stuff?" Correct. >> Correct. >> Okay. So, okay. It's a violation. All right. Now, are we going to be doing annual audits on these these entities, maintaining the tax exemptions or u um
uh uh the the proper department of professional regulation um making sure that all the just the fact that keeping your LLC's in up to date with the annual review, annual reports. Are we going to audit them on an annual basis?
>> We are. That's part of the uh going to be part of the renewal process because the certificate of of use is good for one year. The uh the inspections are every two years. So when it comes time for renewal, we're going to look at all those things again and make sure that what they're reporting is is still the
same. We'll be able to compare apples and apples and see if this one matches what's here. Something's different, we know that something's changed. Um and by and large, for the most part, we believe people are doing the right thing. But we will find those those that aren't. And at that time, we're going to address those.
>> I agree. There's probably just a small handful of of of of no good nicks doing this. Okay. So, let's take it to the to the to the ultimate conclusion. We have violations. You bring them to code board and code municipal code enforcement
says, "Okay, you guys have you've done this and I don't know. I hope that I hope the fines are significant enough that it makes them a $50 fine is nothing. It's going to have to be a significant fine to uh make the individual say, "Oh, maybe a better maybe ought not do this and and make
sure that it gets rectified." Um, and they don't pay, you can't take the property away. You could put file a lean against it, but you can't make them not do what they're doing. How what's going to be the what's going to be the final arbitrator? I mean, right now with our
if we have a code a code enforcement issue, we can actually take it to county court. Okay. What's going to be the the the the final arbiter arbitrator of of and and and methodology to uh ensure compliance?
>> So, what we do have in our corner uh when it comes to people that are just really pushing the envelope and and trying to uh get over this ordinance. Uh so, we we like I mentioned, we can contact the DBPR. Uh I would I would say what it what is, but I can't remember the whole acronym off the top of my
head. uh at the state level uh they would do an inspection, make a phone call uh and put a basically a stop order uh for renting that. Um at that point we could also contact Airbnb or VBO depending on the software that we choose. One of the aspects that we can
tap into is they will do that on our behalf. So we have different avenues that we can approach to stop it until they become compliant again. Once they're compliant again, >> let's do this thing. >> Okay. Thank you. And and again, this is I'm I'm not challenging what you've
done. I'm just making sure that we got enough teeth in it so that we accomplish. >> We have some other things that we're working on as well that are going to give us um a little bit more uh that we can work with. >> Thank you for your answers. >> Thank you, sir. >> Other questions?
>> Yes, >> sorry. Sorry to ask this, but I'm a little bit confused on the parking again. So, if you have a house and you've got the maximum number of cars that parking in the driveway that's allowed and you have one car parked on the street in front of the front yard
and street parking is allowed in that neighborhood, is that car in violation? Not necessarily. So, this is where it's going to come down to our officers and what they're doing going through because they they drive through the neighborhoods multiple times per day. They'll run through in the morning, there's no car there. They run through
in the afternoon, there's a car there. noted. They're going to call the responsible party. Hey, we have an extra car there. They're going to call the the the people that are the occupants uh determine what that car is doing there. Again, it's not to get anybody's business, but it's to maintain the state the neighborhood, make sure that the
people that live there um can function appropriately and are enjoying their lives. Um once we get that resolved, move on. If it's determined that that person uh is uh just staying there, they determine they're going to come in and just be part of the family now. They're
going to stay overnight. Now, at that point, it's going to be a violation. And at that point, we're going to go after the the property owner with the the MCEB. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Other questions? There are no further questions. I'll close the public hearing and ask the
clerk to read the title of the ordinance. An ordinance of the city council of Temple Terrace, Florida, creating division three of article 4, chapter 8 of the Temple Terrace Code of Ordinances entitled short-term rentals, providing
definitions establishing a certificate of use program for short-term rental properties, providing inspections of short-term rental properties to ensure consistency with the Florida Building Code and Florida Fire Prevention Code
providing for short-term rental property advertising requirements providing provisions for the regulation of occupancy of short-term rental properties. Providing parking regulations for short-term rental properties. Providing for penalties for
non-compliance. Providing for severability, providing for inclusion in chapter 8 of the code of ordinances which governs buildings and fire prevention. Providing for scrier's errors, and providing an effective date.
>> Thank you, madame clerk. Is there a motion, councel? >> Yes. Uh move to approve on second reading of ordinance 1587 creating short-term rental requirements. >> Second. >> Seconded by council member Fernandez. Is
there discussion of the motion? >> If not, all those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. No nays. The ordinance is adopted on second reading. Thank you, Mr. Shanks. Next is a resolution approving a contract with Bandy's Construction
Company, Inc. for emergency for an emergency operations center building uh at fire station number one. And our fire chief, the esteemed Ian Kemp is here to explain. >> Good evening, Mayor, City Council. Ian Kemp, your fire chief. I'm presenting
tonight a resolution approving the contract with Bandy's Construction Company for the construction of the city's emergency operations center. In 2023, the city of Tipple Terrace was awarded $4.5 million in state appropriation grant funding for the
construction of a new emergency operation center. Resolution 4124. subsequently authorized the city to enter into an agreement with applied services consulting to provide management services including preparation for architectural design
documents and technical specifications required for uh competitive solicitation. The new facility will include a hardened emergency operations center, fire administration offices, and a new fire and police communication
center. On October 17th, 2025, the city issued a request for qualifications, RFQ, seeking qualified firms to provide building services for the Harden two-story facility. Multiple firms submitted responses following the evaluation of written
proposals and eight firm presentations. The city's selection committee issued a notice of intent to award the contract to Bandy's Construction Company Incorporated. This portion of the project was budgeted $6 million and the bid received from
Benny's Construction came in under the budgeted amount. The bid package was reviewed by the city engineer and architect and myself and was deemed complete meeting all project requirements. The proposed contract amount for Bandies
is 5,484,590. This project is funded through the combination of 4.5 million in state appropriations grant funding and 1.5 in city funds. Staff recommends the city council approve a resolution awarding a
contract with Bandy's Construction Company Incorporated for the Emergency Operations Center and authorizes the city manager to execute said contract. Thank you. >> Thank you, Chief. Are there members of the public who wish to comment on this item?
We do have Bandy's Construction here if anybody would like to speak to them as well. >> Okay. Thank you, Chief. Any questions, council members? >> Yes. >> Council member Fernandez and Vice Mayor Schis. >> Um, so with regard to the 4.5 million that was appropriated from the state, is
there a deadline that this project must be started or completed or any anything like that in order to retain the funds? Like we don't have to give them back if we don't meet a deadline. the the project uh uh needs to be completed by
February 28th of 27. Um Banny's Construction realizes that and is under contract. Once they uh start, they have to have the the project completed in a in a year process in a year time. So, we're we're anticipating it being um you
know, January. Hopefully, we'll be done 30 days prior to um or sooner. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. And I do there is something in the Yes. >> So and just as um as I've informed council of abundance of caution, we
actually submitted a reallocation request to the legislature for this upcoming session. We advised to do that by our government affairs consultant um just to basically reserve those dollars should we need them to go beyond February 28th of 2027.
So is the is this a situation where the state is going to reimburse the city after funds are expended? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> That's my understanding. >> Thank you, >> Vice Mayor. >> Yes, that was my question because I I saw I thought I remembered seeing something where we had to reau we were
going to reauthorize the 4.5 and I wanted to make sure. Is there any risk of that not being reauthorized? >> Well, it's the legislature, so I speak to whether there's a risk of them doing something or another. My understanding, and Jim, correct me, this is reimburseable.
>> This is a reimburseable award from the state. This is not a we're not going to get the money all up front. Correct. >> That's correct. >> Okay. So, what we should be doing throughout this process is as we make progress on a regular basis, we should be submitting for those reimbursements. So, by the time we get 12 months into
construction, we will have expended the vast majority of those dollars. And again, again, lessening any kind of risk potential. In the meantime, our our understanding from our government affairs consultant is that this should be an easy decision on the part of the
the legislature. Uh the legislators that have supported us in the past are still there as well. So, we would hope that that will continue to and it'll be supportive and this is hopefully just an administrative process to just ensure that those dollars again continue should we have the need. Hopefully, we'll not have the need and we'll get it all done in time.
>> Do we have a contingency plan? I mean, I don't need to be I don't I mean I don't need me need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean need mean to be a wet blanket on it because I'm looking forward to this being done but we've seen stranger things happen sometimes we have I I
guess if I could revisit this matter with you in a few months then I could tell you whether we'll need a contingency plan or not right now again as I said as we make progress I think the one thing that I'm going to encourage the staff to do is make sure that we ask for those reimbursements get those reimbursements processed again we
want the dollars is coming in as soon as possible and not wait till the last minute. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Council Member Kravitz. Any other questions? >> Okay. If there are no further questions, council, is there a motion?
>> Move to approve the resolution approving a contract with Bandy's Construction Company, Inc. for Emergency Operations Center building services at fire station number one. >> Second. >> Motion and second. Discussion of the motion. >> Have one brief comment.
>> Council member Kravitz. >> Bank error in your favor. Uh I believe um so it's true what the chief said 1.5 million was allocated from city funds. I'm just glancing here at the uh agenda packet of the 1.5 million 984,950
are going to be needed. So this is 600,000 roughly under what we expected. Just want to bring that up. That's all I've got. Thank you. Okay. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> I. Opposed. No. Nays. Resolutions
adopted. Chief. Thank you. >> Thank you everyone. >> Next is council business. Our first item under council business is uh PBK architects presentation of consensual conceptual renderings for a possible public safety complex.
Good evening. Thank you for your patience. >> You're welcome. Good evening, mayor, council members. We're pleased to be here. I'm Phil Treza, managing principal with PBK. I manage our Tampa office. I'm here with my colleagues, Amy Bradlo.
We're all architects here, Amy Bradlo and Ingred Dawan. Amy serves as the project manager and uh Ingred's the project architect. We've all been working together with uh Chief Kemp and Chief Staley to get to this point at this conceptual level. So, I'll turn it over to uh Amy and Ingred to make the
presentation. >> Thank you. >> Do you have the presentation? >> There we go. I think that was the last slide. >> Yep. Thanks. >> Thank you.
Uh so the the project's going to include uh both a new police station and potentially a new fire station. Uh the police station is three stories about 33,000 square ft. Um fire station's about 10,000 square ft and a single story. Uh the buildings can either be
built together at the same time or the police station can be built first and the fire station built later as um you know the the funds become available or the uh the need is there. Uh there's also room on the site for police and fire training elements. And also in the
back corner, you'll see there's a vehicle storage building. Um that's for specialty vehicles uh owned by the the police. Uh the ground floor of the police department will have um public lobby uh
records, evidence, uh patrol, and um some holding cells. Uh the second floor will have elements that are shared by both police and fire for training. So that'll be a um training meeting room uh and uh fitness center. And then there's
also um some office space there uh for the police for um crime prevention and training. Uh and then the third floor will have administrative offices, uh the backup DI dispatch center, uh the detectives and SEU departments, and uh there's
conference rooms on all levels as well. Um and then the fire department. Uh the the split here between the the green is basically the living and office space and the red is the apparatus bays and fire support spaces. Um it'll be a two bay station but uh
both those apparatus bays are are double length to accommodate multiple apparatus in each bay. Now I'll talk about the options we have for the exterior appearance. >> Thanks Amy. Yeah. So we've prepared two
excuse me two um different styles for you all to to review today. This first option that um I'll show you here is a more of a contemporary version of Mediterranean style, if you will, which consists of, as you can see from this
view up above, has a mixture of like gable and hip roofs. Um to speak to that Mediterranean style, what we're proposing here would be a roof material, like a metal roof that would emulate um clay tile roofs.
We'd want to use the metal because that would be more resistant from storm debris, windborn storm debris. >> Right. Sorry, I think I went to the second one. Um, from this view, you can see like in this style, we would have more of like punch opening styles like
elongated windows. Um, and then same style for both the fire station and police department. You can see the fire station here is on your left and the police department on the right. um from this view. This view would be like
driving into the site where you can see um the right side there where the um overhead doors are like would be the evidence room. So we would um add some like ornament or you know to to speak to that Mediterranean style in those areas
where there's not much glazing opportunities. This next option would be of more contemporary style um speaking to you know evolving technology um and with more like simplified roof forms have
like low slope roofs in both buildings. Um in the fire station we would have a low slope roof over the apparatus bay just to you know speak the same language as the police department. And some of the materials in this one would be um
more contemporary materials like metal uh stucco would have maybe some brick forms. These are just some suggestions that we you know are making in these views. Um whereas the mediterranean style would be more along like stuck
white stucco with a bunch openings. Again this is the same view approaching the police department. As you can see, there's, you know, more glazing, more there's more of a visual connection to the outdoors with that contemporary
version, um, as opposed to like the smaller openings. Here you could see side by side what those two options would look like. At the top you have the Mediterranean style. At the bottom would be more of a contemporary style. So,
>> we welcome any feedback you have and uh uh any questions you may have >> and we're hoping that uh we're going to get some direction from you tonight as to what your preferred style would be so that we can move forward because these are still somewhat preliminary. uh their conceptual level as you saw the plans
are very diagrammatic uh that but we want to move forward with developing the design and uh producing even uh video so that uh fly around video so that that could be used for uh building support for the project. >> Okay. Thank you. Before we get to
comments though, I want to ask the city manager a question. So when we started this discussion several years ago about the need for a police station and to get our police department off the third floor of city hall for safety reasons and a lot of other
reasons, we talked about buying or acquiring a piece of property that had ample space so that we could build a police department and then if and when the need arose to build a third fire station, we would have enough room there to to do
that. We also this council also talked about, you know, when we're laying this out, we need to have a master plan so that we don't shoehorn a fire station. And, you know, we need to make sure that we have that in mind from the very beginning,
but we've not ever had the discussion of we're building a fire station. And so did we skip a step or is this just a placeholder for cuz I I don't know that this council's ever had a discussion about or established a need or there seen any data or anything.
So I I just want to clarify the discussion. Are we talking about building the police side of this and sometime in the future the police of the fire side or what's what are we doing? So when if you recall is we've been progressing since we acquired the
property. You're absolutely correct. That was discussion at some point. We may have a future fire station. Um what I've said to the council all along is that it's it's it's not even so much the cost of the the of the third fire station, not the construction cost is really going to be the operational
costs that are going to be something you really need to consider very seriously because that's going to be an enormous number. >> Um and we want to make sure there's a demand for that. So I'm still working with fire chief Kemp on some analysis of that to determine if there truly is a demand now and if the if there's a
costbenefit analysis done with that as well because let's say you have to spend millions and millions of dollars to improve a response time by a minute or two is that really in the best interest of the of of the community right now. So those are the calculations that we're still going through. When we retained the services
of PBK and when we budgeted for this item, what we informed council at the time is we were going to ask to get multiple versions for the council's consideration because we we thought concurrently we'd be doing this analysis to figure out again is there a need for a third fire station at the it is
without doubt we need the police station. So the police station is the priority. So in their in their review what they've provided here is this is one concept that shows both on the site. when they get to the final product, they're going to show you another concept that just has a police station on the site and what the site the rest
of the site could look like with the space there for a a third fire station at some point in the future if you wanted to do it that way as well. So, that's still up in the air. Um, we still have to bring you that information to the council as to whether again, you know, here's here's what we have in terms of response times, here's what we
see for growth, um, in terms of annexation, where we might want to annex, which will drive some of this discussion. And I'll be honest, where we might want to annex may not be in the southeast part of the city. It may be other parts closer to Fowler and things like that where we've got a little bit probably more concentrated enclaves
actually. So, so that's where we are right now. So, they're just doing what we tked them to do, which is basically put some conceptual designs. Again, remember the the the the need for this was to help us educate the public over the next several months should we go to general obligation bond, which is my
recommendation to the city council. and that will require a vote of of the of the a ballot initiative and a vote of the of our residents. So, we want to be able to show them something so they have something to react to for that vote. >> Okay. Thank you. And so, the the
expected outcome tonight is for us to kind of pick one of these designs to move to let them know. >> That would be yes, that at a minimum that's what we'd like. Just pick pick one of the designs so >> Okay. >> Okay. Very good. Council, what are your thoughts on the designs? Council member Kravitz >> like other people would go first. >> Council member Chambers. I like the
modern. >> I think I like the modern and it fits in with our new marketing plan uh moving forward to the future. >> Yes, council member. >> I like the contemporary one better also, but I would like to know if there's a
preference from from the police department or the fire department. One has a lot more windows. And >> Chief Staley, >> Rob Staley, chief of police. Um, obviously if this building was located more uh central to the redevelopment
area, we'd have a different opinion about this, but I think the more modern look would be a good fit out there, especially considering the growth that's happened out there thus far and then what's coming in the future. Um, I'm a pre I'm preferential to the more modern design. >> And then for the architects
that this the design we're talking about right now is really just the facade. The square footage and the layout inside is the same. Correct. That is correct. Yes. >> Yes. >> Council member Kravitz, >> just have a question if I may. Um, the
design that you've proposed would definitely be able to accommodate a fire station. Correct. >> Correct. >> Okay. I'm happy to hear that because keeping the class one designation that we have is really important. We're going to need a fire station in 5 to seven years anyway at the absolute out extremity of the time frame. We got
increasing call volume. And um the other point I'd make is um staffing is the number one criterion when they're looking at whether a a fire department gets a class one rating. So all of this put together um shows that we're going to need that sooner rather than later,
especially with our population increasing and our call volumes are up 5 to 7% per year uh based on a news report that I found regarding this topic recently. Um so and I also agree about the modern look. I think that's definitely the way to go
there. It's got more light, so greater quality of life for the people who are in the building. And also, the roof is probably a little bit simpler to maintain, so it might have lower ongoing costs. That's just my take as a real estate guy. So, that's all I got. Thank you, Viceman. >> I too like the modern concept. It's a
lot It's cleaner and and again, it's not near the redevelopment, so it's it uh it's it's a newer area and it's the houses out there are more modern. Um would the render the would the next step oh I I want to word this properly. Would
the next step uh or you need direction include is it just design at this point that you guys are going to do next or what what will be your next step? What are you going to come back to us with? >> Correct. Right now we're under contract
to do conceptual design uh to help with uh sec securing the funding through the bond referendum. So to um give you all the information you need uh to pursue that and then uh at some point in the future we may be able to do the the full complete design and construction
documents for the bidding and permitting of the project. >> So you're looking to us you're looking at us to come back with the uh modern versus the the the the Mediterranean and both one or one or both. >> Well, what we're being asked to tonight is just a design. >> Well, I understand that. I understand
that. But I mean, if we're going to go do the design, are we going to be designing potentially for both so that we can know everything? We need to we can move forward with the geo the geo financing or geo bonding. >> I just want to be may just be careful. So yeah, >> that's why I want to ask why I missed
the question. >> So again, the the fundamental question tonight is which architectural design do you prefer? >> Okay, >> that's really the basic question we have this evening because that allowed them to complete this project and move forward. We will myself, administration and city
council will have to have a conversation over the next several months as to what do we want to do now? Do we want to build we know we want to build a police station? Do can we afford to build a fire station? Does it make sense to build a fire station? Does it make sense also that again with the the associated
costs? That's a conversation we still haven't had yet because we still need to review all that data internally ourselves to come up with an understanding of what that means for the city and its budget. >> Okay. But that then that I just want to make sure that what what we were going to be doing tonight. I like the modern. >> Yeah, >> definitely.
>> Seems like there's consensus on the modern, >> council member. >> Well, I just I I have a question that has to do with the timing of the furthering the discussion. So, not about the facade. >> Okay. Well,
that they're here for the facade. >> Yes, >> we have consensus on the modern. And I'm sensing that you guys like the modern also. We do. Yeah, I'm kind of subtly picked up. >> It looks nice. >> Okay. Very good. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. Thank you. >> Any other council business? >> I have a >> council member Kravis point to raise. Um question for the city manager regarding the centennial committee. Um my read on the
profit and loss account that was provided is that we had 133,269 uh dollars of revenue and 115 uh41 in expens $115,041 of expenditure which leaves us with
$18,228 in the account of that committee. And that's my first question. My second question which derives from that is whether we could appropriate some of those funds that are apparently remaining in that account to do Christmas lighting this year.
So you you are correct as of 12 as of yesterday there is $18,228. Um there may be some some limited outstanding invoices that I'm not aware of but I don't believe it'd be a dramatic impact on that number. to your second question for lighting for this
year. Um it it just we're we're nine days away from Christmas. So this it would be a little challenging to probably do that. And I want to clarify to this been this conversation that somehow we've reduced holiday lighting. Since I've been here, we've not reduced any holiday. We haven't touched any
holiday lighting or reduced holiday lighting. In fact, we've added some wreaths since I've been here. Um and I've spoken with people who have lived here in this community for many many years and they didn't indicate that years and years ago there used to be more lighting and then TCO came out with a policy on some of the their polls that
I think may have turned the tide at that point from what I understand. So there hasn't been any any reduction in in what what's been done. Now of course augmenting it absolutely we can look to augment if that's the direction of council. I I just don't want to build unrealistic expectations that we can get something
done, turned around and put in and the next several days we still figure out what what you'd like us to do. You know, what does that mean? What would you like to see? Um or at least talk about it internally and then try and figure out what is, you know, what does it mean for how to get it in place when everybody still has other things to do. So, uh
that would be my concern for this year in terms of >> would it be a Christmas miracle? >> Yeah, you could say that. Um, if we have the $18,228 in that account, what would the fate of that money be if we didn't spend it,
>> Mayor? >> So, it would go Yes. My understanding is it would just roll back into the uh once we sunset the committee and the expenditures, it roll back into the general fund. >> Okay. Am I correct, Mr. Ingram? >> Yes, we have that um
As indicated in the report, we spent uh I think it was around $25,000 in overtime, mostly overtime cost for these events for mostly police and fire,
some public works. We haven't charged that. That's not a part of the 115,000. So, one of our discussions was that at the end of the day, if it's 18,000 or 15,000
um whatever that net number is, we would apply a portion of that overtime expenditure that we've coded with the with the uh Centennial Project code
um to be uh to use those funds and then we would be balanced to zero at the end of the before we sign it all off. Essentially, it would be the same as the G going back to the general fund, but it
will show that it went to pay for a portion of those overtime costs. At least that is the thinking right now. Council member Chambers as liaison, you had some uh >> Yes, I know the the committee is still
active. They have ongoing projects that they're going to spend money for. Uh the dedication of at least two more murals that it's not a lot, but there's some. So that 18,000 number won't be 18,000 when the committee ends. There's some uh promotion and book items that they're
going to be doing. I don't have a number on that, but it's been the projects have been approved by the committee. So until the committee disbands, which I think may come for us in February or something, then we'll know the exact number without going to personnel. So I
just want to let everybody know that 18,000 number will not be 18,000 at the end. >> Okay. You still had the floor for your question. >> I mean, I think it would be nice to have a discussion about whether we could do something to spruce up the city a little bit more toward the end of the year. Is
anyone willing to kick that off? >> Yeah. as a I mean, we moved here in 72, so I've been here a long time. And there were absolutely more more decorations. There were larger installations at in
the front of Lightfoot. There were things in front of city hall. There were things in front of the library that none of those really engaged the Tampa Electric poles. And then there were up and down 56th Street. And these are these were on the Tampa Electric poles
and they were I guess designed to look like the pipe streamer style of decoration. And I I do remember that Tampa Electric changed their policy for allowing anything on their polls, but
then I believe that we moved them off of the Tampa Electric polls and still had something similar to that on the other polls that we have available to us. And I it seems like we would still own these decorations somewhere.
And I know we've asked about it a few times. So my question is one, are we able to put more in some places to to at least increase what we have? And two, what do we need
to do to prepare now for next year? Because they I believe these things exist somewhere. Let me and we might be able to land the plane here since >> we haven't pulled them, you know, like they're there. They they're they're here somewhere or >> I I not trying to get ahead of you if
you have a question, but in light of the time also I think there's general consensus that we could do better. >> Yes, >> I think we've all heard from the public >> and I don't think we're arguing with the criticism. I think the criticism that we've gotten from the public >> is generally fair criticism. I don't
know about sending us to the ethics commission over it, but but I think it's generally um fair criticism. I think we could do better. So, this is really I I would love to do something now, but it's difficult with six days left. I I mean,
it's almost impossible, but I suggest that this is very fixible for next year. All we have to do is make sure that we bring it up during the goal setting in the spring for the budget and that in the meantime that gives staff a chance to go through, dig around, see what we have that's old that's still
good or get rid of what's old that's no good and we come come up with some suggestions about what an appropriate amount in the budget would be and we program it in the budget for next year and next year we do better. It's I think we would all agree to that. Council
member, >> I'm just curious. Do you think there would be enough support here to instruct staff to look into developing a plan for that in in advance of it coming up in goal setting? Maybe we get the ball rolling now and get a report in two or three months about how the decorations might be developed in the future.
>> I'm quite comfortable that what I just said, council member and all our staff is going to produce >> they they I'm I don't think we need to. >> He said he's in three months. So, you know, >> I I I mean, I have a lot of faith in our
staff. I don't think they need to be >> um >> whether we direct them in goal setting or direct them now isn't really relevant. >> What do you want to do, council member? You want to make a motion. >> I'd be happy to make a motion. I'm just curious if anyone here would like to support it
>> before I do it. >> I think we've already done that. >> We've done that. And I if you want to make a motion, I can support it, but I I still want to make my comments at some point. >> Go ahead. >> Even though we have I know we've landed the plane, >> but I'm taxing. >> It's not that complicated.
>> It's not. No, I wanted No, it's not. And I think this staff heard us loud and clear. I don't think we need a motion, but and I agree with all that, but I had to make a comment. Uh, none of us ever took uh uh money out of our budget to support the Centennial
Committee out of the Christmas lighting because that was an accusation. So, I want to make that clear. You know, we we never did that. So, the Centennial money was different than than that. I don't think we have any less lighting than this year than we had last year because we didn't have any last year.
>> Years ago, Council Member Fernandez is correct. It was on the polls. The Tikico poles have been gone for a long time. Uh the city at one time did retrofit every building, the family complex, Lightfoot, public works, city hall with outdoor uh outlets. So there were uh displays at
every building. I don't know what happened to all those displays. I know what uh the where the electric is at the family complex in Lightoot, but I don't yet. So that would be easy to do uh to for next year. I don't know if you can do anything this year. So, I think all
this is very doable and we should do it now. I'm done. >> Can we He wants to make a motion, Vice Mayor. >> No, I I don't mean Plano. >> Obviously. Obviously, it doesn't really matter. So, let's go ahead and just, you know, we we all want to do it. So, let's
>> I've lived here a long time and yes, we don't have as much lighting as we did in the past. Okay. And yes, they were on Tikico poles. Tikico made us take them down. we were able to get the the sub the shopping centers and so forth to do more. We can't make them do this. We
can't make all the shopping centers do what we want them to do. We don't have that power or authority. So, um and I'm sure that unless it was stored in a in a in a climate controlled um facility, those
decorations from 101 15 years ago are gone, rotten or nonfunctional. So, yes, I agree. There's no way it could be done for this year. Unfortunately, it's sorry. We just had a massive uh winter wonderland that w encompassed at least
half the city in in geography with with the with the uh uh golf cart parade and and and the fireworks and everything else. So, I mean, it's not like we ignored Christmas this year. We definitely did not do that. So, um you know, nobody's done anything nefarious.
nobody's done anything wrong or malpasent. So, uh I we've instructed staff, we've let staff know this is what we want. We I I don't see the need for a motion to do this. I'm sure that they're going to come back and present to us a
goal setting of what we want to do and what we want to accomplish for next year. That's all I had to say. Council member, >> I I think it would be wise to make a motion now, at least just to give people the indication that we're we're taking it seriously, moving it forward as
quickly as we can. So, I'll make a motion that we instruct the city manager to explore increasing holiday lighting over the amount used this year for 2026 and that we uh >> Sorry. >> Sorry. What? >> Nothing. Go ahead. >> Oh, no. If you got any input, I'll take
it. >> No, I said I was going to second. I thought you paused to stop and I was I was just going to say and that and that that we should um receive some guidance with him uh from from uh from him on that within no longer than 6 months.
So >> the six month I'll second >> and I have a request. Can we change lighting the word lighting to decorations? >> Yeah, lighting and decorations. Sure. Motion. I'll I'll withdraw my previous one and >> and I'll I'll do that second >> accordingly. There we go. So,
>> just because >> discussion on the motion, >> I find this totally insulting. >> Yes, >> we have the best professional city staff of 411 cities in this state and we feel
the need to make a motion and give them a timeline of exactly what we want them to do for Christmas decorations. Do you not have any confidence in this man and his staff? He doesn't operate his staff this way.
He doesn't go to his directors and give them a mandate and give them like Friday at 10:30 I need an answer to this and this is what the answer's going to be. We have goal setting every year. Every one of us gets a chance to say, "Hey, we
need a program 20, 30, whatever it is." We do need a little guidance from them. We asked them to give it to us. I think they would have done it. But now we hijack every opportunity so that we can take credit for everything they do. So
even when they come back with a terrific product, we can say, "Oh, well, we did that. We're the ones that made the motion and ordered them to do it. Look how good the food truck thing turned out because we made them do it. They wouldn't have done a good job unless we made them." How insulting. And some of
these people work their tails off to put on Winter Wonderland. For us to act like this is Scroogeville to like people coming up, oh, we haven't done anything is so depressing. We don't Winter Wonderland had thousands of
people there. We had a tree lighting. We had Santa Claus. We had all that. Now, could we do better with the decorations? Yeah, we all agree. But we are micromanaging our staff. I can't. I'm just If I were them, I'd be insulted that we're doing this. So, I'll
vote no. Not because I don't like Christmas decorations. I'll vote no because these people are the best you can get. We don't need to treat them like children. >> Yes, council member. >> Okay. So, my thought in this process is
that this has nothing to do with a vote of confidence on the staff or not. This is a response to the community who has requested last year and this year for an increase in decorations that we didn't produce. And this is to me a way to show
the community that we have heard them and that we are responding to them. And that's all of my intention. >> We've done that discussion. >> I I've just got to say it. So, I agree
with you, mayor, but I seconded the motion because I want to go home and it would have >> Well, here we are 20 minutes later talking about Christmas reads. >> Yeah, the staff the staff did hear us and I said that before the motion was made and I get it. >> I I just
>> briefly the legal mechanism is that staff can't do anything unless we authorize them. That's all this is. It's not a vote of confidence. I'm sure they'll do great. >> All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Opposed? May ridiculous. Okay, we're still on council business. Is there
>> one item? >> Council member Fernandez. >> And um I have I did ask the city manager about this previously and that is u for those of you who use the Spectrum app versus watching Spectrum on TV. The city
council the channel that our meetings are broadcast on was not showing up on the app. So, um, that was that's an issue because I guess a lot of people are dropping cable and using the app. And I just wanted to follow up and see if the city manager
had any information about making it available on the app. >> Certainly. So, council members, correct? So, we learned that Spectrum um, now moving, as you said, a lot of these traditional box cable companies are moving to streaming and Spectrum has
made the decision in their streaming platform. they're no longer going to carry the same channel line of the 641 which was the the channel for the for the city. Uh so they're not they're not doing that there. Um I've the city attorney and I have have talked about it
as well as um some of the staff. Uh we're trying to see if the franchise the franchise fee agreements were changed several years ago in the state of Florida from what I understand. So they tried to make this I believe more streamlined across the state for these sort of these cable providers. So we
have to see what rights we have to be able to pressure them if we can any kind of legal pressure to apply to in essence force them to provide it on the streaming platform um on the cable box they had to so now that they're moving
that's they're they're pushing the boundaries and one extent so we have to figure out legal rights on our end and that's something I just we don't have an answer to just yet. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Other council business. Okay. Uh, new business or board reports.
>> Do you have an item? >> Council member Fernandez. >> So, I was at the cultural assets committee meeting um for the Hillsboro County and the subject came up of performing arts space. And this is not
something that I expect any decision or even discussion about tonight, but I wanted to put it out there for people to be thinking about. and that is the new Tampa performing arts space is beyond capacity. They they are turning people
away routinely for uh rehearsal space and performance space because they're they're booked. And I did ask what they thought um you know where a location for a new performing
arts center might be a good location. and Temple Terrace was definitely an area depending on where something would were to be built in the city that might take that overflow and become a very heavily utilized space. So, I it's not
anything that we're going to decide right now, but I wanted to pass that along that there is an opportunity for potential in the city that would be another space that would be activated and used by a a wider community. That's
it. >> Other council business or new business board reports. Okay. C uh Mr. B, are you going to talk about Mr. roads and the sign that he discussed during public comment. Are you going to talk about that during uh your
report? >> Yeah, if you are, I won't bring it up now, but >> I was not planning to um but >> Okay. >> I think this is more of an issue that concerns the city attorney in terms of >> Okay. Can you just >> give us something if you if you know
>> Well, in looking at it, concern is is with any sign ordinance or >> microphone microphone. Thought I turned it on. Sorry about that. Is the concern of the free speech rights of people on their private property versus our being able to regulate what they say. At this
point, we are in in determining and looking at what the sign says. We don't feel that it is running a foul of our code at this time. >> Okay. And you've I'm sure staff has spoken
with Mr. Rhodess about this. Um, yeah. Okay. >> Okay. Thank you. Anything else under new business or board reports? >> I don't want to belabor this issue, but this is the first time I'm hearing anything about that particular sign um
being an issue. Um I I don't know. I felt a little blindsided by it because I really didn't know what, you know, what the circumstances were, what we've done. Something like that. Maybe we could be appraised to the issue
going forward. I don't not going to make a motion that you you you hear you hear what we're talking about. You know, if if it if it's at all possible, something that volatile, if we could just be made aware of it in some capacity. That's
all. >> Um yeah. >> Okay. City manager report. >> Happy holidays, everybody. >> Oh, I have a question for you. Oh, I I thought I was almost there. >> It's a short question, but it it does
pertain to fire station 3, and I just wanted to know, we are not making a decision tonight, and we're not discussing tonight the validity of of moving forward at the same time as the police station. None of that is up for
discussion tonight. But I would like to know when we would be talking about the data that you're u compiling and when we will be discussing the reasonleness of
of the timing of that fire station and building them separately, building them together. Because when we go out for a general obligation bond, which seems to be one of the ways that we would fund this, we're going to need to know one,
what to ask for, and two, if we if we know the full project cost, we ask for the full project in the bond obligation, but then we don't have to take all of it at once. We could take it in um increments, but that's going to all be
part of the discussion. And so we're going to need to know a lot about that timing for that fire station. >> Correct. So in the last week, I've just I've just received the data from the fire department over the last week, uh,
initial data draft that I'm looking at right now in terms of the supporting justification for a third fire station. Um, these are conversations I'm going to have to have with with the fire chief, uh, the assistant city manager as well. We're going to we're looking at all of
that. Um, you are correct. We need also because, you know, time is quickly going by. >> So, I would imagine that we will be before you having this conversation. I wouldn't be surprised if we do it either in January or February at the latest uh to make help you understand the issue
and then you have to make a decision and direct us and then from that point is if you remember bond council that spoke with us over the summer then there's a series of steps we have to do there'll be a resolution the council will have to um approve uh basically moving forward towards a a
ballot question uh bond council will help us with that we also will have to determine glad you brought it up in this issue because we're going to have to determine strategically which ballot you want to be on. Um >> uh I think initially we were we were
thinking about the general uh election in November. >> Uh but with this flux right now, these eight potential proposals in the legislature all dealing with property taxes, that will make for a very convoluted ballot if all of those, you know, were on there. So we may want to consider
being on the primary ballot. That's what the bond council also advised in the summer. just, you know, think about it strategically what would make most sense for our issue to get the most traction uh for consideration by the public. So, those are the things we're hoping to flesh out over the next couple of months. Um and um and we'll we'll be
here in council discussing it. >> Okay. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> City attorney's report. >> Happy holidays everyone. >> Thank you. Any other business to come before the council tonight? We will stand adjourned.
Hey, hey, hey. Heat. Heat.