Hey, welcome everybody. Uh uh I'm Gil Schuster, vice mayor. Uh mayor was called out of town unexpectedly. So he was not not able to get back in time for the meeting. Therefore, I will conduct the meeting this evening. I want to call call the uh city council meeting for
Temple Terrace, Florida for Tuesday, January 20th, 2026 to order. Um, welcome everybody and please remember to turn off all your electronical electronic devices so phones don't ring in the middle of discussion and conversation.
Um if you'll all please if you're able please stand join me for the the invocation and then join me with the pledge of allegiance afterwards. Let us pray. Gracious God, we thank you for the blessing of this day and for the privilege of serving this community. We ask for your presence to guide this
council as we deliberate on matters that affect the lives of many. Grant us the wisdom to understand the issues at hand, humility in the moments of disagreement, and the courage to pursue what is right rather than what is easy. May our decisions be marked by fairness,
compassion, and a sincere desire to serve the common good. Bless our city, its residents, and our families. Please grant your grace to all of our city's employees, and protect our first responders. May peace and cooperation guide our conversations, and may hope
shape our future. We offer this prayer in gratitude and trust. 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. >> Thank you. As you as you know, we usually begin our meetings with a uh historic fact or story about the area. And this is my show tonight, so it's I'm going to be doing a lot of talking, so I do
apologize. Um, so the historic fact for January 20th, 2026, I was talking to my kids several months ago, um, preparing for for a previous one. Some of the businesses were in here and and in some
cases still here back when I first moved to Temple Terrace, which was like 53 years ago. So, I figured what we'll do is tonight take a little stroll down 56th Street on some of the businesses that we that were here back in the early 70s. So, if we start at 56 near the
river, we're just going to do the east side tonight. Um, there was a Shell station on the corner. It's I don't know if it's still Shell or not, but it's familyowned. And, uh, they even did they even did house calls, so if you dropped a a nut down inside your intake manifold
while you were screwing around with the mess around with the carburetor, they actually came out and help you fix that and get it out. I know. Um, if you go if you if you take a little right on River Hills where the toer property is now used to be a little flower shop and I think and I believe that the uh
refrigerator the cooler is still there and it's part of their office complex and it was a little general convenience store. The park wasn't there yet. It was all wetlands behind there. So if you cross River Hills, there was the Berea Chevron station next to the property
where they ultimately built the uh steak and air. And those who lived here back then were pretty excited to find have a real steakhouse to go to in the area without having to drive 5 miles down Fowler Avenue to University Restaurant. If you if you kept moving north and you
you come across the Pendulson Lumber Company. So this is preh Home Depot days. So it was really a very large hardware store, but they they they had a ton of stuff in there that later became the post office annex, just brakes and
even a western auto at one point for a relationship that's that's where the enigma property is now. If you keep moving north, you hit the downtown and it started with zer, not zer. You get corrected because there's no s on the end of that. Um, and they had pretty
much everything that you would want to have in in a in a local small department store, including a very good lunch counter. Next door was a clothing store, and it was even the proverbial radio shack in the same area. Next was Cash and Carry, and I I know I worked there because it was number 43. I was there
for the grand opening when I helped my father move down October 72 and later went to work there in 73 when I first moved in. learned a lot there. Particularly the fact that if a customer spills vegetable on the floor, do not soak it up with kitty litter and then put in a box because that will catch
fire in about two or three hours on its own. Um, then there was a little mall with such favors as favorites as Romano's Pizza, the Study Fox, which was a head shop, Cloth World, Playless Shoes, Basket Robbins, and the perpetual
offices of the late Eddie Adams when he was running for Congress back in the 80s. that area had a major fire in the mid 80s. I'm not sure exactly when that was, but it it pretty much burned up the connection between the two branches of that shopping center. So that then and that was ultimately closed off. If you
went a little further north, you had businesses that occupied the next storefront was TGY McCroy's and ultimately the Grace Family Garden Center. There was a hairdresser, Casey's Barber Shop. I don't think there's any guy who grew up at Temple Terrace that didn't have a haircut there. All you had
to do was go inside. need the cash and carry haircut or Temple Heights haircut and they knew exactly what she needed. You got white walls and everything else. Um, I once told Connie who was a staple there that she had finally cut four generations of the hair of men in my family and she quietly reminded me that
she should never say something like that to a female holding a pair of scissors. Something about reminding their age, I'm not sure, but she's still there down at uh on on Temple Terrace Highway. Then of course it was the old Publix, not to be confused with the new Publix up off 53rd
Street which eventually became the old Publix when the new Publix was tor where the old public was torn down for the CRA and eventually built on Bush Boulevard. Now the old the new Publix on 53rd was eventually remodeled during COVID which now they made that newer than the new
Publix on Bush. So they had finally everybody started referring to it as the valor the publics on Fowler the Publix on Bush but you could say the new Publix and there's a lot of people who lived here for the longest time. So just remember there'll be a quiz on that later on. Um if you keep going up 56th
Street then you still had the Temple Temple Terrace camera shop then the Danish bakery which was owned by Publix but it was run separately. It was a totally separate storefront. Um, in fact, when we worked at Cash and Carry, we used to go to Publix to get the donuts and take it back to Cash and Carrie for break time because they were
that good. Crispy Cream was five miles away down Bush Boulevard in Sulfur Springs. And there was this was pre- Dunkin Donuts days. Then next to that, we had Ear Drugs, which uh was eventually turned to a west into a western auto in the corner. Now, in that
same parking lot was a Burger Chef, which had some of the best roast beef sandwiches you ever wanted to find. And on the corner 56 and Bush was a royal castle, another burger joint, but it was it was it had stools and it was really pretty good. Um, also there was the the big vending machine, the buil big milk
vending machine. I think it was TG Leo. I'm not 100% certain. And they had the Beacon Building, which hosted numerous businesses over the years, uh, which included the newspapers, obviously, management offices, and there was even a pharmacy there at one point. All this was eventually torn down. is now the
Waverly Apartments, the fountain shops, and the Wind Dixie complex um all the way down to Chicago Avenue. Parcel A2 is still for sale on the on in the Siri district. So, if you know anybody who's wants it, you know, come on down. Now, you cross Puller Parkway and you hit the
Touchton drugstore. Right next to that was the Wind Dixie grocery store. There was a whole series of little mom and pop shops all the way down to where the Exchange Bank was. Uh there was there was Wild Child Restaurant which is now Viardes. My wife says there was a Colony shop there, but I'm not sure exactly
which which storefront it was. >> It was it was Viardas. >> Okay. All right. Well, she was right. I just couldn't find the address. There was a little little business in there called Joe Rose Answering Service. This is before answering machines. This is before cell phones and everything else.
And I and I you I I used their service. And I went in there one time and literally over a hundred black telephones, the old black style was sitting on the wall arranged in a matrix. And she would zip back and forth in her chair answering phones, taking a
message, and you would get a beeper message. You call her back in, she'd tell you what your message was. It was utter chaos, but they did a fantastic job. They were really good. Um, and and ultimately when they remodeled that whole area, they tore that down.
Uh let's see where am I? Uh yeah, but there was well over 100 phones. It was incredible. Now if you keep up moving up 56th Street towards White, you had Little Caesars in in the early 80s, Temple meets and Pisano's Pizza. I didn't work there, but my brother did. It was really really a pretty good
operation. They had beer and wine, great pizzas, and they tried to they wanted to expand to the shop next to it, but they couldn't get a beer and wine license. So they got around that by put a stool between right right in the middle of the floor between the two buildings and they
would take it from the one put the beer and wine there. Customer got up when got their beer and wine took it back and sit down and they it worked well for a little while but people got tired of it and they ultimately closed down that that soon became the new tongue tongue not to confuse with the old tongue tongue that was over by bus gardens. Um
they closed down I think Sabar Sabar I'm not pronouncing that right is there now. Um, next to that was another hairdresser and of course the the 7-Eleven that has been there forever on that intersection. Now, if you go across the street ac move up 56th Street, you got Sherwood Forest.
It's still there, but looked a lot different 50 years ago. On the top floor, I think was offices of all Paul Thomasino, who was this was a a big engineering firm in in in the area. Down down down down on this first floor you have old world cheese shop which there's nobody here who doesn't remember the
frier tuck or the made marian sandwich or the even the whale sandwich can't eat it all in one setting. Um and then there was Cafe Don Jose with their tralerusa and their excellent paella. And of course the great American ice cream machine shop just to mention a few. Now
if you go across Fowler Avenue there wasn't much else. No McDonald's, no Burger King, no Wendy's. couple of gas stations on some of the corners, mostly just vacant land until you get all the way up to the AMF Bowling Wings. Now, they're still there, but they're called
Bolero now, but back then it was like 1975 when they opened. And it was great great pool, great billiards tables and excellent uh bowling alleys. Problem was they don't there was no city water up that far and it was all well water and
it had a horrible sulfur odor. You couldn't even use the the you couldn't drink the sodas. You couldn't drink the the ice would contaminate the sodas. The only way to do it is to drink the beer and milkshake. So, it was it was okay ultimately, but uh it it was pretty good. Um there was there was no 7-Eleven
on the corner of 56 and Fletcher. In fact, before telecom opened up, you could only go about maybe a quarter mile, half a mile down Fletcher Avenue. It turned back into wetlands. So, it was really, you know, it was really a unique time back then. So anyway, well that
completes our the east side of Temple Terrace, 56th Street, um all the way up to Fletcher Avenue. So maybe next time I'll do the west side coming back down. Thank you for enduring enduring. Okay. Um recognitions or proclamations? None.
Presentations? None. Historic Okay. Board appointments. First one is the uh historic preservation board. There's a member vacancy on the historic preservation board. The city has received an application reappoint from Lynn Warner. I believe Lynn is
here. Yes, here. Um, so Lynn, is there anything you would like to say? Nope. Okay. Um, if acceptable, uh, can we have a motion, please? >> Sure. Um, move to approve the reappointment of Lynn Warner as a member of the Historic Preservation Board for a
term extending until November 7, 2028. >> Okay. Okay. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Okay, we have a motion to second. Any discussion? Appeared to be none. Uh, all in favor, please take by saying I. >> I. Any opposed? >> Excellent. Thank you very much. Motion
approved. Thank you, Lynn. Look forward to more more time on the board with you. The next is a TPO uh citizens advisory committee appointment. Um, there is a me there's a member vacancy on the TPO, transportation planning organization uh
citizens advisory committee. The city has received an application for reappoint by Aya Aini. Aini Yasine, I'm sorry, Yasine. Um, is there anything you'd like to say or just recognize that you're here? >> No, thank you. I'm here. Thank you very
much. This going to be my third appointment. >> Well, good. Thank Thank you for your service. That That's a tough board to serve on. That'd be like watching paint dress. I didn't say that. Anyway, okay. Um if it's if it's can we ask for an a a motion to approve the reappoint?
>> Sure. Uh move to approve the reappoint of ya yasine as a member of the TPO citizens advisory committee for a term extending until November 7, 2027. >> Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Motion to second. Any discussion?
Appeared to be none. All in favor, please get by saying I. >> I. Any oppose? Excellent. Thank you very much. We we appreciate your your service. Okay. Next on the agenda is consideration of minutes from the me the meeting of January 6, 2026. If the
minutes are acceptable, could we have a motion to approve? >> Move to approve. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion to second. Any discussion? All in favor, please indicate by saying I. >> I. >> Okay. Minutes are approved. Next on the
agenda is the approval of the minutes from the December 16th meeting um which had been tabled to uh uh to this meeting. Um if the minutes are acceptable, do we have a motion to approve? >> Before we move into that, may I ask a
question of the city clerk? The uh adjustments that I asked for, have they been accounted for in these minutes or do I need to make my motion again? the the adjustments you requested are not included because they have not been approved by the council.
>> Okay. So then I'm going to make my motion from the previous session which was to uh amend the minutes. Um the reason why we didn't move forward on that vote last time was because everyone wished to have an opportunity to review the meeting in its uh recording. So I'm
assuming everyone's done that and verified that I did actually say those things. So, uh, here we go with my rather long-winded motion then. Um, so I move to amend the minutes from December 16th, 2025 as follows.
After the current text in the minutes that reads, Council Member Kravitz stated and read rule 18. Dot. Uh the text will follow as read here of the council rules of order and procedure requires only that members of the public
be recognized by the presiding officer before addressing council and contains no requirement that speakers complete a written request form. He observed that while the form has been used as a ma as a matter of informal custom, this practice is not grounded in the adopted rules and that the underlying concern is
whether audience members are afforded adequate opportunity to signal their desire to speak before the public comment period closes. And furthermore, that the current text in the minutes that reads, "Council member Kravit stated he would vote no because this has no separation of powers
and he does not think the council should give up power if they are not required to." The following text would be inserted above that sentence that I just read. Council member Kravitz noted that while Florida statute section 177.071 071
mandates administrative approval of final plats. The staff report acknowledged that no statutory changes were required for preliminary plat review under section 12-354. He expressed concern that by voluntarily extending the delegation of preliminary
plat appeal authority to the city manager, the council was surrendering oversight beyond what state law required and that this eliminated a meaningful separation between the administrative function of reviewing plats and the applet function of reviewing disputed decisions.
>> Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Okay, any discussion? This is just a correction to reflect what I actually said in that meeting. Those were some substantive points that didn't make it into the minutes. I'd like to see them in in the minutes because the minutes are the official
record of that meeting. It's a rather reasonable ask in my mind. So, >> any comments? Any comments? >> Well, I have a comment. I I don't I don't interpret what was said as to what
these changes are. It it doesn't it's it's we don't get the chance to come back and rewrite what we what we would hope to said or or or or in a different format more concisely. >> Be happy to play the time stamps. I have the YouTube video here tied time time tied up. >> We're not going to do that here.
>> May I have the floor? >> No, I'm speaking recognized when I'm done. When I'm done, I'll >> Sorry, I misunderstand when I recognize you. >> Um I I don't believe that we should go back and change the minutes to the that that level of minutia. Um these are um
uh that discussion lasted for several minutes and there was a lot said there was a lot talked about and uh this is this is just trying to rewrite history for I don't know what purpose. So I believe that the minutes are accurately
reflected and satisfactory reflected. >> May I be recognized? >> Yes council cats. So, um, I have the floor now, so let that be noted. Um, I'm going to play the section in question because I do not appreciate the
characterization of me having not said those things. I have the YouTube video ready to go. I have the timestamps ready to go. This will only take a minute. So, I'm going to go ahead and do that. Here we go. So, this is timestamp 318. And I'm also
going to say one thing before I start this. It saddens me greatly that I can't even correct the minutes with something so trivial without having to get into a giant fight up here. It's very unfortunate. And your own prayer this when we started the meeting, you expressed that you hope that this would
all be I have the floor, Mr. Chair. >> I have the I have the floor. This is addressing the topic. And you you hope that we could all act in civility and generosity toward each other. and characterizing me as not accurately reflecting my comments from previously I
find to be quite unfortunate in the same spirit that you just said. So here we go. Let's uh play it out. >> Okay. >> 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, >> that is the section here where I
specifically said that it was not required that people who wish to speak fill out a form and that they do not need to fill out a written request. I observe that while the form has been used as a matter of informal custom, it is not grounded in the in the adopted rules. That is the section that I just
played out. I'm now going to proceed to the next section which addresses plat authority. And let me just be said this is only one brief excerpt. I'm not going to belabor the point because there are many times where I said this in this session. I'm only playing it one one time stamp even though there are multiple timestamps where I made similar
points. So we're going to go ahead to the appeals and um the state law requirements. This is at time stamp 1 hour 35 sec uh minutes and 46 seconds. So I'm going to cue that up right now and then we can get right to it because I definitely did say those things and
I'm not making anything up. Here we go. 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 your 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 so that would be the first part of the correction that I requested for and I'm now going to proceed to time stamp 14238 which is when I make the point about um preliminary preliminary plat review
being something different from final plat review and how one is not included the other is. So here we go. >> Preliminary plats. 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. >> So, as you can see, all of the things that I asked for in my correction to the minutes are in fact things that I did say on December 16th, 2025, which were
not previously reflected in the minutes and which I would simply like to have reflected in the minutes with this motion. And I'm not looking to have a big discussion. I just want to fix the minutes so that they actually reflect what I said. Please simply vote for this so we can proceed with the meeting. Mr. Chair.
>> Okay. Another comment. >> Yes. Yes. >> Okay. So, I don't really disagree with what you want in there. Um I don't think it's necessary. I also as as anytime we've had some substantive changes of
minutes, which haven't been many, but if we had, I would appreciate if those were turned into the clerk in advance of our meeting. Like last time, you passed it all out to us. We didn't have a chance to to read it or study it. So just in the future, could you please if you're
gonna if any of us >> James please get try to get it to the clerk, you know, read the minutes in advance of the meeting so we can have it in advance. She would probably if that would come in. I think our procedure was you would send it out in the minutes as a correction or or a possible
correction, but we could have it in advance of a meeting. I don't recall uh and I'm sorry I just listened to it again and I'm having trouble with it. In your uh excerpts that you played, did you list statute numbers?
>> I did. I mentioned those in a separate section during the evening, but uh I don't have >> but not during this that part of the conversation. >> I'm happy to remove the statute numbers from the correction if that's but I did mention it in that meeting. It's just >> I know in the meeting, but back to what
uh vice mayor alluded to, we can't go back and amend what we wanted to say at the time or what we should have said at the time. So, I would be comfortable adding some of that stuff into the minutes if you would take out the stuff that you didn't say during that portion of the meeting which you're trying to
correct. >> May I be ready? >> That's just my comments. >> I don't I Okay. >> May I May I respond to the gentleman? >> Yes. Um, so there are in fact in the December 16th meeting moments when I
specifically mentioned those statutes by number. They are not in the timestamps I just played. Um, so to that point, it is an accurate reflection of what I said to include the reference to the statute in the minutes because I did mention those
statutes. The point of the time stamps now was to get to the meat of the matter without going into excessive amounts of replay detail. Now, on the other point, I'm happy to send corrections to the minutes in advance in the future to the
city clerk. Um, an issue that I sometimes run into is that the agenda packet is several hundred pages and so I don't always have time to process everything and sometimes I run up against Tuesday because I have many
other obligations that I need to take care of as well. I don't notice the minutes every single time as having deficits because my attention is typically on other things. Okay. But I'm happy to make a greater effort to try and get those things to the city clerk. In this particular case, I did circulate
the corrections to the minutes in writing because they were somewhat extensive and I was a little disappointed that the minutes were not more substantive. And then we tabled so that we could all have two weeks to review. So, in this particular instance, um I think it's fair to say that everyone has had plenty
of time, but I understand the concern and I'm happy I'm happy to make a greater effort to try and get any changes that I would like submitted uh to the city clerk. And if so desired, I would also be happy to circulate them to city council in a way that would not elicit a reply and
therefore not run a foul of sunshine law so that everyone could look at the submission. I'm have no problem with that. really I don't generally expect there to be an issue with the minutes. There are very few times when I ask for corrections lately. Every time I do, it
seems to be a big issue. Um but um it's not my intention to make the minutes a big battleground. I really just want the minutes to capture what I say because everyone relies on the minutes to see what people said in the meeting. And I just want everyone to be able to read the minutes because that's the official record and have an accurate reflection
of what I actually argued. And I use the minutes as well for my own preparation as a reference for what people have said at different times because that's what they're for. And so when they don't say what I said, I ask for a correction. That's why I'm doing this. So it's not anything mandacious. And as as the time
stamp showed, I made those arguments. Um if you want to table this again, we can table it again. And I can find the time stamps where I mentioned the statute specifically by number, but um I don't know if anyone wants to do that. Any other comment? Okay. Um,
we have a motion to amend the minutes to reflect these specific line items. Um, we have a motion to second. All in favor, please sign by saying I. >> I. >> I. >> No. >> Okay. All right. So, we these become part of the minutes. So, do we can we
finally have a motion to approve the minutes from the December 16th um minutes meeting? So that motion was strictly to add the language. Now we need to >> modify those two changes. >> Okay. Um move to approve the minutes
from the December 16th, 2025 city council meeting as amended by the motion that just passed. We have a second. We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> We have a motion to second. Any comments?
All in favor, please take up saying I. >> I. >> I. >> Opposed. >> Motion passes. Thank you. Okay. Next on the agenda is public comment. um persons wishing to be heard on the on items on the consent
agenda and or non-aggenda items, there are request forms in the back to address the mayor and council as indicated by uh council rules 18g. We ask you to fill out that paperwork so that we have a a record for our for our minutes for for
the record. Um please complete and give to the city clerk city clerk. Council agreed to a 30-minut time stamp time limit for all public comment to be continued at the end of the meeting if more time is needed. A threeminut time limit will be imposed on all comments
for the public. We ask the speakers come to the podium and state their name and city of residents. During public comment on items not on the agenda or items on the cassette agenda, the city manager and directors in attendance do make note of these items and and um we sure and be
assured that all comments are taken seriously and will be followed up upon. Okay. I have one one uh request to speak. Um Mr. Loe, you're recognized. It's kind of a little lonely up here.
Charles Love Terrace Park. And I think the first thing I want to do is uh make a comment about the mayor. I hope things go went well with him and all that in his time of grief. And I did want to mention that because I didn't know that before the meeting. Uh tonight I want to
talk about something kind of a followup to uh what I stated two weeks ago. Uh yesterday was Dr. King's birthday and I was thinking to myself, you know, uh by his side were a lot of were a lot of
Jews who went courageously went over and uh went over and fought for civil rights and uh some of them were even killed in doing civil rights to make a better world for us today that
we live in. At any rate, uh I think of I think then we go fast forward to today to Temple Terrace. What makes this area so nice to live? Well, one of the things that I think it makes this area so nice to live is its diversity and that people
have the right to self-respect that were fought for during the civil rights era at that time. Uh I do not I guess what that I'm trying to get at is that I do not like the idea of any group I mentioned the Muslims uh
two weeks ago but I don't like the idea of any group being marginalized uh because of this and with the way things are going now in this community that does not happen. We all accept each other. Sometimes we deal with common issues like the PFAS that crosses
diversity lines. But I think we should all be trying to make even a greater effort and it should be intolerable and I put the theme uh not in not around here uh to say you know that maybe it's time that if we all stick together and
that the community in other words even if it's not your group that you should stand up and stick up for people within our community because they are in our community as I stated two weeks ago unless there's real substantive thing especially when you're labeling groups
that means any group. Uh so at any rate um and I'm thinking of course for Ram and incoming next month and I hope people will go out and support and also realize that too to remember that Jews have always stood in
the forefront of people of people that have stood up for people who are less fortunate and all that or can't speak up for it. And I hope this continues and I hope this continues within this community. And I hope that other people will stand up uh and will not allow
people not around here. Maybe someday we can biodegrade hate and prejudice and stuff like this, but for the time being, let's not have it around here. Thank you. Good evening. >> Thank you, Mr. Lope. Um I have no other requests to speak. Is there anybody in
the audience that wishes to speak at this time? Appearing to be none. Thank you very much. That closes public comment. Um, no communications or petitions. Consent agenda. If the consent agenda is acceptable, take entertain a motion to approve.
>> Move to approve the consent agenda. >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Motion is second. All in favor in the cap saying I >> I. Any opposed? Thank you. Next, public hearings. Um, items 12 A, 12B, and 12 C
have been withdrawn by the applicant. Therefore, there's nothing to discuss on this issue tonight. And 12D is the first public hearing and reading of an ordinance amending the city capital improvement section objectives policy of the city's comprehensive plan. I will
open the public hearing and senior planner Alyssa Livingstone will present. Good. Welcome. >> Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm Melissa Livingstone, senior planner regarding CPA 251.
Joining me this evening is Katrina Cookaran from the Hillsboro County City County Planning Commission staff. Katrina will provide a brief slide presentation regarding the Temple Terrace comprehensive plan text
amendment specifically focusing on capital improvement section policies 1.1.1.1.3 and 1.1.10. Following her presentation, she will be available to field any
questions that you may have. >> Welcome, Katrina. What was your last name? >> Corkran. >> Corkran. >> Perfect. >> Thank you. You're recognized. >> Thank you so much for having me here tonight. Uh, good evening. Katrina Corkran, planning commission staff. And again, I'm here tonight to present on
TACPA 251. This is a text amendment for the capital improvement section policies. Um, as noted here, it includes 1.1.1, 1.1.3, and also 1.1.10. This is a publicly initiated text amendment that removes outdated language within the capital improvements policies
that were mentioned on the previous slide. There is also a policy addition to the capital improvements section. This request is to remove language related to the 15-year multimodal transportation program, annual LOS report, and concurrency man management
report. The reason for this update is that these requirements are no longer mandated by state statute. Under previous growth management laws, local governments were required to maintain a 15-year multimotal transportation district schedule, an annual level of service report, and a concurrency
management reporting process. The proposed amendment aligns with the city's comprehensive plan with current state statute and ensures that Temple Terrace's capital improvement section reflects only what's required uh for compliance. This slide shows the strike through and
underline of the policies. Uh you can see the changes to 1.1.1 and 1.1.3 removing those outdated references. You can also see the addition of capital improvements policy 1.1.10. The new proposed policy clarifies that the city may continue using a 15-year
multimmoal program for long-range planning in coordination with regional partners if desired. The planning commission received comments from the Hillsboro County departments as well as Hillsboro County Public Schools. Uh both of these uh agencies had no objections to this
amendment. We also coordinated closely with Temple Terrace staff on this amendment. uh planning commission staff found the proposed request consistent with the objectives and policies of the comprehensive plan that are listed here from the capital improvement section. These policies refer to the process of
updating the capital improvement section in regard to addressing infrastructure needs, maintaining service levels, and planning for future growth. With that, the planning commission found TACPA 251 consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the Temple Terrace comprehensive plan. This
concludes my presentation. and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Thank you so much. >> Okay, very good. Thank you very much. Um, is there anybody in the in the public who has any comments or quiz? Did you have anything else? >> Not a comment. >> Okay. Um, any public comment on on the
uh uh presentation given? Okay. Any council members? Any questions regarding >> I I crowds. >> Thank you. Um, thank you for the report. Um, I do have one question and I I think I I think I intuit it the answer, but I
just want to make sure this addresses something other than the sections regarding how many units of housing are going to be built where. Correct. >> Yeah, this is this is different. It's just uh making sure that our policies are in line with with what's actually required by the state for our capital
improvement section scheduled projects review. >> Understood. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> That was my question. I yield. >> Any other questions? Yes, >> council >> this might be for staff. I'm not sure. >> Um, but I'll ask. So the reason that
these fact these were in our plan to begin with were to make sure that we weren't developing in areas where there was no ability to serve the traffic or the water storm water retention or other
factors that might have caused any kind of development to be a detriment to an area. H I don't and I don't I don't have any issue with us obviously updating to um
align with the state requirements but h how would this change because this is kind of our our governing methodology over overall methodology. How do how does do these changes change how the
city has to evaluate projects that are presented to us on the basis of level of service and traffic and all of the factors that this previous
text was addressing. >> Uh Mr. Vice Mayor, members of council. Actually, I think Miss Corkran being from the planning commission may be better able to answer this than I am. >> Sure. >> Because this was initiated again by state statute change. Correct. >> Yes. Yes. Um, I'm happy to answer your question. So, thank you for the
question. Um, with the changes again, the multimotal transportation program portion of that we are retaining an additional policy so that staff can continue to do that if desired. It's um it's been a part of our process, but it's not required by the state for compliance with our um capital
improvement schedule of projects. The other portions are not required by state statute for us to complete anymore. Um it's not something that's currently happening. Um there are concurrency requirements related to water and wastewater, things like that that we
still follow. However, um there are just changes to make sure that our policy is in line with the state statute. Uh does that answer your question? Well, I guess what my so my question is typically this document is what is the the upper higher
level of what guides our policies that are actually that we operate from. So the question really is how does this change trickle down into how the city actually makes sure that
because they they weren't necessarily bad things and I understand they're not required by the state any longer but yet knowing that we have the ability to provide the level of service for whatever services we need to provide. And I know the multimodal existed
because our roads were challenged and we had to make sure that we could provide the transportation levels that people needed. But so I so my only question is how does this change that we're making affect how the city
operates as projects are evaluated and and potential improvements might need to be made in order to accommodate a project. >> Go ahead. >> So I can speak from the planning commission side and I'll certainly let
staff add to this. Um, but from the planning commission side of this, in terms of level of service, anything that's required, we're still going to have in the capital improvements program. This is just updating this particular policy. So, we still do reflect level of service, but it's updating this portion of that. Um, and
in terms of state statute for what we're required with, um, transportation typically would be uh, a level of service that is more of a target because it's not required by the state, whereas other things again like water would be a requirement that we are specifically meeting. So that's not being removed from the capital improvement section. Um
it's just updating this particular policy since it has that outdated language. Um and again the multimodal we've we've discussed that that's still around and able to do. Um so I would say from a planning commission perspective in terms of level of service that is still reflected within the capital
improvement section. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Any other questions? >> Okay. We'll close a public hearing and ask the clerk to read the title of the ordinance. >> An ordinance of the city of Temple Terrace, Florida, amending the imagine
2040 Temple terrace comprehensive plan capital improvements section objectives and policy. Providing severability, providing for correction of typographical errors, repealing all ordinances or parts of ordinances in
conflict here with providing for an effective date. >> Okay. If the ordinance is acceptable, could we have a motion? >> Yes. I move to approve on first public hearing and first reading the ordinance amending the capital improvement
section, objectives and policy of the city's comprehensive plan. Okay, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> A motion to second. Any comments? >> Appearing to be none. We have a mot call for call for the vote. All in favor, please take by saying I.
>> I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Um the ordinance will appear for a second reading and public hearing on Tuesday, February 3rd. Thank you very much, Katrina and and Alyssa. Thank you. Um, next we have a
resolution approving amendments to the fiscal 20 fiscal year 2026 budget. Uh, finance director James Ingam will present. >> Thank you, V. Vice Mayor Schisler. And, uh, I appreciated that nice little
walk down memory lane you provided earlier. I am going to end city council. Good evening. I'm going to pass out a one-page correction of uh it's page 11 of exhibit
one. There was an amount change at the top. It's the only change and I will explain that. Let me pass it up first. The amount in the original exhibit says
3,186. $7,166. I have corrected it. It should have stated 2,937,766 and that was due to a lastm minute change um that is reflected in the detail.
the number just was not changed at the top and I will explain that in a little bit more as I get into the discussion of this resolution. At the conclusion of fiscal year 2025,
there were several purchase orders and other appropriations for items and projects that were not completed by September 30th, 2025. Because the expenditures were not made
for fiscal year 2025, there is fund balance to continue these necessary commitments into fiscal year 2026. So, it's important to note that we're not adding anything. We're just carrying
over items that were budgeted in 2025 that were not completed. Exhibit one details the purchase order numbers, vendor, GL account, item or project description, amount balance for
budget amendment, and the appropriated fund balance accounts to adjust in order to provide funds to balance the budget. The aggregate totals for each affected fund are as follows.
General fund unassigned fund balance 7,194,39 $919 general fund restricted funds $781,23 general fund other $221,000
800 $221,812 $12 Street improvement fund ARPA $698,628 Street Improvement Fund ARPA overruns uh from fund reserves $54,439
and when I say ARPA overruns this means the amount beyond which we were able to obligate using ARPA money. So this is money that comes out of our reserves rather than
u paid for through the ARPA funds. Street improvement CDBG is $66,450. Street improvement fund other $885,118. The building fund $34,995. Community investment fund 1,495,668.
Tax increment fund $544,322. Water and sewer utility fund ARPA $6,295,947 Water and Sewer Utility ARPA overruns fund reserves 1,423,889. And just to uh remind you that was from
a change order approved by council on May 20th of 2025 for additional cost for the Whiteway Utility Service Center building. Uh that were was not included uh with the $7.2
million that we were able to obligate using the ARPA money. So again, this would be money that we are paying through our own reserves. Water and sewer utility fund CDBG
$23,577. Water and sewer utilities fund other 2,937,766 and this is the one that was originally uh 3,187,166. However, uh in talking with uh director
Warrenfeltz, he decided that the percolation, hope I say this right, percolation pond rehab project, which was budgeted last year, fiscal year 25 for 250,000.
It has been decided to put that off until fiscal year 27. So, we don't need the funds this year. They will have to be rebudgeted, reappropriated in the fiscal year 27 budget. But since
there's no plans to do that this year, there's no need to add it to this budget amendment. Therefore, we reduce the total. Water improvement fund is $928,679.
Sewer improvement fund $36,1 sanitation fund $320,49 and finally the fleet fund $5,328. Staff recommends that council adopt a resolution to amend the fiscal year 2026 budget so
that these projects can continue and be completed with the funds budgeted in 2025. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Ingam. Um, any council qu Oh, I'm sorry. Any public
comment on these changes requested? Appearing to be none. Uh, council questions. >> Yes, >> Councilman Fernandez. Council member Fernandez. >> I I have a couple questions. Um, should we also be amending the fiscal year 2025 budget since these were included in that
budget originally? The fiscal year 2025 budget by Florida state statutes must be amended within 60 days of the adoption uh or close of the fiscal year. That's
why we always do that in mid November. So we have done that. We did that in uh the second meeting in November. So my so just just so that people listening understand when we look at the financial statements
for fiscal year 2025 that comparison of actual spending to budget is going to show theoretically in these areas less spending than what we originally budgeted because we did not
spend this money but we had the revenue come in and it is available to be spent in fiscal year 2025. We just didn't have time to complete these projects. Correct. >> That's correct. And fundamentally what
happens is your reserves do not get drawn down because you didn't spend that money. And that's why you see many of these um amendments the offsetting revenue are the reserves that were not spent. So that's that's one of the
things I do want people listening to understand that when we talk about spending the reserves for these projects or expenditures, this is not spending of the savings reserves that we have for
contingencies etc. This is because when the money wasn't spent in fiscal year 2025, it's essentially sitting in the bank account ready to be spent. And in governmental accounting, your bank account is essentially the reserves. So,
I don't I want to make sure that we're not that people don't think we're spending down our savings at an additional rate to fund the projects. Um but but then I so I have a question for you.
If we did not amend the budget and we did the projects, which I we would not do, I get that. Um but just as just so that people understand, uh then our expenses at the end of fiscal year
2026 would exceed our anticipated budget and then we would have basically a budget deficit. Yes. So, I I see what you're saying. If we um if we did not also uh
adjust for the revenue, I don't know if I'm saying that right, but >> but if if we didn't if we did if we don't make this budget adjustment, these projects are are funded and ready to go forward, >> correct? >> They didn't get completed in 2025.
they're ready to go forward in fiscal year 2026. And if we didn't amend the budget to reflect these projects, we would show greater expense or expenditures than what we anticipated spending and it
would not reflect the true planning of of what we need to do uh with these projects. That I just wanted to >> that that's correct. Most people don't really they don't know accounting. So, I'm trying to put it in layman's terms,
>> right? >> So, that that's it from me. >> We geeky accountants. We tend to get too geeky on some of this stuff sometimes, but I it's important. Um, any other questions, >> Mr. Chair? Thank you. Hi. Um, good evening. I I believe there's a a carry
forward here for the Centennial Committee. Is that right? >> I'm sorry. I I believe that in in this amendment there's is there a carry forward for the centennial committee? >> Yes. Um that is because there was we had in excess of 34,000 at the end of the
year. So we are at spending we spent that into fiscal year 26. Uh we've spent that for various the winter wonderland um the end of the year event the arts festival. So, we had some
expenditures that were not budgeted, but we had the money left over from the um 34,000 net that we ended with. So, that's included in this budget amendment
as well. >> Got it. Um, so I was I was looking at that um and I've pulled the numbers for the Centennial Committee and I've I've looked over them in some detail and I think right now with the um personnel costs that they still need to bear
before we address this amendment they are uh negative roughly $7,300. If you add all the personnel costs, >> the um yeah, the the the personnel expenses that they have incurred but
have not yet paid out of their funds. >> Well, the personnel costs have been paid. We just have not applied them to the centennial fund. All we have done is applied the um promotional costs, the
promotional activities. What we talked about before up here was that at the end of the day that we would look if we have money left over, let's say we have a $10,000 net, then we would
apply some of those uh personnel cost to that to draw it down to zero. But you are correct. It would not cover all the personnel cost uh for overtime or for staffing events that were we did track
those but again we didn't apply them to the >> to the program. >> Got it. Um I wasn't trying to suggest to anyone that the people who were involved hadn't received their paychecks. I was just uh mentioning that the that these costs were going to be attributed to the
Centennial Committee. um and and that they have essentially a $7,300 shortfall. Um which leads to my next question. Um I believe the amount that they're going to be um transferred is u roughly 23,000.
So I was wondering if you could explain to me >> there may be I'm sorry. >> No, please go ahead. That's fine. >> That is as of December 31st what we had in the books. There may be some more. Not much though. I wouldn't anticipate.
Um, we had a little bit of revenue come in 26. Not much. I don't have all the numbers, but there will still be a little bit of accounting and factoring in to do. I believe we've paid most if
not all of the expenses. There may be a little bit more, but um we should still end up with a a little bit of a net, a small amount to cover some of that personnel cost. >> Okay. So um so me mentally I'm expecting
now that they're going to incur $23,000 of additional costs rather than just $7,000 going into this year. I was just uh basically I'm just trying to figure out when will we receive the last invoice from this committee? when will we know the total amount that they have
spent because from what I understand we are at roughly 130,000 presently and then once they've received this additional increment then they'll be over 150,000. Is that roughly accurate? >> No. Uh I'm sorry that's not
>> Oh, please correct me. Yeah. >> Yeah. the uh at the end of the fiscal year 25 we had a net of 34,000 going into fiscal year 26 we have spent
about 23,000 of that so we are applying that 23,000 it wasn't budgeted as an expenditure so we're making an amendment adjustment to recognize those expenditures in the budget and
matching it with 23 of the 34,000 of the revenue so that it balances the budget keeping zero. That's why I said we may end up with about a $10,000 net. Um I'm not sure if there are any more
invoice. We should know very soon because it's I believe it's everything's been closed out. I believe we had planned in February to have a meeting. Uh Mr. Bea may correct me if that but I believe there is a a meeting scheduled
to close it out. I do know. >> Oh, well, >> you can go if you know. I do know >> a meeting. I was We had as we had mentioned to council before, our plan is in February, maybe the second meeting in February, uh to bring you a resolution to sunset the the committee with a
report outlining everything to put that centennial basically to rest at that point. >> Councilman, >> it's not a question, so it's a comment about the Okay. Thank you. Um, so again, and I have I said this at either last meeting or meeting before, there are
still expenditures being done. The Centennial Committee has two more meetings at the end of this month and their scheduled meeting the first part of February to wrap up these different things. There's money to be spent on the dedication of the two more murals that haven't been these two at city hall and
the one at the fire station that hasn't been done yet. Those are being worked on. There's also another uh centennial uh committee book that's being done uh like a coffee table book. So there will be uh more expenditures and to remind this council that the personnel was
never thought to be budgeted in this. The committee's done a good job keeping to their budget uh that they had of what's the city's given them plus their uh donations that they've gotten in from the different areas. It was us as a council that decided as a recommendation
from the city manager that anything left over would apply to personnel. Doesn't have to. It got to go to the reserves and or excuse me on the side fund balance. I have a hard time remembering it's changed names but uh so we can do what if we want but there's still money
to be spent and it'll be cleared up at the second first meeting in February of the committee and then it will sunset like you said in our second council meeting the committee >> I believe you still >> I yeah just uh so so does does that mean
that we have roughly 10,000 based on what you were saying uh in this in this fund that we could use for a sendoff event or something along those lines or what what is what is the >> Well, it depends. I don't know what has already been done or planned, right? >> All I can tell you is the numbers right now.
>> Uh from what I know and have on the books, it's it's a little over 10,000. It's probably between 10 and 15 because we did collect a little bit, not much, maybe a,000 or 2,000 of revenue in this fiscal year.
Um, >> okay. Well, I mean, seems like there's enough there. I yield the floor. Thank you. >> Yeah, another comment on that. So, this council, anytime we want to do any kind of project and or we direct the staff to
do any project and we want to put our unassigned fund balance money into that, no matter what it's from, either from Centennial or less money from other projects, we can do that. So you don't have to equate any kind of project to
just money left over from a centennial project. So but you can just statement. I'm sorry. >> I had I had one question. >> Sure. >> Like with the budget, there's specific statutos that have to be read into the minutes into the end of the session. Is
that the same for the budget amendments? >> Not that I'm aware of. There the stat >> you you missed one line. And I didn't want you to put yourself in any kind of jeopardy by having missed one of the lines. So I'll drop that. >> Oh, okay. I missed one line in the uh >> in your explanation. I know. I know. With the budgets, it's very particular
what you have. >> No, it's not not like the main requirement is that we have to post these within 5 days of adoption. >> All right. That that's good. Okay. Because I know with budgets way >> Yes, you you are correct. the language in the budget adoption is very
>> I don't know if the budget amendments require the same type of uh uh delineation. >> Okay. Um very good. Uh >> recognize Mr. >> Oh, question please. >> Thank you. >> Um Mr. Ingram, I just I noticed uh the ERP system was a carryover as well
because it hasn't been >> right. >> Um and I remember that we budgeted 50,000 for a document management system in 2025 as well. Has that been implemented or is that not being carried over now? >> That's actually in the 2026 uh budget.
Okay. >> 50,000 for a document imaging system. >> Yeah. >> Yes. That's in the current year budget. >> I was under the mistaken impression that it was in the previous year budget. Thank you very much. That answered my question. >> Okay. Uh thank you very much. All right.
Um and no more questions. Okay. Good. uh to accept it. But if this is acceptable, a motion to approve the resolution. >> So moved. Go ahead. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Okay, we have motion, a second. Any any
other additional council comments? He be none. All in favor, please saying I. >> I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Unanimous. Thank you very much, Mr. England. Um, is there any carryover council business for this for this meeting today?
>> Not for me. >> Appearing to be none. New business and board reports. Um, is there any new business or board reports to be brought forward by others? >> Councilman Kravitz. >> Um, I actually have a matter that I
brought up sort of on December 17th, 2024, but I'm going to treat this as new business because that's been a long time. Um, back then I, uh, brought up the topic of, this is just to kick off a discussion. I'm not going to make a motion. I'm just talking. So, um, thank
you for your indulgence. Um, the topic that I brought up in December of 2024, right after being elected, was uh how we could maybe make our code a little easier for people who are trying to, for example, repair their roofs or their
fences or do a little bit of structural work in their house without necessarily going through a lot of effort. So, our current code, for example, has a $1,000 statute, uh, $1,000 exemption in the statute. any work, structural work under that, you do not need a permit,
generally speaking. Uh, and again, this is not legal advice. Everyone read up on it. Um, you can do some fence repairs, but not repair a complete fence. You can do 100 square feet or less roofing without a permit, but not more than that, etc. Uh, and I was thinking it might be nice to take a look at this
from a perspective of maybe helping people save money uh, and not go through quite so many bureaucratic steps when they're trying to do home repairs or improve their homes. So, many people obviously purchase houses in Temple Terrace um, because Temple Terrace does
not have a lot of homeowners associations. It has some, but you can still find very nice homes here that are not in an HOA. And people like that because they aren't under quite as many restrictions. Um, and people like to do what they want to
do with their homes. They enjoy improving their houses usually. Um, not everyone, but I'd say probably 99% of people. Uh, and so, uh, to do something like build a a shed, which is something that is a common project. People like to go in their backyard, build a little
shed. Um, it's very difficult in Temple Terrace. In fact, I was I was surprised to find that it is the most difficult to build a shed here compared to almost any other neighboring jurisdiction. Um, and
once you hit a certain size, um, you cannot even do a pre-built shut. So, pre-built up to 151 ft square feet, excuse me. And if you're building it yourself without a pre-build, then you can't build it here at all without a
boundary survey, construction drawings, permit fees, which honestly, even if you can find an architect to do it, can add up to thousands and thousands of dollars. Um, just looking over what's available in the rest of the world here, uh, in
Tampa, you can, uh, exempt any kind of self-built shed under 120 feet square feet. So, Tampa lets you build your own shed under 120 ft. You don't need a permit. Um, Hillsboro County, same thing, but 150 ft. Pasco County, um, uh,
no, as long as you don't have tie downs. Orange County, 120 ft. Penelis, 100 square f feet. So, we're very restrictive on allowing people to build their own sheds in the backyard. Um, so anyway, I just uh think that it's unfortunate. Uh, I'll probably bring
something on this point in the future. I I would honestly like to see the $1,000 for structural work increase because there's been a lot of inflation since probably, I don't know, 1995 when that was put in the statute. Um, it could probably be $5,000 at this point and and
be the same value that it was when it was passed. Uh, although we can look into that. I said 1995 as a joke, not because that's when it was actually changed. So, uh, you know, sometimes my humor is too dry to notice. Um, fences and roofing. Uh, I think especially
after the last hurricane season, I think many people would probably really welcome it if they had an easier time fixing their fences. And I remember after the hurricane, we actually exempted all fence repairs from permits. So, people were people were repairing their fences all over Temple Terrace um
breaking what would be normally the rules. Uh, and it was no problem. Everyone lived with it. Everyone was happy. everyone got along, everyone moved on with their lives. Um, same for the roofing. So, 100 square feet is a
sizable amount of roof, but um, it is also an arbitrary amount of roof. And I think in December I mentioned that it might be a better idea to do something like a percentage. So, for example, if you have a roof that is 4,000 square feet, maybe we let you do 10% of it,
that's 400 ft². If you got a small roof, 1500 ft² roof, then we let you do 150 feet of it, something like that. So, it's a bit more flexible. Um, so these are things I'd really like to see. I'd like to see people not have to spend so much money and go through so much trouble to make their houses nicer. Um,
I'd like them to have a little bit more freedom to improve their properties that they own. Um, and so yeah, if anyone would like to discuss this with me now, I'm happy to happy to hear what other people think. I'd love to see something along these lines going forward.
Sure. >> Um, thank you, Mr. Vice Mayor. So, actually to pick up on where Council Member Kravitz, I think, is going with his thought process there. Just as I was on a webinar this morning, um, actually it's up weekly update from the Florida League. Um, and there are at least two,
if not three bills right now in the legislature that would in essence preempt uh this those permitting requirements, actually raise the the rate the level. Uh we as you mentioned we have $1,000. The state legislation that's pending right now is 7500. So
anything under 7500 wouldn't allow the cities to permit at all. Uh they'd be exempt from permitting. So that's one bill that's two or three bills actually that kind of very similar to each other. So if that goes through I think that would address uh most of your concern. Um there's also
uh pending legislation legislation I should say that uh would take away um cities and most likely counties uh authority to uh do a lot of permitting and land development review and things like that. Um that one is I think more
extreme. Uh it would turn that over uh in some respects uh to the private sector almost in its entirety. So that's also out there that would, you know, there's different schools of thought as to why people would support that type of uh legislation, but that's out there as well, just so that we have the context
of some of the things that are being thought of right now. >> I would trust that the administration will keep us informed as to the progress of those bills as they progress through the legislature. >> We will. Uh there's a lot right now. I mean, there's hundreds of bills and
probably dozens of those impact local government. So >> I think we're doing our best. items that kill home rule would be the most uh important to us. I I believe. >> Yes, sir. >> Okay. Anything else? >> Just a question for the city manager. Um the uh the preeemption does it
grandfather existing rules or not? >> No, my understanding is wouldn't grandfather existing rules. I think what would happen is and I again I haven't read the bills in their entirety. Um, but based on past practice, I think it would be there'd probably be a date for when it would go into effect. And at
that point, any rules that were u for this for this particular case would probably have to go away and not be enforceable anymore because I don't see a gray area in terms of how you can enforce the permitting. You know, how could you grandfather the permitting? So, I think that would probably just go away and we wouldn't be able to do it
any longer in that fashion. >> Yeah. Okay. I mean, I don't necessarily think we should always wait for Tallahassee to solve problems, but uh I think that uh I'll research that and then maybe I'll have a look and see what it regulates and what it doesn't and
then see whether there's some scope for us to still take action. Um but I also don't know how far along that statute is in its legislative process. Did it just originate? Is it almost finished or >> No, there's a Senate bill, there's a House bill. It's been through I believe
the bills they talked about today had been through at least one committee but I can't swear to but if there's a counterpart typically that means it's got some legs to it. Um so we're going to we're going to follow it. Um Florida League is I think it's one of the bills they're monitoring not necessarily
opposed but I believe monitoring. Um but again there's a lot going on right now. >> Thank you for the information. >> I you done? >> Yeah. Council. Thank you sir. Um something like what you just proposed instead of bringing it
up here. The uh goal setting which is coming up in two months would be a perfect time for something like this. That's usually what we do during goal setting. So when it's time write it up and we'll talk about it during goal setting and that would give us more information in advance of maybe a
council meeting. >> And besides that the count the session will be almost over at that point. If not already over we'll have a better feel of what's happening. >> You you had your >> Yes. I I agree. I think we should be reviewing all of this periodically
because obviously there's a big change. I do know that some of the rationale for issuing permits and having I I agree with the percentage versus the the dollar amount, but or the specific square footage, but I know to some
extent there's it had to do with building safety. So, I guess if you're going to put a certain size shed in your yard, people were concerned about the hurricane coming through like there some of it ha had some sort of reason behind it. Um,
but I wholeheartedly agree that this these these are areas that we probably want to revisit periodically and it has come up at goal setting in the past to have I don't want to say comprehensive but to to kind of go through our building codes
and make sure that they're what pertains to today. So I I too agree. I think this that we should discuss this at goal setting and see what we can do if we need a workshop, if we need to
create some sort of process or committee that goes through and reads the codes because it it comes up every time we discuss it at goal setting because we have the the 1920s houses which have no compliance with our current building
codes and some of the 1950s the the mid-modern mid-century modern might not be in compliance with setbacks and other requirements and then all of those houses require variances to do anything
to them. So I um I agree basically that it's it's an area we need to be looking at. other comments. My my other comment is I I I agree in principle, but uh these are things that I know that that staff has
been working on concurrently. Things have been brought forward in the past. Um and goal sess goal setting will allow us to to to maybe refocus uh some of these. But uh to your point regarding sheds, um anecdotally, I got one going
up in behind my house that's like 18 inches from the property line. So it's definitely, you know, the code doesn't change. It's way too close to the property line and it's it just hangs over the essentially hangs over the fence. So I mean there's there's it there there's a lot to be done with this
and there's a lot to be to hashed out and uh um IHC has put a whole lot of effort until we figure out what's going to happen with the legislature because otherwise we're going to just be spinning our potentially spinning our wheels. Yes, this is this this I agree is goal setting issues and and we can go
from there. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Um, excellent point. You know, I think I think it's an opportunity to also discuss setbacks and I've always been a big advocate of having generous setbacks. It's about creating certain limits about what people can do, but then giving them
freedom in other areas that doesn't cost them a lot of money or cause them too much trouble. And I just want to also briefly comment, I'm happy to bring it up in goal setting absolutely fine. Um, but we are in regular legislative session right now and this is exactly what we're supposed to be doing. Goal setting is generally for the budget. Uh,
I don't see this as necessarily being a budget item, but I will gladly bring it up in goal setting. I welcome that suggestion. I look forward to it. Um, and uh, and I just want to make one last point, which is that when I brought this up on December 17th, 2024, I was also told that staff was working on it. It's
been one year later plus, and I haven't seen any movement on it, so that's that's why I'm bringing it up again. the exact same comment was made. Still the same problem. So, um that's uh why I brought it up again today after uh 13 months. So, hopefully if we don't move
on it, Tallahassee will, but I think it would be to all of our benefit and all of our credit if we also addressed it. And I think that's what we're here for. So, I yield. Thank you. >> I think staff's heard heard the comments. I think that they're aware of it. Okay. Any other comments? Any other
new business? Uh the only other item under new business was selection of the vice mayor and in deference to the mayor not being here I'm going to push that off to the next meeting uh February 3rd meeting. So uh uh we can hail at that point. Any objection? >> No.
>> Okay. Very good. Uh city manager report. >> Thank you Mr. Vice Mayor. Uh members of council. So, as I've been reporting to the council um in your updates, I believe I may even mention it here in this in the council meeting, we have been working uh on a golf course
replanting plan. Um uh we we commissioned Biotech. Biotech is our city consultant for our tree canopy study. We commissioned them also to take a look at this um the golf course in terms of coming up with a plan. Um we're working on a draft plan right now. We're
trying to coordinate with the golf course itself, the maintenance staff and the president of the of the golf club. Uh I believe we have a meeting scheduled for later this week to be actually in the field walking through to figure out who would do what relative to a potential replanting plan in terms of
you know what's coming now, what's going in, who's doing the watering, etc. So we need to work out those details. So we're trying to do that. That's what I believe is sort of the last critical element before bringing that plan here for the council. So that's in the works. We're doing that. In the meantime, as I reported to council recently,
uh Mr. Ferris, our city arborist, who's here in the audience today, he uh going back now several weeks, uh went out and marked the uh the trees on the course that were in in not very good shape, either dead or dying trees. And uh there
were 59 of those. They have the ribbons around them. And we, as I've mentioned to the council, my thought process was wait to get you the replanting plan and then talk about how we were going to get rid of the the trees that are currently um marked for removal. Uh that's ideally
what we'd like to do. Uh because of the timing, we're not managing to get all all the elements lined up in the right order right now. As I mentioned, we're trying to coordinate with the club. Um we do have some trees that do pose an imminent public safety issue. Um of the
59, Mr. Ferris went back out and looked through this and there's 17 trees and let me if I can pass out this graphic to illustrate the locations of those trees. Thank you. So what Mr. Ferris has done here on this
graphic is he has marked out uh with the red stars um and using the numbers which I believe were assigned by biotech to the uh to the trees, he's gone out and he's marked out these uh as being the ones that are in the either in
the worst condition or pose a public safety hazard or both. Uh so what I'd like to ask this evening is uh for your uh approval for us to work with the club uh to have the club remove these trees.
Uh it is a hazard. We've been put on notice now. So uh we would like to get these 17 out with the understanding that we are bringing you a replanting plan um for the entire course. Uh and we'll have that to you as soon as possible.
Any idea the what are what any any questions for council? >> I have I have a question. Go ahead. >> Um for with regard to the proposed replanting, I know we talked about uh in
the preliminary report they gave us multiple different kinds of trees. So maybe not replacing like with like, but the biggest concern with new trees in the golf course setting is that we didn't know, we didn't have an
irrigation plan. So is that going to be part of their recommendation how we keep these trees alive as they get established? >> Yes. Yes. Um, so what what the team has done over the last several weeks working with our consultant is trying to figure
out as part of this plan a a concerted approach to make the most efficient and effective way to irrigate the trees. >> So there's a combination of things we're looking at. One is there are these things actually called it's going to sound silly when I say it. It's tree diapers. >> Uh basically are these soft fabric type
of uh uh water water soaked bladders if you will. go around these trees that will release um uh water over a period of time. So, uh Mr. Mr. Ferris is looking at those and we're working with the the club again to identify, okay,
can we get these and put these in because again that rather than having to do daily watering for a period of two, three months, you might only have to do it once a week perhaps if you use these tree diapers. Uh second part to that is also trying to do an effective replanting plan where we have the the
trees when we replant sort of a geographic proximity to each other so that if you're if you're doing one cycle of replanting you're not planting a tree on you know whole 12 and a tree on hole six and a tree on hole you know two and you're all over the place because that would be very ineffective way to do it.
So, so that's what we're very conscious of in this replanting plan we're going to bring before you, trying to make it the most the easiest way possible to make sure that we have the trees in the best possible position for for growth and and prosperity in terms of their their flourishing.
>> Any other questions? Cer, >> it's wonderful news, the replanting plan. I'm very happy to hear that. Um, how long has that been in progress? So there is a the back in 2022
before I arrived the the the city authorized the removal of 144 trees I believe. And in that same resolution there was a move to um replant trees. The golf course the the golf club itself went forward with a
portion of that replanting plan. Uh we're hoping to replant the sort of the last element of that plan earlier in 2025. Um when we talked about this issue, I recommended hiring bio biotech because of the great work that they did did I think for the city's canopy. I think
they proved themselves to be experts in this area. So I asked them to look at this um going back a couple of months now at this point um and bring us sort of a robust plan based on their expertise. So that's what we're looking at right now. This is so this is the
replanting plan from 2022. >> No, no. 2022 basically had a number. It said plant a certain number of trees. What I've done in light of the fact again that we had a tree canopy study that obviously we didn't have in 2022. We had consultants on board. I asked the
consultants to add this to their work product because of the the golf course. >> So, how long have you been working on the plan then? If it's >> this goes back, like I said, probably a couple of months at this point. Oh, a couple months. Okay, great. Okay. And um was that funded out of the money that
the consultants already received or >> this is so this additional funds is we're paying for this through the tree fund as well. >> Oh, so it's an additional appropriation, >> correct? >> Oh, who who appropriated that? >> So it's it's a nominal appropriation. So I I appropriated that.
>> Oh, so it's under 50,000? >> Yes, sir. >> Oh, great. Okay. Well, thank you for doing that. That's wonderful news. Thank you very much. Um so um any idea when the final result of this will be presented? >> I'll have a better idea once we have the meeting in the field. Um at at this
point it's it's just there's a lot of because we have trees that need to come down. Uh and so we have and the golf club is involved as well. We have uh we've got requests from the club. Can the can the city help with some of that? So we may we we have a tree crew but
also there's a lot of trees. So, I don't foresee us taking down all of these trees. Will we have a role? Potentially, we will. The club will also have a role. We have to hire contractors as well. There's also questions of what do you do with the stumps then? Who's does the replanting? Who does the watering? Those are all the details that I don't feel
it's it's fair to bring anything to yet until we've got all those things ironed out. >> Well, I certainly wish you God speed on that. So, thank you very much for your effort. >> Okay. I'm happy to see this moving forward because it's been very difficult and I'm happy to see that there's finally a concrete plan that'll be
presented. That's great news and I very much look forward to seeing it soon. So, thank you very much. I yield. >> Well, I just I just have a comment or question u for the document. We have two trees 2845 and 2912. Their condition is
dead but their status is alive. So, um, just for whoever might be using this document in the future, >> they're wanted that are alive. I think >> Mr. Ferris, do you mind coming up and maybe speak into that if you if you know
what happened there? Sorry, we didn't catch that. >> Good evening, my fair council members. Joe Ferris city arous. Um, so the ones that are listed as dead and then the live status, it's due to the condition of the tree. So when they analyze that,
there are trees out there that are in such poor shape, but are still producing those leaves. So even though they're rotting and falling apart and dropping limbs left and right and become more of a health, safety, and welfare for the golfers, um, the fact it has some leaves
means they're technically still alive. They're just the conditions are so bad. So that's why you see that live status next to something that's dead. >> Okay. Thank you. >> That makes sense. >> Question. I don't go. I have a question. Any other questions? Okay. Uh there's a
there's a pine tree on 12 that blew over last week in the store. >> Okay. One less they have to take care of. That's easy. >> But I mean, have they taken care of that yet? I don't I don't know. I haven't been down there this week, so I don't have a clue.
But it wasn't on It wasn't on this list. >> No. So this list I didn't count the pines because most of the spines are fairly skinny. So you don't have the large limbs. I was looking at the trees with the larger limbs if they were to fall on someone's golf cart or if they're under there because they hit their ball in the rough area, right? >> So I was looking at the ones that are
more potential threat. Pines are skinnier. You have smaller limbs. >> So there there are several though that do need to come down that are pines. So obviously mother nature took one for us. So that's good. >> Took one for the team. >> Yeah. Exactly. >> So, okay. Thank you, Jeff. Um,
>> Mr. Bay, I think you were looking for action from council tonight. Okay. Now, my understanding, and I don't think I'm wrong, but we have in the past uh due to the ordinance change that we made to the tree fund, we've allowed the city to we
we've approved um um spending to remove dead and dangerous and and trees that are going to cause potential public hazard. not so much as it interfere with the golf but golf course or golf operations, but that if there's a risk of it falling and injuring a citizen or
or property damage um in the street. So, I believe you're looking for authorization to move forward with this. >> Correct. And the details um my hope is that the golf club will remove these trees, but I haven't worked out that level of detail yet. But I just want to
get your approval to go forward with this plan to have these imminent threats taken out. >> Okay. We don't have any idea at the cost of our potential cost at this point. You're going to still >> I I don't again I'd like to offset the cost of the club if I could, but again, that's a conversation that we we need to have. >> But this would still fall under the the
the authorization limits that you have in place under our current um uh procurement rules and then that would appear in any quarterly reports that that get back to us. >> That is my understanding. Jim, do you >> It's a restricted
>> Jim. Sorry, >> we we have a few funds that we call restricted. Um, this one is actually falls under that as a committed restricted fund.
Now, that's accounting jargon, but uh the money is there to use. Uh we if we need to use it, we can use it. We can come back and do a budget amendment to take the money from that's already
sitting there in the tree fund restricted for these kind of uses and we can add it the expenditure to the budget line wherever it comes out of. uh usually it comes out of landscaping
but it may be other contracting services or what and then we just take the revenue that's already sitting there and so the again we always have to balance that budget >> and we want to take a stab at >> but but again my goal would be to
>> have this offset to the club if I could that's my primary goal >> but that doesn't part of the motion to do that council chambers we have a comment I I would really welcome it if anyone who's about to make the motion and do it myself, but I interrupted you. I'd
really welcome it if in addition to approving this plan, an instruction were given to the city manager to present the replanting plan with no with it within a period of no more than 3 months. I'd really like to see it within the quarter. And I see the city manager nodding. So, I think if we approve the
removal of trees, we should really also have something concrete that we know is coming down the pipeline to replace them. I'd really appreciate that and I think a lot of people would. That's all. Thank you. >> I would prefer two separate motions if a motion's required for the second one.
One is there to me there's separate issues. One is an issue of safety and so forth for the for the community. The other is for the aesthetics for the whole project. Councilman Chambers. >> Okay. Well, I'm I move that we uh authorize the city to move forward with the plan that the city manager just
reported on >> dead dry trees or for everything. >> Well, to move forward with everything down the road, but imminently take out the trees. These are dangers and uh you mentioned it. Uh I'm sorry, I made a
motion so I shouldn't be talking. So, >> well, we're make sure make sure the motion covers what you >> because uh Mr. Ferris when he mentioned it's a danger to golfers and it is correct but it's also a danger to the citizens. There's a lot of people out there and these are uh dangerous now. So
I guess my first motion is to authorize the city to move forward with the club to take out these trees as listed on this map. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Not with that phrasing. >> Well, give me an idea. Well, because >> that's why I say take a step. This is a
this is an open-ended type discussion. So, it's wonderful. >> So, I mean, for me, what I would agree to is instructing the city manager to meet with the club and form a plan to
take out the trees that are dangerous, not necessarily agree to take out all the trees. >> Okay. So, I'll restate my motion because that's what I said the first time that the city manager move forward with the plan as he permitted uh presented, which was to meet with the club and figure out
are these eminent trees done by the club or or us. We don't know that yet. I just know that these are what he presented needs to come out and that's what he presented. He also didn't say whether the club would pay for it or the city would pay for it. So, that's what I
meant in my first motion. So say it whatever you want to say. It's the same thing. Go right ahead. >> Okay. I I mean that I but I do have some concerns about paying for the tree removal. So that I
guess I'm not ready for a motion yet. >> But what are we talk Why don't we talk with these troops? >> No, I get that. I do. I I get that part. My concern is that I think we have to be very careful because while this is public property, it's also operated as a
private club. And I don't want to create any precedent where the city automatically pays for tree removals, but at the same time, we need to balance this with the fact that some of these trees are in very bad shape and and many
citizens use the rough and are could potentially be harmed by these trees. So, I I don't want to just automatically agree that if the city manager meets with the club and they're like, "No, we're not paying for anything." that we
just automatically say, "Okay, well, we'll pay for it, but we I want to balance the public safety on it is public land, but balance public safety on public land
with property that's managed by a private entity. So that we're not creating some situation where we've we are automatically the city is automatically required to just handle
all of the trees on the golf course. >> May just just to add a little bit more to hopefully clarify in the conversations that I've had um Mr. Mr. Warren Fields has had as well with the the golf club uh particularly the golf
co uh course superintendent. He has had the biggest concern about this because he's out every day looking at this and he's the one that's been asking to take the trees down. There's never been a conversation about the worst trees is oh city we want you to take them down. Now he's asked for help. There may be help for example he's
mentioned they're taking the trees down but if they can get the trees to the curb line can the city take away the the debris? I think that's a fair request as the council probably knows council member Kravis you I don't know if you know or not but because the leases sort
of predates a lot of us uh all of us thank god >> yeah the the the requirements as I read them and I think as everybody in the city attorney probably confirmed this the requirements for the trees and the tree maintenance lie clearly with the club but I think we've all understood
over time that these some of these there's so many trees and these requests are they're they're very big and I think we have a role role to play and I we've never hidden that here that we we have a role to play. Again, the golf club has been very much pushing to take these these trees because they see the
liability for their own members particularly and then their club institution first and foremost. So, their conversation is we want to take out the trees. We let us take out the trees. So, that's where I think this is going to go. Again, I think if we find that we have a a costly intervention,
maybe that's a conversation I'd come back to council with. At this point, I think we can probably work out the details using staff on existing hours, helping the club potentially if they need to, but my impression would be that the club does the bulk of this. At least that's my direction going into this if that makes
you feel any better. >> Yes. >> Thanks. >> Okay. So, we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> May I address >> Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. >> Thank you very much. Um, I just wanted to respond to uh the gentle lady's points. Um the uh
when I consider the golf course and the tree situation um I think I've brought up previously that the legal situation is very intricate because we have a lot of overlapping agreements and I've I've previously suggested it might be a good idea to have them simplified. This was
back when our previous city attorney was uh still here. Um, and I still think that's a good idea because we're moving into a situation or we have we already are in a situation where the actual practice of what we do visa v the
golf course isn't what is in the law that we've created for the situation. The contracts do not actually govern. custom govern. And so I'm always in favor of putting whatever custom is into
the contract so that everyone is clear about what's going on. Beyond that, we're their landlord and you pointed out that um we own the land,
they operate it, and so when we improve it, we're improving land that we own. So, I take your point. It's it's not a Wind Dixie trash can situation. >> It's a little bit more nuanced than
that. Um, and uh, in this case, I think there's a real public interest in improving the golf course, not just for the benefit of the golf club, but also for all of the people who live near it, who go buy it, and um, obviously also uh, so that we have the satisfaction of
doing a good job. Um, when it comes to the money, that's another intricate problem here because we have $1.4 million in the tree fund and there aren't very many things we can use that for except for trees and as it happens,
tree removal. And the fact that that tree fund has grown by $200,000 since I was elected is cause for concern because that means that a lot of trees have been taken out and they haven't been replanted. So, I think this is a really nice opportunity
to um to plant some trees and also to remove some trees that aren't good anymore and also make the golf course more attractive. Nobody likes to drive by dead trees. >> So, I I absolutely take your point. I think I think in this case for me it's more like we're making a
park that we own nicer and it just so happens that we have this really complicated intricate hundred some odd year relationship with the tenant and so it's a little bit unusual and unique but it doesn't really change the fact that we still own the golf course. So for me
um so anyway I'd like to I'd like to make a motion since um >> we have a motion. Oh, we do. I apologize. I thought we I thought that failed due to lack of a second if I'm not >> We haven't gotten that far yet. We haven't I haven't asked a second question. So, >> there was a motion. >> Okay. Were you going to Okay. >> What was your
>> I I was It's not the phrasing that I want and I'm not really entirely sure what phrasing we need to create the motion to make it that we can do everything we can do. So, I have not seconded the motion. >> Okay. Motion dies for lack of a second.
Go ahead. you want to take take a stab at it. As I said, this is going to be a it's going to be a weird motion. That's why he ask me to take a stab at it. >> I'm going to I'm going to keep it as straightforward as possible. So, here's my motion. I move that we authorize the city
manager to proceed with the document as presented today titled Temple Terrace Golf Course trees marked for urgent removal. And in conjunction with that, after the trees have been removed, to present the
plan for reforestation of the golf course that was mentioned today within no more than 3 months. So this motion accounts for
this plan gets authorized, the trees get removed, and then we see replanting within 3 months. So that would be my proposal. >> So we have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Motion to second. Any comments? >> Yes. >> Your comment.
>> What was different than mine? >> Huh? >> What was different than my motion? Because this is what was presented to us other than the three-month timetable. What was different? It just didn't It seemed more open-ended. >> This is still open-ended. >> I >> I get it. It's okay.
>> Did it make as much sense? >> We can do it. It's just >> I'd love to respond. >> No, you don't have to respond. That was rhetorical. Let's just move on. >> You want to have the motion? I'll turn it over. >> I don't need to have the motion. I just >> You can have my words.
>> I'm good. We have a motion to second. Any other any additional comments? The only thing I I we need to get these dead trees or dying trees taken, not the big mass project, but these represent a significant liability and um somebody
gets hurt or worse, then we're all we're all going to be on the hook. Whether we prevail or not is a different story. We'd have to defend ourselves. So anyway, so uh okay. Um all in favor of the motion, please indicate by saying I. I. >> I. Any opposed?
>> No opposed. Excellent. Thank you, >> Mr. City Manager. >> That's all I have. >> That's all you have. Okay. Thank you, Mr. City Attorney. Good evening, sir. >> If we could um uh we could go back to the uh item 14A, selection of the vice mayor.
>> You're you're >> Sorry, Brian. >> Okay. >> Uh real quick, if we could go back to item 14A, I think it would be better if we actually formally postpone that through a motion and a vote. >> Okay. Could I have, excuse me, could I have a motion to postpone the the uh selection
of the vice mayor until uh >> February 3rd? >> Um I move to postpone the selection of the voice vice mayor by uh unanimous consent uh to the next meeting which is
a date certain the 3rd of February. >> Again, point of order. I'd rather not do the unanimous consent on this. Just a motion with the second and a vote, please. >> My motion stands. I think this is something we all agree on. We can pass by unanimous consent. Let's go ahead.
It's in Robert's rules of order. >> If we if we do unanimous consent, it needs to be done by the chair. >> It isn't done by >> That's not Robert's rules of order. >> What's that? >> That's definitely not in Robert's rules of order. >> Yeah. Yes, it is.
>> No. No, sir. It is not. >> Okay. I I bottom line I I just prefer if we go through the normal motion, a second, and a vote. Please >> let my motion die. Someone else make it. >> Anybody else want to make a motion? >> Okay. I move to postpone the selection
of vice mayor to the February 3rd, 2026 council meeting. >> Second. >> Motion is second. Any comments discussion? Appeared to be none. All in favor, please second by saying I. I. Any opposed? >> Okay. It'll be brought up at the uh the
agenda for the February 3rd February 3rd meeting. Mr. City attorney. >> And the other thing I have was actually going to be a report on the unanimous consent, but with the mayor gone and him being the chair, I thought it'd be important for all members to be here when when I give that report. So, I
would just ask that we move that to the February 3rd meeting. >> Anything else? >> That is all I would have. >> Okay. Um, nothing else. Anything any comment from the public or the staff? Any questions, comments? Thank you
everybody. Good job. And uh this meeting we are journ Hey, hey, hey. Hey. Hey. Hey.