City of Mexico Beach City Council Special Meeting Minutes FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2025 - 9:00 AM The City of Mexico Beach City Council met in a regular meeting on Friday 21st, 2025, at 9:00 am at the Public Works Building in Mexico Beach. Mayor Wolff and the following Councilmembers were present: Linda Hamilton, Jason Adams. and Jerry Smith, and Tim Linderman. Also present were City Administrator, Chris Truitt, City Clerk, Tammy Brunson and City Attorney Tim Sloan. I. Call to order: Mayor Wolff called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. II. Roll Call: City Clerk called roll and all present. III. Mayor Wolff announced update on the copier equipment and the agreement has been cancelled due to a development with the Springbrook Software. Beach Vending = Mayor Wolff opened the floor for public comments. No public comments. Mayor Wolff identified the four areas that are designated for beach vendors which are The Driftwood, El Governor, the annex at El Governor and Toucans. The current ordinance states that in order to have beach vending it must be an operating establishment. He stated that Toucans and the annex were not currently operating facilities and that leaves Driftwood and El Governor unless the ordinance is changed. Mayor Wolff opened discussion at the table. Ms. Hamilton is in favor of no vendors on the beach and keeping the original ordinance due to the concerns of the city growing and that the beach vending could become more of a problem. Mr. Linderman asked Mr. Truitt to present to the council the agreement that was made between the City and Hector just to be clear on this vendor. Mr. Truitt explained the settlement that allows Hector to use a tractor to move storage bins and equipment during storms. The agreement also allows Hector to use a single row of no more than 10 chairs between the water line and the toe of the dune. Mr. Linderman emphasizes the need to follow the current ordinance and the agreement with Hector. Mr. Linderman's recommendation is to allow a restricted number of each vendor to operate at those four sites, the El Governor, the Driftwood, El Governor access and Toucans and that ATV's should be limited to direct access. Tim Sloan explains that vendors need a permit since this is our beach, and we could set conditions on that permit and even limit the number of permits and set the parameters. The council discusses the need to protect the beach from commercial activity and the importance of having a permit system. Mayor Wolff suggested attacking the issue in two areas: identifying the four vendors and addressing the vendors who stores equipment off the beach. Ms. Hamilton questioning that in the original ordinance it states business that are actively in operation and why are we allowing vending to the two areas that are not up and running. Mayor Wolff replied that the ordinance would have to be changed that says non-operational. Mr. Smith stated he agreed with redoing the ordinance that is already in place. Mr. Linderman asked for clarification oft the previous location of the Beuna Vista Motel that is written in the ordinance. Mr. Adams stated that they need to address if at some point that in the future if a business is destroyed, is a vendor still going to be allowed to operate on the beach where that business once stood. The council agreed on three locations for beach vending the Driftwood, El Governor with the annex and Toucans and change the ordinance, if need be, to include non-operational. Ms. Hamilton stated that she recommended that approval of the vendors should come before council and not the City Administrator. City of Mexico Beach City Council Special Meeting Minutes FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2025 - 9:00 AM The council discusses the operational details of beach vending, including the number of vendors allowed per location and the use of ATVS. Tim Sloan suggests increasing the insurance requirements for vendors to a million dollars. Chris Truitt asks if the city administrator has the authority to approve emergency movements of equipment during storms. The council agrees to limit the number of chairs that can be delivered at one time to prevent overcrowding and agreed to limit the number of chairs that can be delivered at one time to five sets, which equals ten chairs. They discussed issuing temporary beach permits for vendors while they finalize the new ordinance. Chris Truitt will prepare draft permit documents before the next Tuesday's meeting. The council agreed to create a temporary permit solution that will allow current vendors like Barefoot and Hector to continue operating until the permanent ordinance is passed. The temporary permits will likely cover both beach vending and beach delivery services, with the understanding that they'lI need to comply with the new regulations being developed. IV. Beach Renourishment Discussion = Mr. Linderman presented a report from the CDC, highlighting the lack of ADA- accessible walkovers to the beach. The report includes a recommendation to install ADA walkover at Sunset Park with a budget estimate of $150,000. Mr. Linderman suggested starting with an initial walkover and planning for additional walkovers in the future. The report also included a recommendation to use existing materials for temporary solutions and to seek DEP permits for permanent solutions. Mr. Truitt stated that there are two potential sources of funding. One would be recreational impact fees which that account currently has $456, 749.14. He is checking to see if this money has not already been allocated for something else. The second source of funding is in the general government or administration fund which has $50,000. Mr. Linderman emphasized the importance of staring the engineering work and seeking additional funding if needed. Concerns were raised from the citizens about ADA compliance and handicap parking at designated beach access points. Mr. Linderman explained that the beach renourishment project was managed by the county and may not meet all ADA requirements. Mayor Wolff suggested involving the CDC to clarify any ADA compliance issues related to the renourishment project. The Council agreed to proceed with the engineering task and to seek further clarification on ADA compliance. Mr, Truitt stated that the City ranked second for a recent ADA access planning grant which should secure funding. V. Adjournment = Mr. Adams motioned to adjourn at 10:45 a.m. Ms. Hamilton seconded the motion. Signed: Attest: On/Bwwa Mayor, Richard Wolff City Clerk, Tammy Brunson