City of Mexico Beach Special Meeting Minutes THURSDAY APRIL 3, 2025 = 10:00 AM The City of Mexico Beach City Council met in a regular meeting on Thursday April 3, 2025, at 4:00 pm at the Public Works Building in Mexico Beach. Mayor Wolff and the following Councilmembers were present: Linda Hamilton, Jason Adams and Jerry Smith. Tim Linderman was absent. Also present was City Clerk, Tammy Brunson and City Attorney, Tim Sloan. I. Call to order: Mayor Wolff called the meeting to order at 10:00 am. II. Regular Agenda: 1. 15th Street Bridge bid was brought to the table. Elizabeth Moore with Anchor CEI discussed the 15th Street Bridge bids, which came in at $563,000. Suggestions for cost savings include using aluminum instead of steel and composite decking instead of concrete. She notes that changing to aluminum may require minor redesign due to load changes. She explains the bid package includes a tax savings agreement, which could save an additional $10,000. Open public comment 10:03 am. No public comment was made. Closed public comment 10:03 am. Mayor Wolff clarifies the tax savings agreement applies to the bridge's manufacturing location. Discussion on the commencement and completion project dates, originally signed in September 2023 with an extension to October 2024. Elizabeth confirms the extension to June 2025 and mentions the need to confirm this with DOT. Mayor Wolff emphasizes the importance of approving the project quickly to avoid delays. Discussion on whether to keep certain items like concrete sidewalks and detectable warnings in the contract. Elizabeth suggests reducing some signage but keeping others for better traffic management. Jason Adams and Mayor Wolff discuss the potential impact of changing materials on warranties and construction. Linda Hamilton emphasizes the urgency of completing the bridge due to increased pedestrian traffic during Spring Break. Elizabeth warns about potential tariff impacts if the project is delayed. Mr. Linderman motioned, and Mrs. Hamilton seconded to accept HG Harder's S bid for $536,068.00 with material change to an aluminum bridge and composite decking contingent on approval of a time extension for the completion date from FDOT. Motion passed unanimously. 2. City Administrator performance is brought to the table. Tim Sloan started by reminding everyone of where we stand today. The human resources investigator has asked for additional interviews with staff. He and the investigator cautioned council about acting about the ongoing Human Resources investigation until it is complete. Linda Hamilton questioned who was being interviewed and why more African American were not being interviewed. Tammy Brunson stated only employees named in the complaint were interviewed. The HR Investigator selected the additional employees to talk to from the outcome of the original interviews. Linda stated she wanted to talk to the investigator when he was here. Mayor Wolff asked how do we move forward. He suggests a three-month probationary period for Chris Truitt, the City Administrator. Proposed restrictions include a three-month hiring and firing restriction and frequent check-in meetings. Tim Sloan again cautioned council about talking about the ongoing Human Resources investigation. Discussion on the need for clearer policies and ordinances regarding hiring and firing authorities. Consensus is to move forward with the probationary period outline Mayor Wolff presented. Open public comment 10:51 am. Gary Woodham said I see a lot of procrastination. This city has lost or is in the process of losing six good employees, three of which have filed lawsuit against this gentleman. And just don't know why y'all procrastinate and don't take the proper action that I think needs to be done. City of Mexico Beach Special Meeting Minutes THURSDAY APRIL 3, 2025 - 10:00 AM II. Regular Agenda Continued: Carol Bonanno thinks everything that has gone on to bring us to this point. Mr. Truitt has shown complete disrespect for the council and everybody on it. And there's a lot of us in this town who would be real happy if he was waving goodbye to us through his rear-view mirror. Shelby Bush stated she has been here since 2003, and we've had city administrators that were questionable. Three years ago, it was going on. So, I don't know what we need to do, but I do believe we need to show a little bit of kindness. Sanitation workers driving the trucks around here, to me, those are your best employees in this entire town. I would dare anybody in here to say that any of those sanitation workers don't work hard and do their job. If you want to look at workers, go around and look at the ones sitting in their trucks, not doing their job, sitting on their phones, and look other places. Give this man a chance, because we sure gave somebody else a second chance that didn't work out. Everybody has an opinion, but if you want to do the right thing, start looking at your sanitation workers and start acting like them. Closed public comment 10:56 am. III. Adjournment: Mrs. Hamilton motioned to adjourn the meeting at 10:56 am. By: Attest: CHany Busn Mayor Richard Wolff City Clerk, Tammy Brunson