you you We're meeting of the Economic Development Task Force for Tuesday, May 20th, 25 May come to order. Please silence all cell phones. Ms. Huffman, please call the roll. Jesse Romero. Present. Charles Tagman. Here. John McKeen. Here and member McKenna and member Poole are both excused. So this is likely going to be a short meeting and we have some guests in the audience so before we get to that so is do we have a motion to approve the minutes for April 15th you've been provided those. Second. I make a motion we put I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I'll be right back. I is going first I have a part of the of your your component Okay, we're gonna open it up to public participation and we do have our new parking director to Introduce himself if you want to stand up and You get more than three minutes, but then we do have... So I don't know the protocol here. I'm gonna go with... How do you have three minutes to do that? Yes, why don't we do that? So you have three minutes, it's gonna go green. A minute, you're not your first rodeo. Thank you for attending. We always love to have guests. We don't always get them. Please state your name and where you're at. My name's Crystal Sailor. I live at 645 Ball Street, right through road. So, and I've spoken definitely at a few city commission meetings and county council about variety of efforts. I've been in the Toronto for over 30 years for and raised in Florida down in Provard County. So I guess I'm about three years too late to give feedback on the 1600 acres that is now going to be giving park innovation center. Now that we've sort of just make sure you talk into the mic. Now that we sort of have that where it is, what I would like to do because it's going to be at least a few years until any business can develop out there and bring in jobs. I would like to see a focus on existing commercial properties in New Smarter Beach and see what we can do to redevelop and support those. And it can now straighten to almost amazing examples of what can be done with a dead and dying area. And it's now a vibrant, beautiful, super active region of this community. There's so much vacant land and commercial property just along US one. And then as I started thinking about it, we've got West Canal, we've got Third Avenue, we've got sporadic pieces all over it. It would be really neat to see an inventory of all the unutilized commercial space and size so that a potential business could know whether they could fit in or where they could fit in. Also, it's come to my attention by looking actually at a parking meeting note that the hospital will be vacated at some stage. I've also heard that it might be turned into a physical therapy facility. I don't know. I've also heard that the age of the building means it would be more expensive to refurbish than to demolish. So we've got the hospital. I've also heard the Utilities Commission building will be vacated at some stage. So it would be great to develop a timeline on how these things are going to occur and what potential uses could be there based again on the size and the space and the area involved in these parcels. The Utilities Commission building is beautiful. I don't know if that's something that's owned by the city, whether that could be used for future municipal things or not But whatever I would really like I said like to see a big focus on hey Let's take what we have already rather than our new shiny thing which is gonna happen no matter what let's Work on that the last thing I want is for our US one to look like it does in regions of Daytona and Holly Hill. It's too nice of an area and if you're like me, I'm not a beach cider which beach cider is you can almost never get them to leave beachside. I live like I said right up the road. I don't shop at Walmart. I'm not going to go to shops out in Venetian Bay. I'm not going to to shops out in D.P.I.C. It's great to have this beautiful little region in New Sparta Beach, And I think we should really make the most of the commercial availability that's already here with roads and utilities already ready to go. Thanks for your time. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. And I think we share a lot of your goals that you espoused there. So thank you. Thank you for your comments and I think You know we share a lot of your The goals that you you espoused there. So thank you And now Steve would you like to come up and introduce yourself? And you we're not gonna time you on here Well good morning. My name is Steve Renegraume a new director mobility and parking. I come by way of Walt Disney World and the Central Florida Tourism Oversight. Put your mind into your mouth. This is what it calls to you. Sorry. So I worked at Walt Disney World and various operation roles for 13 years and then I worked at the parking manager for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District the last 10 and a half. Also, if you're familiar with the Disney Springs area, the parking operation there, the three parking garages that actually belong belong to the district, that was my responsibility. I was brought in to create the program. So I built that parking program. It was there from dirt and helped part of the design of the garages and kind of build the operation. So I'm happy to be here in the city. been walking around looking at things, observing and I'm here to just make it easier for the guests who come here, the visitors that come here, the business owners, the residents and I'll do whatever I can to make the parking experience seamless for everybody. So. Well, thank you and welcome aboard. So were you a Florida native? I am not. So I am originally from Connecticut. I moved down like many college kids did at the time to work at Disney. But I already graduated from college and never left. So I'd been here 23 years. Were you ever a character at Disney? I was not. Well, not really a character, but not. Some of your co-workers were. Yeah, exactly. No, I was in various operational roles at Magic Kingdom, Ebbcott, Hollywood Studios, and then Disney Springs, so I was been around, so. Great, yep. Any questions from the... I do. Yeah. Okay, so in your comments, you mentioned three things that, and I'm quite, you know, torn on this here, you say you wanna make a better for the visitors, and then the businesses and then the residents. I feel like your residents could come first because we are the ones who hear full time, and we suffer with a lot of the problems that we have here. Now the question is, what limitations do you have in regards to this parking your job basically? Now I asked the question for the following. When the task force first formed here, I came and spoke to them and I asked them, I said, are you going to realign the streets and take back what is, probably, the city property, the easements? Like for example, I live on Cooper. All right, Cooper was redone before I moved here. He had a sidewalk on the west side. So it's supposed to have a sidewalk on the east side. It doesn't. And it's straight to wider. Now when you end Cooper into ocean, it now has a street there. Now folks end up putting in their sprinkler heads, then their boulders. People can't park there. They have signs saying you can't park here. So I ask the question, what limitations do you have in regards to that? Yeah, I was really I'm not sure yet. This is my first week. Well, I'm throwing an atmosphere. Yes, well, let's welcome Steve. I do welcome you. I'm sorry. No, I'm doing great. I honestly, I've been going through all the old parking studies and task force notes that I was given and it's a stack like this for the last 20 years. So I'm going through. I'm also been out and about walking the city, walking the streets and just seeing what we have to deal with. I see you. Yeah. I feel like I'm getting dirty looks from people because I'm like, but I'm, yeah, I'm just trying to take it all in first and then really get into it. And I know we have the busy summer season coming up. So just see if there's small changes we can make, you know, relatively inexpensive and quickly to help make the summer a little better and then continue to grow on that. Well I'll go back to welcome. We'll give you a few days weeks, months to get your feet under you and you know report back on how we try and solve kind of a vaccine problem that exists in our community. So thank you. And you can sit down and stay if you like. We always like that. Thank you. Yes, we're moving along. Well, he's only been here. I did let you know what the last gave us by that's on. He still has a nice welcome balloon in his office. Let's wait till that defizzles before we get pops in the morning. Well with you son. I'm gonna move on to old business and you know the question is they're old business to discuss and I think there are a few things to note you know and maybe Samantha is going to cover this as well but you know we have a big big Tuesday last week where the Deering Park Innovation Center project was approved from a rezoning standpoint there's's still a lot to do. It's a multi-year process. My personal opinion is it will bring growth and higher paying jobs and a new vision of this, of our area out to the west. I don't think anybody wants to change the beauty and historic nature of where we're at. And as I stated at the event, I think having the resources that that rezoning and expanded tax base, and they note that that will modulate the amount of property tax percentage that citizens and residents pay to make it more affordable here if you want to call it that. But you know, as noted, there's traffic coming from what's going on in Edgewater, what's going on west of the development with South Village and the Palms and what's going on in Port Orange. And if we were to stay a cloistered town with no development, we're still gonna get all those people, but we wouldn't have the resources, the additional resources to support here and maybe alleviate traffic. That'd be my point of view. We'll see where this all goes. And any questions, comments? I know you've been involved in this quite some time. So today is May 20th, 2025. The first allegedly, the first shovel will go in in May 13th of 2028, according to what the PUD stated in there. And before that, you have to do the strong water survey and the strong water management process in there. But I'm skeptical, John. I'm sorry to say that. I'm skeptical of the process. And I can almost assure you, as we said here today, that during part, the developer will build a hotel, the first thing to build a hotel. And they will house their people in that hotel and they'll start building the houses. There'll be no bit, I hope I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong. There'll be no businesses available until all the houses are built, and all the padwaters going in there. Because in the PUD, if you read the PUD in a system there, they have to build a half million square feet of a structure. They set it here in the meeting here. And they said they will have about 500 people here working at the time that it really gets going. So doing the math of hotel room, 150 hotel with the only 50 rooms, it goes about 47,000 square feet. So that will meet their criteria. I'm going to have that. So the hotel we built, they'll use it for the people to live there and work in there, kind of stuff there. And then they can move on and head with the way. I hope I'm wrong. I really do hope I'm wrong. I would like to see basically a timeline, like the young lady said about what are we doing in town here here But a timeline was once you get going there. What is our goal? What can we do as a group? To make the impact what it's supposed to be What do we have to put boots on the ground? Do we have to go meet people? What do we have to do to bring in these I and jobs that we they espoused that are coming in here in the next ten years? That's why we have a partnership with Team Valuesha. Team Valuesha is our marketing arm for Valuesha County as a whole. That's why the city has a membership with that and we're very active. I'm the chairman of the Council for the practitioners. And we work very closely with them and that's why we asked Deering Park to create that in the beginning because the leads that we were getting from Team Volucia, we didn't have property here in town that was suitable and we were losing those opportunities and leads. They were not coming to New Smarter Beach. That is why we asked Deering Park if they would come north to to use somerna Beach so that we could add those industrial spaces to be able to be able to be able to garner some of the businesses and some of those leads and land them here in New Smyrna Beach for those higher paying jobs. And we're very specifically targeting aviation and aerospace technology because they are the highest paying jobs and they are very much resilient towards downturns in the economy as well as COVID and some of the other things that we have seen. So those that industry seems to be very resilient towards that. That's why we're targeting and doing all of this work and what we're doing. And I've personally been working with businesses that I've been working with for months now that can't find a parcel large enough here in New Smarter or it doesn't meet their criteria. I've hand-walked them to Ernie Cox with Deering Park to introduce them and make that introduction. That's my job. That's why I'm here. So that's how that will work, is with our reach that we get worldwide with team Volusia to specifically target those companies that we want here, and then we'll work with Deering Park directly. You have to remember, there are philosophy for Deering Park, is a very specific, it's a special kind of philosophy, making sure that that company is the same philosophy, making sure that they're buildings and the architecture and the use and the landscaping and the matches that it align. So it's not going to just be, you know, like an asphalt manufacturer or something like that out there that's, you know, kind of a dirty or trucking or connoisse containers or anything like that. You're not going to see anything like that out at Deering Park because they are very clear about that they want to make sure that their partners and that the businesses they land out there have the same philosophy that they do. I saw them in the PUD where it says you can't have those things in there. They're limitations have, they're what they're looking for. But see what I look at Samantha is a person that is driven that I am. Like for example, what's the Pensacola? I gave her your car so all the things to people that were there for space access and for NASA, I don't know if it's a city, Alabama, out of other places in the country there. They were there for shows there. In my opinion, we need to start doing that to go to air shows. They have one in Melbourne. They have one in Lakeland. That's what Team Volusia does for us. Well, can we can't do that then? Also, it's all up to them. So basically, we can't do that kind of job then. Okay. A couple things I would add is team Volusia is doing a strong job of bringing new industries to this area. I was at the Q breakfast as were you. And they have both Boeing and Isit Aura Arrow, which is an electric plane manufacturer from France that are locating up in Daytona Beach. So the question is when we have some infrastructure that's not just the light industrial corporate headquarters but having places where their employees can live, work and play, I think we now a role draw. We're closer to the Cape than Daytona Beach. And we have the amenities in this part of town that make people want to live here. I do trust these people. I mean, I know that what happened at the Nation Bay really soured this community. But I think these people, having the land for almost a hundred years have a desire to build a legacy here that is not the Palms at Phoenician Bay which no fence to that but that's not they see a plan community and you're going to see it in just a second that's more like Alton and Abacoa down to the south of us that offers a much better vision than some of the track development you see around here currently. So, you know, we're going to have to trust but verify and our leadership is going to have to enforce the PUD and I think, you know, there is a lot of process that they have to go through that if they don't do it right, they won't go to the next step. So growth and change, you know, a lot of people don't like it, but let's not change this. They could happen out there. I've always liked Fred's, you know, new town will be out there, or the mayor. And the big difference with this developer and landowner is that they are self-funded. If there's a big downturn in the market and things are not moving, that's OK. They have the ability to be able to forward to wait if that's needed, or to be able to do the engineering and the infrastructure and the other things underground so that when the economy does pop back up and people are moving and buying and you know expanding their businesses that they'll be ready in position to do that. And that was the problem with Phoenician Bay. Correct. And you know downturn in 2008 and required a sale of the asset and then new people came in with tighter financial pressures. These guys don't have it. They're a big wealthy family that has been here for a long time. So that happened to the video. Absolutely. Yeah, there was a tour. What was it May 14? Was it? I can't remember. I love it. I couldn't be there. Yeah, I'd have to look it up on my phone, but this is some video that came out. Southeast Volusia County, Florida, the cities of Nusomer, Nbich, Edgewater, and Oak Hill, together a vibrant coastal community with a rich heritage and untapped potential. We're transforming our communities, starting with Deering Park and Edgewater and the Deering Park Innovation Center in New Smyrna Beach. Full of opportunity, this site is ready to be transformed into something extraordinary. Located in a prime area, this site is poised for growth. Recently, we visited South Florida, Abakoa and Jupiter and Alton and Palm Beach Gardens. These communities have set benchmarks for balanced, sustainable development, offering vibrant, mixed-use spaces and community areas. Their success stories inspire us as we bring a similar vision to Daring Park. Abukoa features a mix of single-family homes, town homes, apartments, and assisted living. Along with Florida Atlantic University, the U.F. Scripts Research Institute Institute, and Max Plank Institute, with parks, preserves, and schools. Elton offers convenient apartments, town homes, and single-family homes with access to shopping, dining, recreation, and work, reducing trip miles and promoting an active lifestyle. Imagine connected spaces for all needs coming to life right here in Daring Park. By diversifying the tax space, we're creating a more balanced economy while expanding the commercial sector and reducing the percentage of tax burden on residential homeowners. We're developing quality labor pool, offering high-paying jobs and access to higher education and technical training. With a flood, resilient design, connected stormwater system reducing off-site discharges, connected green spaces and and places for families to gather, quality of life rises within the landscape. This project will create jobs and boost the local economy, supporting our growing aerospace industry, benefiting everyone in the community. This project is the result of thoughtful collaboration between city leaders, landowners, developers, and the community. We understand the concerns raised by residents in Venetian Bay, regarding environmental impacts and potential bait and switch tactics. The Dering Park Development Company committed to excellence, transparency and accountability and the proposed plan unit development agreement locks in all commitments. 46,000 acres adjacent to the site have been placed in permanent conservation and at least 400 acres of natural vegetation will be preserved within the project site. The Dering Family has been part of our community for over 100 years. The Deering Family and Deering Park Development Company are dedicated to seeing this project through offering stability and strong financial backing, even during economic downturns. The commitment to all promises including conservation and land management continues to grow with plans to add more acreage to ensure a sustainable future. Shaping a thriving future for Deering Park where people can live, work and play. Deering Park Innovation Center in the Howard empowering Southeast Malaysia for a better tomorrow. Thank you. Really well done. Yes. Good. I'm Stephanie Ford. So what else should we? May I comment on the park? Yeah, you should. I'm not quite as far down the skeptic line as just is, but I have been a skeptic right from the beginning. You know, you say, John, that you trust them. Trust has to be earned. I don't know that they've really done anything yet to really have the trust of the community yet. It's just not, they're not there yet. I hate to keep referring back to the villages, but I watch that community grow from 20,000 homes to 60,000 homes. And one of the distinctions was that the Moores family had to walk the streets of the villages every day. Not only the, they call him the developer, the oldest brother, but the three girls, one is in charge of sales, one is in charge of production, the other is in charge of design. They have grandkids that walk the streets every day. And I was pleased to see, if I interpreted correctly, that one of the execs has committed to building a home in Deering Park. Two of them have. Three. Ernie Cox, David Zatchman, who represents the family through Miami Corp. The family, the way their business is structured that none of them work for the corporation. They sit on the board. They don't want them self-dealing. But Miami Corp is a Chicago based company, correct? Yeah. And it's got to have a local flavor. It's got to be able to have people walking down Canal Street or Flagler that says to somebody, you're doing good job or you're doing a lousy job. And because that's the way things change or get modified is the local flavor. I don't know how you insist on that, but I think it should be a character of how they move forward. And if you can get a commitment that people are going to stay in town. It's already naturally occurring. It's just the third person that's committed to. Gentlemen with culture homes. Oh, John. And that's good. So all I would say is, you know, exercise caution. And, you know, it's nice to sit here, but I've been in business for 50 years and you have no clue who they're going gonna sell out to in three years because you have absolutely no control of that and particularly and I haven't looked into the family but particularly if there's a generational change of ownership control be careful. I mean that so again it's caution I think that going forward makes a lot of sense but we've got to exercise. And I'm not on their payroll, but my experience has been working with them that they're going above and beyond what typical developers do because they have the legacy here, because we asked them to do this. And they own the land at fractions of a penny on the dollar. So they don't have the same profit, you know, concerns or margin concerns that probably a lot of other developers do. The other thing that I see is there are 50-50 partner with the developer. So they're not, you know, they're not selling the land. Now they might sell parts of it. Obviously homeowners are going to own the land that they buy. But, you know, so we're going to go through this over the next few years and I think they have an opportunity to continue to prove themselves. And they have a big presence in Florida. I was down in Miami And and there's Veskaya. There's the Duran estate down there. So they're big. Even if the family is spread out around the country, they're still big here. Any other comments? Yes. A tout. Like in the video here, showed again, Abacor and Alton, then in Jupiter. But one thing that the old saying goes, what came first, the chicken or the egg? For Abacor to even begin to be what it is today, you really had three things there. Like I said before, three anchors, three big anchors. The Cardinal Spend Spend Creative Facility, which is growing to the Marlins now also. You had the FAU campus and you had the scripts. You really had people working inside of there. You had a demand, you might say, for that kind of there. You had a demand, you might say, for that kind of stuff. Yeah, what we're doing here is that we're creating, we're hoping we get the man, basically. So when we tell Abacor, we say, this is a great place here. Yeah, but that was pretty there. People, things were there for the beginning. It was the man for the housing. It was the man for diversity. It was the man for the area there. Because I'm a Thissa Lewis, but I'm off pretty there. People, things were there for the beginning. It was the man for the housing. It was the man for diversity. It was the man for the area there. Because I have my sister lives about them off from there. I used to go visit her and Abacol was even started in the 90s. And to this day, it's still growing. It's still being built in there. Now, one thing that surprised me, He's surprised me. Those wires are only cocks moving from Abacorte here. His Abacor ending is run as being finished there as a place changing. We think in wires, this is the question. No, he's question because he's very excited and he's very committed to this project and he believes in the project and he wants to be part of it as it continues to grow and thrive and I understand I tell you say you got to earn the trust I don't know any cost's a nice guy, great. But then again, the old saying goes, it proves you're in the pudding. You have to know what is in writing for the future. I've been working with this group for over 12 years. So... Well, like when it comes to money, everything changes. Unfortunately. So yeah, I think that's the challenge and the opportunity for us is to, you know, have a comprehensive plan to get, you know, an FAU or, you know, cluster around the space industry. You know, so some of these anchor institutions that, you know, might come here. So I think that's a great opportunity for us. And it's gonna take some work. Any other final comments on Daring Park? Move along. So the last item is the Task Force studies and responsibilities from last meeting. Since we have two, the members are not here. Do you want to table that until next time? Yeah, that's worth it. So we're going to go on to new business. Is there any new business that the members here want to bring up, discuss? I think we should discuss what the, what Chris will say about the, the higher on third avenue, the hospital, the utilities building. What is the future for those buildings? Do we know anything? So, in our economic development plan, which was attached in your last month's package, there has been discussion about, and I've talked to three or four different boutique hotels for the Utilities Commission building when they ready to vacate that and go out west. But they haven't, I go and attend those board meetings and their workshops and they're not ready. They would need to start with a zoning change and they come up with a master plan. They've got to do a storm water plan, Utilities plan. I mean, they've got a lot of work to do. So that is down the road. Five years at least before even. Maybe they haven't even decided to start yet so we don't know. We don't know what the timing is on that but I have quite a few people and you know their chairman buddy Devon Port has also talked to another developer of Boutique Hotel. So we have about five together that are kind of standing and waiting to see what's going to happen with that. And I've been talking with our development services director about making sure that we have the zoning and the capability to put a Boutique Hotel on Canal Street. that's kind of, that's what's in the plan for this. There is an active interest in another location there too, isn't there? Yes. But that has a zoning issue, I believe. Yes. And it would take that particular project would be the whole side of that block from Canal Street down rush to Julia. Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? Is that still working with it? So there's some things to work through. You know. Can you enlighten me on that? Because I don't know what Jon's talking about. You guys are talking about, I have a little... The former, the the cramory was, on the corner of Rush in Canal Street. And then the same gentleman, father and son, they owned the properties behind them that face Rush and Julia. So they're talking about they did a pre-application meeting. You can actually go and listen to the meeting. It's available online. And they're talking about doing a boutique hotel. So on that site. So if I'm not mistaken currently the height limit on Canal is 77 feet. I believe so. Of course, are these children's commissioners as high as they can go right now? So they do they want to go higher? What's the zoning about? A zoning in that zone there, instead of being business, they don't know. Well, just make sure that density would allow for that and height, depending upon, you know, because for hotels, it's all about room keys, you know, that it's a, there's a magic number of what it takes, the how many room keys, so that you're breaking even in, then even making a little bit of a profit. So it's just working with those developers and finding out what they need and making sure that we can do that here in town with our zoning and our complaint. With regards to the hospital, we know that they are working on their design for the road expansion and improvements that they are required to make at Sugar Mill. And so that's they're working on that first. And so those will be done and then they'll start developing that site. But they still have to get there. Well, not only do they have to get their design for the buildings approved by Advent Health here locally, but then it has to go to corporate and then then it has to go to ACA. So that's many years in the making because they are just focusing on the road right now. Right. However, as you know, the hospital owns a lot of other surrounding properties. We haven't been told or informed yet of what the plan is. Whether all of those other properties will also be vacated and sold as they go out west closer to 95. But the main hospital proper from what I understand the building is very old. It's a very elderly building. And so there's been a couple talks about, you know, maybe apartments, maybe assisted living. There's been a lot of, but it's not the property is owned by the district. It's not owned by the hospital. So we don't know what that, what will that entail with the district sell it or will they reuse it and repurpose it? It's really their building so Who's the district the district the hospital district the authority, you know any pay your taxes and you have it on your tax bill is Hospital authority so We're kind of waiting to see I mean we are Waiting at the you know kind of chomomping at the bit, if you will, and that's another item that's also in our economic development plan is, you know, repurposing that building and the buildings that they own, the other structures that they own, you know, whether we help them find. I think a lot of people are waiting for the economic environment to improve, you know, interest rates go down a little. Yes. That still seems, I'm selling a house and that's been a problem. Right. Well, that and the, you know, the economy on a global scale and what the tariffs and things, you know, do to us as far as importing building materials and things like that, you know, it's, it all factors in. But it's years in the making I mean, they're not quite ready to, you know, they're not going to move out there, probably even in the next five years. Are you tracking any big new thing coming? You know, I know you mentioned Third Street by the Duncan Donuts. I know that's kind of, they're trying to sell that property. Any major new things to share with the community? Well, I am working with about, I just put them all in a spreadsheet, about 35 different businesses or interested parties for CRA grants. So that's really exciting. Some of the vacant parcels on US one, some of our existing businesses and kind of revamping and so yeah lots of activity there. It's nice to see the refreshing of that. I mean the Ace Hardware, the Davis members and some of the other things going on. I would say that Team Volusia is connected, the development company with NASA and there's some interest in NASA. So, you know, that space vision at During Park just to talk about that. We have a couple other big ones but we have confidentiality agreements and so I can't share who they are. No, wait, I'm sorry. I can't do your microphone. But, um, but we do have some exciting opportunities coming up and I think the residents will be really happy with you know what's being proposed. So are you saying Disney's coming to you? No, no, not not not anything that large. That's what I heard. Not even that large but I heard somebody say Disney. I have a translation needs. It's officially a rumor. But it's wonderfully busy and good. And I'm able to you know be able to provide a lot of information and assistance. So you're doing a great job. Thank you for that. Okay I think we get to formally turn it over to you. Let's see board member comments, directors report. The well board member comments, anything anybody wants to add to what we've already discussed. Charlie? No. the well-bored member comments anything anybody wants to add to what we've already discussed? Charlie? No? No? I'm thinking. No, no, we're move past you. Now we'll let you have some moments later. Samantha, would you like to give your report? Sure. In your packet you have the May and the Loop Economic Development newsletter. I just want to let you know too. So in every issue I'm doing research and finding opportunities for grants that our businesses, our small businesses can take advantage of so every issue you'll see something with that. And then I've been running a series on economic sustainability and going green and some of the small changes that businesses can make just to make a difference because it really does affect their bottom line and their profitability by being able to save water, save electricity, reduce waste, maybe increase in recycling where they can. And so I just kind of have some tips in there. And we're also working with the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council. They're bringing their Diamond Awards to New Samaritan Beach in February of next year. But they also have a lot of information and they're going to run a story they're working with our public works director David Ray. We've installed solar panels on the Coronado Civic Center as well as the Live Oak Center. Just, you know, being more economic, more echo friendly, but we're also that saves on utility bills and things just for the city for purposes that do. So as we go forward, there's a lot more other sustainable types of activities that our public works director is working on and all of our facilities here in the city. So it's kind of exciting. I see you talk about the sand replacement that the county is doing. Have you heard any date that they start moving it down? I know that they're still finishing up on the north side, but but the airport who's also our regional director on the board for the Florida inland navigation district find. He wanted people and the public to be notified that they're going to be dredging in the inlet. So all the all the islands that you see you know that's it moves and the sand moves and there's lots of showing that's occurred and it makes that inlet very dangerous and treacherous and so of course a lot of our, you know, love to use the islands to hang out on the weekends, but they will be doing some work and dredging some of those areas and opening those channels back up that used to be navigable and now are not. So. Is that underway right now? Yes. And they're doing some of that now, and then the sand is going on the north side and then when they get to the south side The sand will be located from Jasmine, South. Yeah, I assume that won't take place until after turtle season. I would imagine yeah The turtles own the stone. Yeah, yep. That's made through October what usually nice amen. And the maps that I have in here, when you see this live, it takes you to those links. But those maps, we've been working our project and project, capital project director, as well as our GIS manager. We've been working together so that those maps are real time. They're updated monthly now and they're really great because if you click on one of those dots, it brings up a square, like a drop down menu and it gives you all of the details and the status of those projects. That's nice. And so it's for capital projects for the city and then there's projects in in review and projects that are permitted. And so you can see the status and they're updated on a monthly basis. Who's the developer for the property behind Publix? This, you know, it was a fish camp. Who? It's the Huggai Fish Camp it is. Behind public? Yes, that's what it used to be called. And that's the... I developed a known one of us. It used to be called in the old days. Oh, okay. Yeah, it was a Haga-Eye Fish. Originally, was... Are we talking the same thing? Yes, I'm saying that. I'm saying that, yeah. 80 town homes right 77 around who's the developer of that well it keeps changing that's a good use there was a recent change and all of a sudden the developer of that? Well, it keeps changing. That's a good use. There was a recent change. And all of a sudden, the price of the property went from $7 million to $10 million. And so it's good. But at the time they put shovel into the ground, they're going to have $250,000 or $300,000 into that line. Hmm. Wait. And, well, I had heard they're going to start at $800,000. Wow. That's pretty cheap. So, wow. Good. Is it? That's affordable housing here in our room. But I don't know who it is. They certainly have cleared. I mean, the land. And, yeah. They're moving it moving it forward for sure. Any idea of is there going to be some road improvements along Saxon? I believe that they're required as part of the development. I sat in this room I sat in this room with the when Saxon came up the property came up there and the question was asked doing the during the instruction portion of it, the sidewalks being taken away. So it's going to create a havoc in there. And they would say, you know, we can't, we're not going to put it currently, neither. My understanding is into there. There's only one entrance and one exit out of there. Because it was trying to put one on seventh, I believe it was, on the back side. It was open. Right. It was trying to. But that has been my understanding that was shut down. And when I sat here, my recollection is that they're only going to have one entrance off of a saksam, and one exit off of Saxon. Thanks a lot to change. Now they still have that. An entrance is not scheduled for that land on seventh. Right, it's only on Saxon. Right, they have one. Word is that they're probably going to maintain that law on seven for an emergency entrance, but it will be blocked. You and I won't be able to use it. They poured concrete from my house. I'm at eighth and down the next two. And the problem is the cars I can live with, but the bicycles are going by my house at 30 miles an hour. I was at my mailbox the other day, and they went by behind me. I bet you within four inches and didn't even give me a warning. And of course, those electric bikes make absolutely no. If I stepped back could have killed me. That's a concern for a parking director. Find out if I can put if I can put speed bumps on my sidewalk. In addition I've talked about funding. The county part of the business Volusia business resources that we partner with, they are bringing a free small business funding workshop to Newsomernibiach on June 18th, it's at the Brandon Center, I have the flyer here. So if you know of any, it's very, really well done. We have some financial professionals, small business consultants and bankers and lenders and the attendees are going to learn exactly what they need to do and have in place in order to go to the banking get funding. So it is very informational if you know of anybody that is needing any assistance or small businesses. This is a free event. The other date I wanted you to put on your calendars is that our Southeast Felicia Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Summit is scheduled for October 23rd. It looks like the times will be eight in the morning, so probably one in the afternoon. We are working on putting together the agenda and kind of working on that now. And so if you have any comments or suggestions for the agenda items, let me know and I'll be happy to share them with the committee. What time, Sam? 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. That question's on a pickable time. I can't make it. Priority, make your priority Jess And lastly the date Kimley Horn so on April 22nd the commission approved the Consultant contract with Kimley Horn to update both our comprehensive economic development strategy as well as our community redevelopment agency plans. So we will be starting with some public meetings, probably in September. Once I have those dates firm, I will let you know, I'd love to have especially your input from there, from your perspective and all that you've learned and kind of your insights as well as you know at those public meetings Okay, great. Thank you. Is anything else? No sir. That's all I have for today Thank you question for you comprehensive plan amendment I believe there's a Committee looking at that I believe Diana is on that. That's the charter review. Charter review. Yes, sir. Thank you. How does that impact economic development in a very high level? Well, does it have any impact? It could have impact on depending what goes through as far as the current votes are going to take in regards to it may have gone for two years to four, and if you're 50% or more in the primaries, you're medically elected into the finals, you don't have to go into a runoff or anybody else there. So there's some things that can change the face of government in this town that are being talked about tonight also at 6 p.m. If anybody wants to come out, I'll be there for sure. But economically impacted, No, it really focused on that, it's more on the organizational structure. Right, it's how we govern our city. How we operate. How we govern the city, the city's governing the ran. I mean, to me, it makes sense that some of the changes around the mayorial position, I mean, but. Okay, thank you. I have the comments now. Yes. So when we hear on the room, I would ask all of you to raise your hand if you can. When you go to some other places on vacation or for the day or whatever, do you get charged at tourist tax? Yes. I haven't heard. When you go to where I pay it or it's in my hotel bill. Well hotel bill it's always a it's always a tourist tax somewhere. Yes. So we pay for expenses in here. Do we have one here? Yes. We do. What's what's a tax? Now I said that that hotel is a tourist tax of the city or the county. It's through the county. That legislation was approved back in 1977. And we, which is kind of odd, the Volusia County actually has three. CVB is where part of the portion of the money goes to us. I think it's about 12%. Okay. A portion goes to the ocean center. A portion goes to the Southeast Volusia Visitor Center. There's a Daytona Beach Visitor Center, and there's a Dilan or West Volusia. So we have three in this county, and they get about, I think, three or four percent of those tax dollars to advertise our area outside of the county. But what does, I mean, okay, that's a bettank, is that a two-inch tax? It's one and the county. But what does, I mean, okay, that's the bed tax, is that a tourist tax? It's one and the same. It's, that's what they call it. So there is for say no tourist tax. Like in some places, you go, if I go down to South Beach and I get a meal, the restaurant down on Ocean Drive, for example, which I've done there, you get charged for tourist tax. On top of you, whatever you pay, if you go to a hotel, you get a... So, somewhere... It's right. It's right. But if you go to the pavilion and you have a meal at the Olive Garden and the pavilion in Port Orange There's an additional tax on there is to pay for back for their infrastructure and Do we have that? Do we have that in the city? We don't have a city wide one. I don't know of any specific businesses or developments that have that that have done that, but it is a common practice. Can a city impose that? I don't know if we, now we had an opportunity to do county wide, or was it city,wide to do a half-cent sales tax increase and it was voted down So we'll have to go to referendum right so but can a city Proposed for example if the leaders in a city wanted to propose a say a two-cent tax on restaurants For exampleist tax on restaurants or Airbnb's. Can they impose a tourist tax on the Airbnb's? Just for the city, not county, just for the city. To recoup the rent. Only if it was voted on by the voters. It would have to be voted on by the citizens and would go on the referendum. So we have an opportunity, you're saying, that this could be on the ballot for next year elections, to impose a two cent or four cent on Airbnb and tax to a tax solely for the city. So the city can- You'd have to vet it and then you have to get that to the supervisor of elections. I think the deadline on that is like June, do you get anything on the ballot? June next year? June of this year if you want something to go in in November. Oh so we have a chance. 28. Don't hold me to the stage. There was a road to that process. There's a road to the process but you would have to really vet it well. You'd have to really you'd have to get all the businesses behind it and stuff. We'll have to residents. The residents. The residents we put. Citizens. Right. citizens of the resident of the city here because what I'm going at is that we're trying to, there is a fire tax space. And if we have our main, our main thrust of economy in this town is tourism. That's it. We don't have much, we have a little bit of an effect. But the county tried to do a few years ago and it did not pass. Well, that's a county, but a city, I know, but it was county wide. and it was a tourist tax only. It was only gonna be on the backs or the burden of visitorsitors not on residence and it did not pass. How would you manage that? I mean, I guess rentals and Do we impose a bed tax on Private rentals the county does yes, okay So if Timson Okay, so if I ran a car here the The rent there They're there to turn versus well. Yeah, they're required to collect it and then pay it into the county and the county divis it up So when I'm trying to figure out I still have a good answer to this is how much the city can get in the best text in reality. Oh, we don't get anything just to go into this. The city doesn't we don't it's our Southeast militia advertising authority so they get the money we don't correct so and they don't get all of it they get a small portion of it because part of it goes to like I said the goes to the ocean center right to support that and then another portion goes somewhere else I don't remember I'd have to look at the legislation. It's been a years, I've looked at it. So I get what you're trying to do. I suspect a lot of these things are, you know, been vetted and I don't know if they do better or not. But as we grow more and more is I don't understand and I don't get the point of we pay taxes here but it goes to the county, the back taxes and we don't get anything back but yet we have the impact. We've collected. I guess they go at the impact and the economic impact what it goes on but economic impact goes to this you know what they spend here then it goes to taxes back to the county so in reality it reality, it would be good to know what economic impact we have for tourism tax wise. Well, if you went to the breakfast last week, that Debbie Meals had the ad authority, you'd have all of that data, because she presented it. Okay, again, back to my earlier point, pick up all of it's more important. Well, my physical activities, I've meant to help a little more important at times. You know what Jess, I will ask, I could have Debbie Meals perhaps come and give us a presentation on that. I will reach out to her and find out when she's available. And we get to the bottom of it. Yeah, and we're, I'm going to try and end this a little early to accommodate your pickle ball. I thought it. It's not an 8-point. One thing, getting Debbie here and other speakers to discuss these issues would be great. If you haven't done it, especially the members of this body, there is an opportunity to go to or Deerin Park privately and hear see more about what they're doing with the land to build that trust. I've worked with these guys for some time. That's where my point of view comes from. And I've seen what they've already been doing down there as good stewards of the land. And welcome visitors, especially, you know, folks of our... Yeah. And is a future agenda items? Anything we want to cover at next meeting? And I think we're going to take a sabbatical in June, July, or do we? So the City Commission does not meet in June. But we can take June off or we can take July off. It just depends on what. With the rule of the board. Can we do this outside? Remember, well, when I was a kid, they'd teach class outside on a nice day. Yeah. Unless you go bring all this recording utility. Yeah, no doubt. It was California. Yeah. Yeah, we're only three here, but do we want to take us sabbatical in June when the commission is off? Yeah. OK. Better for them. I make a motion. We take us sabbatical in June. Exactly. Please take the boat. Well, we're still keen. Yes. Jesse Romero. Yes. I should have said no. Yes. Yeah. Vote against your own Ravel Rauser. Pickleball player. So the motion carries and we're going to take the month of June off. So hopefully we'll see each other socially or about town. There are some other activities going on from an economic development perspective. I'm going to call this meeting to adjournment. I don't think I even have to do it, but I'd like to use the gavel. So, there you go. Thank you, all. The power of this.