you you you you you you Good evening, everyone. The regular meeting of your city commission for Tuesday, March 11, 2025 will come to order. Please join me in silencing your cell phones. Madam City Clerk, please call the roll. Commissioner Perine. Chair, Commissioner McGurk. Your Commissioner Ashley. Here. Vice Mayor Martin. Here. Mayor Cleveland. Here, thank you, City Clerk. And now, Police Department Senior Chaplain, Tom Personal, will give the invocation. Please rise and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. Let's pray. Having the Father thank you so much that we live in this wonderful community Lord. I just we're so grateful and thankful that somehow we have been so blessed to be here Lord. We're grateful for these servants here in front of us Lord where we pray that you would give them the wisdom and knowledge and discernment necessary and also the temperament that they can get the job done before them, Lord. We're grateful that they answered the call to do this civic duty. And Lord, we're praying you put your head to your protection around them, Lord. Guide them from the fiery darts of the evil one. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. And now, seven-year-old, Kylie Keenan, second grader from Chisamil Elementary, an athlete, the only girl flag football player on her team, soccer and gymnast who loves to sing will deliver the pledge of allegiance. Come on up 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 Riley. Please be seated. Congratulations mom Lindsey Strossberg the VP and co-founder of Upward Train Academy. Thank you so much for doing such a great job with your kids. Mr. City Manager any changes to the public agenda? Yes, sir. We would like to announce that item 8B has been withdrawn from the agenda. That's the real estate purchase agreement for Turnbull Creek Conservation Properties. Thank you, sir. We'll scratch 8B and take it up another time. Appreciate that. On the announcement front, I'd like to let everyone know March is women's history month throughout our country. This month serves as a time to honor the achievements and contributions made by women throughout the history of the United States. Throughout March, members, those of us should remember that the women paved the way for struggle for gender, equity in the United States and recognize those that contribute continue to break barriers today. We are blessed to have so many women leaders, business owners, community influencers, and community advocates right right here in our city. With that said, I'd like our finance director and the finance team led by Joanne Jury to meet me and the commission at the podium. Yeah, come on out in front folks. So, I want to see you, not now. How much does it cost? I'm on offer. Quite today. So, the City of News of Mournabeej Proclamation recognizing governments finance professionals week from March 17th to March 21st, 2025, whereas the Florida Government Finance Officers Association is a professional association founded in 1937 and serves more than 3,300 professionals from state, county, and city governments, school districts, colleges, universities, special districts, and private firms and whereas the the FGF-OA is dedicated to being your professional resource for providing opportunities through education, networking, leadership, and information. And whereas this government finance professional's week is sponsored by the FGF-OAA and its member governmental organizations is a week long series of activities aimed at recognizing government finance professionals and the vital services they offer to our state and local community. And whereas during this week, government finance professionals throughout the state of Florida will be acknowledged for their hard work, dedication and leadership. Now therefore I, Fred Cleveland, the mayor of the City of News and Renovate hereby proclaim March 17th through March 24th, 2025 as government finance professionals week. In the City of News and Renovate, you can encourage all citizens, officials and government employees to participate in events that recognize and celebrate government finance professionals week. In witness where I have here to set my hand and set the seal of the City of Newsomerno Beats to be affixed to this document the 11th day of March 2025. Joanne, congratulations, and your team. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can I bring them together here at the Senate? Thank you. Thank you. Okay. I'm pretty gone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And there's more. So don't go away, commission. gentlemen I'd like to present to you the Florida State Girl, High School, Girls Basketball Champion Team. News somewhere to beach, Kudal ladies. Come on up. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And so,. You know, the road to right. Right. I think it's it. I'm. All right folks, wait till you hear this. The City of Newsomernabeech Proclamation honoring Newsomernabeeas has demonstrated exceptional skill, perseverance, and teamwork throughout the 2024-2025 season and whereas under the leadership of head coach Asia Patrick, the lady Kudas made history in securing their first ever state championship, and whereas solidifying their legacy as one of the premier programs in Florida, and coach Asia Patrick in just her second season was honored for her exceptional leadership and commitment to excellence by being named the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year and we're at Yeah. And whereas the team success was also made possible by the outstanding efforts of assistant coaches, Kelo Walker, Dominic Mundin, Shakiva Jones, Tawana Hayes, and Pop Mitchell who played a crucial role in developing and guiding the players to victory. And whereas the Lady Cudas ranked as ranked number one seed, showcased their championship pedigree in a thrilling 56 to 49 victory. And whereas the Lady Cudas ranked as ranked number one seed, showcase their championship pedigree in a thrilling 56-49 victory over the number three seed gainful hurricanes powered by a 30-point performance from Marshall University Sinie, Olivia Olson. Olivia is the Florida Athletic Coach Association player of the year and whereas the Lady Kudas concluded their historic season with an impressive 27 to 5 record, a 15 game winning streak and set the program record for the most wins in a single season. And whereas player Ava Feldman, Riley France, Olivia Olson, Megan Prasio, Corinne Estell, Aigne Reddix, Saraya Emmons, Janaya Monroe, Briella Via, Jaya Smith, Celisha Rackberg, Richberg, have displayed unparalleled dedication, resilience and sportsmanship on and off the court. And whereas the City of Newsomernabeech and its entire community, along with the team's families, coaches and supporters have celebrated this incredible accomplishment and the inspiration it has provided to future generations of athletes. Now therefore, be it resolved that we proudly recognize the New Simer and Beach girls varsity basketball team for their state championship victory, their historic season, and be it further resolved that the 7th of March 2025 shall be designated as New Simer and Beacharsity Basketball Champion Day in honor of their hard work Perseverance and championship spirit in witness where I have here and to set my hand this 11th day of March 2025 girls congratulations Thank you very much. Okay, perfect. You both are. Okay, on three, one, two, three, and the end. Congratulations ladies. Congratulations. Totally. Good, good, good. Good, good. Yes. Good. I've asked the coach to say a few words. Coach Aja, you want to say something to the crowd? I'll put me on a spot. But thank all for coming up and thank you for recognizing us this means a lot so we really appreciate it. Coach Asia Patrick ladies and gentlemen coach Fuller we have the athletic director and new Samurna high here athletic director coach for you have something to say to your team. This is an amazing group of coaches and even even more amazing group of players. We just want to thank everyone from the mayor to the City Commission to everyone for your amazing support a couple of weeks ago, Tuesday. I came here and myself and another parent spoke on their behalf. And we predicted that we would bring this back two weeks later, and luckily they cast a check that my mouth wrote. But the support, financially, words and encouragement, the amount of people that drove up to Lakeland and that rough traffic on Friday, it was truly humbling and it's what makes the city special. So we appreciate it, and we are so happy and proud to be able to bring this back to the city. Thank you so much. Thank you. Also the principal America is here from New Sumerna High. Thank you. I just kind of want to double down on what Mr. Fowler said. We thank you for your support financially for being present for those of you that tuned in from afar. It really took the community to get us this title. We bust in about 30 kids. They came over and you could feel the enthusiasm and the excitement in the air as they took the court. And I know they noticed it, because they didn't expect to see a crowd ofers in the background so that was that was very emotional for me and for them as well so we do thank you for your support. This is for the community, this is for the city, this is for the school and forever will be a part of history. So thank you again. Well done thank you Jim. Thank you girls. It's a real mark of excellence for our city and so proud and so proud of the many of you who stepped forward and offered financial support and moral support in a week's time to get $10,000 together to get these ladies all the way to Lakeland and go to the final four and then the championship. Many of you have donated specifically, I'd like to cite Pat Calibri. to get these ladies all the way to Lakeland and go to the final four and then the championship. Many of you have donated specifically, I'd like to cite Pat Kalato, thank you Pat, for your contributions. Buddy Davenport, thank you for your contributions. Jack Hulcomb, thank you for your contributions. Larry Molenex, thank you so much for your contributions, and many of you have stepped forward to make this possible for these girls. Thank you very, very much. Thank you. the Thank you. Just a few things to update you on. Thursday March 13thth the commission will meet in annual strategic planning session that will go from nine to four again that is on Thursday. We are also making preparations for the state of the city presentation that will be on April 21st at the Brandon Center. I wanted to report that we did follow up on a number of issues and concerns that were brought forward during the last commission meeting. We had several citizens making comments about possible criminal activity at 806 East 23rd Avenue. Police Chief has been very much engaged in that issue. We also have been following up on concerns that have been brought forward about noise and noise related to different venues, particularly in the historic districts. So we are following up on that. We also followed up on concerns brought forward about Washington Street and pedestrian safety and traffic concerns there. I do believe we issued fairly high number of citations in that area for various infractions. You have before you the annual budget, this is the 2025 year budget that you have a printed copy of that. That document is now available on the city's website and if you're looking for something to read that's a really good read. These guys did an outstanding job putting that document together. That is an incredible amount of work so congratulations to the finance staff. And just a few other things attached to your city manager report. This time around you have the monthly capital project update, your update on stormwater and your update on parking. Those reports are all available on the city manager's update on the website. That's all I have, sir. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. I note that it is March and we have the budget. So thank you, Joanne. Thank you so very much. That's a big, big accomplishment. And now it's time for public participation or any of you that would like to address the commission. This is your opportunity for a monologue. It's not a dialogue. We won't be answering questions, but we will be listening. We enjoy hearing what's on your mind. If you have a concern about your neighborhood, something somebody in the city staff that you'd like to recognize for doing an exceptional job or just a general comment, we'd welcome the opportunity to hear you. You come forward and if you'll offer when you get to the microphone your name and address for the record, you'll see the green light come on. That means you have three minutes with one minute to go, the yellow light will come on and you should be done when the red light comes on. Please come forward if you have anything to offer for public participation. Just pull that microphone up to your master. There you go. Thank you. Okay. My name is Eric Fletcher and I just purchased a home on 806, 26th Avenue of July of 23. In three months after that, I started getting flooding. I'm getting a lot of flooding from the road in my backyard. It's come into the house a couple of times. My foundation is kind of sinking now. My driveway's kind of been buckled up. And I'm kind of concerned about my neighbors. I think they've overbuilt their properties where it doesn't comply with Volusia County, the 60% non-perma ball surfaces. And I think that's causing most of the flooding there. I've talked to the city engineer, they're talking about putting a drain in, but that could be a year or two, so I just don't know what to do in the meantime. Appreciate your comments, then, would be in touch. Okay. Thank you for your comments. Anyone else for public participation? I'm going to ask for a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of've had the privilege of practice dentistry in this town for over 10 years now and I'm here tonight with some of my colleagues and other concerned members of the community to ask you to reconsider the decision that was recently made to remove fluoride from our city's water supply. Fluoridated water is a safe, effective, and research-backed public health measure, and for decades it's been proven to reduce tooth decay and improve oral health, particularly for children and underserved communities. This is not just my personal opinion. This is a stance supported by credibly conducted research worldwide, as well as numerous health organizations, both nationally and internationally, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Dental Association, the CDC, Mayo Clinic, the World Health Organization, and many others. All of these agree that community water fluoridation is one of the most cost effective ways to prevent dental decay and also improve public health. We've seen clear evidence of the benefits and safety of fluoridated water, but unfortunately, we've also seen what happens when it's removed from a community's water. In cities that have discontinued water flaredation, childhood cavities, especially severe cases, have increased dramatically and quickly. These increases are not just numbers, they represent real children who are suffering real preventable dental pain infection and sometimes even permanent damage. Early dental disease often leads to emotional, social, and physical difficulties that can last a lifetime. And this is something that I see in my practice every day. I'm also concerned about the process by which this decision was made. The Utility Commission to my understanding is made up of appointed officials without health care or public health expertise. And they made this significant decision without input from health professionals, public health experts or the broader community in this area. I believe that decisions regarding the health and well-being of our residents should be made based on business or political interests, but with consideration of what is best for the public. I strongly believe this should have involved more input from health care professionals and the public, and I have two requests for you tonight. The first is that any equipment that is remaining, not be disassembled, is that will dramatically decrease the cost of reinstating this if this decision is reversed in the future. Secondly, I ask that you consider putting this issue to a vote or take steps to reinstate for a nation. I believe our community deserves to benefit from this well-researched proven public health measure that supports the health of our residents and particularly our children. Thank you for your time and I'm happy to be a resource in the future. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate your comments. Thank you. Miss Atherin, good to see you. Thank you. Donna Atherin, 684 Corbin Park Road, Nessumurna Beach. I am here as a citizen at first because if any of you did see the article in Sunday's paper, it highlighted what we've done with our drainage issues in Corbett Park and in our particular residence. The things that happen with rising roads and paving and other things that forced us to do certain things, but we're fortunate that we live in a house that is elevated. So the finished floor was originally at the above the road mark. So I have 31 inches of flow through underneath the house, which has saved a lot of our property from damage during any storm. So eventually I'd like to begin a dialogue with each of you about changing some of our building plan codes to start looking into more of that build up and floor level above where it needs to be but keep that open underneath to allow flow and less of a footprint with our building and any new construction will also benefit from something like that by saving money on the build earth. So eventually I would like to sit with each of you and begin that dialogue. Second under my other hat, the Terminal Creek Preservation Board is looking to come at the next meeting at the end of the month to give you a full report on what we have done, what we've accomplished and what's been looking at us for future plans for the project that we've been assigned to. I look forward to giving you that report at the end of the month. Thank you. Thank you, Donna. Appreciate your work here. Shai. Hello. My name is Shai Morris. I'm here representing the Peace Project Incorporated. Also, the Peace Arts Youth Garden at 546 Washington Street. I'm here as a request from the mayor to come read a letter that my organization drafted and also a letter from a supporting partner. I asked if my time runs over if I could just finish out my second letter that would be great. your valued community partner. We are excited to share with you, I'll share with you and your organization, the Peace Project's newest collaborative project. We will bring organizations like the Marine Discovery Center, Dream Green, Volucia, and Stetson University to the Inter River Lagoon together with our West IU to expand the education, involvement, and inspiration that motivates critical environmental stewardship. As you may know, our current nonprofit organization, The Peace Project, provides STEAM, Science, Technology, Engineering, or Agriculture and Math-based learning models for youth in the community. It has demonstrated a strong track record for engaging underserved youth promoting environmental education and fostering hands-on conservation efforts in our priority community. Now we are currently working with the Inter-River Lagoon to establish the coastal restoration of all beaches and shorelines, Crabbs Explore Initiative, which will provide much-needed habitat restoration for the Inter-River Lagoon, build community resilience, and drive long-term environmental responsibility. We envision a partnership with interested student volunteers from your organization and in the community who would assist in working on water quality and habitat restoration, working in a plant nursery through artificial orsterie creation and installation, rain gardens, storm water management, and filtration projects. Participate in the youth workforce development by helping train local people in environmental science, conservation, and sustainable business practices. Pile community engagement and environmental justice ensures ensuring that historically underserved neighborhoods play an active role in restoring and benefiting from the health of our in the River Lagoon. The Peace Project invites your organization to partner with us in this important endeavor. When to participate, the positive working relationships develop between all of us in this community and the peace project will be dynamic, inspirational and lead to our program success. A letter from your organization, affirming your support of our partnership will be very much appreciated and helpful in the advocacy towards our grant proposal. Now I'd like to read a letter from Stetson University who is partnering with us, if that's okay. With speed. With speed, sure. Okay, great. Demis Morse, I'm pleased to offer this letter of support for your one-le-goon application and to indicate our excitement about a collaboration between Stetson University and Peace Project Inc. Through your proposed coastal restoration of all beaches and shorelines, Crab's Exploring Initiative. For several years, I've been impressed with how your Peace Project programs have impacted so many young people in historically un-established communities in the Southeast Russia through its intersection of art and growing food. As a direct-up Stetsetson Sustainable Food System Program and chair the Department of Environmental Science and Studies, we look forward to developing a more formal partnership to promote our shared goals for integrated science, technology, engineering, art, agriculture, and math education. Stetson's new head already initiative centers immersive learning through community engagement and a core part of substance experience. Faculty are not seeking more opportunities in local communities for students to learn by doing, including working side by side with younger students to share their own classroom knowledge. As a collaborator on this project, faculty and students from our programs will offer volunteer hours and training workshops for the youth in your program in the field technique and field techniques for testing water quality and establishing green water infrastructure and other native and edible landscapes. Elements that filter storm water and reduce runoff. We will assist with youth force development by providing fundamental education about the the principles of environmental science conservation, sustainable business practices, and political advocacy, particularly as they apply to protecting our waterways and ensuring healthy environments and food systems. We also plan to host craft's projects, participants on our Delan campus at the Stetson Aquatic Center. For a day of activities to learn about low impact development, green water infrastructure, and the value of participants immersing themselves in our campus for a day. Will help the crafts participants imagine becoming a part of a college community and inspire them to consider opportunities for continuing their education after high school, possibly an environmental and food production fields. Stetson's National Science Division is running a multidisciplinary national science-finanation STM project that provides full tuition scholarships and four-year mentors in science majors and active involvement in research activities for students from lower income backgrounds. I imagine that your youth who emerge as the stars in your craft's project will become excellent candidates for inclusion in our future NSF STEM cohorts. We look forward to this growing relationship and supporting your efforts to engage young people in protecting our beloved Indian River Lagoon Sicily Wendy Anderson, Professor and Chair of Environmental Science and Studies. Thank you, Shy. Would you like to leave a copy of that with the City Clerk? I actually I prepare a whole packet for everyone. Perfect. Thank you so much. Appreciate your comments. Anyone else for public participation? Mr. Merrill. Judge Romero, 7-08 South Cooper Street. On item 8A, I was looking at that and I noticed that when the research in the past, the three charter members, which is the city manager, city attorney, and city clerk, all had contracts and they come on the contracts. I thought that the end dates for these contracts and I could not find an end date for the city man and city attorneys contract. Now I do recall being here one time when an ordinance that we was passed and I was early into this going to the meetings here and found out that the mayor or the old mayor Owens and it was a 4-1 vote and it was a city attorney was only to remove if the majority vote from the commission is meaning a 4-1 or 5-0 basically it's a. So my question is, do we have an attorney for life here? Because if I don't see a end date on her contract, when does she, when does the contract expire? We have one for the city manager and also for the city clerk. There are about three of your contracts. But I did not see I could not find an end date on the city attorney's contract. If I can send it to me, I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Hi, 706 Act 512 of U-POM. I try to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. I'm going to go to the committee. had prepared a good memo summarizing the salary situation based on the survey that she had done as well as historical information and total compensation. So I couldn't tell from the agenda, and I was out of town today, I apologize, should have done this yesterday. I couldn't tell from the agenda whether or not you're actually going to discuss and vote on dollar amount, increases tonight, or you're just going to review the performance reviews that you individually prepared. So on the chance that you might be coming to financial things, there's a couple things that I want to kind of talk throughout loud and see if they resonate with any of you. So the cover sheet of what you'll have is just where people stood on September 24th. And the next page is a comparison, both for the city manager and one sheet, and then the next sheet is a comparison for the city attorney. And they include the 3% increase that they both received on October 1. So the city manager was here a month, but because he was here on October 1, he received the full 3% increase. So, and I do understand that the employees do get a 3% increase. I come from for profit business though and we usually don't get raises just based on breathing and remaining in a position. So when you talk about the conversation tonight, it's the question of a merit increase. So I don't know whether this is something you would expect would come out of the charter discussion or it's really entirely in your purview, but the timing of an off anniversary rays, it's always gonna look like people are getting dribs and drabs. So let's just say, you gave it two percent increase today, plus the three percent that they got, that's five percent, but it never never feels like 5% because it's coming into pieces and private industry doesn't do that and perhaps you don't need to be doing that either. Also the comparison that you have in these different cities are used. The county is used as an average for the city manager and there is absolutely no comparison, no disrespect at all to anyone who's ever sat in the seat, but a county set of responsibilities has absolutely no place in a comparison to any town, much less New Smyr to Beach. So please consider that. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate your comments. Anyone else for public participation? Yes, ma'am. Take your time. Good afternoon. Good evening, whether. My name is Patricia Blake Harris. I live at 524 North Murdle Avenue, New Summon of each. I'm here tonight to, I guess you say, give everyone a little update on our mayor's help in the West Side. Mayor Cleveland came out to see the West Side of the county and we were so proud for him to appear the next morning after our meeting last month and we're so happy that he came out. He wore his boots and his sun hat and that was meaning business. We toured every block, pipeline system, drainage system, and the area that we were talking about that flooded pet is part. We need all of you to come out and see for yourself so that when the planning group comes back to New Samaritan Beach to report their findings and their plans and so on, we need you to know what they're talking about. So you can say, look, I think you better consider that again. Or we need to have everyone to know what we're talking about over the West Side, everyone. We've been trying to contact the county and may or you have been to the meetings and they are trying to cooperate. There are some signs on Warren Avenue and Washington streets. They're starting to dig the ditches out. So hopefully we can get those ditches dug out for our next storm season. It's coming up really soon. So we want everyone to remember that and bring that up when the planning committee comes back to do suberna. Please help us out. Remember us. The West Side community needs all of you to think about us. Thank you. Thank you Miss Harris. Appreciate your comments. Anyone else for public participation? Seeing none public participation is now closed. We'll move on to the consent agenda. Does any member of the Commission wish to comment on any of the items A, B, or C? Any of my colleagues wish to pull any of the items A, B, or C? Seeing none, I'd entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. I'll make that motion. Thank you. We have a motion and a second Madam City Clerk please call the roll. Vice Mayor Martin. Yes. Commissioner Perine. Yes. Commissioner McGurk. Yes. Commissioner Ashley. Yes. Mayor Cleveland. Yes. I'll do administrative items and new business. We've got director Kid here, our HR director, for the presentation of our point in officials performance evaluations and what will follow thereafter. Good evening, Mayor commissioners. Thank you for having me this evening. I'm here to discuss the City Manager and City Attorney evaluations. They are dictated in the City Manager's contract. It's not dictated in the city attorney's contract, but we all decided to participate to give, carry a chance to be evaluated also. So the city manager's contract directed a six month evaluation of Mr. Calper's initial performance to be conducted, and he would be eligible for a merit increase should the commission desire to award one. The city manager serves as the chief executive officer of the city. He's responsible for implementing the policies and directions of the commission and directs the day-to-day operations of the city, including supervision of staff, facilities, budget and finance, project and improvement, I'm sorry, program implementation and capital improvement efforts. The mayor and each commissioner evaluate him Mr. Calper's performance first for six months of service. The total cumulative points were 359 points with a cumulative average score of 4.5. Mr. Calper's current contract provides for his annual salary at $195,700, an annual car allowance of $9,000. Retirement contributions equal to 13% of his salary with 2% matching for 15% total. Full family medical, dental and vision premiums, as well as long and short-term disability coverage and group life insurance equal to one time seasonal salary. I updated the survey of the current city managers in the average salary at this time is 2,300, $2,364. Mayor, would you prefer to discuss everything about Mr. Calpert one time or move on and let me do the- What is the commission's will to go item by, I'm not item by item, I'm finished up the city managers and then go to the city attorney or have them both at once. What's your will? When you say both at once, you mean tonight? Yeah, I think we're going to do it tonight. Heather's choice is, so we go now to the city attorney or do you want to totally drain the discussion about the city manager first? Let's stay with one and go to the other. Any objections to that? All right. That sounds great. Proceed, my dear. Yes. So you have the, I'm sorry, the evaluations, the total, as we said, the cumulative average score was 4.5. I've got the details there and you're my report of his salary at this time. His contract does provide for a merit increase. Should you as a body decide that you want to do that. So I would leave that discussion to the five of you. I'm here. I have information if there's any questions you have. I have a question. Yeah, stay in the batter's box there. We like to have a question. Open for discussion amongst my colleagues, Vice Mayor. No comments? We like to have a question. Open for discussion amongst my colleagues. Vice mayor. No comments at this time. Commissioner McGurk. We have a six month evaluation for when we hired them we're going to go out six months. Did we discuss we discuss any kind of what the limits may be? Or is like, I can't recall if we had some kind of limit? We did not. It just says that he's eligible for a merit increase at this time. OK. So my, my, I believe that Kevin has done an outstanding job. I have zero complaints on what he's done. As a matter of fact, I will tell you, Kevin, that you've surprised me a little bit. New Samurna is no easy town. And to come in here, I thought it would be very easy for a city manager to underestimate the complexity of our town. And as far as I'm concerned up to this point, you have completely impressed me. And you really not missing a beat. You being able to digest it. You've had some curveball thrown your way that you weren't anticipating. And you have batted 1,000 as far as I'm concerned. I think you've done an outstanding job. In terms of pay and how we should compensate, you know, we've talked a lot about this on the dius on how we pay our people. There was a time when we lost people because we weren't competitive in the pay. I believe in paying good people, good money to keep them here. So I'm certainly, I absolutely deserve a raise and I think that the averages of where he should be based in his profession is in this area is should be met. Kevin, I don't want to speak for you. You have an interest in the, have a strong interest in an increase in your retirement plan. Is that correct? Yes, sir. One of the things that I had mentioned is the disparity between the retirement contribution in my contract versus the city attorneys. I made the request that you look at that and perhaps equalize that. Where is his current salary and where should it be in terms of what the what's his what should we be paying him a competitive wage in other words where's that add me some idea is to. So there's a few different ways to look at it. We can look at the average of the county that includes all of the cities and we include the county in that because we do consider them a competitor when we look at where any employee here might move to. When we look at that average, if you compare everyone in our county, the current average is If you look at just the cities that match the city attorney, that was a concern that we had when I did my presentation in August and September was that we were looking at different things. There were some concerns about how we picked the cities, what we looked at. So I also pulled some numbers. If we look at the cities that have a city attorney, and I look at just those numbers for the city manager, then the average jumps to 233,527. So the average for the seat just to be clear with the, because you're also talking about the attorney attorney the CM average is 233,000. Yes, if you look at just the five cities that comprise who also has a city attorney and his current salary somewhere in the book. Current salary. One 95 is. One 95 seven. Okay. Okay. And we're going to do this in the authority after this. So let me be very clear and very specific. I don't want to lose good people. I've seen it happen here a number of times. We used to have an attitude of, yeah, you don't get paid as much here, but you get to live here. Well, guess what? We're a very complex city, and that just is not going to cut it like it did in the 60s and the 70s and the 80s. I think we have an outstanding city manager and I believe that we compensate him accordingly. Thank you sir. Appreciate your comments. Commissioner Perrine. Thank you. I have a lot to say about this. So if you look at my rating numbers, they're pretty tough because I'm a critical writer. It doesn't mean that the person isn't doing their job. And I just was different in my corporate world that we didn't give outstanding, perfect reviews any time. But I can't say enough about Kevin and Kerry and I will get to Kerry next after we do Kevin. But Kevin has hit the ground running for the city. I've been very impressed with everything he's done. He's done so much with process improvements. He's evaluated staff. He looks into ways to make our enterprise accounting profitable. He is showing results. He had pages and pages of accomplishments he's done in six months. It's been very impressive to me. He hasn't held back. He's done a fabulous job. I don't want to lose him. I feel like we were a little on the conservative side when we brought him in because we could and we didn't know what we were going to get. And then if it didn't work, we could be up here right now going the other way. And we're not. We're very. And we look up to these two people with all of our everything we do revolves around citizen complaints, problems with different staff departments. Guess who where the buck stops? It stops right there. With both of these, she keeps his out of legal trouble and he keeps the whole cogwheel moving. So I would suggest we, I'm going to suggest we bump them both up, but we look at his salary and put it to where we could have started Mount-At, but we didn even know. I think we were the 195 or 200 or at least that, but also give him the person that he needs for the retirement to make him comparable to the other cities that he would like to see to match. And if we do a little both, then we'll figure out how that looks on paper. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate that. Commissioner Ashley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. My experience with Kevin Sofhar has been tremendous. My background is mostly in the private sectors, as you all know. And Kevin's method of doing business, method of analysis, ease of conversation and help to the new commissioner has been tremendous. So I think that regarding salary, raises, bonuses, whatever income we wanna talk about, I think we need to think about this city being a little bit, not a little bit, maybe as above average as we can afford. And I think that averages should be for some other city. Above average performance, above average people, and above average pay is what we need to strive for. I think we're getting there. I mean, I'm the new guy in the block, but it seems to me that if we keep hiring people like Kevin, the city is going to be a lot better off. I also want to note that in one of my discussions about the city finance, Kevin has discovered $16 million that was here for buried in the numbers. And I think that is something that is worthy of a little bit more money on his part. So thank you. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Commissioner Martin, now would you like to talk? Well, I will say as I told Carrie and Kevin this morning, I do see things that I would like for them to look at them working on, but I also think that they are worthy of increases and I have no problem with the money that is being discussed. So. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate that. So first off, for watching here in the room tonight, those will be watching this recorded. It's an extremely awkward discussion to have about one's personal salary and one's personal performance to be aired before the general public. Due to our rules in the sunshine state, we do. And it is not my favorite thing to do in public. I'm a praise and public, rebuke and private type of leader. And so, so Copperwalk's in here. And we throw two hurricanes at him. We have a challenge with the finance director and wind up replacing the finance director. The police chief retires. We have a challenge in the city clerk's office and that's just what you may know about. There are a compendium of things that the commission is privy to that are going on behind the scenes and I was concerned that maybe he was not up to the task and that this would be perhaps as he's a season 30 plus year veteran of city government that this might be his last hurrah. And he would be thinking this like many of our citizens is a retirement town. Nothing could have disproved that theory more than Mr. Calper's day to day perseverance is driving for accountability of our staff, something many in the community have talked about for a while. His recognition of excellence, his personal ability with each of his leaders to get the best out of those leaders, his willingness to move the chess pieces around to get the best out of each member. He is the chief executive of the city. He is acting the part and I look forward to finding out what we can do to reward him for the behavior. He has personally asked for something of a match to what the city manager, the city attorney, is receiving in terms of the retirement. finding out what we can do to reward him for the behavior. He has personally asked for something of a match to what the city manager, the city attorney is receiving in terms of the retirement contribution. So I've asked the madam attorney, can you go back through the discussion we had about what the average in the Florida retirement system would be if he was on that and just for a comparison. So those of us that were in both in government and in corporate America don't know about 22% toward retirement. That's a high number. But from what the evidence I have from what the Florida retirement system would have been, it the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the service percentage. So at the time I didn't know whether the percentage would go up or down so I tried to put in a buffer of like the great either that rate or 20 percent whichever is greater. So I was trying to put in a buffer but the language was struck and and I was left with the 20%. Had I left that in, that current rate would be 39.0 something percent. So when in 2017 it was around 28 and it's grown to 39. So 39% is what the going rate is under FSA. FRS, yes. FRS, very good. And it goes up from there. There are others that have hires. Is that right? Okay. the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to the city manager based on conversations he had with all of us. What is the will of my colleagues? I will make a motion to accept the money discussed, the retirement, the raises that have been discussed. There's a variety of numbers, and so I've got a variety written down here. It's kind of arranged depending on what the comparative group you pick. Anybody with more specificity will help both the finance director and the HR director find that number. You want to comment from us? That'd be great. Yes, sir. OK, well, we have $200. I think the average was $233,000. Is that? 233 is the average of the five cities that also have a city attorney, just to be clear. So the. Wait a minute. We're talking about. I're talking about the city manager, but I give you two numbers. So the first number is if you take all of the municipalities that have a city manager, that average right now is 201-529. Because there was discussion in September about using the same Comparators, I also pulled the number if we take just the Cities who have a city attorney because there's only five of Those then the average for the city manager becomes 2 3 3 5 2 7 And the significance of that for those that are not initiated in City businesses that city has to have a certain size to warrant having a full time attorney. Is that the point of offering that? Sometimes that's the answer. Sometimes it's just the will of how they've run their city for so long. For instance, I would say that the land measures very close to us and they contract out all of their city attorney duties. Cities like Orman who is also very close to us has a city attorney who's been on staff for 30 plus years. So that just depends on how the city decides to operate. Okay, so let me, let me first start by saying without a doubt I want to bring Kevin up to the 22% retirement. That's a given. So, and we're looking at a high of 233 for the salary. Yes. That's the average of the five cities in the county that have a city attorney. Correct. Okay. So I'm very comfortable with bringing Kevin up to the 233 salary and the 22% of the into the retirement system. So I'll make that motion. I'm gonna make a motion to bring the city manager up to a salary of 233,000 and a retirement benefit of 22%. Is there a second? I'll second. Is there more discussions, good opportunity to flush this out? Only that it would have been nice to see this all documented to reflect like this morning's conversation. Thank you. I don't understand that remark. Can you help me? I don't know what that means. Tell me more. I don't know what that means. There's no way I can cover page at all and they are not shown in this supporting documentation. But I am not, I'm okay with it. You would have liked to have seen it earlier. Yeah. And written down, yeah. We had a discussion, I think, at the my briefing with those numbers in there. So I'm perplexed that you didn't get that. Any other members of the commission have a further point? I like the outsider view looking in on how we conduct our business. I like Commissioner Ashley's cut above perspective from a standpoint that that's why people flocked in New Samurna from the residents perspective we would like to have the same talent within the city staff to provide those premium services that people are looking for. I think local businessmen McGurk has got it right. good performance needs good pay. And so I speak in favor of that as well. Madam City Clerk, please call the roll. Commissioner McGurk. Yes. Commissioner Ashley. Yes. Vice Mayor Martin. Yes. Commissioner Parin. Yes. Mayor Cleveland. Yes. Yes. Thank you. The motion carries. And now on to your presentation about the city attorney, please. Certainly. Thank you. The city attorney serves as the chief legal officer for the city. She is responsible for providing legal representation, preparing and presenting cases and providing advice to our city officers, board members and staff and members matters involving litigation, administrative proceedings, public meetings, and other forums. Her total cumulative points on her evaluations were 309 points with a cumulative average score of 4.4. Ms. Avalon's current contract provides for her annual salary at $189,901 annual car allowance of $5,200 per year. Retirement contributions equal to 22% of her salary with a 2% matching for 24% total. Full family medical dental and vision premiums as well as long and short-term disability coverage and a group life insurance equal to one times her annual salary. The current average salary in Volusia County for city attorneys is $217,880. So the same would apply. You have the option at this time if you choose to give Miss Avalon a merit increase and make any other changes at this time. Thank you for your presentation. Appreciate that. Vice Mayor. Nothing to add. No comments from you. Okay. Very good. Mr. Ashley. I'm in favor of a merit increase for Kerry. She has been extremely helpful to me and she has demonstrated to me that she has vast knowledge of this legal situation that we're in. So I appreciate your efforts and thank you for your help. Thank you, sir. I appreciate that. Mr. Perine? I agree with Commissioner Ashley. Carrie has not only been here eight years. She provides a wealth of legal knowledge to us and our staff. She has a great staff that she's built, and she keeps us out of a lot of lawsuits that has saved our taxpayers an enormous amount of money. That eight years of experience and the wealth of knowledge she has brought. She's board certified for the city county and local since 2018. We couldn't go out and find somebody like that. So in relationship I'm going to make a motion just to kick it off to to bump her up to 220 plus match the car allowance and then you guys can take it from there. I'm sorry, we beat that again. I bump her salary up to 220 and then match the car allowance that Mr. Calber has. I'll second for discussion. Very good. We have a motion. A second will continue to discuss anything more from you, ma'am. I know. Very good. Commissioner McGurk. So I just want an opportunity to talk about our city attorney a little bit. This I think has been the biggest change from a department head or not department head of the three that the commission hires. I have served long enough to have different city attorneys. I have chaired the TPO and had access to attorneys and some other Wars and committees I've served on. And I will tell you that there was a there's a common theme, common mo with a lot of attorneys that I have experienced in while serving in public office. And a lot of it has to do with when you come see them and talk to them for advice on a specific issue. They don't give you a lot of specifics. They'll kind of put you in a direction, but they're basically saying, this is for you to decide. They stay out of it as much as possible. We hired Carrie, and I gotta tell you that, I feel like I have a true legal advisor when I need advice, which is in this community, we gotta walk going on, that's often. She is always willing to meet with me, and she, more importantly, is always willing to think through the question that I have and help me with me understanding not only the process, but what my options may be. And she's very clear when she tells me, gives me an illegal opinion. And we all know we have, we can make whatever decision we want to appear. But the headaches, the challenges, the city possibly being sued, you know, Carrie hasn't spot on too many times. And it is probably, at least for me, and the three different people that we hire has been the most relieving because it was challenging in the past. So I have someone who I can believe in and someone I can trust and someone I can come through for legal advice. And I want to thank you for that. That has been a wonderful experience and makes my job a lot easier. So I absolutely agree in giving her the merit increase and support the motion. Thank you, sir. Appreciate that. I'd like to thank the staff for their support and support. I would like to thank the staff for their support and support and support and support. I would like to thank the staff for their support and support and support and support and support. I would like to thank the staff for their support and support and support and support and support. I would like to thank the staff for their support I'm sure you've got good reason, but it was so different from the others I just wanted to know. Well I noticed that Commissioner Green had some in common with me, but I thought long and hard and the easiest thing to do would have been to just tick off the number five. that would have been the easiest, but I wasn't sure how helpful that was. So as I remarked in meetings this morning, I have no problems with the salary increases, but it's also just a way of communicating some thoughts, some actions that I would like to see, but it's not a denigration of the work they've done. It's me being thoughtful rather than just putting in checks. I think they've both done great work. And I have no problem with the merit increases, but I was being thoughtful in terms of where I thought there could be room for at least looking at things or perhaps improvement, taking a second glance. That's it. I appreciate that. I do know that on the performance evaluation for those of you who haven't seen it, there are sections that go below the numbers that ask for, we would like to see more of this, and there's another section that says we'd like to see less of this. These are your areas for improvement. So things you're doing well, we'd like to have more of that. Things you're not doing well would like you to stop it or change it. So that section is a qualitative assessment. The implication that the rest of us just checked the 5.0 block because it was easy is not accurate at all. Commissioner Martin, I gave it very thoughtful consideration. And so on the aspirational goals for the future, that's in the section, that's in my section of what I'd like to see do more. And so if this is truly an evaluation of what you have done, then those marks should reflect what has already been done. So in my view, onto my comments, publicly, to the attorney. We have had a bumpy road in a lot of ways and there's a lot of learning for a new Diaz member on what you can do, what you should do, what you might do. And I would like to tell you it's black and white and easy. There are not. It is shades of gray and interpretation and study of what is proper. And how do you understand that? How do you determine that? Usually it's from case law. And so Miss Avalon through case law has been able to explain many things that you and I would think would be just fine, just proper. But totally improper under sunshine law, under Florida statute, and under how we have operated in the past. And she has accented every time we have an opportunity for improvement and better behavior, how to help the Dias members proceed to getting the better results rather than just do like we've always done it for, you know, for decades. So I admire you for that. There are other cities who have a bevy of attorneys that are specialists in every single area of the law. Our attorneys are utility players. They can play any position of any type law and when they need assistance they go and get it through a contract, through a contact that they have that we go and contract out a certain amount of work but when you talk about the entire package of our three attorney staff we have a bargain, a bang for the buck unlike many other cities that do a whole lot of exporting and are specialists, those that are on the staff, number twice as many as we have. So when you get a city attorney like we have, who is training she and grant to be her replacement every day by her actions. That's the leadership I'm looking for somebody who says I'm not going to be here forever. I want you to be ready to fill my chair So I admire that immensely and I speak in favor of the of the motion any follow-up Madam city clerk, please call the roll. Commissioner Ashley. Yes. Vice Mayor Martin. Yes. Commissioner Perine. Yes. Commissioner McGurk. Yes. Mayor Cleveland. Yes. Thank you director kid appreciate your work on this. Okay we're gonna delete item 8B and move on to the public hearings there are no quasi-jud hearings. But a public hearing will be conducted for the adoption of the following ordinances regarding annexation of property at 707 Corbin Road, Madam City Attorney of Fuel Lead, Ordinance 0825, 925 and 1025. By the second time, by title only, please please. Yep and just one clarification. So the annexation in the comprehensive plan amendments are legislative. The rezoning is quasi judicial but for, you know, when we looked at process improvement, we take them three at a time. And so it's just easier to put them under public hearings. So just that fine for clarity. It is not quasi judicial. Just the rezoning but in these, no, you case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of the case of, providing for redefining boundaries of the city, designing the property within Commission Zone 1, providing for public hearing, providing for required filings, providing for conflicting ordinances, providing for accessibility and providing an effective date. Ordinance number 925, an ordinance of the city of New Smirna Beach emitting the comprehensive plan, changing the future land use of 0.47 plus or minus acres of property located on the southeast corner of Page Avenue and Corbin Park Road addressed as 707 Corbin Park Road. From Volusia County, Urban Low and Tens City to City, Low Density Residential. Providing for a amendment of the associated Comprehensive Plan maps to show the area incorporated into the city, providing for public hearing, providing for conflicting ordinances in and providing an effective date. Ordinance number 1025, an ordinance of the city of New Smurna Beach, rezoning 0.47 plus Hermione Sakers of Property, located on the southeast corner of Page Avenue, and Corbin Park Road, addressed as 707 Corbin Park Road from Volish County R4A, urban single-family residential airport overlay to city R2A, Single Family Residential Airport, overlay zoning district, providing for conflicting ordinances, providing for severability and providing an effective date. Thank you, man. Appreciate that. Our senior planner, Mr. Nathan is at the podium. We're ready for your report, sir. Yes, sir. So the prop owners have requested the voluntary annexation, comprehensive planning amendment, from the Blue Sh the Blucia County future land use designation of urban low intensity, and a Blucia County zoning destination of R4 urban single-found residential with an A attached for the airport height notification zone. To a city future land use designation of low density residential and a city zoning destination of R2 single-found residential, with an A attached for the airport height notification zone. The site contains a project approximately 0.47 plus or minus acres. It is located on the southeast corner of Page Avenue and Corbin Park Road. And at the regular schedule meeting back on February 3rd, 2025, the plan is on board voted 6 to 0 to give a positive recommendation to the city commission to approve the request overall annexation application. The plan department also recommends city commission to approve the request of annexation, small scale conference plan amendment and minted the future land use to city load and city residential and rezoning to city R2, single federal residential within a attach for the airport height notification zone. And that concludes the summary of the staff reports up to any questions and commissioners. Any questions for Mr. Nathan? Seeing none, thanks, Bob. Thank you appreciate that. Public hearings now open with any citizens who wish to speak on this topic. Please come forward and you'll be heard. Seeing none, public participation is now closed. Commission will consider the adoption of each ordinance separately as their motion to approve ordinance 0 8 25? So moved. Is there a second? Second. Madam City clerk, please call a roll. Commissioner McGurk. Yes. Commissioner Ashley. Yes. Vice Mayor Martin. Yes. Commissioner Parin. Yes. Mayor Cleveland. Yes. Thank you. The motion carries. Is there motion to adopt ordinance 0 9 25? So move the motion second and the second Madam City Clerk please call the roll. Commissioner Ashley yes vice mayor Martin yes, Commissioner Perrine yes, Commissioner McGurk yes mayor Cleveland yes thank you the motion carries is there a motion to adopt ordinance 1025? So moved. The motion. Second. And a second, Madam City Clerk, please call the roll. Vice Mayor Martin. Yes. Commissioner Perine. Yes. Commissioner McGurk. Yes. Commissioner Ashley. Yes. Mayor Cleveland. Yes. Thank you all three, Carrie. A public hearing will be held to conduct consideration adoption of the following ordinance regarding annexation to property at 731 old mission road. City Attorney, if you would read... The hearing will be held to conduct consideration of adoption of the following ordinance regarding annexation property at 731 old mission road city attorney if you would read 1125 12 25 and 13 25 for the second time by title only please Ordnance, cumber 11 25 in ordinance of the city of New Smyrna Beach annexing point 4 1 plus or minus acres of property located on the east side of old mission road Between mission road and mills drive addressed as 731 Old Mission Road. Providing for redefining boundaries of the city, designated in the property within Commission Zone 1. Providing for public hearing, provided for required filings, providing for conflicting ordinances, providing for severability and providing an effective date. Ordnance number 1225. In ordinance of the city of New Smurna Beach amending the Comprehensive Plan, changing the future land use designation 0.41 plus for minisekers of property, located on the east side of Old Mission Road between Mission Drive and Mills Drive. Addresses 731 Old Mission Road from Felicia County Urban Low Intensity to City Low Density Residential. Providing for a amendment of the associated Comprehensive Plan maps to show the area incorporated into the city providing for public hearing providing for conflicting ordinances and providing an effective date ordinance number 1325 and ordinance of the city of Newsmer to Beach rezoning point 414 plus or minus acres of property located on the east side of old mission road between mission drive-in mills drive address a 7 731 Old Mission Road. From Volusia County, R3A, Urban Single Family Residential Airport of Relay to City, R3COA, Urban Single Family Residential Airport of Relay's zoning district, providing for conflict and ordinances, providing for severability and providing an effective date. Thank you, ma'am. Mr. Senior planner, we're ready for your report. Yes, sir. So the property owner has requested a voluntary annexation, a small scale conference planning amendment, and a rezoning from the Volusia County Future Land and Youth Desination of Urban Low Intensity, and a Volusia County zoning designation of R3 Urban Single Fountain Residential, with an A attached for the Airport Heights Notification Zone, to a City Future Land and Youth Desination of low-density residential and the city's zoning designation of R City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of the City of recommendation on the overall annexation application. The plan department also recommends the city commission to approve the request of annexation, the smallest-scale comprehensive plan, amendment, amendment of the future land used to city low-density residential and the rezoning to city R3CO, single-fantil residential with a attached for the airport height identification zone. And that concludes the summer with the staff report. Except any questions, commissioners may have. Any questions for Mr. Mather? Okay. We'll open up a public hearing now that there are any citizens who wish to speak on this topic. Please come forward and you'll be heard. Seeing non-public participation is now closed. Is. Madam City Clerk please call the roll. Commissioner Perrine. Yes. Commissioner McGurk. Yes. Commissioner Ashley. Yes. Vice Mayor Martin. Yes. Mayor Cleveland. Yes. Is there a motion to adopt ordinance 12 Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Martin. Yes, Commissioner Perine. Yes, Mayor Cleveland. Yes. Thank you so much It's our motion to adopt ordinance number 1325 so moved second motion a second Madame City clerk. Please call a roll Commissioner Ashley. Yes, Vice Mayor Martin. Yes, Commissioner Perine. Yes, Commissioner McGurk. Yes, Mayor Cleveland. Yes I'll I'll adopt it very good on to section 11, there's our first readings of ordinances. City Attorney, if you would read, ordinance 1425 for the first time by Title Only, please. In ordinance of the City of News Murna Beach granting a non-exclusive franchise to SJP, Enterprises, LLC, DBA, Prince Containers to provide construction and demolition debris removal services within the City of News Murna Beach. lining franchisees, duties, providing terms and conditions under which such franchise shall operate, providing for severability, providing for conflicting ordinances, and providing an effective date. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate that. And second reading public hearing will be March 25th. 25th. Got that. Thank you very much. On to Mayor and Commission reports of Ice Mayor Martin, Eurors, ma'am. Thank you very much. On to Mayor and Commission reports of Ice Mayor Martin, Earsman. Getting there. Okay. So I attended the monthly TPO transportation planning organization meeting. Attended the state of our schools where Supervisor Valkobean reported that our math and reading scores as well as our graduation rates are rising joined in another habitat for humanity open house go mark and received an updated community resource catalog was attended the Volusia County coastal resiliency workshop where I learned about the options for beach restoration. Was happily unflagler for the Marty Grappere, that was great fun. Our employee appreciation day was an outstanding homage to our staff. Many thanks to all who contributed to the raffle prizes. Listen to an informative lecture on low impact development and its positive impact on flooding and aquifer replenishment. And finally, enjoy the Southeast Felicia Manufacturing and Technology Coalition. So inspiring to get our kids trained into great local industries. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate that. Commissioner McGurk. Well, we are very pleased about the Girls High School basketball team. That was very special. But I wanted to point out we may not be done. We have the wrestling team, a couple of the kids won state championship and I think in weightlifting we also have some people that are doing very well. So it's a banner year for New Smirno Beach High School and I think it's really great what we did in honoring them and recognizing them for such an achievement. The other thing I wanted to bring up was we did have some people come in from the dental community tonight talk about fluoride and water. I was reached out to a couple of weeks ago and I met with some of them last week and I I said that I will bring this up during commission comments if they come in and spoke. And what I have learned since then is what I was going to do is ask for a resolution and support for a floor out in the water. However, SB Senate Bill 700 may take the ability for us to make any determination out at and put it at the state level, which would take more right out of the water. So what I think I'm going to do at this time is before I ask for a resolution on that, I'll at least plant that seed into everybody's minds and we'll wait to see what happens with SB 700 before I ask for a possible resolution recommendation to the Utilities Commission. So that's it Mayor. Thank you. I appreciate that Commissioner Perrine. That's a good point that you brought up because believe it or not I didn't have an opinion on the before I and One of the things I've talked to some of the other mayor and commissioners of other cities They're putting that on the ballot because it's personal health and they didn't want to take that year or nay and go against Doctor recommendations or pro or against and that's been my stance up here I think it's too important for us or the utilities commission to make that decision I felt that needed to be on the ballot. Well we do have you know next year coming up so that maybe something we want to add. Personally I'd like to see it that way so that and I've talked to E forn about this. I told him how I felt. I've heard a lot of, I think he said the majority didn't want the floor I'd so people could use it around toothpaste and get it their own way, which I get it. Most of the people that have approached Utilities Commission have been to remove it and then do it, but that's not 32,000 people. And I've said that statement so many times up here, it's always the squeaky will. And I think, you know, if we do anything, yes, I agree. Let's see what the bill does. If it may be a midpoint and if if it's a mood point, we don't have anything but if it's not, then we need to probably look into talking about pitting that out of our hands and out of the utility commission's hands and back to the citizen hands to see what they want. Because it's going to be an expense because the equipment is outdated and but if it's something the citizens want, it's going to reflect probably on the utility bill, because they got to upgrade all of that equipment. So if they have to upgrade that equipment, you're going to pay for it for it. So how much do you guys really want it? It's all up to us. It's up to the citizens. Okay, I have three things. Mostly it's thank you. I want to thank Chief Kirk for taking it as a priority on our crosswalk out there for Washington Street. Not only for our citizens going over to the park, but also our staff that crosses continuously every single day from that parking lot over here, and often I'll almost get run over. So thank you for those citations, and I hope you continue with that and work with David Ray to see what we can do quickly, because it's still scary. Number two, I want to thank the human resources and staff for the great employee appreciation day. This is where we separate a lot of corporations to government, government still celebrates the employees. And I love seeing all of that. I hope that never goes away because, and I said that last year, a lot of businesses what they do is they cut the turkeys, you know, they don't give turkeys anymore for Thanksgiving. They cut the parties, they cut the employer appreciation. I don't want to ever see that. And this is where I think it's a time that we can all think everybody and give back. And I just really love what you did. Third is that day I got there a little bit late because I spent on morning I carved out a couple hours but I ended up spinning three or four hours during the Farmington Land Management and seeing their conservation they have done with all of the thousands of acres that they have in Edgewater and New Smirna. I was pretty shocked at how much goes into land conservation. We don't just turn it over and make it conservation without managing it. When you do that and you don't maintain it, then you have forest fires and you have all kinds of other issues. So as we go forward with this bond money that we've been buying properties with, we also need to consider what are we gonna do and how are we gonna maintain these properties that are in conservation? Do we have access or are we keeping the ditches cleaned out? Are we getting the underbrush cleared with fires that are controlled? It's not just let's buy the land and turn it into nature. There's work with that. And I encourage everyone to go out there and tour that to see what property land management is. They have staff that does that. We don't really have the dedicated staff to manage this land that we have in conservation right now. So it's going to be a topic that we're going to have to bring up in the near future. Thank you very much, ma'am. Commissioner Ashley. Yes, I have a couple of comments. First, I'd like to compliment Chief Kirk. I had the pleasure of meeting him last week. He is a cut above a lot of people and I will hardly support you sir. Thank you chance to tour our airport. And again, we have a gem there that is really not well publicized. World War II vintage airport and named after an ace who was a two-war ace, World War II and the Korean War. We need to shout that kind of stuff out at the rooftops. It's very impressive. Secondly, our third Venetian Bay keeps moving along and we keep clearing dishes and it looks like the St. John's River Water Management District lifted the more. Lifted the penalty and Kevin lifted the moratorium and things are going on nicely so far. The anticipation in Venetian Bay right now is when the turnover is going to happen. We're right at the very end of the development of the whole area and the citizenry is asking me when's the turnover going to happen. So I dig into that once in a while and that is an ongoing project. I also want to thank Kevin and Carrie for your help. As always, it's been tremendous as the new guy in the Black. So that's all. Thank you, sir. Appreciate that. To Chief Kirk and the entire police department team, if you haven't seen his video about his preparedness of our city for spring break, please watch that online. Be able to see that. It's superior and it's the right moves. We need to strike the balance between talking about what we're gonna do about those that are not playing by the rules with something to help the merchants. We want the merchants to succeed on Flagler and Canal. And so in Chief Kirk's conversation that Abe, the PIO recorded, he talks about, hey, if you're here to have a good time, if you're here to have a family-oriented fund, we want you to come. Our businesses are open. They're ready for business, and we're ready for you. So that's a good theme. And then he goes over to the other side and says, now, if you would violate any of our ordinances or regulations, we'll use the full force of our regulations and law to enforce that 100%. What most people don't understand about no, there'll be no slack, if you will, for maybe that you were violating, maybe you won't. They will be strictly enforced. And so that speaks out to our visiting folks that would come and want to want to get up on just the edge of the law. And so the translation is, you better keep it down the middle and enjoy yourself within the full extent of the law or we will do it, we're required to do. Businesses are comforted by that. I've talked to many business leaders on both of them. All many of the business around town, not to mention the two main drags. And they're excited about being able to stay open. Thank you and well done. The fluoride, Madam City Attorney, is it possible since we've probably made it as public as we can that this is a call that could be made by the utility commission, not made by this commission, would it be possible for them to say as Commissioner Perine or Commissioner McGurk said I can't remember they could pass the vote they could say we don't want this but we'd like a vote we'd like to not make a decision we'd like to reverse our decision and allow that to be a vote. Wouldn't that have to come to us to determine whether we wanted to vote on it? So I'd have to work through the mechanics of a referendum you know normally if we were do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. I'm not sure if we can do that. can't do it, there would be no point in having the referendum, so we kind of need to see how that plays out. Got it. Even if the voters, my point is, can they volley it back here with the intent of us saying we want to vote, we don't want, we want us, we want the citizens to vote. So potentially they could say that. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Awesome. Hey, the basketball team, the girls basketball team, just amazing. If you heard Athletic Director Coach Winner's talk last time we met, he talked about the winter of winning and Commissioner McGurk alluded to the other state champions that we have. And so this This is an amazing amazing feat for five-day school like New Sumerna High School. So we've planned it. We've got in the work some other ways to recognize all of the success that we've attained. City Clerk is working on parkourmations for the wrestling team, men's wrestling team, and women's weightlifting team, each of which had a champion on there. The state of the schools was the first ever state of the school address for the entire county, and they selected Newsomer and Beach to hold it. And it was an amazing expression of the quality of the education going in everything from the arts to the academic prowess to a chart which told, here's where we've been. And here's where we are now and here's where we're we're going. By socioeconomic group, by all sorts of slices and dices of demographic. So I don't want to say no child left behind, but they are raising all the boats. The tide is rising all the boats in the city of Valusia. So hats off to the superintendent the city of New York and the city of New York and the city of New York and the city of New York and the city of New York and the city of New York and the city of New York and the city of New York and the city of New York and theyne points out, many corporations when they're trying to tighten the belt, cut out these vital roles, I don't tell you that, not just our city, but the county wide businesses, chipped in, and there were over $15,000 of prizes and gifts handed out, maybe 250 of them to our city staff. They got a ticket, they spun the wheel, they picked a number, they have to do anything, they were lucky enough to win. So just a delight that our residents and our businesses are feeling the appreciation for our staff, for our staff, and this is the way that they expressed it by offering their contributions for prizes. I attended a roundtable of elected officials today and the topic of the entire two hours was flood water and so there are many who have approached and said, Mr. Mayor, I want to make sure we're not overstepping or understepping that we are in step with what the county is doing. And so two people, Ben Bartlett, who is the public works director for the county, and this is not his full-time job, but they're soon to put in place a director of flood water management. right, so Ms. Harris, we're getting some traction. And so in the meantime, he talked about all of the events that they are doing on the canals. The canals that they own, the canals that we as a city own and the canals that HOA zone. And so I think're gonna see some great progress to that end I've asked him to come to a commission meeting and talk about and and re-breath the briefing gave the elected officials so that y'all could hear it directly from the horses mouth so it was it was it was a great day in addition to that the city of the county engineer, Mr.. Tad, Cabe, he came up and talked about the engineering aspects which Brian, you would be very interested in. The ability of the Turmble Bay and the Spruce Creek to accept water and how the tidal effect would thwart that or help that and the conclusion he came up with was only through mechanical means which means pumps can we actually ensure that it's going to work. And so that's a significant undertaking but the seed is planted that gravity drain fine as long as the tide is going out. When the tide comes in, your drains are not going to drain to the maximum extent capable. So the intervention of a pump or many pumps or a system of pumps to pump it out was what will be required. And so the city, the county engineer and the advisors that they're gonna get are on that. I believe that's all I have on my report. Madam City clerk. No report at this time. Madam City Attorney ranks just to hear your legislative update. Yes, I'm not gonna reread what's already posted. That report is short due to the legislative session starting on Monday and the agenda publishes Wednesday. I do have a few updates. Some of these work going to be heard today, so I don't have up to the minute update, but one of the bills to look out for storm water management systems. It would require cities to inspect their storm water systems each year. Affordable housing, this bill 184 would allow by right somebody with a single family property to build an accessory dwelling unit. Building permits, in the event of a declared disaster, single family, all single family home building permits would be automatically approved. And then there's one public safety, where it would consolidate all 911 calls to the sheriff's and consolidate the office and consolidate the office and consolidate the office and consolidate the office and consolidate the are some additional ones that are interesting. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate that. Mr. City Manager. Just a couple of notes. Thank you very much for your kind words and confidence and all of that. I did want to say that at the conclusion of six months, I reflected back. And we have done a lot of work in six months. And that's not all me. It's a lot of support structure that's in the city. The team has really pulled together and I feel really good about where we are as an organization and changes that we're making. Also, I would be remiss if I didn't compliment you guys at this stage too. It is very nice for me to be involved with a group of elect officials that are, as engaged and informed and educated educated on issues as you guys are. I appreciate the fact that you all show up to your briefings and meetings well prepared with pages of questions in some cases, which we were able to work through. and that is very refreshing for me as in my profession to have folks that are this engaged. which we were able to work through. And that is very refreshing for me as in my profession to have folks that are disengaged. And I think that reflects very well on the city. We are a very well governed city. And that is apparent to people that come here that watch us do business. And in terms of community and economic development, that goes a very, very long way. And so I just wanted to express my appreciation to you. Thank you. I'm not quite as elegant, but I would like to tack on. I really appreciate it. And it's an honor to work for Nasevarno Beach. Thank you, ma'am. Appreciate that. Just a reminder to all of us in the public, we will see each other again on Thursday, March 13th, for workshop in this room and this commencement time, sir. What time do we start? I'm sorry. The workshop is Thursday. It is at the Brennan Center. But the Brenon Center, sir. Yes, sir. And it will start at 9. Thursday at 9, public participation welcome. All day workshop on strategy. OK, very good. Without further ado, thank you all for adjourned. Thank you. you you you