[19:59] We're patiently waiting and hope hopefully voting.

[20:02] » All right, let's uh go get a picture to take.

[20:04] » Thank you so much for what for your gift. Thank

[20:07] » youate.

[20:21] It's a workshop. Everybody weren't prepared.

[20:28] » I'm just come over here. >> I can get behind you for sure.

[20:32] » You want to get up here? >> You let Vince, come on, Vince.

[20:37] » Ready,

[20:44] » Vince? Get up here.

[20:49] Thank you so much, >> man.

[20:54] » That's right.

[20:58] » That's an official. >> If you're going to give us gifts, we're

[21:00] happy to take your picture, sir. Thank you so much, guys.

[21:03] » Appreciate you. >> This is part of the fun.

[21:09] » So easy. I got the motor. >> She will let us know.

[21:13] » He said fully loaded. That includes the motor.

[21:16] motors and everything. This one's empty right now.

[21:33] » Yes, sir. Thank you guys. >> Get out of here.

[21:37] » All right.

[21:43] Got you.

[21:47] Ed, we should talked about those marsh cameras since we're talking about

[21:49] Freeman Park yesterday.

[21:54] » Thank you guys again. >> Thank you so much.

[21:56] » Great presentation. >> That was really good.

[22:00] » All right, Bruce, they're giving us gifts. What are you giving us?

[22:04] » All right. Uh, next up is uh on the agenda is renewal of the parking

[22:08] management agreement with Pivot Parking. >> All right. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um

[22:13] before you start, I do have one question.

[22:16] » We don't review any other contracts. Those are your discretion. That's your

[22:21] job. Uh we set budget and spending obviously. I'm just that's the way the

[22:26] government's organized. Why is this one on our agenda?

[22:29] » Either I have the authority to enter agreements or I bring them to you in a

[22:34] consent form on the consent agenda. This is the one contract that we bring to you

[22:37] just just cuz it's parking and um you've heard about

[22:41] » I'm not against it. I just was trying to >> Normally I'd put a contract like this on

[22:44] the consent agenda for approval, but since it is parking and it gets talked

[22:48] about, I thought it'd be best to present it to the council.

[22:50] » I'm okay with that. >> All right.

[22:53] All right. Yes. And the reason we're doing it now is um the contract with

[22:57] Pivot expires this year and if we don't renew it, we need to go to an RFP

[23:02] request for proposals and we need to start that process immediately. So, I'd

[23:06] want to um [clears throat] get council's input and um discuss the next steps.

[23:13] And as you got in the memo I sent you, that is the town staff's recommendation

[23:17] that we renew the contract. And we'll go through why as we go through this. Um

[23:21] Okay. >> Yeah. And here's a little background. In

[23:23] 2021, we limited our agreement with Reef due to um the maintenance and revenue

[23:29] issues. We terminated that early. We had to do a little payout. Um we did the

[23:34] two-year agreement with um Pivot with two automatic two-year renewals. We

[23:38] could all, you know, get gotten out of those with uh 90-day notices, but we

[23:42] continue to do that. Since there Pivot's made some good changes. Um, we've, you

[23:47] know, working with us, removing all the pay stations and meters, expand texting.

[23:51] It's completely a digital program now, which is great. Um, and then this year,

[23:56] Pivot has added the new thing. It's the one of a kind in the country, Pivot Go

[24:00] app, that can determine if you're if you're say in Monkey Junction and you're

[24:03] deciding which beach to go to, you can look and say, "Wow, Rightful's full. I

[24:07] think I'll go to Carolina Beach." They got some spaces down there. It shows you

[24:10] the occupancy of the different lots. So, that's a great addition to it and

[24:14] hopefully drove some um some customers here.

[24:19] Here's a little background of the um our income since going with Pivot. Um you

[24:25] know, it's been steady. I didn't put on what we did before, but it's a

[24:28] significant increase from what we had with Reef and the previous parking

[24:32] companies that we worked with. So, it's done that. Freeman Park, you will see

[24:35] there's been some dip in that. A lot of that has to do with less beach since um

[24:40] 2022. We've lost more and more sand. Should be interesting this year and that

[24:43] we have more sand to see what those numbers are. So, um,

[24:49] » how does how does that Bruce You want us to ask you questions now?

[24:53] » That's fine. Yeah. >> How does this uh fit with what the

[24:58] projections were? I don't see them. >> Oh, I didn't have the projection. Yeah,

[25:01] the budget numbers are right there with projections or exceeding. So except piv

[25:06] I mean premium park I think there's a couple years where we didn't meet just

[25:09] but that's like I said beach and weather related

[25:11] » interested in the lots. >> Yeah. Yeah. So we we've been pretty

[25:14] » met the metrics. >> Yes. We've been right on or exceeded

[25:17] about every year. So >> and then um as I mentioned earlier some

[25:22] of the things the improvements we've made um the LPR was another addition we

[25:26] added with pivot um part of the original agreement we had them do and we've had

[25:31] replacements. Um those were costs we incurred one of them. We incurred one.

[25:36] They they ate the cost. Uh but the pivot goes we're real excited about. Um there

[25:42] another thing that's not on here just recently we moved Pivot's offices in

[25:46] town hall which was been a major customer service improvement for them

[25:50] and for us. Um half the time of our um Sheila and Nyla and and Kim get called

[25:56] out there. It's a parking question that we have to send them down uh Canal Drive

[26:01] to go get answered. So now they're in house doing that. Um customer service in

[26:06] general, they have really PIV has really become an ambassador to the town.

[26:09] They've become part of the town staff family. They work closely with us, work

[26:13] well with us. We've heard um you know there's been complaints in the past, but

[26:17] they've gone down dramatically. I've actually get more um applause for them

[26:21] than I do negative comments. I get people thanking them for this on the

[26:25] stuff, how they helped um in particular Stephen, the manager here, how he's

[26:29] helped people. And for example, during PTC8 when we suspended parking, their

[26:34] staff was out there helping assisting citizens in in Carolina Beach move stuff

[26:38] out of their homes, get out of cars, doing different things. They helped

[26:41] staff do different things. They they really picked it up and um showed

[26:45] they're committed to the town. So,

[26:50] another thing looking at that the company is local which is also a

[26:53] benefit. They manage not only Carolina Beach, they do Wilmington, Surf City, um

[26:59] there's several I can't remember North Myrtle Beach and they do some others

[27:02] too. There's a local company with um so if there's, you know, shortage here of

[27:07] employees, they got places to pull from. So, it's always staffed and we always

[27:10] have a um a lot of help when we need it. So this year when I I told them we we

[27:16] had to either renew or we're going out for a um request for proposals and so I

[27:21] sat down with Pivot and we talked about different items um what we want to see

[27:25] um we knew we needed a new license plate reader um they proposed a new magnetic

[27:30] one and I think the cost of that was around $20,000 um and then um they

[27:37] agreed when we negotiated said I didn't want to have any capital I didn't budget

[27:40] for any capital this year so they're going to eat the cost on the capital

[27:44] that they did say I talked about the one issue we hear about them is people

[27:49] accuse them of being incentivized to write tickets. Um they've changed the

[27:53] agreement this year. They will not receive any revenue off tickets. We'll

[27:57] still get you know the the money from that but it takes any any accusations

[28:01] that they're doing this to write to make money so for writing tickets. So that

[28:04] that is gone. the the annual threshold for the variable management fee does

[28:09] drop, but it still comes up to a $20,000 positive to the town is what we

[28:14] estimate. Um, so that was a big thing. And then as

[28:18] we'll get a little more into this, the Freeman Park Automation, we've been

[28:20] talking about that for years, how we done it. We've worked with them and and

[28:23] finally came up a solution. Um, it'll be u um I'll give you more details, but

[28:28] this new system is, you know, expected cost $45 to $50,000 capital investment.

[28:32] I told once again, I said, "We don't have the capital for it." Um, and they

[28:36] said they would they would fund it. But that's the reason I made those requests,

[28:41] but their request was if we're going to put that capital investment, we need

[28:44] more than two years to recoup our investment. So that's why they've had

[28:47] asked for an additional three-year agreement.

[28:51] » So Bruce, I have a question on one of the great things about it's a bad thing

[28:56] and a good thing sometimes depending on your angle, but one of the great things

[28:59] about being a municipality is everything's public. Information is

[29:01] public. So I was asked the question should we go out for bid basically RF

[29:08] RFP to shop the market. The all the competing contracts are

[29:14] publicly available. I mean we can go look at all the surrounding areas and

[29:17] the various companies and what deal if you want to call it that they get.

[29:22] » So have you seen anything to indicate that there's an opportunity for us to

[29:28] save money? Are we competitive? Is Pivot competitive? What's what's your opinion

[29:33] on that? >> I think they're very competitive and I I

[29:35] think it's reflected by how many of the local towns do use them. Um the city of

[29:40] Wilmington had a you know I'm sure extensive um vetting of their things and

[29:46] then they went with Pivot. Um and same with Riceville Beach and Surf City and

[29:50] some others. Um but we've looked around and it's not always apples to apples.

[29:53] Everybody does a little different. Um we had one proposal last time we did this.

[29:57] their way of enforcement was putting a a device on your window that you couldn't

[30:02] get removed till you paid your ticket. I mean, everybody's got might have made a

[30:06] lot of money. I don't know, but um they're not always apples apples, but

[30:10] just looking at everything else, this is um as good as I've seen. And I think our

[30:15] numbers show what we had before and what we have now. So, the other reason to go

[30:19] out for an RFP would be that you were dissatisfied with service or you thought

[30:25] someone else could offer some service that we're not getting.

[30:30] » Correct. >> Any Have you seen anything out there?

[30:33] I'm just trying to figure out what the advantage is to me as a town to go out

[30:37] to RFP. >> And I I will have a slide on that, but

[30:39] the RFP >> I'm sorry if I'm getting ahead of you.

[30:41] No, but I'll go and say I mean the you could there's the potential to save to

[30:45] make more money to um lessen expenses and bring in more revenue. That is a

[30:49] potential with RFP um going out, but there's also risk involved um that you

[30:55] know it may not be that way. We may go out there and we didn't realize what

[30:58] kind of deal we had. That could be a risk. You could also there's some some

[31:02] learning curves. You're going to there's going to be a lot of capital up front.

[31:05] You have to replace signage. They may use different technology. That means the

[31:09] citizens and people who use it are going to have to learn that. We're going to

[31:11] have to learn that. There's the the medit,

[31:15] you know, vendors who work with these groups may be completely different. We

[31:19] got to learn and use all those. So, there's a lot of changes that could cost

[31:23] more money. We don't know. I mean, sometimes the numbers just based on the

[31:26] proposals will show we'll bring you this much revenue, but

[31:30] they're not looking at our expenses. They here's much revenue we bring. but

[31:33] they may have a whole bunch of different called MIDS um different vendors they

[31:38] use that charge us a lot more money. So it's it's hard to evaluate that and

[31:42] that's one of the reason the issues we left Reef when not only was um some of

[31:47] the revenue wasn't meeting what we had projected but there were the customer

[31:49] service issues and different issues. So we that's when we exited that contract

[31:53] and this even with this contract we still have a a 90-day out if we a point

[31:57] we don't think it's performing. So go ahead, P. Sorry.

[32:04] » Can we gather some of that information that's publicly available, what other

[32:09] towns are paying, >> kind of the benchmark without going out

[32:12] and doing a full RFP >> um

[32:15] » and say, you know, kind of like what we did with, you know, during the budget

[32:18] session. Here's >> here's what we're paying. Here's the

[32:21] services that we're getting versus um peer group companies.

[32:26] » Just a comparative chart mean just >> we could look at that. um it's sort of

[32:30] in a time crunch because if we don't do something we're going to um I need to

[32:34] start the RFP process. >> Yeah. I'm not saying formal RFP. I'm

[32:37] just saying, you know, it it might be helpful for people out there to see, you

[32:41] know, this is what we're getting. You know, one of the things over my career

[32:44] was, you know, we it was generally a practice to go out and bid this stuff

[32:49] every every few years. Um but also if you have a true partner that you're

[32:55] working with, >> right? uh that kind of mitigates that to

[32:59] some extent and obviously they're put they've got, you know, they're putting

[33:02] skin in the game themselves. >> Uh we obviously don't have the time to

[33:06] do it now, >> right?

[33:07] » The only concern that I might have is the three-year term and I know, you

[33:11] know, we're getting something back in return for that, but in two years from

[33:15] now, our parking landscape, you know, could potentially change.

[33:20] Um, you know, is there the opportunity when we have more clarity on what the

[33:24] boardwalk is going to look like to, you know, relook at that before the

[33:28] three-year period is up? >> Yeah. Yeah, we can. And like I said, we

[33:31] do have the there's a 90-day out, so we could always do that. Um, but yeah, I

[33:36] will put try to get >> there attached to that though, Bruce. Is

[33:38] there a buy? >> There would be if we if we left early,

[33:41] some of this capital would have to we would be it would be for equipment

[33:45] that's going to be would be staying with the town.

[33:47] » Yeah. amateurize any equipment that we we keep. They're going to put the

[33:50] investment in it. Um but that's why they had the third year. If it we go out out

[33:54] earlier, we would have to repay some of that.

[33:56] » But we we went through that with RE. >> Right. Exactly. Yeah. Bruce, you

[34:00] mentioned that that costs have changed which and I I'm

[34:05] only there's one that sticks in my mind because it was very painful at the time

[34:09] was um the parking system, if you will, comes with the vendor. we do not own

[34:16] that >> right

[34:18] » and when we shifted before I don't think any of us saw the issues that were going

[34:23] to come about and the one issue this is a very simple one but it's an easy one

[34:27] to understand was the way their system worked our staff was tr not properly

[34:32] trained or to that they don't respect dashes and tags and so we issued a whole

[34:39] bunch of permits typed in the tags with the dashes in them and a bunch of people

[34:43] got tickets right >> and then we had to retrain I think they

[34:46] fixed that in the system since then. But the point is there's a huge cost of

[34:51] change because how you get how you buy permits, training our staff to sell

[34:57] permits, all that becomes new. Are there other I know that is fact. My question

[35:02] to you is are there other things like that that that I mean you're going to be

[35:07] swap wholesale swapping out to go to someone else. Right.

[35:10] » Right. Yeah. There's a lot of unforeseen you don't we can't even think about

[35:13] right now that that came up last time and um not only that and I think that

[35:17] led to a lot of the complaints we had because it was not only you know they

[35:21] were doing their job but um these are our rules we forget that they're not the

[35:26] ones creating these rules and some of they get some unfair criticism whatever

[35:29] parking company because they're our rules and our rates that we adopt but in

[35:33] the management of that there's different process different fees and different

[35:36] things that do cause confusion when you switch. Um, not to say that's the um

[35:42] only reason to stay with Pivot, but there are unforeseen things that come up

[35:46] and did come up last time that we weren't expecting that did cause um some

[35:51] frustrations. But

[35:53] » yeah, the other thing that happened last time, which is I've found out since

[35:57] then, happens all the time. But um even if we go with a new company, other than

[36:02] the people who have non-competes, which is probably only one person or two

[36:05] people, I don't know what their business practices are, you're going to end up

[36:08] with the exact same people in the job because the new company's just going to

[36:11] hire the same people. So you're going to have the same people in the street

[36:14] » enforcing the same rules. The rules didn't change. The people didn't change.

[36:18] » Correct. >> Yeah. So yeah,

[36:20] » it sounds like a lot of change to me. The other piece that I really like about

[36:25] what you've gotten out of this is the piece about the citations.

[36:29] » Mhm. >> Because if there was one piece that was

[36:31] always, you know, the biggest complaint I'm sure was tickets that were written

[36:36] erroneously, >> right?

[36:37] » And you know, I always thought that there should have been a penalty

[36:40] involved in it for pivot. If any ticket was, you know, found, you know, to be

[36:45] erroneously written, >> there should have been some type of

[36:48] penalty for that. This takes away that incentive to write those tickets, which

[36:52] I think is a huge benefit. I think that goes a long way towards goodwill with

[36:58] town residents and visitors and everything.

[37:00] » I think that's a that's a big win right there.

[37:03] » I think that will help. I agree with Vince. I think that will help in regards

[37:07] to overall visitor experience. >> Yeah.

[37:10] » I think it'll take a while to trickle through, but I know you've heard things,

[37:14] » right? >> Good job on doing that.

[37:16] » Yeah. Thanks, >> Bruce. I I got I I jumped in and

[37:20] everybody else jumped in with me midway of your presentation.

[37:23] » Oh, no worries. No worries. Um like that's the negotiated terms. Um as far

[37:27] as Freeman Park, the automation, we're pretty excited about that. We've taught

[37:30] different ideas. We've talked about um all kinds of different this the way this

[37:36] one would work would use the license plate reader technology and have two

[37:39] arms on the entrance and exit. You would buy your ticket here. You'll see it says

[37:44] 15 minutes before. We want to encourage people to buy it beforehand. Before you

[37:47] get there, speed the process up. You go in, you enter your data, your license

[37:51] plate, you get there, the camera read it, gate would open, you go in. If you

[37:54] have a season pass, read your license plate, you go in. Um, if you do by

[37:58] chance forget to buy it, there'll be a window of lane you can pull over to the

[38:02] side to buy the ticket and get input your stuff, circle back around, and get

[38:05] in. Um, it will also read it on the way out. So, it gives us data we can use in

[38:09] the future about, you know, what's the average um, stay in Freeman Park. Um,

[38:14] and it also help us when we open and close Freedom Park. We had, you know,

[38:18] 300 cars go in, but no one's come out. We may need to look at closing. And it

[38:22] will be on the Go Pivot app, the Pivot Go app. So, if you're planning to come

[38:26] down to get on free park, you can look on. It's at 90% capacity. I might wait

[38:30] till it slows down a little bit. And you can buy your ticket with through the app

[38:34] or through the the website. >> So, how do you do that now? I mean, I

[38:37] guess it's just visual >> attended.

[38:38] » In other words, you just No, I mean, how do you when you have to close for a

[38:42] storm or something like that? Is it I mean not for storm for crowds

[38:45] overcrowding. Is that just um >> someone goes up there and says well it

[38:49] looks crowded and we'll close it and then you don't really know when to open

[38:53] it. You go back and take another visual. Is that

[38:55] » the staff person who's maning the gate sort of keeps track but also our PD will

[38:59] go out there and say >> it's getting a little too too crowded to

[39:02] manage right now. >> But this way you could say we think we

[39:05] have a capacity of X whatever that is right

[39:08] » and currently there's X plus 10. So we need to think about is that what you

[39:14] » Yeah, exactly. So we'll know we can put some parameters when we get to 90%

[39:18] capacity, you know, or if it's >> and it would count t it would be able to

[39:22] count tickets that way. >> Right. Exactly.

[39:23] » With this automated. >> Yep.

[39:25] » The only thing about taking the human aspect from it is you don't have that

[39:28] person who says you can't take that ATV out on this beach.

[39:32] » True. >> That's the problem. True.

[39:34] » Because I know every Sunday there there have been ATVs, not the police.

[39:38] » Yeah. >> Riding on Yeah. pass a pinch point.

[39:41] Yeah, I see them. So, >> yeah, and they can have a license

[39:43] weight, too. Um, we will probably still man this like on, you know, Saturdays,

[39:48] Sundays in the summer, busy days, just for those type reasons. You just got a

[39:52] lot of and to help manage it and in case there's any backups.

[39:55] » But with that, um, we still expect to save, um, was it I think 45 $50,000 I

[40:01] had the number in labor cost. 35 to $40,000 in labor cost.

[40:06] » 40,000. >> Yeah. 30 to 35 to 40,000 in labor cost

[40:09] is what we estimate we'll save >> because of staff you won't have to have

[40:12] the periods you won't have as staff right

[40:13] » does this also and I don't even know if this is true but I've I've heard that uh

[40:19] there are folks out there that understand the hours and they

[40:22] » they go out there before hours so they don't have to pay exactly

[40:27] » is that true or >> Yeah we do we know um we changed the

[40:30] hours of what we man it because we had um we were maning I believe from 9 to 9

[40:35] or whatever like Well, the majority a ton of people are going out there at 7

[40:39] just getting their spot. >> They're earlier than seven. I can tell

[40:42] you that on Sundays because I'm there at 5:30 in the morning.

[40:45] » Yeah. So, they're there. So, this >> there's no enforcement of that right

[40:48] now. They just honor system, I guess, because you don't stop them on the way

[40:51] out and see who paid and who didn't. >> Nope. So, this would we think hopefully

[40:55] increase revenue free park? I know. Um >> think it would.

[40:57] » The more the busier it is, the more expenses we have, too. So it's I don't

[41:00] think it's not the the cash generating tool that everybody thinks it is. But um

[41:06] » so what's the total capital outlay for if you add those things up?

[41:10] » I think it's um >> 30 grand.

[41:12] » Yeah. In capital outlay it's um 50 to I mean 70 about 70,000 but then other

[41:17] savings you got another 20,000 in um the citation

[41:23] » 130. >> Yeah. So yeah overall 330 in savings

[41:26] with >> but that capital outlay is going to come

[41:28] from pivoted. >> Correct. Yes,

[41:29] » correct. That we do not spend. >> So that's and in their if I'm sitting in

[41:33] their shoes, which is typical for contracts

[41:38] in anything, they're probably saying, "Hey, I'm spending $100,000.

[41:42] I need three years to recover my money." So

[41:47] we can exit. I'm trying to figure out what our liability is. So if in if we

[41:52] agree to three years and we want to exit, we can still exit after. As Vince

[41:56] said, the boardwalk parking may change around who who knows what two years from

[42:01] now looks like. But then is there some agreed to annual? How much of that is it

[42:08] allocate or is it >> how would they come up with a price that

[42:13] we owe them? >> They would take the the cost and

[42:15] amaturize it over three years or whatever what's left of the term.

[42:18] » Okay. Okay. So, they take that amount, divide it by

[42:20] » however many months, >> and then that's how much we owe out.

[42:23] Okay, that seems fair. >> All right. All right. Um I think the

[42:27] next few slides are something we've pretty much

[42:29] » I'm sorry. [laughter] >> That's bad.

[42:31] » I'm bad about jumping ahead. >> Case for competitive bidding.

[42:34] » Hey, Bruce, could you do one thing though? Explain to me and the public

[42:38] what the annual revenue threshold means. Actually, [cough]

[42:42] » that's when [clears throat] we reach the um let me get

[42:47] that's where you know we pay a flat parking management fee $1,850 a a month

[42:52] I believe to pivot when the um [clears throat] when we get to the total

[42:57] revenue of um our annual threshold of three um 237,500

[43:04] they will get an 8 and a half% basically incentive fee a bonus or that's their

[43:09] that's their commission. after that

[43:11] » on the amount above that. Right. So they're not getting anything if if this

[43:16] year we did 3.3 million. >> Right.

[43:20] » Right. >> All they get is $1850 a month.

[43:23] » Right. >> Period.

[43:24] » Right. >> Then above that is when the eight and a

[43:28] half kicks in. Correct. >> Okay.

[43:29] » Just make sure I understand. >> But the eight and a half's based on what

[43:31] is above that threshold, >> right? Yeah. Start making Yeah.

[43:41] So, um, yeah, just went over that. The, um, Freeman Park, the next slides are

[43:47] about the competitive bidding and, you know, what's good and what's bad about

[43:52] it. Um, typically like, um, Councilman Lceto said, you we we try to do that. We

[43:57] do it uh, usually with GFL and and waste management, although depending on what

[44:02] we're seeing on that one, too. just been because if we're seeing other people

[44:05] getting a lot better rate that we definitely do it um we've done it for

[44:09] our own like healthcare we did this year we do things so um just depending what

[44:14] the market but if we have a good like you said a good partner it makes a world

[44:17] of difference we've we've renewed with GFL before just

[44:20] » because the rate we saw the rates similar and we know the hassle of

[44:23] getting new trash cans and new billing and everything else but

[44:26] » that is a huge advantage to a public entity

[44:29] » right >> is that you have that because I can tell

[44:31] you on the private sector we don't know what our competitors are getting on

[44:36] insurance supplies and landscaping services and all that because it's not

[44:41] shared. >> So you said I'm sorry. Go ahead.

[44:43] » No, I was just I'm jealous because I have to deal with this in the in my

[44:47] private job and I I have to guess or get inside knowledge or try to get people to

[44:52] tell me what are they paying. Uh it's hard to do but I hear it's all publicly

[44:56] available. >> Sorry Wayne, I didn't mean to cut you

[44:59] off. >> No. Uh, you said you did renew GFL this

[45:03] year. >> No, I I have we have to evaluate that. I

[45:06] think that renewal is coming up in the next year, I believe. Brian,

[45:09] » and anecdotally, and not that I use Facebook as a source for anything, but

[45:14] there was actually a post this morning of a resident that has done that

[45:20] research on competing towns and everything.

[45:22] » I saw that. >> And our rates are favorable to everybody

[45:25] else >> per his research, not our research. res

[45:29] now. >> Interesting.

[45:31] » Do Facebook, but I'll have to go get somebody to share that with me.

[45:34] » Take a picture of that one. >> All right. So, that's um it's up to

[45:40] council to either renew this contract with Pivot Park and that's what I'm

[45:42] requesting approval to renew. >> So, do you need consensus or you need a

[45:46] motion? >> I need I would need a motion.

[45:48] » So, let me try and see. I'll start and you guys can we can still debate all you

[45:52] want. Um, I'll make a motion to approve the

[45:58] contract with Pivot Parking. Can I just say as you presented it the terms that

[46:03] you presented or do you want me to read them?

[46:06] » All right. So, motion on the floor now. Further discussion.

[46:10] » So, the only thing I'm going to say, especially being on this side, parking

[46:15] has always been it's always been an issue, right? But I think Pippet has

[46:21] done a great job and and I rate it by how many complaints or how many people

[46:26] that we talk to on a regular basis. And I'll be honest with you, this year it

[46:30] was hardly anything. >> Zero for me.

[46:33] » So So my point is >> how many you had? I'm curious. I

[46:36] » I only had one and it was >> Well, I had one, but it's incredible.

[46:39] » But they were guilty. >> Well, the one for me was because

[46:42] somebody the attendant didn't fit the right parking lot in.

[46:46] » Yeah. Usually it's some kind of error. Not

[46:49] malicious or anything. It's always some kind of user on the customer or the

[46:53] attendant like we had one recently where they forgot to switch what lot they were

[46:57] in and accidentally wrote some over the past.

[46:59] » That's that was mine. >> Yeah.

[47:01] » And those errors are going to happen no matter who you hire.

[47:03] » Yeah. >> Plus, I do like the fact that Pivot is

[47:05] working with us. >> They truly are. And they're, you know,

[47:09] this is a give and take partnership. So the only thing that comes to my head is

[47:14] is if it's not broken, why fix it? >> I mean, it's as simple as that.

[47:20] » You have to identify benefits. >> I've actually witnessed pivot people

[47:25] actually prevent residents from getting tickets. You know, I've been sitting at

[47:29] CBGB sometimes and residents pull in and they're parked on the line

[47:34] » and one of the attendants has actually gone over to them and said, you know,

[47:37] you might want to straighten out your vehicle.

[47:40] » Yeah. So, you know, that kind of stuff goes a long way with visitors.

[47:43] » That's a benefit of a longer relationship.

[47:45] » Yeah. And a lot of credit goes in the back of the room back there. Stephen Zer

[47:48] is our local manager here and he has really heard council, heard staff like

[47:53] be true ambassadors and they they've taken that um in hand and and taken it

[47:57] seriously. >> The complaints have definitely Jay and I

[48:00] have been with this from the very beginning with pivot this relationship

[48:03] with Pivot and watched it. It was rocky. >> Rocky versus Rocky fair. kind [laughter]

[48:08] of rocky. >> Um,

[48:10] » as the one still sitting here who came in

[48:14] at the end of accepting pivots uh transition, it was uh rocky to say the

[48:20] least. So, they do deserve a little, you know,

[48:23] » but I will say, so I will say this, mayor, I

[48:26] » coming into this this morning, I was like, there's no way I'm going to agree

[48:29] to a three-year contract. But knowing that we have an exit strategy that's

[48:33] basically based on capital improvements that would transfer to the town should

[48:38] we exit with 90 with a 90-day clause. I think that's um I too you know we I

[48:44] asked I think it was Benson and I asked that they call themselves ambassadors

[48:48] instead of parking attendants and I think they have gone uh to more of an

[48:54] ambassador role. I've seen them I've actually I walk every morning so I see

[48:57] them out talking to people in the parking lots instead of just writing a

[49:01] ticket. So and the fact that if we go with this three years then they will no

[49:06] longer be getting incentives for writing tickets. I am very happy about that.

[49:10] very happy. >> Yeah, I'd like to say a good job. I did

[49:12] a bunch of chicken scratch here while we're going just so uh we can all be on

[49:17] the record. Staff's recommending this. I'm going to

[49:21] vote for uh mayor's motion, but I'll give you some reasons. I like to have a

[49:27] basis in why I'm say I'm doing one thing or another. Um

[49:33] that's a hold over from the board of adjustments. They met the ME metrics

[49:38] projections. uh essentially what they said they could do, they delivered and

[49:45] they continue to do it. If we get out of the one we have or go to RFP and we're

[49:51] to choose somebody else, we know we're going to have to spend a

[49:56] lot of money and have a lot of aggravation. That aggravation is going

[49:59] to come at a time when we have a ton of infrastructure work. I anticipate

[50:06] there'll be some displacement of parking during that infrastructure. I'm not sure

[50:11] it would be the best time to not uh to be working with someone new. Uh I'm

[50:17] inclined to take their the concessions that they're offering and good job on

[50:22] those concessions like the LPR. You didn't get into you said we paid for one

[50:27] LPR and they ate the other one because you didn't have have the budget for it.

[50:31] Good job on that as well. love the fact that you took them out of or they agreed

[50:36] and you agreed to be not part of the incentives on the tickets. But I I

[50:42] really believe there is a 90-day exit, but I really believe the best time to

[50:48] negotiate will be when we own and control those nine parcels. That will

[50:55] change the landscape of any bid we get. It will change the

[50:59] landscape of how we look at things. It'll probably change the landscape of

[51:04] where residents may now be able to go back to and park as they did before

[51:09] before the acco requirements. So, I think the best time to do that is when

[51:14] we have the maximum we fully believe and intend to close on those lots. And so, I

[51:20] think when we have that uh opportunity, I think we'll get more

[51:25] competitive bids then than we will. and we know that that's just short of two

[51:30] years any or three years anyway with the 90-day out. I'm going to support the

[51:34] motion the mayor. >> So, there's one other topic I think we

[51:37] need to bring up just so we clear the air on this. Um, and I'm throwing a

[51:42] wrench in this. Uh, people have have talked about bringing it inhouse

[51:49] and can you explain why that would not be a good idea? Uh we've talked and and

[51:56] Ed Ed and I both agree we could manage it. Um but several reasons I think it

[52:01] would be could be problematic. I think they're parking experts. They do this

[52:06] for a living. That this would be just something we'd be creating and we'd

[52:09] probably hire the same employees as the mayor mentioned earlier um to get that

[52:13] knowledge. Um, but then I think there would be some un unfair pressures on

[52:20] staff if it's, you know, separating them from the town about parking tickets. Um,

[52:27] not the mayor would do this, but the mayor friend got a ticket. Hey, you

[52:31] know, you >> never they're paying.

[52:33] » Yeah. A future mayor might or may little >> my husband got a ticket. He's paying it.

[52:38] » Plus, you know, plus the cost of insurance, the cost. I mean, it's just

[52:41] not that's why other cities don't do it. cost of the software engineering.

[52:45] » There you go. >> That's the highest ticket right there,

[52:48] isn't it, M? >> That was exactly where I was going. The

[52:50] biggest issue is, and I don't mean any disrespect from this, Bruce, but I do

[52:56] not have confidence in your staff's ability to select a software system and

[53:03] manage and run it, right, >> to run parking. And that is no

[53:06] disrespect to you. And pay for it. >> Yeah. And so I'm more on the system side

[53:12] than the people side from my standpoint. Now, could you get there? Absolutely. I

[53:18] think you guys could could work up to that at some point. But right out of the

[53:21] gate, just to say, "Hey, in 90 days, we're going to go start sourcing systems

[53:25] and install them. >> It's not

[53:27] » and and the personnel cost, as Jay mentioned, um labor cost for uh private

[53:33] sector is a lot cheaper than labor costs for municipal government."

[53:36] » Exactly. >> Yeah. And there's certain things, you

[53:38] know, in business that just beg to be outsourced and not done

[53:42] in-house. >> You know, your team has great

[53:47] competencies in what they do, >> right?

[53:49] » You know, to go out and bring that knowledge in and replace that knowledge

[53:53] and this is what they do and they've done it successfully. In other other

[53:57] towns, they continue to do it successfully. So, you know, yeah, what

[54:04] would be the right number of people that you'd have to hire to do it? What would

[54:07] be the capital that we'd have to put out? The technology piece,

[54:11] » it's not as simple as it sounds that you're just getting rid of Pivot's fee

[54:15] and that's it. We're ahead of the game. >> Total mess.

[54:20] Yeah, I think you would I I'd be hardressed to believe that you could you

[54:24] would have to increase revenue to cover the additional cost, which would mean

[54:29] you would have to raise parking rates. And to me, that's a non-starter. Raising

[54:33] parking rates to bring it in house doesn't doesn't work in my mind. So,

[54:38] anyway, everybody good? So, with that, motion's already been made. Motion on

[54:42] the floor. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed?

[54:45] » Motion passes. Good job, Bruce. Bruce, >> thank you for doing it.

[54:48] » I will say I'm on the opposite of that. I think staff could do it. That just me.

[54:53] » I think they could train up. I'm not saying I'm just saying in 90 days you're

[54:57] not going to do it. >> I agree with you.

[54:58] » Oh, I agree. 90 days or whatever it is. >> I agree with 90 days we would be able to

[55:02] do that. >> I think staff could do it. I just think

[55:04] I don't think staff could do it as >> I think it would cost more than what we

[55:10] pay. >> I say we got three years to figure it

[55:12] out. >> Yeah, I agree.

[55:14] » That's how long the learning >> Okay. An hour. Um

[55:17] » because we both just think until we look at it. [laughter]

[55:19] » Exactly. >> Can we talk to Eric now? Something fun.

[55:22] » Yeah. Well, somebody gave us something and then that was great and then we kind

[55:26] of slid downhill that Bruce want to talk about parking. Now, now with Eric, what

[55:30] are you going to do for us? Eric. >> Eric's gonna bring me Christmas. That's

[55:32] what Eric's going to do. >> We're going to get to Christmas.

[55:36] » All right. So, I'm just going to give you guys a little overview of uh the the

[55:40] I know the agenda says event updates, but we're going to also uh give you

[55:44] update on all the programs and events that are sponsored by the Town of

[55:47] Carolina Beach Parks and Recreation Department uh that we have um some say

[55:51] in. So, the first well, okay, so the first thing is Boardwalk Music. We made

[55:58] we we have made it through 14 weeks already, right? We had 14 out of 16.

[56:03] It's incredibly long season, but uh very >> with only one rain out.

[56:07] » Very enjoyable. What's that? >> With only one rain out.

[56:09] » With one rain out. Right. So, the beautiful thing about the rain out is

[56:14] that we are all set for a double show on Labor Day weekend. So, Labor Day

[56:19] weekend, we're looking at uh uh to end this season on some uh double show for

[56:23] fireworks. Uh this is the first time this has happened since we've taken over

[56:28] the the Boardwalk Music, but we did have a schedule change, so I just wanted to

[56:31] highlight that. Uh uh Bart Latimore unfortunately was not able to attend. Uh

[56:36] he was supposed to play on the 27th. So we were able to quickly fill in with uh

[56:40] Justin Cody Fox. Uh great musician, great local musician, so we're really

[56:44] excited to welcome him to the boardwalk stage this coming Thursday. Uh on behalf

[56:50] of all of the the the programs at the boardwalk with the fireworks, I mean it

[56:53] is not a parks and recolle. I mean there are resources from all towns. So, the

[56:59] police department, fire department, public works, we really appreciate

[57:03] everything that they've done. And then the amount of volunteers that we have.

[57:08] We have two amazing fireworks volunteer uh coordinators, Amanda and Christina,

[57:12] and they gather all these other volunteers and make sure that the entire

[57:17] boardwalk uh is covered and secure for fireworks for 16 weeks. So, we really do

[57:22] appreciate that and um looking forward to continuing to work with those folks.

[57:29] Um, so I'm going to dive into some program.

[57:32] » I just got to point out that it's like 80% chance of rain on Thursday.

[57:35] » I don't think so. >> Lynn Barbie. [laughter]

[57:38] » No, the reason is because Justin Cody Fox, I love him and I love watching his

[57:43] music and the last time we had him, he was rained out. So when Deb told me last

[57:48] week, hey, we're having a schedule change, I was like, yes, this is great.

[57:51] I'm looking forward to this show. >> Then I look at the weather forecast. So,

[57:55] I'm using the three-day ahead rule since I'm predicting it. It'll never happen

[57:58] now. >> It's It's Tuesday. [laughter]

[58:01] The weather forecast changes on the hour. So, just be quiet about that.

[58:06] » I'm trying to jinx the weather, D. I want this to happen.

[58:09] » Then bring your umbrella. That'll fix it.

[58:11] » All right. So, yeah. No. Uh, feel free if you guys have any questions or

[58:15] comments as I go through these slides, feel free to just jump in and let me

[58:18] know. But, uh, so we're going to break them down into categories. We got the

[58:21] youth athletics, adult athletics, special events, and holiday programs.

[58:24] And just a little highlight, these are only the townsponsored events through

[58:28] parks and recreation department. We have so many other events in Carolina Beach

[58:34] that are not in this, but uh in this uh slideshow, but Tim will continue to

[58:39] update those in front of council Tim Murphy. Uh and I think he's at an events

[58:43] committee meeting right now going over some additional events. So uh he'll

[58:47] update those at the next council meeting. So, uh, youth athletics, our,

[58:52] uh, athletic supervisor is Bryce Missen, and he's done a, uh, excellent job. Uh,

[58:57] since he's taken over, he continues to, uh, harness more talent from our

[59:01] community, expand those programs. Uh, we have a youth flag football program

[59:06] that's, I believe, we're entering our fifth year of doing that. And every year

[59:09] it grows. when we're sitting down and looking at our our our space and what we

[59:14] can accommodate uh at Mike Chipple Park. Uh now we have games starting at 5:40

[59:19] and the last game starts at 8:30 on Friday. But it is such a great uh

[59:23] community event to see those folks participate. We also have a youth

[59:27] wrestling club that utilizes our our recreation center uh and another avenue

[59:32] uh that's getting started as well. We have fall gymnastics

[59:37] uh kicking off and those are age groups uh go from kindergarten all the way up

[59:42] through I think advanced is 13 14 plus. Uh we have a youth lacrosse league which

[59:49] is uh continues to be a growing sport in this community and that is held

[59:53] completely 100% at Mike Chapel Park. Uh they do a great job uh facilitating

[59:58] that. Um, and then obviously we have our

[1:00:02] flagship youth basketball program that has been around forever. Uh, and we're

[1:00:08] constantly looking at uh switching things up there to see if we can uh

[1:00:12] accommodate more uh gym space to get more teams because we we get a ton of

[1:00:16] folks. So, if anyone's out there listening, that registration starts on

[1:00:20] September 21st. Be ready. It's important to get your registration in. Uh we would

[1:00:25] like to have as many uh local residents as possible uh competing in that

[1:00:30] program. Uh and then uh we also have adult

[1:00:34] athletics overview. Uh we um just finished up the adult co-ed softball uh

[1:00:41] league with the championship game last uh last night. Thank goodness. Uh

[1:00:46] because it's the long season in the summer with lots of rain and turning

[1:00:51] ball fields in the summer and Bryce is out there and he's coming back and I

[1:00:56] think he brings three or four shirts to work. Sometimes I'm like, "You just need

[1:00:59] to go home and take a shower, dude." But uh it's uh it was it's great to see

[1:01:04] that league happen. Uh that will roll right into our adult basketball league

[1:01:09] that we have over at the recreation center. And then we had uh I think this

[1:01:13] is the third year of our co-ed adult kickball league. So we continued to um

[1:01:18] listen to the community if there's programs that we can want if we can fit

[1:01:22] them into our schedule and we make that happen. So we're excited to offer those.

[1:01:26] Uh and then some of the special event spotlights for uh September. We have the

[1:01:32] Carolina Beach Police Department bike rodeo that's coming up on Saturday,

[1:01:35] September 12th from 1 to 4 at the rec center. And uh that's all all hands on

[1:01:40] deck uh community event. And then we also have our annual Halloween carnival

[1:01:45] at Mike Chubble Park which will be held on uh Friday October third uh October

[1:01:51] 23rd. And that's a really great fun community event as well over at Mike

[1:01:55] Chel Park. We probably get I don't know 600 to 900 people that attend that

[1:02:01] event. So it's always fun. Um, and then going into the holiday programs, we are

[1:02:06] going to continue to offer letters to Santa. That's a community volunteer

[1:02:10] program. We have this great uh North Pole mailbox outside the rec center. We

[1:02:15] encourage those uh kids to get their letters in and then they will get one uh

[1:02:20] a letter uh returned to them. Hopefully, they're good. Uh we are kicking off a

[1:02:25] holiday rating contest. Uh this is a new event uh this year where we are going to

[1:02:32] have commercial and residential and we're still working out the kinks on

[1:02:35] that. I believe there's a meeting today and

[1:02:38] » at 11 >> an hour. Yeah. To go over that. Uh so

[1:02:42] we're we're just trying to get everybody to spruce up their businesses and houses

[1:02:46] and have it a fun competition. So looking forward to to that program. Uh

[1:02:51] early festivities, the uh lighting of the lake. Uh the town is uh parks and

[1:02:57] recreation department is going to be more involved in that program uh and

[1:03:01] working with the island of lights community to provide additional

[1:03:06] uh a amenities programming uh festivities to that event. So that's

[1:03:12] Friday after Thanksgiving. We're excited about that one. Our Christmas parade is

[1:03:17] the highlight, right? That's the first Friday in uh December at 7 PM and

[1:03:24] registration for that is going to open on Tuesday, September 22nd. And we

[1:03:28] usually limit it to around 125 entries. So enter quickly and if we get past 125,

[1:03:35] we'll probably change it. [laughter] >> Uh we'll up it.

[1:03:38] » Eric, I I tell you how important a Christmas rate is. My wife and I

[1:03:42] scheduled vacation, bought the tickets, reserved the hotel. We're lined up to go

[1:03:48] on vacation. My wife walks in and says, "Oh, no. That's the weekend of the

[1:03:52] Christmas parade. Vacation was canceled, buddy." [laughter]

[1:03:57] Uh, we we love our Christmas parade. That that is one event of our holiday

[1:04:02] program that is definitely all hands on deck. I mean, there is so much work that

[1:04:06] our public safety crews do to make sure that it's safe that the public does not

[1:04:09] even know about. But we're constantly having meetings and updating and street

[1:04:13] making sure that everyone's safe and you know flowing traffic and and all that

[1:04:18] stuff as well. So >> closing Lake Park Boulevard.

[1:04:21] » Yeah, like Lake Park Boulevard and safety and checkpoints and all that

[1:04:25] stuff. So it's we're we're excited to have that. Uh

[1:04:28] » yeah, those I just want to add to that just second what you said with the

[1:04:32] public safety folks on that. They do a great job every Thursday night, but

[1:04:36] especially during that event when you have vehicles moving in crowds as big as

[1:04:41] we have, it takes a lot of planning. I don't think people realize what those

[1:04:46] people go through pre-planning and pregaming that

[1:04:50] » so that everybody leaves the same way they came. So, just want to

[1:04:54] » kudos to that group. >> They do a phenomenal job. parks and

[1:04:56] rack, we kind of get to do the fun part and do the registration and send the

[1:05:00] letters out and make sure everybody's lined up, but they're doing a lot of

[1:05:03] work behind the scenes to make sure it's safe for everybody. Uh we have our

[1:05:07] holiday market that is on uh Saturday, December 5th. That's the the sat

[1:05:13] Saturday after our parade. Uh and that is from 9 to 3. That's a huge event. And

[1:05:18] then we also have a lot of children's activities. Santa Claus is there. Uh

[1:05:23] face painting, all of that as well. Um, so that's we we we enjoy that event.

[1:05:28] We're uh showing a holiday movie on Saturday, December 12th at the lake,

[1:05:33] which is always fun. Uh, and we'll have, I believe it's the Christmas story this

[1:05:37] year. That's we just picked that one, so we're excited. Um, and then we have a

[1:05:43] Christmas by the Sea program, uh, which will be held at Lake Park. We'll have

[1:05:47] Santa Claus train rides. We have this awesome train that'll be out in the

[1:05:51] community. People love to see it. It's it's it's been uh spiffed up and working

[1:05:57] really well for the last like you know couple months. We've been tweaking it

[1:06:01] and working on it. So that will be out there and that will also be at the

[1:06:05] lighting at the lake as well. Uh we have holiday music with Randy McQuay. He's a

[1:06:10] great local musician. And then we'll have some food vendors out there. And

[1:06:14] then the new event that we added this year is a familyfriendly celebration at

[1:06:19] the boardwalk for New Year's Eve. Uh we understand that there's a lot of

[1:06:23] families in Carolina Beach and you know you don't necessarily want to have them

[1:06:27] out until midnight uh celebrating New Year's. So we're looking at a

[1:06:31] familyfriendly celebration from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. I'm not going to give away all

[1:06:35] the things but just think about a bunch of beach balls falling and being able to

[1:06:40] grab one and take one home and uh >> with the Carolina Beach logo on them.

[1:06:44] » Yes, >> there'll be something going on.

[1:06:46] [laughter] Uh, so we're we're still working on a

[1:06:49] lot of this. A lot of these a lot of these events we actually start for

[1:06:52] Christmas. We actually start in January because vendors go really quickly to

[1:06:56] like >> especially the good Santaas.

[1:06:58] » Yeah, those those good folks with beards. Um, uh, yeah, we're looking

[1:07:03] forward to that event and that event will take place at Carolina Beach

[1:07:06] Boardwalk from 6:00 to 8. Uh, it's inaugural year. It's the first year.

[1:07:10] We're looking at um just testing the waters and and and then expanding as we

[1:07:15] see, you know, in years. But we we we we ideally we like to continue to do this

[1:07:20] every year and grow the event at the at the boardwalk. So those are all of the

[1:07:25] programs. Yes, those are all of the programs that

[1:07:28] we have going on from September through uh wait

[1:07:34] » January. >> December. [laughter]

[1:07:37] » So parks are right. So I do want to add so if you have not seen Caroline Beach

[1:07:42] is in the top 25 for the Hallmark Marius Town. So please you can go on I think

[1:07:48] the chamber has the link. I have the link. You can vote every day until

[1:07:52] September 4th. So vote vote vote. >> I just wish we had a better picture.

[1:07:57] » Yeah. >> Well I didn't submit the application but

[1:08:01] um >> it's just it's the Christmas tree.

[1:08:03] » I know where the other ones are. >> I know. I know. I didn't submit it. So

[1:08:08] Uh, Eric, I >> I will thank null Stevens for actually

[1:08:10] submitting that. So, >> Eric, I just want to say we appreciate

[1:08:14] all towns. Um, I mean, we like it that our water works

[1:08:19] and the toilets flush and all those sorts of things. police keep us safe,

[1:08:23] but your team, the energy that they bring,

[1:08:27] uh, they're really in the quality of life business for us all.

[1:08:31] » And, uh, it it really bulls, a lot of it comes back to parks and recreation

[1:08:37] efforts that make it, it's the reason we have events all the time and the reason

[1:08:41] it's a great place to live and a great place to retire and a great place for

[1:08:44] your grandkids to come visit is the programs you put together. So, I just

[1:08:48] want to say thank you. >> Thank you. I appreciate that. And um

[1:08:51] yeah, I just I'm so thrilled uh to be able to work in this in my role and have

[1:08:55] the staff that I do with uh Heather, I mean Heather, Aaron, Bryce, Tim,

[1:09:00] [clears throat] got Zach and Jack uh at the front desk of the rec center. I

[1:09:04] mean, we got such a great crew. We're a fun dysfunctional family at times, but

[1:09:08] uh we enjoy each other. [laughter] >> Thank you, sir.

[1:09:12] » Um the next on there was an agenda item, and since I brought it up, I guess I'll

[1:09:17] address it real quick. There was an agenda item to go over St. Joseph

[1:09:20] Street. Um, and I'd ask Bruce at the request of a resident actually just to

[1:09:25] give an update. Um, but I think you got some things going on that's in the mix

[1:09:31] and you're going to bring that back to us at a different

[1:09:34] » date. Correct. I can bring it we'll have some more updates soon and we'll put

[1:09:36] some online too. But >> okay.

[1:09:38] » Basically, we're got ready to go bid. We're meeting with DOT. Actually,

[1:09:41] staff's meeting them right now. >> Um, but hopefully going out to bid soon

[1:09:44] and we'll do some updates and refresh everybody's memory where we are. She

[1:09:48] wasn't looking for any particular decision. I think it's just you got new

[1:09:51] people who've moved in. They weren't here two years ago when the plans were

[1:09:55] put up on the board, whatever. I I don't think she was looking for

[1:09:59] » I think I mean, she asked me for example. I just want to know what it

[1:10:02] looks like and where it's going to go, >> you know? So, I think just a real high

[1:10:05] level update would be good. >> Okay. Good.

[1:10:07] » All right. >> Uh I just I wanted to thank staff,

[1:10:11] especially Ed for the presentations we did yesterday on Freeman Park. It was so

[1:10:17] well attended. I was very thrilled with the number of people that showed up. Um,

[1:10:21] the future of Freeman Park is in our hands and I think we need to tread

[1:10:26] carefully and make sure we make the right decisions and there was a lot of

[1:10:29] good input yesterday. >> But I just really want to toot Ed and

[1:10:33] and Kim's horn for putting on a great presentation yesterday. they that I

[1:10:38] agree and the feedback that's coming from that it's amazing to juxtapose that

[1:10:44] feedback with what you hear >> right because everyone who attended that

[1:10:50] I spoke with and then I read some of your comments D thank you for that about

[1:10:53] what was going on was uh >> and I think Ed even mentioned it is was

[1:10:58] great dialogue people enga people didn't come in with an axe to grind they

[1:11:03] understood the balance that was we were looking for and I just thought it was

[1:11:07] Well, we also had some people who came in with their mindset on what they

[1:11:09] wanted and then when they heard Ed's presentation, they actually changed

[1:11:13] their mind on >> on the conservation part of

[1:11:17] » Yeah. >> of that beautiful piece of land that we

[1:11:19] own. >> And that was a good presentation. I

[1:11:21] agree with >> um I will say Ed and I talked about it

[1:11:25] and there was a lot of people who wanted to know, you know, there's people who

[1:11:28] couldn't make it yesterday because of work and those kinds of things. So,

[1:11:31] we're going to try to put together something so we can have a mini session

[1:11:36] basically at the lake at one of our um markets that

[1:11:40] » in the future. So, >> what was the attendance? Do you know

[1:11:43] total attendance? >> Um so, we had 24 people at the first

[1:11:47] session, 30 people at the second, and then 23 people um at the third one.

[1:11:52] » Is that that's >> that's huge.

[1:11:55] » That sounds like the most we've ever had. Have we ever had

[1:11:58] » we've never had that many people show up for open house ever.

[1:12:01] » And I mentioned this a dead mayor tell you

[1:12:04] » it tells you about our demographic when you have the fewest people come after

[1:12:08] work. >> There's been a demographic

[1:12:12] » shifting. Yeah. The most came at 2:30. The second most came at 10:30 in the

[1:12:17] morning and the fewest came at 5:30. >> But it I mean it was very well attended.

[1:12:21] That's I mean you know usually we're standing here going, "Okay, how many are

[1:12:23] we going to get?" And Ed and I were really worried first thing in the

[1:12:26] morning. and we're like, is it just going to be you and me? [laughter]

[1:12:29] [gasps] You know, so we added chairs every session. We were adding chairs.

[1:12:32] » That's good. >> I think it was great.

[1:12:35] » Um, just with one more thing on that I was just going to mention to you guys is

[1:12:38] as you're discussing that, um, I know there's a push and has been for many

[1:12:44] years from organizations like the association and stuff to put jetties and

[1:12:49] groin or groins out there. not taking a position one way or another, but I think

[1:12:54] you should consider in that document whether that committee supports that or

[1:13:00] at least has some commentary around it because when that does come, if we annex

[1:13:05] it, suddenly we'll be in on that decision,

[1:13:07] » right? So, and I know how important it is for your land use plan to when when

[1:13:12] you're trying to decide something and your land use plan doesn't say anything

[1:13:15] about it, >> you don't have the voice of the public.

[1:13:17] So, I'd like to hear the voice of the public.

[1:13:19] » That's the excellent point. Does that make sense what I'm asking?

[1:13:23] » Does. >> All right. With that, uh, meeting

[1:13:25] adjourned. Thank you guys. Thanks everybody for coming.

[1:13:30] » We'll have double the fireworks, but we'll also have double the prizes

[1:13:32] because we had a rain out. >> That's right. That's right.

August 25, 2026 Town Council Workshop

Transcript