[captioner present]
>> Father we ask you to bless every family represented here
today.
It's in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ we pray Amen.
>> Welcome back to City Council Chambers for the first time
since before Hurricane Ian.
Thank you to City Council for investing
in the space to make decisions vital to our community.
A huge thank you to Tommy MacEy for leading this important
project and supports team .
Thanks to Brian for his quick work to upgrade technology
and to Matt for being here every day to make it work.
Thank you to Steve, Samantha, and Ben
for your work to beautify the grounds.
We have renewed opportunity for a meetings.
I will turn it over to Sarah for additional announcements.
>> City clerk Sarah Walsh.
Council and chambers has been set up to ensure record.
This is in compliance with procedure 34.
The technology and procedures will
support the following Subrules.
Rule 34.1, any Council member desiring to speak
will address Presiding Officer by raising a hand.
Rule 34.2, upon recognition by a city officer,
Council member should be confined to current agenda item.
Rule 34.3.
Once recognized, Council member shouldn't be interrupted.
The member should cease speaking until the question of order
is decided.
Rule 34.4, all questions and comments
from fellow members, staff, applicants and the public
should be directed towards the presiding officer.
Mikes are set up with indicator lights to show speaking order.
Solid red light means the microphone is live.
Blinking green light indicates next speaker and line.
Solid green light means speakers are In queue.
Council members will turn off the mic
at the end of their comment.
The mayor must clear the queue to activate the microphone
at the podium.
At the conclusion of comment, the council member
who requested the input will have the first question
or comment and the queue procedure will restart.
During public comment, the speaker
will press the talk button and the mayor
will activate the microphone.
The mayor is responsible for keeping time.
Each speaker has a maximum of three minutes per mic a green
indicator light will come on when the time has started
and a yellow indicator will come on at the start of 30s.
A buzzer will sound at the end.
Speakers must speak directly into the microphone.
Speaker should not be interrupted
but city staff may interject to make sure comments are audible.
We are looking forward to a great meeting.
>> I'm pleased to announce that when we were in Colorado
for Jerry's Brothers Memorial Gumma I was elected
to the executive Committee of the Southwest Florida Leaders
Committee.
Mayor Lux: Great job.
The next meeting will be September 9th at 9 a.m.
Here.
The address is 326 West Marion Avenue.
On September 9th, we have the budget meeting at 5 p.m..
Does anyone want to add or change anything to the agenda?
Vice Mayor Polk: Yes, I would like
to add a discussion on Fisherman's Village.
Is everyone in agreement?
Mayor Lux: That's probably a good idea.
It is not on here but it is a discussion
from what we agreed upon from the previous council.
This is just something you want clarification on?
Vice Mayor Polk: Basically wanting
to get more clarification.
I don't think we were clear on the avenue we were taking.
I think it is time we do that.
We have an attorney waiting in the lurch
and needs to know how to proceed.
I'm sure Mr. Liskevych could talk more about it.
If we put it on the agenda we could talk about Mayor Lux: So,
yes?
Member Lockhart: I'm fine with that.
Member Julian: I'm opposed because it wasn't on the agenda.
We could not add an agenda item on the day
because it hasn't been advertised to the public.
Mayor Lux: Okay.
We've talked about it in the past
and is clarification for what we agreed upon.
Majority rules.
Mr. Janine will ask you some questions on that.
First as our proclamations and presentations.
The first one is the Punta Gorda Boat Club Day.
Vice Mayor Polk: I would like to see commenters Sue Ann
and Carol burn to accept.
Also, anybody else who came from the boat club today?
I just beautifully.
I think there is room to stand up here today.
You all look so dapper.
Thank you so much.
Whereas come on August 31st 1951,
56 residents of Charlotte County,
Florida met approved bylaws and elected the I l brownie Brown
as Commodore of the Punta Gorda Boat Club.
This celebrates 75 years of continued operation.
Whereas driven by Chamber of Commerce President John
rose to promote water oriented tourism in the small fishing
and cattle town, the club was organized
to meet the American powerboat organizations
requirements for holding sanctioned regattas.
Whereas establishment of the club
led to first American power Boat Club regatta in 1952,
an event that successfully drew 9000 spectators
to the shores of Charlotte Harbor and 400 attendees
to the subsequent Regatta Ball.
Whereas receiving a lease from the City Council in 1961,
members utilized their own labor and finances to erect a seawall,
dig a channel, and construct the enduring clubhouse at 802 West.
Whereas today the club offers diverse boating and land
based social activities, while fulfilling commitments
to community organizations, including the Borders Alliance
organization, Charlotte County Marine Advisory, Community
Resource Network, Great American Cleanup, Adopt a, and a Saint
Vincent de Paul Society.
Whereas the facility serves as an essential meeting
place for local groups, such as the Punta Gorda Sailing
Club, Woodworker's, and owners Association,
while the club's 501 C three Foundation
provides contributions to local academies and networks.
Whereas the city of Punta Gorda wishes
to recognize the lasting history of boating in our community,
created by the Punta Gorda Boat Club
to express its profound gratitude
for the 75 years of service that continually strengthen
our community's foundation.
The City Council of the City of Punta Gorda,
Florida proclaims the 26th of August, 2020,
as Punta Gorda Boat Club Day.
We urge all residents to recognize and celebrate
the club's 75 years of boating history, community service,
and positive impact on our beloved city Pmec passed
and duly adopted, August 26th, 2026.
[audience clapping]
>> Thank you for the presentation and the city
for years of support they've given to the boat club.
We appreciate everything the city has done for us.
Thank you.
[audience clapping]
Mayor Lux: Thank you very much.
You guys look awesome today.
You don't have to stay if you don't want to. (laughing).
Next is our presentation of the city's annual comprehensive
financial report for the fiscal year ended September 30th, 2025.
>> A good morning Kristen Simeon.
I would like to introduce our CPAs to introduce our reports.
>> My name is with Tony Smith.
We are your auditors.
We are located six blocks away.
If you have any questions, we are local to you
and at your fingertips.
I will present the two audits we did this year.
I will start first with the CRA, which
leads to the general financial statements.
The first one that you have is the CRA.
You had set this to close out in 2024.
2025 was the wind down.
It started with assets and ended with zero assets.
Those assets were rolled to the city.
I will go over the things we have to cover
and we can go over any questions you have.
Page one, second paragraph, in our opinion,
financial statements represent fairly in all material respects.
Their respective financial position of the government
activities and general fund of the CRA as of September 30th,
2025.
That is the full financial statements for the CRA.
All those assets rolled over into the regular city.
Now I'm presenting the city financial statements.
It is this giant book.
I would like to give a shout out to your finance staff.
Putting in this much work for the book is incredible.
One sign of this is included within
your financial statements.
Every year you can apply for the Certificate
of Achievement of Excellence for the financial statements.
Kristen and her team received the award for the previous year.
It is in your financial statements now for 2024.
We've applied and I'm sure you will receive it again.
Within your financial statements,
you have three different audits.
You have an audit of the financial statements,
one of your federal grants, and another of your internal control
policies.
The first opinion, like the last one, is on page number one.
In our opinion, financial statements
above present fairly in all material respects.
On page 187 is your federal single audit.
If you spend more than $1 million of federal grant funds,
you are required to have a single audit.
Page 187 is the opinion on this.
In our opinion, the city complied
in all material respects in accordance
with federal grant requirements.
Your financial statements are governed by the government
Auditing Standards Board.
Rules change every single year.
They add more rules.
Your book gets bigger and bigger.
>> If you could speak more directly into the microphone.
You can raise this up.
>> Sorry.
I heard you say two Inches away. (audience Laughing).
Are firm does 26 audits of government.
The city of Punta Gorda is best.
I probably will get in trouble with my other audit clients.
Your staff has dedicated to it .
Our job requires an efficient staff.
That goes a long way for your staff.
I would like to thank you for Them. (audience applauding).
I will do my best to answer any questions.
If not, we are six blocks away.
You have our phone number.
I'm happy to have any conversations that you need.
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: Thank you very much.
>> Thank you to the auditing team and all the work and hours
they put in to audit.
Mayor Lux: Thank you.
Next on the agenda is public input.
Sarah said that you have to press the speaker to get started
.
We have a red, yellow, and white timers.
State your name for the record .
Community Member: Bob Fritz.
Welcome home.
A couple of comments on Troy agenda items, six A and six B.
These both are about the public safety building ,
possible renovation, possible relocation.
There's a lot of money involved in these two items.
I'm wondering if it would be prudent,
because of referendum three coming up about the homestead,
to delay this for two months and see
what happens with the homestead large deduction.
There's a comment about six H land development revisions.
When does the public get a chance to comment on these?
It seems staff is just going ahead and doing this
without public comment.
They had mitigation in their.
It was a bad idea the first time and it is a bad idea this time.
We have to be careful what we do with the flex commercial zone.
We have a tax -- we have a backwards 711.
We don't want to continue doing that here.
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: I like you already (laughing).
Community Member: Hello, good morning, I am Lisa Arnold.
I'm a 28 year combat veteran of the US Air Force
and president of a nonprofit 501 C three, sister
of arms of Cape Coral.
I reside in Cape Coral.
There's a reason I'm here.
I moved here after retiring in January of 22.
I love living in Southwest Florida
but we can do better in this regard.
As I traveled around and got acquainted with the area,
I realized there isn't a single monument
in South Florida that represents women in the military.
If you've heard of Pat Tillman or Chris Kyle,
but not Elizabeth Jacobson or Isabel Gonzalez or Shannon can,
I'm here today because these women died for their country.
We don't hear their stories.
I just finished up being the American Legion
commander in Cape Coral.
I had my ribbons on and a gentleman asked me
if those were my ribbons.
Then he proceeded to say that they must give them away.
I say all that to say that we can do better.
Cape Coral tells itself approval heart city.
I met with the city in this regard
and they know that we can do better.
It represents the 25,000 women that call themselves veterans
in Southwest Florida.
We will change the culture and make a difference.
We are building this beautiful monument.
We have the city's full support.
They gave us a spot next to Iwo Jima at the four mile Ecological
preserve.
We are bound and determined to make this happen.
We raised about $55,000 in the first two months.
We have a $400,000 goal.
Please share this information with this --
with those in your city and invite us to speak
at your events.
I appreciate your time.
My business card is there.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
I will be happy to answer them.
Thank you so much.
Mayor Lux: Thank you very much.
I will be in contact.
Anyone else wishing to speak this morning?
Community Member: Good morning.
I'm Niall Higgins and I'm a Punta Gorda resident.
Thanks to the council .
We only have -- spots out there.
We saved over 4000 a month by getting out of the military
Heritage Museum and not giving Lynn and her cohorts $48,000
a year.
We repealed the elders.
Rebuilding after the LDR is well done.
The infrastructure and water problems
are being taken care of.
We have a new commercial space coming in.
You've done a fantastic job.
I want to make a suggestion that there
are a lot of retired, well educated people
in the city who are willing to help.
I think you need to find a way to join them in your ventures.
The police department has a VIP program.
They use people and I don't see why the city cannot do it
as well.
They can help us with some of our problems.
I got this flier the other day.
This is for one of the people running for city council.
This no longer mentions that he would CEO of the Boy Scouts.
On the front it says accountability
with measurable results and transparent decisions.
There's probably 82,000 children that would disagree with that.
Thank you very much.
Community Member: Good morning city Council and everybody
in the chamber.
First, I want to congratulate John Fleming and Craig Williams
on their victory for John Fleming becoming
the next Charlotte County Commissioner.
There was a really wonderful thing
that happened in the county.
The chamber looks good.
The chamber looks great.
I want to share things with all of you.
We are almost here to September.
The Florida water quality crisis has an improved since I took you
up for the toxic -- with Alex Earnshaw.
It has continued to decline, Councilwoman Denton.
You should be very concerned, attorney .
Everyone in the chamber should be concerned, as well as
in our city and county.
I do not see any of you at these AI data center meetings.
I don't see any of you getting in front of harm's way.
How many environmental advocates in the chamber this morning
Khimik that's right.
One.
My battle is every day.
I'm a soldier of Christ fighting for you whether you like it
or not or you like me or don't like me.
That is your issue and your problem
to deal with God, not mine.
Our harbor is in very bad shape.
The river is.
I can tell you that I've seen some new seed grass growing.
I cannot tell you that there is thousands or hundreds of acres,
which is unacceptable.
I will leave you all with this --
our city needs great leadership.
Please vote for Vice Mayor Janine Polk and City Council
Member Janice Denton.
We all deserve to have great leadership.
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: Thank you.
Anyone else wishing to speak this Morning?
I apologize.
I jumped ahead of the game.
We need to have anyone wishing to announce themselves
for a board or committee to come forward.
Anyone here for a board or committee?
It's a great suggestion to send --
we will try not to talk from out there.
Thank you.
Next on the agenda is our public hearing.
The first is quasi judicial.
The lawyer will read it and he will swear people
in who will speak.
>> Quasi judicial, CCSP032026, petition for special permit
pursuant to chapter six, section two-one E,
Punta Gorda code to allow docks and other support structures
to be constructed at a length of 500ft extending from the seawall
and in configuration which don't adhere to dock location
or alignment or extraction shape or size allowance,
otherwise prohibited by sections two-1D6A, and two-one D6B,
Punta Gorda code, for a proposed Marina on the submerged lands
adjacent to and abutting the property located at 300 West
Rita Esplanade, Punta Gorda, Florida, 33950.
Do you want me to do it individually
as they come up or all at once?
If anyone wants to address the matter,
please stand and raise your hand.
We have five individuals.
Do you swear to tell the truth, whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
Record reflects that all five agreed.
Mayor Lux: Will you press the button?
>> Good morning.
Brian Clemens, city works.
I'm here to introduce CCSP032026.
I will give a short presentation and offer
the applicant or their representative
a chance to represent their portion.
The property is at 300 West Retta Espalande.
This is a picture of the layout.
The original configuration was approximately 200ft with a boat
lift.
The proposed layout will extend about 500ft and 320ft in width.
It will have fixed docks, floating docks, fishing pier,
and breakwater system.
We are here today because the code for properties on Charlotte
Harbor or the peace River only allows for a dock extending out
80ft into the water from the seawall.
It only allows for a T or L configuration for the docks.
The layout here is more elaborate than something
like that.
There are 62 slips proposed in the Marina.
There will be electrical and water pedestals, sewer pump,
breakwater structure , trash receptacles, docks boxes,
and a fishing pier.
We went through the process putting in a gate
into both docks leading out.
That has to remain secure at all times
until the Marina is operational.
As part of the process, chapter six, article two,
section two-E four, there are two sections
you are looking at granting approval or denial.
If anyone doesn't recommend approval,
you have to identify the item that it is not
in compliance with.
Based on the staff review of the project,
we recommend favorable consideration with two
conditions -- the first is access gate be installed
and secured at all times until the Marina is operational?
The second is no construction may
begin until the sovereign submerged land
lease consistent with the proposed project
has been approved.
That is all I have.
Is a representative here at?
Mayor Lux: First, we will ask if council has any questions.
>> This will take a while to get used to.
I want to state for the record that this is elevated
because Mr. Smith was earlier and not because I'm that short.
(laughing).
Derek Rooney, gray Robinson law firm on behalf
of Punta Gorda waterfront hotel.
I think what you've done is beautiful.
It looks like a very resilient society
that can survive any future hardships we may face.
I hope we do not face any, especially next season.
To Mr. Ritchie's point and the gentleman that spoke before him,
the city has a lot of issues facing it.
I think it would be a good idea to have more committees
to get more buy in and participation in our community.
I'm joined by Phil and John from Stokes marine.
It is pretty straightforward.
One thing that would be insightful
is the resiliency measures that we
are taking to make sure this facility would
survive future storms.
I know that is very important to the City
Council with its own Marina.
As we've gone through the process,
one of the questions that came up
was the code doesn't have a process for marinas.
We are essentially extending the PGE regulations
and those in places like Jamaica Way to commercial operations.
This is something standards need to be
adopted for whether the village, city, or future Marina sites.
I would recommend this.
If you would like to hear from the presentation,
I may ask if Phil can come up and walk us through that.
>> Good morning.
Phillip -- Stokes marine.
I don't have an opportunity to go through the presentation that
is uploaded.
Can you do that for me?
Thank you.
Is there a way I can see it as well?
There we go.
That is a general outline of what the Marina would look like
from this is in 2D format.
The bright yellow portion would be floating dock and fixed dock.
The floating dock is bright yellow.
The off yellow is the fixed dock portion.
Hans Wilson and associates are the engineers.
He designed this for resiliency and to be able to get
through the next big storms.
There are no guarantees for when the next big event happens
he has designed 502 marinas.
This Marina was designed with purpose.
It is mostly made up of steel pilings,
which hold the floating docks.
Then we add standard wood pilings for the fixed docks.
The decking will be unique, perforated.
When we have a surge and another hurricane,
the perforated decking allows for the pressure
of the surge to come up and through the actual decade.
This keeps the pilings in place.
The floating decks float up.
These will be 14ft above elevation.
This suggests a 10 to 12 foot surge.
Hopefully, this keeps the dock in place
when the surge comes up.
There will be 63 slips .
This is the same thing in a 3D version.
You see the floating docks in the center.
You will see a breakwater around the outside perimeter
of the fixed dock.
If you are a boater and inside the basin,
the dock is designed to have more space inside the slip.
The breakwater inside is held up by a bar system.
The panels will be at a different length
to allow for circulation.
You will see that there's a lot of muck and stuff
that accumulates at the end of the canal.
We will keep the water nice and clean.
It will circulate on its own without a bubbler in there.
That was designed with purpose.
Next slide.
This is a different angle.
This is to scale.
The front part has panels in place.
Another picture at the end of this
will demonstrate this better.
These are the panels in place for the breakwater.
This is the same thing with a different angle.
The two entrance points are on the left side
against the seawall and on the right side.
There will be slips aligned along the long entrance
on the way out.
This is where you will tie up port side or harbor side.
Next slide.
There's a better example of the perforated decking.
Traditional decking is wood or synthetic.
These are holes.
It allows 50% less uplift to allow the water
to go through the decking and not push underneath it.
This is an example of what it looks like.
There will be a guardrail around the entire facility that
is Ada compliant.
Next slide.
There's a ramp that will lead from the fixed dock
down to the floating docks.
This is an example of the wood piles on the fixed docks.
These are the shorter piles.
The taller piles are steel piles 16in in diameter and half inch
thick.
They will be driven 25ft into the ground.
They will be able to withstand good pressure.
Next slide.
This is a better example of the perforated decking,
called legacy XP.
It is a good quality decking.
We learned how to do this after all the storms mother
nature through our way.
We've had this in place.
It has proven, tried, and true, and Hans feels pretty good
that this can withstand the next set of storms.
One more slide, please.
Here's an example of the fiberglass
panels that will act as a breakwater
and go in outside their perimeter of the fixed dock
portion.
The black center is a holder of the panels.
Some will be shorter and some will be longer to retain
the wall required -- to retain the water quality.
That's a quick presentation.
I'm here to answer any questions.
I will do my best.
I'm not the engineer.
Hans would be here but he's at a round table
discussion in Saint Pete.
He's one of the better engineers in the country.
He gave me cliff.
If he gets too technical, I will come back to you
on the final answers of those.
I'm happy to answer any Mayor Lux: Thank you.
That is a great presentation.
>> I want to add that there's always questions about
the property.
I also live here and want to see the property cleaned up.
I consulted with the engineering team.
The probable cause for the Marina facility
without upland permits is $4 million.
The investment is substantial.
We agree with the staff conditions that the Marina
cannot be used without upland conditions.
We bifurcated the project in phase one and phase two
because we have an approved Army Corps permit.
We want this constructed and want to commence in October
and complete before the end of the year.
The history of the property and the harbor walk in the Marina is
as follows --
the city had an agreement as far back as 2006 to put in a Marina
and docks.
Only the harbor walk materialized.
As we look forward, the property owner
has designed a plan for a 160 room hotel on the west side.
The remainder of the property still doesn't have a use for it.
He was originally planning to build two towers.
The market may or may not be there for this yet.
There's a possibility for a standalone Marina facility.
I'm talking to Mr. Everton and Public Works
about working with the city and combining work
while we are mobilized to do seawalls and other improvements.
We could have discussions at that time about public access
and other things with the Marina.
We are all here to answer if you have any questions.
Mayor Lux: Thank you.
Member Lockhart: This is a great presentation.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate the thoughtful consideration
for the breakwater.
This is obviously needed.
If a boat broke loose, it would be contained.
We know what it is like to have a boat floating around
in the park and landing there.
The water flow through is very important.
Very good design.
Thanks for the thoughtful input.
We want the hotel and the property to move ahead.
I appreciate all the thinking going into it.
We are a Maritime city and this will reestablish that.
[previous speaker was Member Denton]
Vice Mayor Polk: This has been long in coming.
You've been keeping us abreast.
I'm in the process of building a home
and it takes time to do something of this magnitude.
I appreciate the patience of the city.
This will take a while.
This is a Marina coming to us.
Like you said, we don't have anything in land development
regulations that would help with the docking area.
I'm so excited about this.
I can't even stand it.
I'm looking forward to this moving forward
and I appreciate the presentation.
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: That was great.
Anybody else?
Derek.
>> There were five total people who rose their hands to get
sworn in.
Are there others?
Mayor Lux: We are done with the presentation.
We had questions and now we will go to the public.
Did you swear in, Tim?
You need to be sworn in.
>> Do you swear to tell the truth come a whole truth
and nothing but the truth?
Community Member: How many more slips
are we going to have from what was originally there?
Secondly, I don't want anyone to fall out of their chairs
this morning.
I can throw some curveballs from the mound.
I actually like this.
This is the type of growth I'm interested in.
I can tell you that I haven't sent any letters to the Army
Corps of Engineers about the project,
but I stand adamant about no Marina
ever in Sunseeker or Sawtooth territory.
Ever.
No.
Period.
One word sentence.
But this is good.
We are a fishing community, Council member Denton.
We are a boating community.
Too bad we aren't a surfing community.
Too bad we don't have waves on our beach.
This is the type of smart growth we
want to see in the city of Punta Gorda.
We love the idea of one hotel building there.
What ultimately would have been the best situation for that
property would have been for the city to purchase this and turn
it into the detention pond that Mr. Ritchie so
eloquently presented to the city to help save downtown flooding?
I don't see any other leaders in town
giving presentations like this.
I know that Attorney Rooney is aware of my efforts,
but I don't see other gentlemen doing this type of stuff .
Mayor Lux: Tim, I disconnected you.
Let's stay on topic.
You have to press again.
Community Member: (laughing) this will
be some training to this, guys.
Old dogs can learn new tricks.
This is good.
We like this.
We like that the water will flow.
I understand why.
I saw Marina Del Rey getting built when
I was a young man, way back.
Thank you.
>> I just had one follow up comment.
I believe Derek touched on that.
We have the state endorsement and the..
We have the Army Corps..
The permits have been in place for 17 years.
This was applied for a long time ago.
We are trying to get this done pretty quickly.
The Army Corps permit expires in January of 2027.
We are in position to get a lot of crews up here.
It will be a fast start and you will
see it go up quickly, because we are chasing the Army Corps
permit.
We try to pass the permit past January second
and they didn't let us.
Any other questions while I'm here?
Mayor Lux: The land lease approved.
>> I will hand that to Derek.
>> The land lease went to the cabinet over the summer and was
approved.
Some of you know that I'm the president and head check.
There's a public interest component
that requires the landowner pay a substantial six figure
sum of money in exchange for the land lease.
They denied our request to have the money stay local and check.
I'm still pursuing an appeal on the issue.
The goal is to get the money to stay in the community
and benefit the city.
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: Thank you.
Do we have any more public input?
You need to be sworn in, Mr. Higgins.
>> Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth?
Community Member: Niles Higgins, Punta Gorda resident.
I'm a little confused.
I think this project is a good thing
but I'm not sure what size boats it will accommodate.
Are these transient slips and will people live aboard?
I didn't see anything where the pumpout stations would be.
I can tell you that I had a boat at Trump City in Atlantic City,
new Jersey.
People are not entitled to drive the boat around the pump
station.
They wait until nighttime and dump.
That is the last thing we need in our harbor.
I think there has to be really good accessibility
at Pumpout stations.
We have to make sure people don't pump their wastewater out
into the harbor.
Thank you.
>> Very good question and concern.
I'm glad you asked.
There is a pump out station in the design.
No one wants to flush the water out of their.
The Marina was designed for shallow draft boats.
It is an aquatic preserve and dredging is not an option.
It will accommodate boats 35 to 60ft in range.
The draft would be anything from 60in from two feet for a smaller
vessel, up to a 60 foot vessel, depending on where they would
position them.
To your point there will be a pump out station on site.
Let's hope that they use it and do the right thing.
Lincoln Marine will likely be the designer of the fire station
and pump out solution.
I don't know if it will have live aboard and transient.
We design it and build it and I'm not sure
how it will be used from there on out.
>> It is intended for use as day docks at the moment.
Until the upland use comes into play,
the owner hasn't decided to make this a supplement
to restaurants, retail, and hotel.
I've spoken with the council at some point.
There was an explanation by the owner
into a vertical storage facility and having boat storage
as a use.
I've heard from the council that this
is an appropriate for the area.
He took that off the table.
I think the ultimate goal is to have activity.
Whatever the final use of the upland is ,
there's an intention for the participant.
There may be Dockage.
We may work out arrangements for some storage permit
64 slips is a lot of docking.
We go back to the city and property owner working together
to have a long term facility for boats.
This is before all the upgrades at the marine
and before anything happening at Fishermen's Village.
The use is still in flux.
The goal is to get it in place and not
let all the years of hard work disappear.
Mayor Lux: Thank you.
We will open it back up to public input again.
Should we close public input?
>> Rachel, zoning official.
I want to note that Liveaboard Marina or vessels would
have to come back in front of you
for public hearings for the approval of.
Mayor Lux: Thank you.
Let's finish public input.
Anybody else?
Member Lockhart: I don't see any power pedestals.
I want to ask that question.
>> What was the second question?
Member Denton: You need them for overnight moorage
and will there be water?
>> Yes, there will be there will be 64 hose bibs and 34 power
pedestals from 30 to 50 amps.
There will be one pedestal at every location
with two bibs on each side.
Mayor Lux: Last time for public input.
I will lead a motion if we don't have any more.
Member Julian: I move to close public comment.
Vice Mayor Polk: I second.
Mayor Lux: How do we do this with all in favor?
We will raise our hands.
All in favor of closing public comment?
Opposed?
Motion carries.
Let's talk amongst each other.
>> Can I make a procedural request?
I cannot see all hands being raised,
so let me know if anyone descends.
Mayor Lux: Absolutely.
Everyone raise their hands.
Jeanine?
Vice Mayor Polk: This is a wonderful idea.
The concept is great.
I'm hoping it will come to fruition soon.
I know you guys were in a rush.
I will be moving to approve the study.
Member Julian: All my questions and concerns were addressed
and I'm prepared to approve it as well.
Mayor Lux: I want to thank the --
Member Denton: I want to thank the staff for this.
Hans Wilson is a great resource.
That teamwork is excellent and I agree that we
need to move forward on this.
Mayor Lux: I agree.
I think what Mr. Rooney brought up was changing section six.
Maybe we need a consensus on that,
so we can bring section six in for commercial.
Can I have a raise of hands if you are in consensus?
Everyone raised their hand.
Thank you.
I will need a motion.
>> Motion to approve three a.
Member Denton: I second the motion.
>> Does that include the staff's two conditions they noted?
Mayor Lux: Yes, I believe the submerged lease
line was approved and the second is security
at all times for the gates.
Amend that.
>> So amended.
Mayor Lux: You okay with that Janice?
All in favor raise your hand.
All four raised their hand.
Opposed are zero.
Motion carries.
Thanks for the great presentation.
Next on our list is legislative.
There will be public input.
Doctor Leskovic.
>> Item three B, legislative z a zero eight 2026.
Proposed amendments to chapter 26,
Land Development Regulations to update the historic Preservation
Regulations and overlay districts
require disclosure of historic property designation,
reestablish the local register of historic places,
review procedures, and amend Historic Preservation Board
Authority.
This is the first reading.
>> Good morning Council, Rachel Berry, official for the record.
As was read into the record, this is hearing ZA082026.
There are several changes in the ordinance.
All of them are related to historic preservation.
I know there was a question at pre agenda on Monday
as to whether SB 180 could be involved.
I don't know if we need this clarification before we start.
>> Council Julian brought up whether this could be
in conflict with the Senate bill s.
The Senate bill stay in effect at least until summer of 2027.
There appears to be conflict with Senate bills
my recommendation is to not move forward with this.
We are trying to modify chapter 26 with this.
We don't want the possibility of this
being considered more restrictive or burdensome
on a homeowner.
Mayor Lux: Mr. Leskovik, even with prior land development
recommendations, I think council and staff move forward
with stating that it would only take effect
if the SB 180 is removed.
Is it okay for staff to move forward and do this,
so we are not waiting and waiting?
>> You can certainly move forward but for council to amend
, I'm asking you to pause.
Mayor Lux: We can approve pending SB 180?
>> Yes.
>> Thank you for that.
To cover some of the changes, the proposed updates
include section 3.14 of chapter 26,
for the historic overlay district.
Section 8.1 references demolition and --
of historic buildings?
Section 15.4 for the Historic Preservation Advisory Board.
Also comments 16.3, applications for a Certificate
of Appropriateness and 16.5, application
for demolition permits.
As most of you know, the Historic Preservation Board
has had many meetings through the last two years
to get more attraction with repairing damages
during the storms and more enforceability
when it comes to historic preservation.
One of the discussed ideas was disclosure
of historic designation when properties are sold.
If approved, the city would draw up a form
and we would get with realtor associations
to make sure everyone is educated
on what we are requesting.
We would most likely require the certificates
to be recorded with a deed, so it comes up
with public record when people are doing their title search.
Another proposed change was to the historic Preservation
advisory boards role and duties.
One is to strike "advisory" from the committee's name and to be
known as a Historic Preservation Board.
There was a question about appropriateness
when it comes to replacing windows, doors, Siding,
and roofing.
The approvals would go to the board
and then come to City Council for determination.
I want to point out that this could take more time when it
comes to hearing certain items.
One of the other major things in the ordinance that we
are most excited about is re adopting the local register
of the historic places and National Register District
contributing structures.
As part of the process, we sent out hundreds of letters.
They were customized based on whether the property was not
included in the 2024 updates when
the local register was adopted.
There were questions whether they
were added or removed in that time or remained the same.
Also there's a question of whether they are designated
or not and are to be included and not.
We sent several hundred letters to those that apply to.
For those not included before, not designated
and not proposed to be designated,
we didn't send letters to those 250.
One of the planning Commission recommendations
was to include an opt in and opt out
procedure for at least six months
after the local register was approved.
This way homeowners that haven't had time
to weigh having the designation or not
would still have a time frame to say that they didn't want this
and to indicate whether they wanted to be included or not.
When the ordinance comes back to you all,
we would bring a resolution that would outline the process.
Staff would gather a list of the owners,
take them to the next preservation board
and have another preservation board have
a discussion on whether the property would be approved then
it would come to council in six months
and in ordinance would stand.
Last but not least, there are historic district overlays.
Many properties wouldn't be on the local register anymore.
They would still be located inside an overlay district,
which has design regulations and requirements to keep the feel
of the historic district.
I believe that is all I have at the moment.
Any questions for me?
Mayor Lux: Thanks for the clarification.
Any questions?
Member Julian: I don't have a question
but I want to make clear that my intention isn't
to hold things up.
This is good progress.
I wanted to make sure we didn't get crosswise with the law.
I appreciate the consideration for extended time for attorney
and staff to work that out.
Vice Mayor Polk: Yes.
There may be things more restrictive but there are things
that are not, like striking "advisory" from the name.
There are other things we could have approved.
If it's even one thing, it is put together all as one.
That is why we couldn't approve it all today.
The problem is that in the historic district there were
people waiting on the list -- this is confusing and convoluted
-- and prior to the storms were removed from the list.
They are now up against the 50% rule where they
have to knock the home down.
But if they were on the list they would have been protected.
This has been a real hairy mess.
Thanks to staff for trying to figure it out.
We need to do this expeditiously.
I had someone ask me at one of the meetings what they can do.
I told them that they could get an appraisal.
I don't know how to help them.
They were on it, were taken off of it,
and now have to knock their home down.
This is a big issue.
Thank you.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney:
I will get with staff as quickly as possible to work
on these issues raised.
We will see what we can do about it and it will become lawful.
Vice Mayor Polk: Thank you for that.
When a realtor sold my home, I did not
know it was on a historic registry.
I was someone who later received a letter that I was no longer
on the historic registry.
I didn't know I was in the first place.
It is important that this gets pushed through as quickly
as possible, so when realtors are selling like homes --
and they are selling like hotcakes because they are
selling at a discount since people walked away from
a flooded home -- we get this done as expeditiously
as possible.
Mayor Lux: Anything else?
I think resolutions like to get their realtor letter out
to help these people move on.
This is very important.
Thank you, Mr. Leskovich.
Anybody else have anything?
We will open it up for public input.
Please state your name for the record.
Press the button.
Community Member: My name is Kurt Habel
and I live downtown at 301 Goldstein.
I received the letter.
It was written on July 13th.
The meeting was supposed to be July 27th.
The letter was stamped July 24th at the Post Office.
That is a Friday.
It probably went out on Saturday and I might not
have gotten it since Monday.
I wasn't in town and was at a wedding out of state.
I wouldn't be able to make it.
I was told that it wasn't a big deal
because there was a box checked on my particular one.
I don't know the definitive reason.
How can it be written on the 13th when it isn't put
into the post office until the 24th?
We are supposed to be here the 27th.
That isn't fair.
If there were 250 that got sent out,
you need to ask people that didn't show up if they had
a chance to go to the meeting.
I had already missed the meeting because I didn't get
home until late Tuesday night.
That isn't fair.
We need a better system.
It cannot be written.
Did it sit in someone's drawer for two weeks?
I had no opportunity to respond.
What does the box mean that was marked on my page?
I may be for it.
I told Adriana that I wanted to build my house.
I don't know what the definitive differences and benefits are.
It is complicated for me and it is probably complicated for you.
If it's complicated for you, it is complicated for the citizens.
I would like to ask for clarity on this.
A lot of people come including me come I never got the letter.
I have the letter at home.
I will show it to you.
I showed it to Adriana.
She has been wonderful.
I do not fault her because she's probably
not the one that sent it out.
I would like to show this to you as proof because it is unjust.
When my vested rights got bumped back,
it was failed to advertise.
We had to bump it back, which caused me more pain.
I probably would have gotten it the day of the notice.
It cannot be both ways.
The citizens cannot lose every single time.
I would like to meet with you, show you the letter,
and find out the meaning of the letter.
There's a box marked on there.
You should give everyone an opportunity
by sending the letter again a lot of people
did not get the letter or didn't get it
in time to come to the meeting that was supposed
to be on that Monday.
That's all I got to say.
I will bring it in as proof and I can email it to you.
Seeing is believing.
That is it.
Any questions?
Mayor Lux: To Mr. Havel's point, I've had people send me stuff
that I've gotten well over a week later.
It could be the post office.
That can happen.
The other thing I'm talking about --
which he brought up and I have highlighted -- is, Rachel,
we should have workshops for people to understand what that
is.
We could have people sign up so whoever
doesn't respond can be reached out to
to make sure that they understand
that they can opt out.
I don't know if that's a good idea.
>> That is completely reasonable and we will get those scheduled.
Mayor Lux: Anyone else for public input?
I'm not sure if you got your time
because we didn't hit the timer and you have three minutes.
Three minutes is maximum time.
Community Member: I cannot talk about the historic district?
Mayor Lux: Is it okay for him to talk about historic district?
Community Member: Jeanine Polk came to the realtors Association
two Fridays ago.
We want the city to turn around and be beautified.
We want people to buy old houses and fix them up.
We are not against that.
These are not selling like hotcakes.
I told Mr. Perry that I did not dislike him.
How was he on the historic board?
How many people on town have sold
come a list have come or had a buyer buy
these in the last three years?
He couldn't name one.
It is hard to buy a house and fix it up financially.
It doesn't make sense from a financial standpoint.
The insurance to cover these houses is drastically high.
My insurance from frontline is $1,200 a year.
The quote from across the street was $7,100 a year.
If you got it for $6,000, you still have to have flood --
Mayor Lux: I accidentally did that.
Go ahead, sir.
Community Member: People love the homes
but they are not moving.
People are making judicious financial decisions
and it doesn't make sense to buy them.
I have friends fixing up a house on palm
and they did a wonderful job.
It is beautiful.
He's having so many problems and now everything is so expensive.
The people who own the properties are stuck if they
cannot sell the houses.
Some of these houses are put in the middle of the lot.
You cannot build a garage because of where it was put
in 1950.
Let people make a choice.
You guys are saying that you cannot make a choice.
People are stuck with the homes and it is way too expensive
to fix them up, because you will not get your money back.
Miss Jeanine, you bulldozed your house.
Your actions speak louder than words your house was nicer
than the house I bought.
It was beautiful.
Your likable your age was 1972, even
though it was built in 1935.
Mayor Lux: You are going off subject.
Thank you.
Community Member: I just wanted to let you know.
Community Member: Derrick Rooney, resident.
This issue isn't the city's fault.
I serve as city attorney in several cities.
We are also trying to address historic preservation issues
because of the flood question.
You are exempt from the 50% rule.
I don't have a simple answer for Steve.
I had to pull back one of my own ordinances for the same reason.
Legislature passed Senate Bill 180 in place, ironically,
for the reason of helping property owners in storms.
The solution is that --
Senate bill 180 says that the city cannot impose burdensome
provisions.
This is something that needs to be addressed.
This is holding up a lot of properties that people
don't want to tear down?
At some point you have to live where you have to live
and you have to make a decision about what to do.
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: Press the button.
Community Member: Mike Polk.
We didn't have a choice but to tear our house down.
We had to tear both of them down.
We were at 50%.
We did not have a historic designation.
That was our choice.
The city wouldn't let us do anything but that.
I did not try to bring subcontractors in at night
or on the weekend.
I did it legally.
That is why we tore the house down.
We had no choice.
We exceeded the 50% rule.
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: Press the button, Tim.
Community Member: Tim Ritchie.
We want to keep our historic district looking historic.
I have been up here more than all of you
put together for years.
I won't sit here and let anyone come up here
and project them as being bad.
The four of them sitting up here today
are the best city council we've ever had!
Exactly the four members here today present
are the best we've ever had!
If anyone wants to argue with me,
I will be out in the parking lot after the meeting.
Mayor Lux: Tim.
Community Member: No mayor.
Good mayor.
If Mr. Polk said these have to get torn down
because they are past the 50% point,
that's what has to happen.
I'm sure there building close to the historic district
if necessary.
I'm tired of people taking a tack at my mayor and vice mayor.
I'm not going to tolerate it for one minute!
I helped get rid of the previous attorney.
We got rid of the previous city manager because he wasn't good!
I'm not going to hear that!
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: Anyone else for public input?
Motion.
>> Are we tabling this?
What do you suggest, Mr. Leskovich?
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney:
You can approve it and move it or my suggestion is you
table it for staff and myself to get together.
I will take Mr. Rooney up on his suggestion
and try to get this back to you guys as quickly as possible
to see if there's a way we can get around Senate Bill 180
and Senate Bill 250.
I suggest you table it for today.
Mayor Lux: Other things we would like to give guidelines around
to expedite this?
We are trying to expedite the poor residents stuck here
in this 50-50 as to whether they can take it down or not.
I would like to say if it's okay with SB 180
if we can expedite it.
Are you saying we should completely table it?
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney:
I would suggest to table it today.
We can change the name of the board.
That's not an issue.
When you are changing the process
of how the demolition works and whether you are or are not
included on the list, that has to be detailed a little more.
Mayor Lux: You are saying that today we can change the name
of the board and having workshops is fine but we should
table a decision came -- but we should table a decision?
>> I want to note real quick that we should close the public
hearing.
Mayor Lux: Okay, we have a motion
to close the public hearing.
Member Denton: Move to close the public hearing.
Mayor Lux: All in favor raise your hand.
Everyone raise their hand.
None opposed.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney: My suggestion
is to table in its entirety today.
Let me get with staff and Mr. Rooney and hear the suggestions.
Staff can certainly have a workshop together
to try to get this back to you guys as quickly as possible.
Mayor Lux: Can we get a certain date for the next meeting?
I want it expedited.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney: If it's available,
September 23rd could be a date and I can get with staff within
the next week or two for us to get this back on your September
23rd agenda.
That is pending staff availability.
>> Sarah, will this need to be Re-advertised?
Sara Welch, City Clerk: If we continue to a date certain,
we wouldn't need to Member Denton:
I move to table this and reconvene the topic on September
23rd after consideration of staff, attorney,
and Derek Rooney.
>>
>> I second that.
Mayor Lux: These are fine.
Please raise your hand if you're in favor of.
Motion shows everyone raise their hand.
Opposed?
Motion carries.
Next up our ordinances and resolutions.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney:
An ordinance of city of Punta Gorda Florida amending chapter
three of the Code of Ordinances to revise regulations governing
the operation of golf carts on city streets and rights of way,
amending section 23-seven, motorized vehicles prohibited
on Tidal Creek Bridge, amending section 23-eight .
This is the second reading.
>> Hello.
Carl Benj, urban design.
We are here to discuss the golf cart ordinance.
There was confusion on when it was finally approved.
We are asking for clarification and discussion.
>> Good morning.
Chief Smith.
I was not here at the last meeting.
I wanted to get more clarification in reference
to enforcement if the revised ordinance gets approved.
In 2019, we went to the City Council
to ask to allow the golf carts to travel
over the bridge in reference to Fisherman's Village
being able to transport things back and forth to the buildings
over on the west Retta side.
It has evolved into transporting elderly visitors and the cruise
ship passengers to the military Heritage Museum.
If we are going to put the new ordinance in place,
I want to clarify that no motorized vehicles can
be on the harbor walk or sidewalk without an ordinance.
We would have to enforce if they decided
they needed to transport.
They would just have them walk or drive around.
I just wanted to get clarification.
Mayor Lux: Any questions for them?
Discussion?
Member Julian: I would like to allow
the transit of the golf carts or the elderly back and forth.
Vice Mayor Polk: I didn't realize
when they were bringing in the busses they
were coming across golf carts.
That concerns me because that means more people were using it
than was alluded to in the initial agreement or discussion
from the last meeting.
It was stated that it was just once in a while.
We should eventually all agree that something
will happen at the Military Heritage Museum building
and it will be more crowded.
We have to be careful.
If we are going to allow this to happen,
there are pedestrians who walk here all the time.
There are bicyclists and people who
live here that are trying to get into their driveways.
I think it is one more thing for the citizens
to have to have on their shoulders
if an accident happens they are.
We have to be cognizant of the health safety
and welfare of the people.
I was not aware that the busses were using
this whenever they needed to.
Mayor Lux: Another concern we talked about was liability.
Member Denton: The police have many jobs
are they supposed to determine who are elderly?
You look like you are 70 but if you are 55
then you don't qualify.
How does that work?
>> We don't question whether they have someone of a certain
age on their golf cart.
The ordinance allows the golf cart to go across.
I don't know how often they transport passengers.
That was something that was brought up at one point in time.
They transport people that would like to go over there
and do not want to walk over there.
We've never had an issue.
Fisherman's Village trained their people to stop, make sure
no one's crossing the bridge, and then they go across.
I've never even gotten a complaint.
Mayor Lux: It was an impact building
and that is why they have less parking.
I'm not sure if variance with parking should have changed.
People were living on campus and didn't need additional parking.
Because this has changed and people haven't done anything
about parking requirements, we have to do something about that.
I worry about liability and more people coming over.
We know that cruise ships are great because it brings tourism
but that is more a liability with people crossing over.
We may need a trolley to transport people around.
Jenny.
Member Denton: They don't have to use the bridge.
They can use the roads.
It is a cute convenience.
Mayor Lux: Motion?
>> As far as using the roads, golf carts cannot use the road
unless it is a registered licensed vehicle.
My understanding is they are not using the golf
carts on the roads, which is why they are using the bridge.
Vice Mayor Polk: I will make a motion to approve the new
ordinance 4a.
Mayor Lux: This is a second reading?
Yes.
Do I have a second?
Member Julian: I second.
Mayor Lux: We have a motion and a second for approval
of the second reading.
Steven S. Leskovich, City
>> I apologize but this wasn't a second reading.
We would like to classify this as a review
of the first reading.
I apologize for not clarifying that.
Mayor Lux: It needs to come back?
>> I apologize.
Mayor Lux: So, we are approving the review of the first reading
to have a second reading done again?
>> We listened to the verbiage of the approval and the verbiage
wasn't correct.
We are asking for correct verbiage
to make sure we have everything covered.
We are doing it to make sure the procedure is done.
That's why we brought it back.
Mayor Lux: We have approval and second.
All in favor?
Opposed?
Everyone raised their hand.
This is approved for the second reading.
Next one?
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney:
What you guys were approving was clarifying the first reading
and then you will come back on a different date for the second
reading Kapec -- for the second reading?
Mayor Lux: Correct.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney:
Resolution for B authorizing the city manager
to accept and execute, and fund the federally funded Hazard
mitigation Grant program.
Watershed master plan and the amount of $225,000,
recognizing a local match of $75,000,
authorizing the appropriate budget amendments,
provided for conflicts, and providing an effective date.
>> Rick, grants coordinator.
In January, Florida Division of management offered up --
it was previously closed and we didn't take part in it.
The county has a part in it and they are going through a process
that we are not involved in.
We need a separate one to participate in the CRS program.
We have a building official here about the CRS program.
This is the last chance for funding the watershed Master
plan through FEMA.
This is our opportunity to move forward with our National Flood
Insurance program.
If you have any questions regarding the program
and importance of it, the official
can answer those questions.
Mayor Lux: Do you want to come up, Ron?
Press it again.
Got it.
>> We've been partnering with Charlotte County Public
it's been an enormous amount of money to get their watershed
in place.
They've been generous with us.
This grant is to help the city pick up
the portion we specifically need for our portion of it.
I don't know how much you understand about it,
but it is a prerequisite that is required
before you get any CRS credits.
CRS credits get the city as a whole discount
on flood insurance.
We are trying to achieve additional credit
and trying to get a higher discount on it.
It is a long process, probably two and a half years to finish.
This grant will cover the city's portion needed to finish this
process .
Member Julian: This is an essential tool in our kit
and we should proceed with it.
Vice Mayor Polk: I am in agreement
with Councilman Julian.
The packet said another 5% reduction if we get this.
Everyone is excited about that.
I will approve this today for sure.
Mayor Lux: Do you want to make a motion?
Vice Mayor Polk: I make a motion to approve 4B.
Member Denton: I second the motion.
Mayor Lux: Motion and second on the floor.
Raise your hand if in favor.
All of us raised our hands.
Opposed?
Motion carries.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney: Agenda item four C,
allowance a major to accept, execute,
administer 2024 community forest D capacity grants contract with
the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services .
FDAC, number 3407892 plant 100 native,
wind and salt tolerant trees and restore the tree canopy
in the amount of $48,617, recognizing a local match
of $5,649, authorizing an appropriate budget amendments
providing for conflicts and providing for an effective date.
>> Good afternoon.
Rick Lehmkuhle, grants coordinator.
This is a great opportunity for the city
to accept funds from FDACS to plant
and restore 100 trees in our city.
400 of the dollars comes from community .
Pending any questions.
Member Denton: Congratulations on your hard work.
We love free grant money to get our city more beautiful.
Thank you.
Good job.
Vice Mayor Polk: I agree with you, Councilwoman Denton.
I 100% think we need more trees.
More oxygen is always good.
I appreciate that we were allotted this money.
Can I move to approve?
Move to approve 4C.
Member Julian: I second that.
Mayor Lux: All in favor raise your hand.
All four hands are raised.
Opposed?
Motion carries.
Thank you for your hard work.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney: Agenda item 4D,
resolution of the City Council of the City of Punta Gorda,
Florida, approving amended bylaws governing
the requirements of the Building Board,
providing an effective date.
Sara Welch, City Clerk: Sir Welch.
This was to amend bylaws to remove the lifetime provision
for consumer advocates and provide an alternate for one
to be designated as a contractor in another --
William -- to sit on the board later this meeting come up with
Kathy being considered alternate for a contractor.
Mayor Lux: I could not see when you press a button.
I apologize for that.
Any questions for Sarah?
Motion?
>> I make a motion to approve 4D.
Member Julian: I second that.
Mayor Lux: The motion carries.
Next is the consent agenda.
Does anyone want anything pulled?
Doctor Misty, were you going to talk about urban design consent
or did you want to do that in projects?
In agenda we talked about impervious and urban design
because they only do it once a month.
Do you want to talk about that in projects?
I need motion for approval for the consent agenda.
Vice Mayor Polk: No one is here to speak on five a?
Someone is here to speak on it.
I would hate to approve it and him not discuss it.
Mayor Lux: Any questions for him?
Vice Mayor Polk: No Mayor Lux: That was a quest for --
that was a request for a motion to approve consent agenda?
Vice Mayor Polk: I moved to approve consent agenda.
Mayor Lux: We have a motion and second
to approve the consent agenda in full.
Raise your hand if in favor.
All four raised our hands.
All opposed motion carries.
Does anyone want a break or continue on?
We will take a quick ten minute break please.
[council on break]
Mayor Lux: We will get started again.
Please sit down.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney:
We will move to the regular agenda 6a agreement Award
to architects design group, incorporated, of winter Park,
Florida for a master agreement to provide assessment
and planning for the city's public safety complex at 1410
Tamiami Trail, Punta Gorda.
>> Request for qualifications for engineering and architecture
services for the Public Safety expansion project.
Solicitation was issued to 700 vendors in the city received
three responses from teams of consultants and architects.
This was also posted on another procurement system advertising
the bid.
This will be the master agreement
that contains hourly rates in order
to negotiate authorizations for a phased approach
for the project.
Future authorizations will be approved
by the appropriate award authority.
The proposal packages were evaluated by committee,
which ranked proposals.
Then we entered into interviews conducted with consultants
and their teams.
The top ranked firm designated by the committee
was architects design group of Winter Park, Florida.
We entered into negotiations.
This project was previously approved by the voters
to be funded by the 1% sales tax.
We have the consultant from architects
design Group to speak to council if you
have any questions regarding the project.
Staff recommends a word of the agreement to architects
design Group of Winter Park, Florida,
of being the most responsible and qualified bidder.
Mayor Lux: Any questions?
Member Denton: What is the cost to this point to hire them?
>> There is no cost to the master agreement.
It puts the agreement in place with hourly rates
for different positions to move forward to the phasing approach.
The first phase will be the next agreement, amendment one,
which is the assessment.
Member Denton: Follow up question.
We have a lot in question right now with 1% sales tax ,
and we also have the possible property tax reduction.
It's a lot to ask of these folks if we don't have the money
to move ahead.
I don't know if we should postpone.
You've done a lot of work in these people are probably great.
But will we be able to follow through?
>> Going into it, we knew grant funding would be an integral
part to making this project successful.
It went out to bid one time previously.
We canceled the bid because we saw there were
items lacking in the scope.
We added grant funding to be part of the consultants team.
Amendment number one brings them in from the beginning
during the assessment of the building
to start looking at grant funding.
>> Kristen Simeon, finance director.
I wanted to speak to the funding.
This is 1% sales tax that also incorporates public safety
impact fees for the project.
The needs assessment was determined
that to be done first to determine what
the project will actually be.
So, depending what is determined about expanding the facility
or buying land and having a facility somewhere else,
that would determine what the full project would be.
Also, it would involve looking for grants.
Vice Mayor Polk: Where are the numbers being projected from?
It said somewhere that there was a need for a 100 zero
square feet?
There is a need because the public safety building is
currently crowded. -- there was a statement that there was
a need for 100,000ft².
It is currently 23,000 and the other area is 18,000?
They are projecting 100,000ft².
That is a lot of square footage.
>> Chief of the police department.
That number was not the correct number.
We have the person that bid on the group here.
I think they mentioned that it should be around 60,000ft².
I will let them answer the question.
>> Hi.
Rodney McManus with ADG.
There's a process we go through to determine the square footage
needed based on the programs the chief wants
to run out of the department.
The number could flex either way.
We think 110,000ft² is larger than it ultimately needs to be.
Vice Mayor Polk: That answers my question.
I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Fritz.
We will spend this money.
I know these are preliminary plans.
This is the first we've heard of it.
In another 10 to 12 weeks there will be two things on the ballot
-- one of them is the 20 year 1% sales tax that may or may not
pass.
If we are depending on these tax dollars,
I'm a little weary of making this choice right now.
The other one is the tax reform bill.
That may pass.
This may be a different story nine weeks from now
and I wonder if we should wait.
I know they hate to hear that.
We might need to wait before we take a dive.
Member Julian: What would waiting
that long due to the project?
Mayor Lux: Go ahead, Anne.
>> I will let Mr. McNamara --
I will let Mr. McManus speak.
>> It takes 4 to 6 months to determine the scope of the work.
Regardless of whether it moves forward or at what speed
it does so, the preliminary work needs
to be completed for us to understand
what the scope of work needs to be in the future.
This is preliminary step one that
leads to phase number two, which is the actual design
of the building.
This first part under the amendment
has to do with determining the scope of the project.
It doesn't have to do with the actual construction
of the building.
It determines what needs to be done.
I would suggest that the 6 or 8 weeks doesn't change
what needs to be done for the next 50 years
but this is the duration of the project they want to plan for
and what the chief talked about project.
Mayor Lux: I agree.
What we are looking at is twofold --
can the current building be expanded?
May be adding a second story?
We need to expand this to fit everyone.
This may be the best way to do it
because otherwise, we may have to find a land somewhere
and build a new building permit we are still going to have to do
something for this department.
I would like someone to have a motion to approve this.
>> I wanted to comment that this was a voter approved project.
We have community backing?
It is a phased approach.
We are taking the first step to move forward
with what we need for public safety into the future.
Mayor Lux: Other comments?
Member Julian: I move to approve the agenda item.
Member Denton: Based on the fact that it doesn't cost us anything
at this point, I second that.
Mayor Lux: We have a motion and a second.
All in favor?
All four of us raised our hands.
Opposed?
Motion carries.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney: Six b,
a word of amendment number one to architect design
group of Winter Park Florida, for professional services
to assess the public safety facility.
>> Again, an Hyman.
City Council previously awarded the master agreement
to architects design Group to provide professional services
to assess and plan for the needs of the public police
department and Fire Department as it relates to the Public
Safety Facility.
The agreement contained hourly rates
to negotiate future phases of the project.
Staff requested a proposal based on the rates
and to assess the current needs of the Police Department
and fire Department.
The consultant will perform an assessment
of the current facility to determine
if improvements can be made or if an additional site may
be necessary.
The consultant will provide a report of findings
to the City Council, along with a concept plan
and opinion of cost.
Total cost of the authorization is $335,042.
Timeline to complete this is eight months
from the notice to proceed.
Staff is awarding of amendment number one
to Architect design Group.
Mayor Lux: Any discussion?
Us in government believes this is a lot of money
but is probably very accurate for what is needed.
Going off the last conversation, we
need to figure out what we can do
to make this building workable to expand in the future.
Do you want to say anything, sir?
Vice Mayor Polk: This is task A through K. Task
B said a staffing study is optional if requested.
It is not included in the $335,000 cost.
Can you explain that?
What would a staffing study entail?
>> In the actual amendment in the exhibits,
there were three different levels of staffing studies.
The first level determines the number of staff based
on emergency calls and things like that ,
with the important input of the chief and the way they run
their department.
The staffing study can say how many people have positions.
A deeper dive on that is how positions work together.
A deeper dive is pay rates compared to other communities
and departments in the surrounding area,
in order to make sure the police want to work there and continue
to work there, rather than jumping
to another facility or department
in a neighboring town.
It just wasn't determined whether that would be
a need at the beginning or not.
If it wasn't, we won't utilize it.
Mayor Lux: I think Vice Mayor Polk was asking
if there is an additional cost.
>> It would be based on the initial information we gather
talking with the chief and all the departments at the station.
That would give us the information
we need to know how much the staffing study would cost
and then determine the level of staffing study
to move forward with.
Presently, it was pretty much agreed
that the staffing study wouldn't be needed but is in there
if it comes up.
Mayor Lux: Is there going to be some point where the county will
take over our 911 system?
Are we taking this into consideration?
We fought hard against this.
It kills us if this is taken away from us but it may happen.
>> That is beyond our pay grade.
This is what would come out of the analysis
that we are planning to do.
Member Denton: Since the public approved this
based on the 1% tax, I'm willing to go ahead.
I want to hear from the public regarding these considerations
with this money involved and whether there's still
an agreement.
Feel free to email me and the rest of us.
I want to hear in general on these topics.
>> Pam Smith.
One of the discussions during the process around the staffing
study is whether the facility will cover this.
They will interview everyone and find out
how our department works and how the Fire Department works.
That would determine the size of the building,
versus a full blown staffing study.
That cost can be high.
Benton just paid $65,000 for a staffing study.
We are trying to save some money there.
The 1% sales tax has been happening the past six years.
The money is there for this needs assessment now.
We need to know what we can do.
Do we build on top of what we have or do
we have to go somewhere else?
That is where we are with this.
Mayor Lux: Any other questions?
Any motion?
Member Julian: I move to approve amendment one.
Mayor Lux: Do I have a Vice Mayor Polk: I second.
Mayor Lux: Motion and second on the floor.
All in favor raise your hand?
All raised our hands.
Opposed?
Motion carries.
Thank you.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney: Agenda item six C,
a word of amendment to Carrollo engineers Inc of Sarasota
Florida, to provide professional services for the rehabilitation
of well number five and well number six at the Shell Creek
Reserve osmosis water treatment >> An Hyman from procurement.
This is an amendment to award of amendment to Carollo engineers.
This is the plan, design, provide bid assistance
and technical oversight of rehabilitation
of Wells five and six at the water treatment plant.
The purpose of rehabilitation is to restore and possibly increase
capacity and water quality.
Time frame to complete authorization
is six months from the notice to proceed.
Staff recommends approval of the amendment to Carollo Engineers.
Member Denton: Would this be considered of 197 million
we are putting towards water quality and sewer?
The plan.
>> This was included in our budget for 2026.
Vice Mayor Polk: I move to approve six C.
Member Denton: I second.
Mayor Lux: Motion and second on the floor.
All in favor raise your hand?
All four raised our hands.
Opposed?
Motion carries.
Utilities on top of everything.
You are one step ahead.
I thank you and procurement for moving this forward
for our residents.
Thank you.
Steven S. Leskovich, City Attorney:
Six D, Trabue Park improvements.
>> Good morning, Carl, urban design.
This is a presentation for park improvements.
The main focus of the presentation is grants.
The city is lucky to have a proactive grants coordinator.
However, one issue we hear from them
is that we need concepts and plans to go for these grants.
This is a high level plan for him
to use to go for park improvements.
This is the area in question.
It starts at the Adrian Street pier.
This is the end of the Harbor walk.
We are calling this the Harbor Walk gateway.
We have a draft, unfunded CIP, for 2027
through 2031, which would allow us
to pursue this project in grants that we are talking about.
Some of the improvements we are talking about
is the National Fitness campaign fitness court.
They reached out for fitness opportunities
and we thought this would be a great way
to start the conversation?
There are also passive park upgrades
with winding path and small bridge.
There are open activity areas to provide a nice, cohesive place
to hang out.
There is also Adrian Street pier street improvements
and we would possibly expand parking.
There is a possible acquisition at Harbor Work East
to provide amenities within the area.
We can do the special flood hazard area
property purchase to increase park access
and use and mitigate future property losses.
These are the existing fitness stations
we have by Fisherman's Village.
This is where we get the idea of bookending the fitness thing.
It is all at the side of the park.
We usually don't have anything at the eastern side of the park.
We want to bring something there.
This is a national fitness campaign.
These are the people who reached out to the city.
They offered a $30,000 grant.
They have a fitness court that starts at $200,000.
There are a lot of amenities attached to it
part of the process is bringing the community together.
There is a wall on one side of it
and it gives us an opportunity to provide a local artist
an area to paint.
The other is a fitness court and studio.
It doubles the size of the area and offers a nice flat area
for exercises and activities.
The cost starts around $262,000.
These are two options we can look into if we so decide.
There are other ways we can make this an active park.
Some of us grew up with these wooden training
things in the parks.
You can find them when you walk around Sarasota.
They are cheaper to maintain.
They may not be as durable but it offers activities
and we can maintain it at a reasonable price.
There are also ninja courses, which are big for kids nowadays
there is an indoor one in Renton that I take my kids to.
This may be fun.
This is on the east side of town.
Cooper Street and Carmelita have almost all of our school's.
We have the Boys and Girls Club on Cooper Street.
There are a lot of teens and children on that side of town
that congregate to this project this is something
we should think about.
Back in 2005, the city worked with the trust for Public Lands
and accumulated some of these properties in red
that butt up against West Marion.
There was 6 or 7 lands the city acquired
and mitigated future loss.
These were targeted in Hurricane Charley.
This is part of a bigger plan the city has been working on
for a while.
This is the further layout of the Trabue Park Land Use.
Two of these parcels are available.
We would love to acquire these parcels
but we understand upcoming things being voted on
may limit future finances.
We would love to do this all but we are separating them in case
we cannot do the land acquisition now.
We still want to do improvements to Trabue Park.
We are keeping these separate so they don't tie each other down.
This is the proposed future use.
The bottom left corner is the National campaign Fitness court.
Moving up there is an open fitness area
that could be another fitness area come up
like the Ninja court, or a passive place for recreation.
Going across the street is a property
we weren't able to acquire.
We own the big green square but it is underutilized.
We want to plant trees and make it more attractive.
The little blue building is a property
we want to acquire in the future if we can.
It's an existing structure, so if we
want to convert it to amenities, there's
already water and electric which would reduce costs.
Across the way is another part of NC property
we want to buy for conservation.
It is mostly wetlands as is.
We included the park concept from 2006 to highlight the plan
as something the city wanted for 20 years the city is trying
to pursue these grants .
In 2020, we reached out to work with trust Public Lands.
This fell through in 2020 and we know
that this is because of COVID.
We hit a wall.
Here's the proposed layout we would like to use moving forward
for all the grant applications.
To the left is a fitness court that could be expanded or moved.
We have a winding sidewalk that goes through it.
The rectangle at the top would be a pedestrian bridge
to tie into the existing harbor walk that creates a circle walk.
The winding path leads to another area of passive activity
zone.
All of this can be changed as needed.
This is just a large view.
This is the part by Adrienne Street.
We want to fix this pier.
I like to think we are still a fishing community.
We want to reinstate that and create this fishing and exercise
hub.
We have possible expansion of the parking.
We only have eight parking spots right now, and two of the spots
are handicapped parking.
If we want to expand this place we need more parking.
I will let Richard explain the grants.
>> Rick Lemko, grants coordinator.
Thank you for the time.
We have a couple opportunities to fund these improvements
in acquisition of Trabue Park.
It is ten acres but there are enclaves within it
that make the park less usable.
The first opportunity for funding
is outdoor recreation legacy Partnership program.
That is with the National Park Service.
They can fund up to $15 million each grant cycle.
Right now it is funded for the next five years and the funding
opportunity closes on November 1st with the feds.
I've worked with the trust for Public Lands
for the last couple of months.
I've talked with them to see how we can develop anything if we
are able to acquire anything.
Right now they are able to assist us
with grant application.
I will do grant writing internally
but they will give a technical overview of it.
Part of the program is dialed into access to recreation.
That is what we are trying to do.
We are trying to improve access to the east Side and all
of our residents, so we can improve the amount
of people that go there.
Earlier Carl was talking about the internal discussion
of calling it a gateway to the Harborwalk.
As we come in from the East on Marion,
this would be another thing we see in addition to the hospital.
We need more going on because we've had hurricanes.
This may be a first step to bring everything together
to make the east side beautiful again.
Increasing access to Trabue Park with expanded parking
would be great.
We currently only have eight spots
for people to access Adrienne Pier and Trabue Park.
We have an underserved East side.
This grant is funded for five years
but we can move forward with any grant opportunity the next three
years.
FERDAP is a smaller grant and is limited in the amount of money.
It is harder to get and you can do less with it.
FEMA offers up something through flood mitigation assistance
and flood hazard mitigation grants.
There are properties we are trying to acquire
at Adrienne and Marion streets.
One of the properties is right at the access spot to Adrienne.
Side control gives us access to Harborwalk, the amenities,
and the pier.
The pier will be renovated at some point
and the access will be helpful.
We put in access to apply for the FEMA
grant, which is a 25% match.
It has not been applied for yet but there is an intention
that we could move forward with that.
I didn't mention this before but there
are two opportunities for grant funding for the Outdoor
Recreation grant.
One is just for the improvements Carl mentioned
before the improvements would be one grant and a separate grant
application would be for property acquisition.
We didn't mention that they are listed for sale.
They are distressed properties.
There's an MLS listing for them right now.
Even if they aren't listed, you can always
have a negotiation, a discussion.
There are other grant opportunities out there
that I haven't discussed.
National Fitness campaign is a small grant .
There are 30,000 available.
Another opened up, which is coastal Partnership initiative,
for access to waterfront recreation and opportunities.
That is available and is a technical assistance and grant
planning for the planning and design of our Piers.
It is a good opportunity to move forward
with increased resilience for our Piers.
A lot of opportunities improve access
for residents, the underserved, and improves our resilience.
We don't have to go through the hardship again.
Maybe a eight foot storm surge will happen again.
The earlier discussion with the Waterfront Hotel
talked about a 12 foot water surge
that Hans designed with a dock system.
This is kind of where we need to be.
Construction costs increase with better improved designs,
but that would be a separate source of funding.
The next steps would be getting a feel
for where you want to be with Adrienne Street Pier.
I know this is a public works process.
I talked to our administration.
There's a way to work with FEMA to make sure these
are improved designs.
Trabue Park improvements are right around $1 million.
The good thing about the ORLP grant
is I can move forward with the grant application
without having an actual design or permits.
A lot of grants require this but all they require now
is a concept.
Any funding would take us past 2028 fiscal year.
If we get awarded in May, it would take at least 180 days
to get an executed agreement.
We are realistically looking well into the end of 2028
or the beginning of fiscal year 2029
before we can start a project, if it is awarded with the grant
cycle.
We don't really need a design yet.
That's in the future whenever you are inclined to do that.
I have a couple grant funding opportunities
I can begin moving forward with.
This is kind of where we are at.
We are just looking for direction.
This slide deck shows what the actual fitness court looks like.
It is designed to bring the community together.
That is kind of where we are at.
We are asking for council direction and questions.
Thank you.
Mayor Lux: Thank you.
Any questions?
Member Julian: So, we aren't obligated to spend
taxpayer dollars at all until we receive the grants.
Then there's cost sharing involved in it.
We can proceed with the concept and applying for grants
without obligating tax dollars.
>> No, unless you are awarded a grant,
you are not obligated to proceed.
Federal grants require long time before a contract is written.
We are not looking at the fiscal year budget but one
down the year.
When I'm looking at my numbers and dates for the bigger grant,
2029 is what I'm looking at.
If we are awarded the Grand, we will look forward to a 50% match
a couple years down the road.
The other grants are different.
The CPI grant would be awarded in March.
That would also be a 50% grant.
That is a smaller project for design of Piers.
The FEMA grant would be a 25% match.
It takes a long time to execute contracts.
Member Denton: You have some great ideas.
Whatever we consider, we need to think about the cost
of maintenance .
If it could be a natural or low maintenance park,
that would be helpful.
Did pickleball ever cross your mind?
People always love that.
Another question I had was with Piers,
if it is a flow through dock that may
be a better solution than wood.
Sorry about the echo.
Is there something we can do with a climbing wall?
I know we have to think about liability.
The Ninja Park idea looks fun and could
attract younger people.
I was hoping to get a comment from Pastor Thomas
because this was near his community.
I would like to hear from him and people
he knows maybe he has other ideas.
Maybe we need a soccer field.
The east side is an underserved area.
I like all your ideas.
I don't want it to cost money at this point.
We have so many questions ahead of us.
But we have so many grants.
>> Thank you Ma'am.
We kicked football and soccer around a little bit.
We have East Marion here.
I don't think this place is appropriate
this close to the road.
There are a lot of considerations
we took into account.
Walls may be incorporated within the ninja course.
There may be a little small climbing wall.
There are going to be fitness courts for adults.
We have these bi linear park.
We want to incorporate another adult court.
We really want to embrace the children.
My child brings this up to me all the time.
We have three schools over there there's a way for those kids
to get to the water and enjoy it.
It would be good if there's a way for the kids
to cross the street with a crosswalk to enjoy a ninja
course, amenity, or fishing.
The kids are what's important to me right now.
We do not have amenities for kids.
We have a few parks but they are few and far between.
They are typically at the schools.
When I go towards Sally Jones, I see a nice park
but it is closed after school hours.
I think you had another question.
Funding will be an issue but this
is a discussion that's been in the works for 20 years,
since we had a CR a.
It is an underserved area and we can
make things happen with this.
We had a discussion with other departments
in the state that do transportation in regards
to crosswalks.
If we have a reason to get a crosswalk,
we can get one in the medical overlay district.
We can bring in a crosswalk if we have a purpose for it.
We can have a safety measure to bring people
in from the actual city proper into the recreation area.
If we design it, we can get a crosswalk of some kind.
There's a number of things we can bring together to make this
really nice .
My thinking is that this is a gateway to the city.
That is where we are at.
We are looking for direction and the ability
to pursue this grant.
Mayor Lux: I agree with you.
This is one of the biggest things we talk about.
We talk about our development and what we want to do.
It seems like everything stops on the west side.
We need to incorporate the east side that brings development
into our community.
You bring up a good point, Council member Denton,
with maintenance.
>> Fixing Adrienne Pier is one of the projects in the works.
Mayor Lux: This may be a more protected area for the kids.
You are saying there are properties for sale right now.
The asking price for a distressed property
seems unique for their cost.
If this is distressed and in a flood zone,
is it really valued at this amount of money?
>> It just became more valuable today because we talked about
it. (laughing).
Mayor Lux: That's one of the tough things about --
hang >> Absolutely.
This has been on the books for some years in the CRA.
FEMA has a process where they have to use a yellow book.
Real estate entities, FEMA coordinators,
and us have to coordinate the asking price.
It will be in accord with their yellow book.
It is a real estate term.
I've never heard about this before.
There is a process to negotiate the price down
to a realistic term.
That is my thing on that.
If property acquisition is done through ORLP,
I imagine it is a similar process.
Mayor Lux: We are saving a bunch of money with the 1% sales tax.
Is this currently unfunded?
>> That is correct.
It is unfunded.
Mayor Lux: There are areas where we are saving money
on other projects.
I personally think this is a great way
to see we are nature and on the water.
I understand the costs but we may
find some money in our 1% that we aren't
using that may help with that.
>> I would have to verify.
I don't believe that was ever a voter approved project.
Maybe it was 12 years ago.
I'm not aware.
I will look into that.
Otherwise, we cannot use voter approved money to projects
voters have an approved.
Mayor Lux: When I got on in 2023 it was funded for Trabue Park.
Melissa Reichert, City Manager: I'm not
recalling that as part of my review but I can look into it.
Mayor Lux: The newest thing I'm doing.
Got it.
That's something you should look into.
Melissa Reichert, City Manager: It's
as simple as checking the list.
Yes.
Mayor Lux: Is this just for discussion
or do you want direction?
Member Julian: I believe they are asking for our direction
and this is great vision for the future.
This has been undergoing for quite some time.
I think we can recommend they continue
applying for the grants.
We can take it from there.
Mayor Lux: Does this include looking at the purchase price
for a buildings as well?
Member Julian: Yes, all of it.
Those great collaboration between urban design and Grants
coordinator.
They've laid out great funding options.
I recommend that we let them proceed.
Mayor Lux: Second?
Vice Mayor Polk: From what I'm understanding,
we aren't necessarily purchasing properties now.
This is something that we would like
to be a part of in the future.
I would imagine that if we had these properties appraised,
we could have that in hand to know for sure what the market
value would be.
This is a great idea and wonderful concept.
We just spent $400,000 on redoing one side
of our entrance, the Free Man House.
Now you look at this bright, beautiful yellow home
and it must be a historic district.
Coming through the other side , it isn't as fluffy as we want it
to look.
The children on that side of town
need something to play with.
When I was growing up, parks were the school you went to.
You hung out at the school after school
and you could use the swings.
All the schools are completely blocked off and you cannot get
in them.
The program's taxpayers pay for are not
able to be used outside of school hours.
This is something to think about when we are discussing this.
Thank you.
Member Denton: I think it would be
wonderful to move ahead, search out grants, and see
what we can do.
I don't know if we need to acquire the NC Passive Park
wetlands because we cannot do anything with that unless we
have a plan for the property.
Mayor Lux: Can I get a motion?
Vice Mayor Polk: Motion to approve 6D.
Member Denton: I will second that.
6D.
>> I will second that.
We have a motion and a second to approve all in favor.
Raise your hand.
Four yeses Pierre motion carries.
Thank you so much for looking into this for us.
>> Agenda item 6E vacant parcel donation the city of Punta Punta
Gorda, recommendation is to accept the parcel donation
to provide council direction on execution of the transfer.
>> Pressed the button .
>> Once again, earlier in the summer we were approached
by miss Carol keys who's the owner of these parcels here.
There's three parcels she wants to donate.
At first she wanted to donate and so
there is no real value or purpose in these properties
anymore.
Many years ago, submerged land was parceled out and sold with
no use ... this is what remains of some of the antiquated
property uses that we had back in the days.
So we have two submerged lines and parcels
that are valued at about $30 and then
we have one mangrove that is valued at $10.
A lready part of Trabue Park.
There's nothing for us to do with it right now.
We have to do some maintenance with the mangroves, that's
a question for public works but we're doing mangrove maintenance
and I don't see any downside to us accepting these parcels.
That's it for me.
Miss keys would like to execute this transfer by October first
and that was her request earlier in the summer.
>> Thank you.
Really we're just approving this today and we --
the recorded deed is what you're saying here even though
they're not any value I think it's kind of cool that
she's allowing us to have these for free.
I would say we approve 6E.
>> Great, did you have anything to say before you approve?
>> I would ask, is title search necessary ?
>> I'm assuming you're asking me because you're looking at me
whether it's.
We did all the background on it.
The information was sent to me, we
verified the deeds and everything else
and were able to go to a deed with it.
>> Okay, so do you want to redo your motion?
>> You make the motion?
I'll make the motion to approve Carol keys generous donation
of the three parcels named in this -- what is it?
>> Just partial donations.
>> I will second that.
>> We have a motion -- it's almost like a keyboard here.
We have a motion and a second on the floor to accept this.
All in favor please say aye.
Opposed motion carries all four yeses.
>> Agenda 6F, CD exterior displays --
City exterior displays.
>> Press the button.
>> I'll get used to it I promise.
I'm the city manager, it's the afternoon officially .
Just getting my PowerPoint up .
Another exciting statement for the future
for the communication side.
We are seeking approval for three exterior city display
placements.
The displays will be remotely operated by staff and they
enable efficient centralised content management .
The displays themselves we already have on hand calculator
40-inch view displays and they're looking to place them
in heavy foot traffic locations around the city.
So Splashpad would be the first one.
There's a wall that is blank that we
can get power to an internet to the display itself.
T hat would be the first location
it's on the south east exterior wall of the public restroom.
The second is the herald court parking garage.
The blank space that is there right now
there's a heavy amount of foot traffic constantly going
through there.
We figured it would be another great location for high
visibility .
Finally, the harbor walk at Gilchrist park.
That restroom building that faces the harbor
is another excellent location for heavy foot traffic as well.
So we are seeking the approval for those three locations.
I'll take any questions.
>> I just want to know, what would be on --
what would you be putting up there?
Since I have the microphone --
I'm going to ask her a couple questions.
The other one is is this all day?
Would someone be there putting up things on it all day long?
You're saying an employee would be --
is that in the morning they put something up and they leave
so can you talk about that a bit more?
They're already purchased, when was that approved and how long
have we had them and what was their purpose to begin with ?
>> Great question.
The company we're already using is verbal digital.
That's the one you would see in public safety
building over there.
So it's something that is pre-programmed,
something I can monitor.
It is being very useful with this.
They're helping me along the way and it's simply
just Pre-programming our messages.
Any city event that we're looking
to have the fall festival tree lighting, any important messages
we want to display it's just having it on a rotation.
The question about where the display is, we had them prior
and they're sitting in storage so it's something that I figured
is a way to step into the right direction of communication
and we're all about expanding them and getting messages
to our residents.
Why not -- put those into use and get those into those
locations.
>> This is a project that we had planned in a prior budget year.
The reason we're bringing forth to city council
is because outdoor signage has to be approved by City council
before we put it in place.
So we're making you aware of the project.
We're not asking for any additional funds,
these are all funds that have been previously budgeted.
Emergency messages would also be shown on these displays, given
that if we have our power and internet
back we would have messages there
but it also serves as a location as we
get the community aware of it that we could have
a central place to for them to gather at one of those sites
where we could have paper information
available in the case of a hurricane and things like that
as well.
>> I would love to see us actually have internet access
over the across the whole park area because I think that would
really work when there's events there and stuff like that.
There's just isn't that internet which we're
trying to promote revenue.
I think it's something that would be cost effective.
If you're looking at doing internet in the one spot could
we see -- we would need consensus.
If we would see about expanding that to more internet access
across the whole park area and how much that would cost.
>> Don't have a consensus to consider looking into that
as well?
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
So you don't need a motion or anything like this?
It's -- do you need motion because it's something
that's signage?
>> If you could just approve the locations that would -- motion,
that would be appreciated.
>> Do you need for us a consensus or you're okay with us
staying in consensus?
>> The consensus was fine for looking into the internet
for the part .
>> I have one more question.
The duration of time will be on on this
has to do with lighting at night.
I'm just a little concerned because we
do have the historic district and I love the ambience
of the lighting where we have.
I just want to make sure it's not taking away from that.
It's like stepping back in time when
you're walking at night if you haven't done that recently.
Then you would see this thing lit up.
I just want to make sure that it's not on 24 over seven
and we're not seeing something flash.
>> Isn't that --
>> That's a great question.
Right now that's up for discussion at this point as far
as the time frame.
I believe 24 over seven was the initial thought.
I don't know how that's going to affect the lighting
but that's up for discussion .
>> The one doesn't face any housing or anything like that
can't get in a commercial area and then the one in Gilchrist is
on the water side of the building, isn't it?
Facing away from the community .
>> Here's the one on the harbor -- that faces the harbor itself.
This one faces -- there's the one restaurant there and then
the dessert place as well.
I am not sure if that's going to affect too much on the lighting
side if that was 24 over seven.
This one is facing the parking lot .
>> This looks interesting.
You can subdue the lighting maybe
to have automatically subdue that light.
Still there but not bright.
I'm sure you thought of this, but I
think there should be mounted rather
high, in each location because we've
had problems in those areas.
Can I go ahead and make a motion?
Move to approve 6.
F.
>> I second that.
>> We have a motion and second to approve 6.
F.
All in favor please raise your hand.
Four raises.
Motion carries.
Thank you for that.
>> Agenda 6.
G, strategic plan quarter three update.
>> Assistant city manager can I care for the strategic plan
update 2026 quarter three.
Roger run into it getting to the fire department.
Goal one for the fire department is the safer grant staffing
that was reapplied for and that's in process.
Goal two is the emergency response vehicle.
Hiring six personnel and purchasing vehicles on track.
Goal three is purchase tiger dams and material have
been purchased and ready for deployment
that's been completed.
The first goal is to a living shoreline project,
design contract was selected and that's on track.
Goal two is the Bayfront Center improvement
design scope work is in process and that's also on track.
Goal three historic district improvements
reassessment is in process and that's on track.
Goal four, historic city hall rehab designed to start start
may 2026 and that's on track as well.
Goal five is the building permit software,
the contractor selection may 2026
and that's on track as well.
The city clerk's office, their first goal
I should say host the third annual plan
for the Neighbourhood Fall festival
and then the third annual event to be held in October
and third annual event planning on their way, 70
nonprofits which I believe that number is higher at this point.
And $1500 in sponsorships which is also
higher at this point as well and that's on track.
Goal two to revise council policies all viewed by council.
R evisions for council direction underway and that's on track.
Finally goal three, finalised record management training,
recently hired records coordinator has received
training and basic training materials prepared digital
retention materials to be finalised once rolled out
and that's in process then paused.
The police department got their first goal,
deploy license plate readers --
>> Hang on.
>> It is paused because we have to get the files after it
completely implemented, that took a back seat to some
of the other priorities that Brian had recently with getting
the communications going in here.
I'm starting to get the new such as deployed.
It's important but less important
than a few other things we had to do right now.
>> Can you press it again?
>> There we go.
Not sure if you heard goal one but goal one
to deploy license plate reader and that's completed their goal
to make this upgrade firearm spherical pistols
have been received and all but six officers
have completed training.
They're scheduled for training July 29th.
That's husband already completed.
Goal three and hence radio system for public safety.
All radios have been received and we
are reading on Kcso radio manager Doug Blevins
to program them.
That's on track.
Finally programming equipment for safer response
during weather related emergencies
in high water incidents.
The barricade has been received as everybody has seen
and it's waiting for administration for the city
clerk's office and officers will be trained on that that's
on track here human resources.
Goal one, improve 88 tracking and reporting currently
in procurement RFP and that is behind.
Goal two safety initiative, there's
a 10% decrease in lost workdays due to accidents and injuries
and that's in process and finally goal three training
software and content, the upskilling of employees
through online training that is on track.
Public works, goal one increase staffing levels
got 15% more staff by march 2026 to improve
infrastructure maintenance response time, that is complete.
Launch of stormwater planning inspection rate 100%
of high priority stormwater pipes by April 2026, developed
phased replacement plan that's on track.
Goal three, complete a project that
could finish all phases by September 2027
to improve drainage conditions.
That's in process.
Goal four modernise GIS infrastructure data to digitise
and verify 50% of public works infrastructure,
data by September 2026 that is on track.
Goal five plan future infrastructure and facility
needs develop GIS asset maps serving 123
for maintenance planning by September 2026
that is in process.
Finance can go one implement invoice automation,
initial scope presented to finance
and I.T. due to the new I.T. Manager starting recently,
no additional progress has been made.
Finance also has been very busy with grant applications,
interim loan RFP and loan agreement and purchase
information and various council requests related
to the police union research of other municipalities
and counties and review of legislative developments
for property taxes and utilities.
Slight delay.
Goal two, improve FEMA documentation,
bits have been received, records obtained in committees
are rescheduled.
Slight delay.
Finally, launch CIP planning software,
initial scope is developed due to the new hiring of the I.T.
manager, no additional progress has been made, slight delay.
Procurement .
Goal one is integrate with invoice automation system
schedule a training session for procurement that's been delayed.
Goal to streamline procurement processes correct procedures
and technology.
January 2026 review and identify improvement opportunities.
They updated dispute language and agreement with the City
attorney and collaborating with the departments
to update the project checklist, doesn't process.
Finally goal three, expanding staff training.
We'll be working with the vendor to implement new system
and procedures and to schedule training, that's
in process as well.
I T.
Goal one, automate processes for finance, building utilities
and police department.
Replace travel request management process period
that's on track.
Goal two, automate processes for utilities and police department
establish invoice management system.
That's on hold.
And goal three, automate processes
for finance building utilities and police department
correct establish permitting management system, that
is on track.
Goal four automate processes for finance building utilities
and police department, establish other management systems
that is on hold.
Goal five, security at campus gates and facilities
for utilities public works and police department,
developing scope of work to support procurement out
of a security camera system design vendor.
Denton track.
Goal six, phase one of the automatic vehicle location
for public works, utilities, fire and code compliance,
engaging departments to define the pilot program leveraging
existing GIS tools evaluating feasibility for phase APL
implementation.
That is on track.
Goal seven, implement call tracking and city wide --
City work order solutions.
Working with departments to optimise
use of existing work versus them prior to pursuing new solutions,
focusing on improving adoption and efficiency,
that is on track.
Finally goal eight set up call center
cracking pair coordinating with ERP vendor
to restore and evaluate call tracking functionality,
assessing viability of existing solutions before replacement
options.
That is on track.
Utilities.
Goal one, implement army water system procurement finalising
the RFP for release, that's on track.
Goal two, oral plant expansion.
E ngineering checklist for the design criteria package
and the owners advisor has been finalised and transmitted
to procurement.
Reichert number 69381 has been entered procurement process is
now formally underway, surface water plant
has been separated to maintain focus on schedule certainty
to the RO plant on Wellfield expansion.
This prioritisation is necessary to meet interlocal agreement
commitments with Charlotte county
to address MFL constraints under the city southwest for the water
management district.
Fully funded for the combination of Florida department
of environmental protection SRF financing loans and grants
eliminating funding risk to schedule
period that is on track.
Goal three, conservation program.
Foundational elements incorporated through chapter 17
rewrites enforcement and irrigation efficiency standards
conservation program will be formally developed as part
of an upcoming WUP renewal met with engineers on 43 to define
WUP renewals scope including conservation requirements
program only to align with swift mud or southwest water plant --
water management district to demand management expectations
and demonstrate quantifiable conservation measures.
Next steps to include defining programs component,
tracking metrics and integrating into WP application
package, that is on track.
Finally, improve wastewater reliability.
Ls30 project is fully funded including SRF support
for the lift station and upgrades
to the master and booster wastewater pumping stations.
Project scope includes 8296 lfbcp0 replacement,
24 manhole reputations and connection repairs
or replacements.
Engineering and design phases beginning
with subsequent permitting and construction
to follow WWTP construction remains
on schedule for June 2076 completion
and will provide improved treatment performance
and regulatory compliance.
Project will significantly improve
basin reliability calculator use in I
and strengthening overall system resilience
tank that is on track.
City manager's office.
Our first goal is complete and implement procurement action
plan to facilitate the successful delivery of projects
in a timely and cost effective manner.
Evaluation committee currently meeting
to select the vendor that's in process.
Goal two, produce additional multimedia
content to inform the public about city initiatives
and products.
Is completed and guidance printed that is on track.
Finally goal three, create an AI or artificial intelligence
policy, the policy is being developed in a user group
framework that soundtrack .
>> Any questions?
>> I think the city manager had something to say so I was
waiting for you.
>> I want to make a quick comment that this presentation
was put together at the end of the quarter,
said there's been a bit of a time delay,
a lot of things happened since then so you're going to hear
more in my project update report in more details.
Everything that is in here is correct
but we advance on a few of the items
from where they were reported at this time.
>> I have a few questions with --
there was a flood response marine.
Was that this year or the year before?
On a trailer for the dive team.
>> Completed -- they were going into the new fiscal year and we
hadn't received them yet .
>> Hang on.
>> Thank you.
>> Hello.
>> Actually the boat with the mud motors coming Friday.
It was in the grant that we did last year.
And then the trailer has already been received.
So all that -- the mud boat, we applied for that after.
So we are ready .
>> Thank you.
>> Anybody else?
>> You may be addressing this but can you tell us a bit more
about the Bayfront, we'll have another look at those plans
and also city hall, a bit more detail on that?
>> The Bayfront plans moving forward,
you will see them at the various design stages as they move
through the procurement process.
After we have that vendor selected,
then we'll get periodic updates I believe 30%,
60% and I'm not sure if it's 90% or not but you'll see
plans every step of the way.
Right now the project, all the documents
are ready except for the independent estimate that
is being worked on right now.
We have to do that because it does have FEMA funding attached
to it.
As soon as we have that done, it's going to be on the street,
we're hoping maybe even next week, if you will be released.
>> I wanted to add that when you mentioned the user group working
on the AI policy, I just met to residents that had completed
their a master certification and they offered their assistance .
>> Try again.
There we go.
>> If you could give me those names I would appreciate it.
I think it would be good because as you've seen in the past when
we presented this, we -- this is going to be a group effort
on the AI policy and I think maybe integrating a few
community members into that group would really be helpful.
Thank you.
I missed the comment about city hall.
You should have --
I'm thinking you're talking about the historic part of city
hall here we should have a presentation for you,
second meeting in September with some initial information
regarding the process.
>> My only thing is about the safety fencing the fencing
around the police and fire station.
I know you proved that quite a while ago.
I feel like there's been a long time period because they're
holed up in some way?
>> There's difficulty in procuring the materials that we
had wanted to use for the price that we can afford.
So there's been some back and forth
with that but that is moving forward and on track.
>> One of the things I would like to see in here,
if it's on hold or if it's slightly behind,
it would be nice to have an update of like --
this is on hold but we expect it to be on track at this date
or slightly behind.
We look at having it updated.
So we're not just like in limbo because we don't know,
that is very vague for us.
I know we don't want to give very specific dates
but we're a month behind and we plan
on getting it started again next month so we're
just aware that we keep that moving forward.
I know we are but I think for the general public,
when they see on hold or delayed,
maybe make a bit more of an explanation of what is happening
and what we're going to do to make it move forward and I love
the fact -- thank you for saying we have some experts in there
because even for writing scopes, using AI, might have --
might help us move forward faster because this is --
we're still working on scopes so hopefully AI and experts will
help us with that as well.
My other question again with utilities
fantastic I know it says my water meter system on track.
Do we have any kind of a date of when we're going
to get it released or anything?
>> We should have those documents released the week
of august 31st.
So next week you should see those go out,
we get the plans back towards the end of last week, one more
time, tom and his team are taking a look.
To expedite it usually review is done independently.
Tom pulled his team together to look at those documents one
last time so we'll be able to do that quicker.
>> Wonderful.
>> You don't need any kind of motion or anything on this
it's just informatory .
>> 6H land development regulations revisions high
density.
>> Good afternoon .
This presentation is stemming from an April workshop
we had where we talked about land development regulations
and having more consistency with the comprehensive plan
since we had the appeal about a year ago.
Those issues were building height residential densities,
key issues downtown parking and environmental issues
especially along the waterfront and then historic preservation
which was discussed earlier today, that's been in the works.
This one is going to deal specifically
with some proposals for high density.
So these are not -- these are thoughts that staff have come up
with to make a compromise with the previously 2024 code
and what's in the comp plan.
Purpose of this update to advance consistency
with the comprehensive plan.
That's critical because the code that's in place now,
it's not consistent with the comprehensive plan
and that is one of the statute's requirements.
We have to re-establish the zoning districts to align with
the future land use categories .
Provide downtown walkability mixed
use development preserve neighborhood character,
promote Amo resiliency and establish development standards
that balance community concerns and redevelopment community
spirit I explained earlier this is legacy zoning district don't
currently align with the land use comprehensive plan
categories, inconsistent zoning district structure,
difficult to implement adopted policies of the comp plan.
Limited form based standards, expressed
predictable development outcomes and downtown mixed use district,
clearly differentiated from other districts
that is currently in place.
With a previous code it was more directed downtown.
Our approach here, the current code as mentioned doesn't fully
implement the comprehensive plan previously adopted 2024 code,
better implemented the plan but there were
concerns about issues in building
height and residential density.
So we're proposing to restore the regulatory framework
while reducing the previously adopted high density allowances.
The charts provided here -- the base density have been reduced,
more in line with what's in place now,
though we did allow continued mitigation,
that's within the 24 elders and mitigation required public space
or parking allowances and that was part of the negotiated
agreement so that would allow some flexibility that maybe
unique designs by developer.
I should point out this is just your downtown area this
is fisherman's village, to the previous location for the house
currently not operating.
So that's referred to the traditional Punta Gorda area.
Really the district's name change but the regulations
didn't change as much in those areas
outside jurisdictional Punta Gorda.
>> The two to one mix I don't understand that.
>> You have to read, set yourself up again.
>> That's based on a commercial residential mix,
so it what regulates to commercial units for one
residential unit based on square footage.
That's the limiting factor but then
you still have the height limit.
Then the setbacks cactus were not altered as much
on the neighborhood transition it
was zero to 20 and the proposed to be ten to 20.
The downtown core is not unlike what you have in the city center
right now, we have those 010 setbacks I just want to bring
the density question into some context in some of these
buildings that exist now.
Everybody is familiar with the son of center,
it's a commercial use on first and third floor
and there are units on the fourth floor.
For example of the third floor was converted
from residential use to commercial use that could nearly
double the density without increasing the building's height
or footprint this illustrates increasing residential doesn't
necessarily require larger building
footprint another example, one story residential building
similar footprint and height to many single family homes,
this one is just down the street.
It looks like a single family home
from a distance across the street from the three unit,
provides additional housing choice
while maintaining traditional neighborhood scale.
This summer is restoring the zoning framework better aligns
with the comprehensive plan, reduce
maximum height residential density permitted
under the previously adopted 2024 code
to continue to support downtown redevelopment mixed
use development okay providing balanced approach
between the proposed regulations and previously adopted
2024 standards.
This is kind of a starting point on that,
feedback and where we're going because we'll probably
consolidate these different -- also the parking issue
the environmental waterfront environmental final proposal,
that's all I have here.
>> Questions.
>> This isn't written in stone, I want to put that
on the record.
This is just the avenue that staff
is taking based on what they heard
from the community like the one meeting
we had but obviously we need a lot more meetings
and I think Mr. Fritz was on the right track
when he said that today we're going to need more input
and we do have a flood study and if I'm
making this decision at all and anybody in the community
is making this decision, we really
need to have the facts about that,
there were 120 some people who were rescued from one
of the flooding events.
I think it may have been the first 1I think but that needs
to be taken into consideration before we even look at density
or decide on density.
In my opinion, when you see and try to pull out of your driveway
and see those rescue trucks coming and picking up people
it gets real.
So, you know, this density thing with 25 units an acre
which is currently in the historic district
I don't know how it could ever fly but thank you
for bringing it down to something that is realistic
and at least looking at that but again,
I want a lot more input from the citizens
before I speak and step on anyone's toes
because I feel like this is really
going to be a big decision.
Again thank you for your presentation and staff,
that you are hearing us, appreciate that .
>> Are you going to press it?
I do have a pretty good concern here
like I know the comprehensive plan had
a lot of this traditional thing you
were talking about which seems to be the focus of everything we
are doing here and I know the room was
filled with people who didn't want the comprehensive plan.
Didn't want the elders and comprehensive plan.
Now we're facing this but let me tell you, even with what you're
saying, if you're looking at the changes of the 2024 charter
to state this before the comprehensive plan was approved,
did you know that Make her village is not
in the comprehensive plan?
Neighborhood transition is not in the comprehensive Plan.
Residential edge is not in a comprehensive plan.
Traditional residential is not in the comprehensive plan
and we must do commercial.
In 2022 with the elders complaint
states that transitional neighborhood,
not traditional residential.
So I think there's a lot of issues
and these are the things I try to talk about back then.
S o it sounds like we really need
to have a comprehensive plan that is accurate with what we're
looking for here I agree we need to have
the public input, especially with the residents downtown
because this whole traditional point guard really
relies on downtown residents.
We had the one time, the one meeting where people didn't want
duplexes and it was already a mixed use street
and the residents downtown who are building
the single family homes want duplexes
and triplexes next to them?
We have to have that input.
Again I agree with you Jeanine.
I don't think about flooding study.
We have to have that to see what we're doing.
I think like Greg was saying, we should
be looking at some of the easier articles of the land development
regulation that are not more burdensome
because even with the mitigation and stuff in farm base,
that is more burdensome.
S o we have to be careful how we're doing it
but I think some getting the easier articles
of the 2022 versus 2024 like we could do several of them that
are very similar, we just have some discussion with some
of them are awarded.
In the meantime let's look at the first element, future land
use of comprehensive plan and let's see
do we want that many zonings?
Adding all the extra zonings, there's
liability to city and staff to make mistakes accidentally
because on this one side of the street
you have higher density higher height.
Oops we made a mistake and somewhere in these litigations,
I really do think, let's find these easier LDR,
let's work on them and get a definitive date
to say we're going to work on article one, two, four
and five, how many we can handle in a meeting.
Get those set aside and in the meantime let's look
at the comprehensive plan and really make the map when future
land use because if you're looking --
we have 21.9 males 15.5, six males is watery.
They don't expect the increase of population to go up very many
and we need to concentrate on our east side, that's
why I think this conservation with the park and everything
is wonderful.
Our concentration shouldn't be on the west side it should be
more focusing on the east side park I hope everybody agrees
with that that's what we want we want our city to grow but we
need to have the growth on the east side because we're doing
great development and plus the comprehensive plan is also
inaccurate because it used even when they were talking about
annexing, they use the John slope areas as commercial and we
know how -- that change for residential.
So there are issues even with the comprehensive plan
that was done in the future land use
and I think we need to correct those issues because I think
it will be more of a realistic workshop
then we can have other residents residents.
Thank you.
>> Those are really important comments.
I think simplifying those zones would be very helpful.
Like you said, so much interpretation with staff,
something more simple would be great
and this is just a small point, but when I saw 1 to 10,
I know we're developing this but 1 to 10 feet
in the downtown core for setbacks.
Then we have people who want little tables
and you can't get a walk by get a loaner wheelchair.
So if we could have higher setbacks without hurting
the builder, because every foot they buy matters --
to have some vegetation kick some trees, planters,
I look at some of the beauty they have on their streets,
they have wide sidewalks and then you can have the tables
and chairs and it works.
So something to consider.
And then of course the parking lot --
what about this two to one dot Greg mentioned?
Give me an example how that would apply.
Because finding two businesses that want to open in order
for person -- residents I don't know how that would work.
>> Mixed use development as proposed,
they're going to construct a building and have to set aside
a commercial space without being in residential space as part
of the design.
So it would be -- definitely be market research determine
whether it can fill the spaces .
>> Thank you.
>> Mixed use can be very difficult to ask of someone
because not everyone wants to live above a bar or restaurant.
I t takes a special person.
That's great if you have a lot of high traffic city area here
people in New York City live in mixed use downstairs
and upstairs, living areas and then the downstairs is not.
Is that really realistic for our city,
mostly retired people up here I don't know,
I think it works for some that are already downtown, but again,
this is a conversation to be had by the citizens,
also the complaint here point, Mayor Lux,
I think that's going to in the end get us a comp plan is what
most developers will be looking at to guide them and then they
look at the land development regulations that are supposed
to be for -- contiguous and are supposed to be the same.
So the future land use map is really
what's going to need to be changed because if you're still
on your future land use map have 25 units
or 50 units per acre it doesn't matter what your land
development regulations say.
That's the bible that's what you go by.
From what I understand, and Rachel
you can correct me if I'm wrong, I
would never want a developer to come along and go
your comp plan says this and I think that's what
we're running into now.
So do we change the land development regulations
and then back the comprehensive plan into that
or do we change the comp plan?
I'm sure this is a dilemma this staff talked about a bazillion
times here but kicking that around, I
think the citizens need to understand that.
The comp plan is what's going to drive this land development
regulations.
Thank you .
>> I wanted to add two things.
To answer your question about mixed use development,
we currently have a development plan application on file.
The ground level is going to be parking underneath the building.
The second floor is proposed to be retail third floor office
and the top would have eight residential units.
So basically the square footage of the residential units
is half of the square footage of the commercial units.
So that's how they're working that project together.
Would be the same for the same building.
They have the two floors of commercial and then one
residential.
That's where the two to one came from.
>> Like Janine said, people don't want to live downtown,
they want residential retirement life.
Is it a development if there aren't people
who want to live in the core of a building
has businesses and music and stuff.
I s it required for it to be optional?
We have to think about it anyway.
What's going to work for developers and residents
might live somewhere.
>> Everything feasibility study, is that what you're getting at?
I'm not sure.
>> Are we committed to the mixed use?
Is that something we can talk about?
Isn't that part of what the LDR were discussing.
>> I think that's what the residents --
>> I like their input.
>> So Janine you want to go next or do you want to let Rachel go?
>> To answer the first question, the mixed use currently is used
permitted with conditions.
It's not required.
So they could just do pure commercial.
But if they want to do mixed use,
they're capped at half residential to the commercial.
The comprehensive plan, when the form based code 2024tpg code,
when that was in place, there were specific provisions
in there that you could not apply for a planned development
in that area that's whatever the regulations in the code were,
that was your cap.
Right now, with that not being in the code,
someone could apply for a plan development
to go up to the densities in the comprehensive plan.
So we do have an option of when the elders are rewritten
to add that cap back in there to say you can't do a planned
development in these areas.
Whatever density is in that zoning designation,
the density of that zoning designation .
>> Can we get it clear on the work code when the date is,
when the.
>> SPEAKER-01: 80 will be completed and we can make
changes that the public wants to see being made.
>> Go ahead .
>> There we go.
>> Currently it's October 2027.
>> Did you just say something that might be extended?
That's another concern for us.
I still think we need to really look at the comprehensive plan
right now as our guide.
That's our master guideline and I really think we need to focus
on -- with some of these, even when we do the articles like
something might be more -- a form based code is more
burdensome but we really have to take a look at --
even a sideline, this is what we're going to accept if this is
lifted, we can talk about implementing these other things.
>> One more point to make.
As of right now our code is not consistent with the comp
plan, the zoning districts with the land use districts,
so it's an issue we have to deal with the state
actually requires some type of schedule.
Our thought going back to April was a lot of time and expense
went into the comp plan that is currently in place.
Just two and a half years ago, so the more efficient fix
was to modify the elders to make them fit the comp plan
but if you want to go all over again,
that's going to take more time.
I just wanted to bring that.
>> Only looking at the first article at the first 37 pages
not the whole 1200 pages so it really is as expensive
or thoughtful and even with what you proposed it doesn't match
the comprehensive plan.
So that's what I'm saying if we're going to describe
the comprehensive plan and we're going to have to revise revise
it correctly the first time .
>> I was going to say, we have to be consistent at implementing
the goals of the policy, doesn't have to be a match to the 50
units per acre or whatever is in the comp plan.
So there's some flexibility there.
>> I'll give this to you so you can see what I'm talking about
it really is consistent even with what was just proposed here
with the comp plan.
That might help and what I can do is maybe clean this up I can
give it to you so everybody can see this .
.
Greg ?
>> I think we need a consensus because sometimes this is what
is happening to us I found in past meetings that we don't give
proper direction.
I think this is so important for us
to give direction to staff because sometimes they
hear things and we if we had a consensus on it
and not talking about it like they're not sure
if it's just me saying it or if it's saying it
so we do need a consensus.
I would love somebody to say let's take a look at the land
element of the comprehensive plan,
that the way the residents wanted, not the way I wanted,
not the way anybody else here wants it but the way
the residents want it so we have --
like I said I'll provide this and then have workshops and what
I was suggesting and Greg suggested earlier,
let's get the easier articles of land development regulations out
of the way .
>> I'm in favor for having more discussion on this
and definitely we're going to have to change the comp plan.
I don't know why that hasn't been in the process
yet because it is one map.
The community overall didn't agree with and it was pushed.
So I'm in agreement with you I think we should have at least
some sort of --
I. don't know if you want to call it town hall meetings
or whatever meetings to get information
from everybody in the community to have their say.
Should be the complaint.
I think people need to understand the difference
between comp plan and land use.
L ike I said before the Land development regulation that's
another thing we need to educate the community on.
>> I like the idea of public discussion and input as soon
as possible even though we do have quite a bit of time.
If we change the comp plan --
I would like the input on if you think simplifying the zoning
and all the different -- all the different things would be
beneficial for you and for the community.
So you don't have to tell us now,
but is everybody okay with that if they look at that?
Simplifying things a little?
Those are my comments.
>> I think if we want to have effective workshops we need
to not do them in the format we tried the last couple of times
in order to accommodate the law because it simply isn't working
where you all sit on the dais and then people aren't sure when
they're supposed to come and when they're not supposed
to come.
We really need to have that interactive type session
that we did back when we did the city wide master plan, that
would involve all of you not necessarily being involved
in all those conversations but the information we would
probably work with a partner to do that.
T he information would come back to you synthesised.
You're welcome to attend but really the focus would
be on the residents and you would allow the staff
to do dual listening for you from their residents
and bring that data back to you where
you could discuss on this dais.
That would be my recommendation on how
to move forward with workshops.
>> Is there an opportunity for some kind of a questionnaire
or something that people can do electronically online if they
can't make it to the meeting?
Did they do --
I. thought they tallied up votes.
>> We would have the ability through our website to do
a survey.
We can do a SurveyMonkey.
We're limited -- we can drive people to the website that
aren't necessarily subscribed to any of our newsletters or things
but we can definitely push that survey out to residents that are
registered.
W e have a lot of people that are in that database period
the only disclaimer I'll give to that is that there are people
that don't actually live within the city limits of Punta Gorda.
That would receive that survey also.
>> One of the things -- the comprehensive plan regulation,
I think we're still going to be under 26000,
47% of our city is in conservation.
When you think about it we don't have a whole lot.
How we're developing again -- that's why we need
to concentrate on the east side of 41.
I think this is really good.
Again I'm going to give this information
but I would like to see a time.
Can we get a specific time frame for let's work
on the other articles?
Is that okay with everybody to work on the other articles that
are not more burdensome?
Let's start getting stuff done so it doesn't look like we're
getting this stuff done so we don't always look like we are
delaying, delay and, delaying.
And let's also take a look at the comprehensive plan
to make sure that those first 87 pages
with the map and these major guidelines is for us.
Let's make sure it's well within what the residents want.
We can probably direct some of it through traffic
and then have residents finish it.
>> I just want to clarify.
I don't want to have us go through the exercise of putting
these items on an agenda and then
City Council say well we haven't had enough resident input.
Would you like us to schedule the workshops?
And then after each of those workshops that is when
you would discuss the item?
Or how would you like that?
And we can't just pull the workshop next week.
It will take some time to put the schedule in place
and have things ready for you.
>> I think some of it is language between the two
of them.
But I agree, I think workshop.
And in the meantime everyone, if they
are looking at these different articles,
just give our suggestions independently.
That might help as well.
I know when I had my town hall I presented
a lot of what the residents wanted through that.
I think that if we kind of direct it and then let
the residents decide, I think that's what is most important.
>> I would also like to say on the record,
maybe Rachel Berry could give you this explanation,
but there's a lot of development going on right now.
And anyone saying that the Land development
regulations are holding up development,
that is absolutely wrong.
So I don't feel like even though we are in limbo here,
it doesn't feel like, to me, but maybe Rachel
can correct me if I'm wrong.
It doesn't feel like we are holding anything up.
I am maybe hearing that properties
have sold at our commercial right now in downtown
and people are getting ready to develop on it.
So interesting that that is what is happening.
I'm sure it can all come to fruition from this young lady.
>> So actually just the other day I looked back at the total
number of development applications received
for calendar year 2025, and we currently in calendar year 2026
have more applications on file than we did all of 2025.
So we are not necessarily seeing a decrease in activity.
But there are certain parcels that may have issues
that they want to redevelop.
But currently the vacant parcels that we are seeing we
are still getting applications coming in.
>> Do you have enough direction from us?
Okay, fantastic.
Let's go ahead and move forward.
>> Agenda item six I quarterly revenue and expenditure
financial update.
>> Oh, sorry.
>> Good afternoon finance director,
we are bringing you our third quarter update for our major
funds, we provided them all in the packet,
there were 15 funds going over in total.
We have general funds coming this is 75% of the year,
so this is through June 30th of 2026.
So for the revenue we are at approximately almost $31.9
million that has come in.
Oh I'm sorry, oh yes.
And at 25.4 million of expenditure,
so we are exceeding the expenditures.
One thing I would like to note, and you may remember from
our past discussions, that on our expenditures and especially
our operating expenditures we are always a month behind,
because our --
like our October invoices are genuine --
generally played in November.
And so then at the end you have two months where you accrue
the final month back to the correct official -- fiscal year.
We are doing well there.
Did you have questions on the general fund?
And then we have our PGE, we are at approximately $7.3 million
of revenue collected, 6.3 million of expenditures.
Exceeding at this point in time.
We have budgets for items that have not been completely
spent yet, so we often do show you the encumbrances as well.
Those encumbrances, if they are not fully spent sometimes
they are carried over if they're like a purchase
order for commitments.
If they are a blanket purchase order those go back to the fund,
they do not carry over.
The, $1.1 million, expended as of June 30th,
only 142,000 of expenditures, I think they are kind of just
getting started on some of those projects for the year.
They do have encumbrances of over 800,000,
especially for their -- regular program.
Going on to the special use fund,
we have collected roughly $1.3 million.
We have spent about $400,000, we have a lot of carryover projects
in that fund though.
We have not done the Reappropriation yet
so some of those the appropriations
will still be coming over for this.
Because some of it is FEMA money that is in the fund balance,
projects for that are transferred to the General
Construction Fund, that part has already
been done because we did bring in the construction funds.
So again, we are doing okay there.
The additional five cent gas tax,
we are at $949,000 in revenue, $36,000 in expenditures ,
I believe they have put in their requisition for their annual
program.
As you will recall for next year's budget
we are reducing that fund for transfer from the general fund.
We have our six cent gas tax fund,
total revenue to date is about 516 000.
Operating expenditures have spent approximately 643,000.
A lot of our contracts are with the state and don't come
in until the final quarter of the year,
so that's why you will see those .
>> I do have a question on this, one's a 5% sales tax
and one's a 6% sales tax, that's on the same gallon used right?
So maybe my math is way off but when
you look at the year to date for the 5% it's
a lot less than the 6%.
And I don't think 1% would make that huge of a difference,
is there something I am missing?
>> The part that is being missed is that one of the gas tax funds
is based on the straight, whatever the state determines
as the percentage between the city and the county,
another one is an interlocal agreement that was agreed upon
with the percentages.
The state does review that every five years as well.
So part of our gas tax, we do have
to provide transportation information on a transportation
report every year to the state.
>> Thank you.
>> The next fund is the 1% sales tax,
so revenues to date are approximately 3.7 million,
we have expended approximately 1.9 million so far this year,
about $1 million still in encumbrances.
And again that was as of about June 30th.
For our city leased property funds,
this one has the two different divisions,
so we have the Herald Court division as well
as the non-departmental division,
in the Herald Court division revenues are approximately
151,000, expenditures are approximately $186,000.
And we do know that that was going to happen,
because we are using a lot of those units for city offices
at this time.
The non-departmental side, we have 140 000 in revenue and no
expenditures at this point.
Although we do have 380 000 in encumbrances.
And that was for the, there was more
in the other division in that whole part was
for the sealing of the garage.
General construction, we have only had our transfers so far
of 310,000 from the general fund.
Expenditures to date are 936 000,
again a lot of these are carryover projects .
Utilities Operating fund is 22.5 million in revenue
and 20.1 million in expenditures to date.
They do have approximately 1.4 million
in encumbrances still outstanding for the year.
Utilities construction funds are actual to date revenue double
expenditures are a little over 6 million
and we have encumbrances of 15 million.
Again, we have a lot of large projects on that front as well.
The sanitation fund, 3.6 million in expenditures,
they have about 700 thousand in encumbrances outstanding.
The building fund we have approximately just over $1
million in revenue, expenditures to date are approximately 1.3
million, and we have about 120 000 in encumbrances.
The Lashley Park Marina we have approximately 103,000 in revenue
and we are at about 250 000 for expenditures.
We do expect that revenue will start increasing, now
that some of those slips are starting to be rented.
And then we have our information technology division,
again this fund is -- all of the revenue comes from other funds
to support the staff.
So total revenue is approximately $3 million
and about 2.6 million in expenditures with 350 thousand
outstanding in encumbrances.
And I know I went through that very quickly,
but if you have any questions I am here to answer those.
>> Did we find out if we can charge for the boat ramp
at Lashley?
I think that was one of the questions that we had.
>> I think we were still working on that.
I'll talk to Rachel about it but we will have to look that up.
>> Because that could be more revenue there,
so I didn't know if that was -- >> It might be the boat ramp
and also possibly parking as >> That would be great,
especially to help maintain that.
That would be awesome.
Anything else?
Okay, thank you and congratulations
on your hard work to actually have an accountant
say we're number one basically.
Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> Six J, doctor Richards project updates.
>> We get a lot of questions about the --
Harbor Walk and some residents think
the city is not doing enough to hurry up and get
areas of the harbor walk open and things like that,
getting those fences down.
I did just want to give council an update on that.
That area in front of the event center,
that's the responsibility of the county.
They have let us know that about two years after they received
their Army Corps of Engineers approval
that's how long that project will take to get done.
So just setting expectations there.
The area in front of TGS that has not been done,
the fencing, that goes to the code board in September
and then our areas that we have, the bridges and the fishing
Piers, those are all going under evaluation and permitting.
I will get into that a bit further down in my report.
But just making clear it's not actually
the city that controls all of that area of the harbor walk.
And I wouldn't say that -- it's certainly not the county
dragging their feet or anything, it's seriously just how long it
takes to get Army Corps approval to do that kind of work.
The gazebo at Veterans Park will be completed by September 30th,
very excited about that.
Lastly Marina, the city has completed
all of the temporary repairs at Lashley that can be done.
So we have 32 slips rented and there are 76 operable slips,
as we move into season we fully expect all of those
to be rented.
We now receive the copies of all the insurance and applications
and everything as they come in.
My office is managing that, it's really working well.
The historic district infrastructure evaluation,
that was done by staff, they have just
recently completed that.
The next step is determining what can be done by public works
and what we need to bid out.
We are very excited about moving that forward.
That has sales tax funding attached to it.
But as much as we can do in house and more cost effectively,
we will go ahead and do that.
Just really working through that.
The procurement action plan, that kicked off two Fridays ago.
Mike Buenos Aires and my office will serve
as the project manager of that.
We have site visits that will take place beginning
on September 29th.
We are currently providing all of the documents
that the consultant needs to look at,
such as our procurement policies and financial policies.
There will be a survey that is developed that will also go out
to our vendors to find out how we may
be able to improve things to make it easier
for them to bid on projects.
And to point out any areas that we could possibly improve.
So if you can't tell I am super excited about that project.
The permit software, we have seven firms
that provided demonstrations to our team.
The committee evaluated and ranked
the top firm, with this we have them doing a proof of concept
so that we can make sure it works with our systems.
That will take place on this Friday.
That permit software will do a lot to improve permitting
efficiency, we also pulled together
a working group of staff that is now
looking at improving the efficiency of our permits,
aside from that software that will help a lot,
what can we do in the meantime until that's fully
up and operable?
We will also do a video series of setting expectations
for the community of how that permitting process works.
What can they do to check on their permits,
just trying to make things easier for everyone involved.
We have a lot of cases where someone says --
a home owner will call up and say why hasn't our permit moved?
And it's the contractor that hasn't even
submitted the permit.
It happens time and time again.
And the other one that really sticks out to me also,
permit applications will be dropped off on a Friday
and we will get a call from a business owner
or resident on Monday saying where is my permit?
Why isn't it approved?
It takes a little bit longer than that.
And we follow all of the statutory guidelines
for when permits have to be issued and completed,
Mike will do a series that educates the public on what
those statutory requirements are,
and what the city of Punta Gorda averages are.
And the grand construction is out to bid,
the Library Association has been selected to remove --
review the proposals they will meet by September 8th.
So that is making good progress.
Another draft has been approved to release,
working on that independent estimate
as soon as we have that.
The well field improvements and the plant study
are available for the study committee.
The FEMA grant will meet by September 9th,
that investigation will be ongoing.
You can kind of see a theme here,
everything is really starting to come together
and it's a lot of hard work over the year to get to this.
The crosswalk study evaluation committee will meet on September
9th.
I mentioned the engineering library but I do have the date
of September 15th that they will meet by.
I did have some questions come in about the fishing Piers
and docks and all of those kinds of things,
those are all handled by one vendor who was mentioned earlier
today, Hans Wilson, he has all the drawings and setups done,
those are all in place.
He has done the surveys on different areas and the Lashley
Fishing pier.
What we are doing, we have him working
on all these concurrently so that we
can package up the Army Corps permits
and put them all through together.
So basically anything on one side
of the bridge that is not in the Manatee protection
zone, those permits are expected to take about 18 months.
Everything that is in the Manatee Protection zone
is about 24 months.
And construction on all of those Piers is at 12 months.
So it will be a little while yet.
But all of the steps are moving to make that happen.
Nature park come with the same with the fishing pier there,
the drawing is complete and the Army Corps permit
should get out over the course of the next week.
As far as oversight of all of the work
that we have done on docks and Piers,
we have in our contract that we are to get updates frequently,
once a week, on the status of the fishing Piers and docks.
I'm not going to bore you with sending it out every week
but I do want to let you know that that check is there
and staff are monitoring those situations.
A couple of situations that were not necessarily listed
as large projects but I think are pretty important that
happened over the break, all of the bollards on Linear Park
where we installed.
The benches and parks that had been taken away
by the hurricanes and floods, those have all been replaced.
So we are all set with that now.
The Hans Pavilion had some repairs in the Lashley Pavilion
had some rust repair and were painted,
so those look very nice.
And I will take questions about anything I didn't mention.
>> I think that is fantastic.
Considering we had two back to back major historical floods,
I think that you directing staff have done a tremendous job
in trying to get all of this stuff done,
like you said it's all coming together all at once.
And thank you for doing that.
>> Great work, a couple of questions.
There are 32 slips rented at the Lashley,
the water is pretty shallow there,
have we applied for the permit for dredging?
Or how does that fit in?
In regards to that also we are dredging the waterway
into where the dinghy dock is correct?
Or we have -- did we get, I have so many questions and I have
to say them all at once.
Did we get funding for that?
For the dredging?
For the dinghy dock waterway?
>> Yes, we did get funding, grant funding to dredge the area
by the boat club.
That is in process.
We are working through the grant agreement
right now to make sure we follow all the protocols,
but that is moving forward.
And the Lashley Marina Dredge, we
are looking to see if we can piggyback that on a contract
that we already have to get that moving.
And all of our work with Hans Wilson
includes applying for the permits.
So it's all together and moving forward.
And since I still have the microphone,
and since the mayor graciously thanked me,
I cannot accept thanks without recognizing all of my staff that
have put in so much hard work to make all of these things happen.
They are simply amazing.
>> That's awesome.
Greg?
>> Is there anything happening with that public private
partnership for Gilchrist Marina that we heard about a while ago?
>> Yes, I had just reached out to Reeves again,
he was looking for a bit more time to get through some
projects that he is working on.
There is still interest, but nothing that I have
that I can bring before you at this point in time.
>> I guess we will go on to boards and committees.
Sara are you ready?
Oh wait. >> Item six K right?
>> Yes, I'm sorry.
You have the floor.
>> As long as I have the floor, I'm just asking
for clarification because we did engage an attorney.
My understanding was that we were
going to go ahead and do whatever we could in
order to get the property back 100%
into the hands of the people.
I remember saying that, but maybe not
you don't hire commercial litigator to just give
an opinion you typically want them to litigate for you
and figure out a mess you might be in.
So I just want to make sure and clarify that that is definitely
what we put him in place for.
And I know that you would like to talk on this Mr. Leskovich
>> Absolutely, I'm hearing some public rumors and sentiment out
there about having the city lost its opportunity on both
of the reverter deeds, or the one Reverter deeds
and the amendments laws and the contracts and everything else.
I'm letting you guys know that no, the city has not
lost its opportunity or given up any rights or procedural rights,
any jurisdictional rights when it comes to the reverter deeds.
Some things procedurally and jurisdictionally
have held up the city from filing the deed itself,
whether that be foreclosures or flooding or the
deed itself, whether it be bankruptcies,
something has held us up.
And that caused us -- instead of filing the deed the way that we
have it.
It was recognized and the reverter deeds
are recognized by what is now the former trustee's
of the bankruptcy and of the foreclosure
matters that we have the reverter,
the parcels can come back to us.
But again, it was procedurally held up
and jurisdictionally held up because of some other court
issues.
Counsel did here, maybe 2 or 3 months ago,
we did engage Barlow who has been fantastic at communicating
with me to get specific documentations
that he may need in the event that new buyers,
or the previous trustees of Fishermen's Village contest
the deeds.
When I spoke with him as late as last Friday,
or whatever day that was, he is looking for additional direction
from you guys because now that the trustees and the receivers
from the bank are out of the question
there was an agreement where the city did not have to sign.
But between the buyers and the receivers
to completely eliminate them from any negotiations
that go on with the city regarding the reverter process.
So what Mr. Barlow is looking for from you
guys now is how you want him to proceed.
Because the buyers have, in essence, proposed to the city
that they are very interested in working with us,
in coming to some kind of common ground
that is beneficial to not only the city
and the residents of Punta Gorda but also to Fishermen's Village,
the discussions have been coming about.
Potentially the buyers may want to look
into a new contract with the city,
potentially a new reverter deed with the city,
some sort of alternative that was previously in place,
potentially a land lease where the or the property
does actually come back to us and there's a land lease.
Or potentially just buying out the whole property again.
Their attorney was incapacitated for a little bit
now that he's been back in the groove I've
been back in contact with him.
And they've been getting back in contact with Doctor Reichert
and I. And I explained to Mr. Barlow
that once I got direction from you guys
about whether you wanted him involved with the negotiations
resolving the buyers, and what they're looking for, whether you
wanted to just say no let's just go ahead and proceed judiciously
through the court system and get the deed actually recorded.
But he's looking for additional guidance from you
now that the property has closed and it's
completely out of the picture.
But the city has not lost its opportunity
to come with the parcels are there, we have the deeds,
we have them recognized.
We are good to go with those.
>> Jeannine for the record, we do not have the property though
right now.
I would like to see this deed recorded so that we have
more of a position of strength.
I am not okay with not recording it.
Not at all.
I feel like this has been a very long and arduous process.
A lot of it is not our fault, but I do know that both Melissa
Lockhart and --
Councilwoman Lockhart and Mayor Lux were on the board
when we move forward and said let's get these properties back.
So that's why I thought we really
need to cross our T's and dot our eyes here
to make sure we have it in the hands of the people.
That's my take , before we do any negotiating it's better
to make sure we have that already tied up.
Thank you.
>> I was going to say that I agree.
The previous council as well as the current council all
agreed to get the Reverter back.
So I think we do need to record it that we have it back
and then we can negotiate.
Whether it's leasing it or selling it,
that's in the future.
But right now I think it's most important for us
to get that recorded and have it as the city.
Because that's what the residents and we all
agreed upon as the old council and the current council.
Anybody else?
>> I just want to make sure I'm hearing correctly,
because I told Mr. Barlow I would speak to him today
depending on what time we get out of the meeting.
But what I'm hearing is go ahead and move forward
with the filing of the deed, but I
want you guys to understand it's not just we take the deed
and walk down to the tax collector and the city clerk's
office and everybody else and just record this thing.
It's not like a typical deed with some of the hurdles
that we have to jump over.
I will speak to Mr. Barlow about how we can do this judiciously
and expeditiously at the same time so that we have it recorded
and then go from there with it.
>> Consensus yes?
>> If that's what I'm hearing.
We could -- because normally you can just take a deed and go
right down and have it recorded.
But this is a bit different.
So we have to be a bit more careful.
>> Again I'll just repeat what I said,
I think we need to negotiate from a position of strength,
period, end of story.
I think this has been going on forever,
my personal opinion is this process
should never have been sold the land, not the property,
it should never have been sold.
It was given to the citizens of the city of Punta
Gorda for safe keeping.
Some people allowed it to be sold.
And here we are with an opportunity to get it back.
Please, please, give it back to the people
and then we can decide what we want to do after that.
>> Can you go into a bit more detail about what the process
would be for recording the deed?
The cost?
>> We have to go into court with the deed because the original
deed was destroyed in the hurricanes.
So what we have, and it's no fault of the city,
all parties have recognized that there is a copy of the deed
there.
But we still need the courts to recognize
that what we have as the deed, a copy of the deed,
that it's a copy of the original.
So once we have that declaratory judgment
recognizing that, then we can go to the clerk's office
and have it recorded.
It could take anywhere between 30 days or upwards of 60 days.
Doing a court filing can cost about 400
and something dollars, roughly $460
to open up the case with the clerk system.
In terms of legal fees, whether I do it,
you know what my rates are, or if Mr. Barlow does it
and he's an expert in that field I
can't imagine it would cost more than 3 or $5000
to actually do it if Mr. Barlow did it.
That is entirely up to you.
I can come back to you guys after I speak to him,
or get with doctor Reichert on it
and give me direction on how to proceed with it
and we can go from there.
But that's kind of the process.
>> Again Jeannine for the record,
let's not forget this is a cost of nothing,
this is a multi-million dollar property.
Let's go ahead and do this come on get it done.
Give Mr. Leskovich the leverage that he needs to say yes
we can move forward with this.
Thank you.
>> I am in agreement, and if you can get back with us by next
week perhaps with some best suggestions to move forward.
Obviously you have the steps coming up
whether it's you or Barlow, it doesn't matter too much.
But just keep the process moving to get this done.
Thank you.
>> I am going to go back to --
I agree I think you a very well qualified
but if you have ways to expedite it faster then what you can do,
and again even when I could do everything
that I could in my previous procession
I still sometimes gave it to specialists who
could do it faster and better.
So I'm in agreement, let's find out
how much it would be to find out how much it would
be for him to execute and get the thing done,
he might have the right connections
and then we can figure out how much we're
going to lease it for how much we're going to lease it,
or to look at selling it, or whatever.
But it's important for us to get it back right now.
So consensus?
Good?
Okay.
Thank you.
Wait, sorry.
>> I will contact Mr. Barlow then this afternoon and I will
get back to doctor Reichert this afternoon about my conversation.
>> I think we are ready now.
>> Good afternoon again, city clerk Sara Welch,
for the record, under boards and committees we have a few
announcements of vacancy.
On the building board we have one consumer advocate alternate
position that has been created now based on the resolution that
was improved -- approved earlier.
We have one seat on the Code enforcement board.
We have one seat for a city resident member of the police
officer's pension board.
Under nominations the first one we have up on the building board
is a consumer advocate seat.
We had someone express interest in serving but now
that we have fixed it so that his previous involvement
with the building industry is no longer an obstacle,
if City Council would like you can nominate and appoint him
by motion at this time.
>> Sorry come on hold on
>> Motion to approve, appoint and nominate him to the building
board.
>> Do I have a second?
>> I will second the motion.
>> We have a motion and a second.
All in favor raise your hand.
For, opposed?
Nothing.
That's done.
Thank you.
>> Next up on the building board also we have the alternate seat
which is for a contractor.
We had a previous application with previous experience
if you would like you can also nominate and appoint her
to that seat by motion at this time.
>> I do have one question about this, I asked you Mr.
Leskovich but I don't know if you recall, for the contractors,
is she the one who owns the contractor license?
Because if she's not this is a contractor position.
>> I her raising her hand over here.
>> Okay hold on.
>> I just wanted to point out that in her application she does
have a certified building contractor license with
the city.
>> Did you verify that?
I couldn't find it when I was looking for it.
>> Page three of her application.
>> I understand that, but actually looking to see if she
has a contractor's license with the state of Florida.
>> That's what it's >> But not verified?
I just wasn't sure if she actually
had a contractor's license.
I saw that she -- her husband did but not that she did.
If she's stating that she did, and if she doesn't then it's
not appropriate for her to have this position.
>> Give me one second, I will pull up their bylaws.
The bylaws state appointment shall
be made by the City Council with reference
to the following professions available to serve,
engineering, architecture, general building, contracting,
plumbing, electrical, and miscellaneous building trades.
It doesn't speak to any certain license
in particular, but more of just a general involvement
in the building industry.
>> Thank you.
I think Mr. Leskovich is going to speak.
Okay, go ahead.
>> I nominate and appoint Kathy to the position on the building
board.
>> It's an alternate position, I will just second it.
>> Did you want to say something?
>> Maybe we should look over, if those qualifications are a bit
vague we may want to look over and just make sure that we have
--
I mean it sounds like I would qualify.
I have done a lot of work rehabbing a house.
We may want to refine that a bit.
In the future.
>> So we have a nominate and appoint for a motion,
all in favor?
Okay, for, opposed?
Motion carries, but again I agree with Janice,
we need to have that more detailed.
I don't know the consensus, Janine?
Greg?
Okay 3 to 1.
While you've got it there do you want
to go ahead and go with your information?
>> I do have one last one to bring up.
The last item we have under nominations
is the Code Enforcement Board we have two regular and one
alternate seats up.
We have three applicants, if we would
like to bring them back for appointment
at the next meeting the plan would be to have voting first
for the regular seats and then whoever is not appointed
to a regular seat could take the alternate seat,
if that is acceptable to council.
>> And both Carl and Mark are currently on it and Teresa is
asking to currently be on it?
Is that correct?
>> That's correct.
>> Not.?
We'll just -- >> We'll do it at the next meeting.
>> So this is just a nominate all three?
>> I'm sorry Carl is the only one who's a current member
of the board.
>> So we just have to have a nomination for all three of them
this this time?
>> Correct.
>> Do I have a nomination?
>> I will nominate all three.
>> A second?
>> I second.
>> We have a motion and a second to nominate all three.
All in favor raise your hand.
Four yeses, opposed?
Motion carries.
>> Thank you, if it's okay I can do my report
>> Hold on just a second.
>> Sarah do you explicitly need, because you are nominating two
regular and one alternate, which one of the three,
which two of the three are designated as the regular
members and which one is the alternate?
>> The intention is to figure that out at the next meeting
by vote, who would be which.
And on my report I would just like everyone
to know that we have just over a month
left for businesses for new city business tax receipts.
To date 393 renewals have been processed,
of the 111,000 active businesses of the current fiscal year.
Late fees will begin October 1st for businesses that do not renew
prior to the September 30th deadline.
We are encouraging everyone who has not
received a renewal notice to reach out to us to update
their contact information and if possible to not get
the renewal in one fell swoop.
I'm also excited that the Fall Festival is going
to be here before we know it.
We have 22 nonprofits signed up for the trick or treat circuit
to donate resources and contribute
to the community with their services.
We have also secured a very important party sponsor,
thank you to Quantum Fiber by AT&T.
And thank you to the firm advertising agency, Chapman
Insurance Agency and two custom sponsorships
Joe's Pizzeria and Restaurant and Bath Theater.
We have plenty of space for nonprofits
to join in lots of ways for local businesses
to support the festival with monetary or in-kind donations.
If you're interested in knowing more
you can reach out to the City Clerk's office.
By phone or email.
>> I was reported to that they have collected lean payouts,
so for this year that's over last year.
Staff has been working with a group called Seahawk,
they have the ability to provide technical assistance
in the area of sustainability which also includes design.
We are going through our plans that we already have in place
and looking at what we think would
be the best use of this technical assistance.
But if City Council has anything you
would like to add or chime in on that you would like
us to consider for that, just send me an email
and let me know about that.
We were submitted a submitted alternative water supply
application which would put additional wells on sites,
should we need them.
Because when wells are rehabbed we take one out of service,
it would give us some additional reliability.
We submitted our paperwork for the legislative appropriation
for water meters.
As I mentioned before that bid should go out next week.
I want to ask if you would consider
an item regarding ribbon cuttings and outdoor music
permits.
It was recently, we had one business
that was turned in by someone to complain that they did not
have this particular license and frankly city staff
has not ever enforced these two that are actually on the books.
Would you be interested in discussing these
at a future agenda?
To possibly amend this requirement?
>> That was a yes by everybody.
>> Some updates by f dot, the final asphalt layers across
the corridor, will shift U.S. 41 northbound where surface prep
and normal strips will be installed in late August through
September.
The final striping and lean configuration and signaling
will be September to October, trafficking monitoring
and thermoplastic loops, and then the signal
will turn back on in October or November.
So it's making progress.
I know it took a while but it's getting there.
We will have a ribbon cutting at the beginning of the next City
Council meeting.
That will be September 9th, we will do that right away,
our first item at 9 a.m.
To officially cut the ribbon on this place.
And one other piece of excellent news, AdventHealth
received their development order approval last Friday.
So we are moving forward.
And that is all I have, thank you.
>> You are speedier than I am in talking but it's the MPO with
the traffic signal?
That's going to be October or November that's
when it's getting turned on?
Fantastic.
That is correct from her.
>> I think I've spoken more today than I have in the last
year.
Several things have been going on, as doctor Reichert mentioned
in her project updates and just now call her office has been
building in -- busy in helping things move along and closing
out lawsuits.
I'm pleased to announce that right now we have participated
in the R.J. Corman mediation yesterday, we were able to,
at least for now, we came to an agreement.
We believe that it is saving Punta Gorda residents
and the city over $1 million.
We are proud to announce that.
Doctor Reichert and I signed the agreement yesterday
but it's contingent on your approval on September 9th.
Once RJ Corman is approved by you guys
on the ninth then all lawsuits in which the city could
be potentially on the hook have been resolved,
there are no more pending lawsuits that
could come out of your fund.
I had a few phone calls while you were on break,
we have been able to curtail potential lawsuits
where those are no longer going to be sought after.
You will start seeing now and increase,
or we're moving forward now on a lot of code cases
that have been pushed off for many reasons.
Whether that's because of bankruptcies or foreclosures,
we have now been bringing code cases back on the docket
to get rid of a lot of these old homes,
and homes that have issues.
So we're going to start seeing a lot of movement on those cases.
We are looking to close out some of those that quite a few
residents have been showing concerns about .
And two more things, it was brought
to our attention on Monday that potentially if elected officials
have a non-disclosure agreement because they
have some kind of interest in a business or a property,
if they are still potentially subject to a conflict
of interest announcement when it comes to a vote.
I think it will be something we will have to discuss.
Not just with this council but for many councils
coming down the years as well.
How those procedures may have to come about as well.
And Dallas is still doing a wonderful job but not here
today.
She was appointed as a board member
to the United Way of Charlotte County.
Outside of that, everything is moving smoothly
through the legal department.
We will keep you guys Apprized after I hear from Mr. Barlow
today.
>> Thank you for that, great update.
Do we have to wait until September 9th or can we do
a consensus to finish it?
Do we have to wait?
>> It would probably be best to wait until September 9th
because of the way the agreement was written is that it would be
addressed at the September 9th Council meeting.
>> I have a question?
How many lawsuits were coming against the city
when you came into office more or less?
Are we talking about like 10 or 20?
>> There was seven, four of them never got to the point
of actually being filed we were able to correct the problem
pretty quickly.
Two were dismissed through the court systems because of motions
to dismiss.
And then we just have RJ Gorman who is
the last one floating around.
Now the city does have other suits
that are being done by insurance companies.
Whether that's for some kind of personal injury
claim a slip and fall, but they're not coming out
of the city's coffers.
They'll come out of insurance.
That's why you have those.
>> I appreciate that.
And I wanted the public to know that you have been working hard.
And we've been working behind the scenes.
But it's very important to get these things dismissed and taken
care of in every way possible.
So thank you.
What would be the actual plan regarding
the NDA issue you brought up?
If we were going to do something what would we do?
>> Let me give you kind of an example of it.
Let's say that you owned 100 acres out in farmland somewhere
in East Charlotte County.
And a data center wanted to come in and buy your land.
Let's say that land is going to be using the city's water
sources, and then you're sitting on council voting on it.
There could be a conflict of interest,
so there's also some public officials now
in the state of Florida who have non-disclosure agreements
because of corporate reasons or personal reasons
for their interest in corporate entities,
such as maybe a 501 C three or potentially an S Corp
that owns land, I'm just using this as an example.
But if you had a non-disclosure agreement where
you can't disclose that you own part of the property
but they're an elected official.
So there could be a conflict where if someone,
you could say I have an NDA I can't talk about this
and not have to disclose it.
So it's being addressed statewide,
that's how it'll have to come about because of the sunshine >>
So no immediate remedy but something
that we should be aware of?
How do we know, if someone has a nondisclosure agreement
we don't necessarily know what it's about
or what it pertains to.
What are our options to protect citizens
from having someone vote where they might have a conflict?
>> A lot of it has to do with your ethical duty to just
announce that you have a conflict.
But it will be something that I will
have to look into and kind of dig around in as well.
I'm not saying this has to come into effect immediately,
but it is something that we're going
to have to look into as we move forward as well.
And how we implement a conflict of interest vote
that comes about.
>> In the whole state is dealing with this now?
Have they always been dealing with it,
has it just come up more recently?
Is this a new problem?
Or just something that we haven't addressed before?
>> It's coming about on Monday we were given some documentation
which kind of raised some eyebrows and makes it look
or seem like we might have to look into it.
I guess it's becoming more relevant and prevalent
around the state.
But it's something that I will have to look into
to see how we can protect ourselves in that way.
>> Who do I have marked down as the contact regarding that
donation?
>> You can start with me.
>> I am on the FB board which is the Metropolitan Planning
Organization and we work very closely with fDOT and it's both
Punta Gorda and Charlotte County and then the airport is also
on that board.
And what is happening within the state
is obviously funding maybe short.
So the state is trying to make it
so our MPO board is consolidated,
and that's not a good situation.
Because we could be consolidated with Lee County, Sarasota,
we don't know right now how large that MPO board would look.
And it gives us a disadvantage as far
as having a seat at the table.
And I just want everyone to be aware of that,
that is going on with the MPO right
now throughout the entire state.
There are some that have consolidated and have
said it works fine for them, but we have a small airport here
and they have a seat at the table
and they want to continue that.
And I don't know about you but I definitely want them to.
And I want us as a city to be able to have a voice.
And I'm only one person on this board,
so this is not a good thing for us.
And I'll try to keep you abreast as things go on.
I also sent through doctor Reichert
some information about the Strategic Highway safety
plan they're trying to get down to net zero serious injuries
and absolutely zero deaths.
They do that through various ways
of working closely with fDOT and making sure that roadways also
have walkways and bicycle paths and things like that.
So it's a very important thing for citizens
to know about, we care about your safety and everything
that fDOT does, even lighting, it's very important to them.
It's all been studied, crosswalks, they
study even circles, the driving circles you go around,
they have people involved who are very knowledgeable
and they do all kinds of studies.
And I just want you to know that MPO consolidation is coming up.
And from a citizen who has asked me twice
on this, the fencing around the parking lot behind the City Hall
building.
Citizens want to have access to 41
if they're walking so they can cross over
without having to walk between the city chambers right here
and the hibachi restaurant.
I go there a lot and I love that place
but it's difficult when a car is coming out for a car to pull in.
And then you have pedestrians that
are forced to walk through that parking lot
to get out to 41 to cross.
They're just asking, if I park here can I --
or can there be an area in the fencing that's wide enough
for pedestrians to walk through and have access to 41 so they
don't have to walk through the parking lot?
Another thing I want to bring up to you
is thank you Sara for encouraging civility
and engagement, thank you for those exercises.
I think it's very important.
I'm also appreciating these as much
as you don't like your fingers working so quickly,
I like that you can't interrupt someone else.
It just forces you to not be able to interrupt other people
so I appreciate that.
Thank you also again for the civility engagement
exercises that you have given us.
Miss Eunice Wiley was a very important woman in the city,
she recently passed away and in 1970 she
became the first black teacher to integrate East Elementary
School in Punta Gorda Florida stepping into a role that
required uncommon courage and resolve
despite facing resistance from those who did not recognize
or welcome her presence.
She faced every challenge with grace and patience
and the unwavering belief in the power of education
to unite children of all backgrounds.
She went to break barriers as a black female principal,
she was the black female principal at Neil Armstrong
University --
elementary inspiring leadership until her retirement in 2005.
Throughout a distinguished career
spanning more than three decades she
served the children, families, staff of Charlotte schools
with tireless dedication and passion and integrity.
Her leadership and resilience and lifelong commitment
to equity and education left an indelible mark
on Charlotte County Schools and the Punta Gorda community.
Her story continues to inspire all who hear it.
My message today is to extend a heartfelt thanks
for her trailblazing service and her commitment
to the students of this community
and her legacy of courage and excellence
that she leaves behind.
Her memorial service will be August 29th if anyone
doesn't know about that.
It will be at the Life Celebration Center at 4:00.
They ask you to wear shades of yellow and orange in her Memory.
Thank you to all of the staff.
This was wonderful today comments staff we cannot thank
you enough.
This was a property that they were going to tear down .
This is a savings of not only a lot of money
but it just feels good here it feels like home.
So I appreciate you all so much.
Thank you doctor Reichert for being at the lead of all
of this I really appreciate it.
That's all I have comment thank you.
>> I agree, great discussions here today.
One of the things I do want to bring up,
we have one gentleman here in our city
who has been so influential and so kind in getting everything
done, including putting the Vietnam wall up and making
sure the grounds are beautiful.
He's bringing the Huey over to our Vietnam wall,
he's one heck of a wonderful veteran
and I would love to present a mayor's award to General Carr.
And I think I can do it on my own,
but I want a consensus from everybody
to say let's give this man a thank
you for recognizing our heroes.
And I wish Lisa was here to hear that as well.
But I think this is really important for this gentleman,
who is going through some medical issues right now.
I would like to make sure that he
knows we want to thank him so much for all
he has done in our community.
Is that okay?
Fantastic.
And hopefully we can do it when they
have the MIA and POW and the Huey and everything,
maybe we can do it at that time and have him here.
Thank you, I'm glad that you will
be looking into transparency of people
who don't hide behind nondisclosure agreements
and things like that and claim they don't have anything.
Think it's very important for all of us.
And even if you you know study that on all of us
I think that's important and to find.
And I did hear, I don't remember who agreed,
but I know we have talked about this
before but we really do need committees for public input.
I think it's so important.
I know it's more of a burden for staff time and stuff come up
but this is really what we're supposed
to do for the residents.
We need to accommodate and make sure we
have the residents heard.
And like Greg was saying we have some experts here.
Let's utilize these experts to help us out.
Also thank you so much for October and November,
I know the accidents, thank you Jeannine
I know you're pushing that along so thank you.
The Southwest Florida Regional Planning Boards
is one of the boards I'm on, it's
very similar to the Florida League of Cities,
it's an excellent group, what they
do is get all of the communities together more locally here
and I'm really enjoying it.
And I think even having other people come
I know we can go to Florida League of Cities stuff
and I think it's very important for us
to listen to what other people are doing and help them out.
And I know I present this stuff to Doctor Reichert who
has passed it on to staff.
And that might help us in the future.
So I gave you that this morning.
For that invoice, do we need to do anything with that?
>> That had been a city council decision to not be a member
themselves of the Regional Planning Commission.
You do know they have done a lot of work
with us in the beginning stages of working on these LDR.
We are technically a member through Charlotte County.
If we choose to join again I think it was under $4,000.
That does then reduce Charlotte County's burden by that amount
as well.
>> I know it's more money coming you keep on talking about it,
but it's more localized and what it does is it allows all
the leaders to discuss everything that's going
on around here in their communities,
and sometimes it gives us ideas about how we can make things
more efficient in our city instead of reinventing the wheel
all the time and being like what's happening over here kind
of like with the MPO.
This is us locally, that's under 4000 I think that's less than
a lot of what other boards ask for in price..
We spend more money by going to meetings and stuff
like that we spend a lot of money on that.
I think this is a drop in the hat compared to everything else.
Consensus?
I do vote on it, yes.
The city has not paid any fees for us to be there.
So in order to make things smoothly for anything
they need money, and I think us as a city need
to pick up and pay for the benefits
that we've been receiving from them.
>> Didn't someone say the county was paying for it?
They haven't been?
Well that's on them.
>> In the document that you provided to me it looked like
the county contribution would then be reduced by what the city
would pay
>> That's correct but they have not paid it.
>> Do we know why?
Okay.
>> So I'm asking for a consensus to go ahead and pay
the city's portion.
Which the city would be paying to the county anyhow,
just that they haven't done anything.
>> I'd like to think about it.
>> Could we bring it back as an agenda item?
Let's do >> We'll bring it back as an agenda item.
Yes, that's a yes on that.
>> Then we can truly understand the value that the organization
would provide to us.
They have already been providing us
with some great value, working hand in hand with Rachel
and I think it's something you need to have all
the information to consider.
>> I think someone may even come out and talk to us during
an agenda time so you could hear all the valuable stuff
that's so important there.
So welcome back, thank you staff again you've
done a tremendous job thank you for everything
you've done to push us along.
And thank you to all of the improvements
during this crazy hurricane and stuff.
I think that we as a whole, our council
has done a tremendous job thanks to you.
You make us look good.
So thank you very much for everything.
And we are going to open it up to public comment.
I think this has been a great meeting even
though it's been a long one.
>> I just want to address the fence issue around the parking
lot, the fence is there because of a very expensive lawsuit that
the city paid for with someone falling down that slight
embankment.
So it was put in place for safety reasons,
and because of that lawsuit.
>> So that means a big no?
Not at all?
Not at all possible, even in like a different area
to put an opening?
I'm just more concerned about people walking,
you should see it.
When there's people walking and driving both ways
there's a lot of traffic there.
Because of course you have the Italian place
back here also, in the evening.
So I'm just a little concerned people just walk through there
like no tomorrow.
>> We can certainly look at that.
That is scheduled to be replaced in the future.
At that time potentially there could be an access upgrade.
I would give it to staff to explore.
>> Didn't we also agree that we would put up signs that were not
liable for all these trip and falls on city and public
property?
I think we definitely need that.
Especially hearing that we have had a nice lawsuit.
>> That sign has been placed in that particular parking lot.
>> So hopefully that won't happen again.
Never stops anyone from doing it though, unfortunately.
But thank you for the input.
Are we ready for public input?
Yes, we are getting there.
Okay nice soft tone, we've had a great day
today come a deep breaths, everyone's doing wonderful,
we are here for you.
There you go come on now you can speak.
State your name also.
>> My name is Samuel, thank you all for allowing me to speak
today.
Yes I do have a soft tone today.
In this historic moment of being back in the building,
it's very great to be here.
Part of me is very sad for each and every one of you
because the state legislature with SB 180.
They're taking control out of many of your hands.
So we spend many hours today talking
about the comprehensive plan.
I was in Desoto County yesterday and in Desoto they
had hired a consulting firm from the state in order
to explain because there comprehensive plan was
on the table.
And in that conversation, and what
came out of that after the meeting,
that they allowed me to be there and participate and learn from,
is that your hands are tied.
So you're getting a lot of pushback that none of you
have control over.
And it would be nice that if we could explain to people so when
all the folks are in the room today
and we're getting maybe a bit anxious about what they wanted
to see happen is that you have to realize
that the state legislators are taking more and more control.
So you have SB 180, SB 684, I'm sorry if I got those wrong,
but you also have the live local act
which has taken much control.
A lot of the things that you talked about today
were actually addressed in Desoto yesterday
saying that legislatively you have no control.
Regarding density, regarding how high you want the buildings
to be or how low you want them to be ,
there's many things that are going on that as a citizen
I've had to learn.
For myself.
Many times citizens don't have times to read all the things.
So as you know coming up here and wanting
to scream and yell and say why aren't you doing this for us,
but when I go and read I realize it's not your fault.
And one that I feel embarrassed about sometimes,
because I've read all these laws and figured out that there's
more things put into place.
So for SB 180 for example, the 2027, October of 2027,
there are talks that they're already trying to extend that.
What also came out of the Desoto meeting yesterday
was if a hurricane comes within 100 miles of Florida,
SB 180 automatically is extended.
>> Yes it is.
>> God bless you and thank you for letting me talk to you
today.
>> Thank you.
I'm just going to leave it live.
>> I have to say hands down I think everybody is going
to agree that this was probably one of the best meetings
we've had at Punta Gorda City Council in a long time.
I didn't see one interruption on the dais.
Imagine that.
I would like to first talk about,
I'm seeing some campaign signs around the city.
I need to know, is our fire department
endorsing these candidates?
Is this like a fire benevolence program?
Like the police?
I need to know who is doing that.
Another thing I want to talk about,
I want to talk to you all about toilet to tap.
Isn't that going to be great when
we're drinking toilet to tap?
That's what they have in plan for us.
I'm glad you brought up some of that stuff Samuel
because I want to talk about our legislative delegation.
You'd think they're representing us in this chamber?
No.
Because if they were we wouldn't have SB 180.
We wouldn't have half of the shenanigans going on
up in Tallahassee and down at the P
oh, same with the Democratic Party of Florida.
You know those two parties are just
subsidiaries of one another.
Our river is dying.
I want to tell you, all of you that the park, those properties
that we want purchased.
I want retention ponds come I don't see anyone else
up here bringing solutions or improvements to downtown
flooding, except Tim Ritchie.
I don't see anyone coming to test my canal either to find out
what is in my canal.
I have tested, I know what is in there.
And lastly we should be protected on social media.
You hear me?
I expect every citizen in this city to be protected.
Every one of you should be concerned about somebody
impersonating you and using your home address.
My aunt was in Vietnam, she went in as a lieutenant
and came out as a captain.
God bless everyone.