>> mayor: ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your regularly scheduled dunnellon city council
meeting. If you haven't turned your cell phone off, might be a good idea to think about that so nobody
gets embarrassed with that thing going off. If you'll join me with the pledge of allegiance.
[pledge of allegiance] >> mayor: is there anybody in the audience that would like to offer an opening prayer?
>> : merciful father, as we engage in this meeting, grant us patience and understanding. Help us approach each discussion
with grace, allowing others the type and space to express their opinions amen. >> : amen.
[roll called] the agenda for this meeting was posted on the website and bulletin board on july 8, 2026.
the agenda was amended to add item 5a and change the order of the regular agenda items. >> mayor: are there any council
comments before we get started? Valerie? >> : not at this time, no, sir. [speaker off mic]
>> : question for andrew. Regarding voting on the agenda items. Most of the public isn't sworn
in and they can -- [speaker off mic] when it comes to councilmembers and votes are done based on untruthful
information, is there any recourse to correct this or is that just allowed to happen? >> : you're asking so I -- I'm
trying to rephrase your question. You're simply asking does the -- >> : I sit up here and tell a
lie, okay, and prove it's a lie, a vote is taken and the vote is biased based on the lie, is there not any trouble for any of
that? >> : it depends on the circumstances. You have fiduciary duties under
chapter 112. Lying in general, a lie in and of itself is not necessarily a violation.
in some cases -- well, politics is politics. It depends on all of the facts and depends on the
circumstances, and it depends on because a lie can be many things. A lie can be a white lie.
a lie can be fraud. A lie can be a brief of a fiduciary duty. It depends completely on the
facts and what the circumstances are. >> I got it. Thank you.
>> mayor: do we have anybody signed up to speak, mandy? >> : no, sir. >> mayor: is there anybody in
the public that would like to comment on non-agenda items, this would be items not on the agenda?
anyone? I'm seeing no one. I'll entertain a motion on the consent agenda.
>> : I move we approve the consent agenda. >> second. >> : there's a motion and the
floor and a second. Discussion? >> : there was one item on the consent agenda that we need to
pull and that is the appointment of justin loury as a member of the planning commission. He has since written us and
withdrawn his application for that seat. I would suggest you approve as amended.
>> : mr. Mayor, I will remake my motion and remove justin loury. >> : second. >> mayor: further discussion?
all those in favor, say aye? [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries. >> : on the next item, the
presentation of the financial audit, it's actually caleb who will be making the presentation. We have karl.
>> mayor: welcome, sir. >> : I have two in front of you, one for the community and one for the community redevelopment
agency. We're going to be focusing on the city's financial growth. I'm one of the partner owners at
the cpa. I have one other partner named brad. I was the one responsible for
supervising this engagement. We're going to start on page 4 of the city's audit report. >> : is it the city or the cra?
>> : the city. >> : oh, the city, my apologies. Alright. Thank you.
>> : yep. Okay, so, first on page four is the independent auditor's report.
these come at the very beginning of the financial statements because it says what we think about those financial
statements, whether we think they're accurate or not. In the first paragraph you have our opinion.
[speaker off mic] before the year ended september 30th, 2025. I'll point out this is from october 1st, 2024 through
september 30th, 2025. The second paragraph says in our opinion the financial statements is fairly and material respects
the financial position of the city as of september 30th, 2025. The third paragraph says the basis for our opinion, which is
we conducted our audit with generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards.
let's move on to page seven. Page seven of the report is discussion and analysis. This is a short summary of the
financial statements that follow. If you're looking to read on your own, you get a snapshot and
this would be where to go, where to start. I want to skip past this to page 16 and go to the financial
statements themself. On page 16, we have the back sheet of the governmental funds, your general fund, and tax
increment fund which is the cra. This is on the -- [speaker off mic] the primary difference between the two is
that these governmental funds don't include certain long-term items. It's just debt.
starting with general fund, you have total assets of 8,679,000. This was primarily cash investments.
you have liabilities of 185,000. When you subtract those liabilities, your left fund balances or net worth at year
end, which was 8,491,000, second from the bottom. This fund balance is broken up into amounts that are restricted
for certain purposes, which was 1,883,000, which you can see is five different items listed there that are restricted.
the largest of which is for infrastructure and then 949,000 and second most was for streets, capital projects which was
768,000. Next, we have a balance for committed for certain purposes is worth 2,699,000.
once again, there was five items listed here, largest being infrastructure of 1,808,000. Below these is your unassigned
fund balance, which was -- [speaker off mic] this represents amounts that can be used on ongoing operations.
this represents one year of operating expenses. So, you have a large reserve there for circumstances, such as
hurricanes. These financial statements -- these unassigned balances are very substantial.
the government finance officers of america recommends having at least two months of reserves there and you have over a year.
that's good that you have a little more because you do have things like hurricanes and stuff like that that other areas may
not have. Now, looking at the cra fund column, total assets were 1,714,000, once again, primarily
cash. Your liabilities were 139,000 as of year end, leaving -- [speaker off mic] which is all
restricted for community redevelopment. On to the next page, page 17. This is the reconciliation.
it shows that 10,068,000 governmental funds and list the items. Those are the long-term items,
like your pension asset of 2.9 million, capital assets, which were reported net of appreciation about --
[unintelligible] also had deferred outflows of resources related to pensions of 220,000 and long-term
liabilities of 1,427,000, which is primarily your revenue bond payable with 1,258,000. Also had the inflow resources
related to your pension of 994,000, and the total net position for the government as of year end for the accounting
is that bottom number, 17,588,000, so quite a bit larger. Only to the next page.
this was presented on the modified accounting. This is similar to an income statement.
it hoes revenues and expenditures for the year. For general fund, you had revenues of 4,412,000 and for
expenditures, you had 3,469,000. [speaker off mic] those are operating results for the year. I will go through some of these
expenditure categories to give you a general idea of what your government spends its money on. These are broken down by
optional categories. General government of 939,000, public safety of 1,126,000, physical environment of 223,000,
transportation of 220,000. Human services of 17,000, recreation 56,000. You had capital outlay of 97,000
in general government, 17,000 in public safety, and 581,000 for transportation. And then you had debt service
principle payments of 187,000. [unintelligible] at 491,000 in revenues, 367,000 in expenses, and a net increase
of the year of 124,000. Between the two funds, you have an increase of a million 67,000 for the year.
on to the next page, the conversion. You can see at the bottom you had based income of 2,133,000,
almost a million dollars greater on the basis of accounting. The next page. You have your statement of net
position for your fiduciary bonds, which is your pension trust funds. Your total assets were
5.7 million or almost 5.8 million, which was primarily cash investments used to fund your pension.
moving on to the next page, we have our statement of changes and net position for those pension trust funds.
this is the income statement for that. The number three quarters of the way down is your change in net
position of 538,000 for an increase of almost a half million dollars, so that's good. Moving on to the next page, page
22 is the notice of the financial statements. The notes provides some of the background information on the
city, your debt and capital assets in more detail. I'm not going to cover that. We're going to skip to page 60.
on page 60, we have the independent auditor's report on internal control over financial compliance.
this summarizes any findings that we had and we did not have any findings if you look to the left.
we did not find any deficiencies. Then on the next page, it says we didn't have any instances of
non-compliance in the financial statements. So, this concludes my audit presentation.
overall, good financial results, is no issues during the audit that were anything to be worried about.
everything is good. I just want to say we really appreciate your accounting staff.
they do a great job. You're blessed. Appreciate doing your audit. You guys have a really good team
here, things are really straight, and I appreciate coming with a clean, good audit. Thank you.
>> mayor: thank you, caleb. Valerie. >> : I thank you and your staff for always providing us with
good information and looking forward to next year. >> mayor: tim? >> : no, sir.
>> mayor: thank you very much, caleb, we appreciate you being here. >> : safe travels home.
>> : thank you. >> : thank you, caleb. >> mayor: item number two. Mandy, you wanted to speak on
this particular item? >> : yes, sir. So, this has been pulled from the agenda in the absence of
community development manager. I had forwarded all of this variance information over to our planning consultant, eda, for
them to review and present to the planning commission prior to it coming to council, and they had some questions and some
concerns that they wanted to address before they were comfortable bringing it forward, so this is going to be moved to
the august planning commission agenda, and then to the september council meeting. >> mayor: any questions?
>> : no. >> mayor: thank you, mandy. We move on to item number three, proclamations, 3a, proclamation
pro2026-02, city council election. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak on this
particular item? Seeing no one, entertain a motion to be read into the record.
>> : so moved. >> : second. >> mayor: motioned. Further discussion.
all those in favor, say aye. [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries. >> : proclamation pro2026-02,
dunnellon city council election. Whereas, the mayor for the city council of the city of dunnellon proclaims a general election to
be held on november 3, 2026 to for the election of council member for the following seats. Seat number two, which is
currently vacant, and seat number three, which is occupied by tim inskeep. Whereas, any individual
interested in seeking election to the city council may do so by obtaining election information and qualifying format from the
city's website at www.dunnellon.org or by contacting the office of the city clerk and requesting
qualification forms. The qualification period begins at 12:00 o'clock noon on august 17, 2026 and ends at
12:00 o'clock noon on august 21st 2026. Hours are from 8:00 o'clock a.m. Until 12:00 o'clock noon.
whereas, petition and financial disclosure and forms must be submitted to the city clerk no later than 12:00 o'clock noon on
august 21, 2026. The cost is $55, plus 1% of annual salary, totaling $63. Whereas, in the event that the
election results a candidate not receiving the most votes cast, the mayor for the city council of the city of dunnellon
proclaims a runoff election to be held on january 19, 2027. Be it hereby proclaimed that an election will take place on
november 3, 2026 and qualifying packages are available on the city of dunnellon's website at www.dunnellon.org.
>> : I move proclamation pro2026-02 to be approved. >> : second. >> mayor: there's a motion on
the floor and a second. Further discussion in all those in favor say aye. [chorus of ayes]
>> mayor: motion carries. We'll move on now to item number 4, resolutions, 4a. Res2026-14, amending the city's
permit and development fees. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak on this particular item?
yes. [speaker off mic] you'll probably answer all of my questions in your discussion,
but I was a little concerned that this is kind of wishy washy and it gives you a range of the fees without giving a specific
fee for certain things. I also noticed that the residential new construction, to me, is extremely low.
I don't know city government that much, but when I was in inverness, a new house would cost upward of $400,000 and
they're going to be building that property caddy corner from the cannon farms, so we're going to have a lot of residents,
construction, taxes, et cetera, and you might want to consider reviewing that particular cost, which I would consider to be
low. A good option to raise a little more money as far as new residents.
thank you. >> mayor: is there anyone else who would like to speak? Okay, I'll entertain a motion to
be read. You've got something, mandy? >> : yes, sir. The only thing I would like to
point out is this resolution is associated with fees related to business permits because of the recent legislation that required
us to amend our fee schedule. What I would like to note for the record is this will only supersede our resolution that is
currently in effect when it comes to building permits. That resolution contains other fees, such as zoning
verification and things like that, that aren't included in this resolution. My goal would be at some point
in the near future bring a resolution back to you that includes everything in one document so that we're not
having to go back and forth, but I just wanted to note for the record that this only addresses the requirements of the
legislation that we had to comply with. >> mayor: yes, sir. >> : correct me if I'm wrong,
mandy, but also it's really not wishy washy like it was explained in the workshop. The hourly rates are solid and
they're correct. Where you see the one to five hours or this many or that many, okay, reviewing a permit,
they're not all the same across the board. Some are less man hours, some take more man hours, but the
total cost will be based on the total man hours that are used. The other costs are examples is if it took two hours, it will be
that. I hope that answers your question. Thank you.
>> mayor: valerie? >> : no, sir, I have nothing. >> mayor: I'll entertain a motion to be read by title only.
>> : so moved. >> mayor: there's a motion on the floor. Is there a second?
>> : second. >> mayor: there is a second. Further discussion? All those in favor say aye.
[chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries. >> : resolution number res2026-14, a resolution by the
city council of the city of dunnellon, florida, adopting an amended permit and development fee schedule to ensure
compliance with florida house bill 803 providing for and conflicts, scribner's errors, severability and an effective
date. >> mayor: entertain a motion to approve. >> : so moved.
>> : second. >> mayor: any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. [chorus of ayes]
>> mayor: motion carries. Now, p, moving on to item number five, regular agenda items. Community development manager
status, mandy. >> : you all were provided with the notification that I placed mr. Airy on paid administrative
leave effective monday, july 13th and the next step in this matter, because the ultimate authority to hire and
terminate department heads lies with the city council. It will be up to you how you would like to proceed.
>> mayor: okay, we'll open it up. Valerie? >> : because of the items that
you mentioned in the employment policy, I don't believe we have any other option but to accept the termination, with heavy
heart I say that. I would make a motion that we -- >> mayor: well, this is discussion now.
>> : okay. >> mayor: we'll have a discussion, then we'll move on. >> : yes, sir.
sorry. >> mayor: do you have anything else? Rex?
tim? >> : no. >> mayor: is there anyone in the public who would like to comment
on this particular item? Anyone in the public? Okay, I'll entertain a motion. >> : I make the motion to
terminate employment with city of dunnellon and mr. William airy effective immediately. >> : second.
>> mayor: there's a motion on the floor and a second. Further discussion? All those in favor say aye.
[chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries. Move on now to item 5b, award bid2026-02, police department
surplus. Mandy, I think you want to address this? >> : sure.
so, when we put these two items back out for bid, there were 10 rifles. We received an offer of $5,250
on and an offer on the f-150 pick up truck of $18,111, and based on your discussion during the workshop, there seemed to be
a consensus of council to go ahead and award the bid for the rifles, and your motion can be simply to just award that one.
I would need some further direction in you do not choose to award the bid for the pick up truck and you want me to
readvertise that, I would ask that we establish a minimum bid for that and forgive me, but I have been so busy, I have not
had an opportunity to reach out to anyone or do any research on what that minimum bid amount might be.
>> mayor: in other words, we have an option that we could go ahead and approve the rifle bid and then the truck bid we could
set aside at this point, if it's council's wishes. >> : correct. >> mayor: that's basically where
we are? >> : correct. >> mayor: valerie. >> : so, let me ask you because
I don't know what you've been doing lately, but could we make a motion where we would allow mandy to make a minimum bid
after doing research if it was over $20,000 let's say? >> mayor: we could, if you think that's in the range, mandy, of
what you think we ought to do? >> : you can make a motion to authorize me to establish the minimum bid after doing some due
diligence and looking at what the value of the vehicle is. >> mayor: so, so we could actually have a motion that we
would move forward on the rifle sales, then we would instruct the city clerk to go forward with more information on the bid
for the truck? >> : yes. >> mayor: does that sound agreeable?
>> : the only concern is as long as that truck sits, it's just rotting off. >> mayor: I agree with you.
you can't let a vehicle sit like that. >> : we've been turning on and off the engine or anything?
>> : have y'all moved it around? >> : yeah, we start it and move it. >> : thank you.
[speaker off mic] >> : letting it sit for another month or another two months for another thousand bucks, 2,000
buck. >> I can do it tomorrow. I can look at google prices and run it to the lot.
>> : I'm good then. >> : I brought it -- mandy, did loretta give you the tag? >> : she gave it to me.
>> : I went over to west ford motors and the person in charge that he had no problem appraising any vehicles we
needed and that if we bring it over, he'll look at it and give us an idea of the price and see if he can do anything with it.
>> : okay. Michelle, would you just make sure you get that to chad? Thanks.
if that's the direction, we can do that and you can also certainly accept the offer that was received as well.
it's entirely up to you. >> : I guess I'm a little bit confused. We're looking at what the
vehicle is worth, but I thought part of the motion was that we're going to readvertise it with a minimum.
say we're going to advertise for two weeks. In two weeks, somebody puts an offer in at the minimum, are we
allowing city clerk's office to just go ahead and sell it at that minimum? >> : no, I have to bring it
back. >> : okay, gotcha. >> : it would have to come back to council next month.
>> : I'm saying give her the permission to make the minimum in the next few days. She can email us and, you know.
>> mayor: anything else, valerie? >> : no, sir. >> mayor: rex?
>> : no, sir. >> mayor: if it's agreeable, we go ahead with the rifle sale and delay the truck and turn the
matter over to the city clerk for further action. Does that sound reasonable, mandy?
that's the motion I would entertain. >> : did you make the motion? >> mayor: no, no.
I said I would entertain the motion. >> : I make a motion to sell the rifles for the offer, delay the
sale of the truck until further minimum is set, further advertisement for further offers.
>> mayor: okay, there's a motion on the floor. >> : second. >> mayor: there is a second.
is there anyone in the public who wants to comment on this particular item? Any further comments from
council? All those in favor, say aye. [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries.
we'll move down now to item 5c, appointment for vacant city council seat number two and applicant presentation.
>> : would either of you like to come forward to make a presentation? >> : if I heard this correctly,
from what I understand, this seat does not have to be filled tonight? I think there could be a choice
there? This would be the first time that I ran for something and didn't give a campaign speech.
I would feel really weird being voted on and you not really knowing, you know, what my intents are, and if your minds
are already made up, maybe after what I read to you what I'll give this afternoon, you might change your mind.
so, it's about three minutes and I'm just going to -- I wasn't prepared last week, so I just through together some feelings
and who knows, it might change your mind in voting or if not. I hate to leave anything out. I can also go off topic, so I'll
stick to this. Good evening, council and audience of maybe six people, and those that are listening in.
after the last workshop I felt I didn't do enough to represent who I am or how I will serve as a council member, but before the
vote takes place, I would like to share a little bit more about my approach. Things can change with
experience and I want you to understand my mindset from the start. As you all know, this position
isn't easy. Councilmembers have faced criticism and scrutiny while serving and I understand that
comes with the job. I'm prepared for that. What I want to understand perhaps even offer as a warning
is that I fully understand, I would not be spending my money. I would be spending my neighbor's money.
every time I cast a vote, I would ask the question, will this benefit the entire community or a group?
for example, someone came before the council asking for the city to fund dog waste stations. I would have to ask, is it
primarily dog owners or a community as a whole? Should dog owners raise money and purchase the stations
themselves or is it better for the city to buy them because they contribute to a cleaner community?
compare that to roads. Everyone depends on safe roads and everyone benefits from maintaining them.
unless it's a road rarely used, I don't have to wonder about the benefits. The answer is simple.
fix the road with the taxpayers' money. I'm not a numbers person. I may look like a deer in the
headlight while looking through financial reports, but I won't hesitate to ask questions until I understand.
I stood at this microphone many times. I've received interesting looks, blank stares and sometimes not
even a glance. If I'm fortunate to sit on the side of this dais, I promise to give everyone who approaches
this microphone my attention. I'm a substitute teacher and spent ten years as a one-on-one driving instructor.
when somebody asked me my profession, I said I was a stunt driver. I know how to communicate with
people of all walks of life. It's given me a thick skin. If I'm chosen to be appointed to this council, I'm ready to serve
alongside each of you, come prepared to listen, to learn, to ask questions, and make thoughtful decisions that always
put the people of dunnellon first. I'm not here to make friends. Although, it would make things
easier. What matter assist putting the taxpayers of our city first and setting aside any personality
conflicts. I've learned get the facts, not the hearsay. Likewise, while not always happy
with the outcome of a vote, I will respect the decision of the council and not use my vote against anyone.
I thank you for your time and your consideration. >> : thank you. >> : any questions for me?
>> mayor: valerie? >> : I read your application, I've talked to you, so I think you and I are good.
thank you very much. >> mayor: rex? >> : I'm good, too. Thank you.
>> : what's her name? >> : I'm so sorry. My name is paula. >> : mr. Kinley?
[speaker off mic] >> : I just wanted to clarify one thing or two things at the last meeting.
I may have given someone the false impression that I've only lived here for a little over two years when we bought our house
in 2023. I have been in citrus county since the mid 70s. I was a radio disc jockey.
as part of my original friends, the original wrts in dunnellon, we became friends with one of the deejays and we kind of hung
out together and that's how I discovered dunnellon. The other thing that I had written down, but I didn't bring
it, was that I believe that the public perception and public relations of the city and the council is headed downward and
not upward. I would like to see if I could help change that. There's a lot of talk on the
street that people just want to turn the city over to marion county, but all of us in this room know exactly where that's
going to go. We don't want to be another south 200. >> : may I ask you one question?
>> : sure. >> : you were out here on 39. >> : wys kansas city e, and I can't remember his name, but he
was our age and we started to do things like canoe rides and things like that, but no, I did not work there.
>> : I had a friend who did from high school. >> mayor: tim? >> : no, sir.
>> mayor: thank you, very much. Any further council discussion? >> : I just would like to say thank you to both of y'all for
stepping up and anyone who offers to -- I know we get big pay checks of $150 a month before taxes, but I just want to
thank y'all both for participating in your city and volunteering to work with us, so thank y'all very much.
it's pretty greatly appreciated. >> mayor: I echo what valerie stated. We certainly appreciate both of
your efforts to come forward for our own town. Thank you very much. Is there anyone in the public
who would like to make a statement? Anyone else in the public like to contribute?
well, I will entertain a motion. >> : I'd like to make the motion. I move that paula depaula be
appointed to city council seat number two through the next regular election. >> mayor: is there a second?
>> : I'll second it for discussion. >> mayor: there is a second. Okay, we'll go on to discussion.
there's a motion on the floor and a second. Any further discussion? Alright, all those in favor say
aye. [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: opposed? >> : nay.
>> mayor: let's clarify. All those in favor, say aye. >> : can we go backwards a little bit for discussion?
>> mayor: absolutely. You have something to say? >> : yes. I wanted to explain what my
position was going to be. For the past three and a half years, it's been like musical chairs up here.
I've had this conversation with paula. I've made a couple of mistakes that I have voted to appoint and
when we make a mistake up here, we don't make it for ourselves. We make it for the entire city. I made a couple of mistakes, but
due to this and so close to the election, I'll be a no vote and we'll let the voters decide who represents them.
thank you, sir. >> mayor: okay. So, let's be clear then. We're going to have the vote
again and raise your hand, that way we'll have it clear. All in favor of council member hanchar's motion, raise your
hand. All those opposed, raise your hand. Alright, the motion dies.
is there another motion on the floor? >> : I'd like to make a motion that joe mckinney be nominated
for the council seat. >> mayor: there's a motion on the floor. Is there a second?
the motion dies for lack of a second. So, what that means, p, the seat will not be filled.
council can take no action when you don't have a majority. So, with four seats, you have two for and two against, so the
motion dies. So, as it stands right now, we will not have that seat filled. >> so, do the applicants --
>> mayor: that's it. >> : that's it? >> mayor: yep. There's no other action to take.
move on now to item 5d, dr-420, certification of taxable value. Shawna, I think that's got your name.
>> : good evening, everyone. This is the preliminary millage rate. When we establish the
preliminary millage rate, we do not go above that rate. We can only come down from it. So, generally it's established a
little on the higher side, but we did come down from the usual 7% down to six mills, which like I said, it's only preliminary.
>> mayor: okay, valerie. >> : I'll agree with the six mills. >> mayor: rex.
>> : I'll agree with six mills. >> : I'll agree. >> mayor: I agree. Do we need a motion on this,
mandy? >> : yes. >> mayor: let me go a little further with it then.
any further council discussion? >> : no, sir. >> mayor: anyone in the public wish to speak on this?
this is a six mill cap what we're talking about. I'll entertain a motion. >> : I move to authorize the
city clerk to certify from dr-420 certification taxable value and set the first public hearing for the year 2026, 2027
tentative budget and tentative millage rate on september 9th, 2026 with a final public hearing on september 23, 2026.
>> mayor: there's a motion on the floor and a second. Further discussion? [speaker off mic]
>> mayor: all those in favor say aye. [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries.
move on to 6 a, access to city hall surveillance video system. Valerie, that's yours. >> : mayor, before we move on to
that, I would like to point out for your benefit and for the public. I sent you an email a while back
whenever we were establishing the meeting schedules for the public hearings for the budget, and because in september, the
way the dates fall with there being the first monday of the month, there being a workshop, that would have meant that we
could -- we would have had a workshop on the seventh and our council meeting would not be until the 16th for our first
public meeting and that would not let shawna to meet some of her deadlines. What we did and it should be
updated on the website calendar as well, we moved the september workshop back to august 31st. So, your september workshop will
actually occur august 31st and your first public hearing on the budget will be on the ninth and your second public hearing will
be on the 23rd. I wanted to make sure everybody knows those dates. >> : let me make sure.
so, we are not having a meeting then on september 16th? >> : no. No.
>> : will you put that out in an email, mandy? >> : I did, but I'll put it out again.
>> : gotcha. >> : right. It would have been, your meeting would have been on the 16th, but
that would have meant us approving a final budget on september 30th. We needed to back that up to the
23rd. >> : I already made my husband change his vacation plans from the ninth and we're coming home
on the 16th, so I'm making sure that I did it right. >> : I'll go back and resend that to you all.
>> mayor: mandy, we're going to move to the workshop to the 31st of august, then have the regular council meeting on the ninth?
>> : correct. >> mayor: I gotcha. >> : that's when you'll have your first public hearing on the
budget, then there will be a special meeting on the 23rd to have your final public hearing on the budget.
>> mayor: are those both 5:00 o'clock meetings? >> : yes. >> mayor: okay.
alright. Boy, am I getting good at being computer literate on this phone. I'm amazing myself.
>> : I'm resending. I'm going to resend this email right now to all of you. >> mayor: I've got it in here
now. >> : the city workshop will be at 5:00 o'clock as well? >> : yeah many the times have
not changed. >> : okay, just verifying. >> mayor: everybody understand? Everybody in the clear?
>> : I'm good. >> mayor: now we're going to item 6 a, access to city hall surveillance video system.
vice-mayor hanchar? >> : oh, I thought you said mandy. I'm sorry.
as we know, we had a request for city hall surveillance video systems. I did ask for a public records
request of looking for the original, the original request and it was from city council member inskeep to have our city
clerk send him 12 hours of a previous day, you know, in perpetuity of a previous day's videos of our only two
locations, city hall and the city hall entry. Again, there was no explanations given.
there have been some concerns from me on that and from the citizens of dunnellon as well. I think it is kind of -- we have
no policy in place allowing for access to any videos of security systems. It is not public.
public access is not granted nor access to city council members. I think our attorney september us out an email or we received
an email today right before we walked in that basically tells us, while council cannot legislate around confidentiality
an requirements, it can -- in furtherance of official duties and responsibilities of council as a legislative body per
statutory exception. Again, our attorney can speak to this in more depth. What I am asking is that if the
city council thinks it's necessary for governmental officials to be monitoring all of our city properties, then
there should be a policy put in place, but until such a time, I believe that we should deny all access to any videos and that's
where I am with that. Attorney hand, can you kind of go over a little bit better what you were -- or did I do a good
enough job of it? >> : I can go over the law. We look at 119.07 and as far as there are some regulations
regarding security system plans that make those types of records confidential and exempt. While it doesn't specifically
say security footage, saying anything that reveals fire or security systems, that would be encapsulated with that and that
would be exempt and confidential. In 2015, the attorney general issued an opinion that camera
footage from surveillance systems, this was central florida regional transportation on the bus system and because
that footage directly related to and revealed information about the security system that that was confidential and exempt.
so, looking at that, looking at the case law and ag opinions, the best practice, while there an exception -- I'll just read
it to you. There is an exception for >> thank you.
>> anything else? >> not at this time, no, sir. >> so according to that, this is confidential, am I correct --
did this -- these videos are confidential and not for public release? >> yes.
if a member was to release some of these videos publicly, would there be repercussions? >> could be.
depending on what the intent was. And depending on whether it was in furtherance of official
duties. >> so would that open up a member to a lawsuit if the person in the video --
>> well, the protection is for the city, so not for someone in the video, and, of course, it would depend again on what
capabilities videos have, speech recording and that type of a thing. But the purpose of the statute
is to ensure city safety and security. >> so just to be clear with all this then, are we going to have
access or is access going to be denied? Will council members still have access to this?
>> what I'm recommending is you put together a policy to provide for access under certain circumstances.
if that's what you all wish to do. Because access is allowed for, as I said, for use in
furtherance of official duties. And so if you all feel that is appropriate, then that's a policy you can put together.
>> okay, well, then I'm going to make a motion tonight that access to the city hall surveillance video system -- [
off mic ] >> we'll all get to discuss it. Do you have anything else? [ off mic ]
>> I'm all about needing a policy due to my background with having many security clearances. We always received -- before you
got a clearance, you received a training, you had to sign off that you understood the training.
right now, none of this exists and it will be easy for anybody, whether it's staff, council, to ever unwittingly -- so far some
of the concerns as far as the disclosure of location, et cetera, that horse left the barn a long time ago when we all
discussed putting up these systems. Everything from locations to expense to exactly what kind of
cameras. None of that was put out, not even to employees. It was only on an as-needed
basis. We've already gone far beyond that. So I'll just wrap it up with we
definitely need policies that include training, background checks, access, et cetera, per state and federal law, because
right now, even though we're settling (indistinct) position with this responsibility, the city clerk has no training.
our city clerk unwittingly can make a mistake and have no idea that a mistake is even being made.
thank you, sir. >> mayor: when we got into the security cameras, basically in my memory, we were concerned
about eliminating theft and recording where our equipment is at all hours during the night when we had a trailer stolen
with the lawnmowers on it. So it brought the attention to the council that we need to do better as far as surveillance so
we can track some of these thieves that steal our equipment. And that's basically what I
remember that issue coming up as far as the city council is concerned. For me personally, law
enforcement is responsible as far as surveillance of our properties, and this goes through our city clerk's office.
I have never seen or had any use for any video in my duties. That's not something that would come before me.
I think it's a good idea that we research a policy that reflects the laws and protects the citizens of dunnellon.
and that's where I stand on it. And is there anyone in the public who would like to comment on this?
anyone in the public? Okay, valerie, did you want to make a motion or any further action, rex, that you want to
take? Or tim, any of the three of you? >> I'll make a motion tonight that any request for city
surveillance videos by council members needs to be brought before the council and approved before they're released.
>> mayor: there's a motion on the floor. Is there a second. >> I'll second with a
discussion. >> mayor: we'll go into discussion, yes. >> second.
>> mayor: okay, now we're open for discussion. >> question, can we go ahead and would you be open to amending
your motion to direct city, our city clerk, to remove all access by any members and to further -- that would be a thing that I
would want immediately. >> I will amend the motion to include that. >> thank you.
>> mayor: let's be sure we have it clear. >> I'll restate my motion. >> mayor: all right, let's do
this. Let's go ahead, any further discussion on this motion that was just made?
all right. What I'm trying to do, tim, is move on so we can get further. We need to get rid of this
motion if this is not the desired motion. In other words, this is a vote on the current motion and then
we'll go into it. All those in favor say aye. Opposed? Okay, and now we've move on.
now, rex, you want to make a motion? >> I'm going to make a motion that any requests for
surveillance, any request by a council member for surveillance has to be brought before the council and that all council
members be removed from access to the city hall surveillance system. >> mayor: all right, there's a
motion on the floor. Is there a second? >> second. >> mayor: there is a second.
further discussion? Any discussion? Tim? >> okay, back to training, et
cetera, et cetera. As far as the council making a decision on any of this, no council member, including
myself, is educated or trained on any of this, so for us to be deciding anything, we don't have the knowledge to know whether
you're going to make a vote that's going to be in violation of law or not. The other thing that's the last
part of this is what my argument has been is -- would be applicable unless it's in furtherance of their official
duties, and I'm saying as somebody that is responsible for basically everything that I want this information, I want this
access to perform my duties. And that's what my argument is going to be. With that said, none of that
takes away from anything that I believe any of us are saying here, that we need policies that include everything I've
mentioned so that somebody doesn't give something unwittingly, because none of us know -- none of us have been
trained in this field as far as this kind of surveillance. We can call it security, we can call it surveillance, pick a
term. There's not even anything officially that says this is security.
it's just one of the terms to throw out there. I can use the term surveillance. Again, we have nothing that
speaks to these cameras that we have up. Thank you, sir. >> mayor: okay.
any further comment? >> again, just my desire is because there are no policies that no one except for our
police chief, interim, or our city clerk, who has had background check, be available for this.
and there is nothing that I can imagine as a city council person sitting up here that I would need to watch only two locations
in the whole entire city that have other access, so this seems targeted to me, so I'd like for us to get rid of this
accessibility until we can all work on a policy that is good for the whole city. And makes our accessibility
clear and defined and within our attorney's recommendations of legality. Thank you.
mr. Mayor? >> mayor: anyone in the public wish to comment? Yes.
>> can I stay here? >> mayor: no, we need you on the microphone for the record. >> I'd just like to clarify a
question if that's okay. As the current motion stands, it stands as just council members, but with the discussion I heard,
it sounds like everyone, so what -- if the motion stays at just council members, what would oppose somebody from the city
requesting to view surveillance if there's no current policy? So that would need to be clarified in both the motion