[0:00] >> mayor: ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your regularly scheduled dunnellon city council
[1:11:18] meeting. If you haven't turned your cell phone off, might be a good idea to think about that so nobody
[1:11:25] gets embarrassed with that thing going off. If you'll join me with the pledge of allegiance.
[1:11:30] [pledge of allegiance] >> mayor: is there anybody in the audience that would like to offer an opening prayer?
[1:12:04] >> : merciful father, as we engage in this meeting, grant us patience and understanding. Help us approach each discussion
[1:12:12] with grace, allowing others the type and space to express their opinions amen. >> : amen.
[1:12:41] [roll called] the agenda for this meeting was posted on the website and bulletin board on july 8, 2026.
[1:13:00] the agenda was amended to add item 5a and change the order of the regular agenda items. >> mayor: are there any council
[1:13:15] comments before we get started? Valerie? >> : not at this time, no, sir. [speaker off mic]
[1:13:27] >> : question for andrew. Regarding voting on the agenda items. Most of the public isn't sworn
[1:13:36] in and they can -- [speaker off mic] when it comes to councilmembers and votes are done based on untruthful
[1:13:51] information, is there any recourse to correct this or is that just allowed to happen? >> : you're asking so I -- I'm
[1:14:02] trying to rephrase your question. You're simply asking does the -- >> : I sit up here and tell a
[1:14:08] 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
[1:14:24] that? >> : it depends on the circumstances. You have fiduciary duties under
[1:14:29] chapter 112. Lying in general, a lie in and of itself is not necessarily a violation.
[1:14:39] in some cases -- well, politics is politics. It depends on all of the facts and depends on the
[1:14:47] circumstances, and it depends on because a lie can be many things. A lie can be a white lie.
[1:14:54] a lie can be fraud. A lie can be a brief of a fiduciary duty. It depends completely on the
[1:15:01] facts and what the circumstances are. >> I got it. Thank you.
[1:15:20] >> mayor: do we have anybody signed up to speak, mandy? >> : no, sir. >> mayor: is there anybody in
[1:15:26] the public that would like to comment on non-agenda items, this would be items not on the agenda?
[1:15:32] anyone? I'm seeing no one. I'll entertain a motion on the consent agenda.
[1:15:41] >> : I move we approve the consent agenda. >> second. >> : there's a motion and the
[1:15:45] floor and a second. Discussion? >> : there was one item on the consent agenda that we need to
[1:15:55] pull and that is the appointment of justin loury as a member of the planning commission. He has since written us and
[1:16:02] withdrawn his application for that seat. I would suggest you approve as amended.
[1:16:20] >> : mr. Mayor, I will remake my motion and remove justin loury. >> : second. >> mayor: further discussion?
[1:16:31] all those in favor, say aye? [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries. >> : on the next item, the
[1:16:47] presentation of the financial audit, it's actually caleb who will be making the presentation. We have karl.
[1:16:56] >> mayor: welcome, sir. >> : I have two in front of you, one for the community and one for the community redevelopment
[1:17:10] agency. We're going to be focusing on the city's financial growth. I'm one of the partner owners at
[1:17:21] the cpa. I have one other partner named brad. I was the one responsible for
[1:17:28] supervising this engagement. We're going to start on page 4 of the city's audit report. >> : is it the city or the cra?
[1:17:41] >> : the city. >> : oh, the city, my apologies. Alright. Thank you.
[1:17:51] >> : yep. Okay, so, first on page four is the independent auditor's report.
[1:17:58] these come at the very beginning of the financial statements because it says what we think about those financial
[1:18:05] statements, whether we think they're accurate or not. In the first paragraph you have our opinion.
[1:18:11] [speaker off mic] before the year ended september 30th, 2025. I'll point out this is from october 1st, 2024 through
[1:18:22] september 30th, 2025. The second paragraph says in our opinion the financial statements is fairly and material respects
[1:18:30] the financial position of the city as of september 30th, 2025. The third paragraph says the basis for our opinion, which is
[1:18:38] we conducted our audit with generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards.
[1:18:46] let's move on to page seven. Page seven of the report is discussion and analysis. This is a short summary of the
[1:18:57] financial statements that follow. If you're looking to read on your own, you get a snapshot and
[1:19:02] this would be where to go, where to start. I want to skip past this to page 16 and go to the financial
[1:19:10] statements themself. On page 16, we have the back sheet of the governmental funds, your general fund, and tax
[1:19:27] increment fund which is the cra. This is on the -- [speaker off mic] the primary difference between the two is
[1:19:45] that these governmental funds don't include certain long-term items. It's just debt.
[1:19:52] starting with general fund, you have total assets of 8,679,000. This was primarily cash investments.
[1:20:05] you have liabilities of 185,000. When you subtract those liabilities, your left fund balances or net worth at year
[1:20:18] end, which was 8,491,000, second from the bottom. This fund balance is broken up into amounts that are restricted
[1:20:28] for certain purposes, which was 1,883,000, which you can see is five different items listed there that are restricted.
[1:20:36] the largest of which is for infrastructure and then 949,000 and second most was for streets, capital projects which was
[1:20:46] 768,000. Next, we have a balance for committed for certain purposes is worth 2,699,000.
[1:20:55] once again, there was five items listed here, largest being infrastructure of 1,808,000. Below these is your unassigned
[1:21:06] fund balance, which was -- [speaker off mic] this represents amounts that can be used on ongoing operations.
[1:21:14] this represents one year of operating expenses. So, you have a large reserve there for circumstances, such as
[1:21:28] hurricanes. These financial statements -- these unassigned balances are very substantial.
[1:21:36] the government finance officers of america recommends having at least two months of reserves there and you have over a year.
[1:21:44] that's good that you have a little more because you do have things like hurricanes and stuff like that that other areas may
[1:21:52] not have. Now, looking at the cra fund column, total assets were 1,714,000, once again, primarily
[1:22:00] cash. Your liabilities were 139,000 as of year end, leaving -- [speaker off mic] which is all
[1:22:10] restricted for community redevelopment. On to the next page, page 17. This is the reconciliation.
[1:22:24] it shows that 10,068,000 governmental funds and list the items. Those are the long-term items,
[1:22:34] like your pension asset of 2.9 million, capital assets, which were reported net of appreciation about --
[1:22:45] [unintelligible] also had deferred outflows of resources related to pensions of 220,000 and long-term
[1:22:54] liabilities of 1,427,000, which is primarily your revenue bond payable with 1,258,000. Also had the inflow resources
[1:23:05] related to your pension of 994,000, and the total net position for the government as of year end for the accounting
[1:23:19] is that bottom number, 17,588,000, so quite a bit larger. Only to the next page.
[1:23:37] this was presented on the modified accounting. This is similar to an income statement.
[1:23:43] it hoes revenues and expenditures for the year. For general fund, you had revenues of 4,412,000 and for
[1:23:53] expenditures, you had 3,469,000. [speaker off mic] those are operating results for the year. I will go through some of these
[1:24:15] expenditure categories to give you a general idea of what your government spends its money on. These are broken down by
[1:24:23] optional categories. General government of 939,000, public safety of 1,126,000, physical environment of 223,000,
[1:24:32] transportation of 220,000. Human services of 17,000, recreation 56,000. You had capital outlay of 97,000
[1:24:44] in general government, 17,000 in public safety, and 581,000 for transportation. And then you had debt service
[1:24:52] principle payments of 187,000. [unintelligible] at 491,000 in revenues, 367,000 in expenses, and a net increase
[1:25:08] of the year of 124,000. Between the two funds, you have an increase of a million 67,000 for the year.
[1:25:17] on to the next page, the conversion. You can see at the bottom you had based income of 2,133,000,
[1:25:29] almost a million dollars greater on the basis of accounting. The next page. You have your statement of net
[1:25:40] position for your fiduciary bonds, which is your pension trust funds. Your total assets were
[1:25:47] 5.7 million or almost 5.8 million, which was primarily cash investments used to fund your pension.
[1:25:55] moving on to the next page, we have our statement of changes and net position for those pension trust funds.
[1:26:03] this is the income statement for that. The number three quarters of the way down is your change in net
[1:26:10] position of 538,000 for an increase of almost a half million dollars, so that's good. Moving on to the next page, page
[1:26:18] 22 is the notice of the financial statements. The notes provides some of the background information on the
[1:26:34] city, your debt and capital assets in more detail. I'm not going to cover that. We're going to skip to page 60.
[1:26:43] on page 60, we have the independent auditor's report on internal control over financial compliance.
[1:26:54] this summarizes any findings that we had and we did not have any findings if you look to the left.
[1:27:01] we did not find any deficiencies. Then on the next page, it says we didn't have any instances of
[1:27:14] non-compliance in the financial statements. So, this concludes my audit presentation.
[1:27:20] overall, good financial results, is no issues during the audit that were anything to be worried about.
[1:27:26] everything is good. I just want to say we really appreciate your accounting staff.
[1:27:31] they do a great job. You're blessed. Appreciate doing your audit. You guys have a really good team
[1:27:39] here, things are really straight, and I appreciate coming with a clean, good audit. Thank you.
[1:27:45] >> mayor: thank you, caleb. Valerie. >> : I thank you and your staff for always providing us with
[1:27:51] good information and looking forward to next year. >> mayor: tim? >> : no, sir.
[1:28:00] >> mayor: thank you very much, caleb, we appreciate you being here. >> : safe travels home.
[1:28:10] >> : thank you. >> : thank you, caleb. >> mayor: item number two. Mandy, you wanted to speak on
[1:28:17] this particular item? >> : yes, sir. So, this has been pulled from the agenda in the absence of
[1:28:24] community development manager. I had forwarded all of this variance information over to our planning consultant, eda, for
[1:28:32] them to review and present to the planning commission prior to it coming to council, and they had some questions and some
[1:28:42] concerns that they wanted to address before they were comfortable bringing it forward, so this is going to be moved to
[1:28:49] the august planning commission agenda, and then to the september council meeting. >> mayor: any questions?
[1:28:59] >> : no. >> mayor: thank you, mandy. We move on to item number three, proclamations, 3a, proclamation
[1:29:08] pro2026-02, city council election. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak on this
[1:29:16] particular item? Seeing no one, entertain a motion to be read into the record.
[1:29:25] >> : so moved. >> : second. >> mayor: motioned. Further discussion.
[1:29:34] all those in favor, say aye. [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries. >> : proclamation pro2026-02,
[1:29:39] dunnellon city council election. Whereas, the mayor for the city council of the city of dunnellon proclaims a general election to
[1:29:46] be held on november 3, 2026 to for the election of council member for the following seats. Seat number two, which is
[1:29:53] currently vacant, and seat number three, which is occupied by tim inskeep. Whereas, any individual
[1:30:00] interested in seeking election to the city council may do so by obtaining election information and qualifying format from the
[1:30:06] city's website at www.dunnellon.org or by contacting the office of the city clerk and requesting
[1:30:13] qualification forms. The qualification period begins at 12:00 o'clock noon on august 17, 2026 and ends at
[1:30:22] 12:00 o'clock noon on august 21st 2026. Hours are from 8:00 o'clock a.m. Until 12:00 o'clock noon.
[1:30:33] whereas, petition and financial disclosure and forms must be submitted to the city clerk no later than 12:00 o'clock noon on
[1:30:41] august 21, 2026. The cost is $55, plus 1% of annual salary, totaling $63. Whereas, in the event that the
[1:30:56] election results a candidate not receiving the most votes cast, the mayor for the city council of the city of dunnellon
[1:31:02] proclaims a runoff election to be held on january 19, 2027. Be it hereby proclaimed that an election will take place on
[1:31:11] november 3, 2026 and qualifying packages are available on the city of dunnellon's website at www.dunnellon.org.
[1:31:28] >> : I move proclamation pro2026-02 to be approved. >> : second. >> mayor: there's a motion on
[1:31:35] the floor and a second. Further discussion in all those in favor say aye. [chorus of ayes]
[1:31:41] >> mayor: motion carries. We'll move on now to item number 4, resolutions, 4a. Res2026-14, amending the city's
[1:31:51] permit and development fees. Is there anyone in the audience who would like to speak on this particular item?
[1:32:00] yes. [speaker off mic] you'll probably answer all of my questions in your discussion,
[1:32:23] 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
[1:32:32] fee for certain things. I also noticed that the residential new construction, to me, is extremely low.
[1:32:42] I don't know city government that much, but when I was in inverness, a new house would cost upward of $400,000 and
[1:32:53] they're going to be building that property caddy corner from the cannon farms, so we're going to have a lot of residents,
[1:33:04] construction, taxes, et cetera, and you might want to consider reviewing that particular cost, which I would consider to be
[1:33:15] low. A good option to raise a little more money as far as new residents.
[1:33:23] thank you. >> mayor: is there anyone else who would like to speak? Okay, I'll entertain a motion to
[1:33:35] be read. You've got something, mandy? >> : yes, sir. The only thing I would like to
[1:33:40] point out is this resolution is associated with fees related to business permits because of the recent legislation that required
[1:33:52] us to amend our fee schedule. What I would like to note for the record is this will only supersede our resolution that is
[1:34:01] currently in effect when it comes to building permits. That resolution contains other fees, such as zoning
[1:34:10] verification and things like that, that aren't included in this resolution. My goal would be at some point
[1:34:16] in the near future bring a resolution back to you that includes everything in one document so that we're not
[1:34:22] having to go back and forth, but I just wanted to note for the record that this only addresses the requirements of the
[1:34:29] legislation that we had to comply with. >> mayor: yes, sir. >> : correct me if I'm wrong,
[1:34:38] mandy, but also it's really not wishy washy like it was explained in the workshop. The hourly rates are solid and
[1:34:48] they're correct. Where you see the one to five hours or this many or that many, okay, reviewing a permit,
[1:34:59] they're not all the same across the board. Some are less man hours, some take more man hours, but the
[1:35:09] 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
[1:35:18] that. I hope that answers your question. Thank you.
[1:35:24] >> mayor: valerie? >> : no, sir, I have nothing. >> mayor: I'll entertain a motion to be read by title only.
[1:35:32] >> : so moved. >> mayor: there's a motion on the floor. Is there a second?
[1:35:37] >> : second. >> mayor: there is a second. Further discussion? All those in favor say aye.
[1:35:43] [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries. >> : resolution number res2026-14, a resolution by the
[1:35:51] city council of the city of dunnellon, florida, adopting an amended permit and development fee schedule to ensure
[1:35:58] compliance with florida house bill 803 providing for and conflicts, scribner's errors, severability and an effective
[1:36:07] date. >> mayor: entertain a motion to approve. >> : so moved.
[1:36:16] >> : second. >> mayor: any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. [chorus of ayes]
[1:36:21] >> mayor: motion carries. Now, p, moving on to item number five, regular agenda items. Community development manager
[1:36:35] status, mandy. >> : you all were provided with the notification that I placed mr. Airy on paid administrative
[1:36:43] leave effective monday, july 13th and the next step in this matter, because the ultimate authority to hire and
[1:36:51] terminate department heads lies with the city council. It will be up to you how you would like to proceed.
[1:37:02] >> mayor: okay, we'll open it up. Valerie? >> : because of the items that
[1:37:11] you mentioned in the employment policy, I don't believe we have any other option but to accept the termination, with heavy
[1:37:25] heart I say that. I would make a motion that we -- >> mayor: well, this is discussion now.
[1:37:38] >> : okay. >> mayor: we'll have a discussion, then we'll move on. >> : yes, sir.
[1:37:41] sorry. >> mayor: do you have anything else? Rex?
[1:37:49] tim? >> : no. >> mayor: is there anyone in the public who would like to comment
[1:37:56] on this particular item? Anyone in the public? Okay, I'll entertain a motion. >> : I make the motion to
[1:38:07] terminate employment with city of dunnellon and mr. William airy effective immediately. >> : second.
[1:38:19] >> mayor: there's a motion on the floor and a second. Further discussion? All those in favor say aye.
[1:38:29] [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries. Move on now to item 5b, award bid2026-02, police department
[1:38:40] surplus. Mandy, I think you want to address this? >> : sure.
[1:38:45] so, when we put these two items back out for bid, there were 10 rifles. We received an offer of $5,250
[1:38:57] 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
[1:39:11] 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.
[1:39:21] 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
[1:39:28] 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
[1:39:37] had an opportunity to reach out to anyone or do any research on what that minimum bid amount might be.
[1:39:48] >> 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
[1:39:55] set aside at this point, if it's council's wishes. >> : correct. >> mayor: that's basically where
[1:40:01] we are? >> : correct. >> mayor: valerie. >> : so, let me ask you because
[1:40:05] 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
[1:40:13] 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
[1:40:26] what you think we ought to do? >> : you can make a motion to authorize me to establish the minimum bid after doing some due
[1:40:33] diligence and looking at what the value of the vehicle is. >> mayor: so, so we could actually have a motion that we
[1:40:42] would move forward on the rifle sales, then we would instruct the city clerk to go forward with more information on the bid
[1:40:49] for the truck? >> : yes. >> mayor: does that sound agreeable?
[1:40:54] >> : the only concern is as long as that truck sits, it's just rotting off. >> mayor: I agree with you.
[1:41:05] you can't let a vehicle sit like that. >> : we've been turning on and off the engine or anything?
[1:41:12] >> : have y'all moved it around? >> : yeah, we start it and move it. >> : thank you.
[1:41:37] [speaker off mic] >> : letting it sit for another month or another two months for another thousand bucks, 2,000
[1:41:48] buck. >> I can do it tomorrow. I can look at google prices and run it to the lot.
[1:41:54] >> : I'm good then. >> : I brought it -- mandy, did loretta give you the tag? >> : she gave it to me.
[1:42:03] >> : I went over to west ford motors and the person in charge that he had no problem appraising any vehicles we
[1:42:10] 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.
[1:42:18] >> : okay. Michelle, would you just make sure you get that to chad? Thanks.
[1:42:23] if that's the direction, we can do that and you can also certainly accept the offer that was received as well.
[1:42:35] it's entirely up to you. >> : I guess I'm a little bit confused. We're looking at what the
[1:42:42] vehicle is worth, but I thought part of the motion was that we're going to readvertise it with a minimum.
[1:42:51] say we're going to advertise for two weeks. In two weeks, somebody puts an offer in at the minimum, are we
[1:43:02] allowing city clerk's office to just go ahead and sell it at that minimum? >> : no, I have to bring it
[1:43:11] back. >> : okay, gotcha. >> : it would have to come back to council next month.
[1:43:16] >> : I'm saying give her the permission to make the minimum in the next few days. She can email us and, you know.
[1:43:29] >> mayor: anything else, valerie? >> : no, sir. >> mayor: rex?
[1:43:33] >> : no, sir. >> mayor: if it's agreeable, we go ahead with the rifle sale and delay the truck and turn the
[1:43:43] matter over to the city clerk for further action. Does that sound reasonable, mandy?
[1:43:49] that's the motion I would entertain. >> : did you make the motion? >> mayor: no, no.
[1:43:56] I said I would entertain the motion. >> : I make a motion to sell the rifles for the offer, delay the
[1:44:03] sale of the truck until further minimum is set, further advertisement for further offers.
[1:44:18] >> mayor: okay, there's a motion on the floor. >> : second. >> mayor: there is a second.
[1:44:22] is there anyone in the public who wants to comment on this particular item? Any further comments from
[1:44:30] council? All those in favor, say aye. [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries.
[1:44:37] we'll move down now to item 5c, appointment for vacant city council seat number two and applicant presentation.
[1:44:49] >> : would either of you like to come forward to make a presentation? >> : if I heard this correctly,
[1:45:07] from what I understand, this seat does not have to be filled tonight? I think there could be a choice
[1:45:13] there? This would be the first time that I ran for something and didn't give a campaign speech.
[1:45:20] I would feel really weird being voted on and you not really knowing, you know, what my intents are, and if your minds
[1:45:30] are already made up, maybe after what I read to you what I'll give this afternoon, you might change your mind.
[1:45:37] 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
[1:45:46] 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
[1:45:58] stick to this. Good evening, council and audience of maybe six people, and those that are listening in.
[1:46:06] 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
[1:46:13] vote takes place, I would like to share a little bit more about my approach. Things can change with
[1:46:18] experience and I want you to understand my mindset from the start. As you all know, this position
[1:46:23] isn't easy. Councilmembers have faced criticism and scrutiny while serving and I understand that
[1:46:29] comes with the job. I'm prepared for that. What I want to understand perhaps even offer as a warning
[1:46:35] is that I fully understand, I would not be spending my money. I would be spending my neighbor's money.
[1:46:42] every time I cast a vote, I would ask the question, will this benefit the entire community or a group?
[1:46:49] for example, someone came before the council asking for the city to fund dog waste stations. I would have to ask, is it
[1:46:58] primarily dog owners or a community as a whole? Should dog owners raise money and purchase the stations
[1:47:04] themselves or is it better for the city to buy them because they contribute to a cleaner community?
[1:47:10] compare that to roads. Everyone depends on safe roads and everyone benefits from maintaining them.
[1:47:17] unless it's a road rarely used, I don't have to wonder about the benefits. The answer is simple.
[1:47:24] fix the road with the taxpayers' money. I'm not a numbers person. I may look like a deer in the
[1:47:56] headlight while looking through financial reports, but I won't hesitate to ask questions until I understand.
[1:48:02] I stood at this microphone many times. I've received interesting looks, blank stares and sometimes not
[1:48:12] even a glance. If I'm fortunate to sit on the side of this dais, I promise to give everyone who approaches
[1:48:22] this microphone my attention. I'm a substitute teacher and spent ten years as a one-on-one driving instructor.
[1:48:29] when somebody asked me my profession, I said I was a stunt driver. I know how to communicate with
[1:48:37] 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
[1:48:46] alongside each of you, come prepared to listen, to learn, to ask questions, and make thoughtful decisions that always
[1:48:53] put the people of dunnellon first. I'm not here to make friends. Although, it would make things
[1:48:58] easier. What matter assist putting the taxpayers of our city first and setting aside any personality
[1:49:04] conflicts. I've learned get the facts, not the hearsay. Likewise, while not always happy
[1:49:12] with the outcome of a vote, I will respect the decision of the council and not use my vote against anyone.
[1:49:23] I thank you for your time and your consideration. >> : thank you. >> : any questions for me?
[1:49:31] >> mayor: valerie? >> : I read your application, I've talked to you, so I think you and I are good.
[1:49:36] thank you very much. >> mayor: rex? >> : I'm good, too. Thank you.
[1:49:43] >> : what's her name? >> : I'm so sorry. My name is paula. >> : mr. Kinley?
[1:50:09] [speaker off mic] >> : I just wanted to clarify one thing or two things at the last meeting.
[1:50:20] 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
[1:50:35] in 2023. I have been in citrus county since the mid 70s. I was a radio disc jockey.
[1:50:48] as part of my original friends, the original wrts in dunnellon, we became friends with one of the deejays and we kind of hung
[1:50:58] out together and that's how I discovered dunnellon. The other thing that I had written down, but I didn't bring
[1:51:05] it, was that I believe that the public perception and public relations of the city and the council is headed downward and
[1:51:21] not upward. I would like to see if I could help change that. There's a lot of talk on the
[1:51:26] 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
[1:51:35] going to go. We don't want to be another south 200. >> : may I ask you one question?
[1:51:40] >> : sure. >> : you were out here on 39. >> : wys kansas city e, and I can't remember his name, but he
[1:51:52] was our age and we started to do things like canoe rides and things like that, but no, I did not work there.
[1:52:01] >> : I had a friend who did from high school. >> mayor: tim? >> : no, sir.
[1:52:06] >> mayor: thank you, very much. Any further council discussion? >> : I just would like to say thank you to both of y'all for
[1:52:18] 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
[1:52:30] thank y'all both for participating in your city and volunteering to work with us, so thank y'all very much.
[1:52:41] it's pretty greatly appreciated. >> mayor: I echo what valerie stated. We certainly appreciate both of
[1:52:49] your efforts to come forward for our own town. Thank you very much. Is there anyone in the public
[1:52:54] who would like to make a statement? Anyone else in the public like to contribute?
[1:52:59] well, I will entertain a motion. >> : I'd like to make the motion. I move that paula depaula be
[1:53:11] appointed to city council seat number two through the next regular election. >> mayor: is there a second?
[1:53:25] >> : I'll second it for discussion. >> mayor: there is a second. Okay, we'll go on to discussion.
[1:53:33] there's a motion on the floor and a second. Any further discussion? Alright, all those in favor say
[1:53:45] aye. [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: opposed? >> : nay.
[1:53:55] >> mayor: let's clarify. All those in favor, say aye. >> : can we go backwards a little bit for discussion?
[1:54:03] >> mayor: absolutely. You have something to say? >> : yes. I wanted to explain what my
[1:54:07] position was going to be. For the past three and a half years, it's been like musical chairs up here.
[1:54:13] I've had this conversation with paula. I've made a couple of mistakes that I have voted to appoint and
[1:54:21] 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
[1:54:35] 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.
[1:54:43] thank you, sir. >> mayor: okay. So, let's be clear then. We're going to have the vote
[1:54:50] again and raise your hand, that way we'll have it clear. All in favor of council member hanchar's motion, raise your
[1:55:02] hand. All those opposed, raise your hand. Alright, the motion dies.
[1:55:07] is there another motion on the floor? >> : I'd like to make a motion that joe mckinney be nominated
[1:55:16] for the council seat. >> mayor: there's a motion on the floor. Is there a second?
[1:55:21] the motion dies for lack of a second. So, what that means, p, the seat will not be filled.
[1:55:28] 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
[1:55:36] motion dies. So, as it stands right now, we will not have that seat filled. >> so, do the applicants --
[1:55:48] >> mayor: that's it. >> : that's it? >> mayor: yep. There's no other action to take.
[1:55:52] move on now to item 5d, dr-420, certification of taxable value. Shawna, I think that's got your name.
[1:56:07] >> : good evening, everyone. This is the preliminary millage rate. When we establish the
[1:56:19] preliminary millage rate, we do not go above that rate. We can only come down from it. So, generally it's established a
[1:56:31] 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.
[1:56:48] >> mayor: okay, valerie. >> : I'll agree with the six mills. >> mayor: rex.
[1:56:56] >> : I'll agree with six mills. >> : I'll agree. >> mayor: I agree. Do we need a motion on this,
[1:57:02] mandy? >> : yes. >> mayor: let me go a little further with it then.
[1:57:07] any further council discussion? >> : no, sir. >> mayor: anyone in the public wish to speak on this?
[1:57:12] this is a six mill cap what we're talking about. I'll entertain a motion. >> : I move to authorize the
[1:57:23] city clerk to certify from dr-420 certification taxable value and set the first public hearing for the year 2026, 2027
[1:57:34] tentative budget and tentative millage rate on september 9th, 2026 with a final public hearing on september 23, 2026.
[1:57:45] >> mayor: there's a motion on the floor and a second. Further discussion? [speaker off mic]
[1:57:59] >> mayor: all those in favor say aye. [chorus of ayes] >> mayor: motion carries.
[1:58:05] move on to 6 a, access to city hall surveillance video system. Valerie, that's yours. >> : mayor, before we move on to
[1:58:14] that, I would like to point out for your benefit and for the public. I sent you an email a while back
[1:58:20] whenever we were establishing the meeting schedules for the public hearings for the budget, and because in september, the
[1:58:37] way the dates fall with there being the first monday of the month, there being a workshop, that would have meant that we
[1:58:45] could -- we would have had a workshop on the seventh and our council meeting would not be until the 16th for our first
[1:58:56] public meeting and that would not let shawna to meet some of her deadlines. What we did and it should be
[1:59:03] updated on the website calendar as well, we moved the september workshop back to august 31st. So, your september workshop will
[1:59:11] actually occur august 31st and your first public hearing on the budget will be on the ninth and your second public hearing will
[1:59:20] be on the 23rd. I wanted to make sure everybody knows those dates. >> : let me make sure.
[1:59:28] so, we are not having a meeting then on september 16th? >> : no. No.
[1:59:37] >> : will you put that out in an email, mandy? >> : I did, but I'll put it out again.
[1:59:44] >> : gotcha. >> : right. It would have been, your meeting would have been on the 16th, but
[1:59:50] that would have meant us approving a final budget on september 30th. We needed to back that up to the
[1:59:57] 23rd. >> : I already made my husband change his vacation plans from the ninth and we're coming home
[2:00:02] on the 16th, so I'm making sure that I did it right. >> : I'll go back and resend that to you all.
[2:00:10] >> mayor: mandy, we're going to move to the workshop to the 31st of august, then have the regular council meeting on the ninth?
[2:00:18] >> : correct. >> mayor: I gotcha. >> : that's when you'll have your first public hearing on the
[2:00:23] budget, then there will be a special meeting on the 23rd to have your final public hearing on the budget.
[2:00:31] >> mayor: are those both 5:00 o'clock meetings? >> : yes. >> mayor: okay.
[2:00:34] alright. Boy, am I getting good at being computer literate on this phone. I'm amazing myself.
[2:00:59] >> : I'm resending. I'm going to resend this email right now to all of you. >> mayor: I've got it in here
[2:01:05] now. >> : the city workshop will be at 5:00 o'clock as well? >> : yeah many the times have
[2:01:11] not changed. >> : okay, just verifying. >> mayor: everybody understand? Everybody in the clear?
[2:01:18] >> : I'm good. >> mayor: now we're going to item 6 a, access to city hall surveillance video system.
[2:01:25] vice-mayor hanchar? >> : oh, I thought you said mandy. I'm sorry.
[2:01:46] as we know, we had a request for city hall surveillance video systems. I did ask for a public records
[2:01:58] request of looking for the original, the original request and it was from city council member inskeep to have our city
[2:02:13] clerk send him 12 hours of a previous day, you know, in perpetuity of a previous day's videos of our only two
[2:02:23] locations, city hall and the city hall entry. Again, there was no explanations given.
[2:02:32] 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
[2:02:43] no policy in place allowing for access to any videos of security systems. It is not public.
[2:02:58] public access is not granted nor access to city council members. I think our attorney september us out an email or we received
[2:03:10] an email today right before we walked in that basically tells us, while council cannot legislate around confidentiality
[2:03:24] an requirements, it can -- in furtherance of official duties and responsibilities of council as a legislative body per
[2:03:33] statutory exception. Again, our attorney can speak to this in more depth. What I am asking is that if the
[2:03:45] city council thinks it's necessary for governmental officials to be monitoring all of our city properties, then
[2:03:58] 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
[2:04:12] 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
[2:04:24] enough job of it? >> : I can go over the law. We look at 119.07 and as far as there are some regulations
[2:04:33] regarding security system plans that make those types of records confidential and exempt. While it doesn't specifically
[2:04:44] say security footage, saying anything that reveals fire or security systems, that would be encapsulated with that and that
[2:04:52] would be exempt and confidential. In 2015, the attorney general issued an opinion that camera
[2:05:00] footage from surveillance systems, this was central florida regional transportation on the bus system and because
[2:05:11] that footage directly related to and revealed information about the security system that that was confidential and exempt.
[2:05:20] so, looking at that, looking at the case law and ag opinions, the best practice, while there an exception -- I'll just read
[2:05:35] it to you. There is an exception for >> thank you.
[2:05:38] >> anything else? >> not at this time, no, sir. >> so according to that, this is confidential, am I correct --
[2:05:47] did this -- these videos are confidential and not for public release? >> yes.
[2:05:54] if a member was to release some of these videos publicly, would there be repercussions? >> could be.
[2:06:03] depending on what the intent was. And depending on whether it was in furtherance of official
[2:06:10] duties. >> so would that open up a member to a lawsuit if the person in the video --
[2:06:20] >> well, the protection is for the city, so not for someone in the video, and, of course, it would depend again on what
[2:06:27] capabilities videos have, speech recording and that type of a thing. But the purpose of the statute
[2:06:35] is to ensure city safety and security. >> so just to be clear with all this then, are we going to have
[2:06:49] access or is access going to be denied? Will council members still have access to this?
[2:07:00] >> what I'm recommending is you put together a policy to provide for access under certain circumstances.
[2:07:06] if that's what you all wish to do. Because access is allowed for, as I said, for use in
[2:07:14] furtherance of official duties. And so if you all feel that is appropriate, then that's a policy you can put together.
[2:07:22] >> okay, well, then I'm going to make a motion tonight that access to the city hall surveillance video system -- [
[2:07:27] off mic ] >> we'll all get to discuss it. Do you have anything else? [ off mic ]
[2:07:40] >> I'm all about needing a policy due to my background with having many security clearances. We always received -- before you
[2:07:55] got a clearance, you received a training, you had to sign off that you understood the training.
[2:08:00] right now, none of this exists and it will be easy for anybody, whether it's staff, council, to ever unwittingly -- so far some
[2:08:40] of the concerns as far as the disclosure of location, et cetera, that horse left the barn a long time ago when we all
[2:08:50] discussed putting up these systems. Everything from locations to expense to exactly what kind of
[2:08:57] cameras. None of that was put out, not even to employees. It was only on an as-needed
[2:09:25] basis. We've already gone far beyond that. So I'll just wrap it up with we
[2:09:31] definitely need policies that include training, background checks, access, et cetera, per state and federal law, because
[2:09:39] right now, even though we're settling (indistinct) position with this responsibility, the city clerk has no training.
[2:09:52] our city clerk unwittingly can make a mistake and have no idea that a mistake is even being made.
[2:10:00] thank you, sir. >> mayor: when we got into the security cameras, basically in my memory, we were concerned
[2:10:11] about eliminating theft and recording where our equipment is at all hours during the night when we had a trailer stolen
[2:10:21] with the lawnmowers on it. So it brought the attention to the council that we need to do better as far as surveillance so
[2:10:28] we can track some of these thieves that steal our equipment. And that's basically what I
[2:10:34] remember that issue coming up as far as the city council is concerned. For me personally, law
[2:10:40] enforcement is responsible as far as surveillance of our properties, and this goes through our city clerk's office.
[2:10:49] I have never seen or had any use for any video in my duties. That's not something that would come before me.
[2:10:59] I think it's a good idea that we research a policy that reflects the laws and protects the citizens of dunnellon.
[2:11:11] and that's where I stand on it. And is there anyone in the public who would like to comment on this?
[2:11:17] anyone in the public? Okay, valerie, did you want to make a motion or any further action, rex, that you want to
[2:11:27] take? Or tim, any of the three of you? >> I'll make a motion tonight that any request for city
[2:11:36] surveillance videos by council members needs to be brought before the council and approved before they're released.
[2:11:48] >> mayor: there's a motion on the floor. Is there a second. >> I'll second with a
[2:11:51] discussion. >> mayor: we'll go into discussion, yes. >> second.
[2:11:55] >> mayor: okay, now we're open for discussion. >> question, can we go ahead and would you be open to amending
[2:12:02] 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
[2:12:15] would want immediately. >> I will amend the motion to include that. >> thank you.
[2:12:24] >> mayor: let's be sure we have it clear. >> I'll restate my motion. >> mayor: all right, let's do
[2:12:31] this. Let's go ahead, any further discussion on this motion that was just made?
[2:12:36] all right. What I'm trying to do, tim, is move on so we can get further. We need to get rid of this
[2:12:44] motion if this is not the desired motion. In other words, this is a vote on the current motion and then
[2:12:55] we'll go into it. All those in favor say aye. Opposed? Okay, and now we've move on.
[2:13:04] now, rex, you want to make a motion? >> I'm going to make a motion that any requests for
[2:13:10] surveillance, any request by a council member for surveillance has to be brought before the council and that all council
[2:13:20] members be removed from access to the city hall surveillance system. >> mayor: all right, there's a
[2:13:29] motion on the floor. Is there a second? >> second. >> mayor: there is a second.
[2:13:34] further discussion? Any discussion? Tim? >> okay, back to training, et
[2:13:43] cetera, et cetera. As far as the council making a decision on any of this, no council member, including
[2:13:50] 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
[2:13:59] 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
[2:14:08] part of this is what my argument has been is -- would be applicable unless it's in furtherance of their official
[2:14:20] duties, and I'm saying as somebody that is responsible for basically everything that I want this information, I want this
[2:14:32] access to perform my duties. And that's what my argument is going to be. With that said, none of that
[2:14:45] takes away from anything that I believe any of us are saying here, that we need policies that include everything I've
[2:14:54] mentioned so that somebody doesn't give something unwittingly, because none of us know -- none of us have been
[2:15:06] trained in this field as far as this kind of surveillance. We can call it security, we can call it surveillance, pick a
[2:15:13] term. There's not even anything officially that says this is security.
[2:15:19] it's just one of the terms to throw out there. I can use the term surveillance. Again, we have nothing that
[2:15:28] speaks to these cameras that we have up. Thank you, sir. >> mayor: okay.
[2:15:35] any further comment? >> again, just my desire is because there are no policies that no one except for our
[2:15:48] police chief, interim, or our city clerk, who has had background check, be available for this.
[2:15:59] 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
[2:16:07] 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
[2:16:19] accessibility until we can all work on a policy that is good for the whole city. And makes our accessibility
[2:16:30] clear and defined and within our attorney's recommendations of legality. Thank you.
[2:16:41] mr. Mayor? >> mayor: anyone in the public wish to comment? Yes.
[2:16:49] >> can I stay here? >> mayor: no, we need you on the microphone for the record. >> I'd just like to clarify a
[2:17:05] question if that's okay. As the current motion stands, it stands as just council members, but with the discussion I heard,
[2:17:14] it sounds like everyone, so what -- if the motion stays at just council members, what would oppose somebody from the city
[2:17:23] requesting to view surveillance if there's no current policy? So that would need to be clarified in both the motion