[3:34] Is he gone?
>> Is he gone?
[3:38] » I don't see him.
[3:47] » Good evening. The date is September 8,
2026. The time is 7 6:30. I hereby call
[3:55] to order the meeting of the city council
of the city of Groveland, Florida. We
[3:59] will be I will lead the pledge this
evening and remain standing for vice
[4:04] mayor to do the invocation. Thank you.
[4:10] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[4:16] republic for it stands one nation under
God indivisible with liberty and justice
[4:26] » here is this good
let us pray
[4:32] of the living God
fall aresh on us Lord we thank you for
[4:39] this day. We thank you for building a
hedge around us, our families, and our
[4:45] community. And Lord, as we go forth and
have this meeting, even though we may
[4:52] agree to disagree,
we ask that we all respect one another.
[5:00] These blessings and all blessings I ask
in your name. Amen. Amen.
[5:09] Okay, Jenny, will you please take the
role?
[5:12] » Yes.
>> Mayor Keith Kho
[5:14] » here.
>> Vice Mayor Barbara Gaines
[5:16] » here.
>> Council member Amy Joe Carroll
[5:18] » here.
>> Council member Michael J. Cox
[5:21] » here.
>> Council member Steven Schilcausski
[5:23] absent.
>> Interim City Manager Tim Maslo
[5:27] » here.
>> Interim City Attorney Richard Geller
[5:30] here.
>> Sergeant-at-Arms Deputy Chief Looney.
[5:34] » City Clerk Jenny Wright here.
Thank you, Jenny. We have a quorum. Uh
[5:39] we'll open this is the first uh night of
the new procedure and we're starting
[5:43] with public comment this evening. Uh so
everybody doesn't have to wait around
[5:48] till the end of the meeting for public
comment. So if you do have a comment,
[5:52] make sure we have your card uh filled
out and up here. And Jenny, could you
[5:56] please read the comment?
>> Yes, Art Heler.
[6:02] » I guess I get to break the ice.
Good evening. Art Heler, 443 Southernon
[6:09] Way. Actually, I have two things I just
want to bring forward to y'all. The
[6:13] first one is a safety issue that I'd
like y'all to take a look at, please.
[6:17] Uh, I live up off of Wilson Lake and
Libby number three. It's a crested hill
[6:23] where the two roads meet. Coming from 27
heading south, you come along and you
[6:31] make a turn coming up this hill. From
the south end, you're coming north.
[6:35] You're going up the hill. It's a blind
area. To cross the street, there is no
[6:42] safe way for us to cross the street over
to the walking area. So, I'd like y'all
[6:48] to take a look at the area, please, to
see if possibly we can put a crosswalk
[6:53] area. Maybe not at that crested area. I
don't think that's a smart place to put
[6:58] it. But if you come south about 800 feet
or so towards the lake,
[7:04] my community has a path that goes in and
out from the community out to Wilson
[7:10] Lake. When we come out that area, you
can see the traffic both north and south
[7:16] coming at you safely.
It's just an area that in my opinion uh
[7:21] would be safe. But if you do decide to
put a crosswalk area, I would ask that
[7:26] we put something uh where you have the
lights that go across the the crosswalk
[7:32] area with the solar thing to let
motorists know that somebody's trying to
[7:37] cross the road down by Belleview. They
have the crosswalk area. Uh they don't
[7:43] have that. And I've noticed vehicles
just cutting through there and not
[7:46] allowing patrons to cross the street.
food for thought for safety purposes.
[7:53] Okay. Second thing I have I just want to
let you know, you know, I get tired of
[7:57] hearing all the negativity. Uh whether
it be on social media, whether it be in
[8:02] the news, whether it be I want to let
you know something good. I want to
[8:06] congratulate one of your teams. Uh I
identified a bad safety issue in my
[8:11] community. I sent him some photographs
of it and within 24 hours, not only did
[8:17] he have it identified, but they
identified numerous other issues in the
[8:22] community. And I wanted to thank TJ Fish
and his team uh for doing that. Within
[8:28] 24 hours, they had all the broken
sidewalk areas uh in the community
[8:33] identified, marked, and safely for, you
know, our patrons to walk across there.
[8:38] That's all I got. Thanks, guys. I thank
you so much very much.
[8:42] » Thank you very much.
>> That's all.
[8:47] » Well, that concludes public comment.
>> Mayor, I'm sorry. I was just handed one.
[8:52] I'm sorry.
>> Dana Berdick.
[8:54] » Dana Berdick.
[9:01] » How are you all?
>> Good.
[9:03] » Appreciate your time. First time
speaking at any council meeting. So,
[9:08] » can you state your name and your address
for the record?
[9:11] » Dana Berdett, Groveland, Florida.
[9:16] » So, good evening, mayor, members of the
city council. I'm here to address the
[9:21] matter, the concern regarding the
institutional integrity of our city and
[9:26] our city's leadership,
specifically focusing on the massive
[9:31] waste of taxpayer resources surrounding
the termination of our currently our
[9:37] former
chief of police, Shawn Ramsay.
[9:42] The timeline laid out in Chief Ramsay's
whistleblower lawsuit suggests a
[9:46] textbook case of retaliation that has
cost Groveland citizens dearly after he
[9:55] fulfilled his legal duty by reporting
alleged sunshine law violations and
[10:01] abuses of office to the state attorney.
The the city did not protect him.
[10:08] Instead, officials allegedly chose to
weaponize city resources.
[10:14] Now, at a stage in my life at 55, I have
more years behind me than in front of
[10:20] me. So, my approach to decision-m is a
lot different.
[10:25] And I would hope that the city would
consider these these matters
[10:30] uh in in making uh decisions
with the potential liability to the city
[10:38] and how it's going to negatively impact
the taxpayers of this great little town.
[10:46] Now, in the matter of the sergeant,
that's grotesque. Should he have been
[10:51] fired? Should he have been dismissed?
whatever that's for the police
[10:56] department to have their um procedures.
But I think that the chief was put in a
[11:03] very precarious situation to where he
was damned if he did and damned if he
[11:09] didn't. I think that that uh given this
current uh environment that he would
[11:17] have been found reason to be dismissed
even if he had terminated the gentleman
[11:22] the sergeant in question. Um I do not
condone that sergeant's behavior behind
[11:27] the wheel. If he was an employee of mine
it would for the first time he would
[11:31] have been terminated. So, I would I
would consider and I would beseech the
[11:35] council to consider
the cost that it's going to weigh on
[11:42] this this this small town. And in in so
considering, think about what's coming
[11:48] down the pipe in November
with the potential elimination of or or
[11:54] reduction drastic reduction in property
taxes. Do we really need to be
[11:58] compounding costs on this small town? I
I'd beseech you to ask yourselves that
[12:05] question. Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[12:08] » That's all.
>> That concludes public comment. Now on to
[12:12] uh presentations and proclamations and
announcements. The first presentation is
[12:17] by Vision Church of Groveland uh to
break the silence of suicide awareness
[12:23] event.
Do we have the Okay. Thank you.
[12:32] Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, and
members of the city council. For the
[12:37] record, my name is Vanessa Irvin, event
coordinator for Vision Church. Speaking
[12:41] tonight on behalf of our senior pastors,
Dr. Jonathan and Dr. Ann Brinkley.
[12:47] We originally came tonight to brief you
on the upcoming break the silence
[12:52] suicide awareness and prevention event
at Lake David. However, as an
[12:56] organization committed to delivering the
highest possible impact for our
[12:59] residents, we have made a deliberate and
intentional pivot to expand this
[13:05] initiative.
Instead of our original plan, we are
[13:09] launching an inlout
community initiative title, you are not
[13:14] alone. We have intentionally scheduled
this event for a Saturday, November
[13:20] 21st, 2026 to directly align with the
International Survivors of Suicide Laws
[13:26] Day. By anchoring our initiative to this
powerful global day of remembrance, we
[13:31] are creating a dedicated space
specifically designed to support, honor,
[13:36] bring hope to families in our community
who have been impacted by the suicide
[13:40] loss.
Rather than moving forward in September,
[13:44] we are intentionally focusing our
momentum into this expanded November
[13:49] initiative to build the strongest
possible support system for our
[13:52] families. Furthermore, we have decided
to step aside for the Sips for Salsa
[13:57] event because we think it's important to
support community events and ensure
[14:01] everyone time and energy isn't divided.
Our heart mission remain exactly the
[14:08] same to bring hope, resources,
life-saving awareness to our city. We
[14:13] want to formally invite a city council
and the city leadership to stand
[14:17] alongside us and support this new
expanded November initiative
[14:22] to ensure the success of this citywide
effort. We are also actively requesting
[14:27] a coordination meeting with the city's
communications department this week. We
[14:32] want to align our marketing and planning
efforts so that every resident who needs
[14:36] these resources knows exactly where and
how to find them. Thank you for your
[14:41] time, your leadership, and your
continued partnership as we work
[14:44] together to serve our community.
>> Thank you very much.
[14:51] Will we need to do we have that on our
calendar? Do we need to change that? Is
[14:57] that
>> look at adding that to our calendar for
[14:59] sure?
All right, next up we go to the consent
[15:04] agenda. And uh let me just point out
that the consent agenda has one one um
[15:11] amended item, item A. And that amendment
was just the change of the date.
[15:15] Remember, we had an issue with the date.
So when it says amended, that was
[15:19] changing the date on that uh agenda on
that um those minutes. So Jenny, could
[15:26] you go ahead and please read the consent
agenda? Agenda.
[15:30] » Yes. Uh, mayor, were we going to amend
the agenda by room consent, moving G and
[15:36] H as well?
>> Yes. I apologize. Uh, we have a an issue
[15:40] with um resolution 2026-59
and 2026-60
[15:46] of the language, the legal language
that's involved in that um in those two
[15:52] uh areas of those two resolutions. And
we would need at the conclusion or right
[15:57] now to do go ahead and get a motion or a
consent to change the language on those
[16:03] two items.
We could do it that way as well, your
[16:08] honor, mayor. Um
the two resolutions are on the the
[16:14] revolving loan and there's language in
the resolution that repeals
[16:21] uh any resolutions in conflict and
that's ambiguous. Um I don't know if
[16:26] that's repealing the initial resolutions
pertaining to these loans or not or we
[16:32] don't want to give some of that
argument. So my recommendation would be
[16:35] that the section six of both of the
resolutions state this resolution
[16:40] prevails in the event of any
inconsistency or conflict with any prior
[16:45] resolution. So you avoid the repeal
language uh with that. So I would just
[16:49] ask for a motion to amend that language.
>> Okay. So we're asking for a motion to
[16:54] amend the language in this and bring it
back or just amend it and pass it
[16:59] tonight.
>> You can do it that way if you'd like.
[17:01] » Okay. to amend this resolution 2026. Do
we have to do them one at a time, Rick?
[17:06] » Yes, that would for the clarity of the
record, I would recommend that.
[17:09] » Um, okay. So, first a motion to amend
2026-59
[17:13] and change the language that's ambiguous
as outlined by our attorney.
[17:17] » So, changing from repeal to prevail.
>> Uh,
[17:21] » resolution to do that. Yep. Motion to do
that as stated.
[17:24] » Second.
>> I second.
[17:27] » We have a motion and a second. Any
discussion? Any public comment? Seeing
[17:32] none, let's go ahead and take the vote.
>> Was vice mayor the second?
[17:38] » Yes.
>> Okay. I also need to read the title uh
[17:41] into the record. Resolution 2026-59
approving amendment 3 FD SRF loan
[17:48] agreement SW350
630 relating to establishing pledged
[17:53] revenues designating authorized
representatives.
[17:57] Council members um excuse me, Jay Cox,
how do you vote?
[18:01] » I.
>> Vice Mayor Gaines,
[18:03] » I.
>> Council member Carol,
[18:05] » I.
>> Mayor Kho,
[18:06] » I. Moving on to resolution 2026-60,
approving amendment three for FD SRF
[18:14] loan agreement. Um, go ahead and read
that into the record.
[18:20] » Yes, I can read into the record.
Resolution 2026-60 approving amendment 3
[18:24] for FD SRF loan agreement DW350621
relating to establishing pledged
[18:31] revenues designating authorized
representatives.
[18:34] » We have a motion to change the language
and and
[18:37] » to approve as amended.
>> We have a second.
[18:42] » A second.
>> We have a motion and a second. Any
[18:44] further discussion? Seeing none, any
public comment? Seeing none, let's move
[18:48] forward with a vote.
Council member Jay Cox, how do you vote?
[18:53] I.
>> Council member Carol I.
[18:55] » Vice Mayor Gaines. Hi.
>> Mayor Kho.
[18:57] » I. Let's go ahead with the rest of the
consent agenda now. Could you read that
[19:01] into the record?
>> Yes.
[19:04] » Amended. September 15, 2025. City
Council final public budget hearing
[19:09] minutes. August 17, 2026. City Council
meeting minutes. August 20th, 2026. City
[19:16] Council special meeting minutes. August
20th, 2026. City Council special
[19:21] executive meeting minutes. August
2025th, 2026. City Council budget
[19:26] workshop minutes. Resolution 2026-58
approving agreement between the Cherry
[19:32] Lake Preparatory Academy and the City of
Groveland, Florida for school resource
[19:36] officer program.
Resolution 2026-61
[19:41] approving a settlement with Noah Joseph
for the acquisition of parcels 423 and
[19:46] 823 for the Gadsen Street Trail project
resolution 2026-62
[19:52] approving an amendment to the contract
for special legal council services with
[19:56] Hartman Law Firm PA as approved by
resolution 2023-
[20:02] 92.
Okay. Okay. Do we have any discussion on
[20:06] any of the consent agenda remaining?
Seeing none, can we have a motion to
[20:12] accept the consent agenda?
>> I make a motion that we accept the
[20:17] agenda. Consent agenda.
>> Second it.
[20:23] » Yeah, that. Okay.
>> Vice Mayor Gaines, how do you vote?
[20:27] » I.
>> Council member Jay Cox.
[20:29] » I.
>> Council member Carroll.
[20:31] » I.
>> Mayor Kho. All right, moving on to old
[20:37] business.
Uh, resolution 2026-33,
[20:42] request to revise the city's procurement
policy. Mr. Maslo.
[20:47] » Yes, Mr. Mayor, members of the council.
We have Corley uh VeZ, our procurement
[20:52] uh manager, uh, new to the city. She has
stepped in. She's reviewed our
[20:57] procurement policies and she's given us
some recommendations for improvement. Um
[21:02] we have had a series of briefings with
with each of you in terms of policies
[21:07] and then also next steps in terms of
procedures. Um the policies are
[21:12] essentially tightening things up. So
you'll see some of the thresholds come
[21:17] down rather than going up. uh things
like pecards. Um I'm having a series of
[21:22] conversations with um Corly and then
also Chris in finance of actually
[21:28] reducing the number of pecards possibly
even looking at debit cards that will
[21:32] help us uh with our budgeting process.
As some of you know some of these
[21:37] transactions we don't get for two months
after they're made and that that hurts
[21:41] us in terms of reporting. Uh but there's
a handful of items. Um, Cory, I'm not
[21:46] sure if you uh wanted to come up here
and speak to some of those.
[22:00] » Good evening. Thank you for having me.
When I started with with the city, that
[22:06] was one of the first things that
>> There you go. There you go. We wanted to
[22:10] improve which was our policy and to
start um providing some of the
[22:16] thresholds that weren't concise with all
the other cities surrounding us to bring
[22:22] it down to a level to create those
controls and um based on that we have
[22:29] provided a new um timelines for services
as well.
[22:38] The previous threshold for the council
for approval was $250,000
[22:44] which did not provide a lot of controls.
So that was narrowed down to a 100,000.
[22:50] So the new thresholds goes from close to
a th00and for department directors,
[22:56] close to 5,000 for the procurement
manager,
[23:00] 25,000 to the
city manager,
[23:06] and from 100,000
to the city council.
[23:11] We also identified some areas that
needed some timing as well with the
[23:15] pecards which those will be provided to
you when we finalize the procedures.
[23:23] Any of you have any questions?
>> No. But I would tell you thank you so
[23:29] much for getting into this and and
getting it uh starting to get it
[23:32] straightened out. I know it's a tough
job
[23:35] » you and Chris and uh everybody. Thank
you so so much.
[23:39] » Any other comments? I second that
emotion.
[23:44] » Who did the first motion?
>> No, that was an emotion. She seconded.
[23:47] » Emotion.
>> Okay.
[23:50] » That's a song, Mike.
>> Okay. See, well, thank you so so much
[23:56] and keep up the good work, please. We
need we need your knowledge of both of
[24:00] you um sorting through this. So, with
that said, um do
[24:05] » I have a motion to approve 2026-33?
a second
[24:10] » with um with a statement.
>> Well, you had a chance to comment and
[24:16] you
>> um uh and the the statement um will
[24:22] follow after the second to the motion.
>> I I second.
[24:26] » Okay,
>> you're good. Proceed. Um,
[24:30] in my in my conversations with the with
the new procedure um uh with the new uh
[24:36] policy with the um procurement officer,
I came up with a couple things that she
[24:41] said didn't fit the policy and that she
would be putting it in the procedures.
[24:46] So, I just like to name the things that
she said she was going to put in the
[24:49] procedures. uh a monthly procurement
report, uh quarterly fund report,
[24:55] recurring soul source reporting,
uh emergency reporting, administrative
[25:01] contracts, pecard activity, exemptions
and performance matrix. All those things
[25:07] she has promised me to put in the
procedures.
[25:09] » Great. And so you have policies and
procedures and you have resolutions and
[25:13] that's the best way to do it so you can
change it without coming back. Correct.
[25:17] » Yes.
>> So thank you for that.
[25:20] Uh, we have any further discussion? Any
discussion from the public?
[25:25] Seeing none, uh, let's move ahead.
>> Council member Jay Cox, how do you vote?
[25:30] » I,
>> Council Member Carroll,
[25:32] » I.
>> Vice Mayor Gaines,
[25:34] » I.
>> Mayor Kho,
[25:35] » I. Uh, item two, consideration of
approval ordinance 2026-13.
[25:41] Jenny, could you please read that into
the
[25:43] » Yes.
Consideration of approval ordinance
[25:45] 2026-13
Sampi Road parcel 2 smallcale
[25:51] comprehensive plan amendment second
reading an ordinance of the city council
[25:54] of the city of Groveland Lake County
Florida amending the city of Groveland's
[25:58] comprehensive plan pursuant to 163.31871
Florida statutes by amending the future
[26:04] land use plan designation from city of
Groveland established neighborhood
[26:08] agriculture and cons conservation to
city of Groveland employment ment center
[26:13] and conservation on the future land use
map for the here and described
[26:17] properties consisting of 15.41 plus
minus acres authorizing the city manager
[26:22] to amend said comprehensive plan
providing for severability correction of
[26:27] scrier's errors and conflicts providing
for the forwarding of this ordinance to
[26:31] the state of Florida department of
commerce and providing for an effective
[26:35] date.
>> Thank you. Uh we have uh 2026-13.
[26:42] Uh do I have a motion to
first? Do we need any discussion
[26:48] » before the motion? Seeing none, any
public comment. Oh, are you going to
[26:54] » if you like
the mayor? Again, this is
[26:57] » this is the second reading, right? Yeah,
>> this is the second reading. We can do a
[27:02] short summary summarized version of the
presentation that you saw at the first
[27:06] reading. And if it's okay with you, Mr.
Mayor, members of the council, that we
[27:10] could present in tandem because all
three items are interrelated for the
[27:13] same property.
>> Okay,
[27:17] we'll present them and then vote on them
separately. I apologize.
[27:21] » Thank you. Uh, good evening, Mayor Kio,
Vice Mayor Gaines, and council members.
[27:25] My name is Alan Booker, senior planner
with Groveland with city of Groveland.
[27:29] So tonight we're going to p we're going
to look at three u application that are
[27:34] actually related. Uh let's with a small
scale compressive plan for ordinance
[27:39] 2026-13
and then also the resoning that comes
[27:43] with it that's 2026-14
and the last parcel which is parcel one
[27:48] to the northwest which is 2026-15
for a smallcale compressive plan. So,
[27:58] so the parcel 2 which is like the first
one for the small scale comparison plan
[28:03] is located uh on the Sampi uh area on
the southeast side of Sampi Road. It's
[28:11] generally north of State Road 50 and
east of Phelp Street and west of Beverly
[28:16] Drive. And here we have the request for
a future land use change from the city
[28:20] of Groveland established neighborhood
agriculture conservation to the city of
[28:24] Groveland employment center
conservation.
[28:28] So we uh did include a timeline. I think
we kind of covered that a little bit
[28:32] that the applicant want had an existing
zoning that was light industrial but the
[28:37] future land use was not in alignment.
They were not consistent. So we put the
[28:42] brakes on the applicant. and we told no,
you have to come back before council and
[28:46] we'll see we'll we'll go from there.
They understand the risk and so uh we
[28:52] have this last application which is
really they want to do a site plan which
[28:57] will feature 90,000 square feet of light
industrial flex space. Uh but in order
[29:03] to do so they have to have the the the
proper entitlement the future land use
[29:07] and zoning have to be uh in alignment.
So we uh just a quick recap, we had our
[29:14] meeting with the applicant. We they also
conducted a minor lot split and on July
[29:20] 21, 2026. The minor loss plate was
approved by the interim city manager
[29:24] because this is an administrative
process and on July 2024, the minor loss
[29:29] plate was recorded by Lake County.
And
[29:40] so looking at the map just to reinstate
so on the on the southeast of SMP uh the
[29:47] uh the request there is from agriculture
that it is right now to employment
[29:51] center conservation that's there will
remain conservation and on the northwest
[29:55] of Sampi they had established
neighborhood which can yield to more uh
[30:00] single family homes uh but instead they
want to change that from established
[30:04] neighborhood to employment center so
they can uh conduct their uh you know
[30:10] their site development plan.
Uh we did add a slide because there were
[30:15] comments from the resident they wanted
they had question about traffic. So I
[30:19] did speak with our traffic engineer. I
this is uh one of the map that was
[30:23] provided uh part of the application. And
so on it you can see the projected peak
[30:29] hour which is about 43 trips for the AM
in the morning and in the afternoon PM
[30:35] you expect about 44 trips. And if you
look at those 15 on the Phelps Street
[30:41] segment uh 15 trips that corresponds to
essentially one additional vehicle every
[30:47] four minutes. So, if you wait four
minutes, another vehicle comes by and
[30:50] another one. And I requested our U
traffic engineer since he's in
[30:55] Tallahassee uh to provide a brief memo
that I'm going to briefly go over um how
[31:01] he come to um why we got why they they
request the applicant requested a
[31:06] traffic exemption and why our traffic
engineer uh um approved it. So the
[31:12] submitted traffic uh study estimate 43
pro uh project trips which will be
[31:18] generated by the proposed project in the
AM peak hours and 40 44 trips and the PM
[31:24] peak hours. Per the Lake County Sumpter
MO traffic impact study methodology and
[31:29] guidelines. This project qualifies for
consideration of a traffic exemption
[31:35] request since the pro since the project
generate less than 100 hour uh 100 peak
[31:42] hour two-way trips. So it is considered
um a non-substantial impact. So it's if
[31:48] they had reach above 100 uh peak hour
they would have to do like likely like a
[31:53] tier one um analysis. But in this case,
they didn't they were they did not have
[31:57] to. On the roadway segment of Phelps
Street, SMP, the proposed project is
[32:02] estimated per this uh submitted traffic
study to add approximately 15 vehicles
[32:08] during the peak hours. And as I
previously said, that equates roughly to
[32:13] one additional vehicle every four
minutes.
[32:16] So the in results of the review, the
engineer has reviewed um the submitted
[32:22] traffic study and agreed with the stat
the study's conclusion that the proposed
[32:27] project will add minimal traffic to the
surrounding street network. Therefore,
[32:32] on July 13, 206, we recommended to city
staff approval of the city of the
[32:38] submitted traffic exemption request. So
this was a bit of the background on how
[32:44] what where's the engineer leaning this
way.
[32:48] So moving to the next slide. So as we
had uh previously talked uh last time
[32:54] the bulk of the property is in FEMA
flood zone which is an approximate zone.
[32:59] It has not there was no detailed study.
There was no detail engineering and
[33:03] there was no base flood elevation. So we
know it could flood in the area. It's
[33:08] approximate. uh there could be some high
ground areas we don't know. Now in the
[33:13] 2020 the city of Groveland conducted the
2020 CR CRA watershed study uh because
[33:20] it's within the Palakaha River Basin and
based on the study's engineering model
[33:25] the city has established a community uh
base flood elevation of 96.6 feet and
[33:32] AVD88 for flood plane management
purposes. So this elevation essentially
[33:38] guides was is what's going to be the
guiding point when you review this
[33:41] application during the site development
plan. So and a lot of the property where
[33:46] they're proposing to build is above this
um elevation. Meanwhile, they're still
[33:51] going to have to do a a flood
development permit because anything in
[33:54] the flood plane they'll have to follow
the regulation from chapter 121.
[34:00] Uh we just to kind of reestate there
were several policies uh that were in
[34:05] favor of uh this comprehensive plan.
There's always a trade-off. Um the
[34:10] really the key one that was neutral is
like removal of some agriculture uh
[34:14] future land use from a portion of the
property which reduced some of the agrol
[34:18] land use. But on the whole when you look
at all the policies there's more in
[34:23] favor uh than not. So staff has
recommended approval of ordinance 2026
[34:30] uh-13
and also I wanted to mention that the
[34:35] planning zoning board's recommendation
was also unanimous of this ordinance in
[34:39] 2026-13.
[34:43] Um moving on to the to the second one
the second ordinance has if you have a
[34:49] future land use why you have to have a
reasoning and they need to be in
[34:51] alignment. So, ordinance 2026-14
here the request is to reszone from the
[34:57] city of Groveland agriculture light
industrial and conservation to light
[35:01] industrial and conservation. So, as we
look on this map um as I mentioned
[35:06] previously the property already had
light industrial zoning is just the
[35:11] future land use was not in alignment. We
do not know exactly how that came to be
[35:16] but is this is an inconsistency and it's
an opportunity to resolve this issue and
[35:22] once again on the north side uh they had
uh they currently have agriculture and
[35:26] the request is to go to light industrial
on the north on the along the purple on
[35:32] the portion of Sampi on the north side.
Once again conservation will remain
[35:38] conservation no changes proposed there.
[35:43] looking at the for consistency. So the
we found the the development consistent
[35:48] with the future land use employment
center and conservation. It is generally
[35:52] compatible with the surrounding uses and
it meets the applicable land development
[35:56] code standard as it is essentially a
green field. Um staff recommended
[36:01] approval of ordinance 2026-14.
The planning zoning board also
[36:06] unanimously approve uh approve ordinance
2026-14.
[36:13] And then we have the the final part uh
parcel one which is to the northwest u
[36:19] for this is ordinance 2026-15.
And here the request uh for the future
[36:24] land use is to go from established
neighborhood and conservation to go to
[36:28] Groveland Agriculture Employment Center
and conservation on this portion on this
[36:35] uh northwest piece.
[36:39] As we can see the bulk of the properties
of conservation. We have a little bit of
[36:42] agriculture. I mean an established
neighborhood on the very tip northwest
[36:46] corner and this the area that the
applicant has proposed to go to
[36:49] agriculture and also on the very south
side between the two power companies.
[36:54] This little sliver was established
neighborhood and the idea is to go to
[36:58] employment center which would be
consistent with the parcel to the left
[37:02] and to the right of it.
[37:07] And then once again uh we have a portion
of the property where the conservation
[37:12] is where you had the flood plane. You
have the northwest corner that they had
[37:16] proposed is actually outside uh the
flood plane. We'll be using the same
[37:22] base flood elevation which is 96.6. And
once again any development has to comply
[37:27] with chapter 121 the flood plane
management of the city land development
[37:32] code.
And then we have uh mostly essentially
[37:36] all the projects in favor here because
we're aligning the future land use with
[37:40] the existing zoning. Uh this would
maintain adequate supply employment land
[37:45] for this southern piece which is uh
employment center and it'll continue to
[37:49] promote agriculture as a viable land use
and protect farming operation from
[37:54] incompatible adjacent uses.
Uh staff recommend approval of ordinance
[37:59] 2026-15
and planning zoning board's
[38:02] recommendation was also unanimously uh
uh and uh to approve ordinance 2026-15
[38:10] and this conclude um the presentation.
Thank you.
[38:14] » Thank you very much for that detailed
information. Mr.
[38:17] » If I may, Mr. Mayor, members of the
council, so I appreciate Alan mentioning
[38:21] about the traffic impact. the comments
made from the public were not lost on
[38:25] staff either at the first reading. So,
there are a handful of things that we're
[38:29] trying to make sure even though there
there's not necessarily a lot of traffic
[38:33] influx to the area with the development.
Um there there are certain things in
[38:37] terms of pedestrian safety, especially
with kids, that we want to make sure
[38:40] that we monitor. Um Phelps, we're
looking at a few different solutions.
[38:44] One is having some no freight signage
posted on the area so trucks aren't
[38:49] using that and more predominantly
neighborhood street as a cutth through.
[38:53] Um also looking at raised crosswalks at
the stop signs that slows down traffic
[38:58] and it also says hey pedestrians are
prioritized at these intersections. Uh
[39:04] looking at speed limit um reductions and
enforcement in that area. It should be
[39:08] posted 25 miles per hour. We could look
at things like 20 miles per hour and
[39:13] making sure that that is enforced. Uh
and then we're also looking from a a
[39:17] major investment from the applicant
about a million dollar investment to
[39:21] Samp Road potentially reorienting Sampi
Road. Um so as it's paved it's
[39:26] connecting directly with State Road 50.
So you're seeing a direct freight access
[39:30] that would bypass the neighborhood
section of the downtown. So those are
[39:35] things we we look forward to working
with Mr. ing fellow and the engineers
[39:39] and the applicant uh team as part of
that site development plan process.
[39:45] » That's great great uh reaction. Um is it
concluded? Okay. So we have uh 2020
[39:53] 6-13.
Uh can we have a motion to approve the
[39:59] second reading?
I'd like to make a motion um that we
[40:04] approve 202613
um Sampi Road parcel to smallcale
[40:11] comprehensive plan amendment.
>> A second.
[40:15] » We have a second. Uh any discussion?
>> Can you go back to the um first slide? I
[40:22] believe
[40:26] » this one. Excuse me. This one number
four. Um,
[40:30] so this is a complete remake of Sampi
Road on this end of it.
[40:37] » It's dirt right now, right?
>> It's a dirt roadway. Yeah.
[40:40] » Okay. So, so how wide do they make in
the road?
[40:44] » That I do not have this information. Uh,
>> that would be um would have to look pull
[40:50] the side plan to know exactly, but the
applicant may know fellow
[40:59] Alex Stringfellow, 756 West Montro
Street, Claremont. Uh the road is
[41:04] meeting city standards, so it's two 12T
travel lanes in each direction. Uh it is
[41:09] a 40ft rideway because we're putting the
sidewalks on the private property side
[41:13] adjacent to the road. Um that gets off
the books for the city to maintain. So
[41:18] the property owner would be responsible
for maintaining it, but it'll meet that
[41:21] that city requirement. And then as part
of our development, we're actually
[41:26] taking the storm from that new and
improved roadway and and taking control
[41:30] of that on our site and attenuating that
in addition to it and working on a
[41:34] maintenance agreements with the city. So
it's going to meet standard. 12T travel
[41:38] lanes in each direction is plenty for
fire safety vehicles um life safety
[41:44] vehicles. So we'll be improving that and
the plans have been re reviewed by the
[41:48] DOT.
Uh so how many additional trucks do you
[41:54] anticipate using this road?
>> We don't anticipate freight uh being the
[41:59] the primary use here. So these are flex.
This is at grade. So these aren't what
[42:04] you would call a dock height industrial
use. So the types of use you will see in
[42:08] here it ranges from medical device
office. It could be a crossfit studio.
[42:14] It could be someone who makes cabinetry.
That's why you see that really low
[42:18] traffic generation because they don't
actually rely on shipping out goods.
[42:22] It's really, you know, office type use.
They have a low demand for traffic. Um
[42:28] they may store things. They may have one
truck, that type of operation, but it's
[42:32] not a dock height logistic center where
they're moving freight around. Um will
[42:38] somebody get a monthly delivery of some
type of material? that's, you know,
[42:43] possible, but we'd have no freight
requirement on the roadway and we'd
[42:47] adhere to any um regulations on those
roadways. It's really going to be
[42:52] passenger vehicles that are accessing
the site, utilizing the site and and so
[42:56] on. It's not a good fit for for
18-wheelers really and and I don't think
[43:01] » so. It's not being built for an
18-wheeler and you're putting and you
[43:03] have no problem putting up the sign
saying no through traffic through
[43:07] Phelps.
>> Yeah. No freight traffic. Absolutely. We
[43:10] were okay with that condition. And we
are looking at there used to be an old
[43:14] court. It was called um Rice Court was a
road that ran off of 50
[43:19] » in between where the substation is and
connected to Sampi. So, as Mr. Maslo
[43:24] mentioned, we are evaluating
reconnecting that. The city owns that
[43:28] property. It's adjacent to the
realignment. So, we're looking at
[43:31] something that could actually allow for
traffic movement directly south tying
[43:35] into the new realignment. So, we're fine
with with labeling no freight. that's
[43:39] not the intended user here. We're not
targeting that demographic. This is for
[43:43] makers, you know, people that make their
own things, start their own small
[43:46] business. Uh it's smaller bays. Um you
know, it's th00and 2,000 3,000 square
[43:51] foot bays. So, it's it's not really
conducive for a a logistics operation.
[43:55] That's not the intent.
>> Uh do you have do you have a problem
[43:58] putting a sign at um 19 and Phelps
saying no truck over a certain amount of
[44:04] tonnage?
>> We're okay with that condition. Of
[44:08] course, it's got to pass through the
public works department and they'll have
[44:10] to do the review.
>> It stops trucks from turning that way.
[44:13] » Absolutely. The only caveat I have to
put on the record is that anything
[44:17] outside of the jurisdiction of of the
city, so we're talking about a state
[44:20] road.
>> No, no. On Phelps.
[44:22] » Yep. On Phelps, once it gets out of that
rideway, we're we're totally okay with
[44:25] that and happy to agree to that
condition.
[44:27] » How many employees do you expect this
facility to employ?
[44:31] » You get about one employee per thousand
square foot for a type of use like this.
[44:35] So, up to 90. um new employees and then
the city gets about 85 to 85 cents to a
[44:42] dollar per square foot in tax revenue
for this type of use. Um so when you
[44:47] look at the impact of this type of use
from a jobs perspective, it generates
[44:51] pretty well. Thousand square foot
generating a job is fairly dense. Uh it
[44:56] doesn't generate a lot of traffic. You
know, under a 100 trip peaks uh peak
[45:00] trips a day and you get about a one:1
ratio on your taxable value for per
[45:05] square feet. It doesn't take school
demand, so you don't have to worry about
[45:08] school seats. It doesn't add demand to
your parking and services. There's no
[45:12] domestic type issues that come up from
crime and safety. So, it's a pretty
[45:18] light use given the tax revenue from a
public benefit perspective. So, that's
[45:23] why we think it makes a good fit here.
It's a little bit off the beaten path,
[45:26] but it's a pretty low impact use and and
high tax yield use.
[45:31] » Okay. Thank you very much. Mr. Booker,
can you ask uh come back up and ask uh I
[45:35] have a question to ask you.
>> Um
[45:41] » we uh when we were talking about this,
we were asking if there was a way to
[45:44] bring the traffic off of Sampi down to
down to 50 without going on on Phillips.
[45:50] Is there any property owned by the city
that we could actually utilize to get
[45:54] some of it done?
>> So, let's go back to this other map real
[45:58] quick. Uh,
actually you can't see as good as I
[46:02] wanted to, but let's see. No, let's stay
on this one.
[46:09] Well, it's a bit more than that,
actually. Yeah. If we look at this
[46:12] property on parcel, so we look at parcel
two that's highlighted, but parcel one
[46:16] had this little sliver between the two
and directly south of it, there's one
[46:20] parcel that looks like a upside down
rectangle is actually also owned by the
[46:26] same owner, John Jones. and the one
after happens to be owned by us. And
[46:31] then after that, if you go down, you're
going to approach the new 50
[46:35] realignment. So, this is more of a
question. I don't know if I don't know
[46:39] if TJ's in the room, but I did ask him
to to look at if there would be the
[46:44] feasibility that you could if you could
make it through and because I know that
[46:49] could be a that would probably, you
know, help our response time, not just
[46:53] for for this project, but in general,
that's more connectivity. that's what we
[46:56] want. U so that's a question more for
the for the traffic engineer to to
[47:01] double check. But according to the last
plan that I could see online for the
[47:06] realignment, it looks like there is
going to be a um an access point on on
[47:11] like I said, we own the property. So if
we're willing and the applicants also
[47:14] willing, there might be an opportunity
to to do to do so and that would be
[47:19] probably welcomed by the those future
employment center.
[47:23] » Okay. Thank you for telling us about
that. Uh, is it okay if we ask the city
[47:27] manager to look into the fact that the
president owner owns a piece and the
[47:31] city owns a piece that we can get from
Sampi to to 50 without having to go in
[47:35] Phelps at all?
>> Yeah, I think they're doing that
[47:37] already, but we can make that on the
record.
[47:40] » Yeah, that's fine. That's accepted.
>> Okay. Thank you very much.
[47:43] » Thank you.
>> Uh, thank you. So, we have 2026-13.
[47:49] Any further questions? Any public
comment?
[47:55] name and address up here so it be on the
record
[48:01] » here real clearly because there's a
little bit of an echo.
[48:04] » Could you identify your name?
>> But was my I'm sorry.
[48:07] » We just need your name for the
>> Oh, Dana Bett. Sorry. City of Groveland.
[48:10] Um, I couldn't quite hear clearly, but
was my understanding that the developer
[48:15] was going to absorb the cost of the
infrastructure, the road, the the storm
[48:20] water runoff and the the sewage and and
water lines and such of that?
[48:23] » Yes, sir.
>> Excellent. Perfect.
[48:25] » Thank you.
>> Okay.
[48:29] » No public comment. Let's go ahead. We
have a motion and a second.
[48:34] » We do.
>> Let's move ahead with the vote.
[48:36] » Vice Mayor Gaines, how do you vote? Hi,
>> Council Member Carroll.
[48:40] » Hi,
>> Council Member Jay Cox.
[48:42] » I,
>> Mayor Kho,
[48:44] » I.
>> Uh, 2020 consideration for approval
[48:47] 2026-14.
Do we have a motion to accept?
[48:52] » A motion to accept 2026-14.
>> Mayor, I need to read that into the
[48:59] record and the headnote.
>> Go ahead, please.
[49:03] Consideration of approval ordinance
2026-14
[49:07] Sampi Road parcel 2 resonzoning second
reading an ordinance of the city council
[49:12] of the city of Groveland Florida to
change the zoning from city of Groveland
[49:15] agricultural light industrial and
conservation to the city of Groveland
[49:19] light industrial and conservation for
the hearing described property owned by
[49:23] John Jones and located on Sampi Road
north of State Road 50 east of Phelps
[49:28] Street and west of Beverly Drive.
describing the new zoning designation
[49:34] for property. Finding consistency with a
comprehensive plan, directing the city
[49:39] manager to amend the zoning map as here
and provided after the passage of this
[49:43] ordinance, providing for severability,
correction of scrier's errors and
[49:47] conflicts, and providing an effective
date.
[49:50] » Thank you. A motion to accept 2026-14.
>> Motion to accept 2026-14.
[49:59] » Second. We have a motion and a second.
Further discussion, public comment.
[50:04] Seeing none, let's go ahead with a vote.
>> Council member Jay Cox, how do you vote?
[50:09] » I.
>> Council member Carol,
[50:11] » I.
>> Vice Mayor Gaines,
[50:12] » I.
>> Mayor Kho,
[50:13] » I. Moving on, let's read into the record
consideration for approval ordinance
[50:19] 2026-15.
Consideration of approval ordinance
[50:23] 2026-15
Sampi Road Parcel One Smallcale
[50:27] Comprehensive Plan Amendment Second
reading an ordinance of the city council
[50:32] of the city of Groveland Lake County,
Florida, amending the city of
[50:34] Groveland's comprehensive plan pursuant
to 163.31871
[50:39] Florida statutes by amending the future
land use plan designation from the city
[50:44] of Groveland established neighborhood
and conservation to the city of
[50:48] Groveland agricultural employment center
and conservation on the future land use
[50:52] map for the hearing described properties
consisting of 14.77 plus minus acres
[50:58] authorizing the city manager to amend
said comprehensive plan providing for
[51:03] severability correction of scrier's
errors and conflicts providing for the
[51:07] forwarding of this ordinance to the
state of Florida department of commerce
[51:11] and providing an effective date
>> thank you uh we have a can we have a
[51:18] motion to accept 2026-15
A motion to accept uh approve 2026-4
[51:24] uh 15.
>> A second.
[51:28] » Have a motion and a second. Further
discussion? Seeing none, public comment.
[51:32] Seeing none, let's move forward.
>> Council member Jay Cox, how do you vote?
[51:36] » I.
>> Vice Mayor Gaines,
[51:38] » I.
>> Council member Carol,
[51:39] » hi.
>> Mayor Kho,
[51:41] » I. On to new business. We have no new
business, so we're under reports for the
[51:46] city council.
We'll start with Mr. Jay Cox.
[51:51] » Uh, no report as of now.
>> Amy Joe.
[51:58] » Yes. I got a couple of things. Um, so I
just wanted to start with uh our fire
[52:03] department trained five of their new
fire department. Fire their f five new
[52:07] firefighters. Words are hard tonight.
Um,
[52:11] and our communications department went
out and filmed them and posted that on
[52:14] social media.
Uh, our PD had a swearing ceremony for
[52:19] three new officers. I think everyone
here attended that. Also, um, it
[52:25] launched the new city website today. So,
if you haven't checked that out, please
[52:29] do. It should be far more user friendly
and I was kind of playing on it earlier
[52:34] today. It seems like you can find things
easier. So, let us know if you come
[52:38] across any problems when looking at
that, but it should be more user
[52:41] friendly, which was the goal. Um, I
spent time today at Hope International
[52:46] reading with kindergarteners. That was
super fun. My little kids are always
[52:50] fun.
Uh,
[52:53] and then I just had one more question. I
wanted to see if as we're kind of going
[52:58] through the budget, I wanted to know how
much more we have spent on meetings this
[53:02] year versus last year and maybe the year
before. if we can kind of look at that
[53:06] and also how many more meetings we've
had this year versus last year if we've
[53:10] had more or maybe less or just like the
total number there. And I think that's
[53:15] all.
[53:19] » Okay. Uh Vice Mayor,
what a mighty time we had attending the
[53:25] Groveland floor celebration
that was hosted by Senator Leavon Bracie
[53:31] Davis. Uh, we met the members of the
families
[53:38] and I did not know that one of the
members of the family
[53:43] um is on our rack committee.
I believe um her name is Irwin
[53:51] and I'm not going to steal the mayor's
thunder, but my my it was a joyous
[53:58] celebration.
[54:02] stealing my thunder. Nobody steals my
thunder.
[54:07] » Thank you, Vice Mayor. I just have a few
uh things um uh questions that we can uh
[54:13] maybe get back, but I'd like to ask him
with the council since this is our only
[54:17] chance to talk to each other. Um, first,
uh, can we get an update on the train
[54:24] station lot split and where we stand on
so we can get that switched over, um,
[54:29] at, uh, some point maybe in our
briefings or at the next meeting,
[54:34] » we can touch base on our Thursday
briefings with when I meet with each of
[54:37] you.
>> Okay. and also the um the how we're
[54:42] doing on this the sprayfield uh study to
get that uh I think that's important so
[54:48] we can move forward that all of you get
the information on that.
[54:54] Um, also next is um a plea to all you
staunch
[55:00] supporters of the city. Whether we agree
or disagree on anything, there's one
[55:05] thing we all agree on. It's Wilson
Island.
[55:10] Wilson Island is a is a island right off
of Cherry Lake Road that has a nice
[55:14] wooden bridge that goes to it. It's some
significant acreage that if it doesn't
[55:19] go to conservation will go to 183
is it um lots with 65 ft lot lines on
[55:28] the lake, 55 on the street across and 28
in the middle. So waiting that down and
[55:34] you know what that's going to do to the
Claremont chain. So, we have uh you've
[55:39] seen on social media a lot of people
joining in to um help us with this
[55:44] cause. I'd really appreciate everybody
forwarding that around because it's got
[55:49] to get past uh Claremont and got to get
past Groveland. This is the whole river
[55:54] that's going to be impacted. Um, we have
a meeting coming up on the 29th of
[56:00] September with the county and that
meeting will determine whether this goes
[56:05] on to the state. Um, we're looking for
county funding. We're looking for state
[56:12] funding. Um we are in competition with
the weak IVA um basin for the dollars
[56:18] that you all put into that um
conservation fund and your taxes that
[56:23] were voted in uh two or three three
years ago now. Two two years ago
[56:28] » two this November.
>> So anybody that can uh join in with us
[56:31] at that meeting on the 29th will be
publicizing the place the time
[56:36] everything uh for the meeting with the
advisory group. um they'll make the
[56:42] decision there on where the money goes.
There's only so much to go around and I
[56:47] think we wants 29 million of it and we
want significantly less. But this has a
[56:53] significant impact on our community.
without that island. Uh that's the last
[56:58] remaining uh piece of real estate where
we could put a park so that our citizens
[57:03] can have access to the chain in the
river. And to live in Groveland with
[57:07] 9,000 acres of water and not being able
to access it unless you go through
[57:13] somebody's backyard would be very very
sad. So, anybody you can talk to to help
[57:20] us, anybody that can get involved,
please um feel free to answer those uh
[57:26] things on social media, pick up the
phone and call. We are looking at Mr.
[57:31] Maslo and I were looking today at a
rally um to get people together. And
[57:35] we're we're working on that prior to uh
looking at car pools to go to the the
[57:40] meeting or some way to transport people
that can't get there. Uh but um any
[57:46] ideas you have, anything, please share
it on social, please share it with us to
[57:51] to get this really really energized and
get everybody there. Uh the last meeting
[57:56] with weak IVA, there was about 70 people
from the weak iva uh basin that were
[58:02] lobbying and we only had one or two. So
we need to make sure that uh we have
[58:08] that that that support of the community
at that meeting. So again, mark it down
[58:14] the 29th of September and we will um
continue to bring that up at meetings as
[58:19] we go forward. The um second uh item uh
is um senior citizens center. I would
[58:27] like the um I would like to ask the
council to go visit our senior citizen
[58:33] center. Um I I had the privilege of
walking through and where you can um see
[58:40] the outside through the inside through
the wall or through the doors when
[58:45] they're closed. Um really it need we
need support in bringing that back to
[58:50] this meeting. Uh Mr. Maslo is working
with the team on getting over there and
[58:55] taking a look. I think it's not only
getting it repaired but figure out um
[59:00] how we're going to keep it up and make
sure that we know what's going on. But
[59:04] please get over to the senior c center
as um prior to the next meeting if
[59:08] possible. It would be very good. It
opens at 8:30 in the morning. Um last is
[59:14] um is the what's what's October 10th?
It's a test. This is a test.
[59:23] » The gayla the gayla the founders gayla.
The beautiful and that's called the
[59:29] Grovie Awards. Get not the Oscars but
the Grovie Awards. and they're
[59:34] fantastic. But we have five awards based
on the five core values of the city. And
[59:40] those those applications are online to
please nominate people. Get on there. If
[59:46] you know somebody that's been
outstanding in heart, outstanding in
[59:50] intentionality. And boy, we have a lot
of intentionality. You know, somebody
[59:55] that's uh in knowledge and connectivity
and uh connectivity, knowledge, heart,
[1:00:00] what am I missing? um uh vitality
>> vitality. So, and the descriptions are
[1:00:06] on there for the the um that that uh
what qualifies people for that. But
[1:00:12] please, I think the deadline is a week
from Friday to have those in and those
[1:00:18] will be judged by the way by a council
and members of a adjacent community. We
[1:00:25] are not going to pick our own people.
There'll be a separate group that will
[1:00:29] go through the applications and and make
these awards. And when I say this is the
[1:00:34] biggest thing east of the Oscars in LA,
it's the biggest thing east of the
[1:00:39] Oscars. Okay, this is going to be great.
So, please put that on your calendar,
[1:00:44] October 10th. And um please nominate
your your people that need to be
[1:00:49] recognized. Nominations are is is very
important. uh they'll be recognized as a
[1:00:56] nominee for the rest of their life here
when they get up and talk. This is the
[1:01:00] nominee, a Grovy nominee. It's just like
on the Oscars. So, please um let's
[1:01:06] recognize everybody that we can. Uh that
concludes my report. I will say because
[1:01:13] there wasn't uh a lot said on the
Groveland 4 thing. Um what what we got
[1:01:20] out of that meeting was um a volunteers
not only from the family to come and
[1:01:25] help tell the right story but also the
Mr. Gilbert King who won the Pulitzer
[1:01:32] Prize for the book on the Groveland 4
Devil in the Grove has uh has agreed to
[1:01:40] go through our materials, come down here
when we need him. He passes through here
[1:01:44] quite a bit and make sure that our story
is right on. Uh it's important that when
[1:01:49] we display something in Groveland that
it's accurate and everybody uh agrees
[1:01:55] and we'll be talking about them that
more with the historic um committee that
[1:01:59] we've been talking about that'll be on
the agenda next time. I'm sure you'll go
[1:02:03] over that in your in your briefings
coming up.
[1:02:07] » Can I just say one more thing?
>> Yes, ma'am.
[1:02:10] The gentleman standing next to uh
Senator Leavon Bracie Davis is Thood
[1:02:17] Marshall's son.
As you all know, Thood Marshall
[1:02:22] represented the Groveland 4, but it was
a real priv privilege to meet his son
[1:02:30] » and an outstanding attorney now just
like his dad. Uhhuh.
[1:02:34] » I forgot something, but I remembered
when you started talking about the gala.
[1:02:37] I and we don't have to do it right now,
but just I think um if the gala is going
[1:02:43] to be an annual thing, I I think we need
to come up with a policy to choose which
[1:02:47] charity it benefits every year because I
feel like that should rotate. I mean,
[1:02:50] this year obviously the neighborhood
center's great, but I think maybe that's
[1:02:55] a policy that we got to come up with at
some point. So,
[1:02:58] » right now you got to plan the gala so
that's first, but like after but we have
[1:03:01] a whole year. So, I just want to bring
that up, you know,
[1:03:04] » and I think we can take that to that
committee that's not Not.
[1:03:07] » Yeah, it doesn't have to happen here. I
just want to make sure we're somebody's
[1:03:11] going to look at that later.
>> Yeah, sure.
[1:03:13] » That's all.
>> Standing. Good. Good.
[1:03:15] » Okay. Mr. Maslo,
>> Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I
[1:03:19] emailed my report out to you earlier
today. Drop my pen. Uh, just a few
[1:03:24] highlights. If you haven't had a chance
to read that, next um next council
[1:03:28] meeting on the 21st is going to be a big
one, so be ready. It might be an all
[1:03:32] day. Uh after speaking with uh our
recruiter Kevin, who hopefully you all
[1:03:37] had the pleasure of speaking with at
this point, uh we have 11 city
[1:03:41] management uh permanent candidates. Uh
that list should be down to about four
[1:03:46] to five based on the input that he has
so far. And he's going to be here in
[1:03:51] person. He is um requesting that
everyone be may uh make make themselves
[1:03:56] available for in-person interviews,
individual interviews throughout the day
[1:04:01] and then council as a body will have the
opportunity to interview each of the
[1:04:06] candidates at your meeting here in two
weeks. Um so be ready for that.
[1:04:11] Ultimately, uh you'll be set up to make
a selection out of those top four to
[1:04:15] five candidates. And then I've already
assigned um Mr. Geller from the legal
[1:04:21] side to start drafting up the agreement
that you'd be working off of as a
[1:04:26] template in your negotiations with the
permanent city manager. Uh so that's
[1:04:31] first and foremost. I anticipate going
over that in detail with you at the
[1:04:35] Thursday briefing along with the city
attorney um uh spot. As you know, our
[1:04:41] feedback from council was to entertain
both an in-house full-time employee for
[1:04:46] legal services and then also the
triedand-true um um legal firm. And so
[1:04:52] we've moved on both of those um options
in a parallel process. You might have
[1:04:58] the option to do a hybrid too. Uh you
could have potentially an in-house um
[1:05:03] city attorney and a consultant um very
similar to um what Mr. Giller has been
[1:05:10] providing in terms of those services. I
anticipate going over a financial
[1:05:14] breakdown of that at the Thursday
briefings to give you a little bit more
[1:05:17] feedback before you make that decision.
I anticipate that process playing out
[1:05:23] likely until October though. I don't
anticipate that being ready for the next
[1:05:27] council meeting. So look for that as a
action item ultimately in October. So
[1:05:32] we're spreading that out a little bit.
Um the next is um we went over the city
[1:05:38] management um or the city website
launch. If you've had a chance to take a
[1:05:43] look, uh we're still in feedback
session. If you see something, we're
[1:05:46] still always working out the kinks. Uh I
did want to give kudos to both the
[1:05:50] communications and IT teams. I think
it's fresh. I think it's uh better than
[1:05:55] the old one. Like you know with websites
though, they're they're never finished.
[1:05:59] So they're they're always a work in
progress and we'll continue to improve
[1:06:03] it. If you get feedback from your
constituents too, please forward that to
[1:06:07] us and uh we'll keep looking at that. Uh
also on the budget in the Thursday
[1:06:11] briefings, we're going to be looking at
the three different budget scenarios
[1:06:14] that we talked about based on our last
uh our feedback from council at the last
[1:06:18] workshop. We're looking at 5.7 is the
peak, the highest mill rate down to the
[1:06:23] 5.6 roll back and then also the 5.5 mill
rate which is what it was set at before
[1:06:28] last year. Uh we're confident that we'll
give three different uh options uh for
[1:06:33] council. Ultimately, you'll vote on that
at the September 16th and September 21st
[1:06:39] will be your final budget adoption
hearing. Both at 6:00 p.m. So just be
[1:06:44] ready for that. I know we've been moving
some of the meeting times lately from 7
[1:06:48] to 6:30. These budget workshops will
start at 6. So just be ready.
[1:06:54] » Thank you, Tim. Uh Mr. Gil,
>> I just want to give a plug for Gilbert
[1:06:58] King. He spoke to the Florida Municipal
Attorneys Association conference several
[1:07:02] years ago and he was riveting. Just
riveting. When you go to these
[1:07:07] conferences, lawyers are always on their
phones and checking with their clients.
[1:07:11] He had everyone's attention. Could not
keep my eyes off him in this devastating
[1:07:17] story that that he told. And then his
book, Devil in the Grove, is equally
[1:07:21] devastating and really incredible and
goes more into depth about all the
[1:07:25] incredible work that Thood Marshall did
uh for people who are unjustly accused.
[1:07:30] So, leave it there.
>> And I wish I could remember, but Thood
[1:07:33] Marshall wrote a book, too, that's
pretty good about the whole thing. I'll
[1:07:37] get that uh title to you. Okay, with
that, we're seeing no other uh comment,
[1:07:43] no other business. We meeting is
adjourned.