[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.

Groveland City Council: September 8, 2026

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