Sorry. Good afternoon. I'd like
to call to order a special
budget workshop of the city of
Hallandale Beach. Today is
Wednesday, AUGUST 19th, 2026.
The time is 4:12 P.M. Could I
have a roll call, please? Mayor
Cooper. Present. Vice mayor
Lazarus. Absent. Commissioner
Adams. Yes. Commissioner.
Butler here. Commissioner Lima
here. City manager. City
attorney. Marino. MADAM Mayor,
you have a quorum. Thank you,
MADAM Clerk. Before we rise for
the Pledge of Allegiance. I
would like to call to mind a
dear friend of Powell in this
city who had passed away
recently. Kenny Cohen, if
you're not familiar with him,
he's been in front of us a
couple of times. He works
directly with the schools. He
had passed away. Our prayers go
out to his family and everyone
that he's touched here in the
community. And we also call to
mind the continued war in the
Middle East and Ukraine and all
our armed forces that are
fighting overseas, putting
themselves in harm's way to
protect people in harm's way.
And I've always called to mind
our first responders here in
our city, county, state and
nation that protect and defend
us every day. A moment of
silent prayer, please.
Thank
you. Commissioner, to lead us
in the pledge, please. The
United States of America and to
the Republic for which it
stands. One nation under GOD,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Okay. We have
anybody signed up for public
participation? No, MADAM Mayor,
no, we do not. And we don't
have any change of the order of
business. No, MADAM Mayor, so
we will have at it. All right.
Thank you very much, MADAM
Mayor. And good afternoon,
honorable commissioners. So we
are here for our well, not our
final, but one of our close to
final budget hearings. I'm
going to ask Director Massey to
come and lead us through. We
are going to present to you the
framework for what will be at
the official hearing on the
14th and the 28th. I want to
thank staff very much for all
of their hard work, because it
has been an effort behind the
scenes to ensure that we are
able to present to the
Commission not only another
balanced budget. We've had to
make some very difficult
decisions throughout this
process. I want you all to know
that. But again, staff has done
a tremendous job in getting us
to this point, and I am happy
to say that we we are going to
recommend the rollback rate.
That's what this budget is
structured for. So I'm sure at
the time that we are in in this
state's history with what might
happen in NOVEMBER, we are
probably one of the few cities
in the state who will be doing
that. So it's it's a testament,
again, to your leadership
commission and your trust of
staff to continue to do the
right thing from a fiscal
perspective. So, Director
Massey, if you could, thank you
so much. City manager, doctor
Earl. Good evening, mayor, vice
mayor, commissioners and City
manager, members of the public.
Today, we're presenting the
City Manager recommended budget
and financial Plan for fiscal
year 27. This presentation
reflects the updates and
changes made since the prior
budget workshops from JUNE 22nd,
and provides the current path
towards adoption. Tonight's
presentation will cover four
main areas. First, where we are
in the budget timeline. Current
situation. Second, the proposed
changes to recommended budget.
Third, the proposed millage and
finally, the recommended five
year financial plan through
fiscal year 31. The goal is to
provide a clear picture of the
27 budget and the longer
financial outlook. The budget
process began in JANUARY with
budget planning and continue
with the department's
submissions in FEBRUARY. City
manager's office reviews the
budget in APRIL, and we have
commission workshops in MAY,
JUNE, AUGUST 5th and today,
AUGUST 19th. The next formal
steps are the first and second
readings for adoption of the
millage and budget on SEPTEMBER
14th and 28th. Once adopted,
the 27 budget will take effect
on OCTOBER 1st, 2026. The main
message on this slide on slide
four, is that the 27 budget
tentative budget is balanced in
the General Fund. Both revenues
and expenditures total
approximately $134 million.
There is no projected general
fund shortfall for fy 27. The
balanced budget reflects the
proposed changes from the city
Manager's recommended budget we
provided on JUNE 22nd, reduces
the proposed millage, the
rollback rate, and still
maintains the city's focus on
long term financial planning
and the potential impacts of
future property tax reform.
This next section walks us
through the proposed changes to
the City Manager recommended
budget. These updates reflect
refined estimates, updated fund
level activity and additional
staff reviews since the prior
version of the budget. Is there
a question? No, no. Okay. We're
good, we're good. I have no
button for it on slide six.
Wait, I'm on slide six. Slide
five. Hold on a second. Slide
six. The general fund, which is
the city's primary operating
fund, supports core services
including public safety,
general government parks,
community service and other
city wide functions. On slide
six, you will see that we
propose the millage at 7.3848
on JUNE 22nd. Today, we're
proposing a rollback rate of
7.3189. That is an impact of
$443,000. So on this slide we
have 993,000 reduction in
general fund. That's due to the
rollback rate. And we moved
some items from the general
fund to the developer Agreement
fund, as we felt it was best
suited there. There's details
on slide six of the differences
in the general fund salaries
and benefits. We had slight
adjustments of 152,000
transfers out. That's the
decreased contribution to the
renewal and replacement fund.
Slide seven provides you with
the detail version of those
items. B is so contract. We
received a few weeks ago that
the bso contract increased by
$372,000. That is due to the
impact of the increased frs
contribution on the city side.
So we received a revised
consideration letter from bso
and that impact was $370,000.
The tif payment to the cra is
reduced by $156,000. That is
due to the rollback rate that
impact their transfer to
transportation fund. That
difference. I'm sorry. Hold on
a second. Transfer
transportation fund. That is
because we increased the
roadway improvement project,
and we also removed the fec
lease because that is no longer
a viable option for the city at
this time. So that's the
difference. Impact there for
transportation fund, we also
reduced the contribution to the
renewal and replacement fund.
We had identified. What we what
we identified that we were
going to smooth out the r&r
fund, and we used those dollars
to fund more immediate
priorities such as roadway
improvement, funding, the bso
contract, and rolling back the
knowledge. So the total
reduction to the general fund
from the proposed recommended
budget is $993,000. Slide eight.
We're on special revenue funds.
There are some changes. The
special revenue funds, we
reduced, the renewal
replacement fund, small changes
to three islands in Golden
Isles. That's based on the JULY
1st taxable value that came out,
the cemetery fund. We did add
$75,000 to cemetery fund for
the records and asset
management project. Down on
slide eight, I just. Yes, we
removed the fec lease payment
and increased roadway
improvements for the permit
inspection fund, the building
fund. We did add marketing for
a pilot program. On slide nine.
We did add two positions. This
slide highlights the strategic
personnel updated funded by the
utility funds. This budget adds
two utility engineer design
professional positions. These
are senior level positions
intended to strengthen in-house
design and project management
capacity for major utility
capital improvements. Just to
confirm, and I know I asked you,
doctor Earl, about this. This
would be kind of putting in
place that construction
management component of
projects throughout the city.
Correct. And by also being able
to design some of our projects
in-house, we hope to move
faster and also save a lot of
money as well. So it's going to
be where we still use
consultants, but we're going to
try and take over as much as we
can internally just to drive
these projects home faster.
Okay. Thank you. Sorry for the
interruption, MISS Mason. Slide
ten. We have no proposed
changes to the enterprise fund
at this time. Those funds
include sanitation, stormwater
and the utility fund. Other
governmental funds. On slide 11,
the proposed budget is $31
million, a decrease of $86,000
from the Developer Agreement
Fund. Most of these funds
remain unchanged. The Debt
Service Fund has a minor
increase of $700, and that.
Slide 11. Total proposed budget
across all fund groups is $251
million. That includes
enterprise funds,
Intergovernmental Special
Revenue and the general Fund.
The general fund represents
53.44% of the total budget.
Enterprise funds represent
25.52% and so forth. This
summary reinforces that the
overall changes are targeted
and primarily reflect
refinements to assumptions and
fund specific adjustments,
rather than a broad reduction
in service levels. The city is
proposing a millage rate of
7.3189 for fy 27. This reflects
a decrease of 0.0660 mills in
the operating millage, and a
decrease of 0.0053 mills for
debt service. This chart shows
the city's millage trend over
time, including a decrease from
7.3848 in 26 to the proposed
7.3189 in 27. The proposed rate
supports a balanced general
fund budget, while reducing the
military and recognizing
affordable concerns for
property owners. If we had not
decreased the millage rate to
the rollback rate, an average
single family homeowner would
have paid approximately $30
more. The final section is a
recommended five year financial
plan. I know we've gone through
this a few times before, but
we're going to take some time
on it today. Again, this
section is important because
the 27 budget is balanced, but
the city we need to plan for
future structural pressures,
property tax reform, public
safety costs, pensions and
capital needs. The five year
plan includes several revenue
assumptions for property tax
reform. The model assumes a
$150,000 homestead exemption
impact beginning in fy 28. The
$250,000 homestead exemption
impact in 29 and future years,
and a reduction in the
commercial property cap from
10% to 5%. Ad valorem revenue
is budgeted at 2% growth for fy
28 and future years with fy 27
based on the bcc estimate of 2%,
2.25%. The plan also includes
the increased fire assessment
rate in fy 27, with estimated
additional revenue of
approximately 400 approximately
$800,000. All other revenues
are based on recent trends. For
expenditure assumptions. The
plan includes a 5.5% increase
for non police bargaining
employees and fy 27 and
subsequent years made up of a
3% Cola and a 2.5% merit
assumption for police
bargaining employees. The plan
assumes an 8% increase in 27 in
subsequent years, made up of a
3% Cola and 5% merit assumption.
These assumptions are intended
to reflect anticipated
personnel costs growth, while
giving the city a realistic
long term forecast. The plan
also assumes a 5% annual
increase for police and fire
pensions from fy 27 through fy
31. It also assumes a 10.2%
increase for health insurance
in fy 27 and subsequent years.
For bso, the plan includes a 27
consideration proposal and a 5%
increase in subsequent years.
These items are significant.
Cost drivers are important to
include in the long term
outlook. On slide 19. This is
the five year financial plan.
This slide brings together the
five year general fund forecast.
The fy 27 budget is balanced
with revenues and expenditures
showing both at $134 million.
Under. The assumptions shown
for fy 28 has a small projected
surplus of $268,000 beginning
in fy 29. The model shows a
projected shortfalls of
approximately 4.6 million in 5
point 8,000,009.8 million
through fy 31. The reserve
section shows that the city
begins the forecast period with
strong unassigned fund balance,
but reserves decline over the
long term if projected gaps are
not addressed. This is why the
five year plan is being
presented alongside. The annual
budget provides us time to plan
early, evaluate strategies and
avoid making reactive decisions
later. The next steps are the
two formal public hearings. On
SEPTEMBER 14th, we will hold
the first public hearing to set
the tentative millage and
budget. On SEPTEMBER 28th, the
city will hold the final public
hearing and consider adoption
of the 27 budget. I do want to
add that the Trim notices are
being mailed out this week. If
you go online, you should see
your trim notice online right
now. And not to forget that we
did add the three islands item
to the trim. Stormwater is now
also being added to trim, so if
there's a substantial increase,
it's because of those items
that are on there. And that
concludes the presentation.
Cool. I don't have any
questions at this point.
Commissioner Butler, you're
recognized. Thank you. Okay. I
have a couple of items I just
wanted to get some
clarification on if I could. So
I so some of my questions are
going to be focused on these
three priorities that I know
keep coming back up about
traffic, flooding and
beautification. So you
mentioned that we're adding
additional money to the
Department of Transportation.
What what is that funding and
50,000. Yeah, added $500,000 to
the roadway and street
improvement project. And so is
that is that intended to
improve traffic? No, it's
intended to address the streets
and roadways in the city to
repay them. So we increased
roadway improvements by
$150,000. Did we not also put
additional money in the
Department of Transportation?
Did I did I misunderstand? Yes.
We did not put additional money
in the Department of
Transportation. This additional
money into transportation fund.
All right. Fund includes
streets, roadway. Okay, I
misunderstood it, so I'm sorry.
Bill. Quick bill. So tied to
quick bill. No, that is not
tied to quick build. Oh, okay.
All right. So so these are for
increased roadway improvements.
So that's part of our street
repaving program. That's
correct. All right. So I just I
just wanted to I wanted to get
into a couple of questions
about this because I, doctor
Earl and I shared an email back
and forth that's been going on
for quite some time. And I just
want to kind of air this out on
the city commission so we make
sure we're all on the same page
here. Right? So last NOVEMBER,
we were provided an email about
the status of the street
repaving program. Now, this
program, I think started in
2023. Doctor Earl. All right.
So we've had this program now
operating for three years. And
in NOVEMBER we were sent a list
of streets that are being
repaved. And my question was,
what is the prioritization? How
are we prioritizing? How are we
identifying streets? I know the
same issue just came up about a
month ago during a City
commission meeting. So the
concern that I have is that
since NOVEMBER, I still haven't
received anything that
indicates how we're identifying
streets and how we're repaving
streets. So we're putting a, I
don't know, a million and a
half. I don't know what the
number is today, a million and
a half into this program. I
know we did for the last three
years. This year, maybe another
million or million and a half
into street repaving. And I
still don't have a way of
telling my residents that ask
when their street is going to
be repaved and what the
schedule is going forward. Now,
I understand that we have a lot
going on, and I know that
there's a lot happening, but
this is something that has been
going on since NOVEMBER of last
year. And so I just want to
make sure that we're all on the
same page that that, you know,
when we first approved this, I
went back and I pulled the, the
original presentation that we
had about the street
resurfacing. And I, and I agree
with it wholeheartedly. So one
of the challenges is of
inadequate planning. That was
the presentation that we had
for the renewal and replacement
program. And one of the
challenges for inadequate
planning, which I agree,
financial instability due to
reactive spending, service
delivery disruptions, increased
public dissatisfaction,
escalation of long term costs
from emergency repairs. I agree
with all of that. And so the
solution that we had been
presented and proposed to us
was to adopt a proactive,
multi-year planning policy. So
that's really what I'm asking
us to do, is to do exactly what
we suggested that we were going
to do. And the, the heartburn
that I had with this really is
that we have been selecting
streets for three years. And I
just want to know what process
we've been using to select
streets for the last three
years. I don't need to know
that we have a whole new
process. I don't need to know
formalized process. I just need
or or something that is
particularly formalized. I just
need to know what we've done.
And I assume that we have a
process. It MAY not be a pretty
process. It MAY not be a
perfect process, but we need to
have a process that we can
share with our residents. And I
think I think waiting almost a
year to get that information on
a program that's been running
for three years. I'm not asking
this to be a priority. I just
want to make sure that this is
clear, that my my fellow
commissioners are are hearing
what I'm asking for and why I'm
asking for it. And I just think
it's an important issue that we
need to need to address. So I'm
going to leave that there.
We've we've had extensive back
and forth. And I just, you know,
I feel like I try to get these
things resolved without
bringing them up during a City
Commission meeting and airing
our dirty laundry, so to speak,
in public. So that's the first
item that I wanted to talk
about. And that's the street
repaving program. Yes, ma'am. I
know you've asked, and, you
know, I've even dug up some old
records if it to get clear and
concise, you're really is it
possible? I guess the question
is, doctor, is it possible to
list every street that we have
paved and just have a program
of. When the next. Just a list
of what streets are queued. And
again, because I know the
original plan had a map, it had
all the documentation on it. It
was different color codes for
different years. You know, it
was a single snapshot of that.
And, you know, I don't know if
it's just the basis of
presentation and this is what
it is because kudos, we did all
these streets. I know my street
isn't paved yet because we have
work under it, you know, and a
lot of times people ask, I say,
well, let me see if more than
likely has something
underground, their water, sewer,
wastewater or something
happening here. But let's
figure out what it was because,
you know, I have one, two. I
had one that I've been asking
for for a while that ironically,
it was a dead end and I don't
think it was on the plan for a
while. So maybe it's just if
I'm hearing you properly, even
just an Excel sheet of the
inventory of what we did,
what's still in the pipeline,
and maybe a time frame for it.
Is that simplifying your
request? Yeah, let me just I
just want to know if it's not,
then correct it because that's
what I'm hearing. Well, let me
and let me just say yes. And I
want to I want to add some
additional context to that
because you're right, that
that's that seems like it
should be available. This is
the note that we had from the,
at the time, the dpw director.
So the note was roadway
evaluations were conducted
through field assessments by
the streets Division and
documented through the city's
gis roadway inventory and
internal maintenance tracking
systems. Due to licensing
issues, we're unable to access
our gis system to provide the
tracking maps. We have been
informed by it. The issue is
resolved and they will provide
the maps from fiscal year 22
through 25 once the licenses
are reissued. So that was in
APRIL of 26. They said that
roadway selections were
resurfaced based on field
observations and several
condition indicators, including
the frequency and severity of
potholes, alligator cracking
and structural pavement fatigue,
longitudinal and transverse
cracking, edge failures, base
deterioration, drainage related
pavement stress, overall ride
quality, resident service
requests, and maintenance
history. That's a lot. I just
said a whole lot of information,
but clearly there was something
they did something and this was
from APRIL of this year. And I
understand there's been
turnover, but we have a program
that's been ongoing for three
years, and I assume we're going
to continue to do we have more
streets to do, I hope, but I
don't know. I literally I have
a resident that I can't even
tell them when their street is
going to be repaved or if it's
being repaved or if it's even
someday will be repaved. So yes,
mayor, I agree with everything
you just said and I'm asking
just that we we provide I don't
need us to go out and hire a
consultant, put together a
whole new program. I don't need
us to spend more money on this.
I just need to understand what
the program that we've been
using for three years and, and
how that applies for the next
year or two to the streets that
we still have to repave, which
I understand we have quite a
few still left. Okay, doctor.
Roll through. Doctor. So I'm
happy that Commissioner Butler
read that because what he read
is a response to the question
of how did we evaluate the
streets. So everything
Commissioner Butler just read
is exactly what we've said for
three years in terms of how we
actually evaluated the streets.
We started this process over
three years ago. And at that
point, this was a this was a
project that at that time, in
the middle of everything else
that we were doing, we said
that we would now take on under
recommendation from
Commissioner Butler that we
would take on the repaving of,
of, of our streets throughout
our city. Now, this commission
will remember that we have not
paved or paved our streets for
decades. And so we had to
quickly pull something together
in terms of how do we evaluate
the worst streets that we have
in our city. We put together
what was initially an eight
year program that we were able
to condense down to, to now
what's roughly a three year
program, because initially we
were looking to deal with these
streets that we had not dealt
with for decades over an eight
year period of time, our team
worked extremely hard to get
that down from eight years down
to three. Where we are today is
we've been given regular
updates in the past with the
commission. In terms of all the
streets that we were doing, we
are at the end of those streets
now in terms of what was given
in APRIL, between APRIL and
today, in fact, between MARCH
and today, we've had
significant turnover in our
Department of Public Works, and
we have lost the people who
were literally doing this
street program. And what I have
asked this commission for is
for time, so that we can deal
with our internal issues.
Remembering that our team has
been doing the work and has not
stopped doing the work. But
there is a transition period
internally that we have to deal
with. And so, yes, is the
commission going to get a whole
new slew of streets that we are
going to do? Yes. Will the
residents get a response to
every single thing that they
ask today? The answer is no,
because our team is working
hard. They are burning it at
both ends. Again, let me say it
on the record. We took what was
an eight year program and
turned it into a three year
program, and our team has been
working extremely hard. I don't
sit here not wanting to give
the commission information. But
we are literally in a
transition period and I have
said we will get the
information I need to get the
people on board who are going
to take over this program. We
have not shied away from
anything that this commission
has asked us to do. Now, jt, if
you if you can, I know you guys
have we are closing out the
streets that we provided to the
Commission three years ago,
correct? Correct. Yes. We have
we have put those on gis let
level gis layers on our map so
I can provide that to you as
the program. Dear. What I
wanted to do was what we had
originally programed here, and
then have another layer that
would be the years in which
they were actually constructed.
So you could see if there's any
streets that we did extra. So
planned for the eight year
program completed in three. We
do have a list that I'm working
with right now on the next five
years. And I know that Charles
was also working on this when
Charles was here. Correct.
Charles, who is no longer here,
right, was the primary contact
for this program. And Charles
was Charles and I are still
working on that list. And
Charles, even though he's not
here, is working with jt on on
trying to get this thing
together. Go ahead. Jt yes. So
we have the next five years.
What I wanted to do is put
lengths attached to it. I have
a list of roads, but I wanted
to update that like we did the
first five years to give us
linear feet of paving surface
that we need to do. And then I
wanted to compare that one more
time to any known water, sewer,
stormwater projects that we're
going to have on those roads.
So I could give doctor Earl a
complete list of what the plan
is going to be, focusing on 27
first, and then making sure
that all the out years are, are,
are carefully considered in
conjunction with the other
multiple projects that we have
throughout the city. Same type
of thing that we did the last
time, but now we have more
information on the stormwater
from the, the stormwater master
plan being developed, the force
mains and the water lines that
we're looking to do. So it will
be based on very similar
conditional assessments by our
team. Internally. We did
consider going out to a cna
company to see if they could
add some value to our list once
we came up with it. But that we
haven't brought that to doctor
Earl yet. No, we did. You. I
said, no, we can do this
internally. Yeah. Did Robert
bring that to you? That was
that was done by the previous.
Okay. So long story short, the
list is getting close to being
finalized. We're going to do
the same thing we did the last
time, put it on a gis map layer
so that you can see it by
section of the quadrants. We're
going to do a multi quadrant
approach each year. Again going
forward for the next five years.
And then from there we'll see
how much is left after that of
the city. And then we'll end up
doing a maintenance program to
maintain the roads in the
satisfactory or better
condition going forward with
our annual maintenance program.
So first is to get the roads in
satisfactory condition for the
ones that aren't, and then to
do whatever we have to do to
maintain those so that they
don't degrade and we have to go
into the subbase of the roads,
and it costs three to 4 or 5
times more than just milling
and resurfacing on a regular
scheduled basis. So we are
working on that plan. Charles
is still involved, and as soon
as the new director comes in
and as soon as the city
engineer gets, you know, the
opportunity to continue to look
at this program, we'll bring it
back to the city manager, to
the city commission. Good, good.
Thank you. So I doctor Earl, I
just want to be clear that I am
very supportive of the work
that the city has been done
doing and that the I fully
support, obviously, repaving
the streets. My my concerns are
just that we have a three year
program. This is an item that I
requested originally in
NOVEMBER of last year. So we're
coming up on a full year of
asking for information of how
we're doing something that
we've been doing for three
years. So while I fully
appreciate all the turnover,
and I certainly have been very
patient, as you've seen in my
emails, I certainly haven't
brought this up for the entire
city commission. But I think I
think it's something that the
residents deserve to know. And
I still have the resident, you
know, who still asks me all the
time about their roadways, what
road it is. I don't know, off
the top of my head, but I'm not
going to know. I don't mean to
pry, because I have somebody
too, and I wonder if it's the
same one that had the dead end
road that hasn't been done yet.
I'm only asking because I keep
asking that road too, because I
keep hearing about it. So the
other thing I just wanted to
ask. So. We reduced the r&r
fund by $1 million. We did
reduce the r&r fund by $1
million. So is there anything
that we have pulled out of what
we're doing? Is there a
reduction in what we're doing?
Is that why did what's the
what's driving the reduction?
So we had said money. So we had
set dollars aside for the
facilities assessment. But that
assessment is still underway.
So instead of holding dollars
in the r&r fund for an
assessment that is not yet
complete, we made the decision
to take those dollars and use
them to fund the roadway
improvement in the fund, and
also use it to fund the gap for
the bso contract and roll back
the millage. So the r&r fund is
is funded. We just set those
dollars aside for the
assessment, but since those
assessment numbers have not
come back yet, we made that
decision in terms of the
proposed budget, proposed
budget, proposed budget. The
current budget has the r&r
dollars in it, and we're using
those dollars to fund
continuous projects. Okay.
Thank you. So there are two
items that I wanted to bring up.
So we had a conversation about
the annual commission or action
plan. One of the items that we
talked about was the green
pathway. I had had requested.
That item seems to have dropped
from it. I forgot all about it,
and I just wanted to ask if I
could. Now, I did send an email
asking for an update. I didn't
get a response, so I want to
just my understanding, during a
recent City Commission meeting,
we had brought it up and we
were told that it was being
added back to the action plan.
Am I am I wrong about that? I
it was discussed, but yeah,
yeah. Sorry. Go ahead. I'm so
that was a cr a program that's
a cra one. And that was the art
trail on the cra side. And what
we had discussed at the cra
meeting was that initially,
over a year ago, we took it off
because costs were going up and
we weren't sure that we were
going to be able to pay for
that. And that subsequent cra
meetings, we indicated that we
were actually doing the art
trail project and that we now
have to do the guaranteed, I'm
sorry, we have to, to go out
and do the, the, the guaranteed,
the, the gmp for that, the
guaranteed price from a
contractor for that. So that
project is still moving forward.
I don't believe that project
was actually on the commission
annual action plan, was it?
Natasha. I don't recall in
terms of the art trail because
it was a. Right. So so if we if
we just have a brief cra
discussion, the cra is doing
the art trail. That's the trail
that will be throughout the
whole city. And the next steps
now are for that. We have, i
believe, 100%, 100% drawings.
And the next step now is for
the construction manager at
risk to actually do to actually
do the give us the pricing for
that, and then we can go out
and start constructing that.
That's great news and I'm glad
to hear that. And thank you for
clarifying it for me. I know
now where it came up, and it
was while we were doing the
resident survey, and it was
something that the residents
indicated that they wanted. So
I'm glad to hear. And I don't
know if this was Doctor Earl's
idea or Director Finn's idea,
but it was clearly something
that the residents love the
idea of. So I'm glad to hear
that it's back on and I. And I
do remember that you saying
that the cost had gone up and
that's why you had taken it
back off, but that it was
coming back on, and I just
didn't see it in the, in the
action plan and was concerned
that we had we had changed our
minds there, if I MAY,
Commissioner, just one quick
comment, just to give full
credit. So the art trail, the
concept for a trail that wound
throughout the entire city. In
all honesty, came from
Commissioner Lima Tab. Probably
eight years ago we had
discussion where she said,
wouldn't it be great to have
something that ties all of the
communities together, almost
probably 8 or 9 years ago now?
So in all in all honesty, the
initial suggestion for that
came from came from
Commissioner Lima about 8 or 9
years ago. And I can remember
him her also talking about a
safe walking area. Right. I
think that was Covid maybe
during Covid that you. So
that's great news. And it
actually, if I could go into my
next item, right. So I shared
an email about the street
lighting on in three islands in
the three island safe
neighborhood district. And
these are the streetlights on
Atlantic shores and on three
islands, on three islands. So I
know that this is a this might
be a funding issue, but it is
within the safe neighborhood.
And I know that we are doing a
lot of safe neighborhood. I
Commissioner Lazara has brought
up several times that it is a
public safety issue. So I think
it's an important issue, and
I'd like to figure out a way
for us to to fund that if we
can, for the next year. Yes,
mayor, there are programs that.
And I've ironically, just at
Florida League of Cities, I
think Phillips was there. There
was a couple lighting companies
that would come in and I. For
now, I should have brought the
documents with me, but I didn't
think about it. I think that
you can actually f, p and l do
it as well. But then again, I,
I'm not sure if what upfront
costs they will provide for.
And if it is the, if it's like
type of public private
partnership where they come in,
they'll do it and then you
offset it by paying it out over
time, you know, kind of we did
that with energy development
block grants. We would say,
guess what, Siemens, you come
in, you retrofit whatever
you'll upfront it in the
savings, end up paying for it.
So that MAY be a possibility.
Look at a company like that
that maybe will do it, but I
don't know what the dollar
signs would be to do the
upfront investment. And then,
you know, you have a revenue
source from the district to
continue to pay for it
somewhere, as it would be the
case for Golden Isles if we
eventually do some type of
decorative lighting throughout
the community to figure out
what that looked like. And as a
matter of fact, you can do it
before anything else, because
usually the lighting isn't on
the sidewalk or the street side.
It's actually put further away
from any of those improvements.
But I just want to I just
wanted to share that with you.
That's why I keep kind of
talking about those things. And
I haven't had a chance to sit
down with our purchasing
director and discuss some of
those opportunities as well and
what they're going to look like.
But I think it's doable. But
it's I don't know if it's
germane that we have to do it
today or to make a direction.
Well, we're just talking about
budget and it came up during
the action plan, the
commissioner action plan and
the email that I sent to you
referenced the fact that the
dpw has already coordinated
with fpl and identified what
needs to be done if we want to
do it. And now it's just a
matter of and understandably,
time constraints on the part of
the dpw staff. I just wanted to
bring it up for the City
Commission because I, in a in
correctly identified that they
were not in the safe
neighborhood. They are in the
three island safe neighborhood
area. And I just want to clear
that up and, and believe still
that it's important that we
figure out a way to, to get
them done well. Thank you. This
doctor Raul, would you like I
know we're not probably going
to amend this budget right now,
but so we have a direction.
Maybe it's to make a motion to
direct doctor Earl to work with
staff, to research viable
alternatives to fund lighting
within both districts, and set
that up as a type of project or
priority, because the revenue
stream, if it's being placed in
there, the revenue stream would
be paid from the district.
Because currently, like if you
want a light, I can go and say,
guess what? I want a light in
front of my house. They'll put
it in, but then I pay for it.
It goes on my bill. Yeah. So,
so okay, so mayor, would that
work? Doctor? I think it's a
great idea, but we're not in
the district. My understanding
the issue this isn't a dollars
issue. This is a time capacity
issue on the on the part of dpw.
Right. Well companies come in
and do it soup to nuts. It's
not I'm sorry if that's a way
for us to do it. Correct doctor.
Yeah I understand the question.
Like I know Siemens does it.
Philips does it. Sure. Fpl does
it. I don't know what has the
best price competitive pricing
or what it would look like. But
they do the construction and I
believe all the design of it,
like it's all upfront and by
them. So I think. Give us well,
you can't we can't make a
motion here. We will go back
and take a look at the funding,
take a look at the what we have
in terms of the funding, and
come back to the commission
with a recommendation for how
we do this. Right. And like I
said, I don't know if, again,
it might just be they can do it
and then it gets paid out, kind
of like an improvement loan or
whatever. Okay. Do you want it
as a form of motion? We can I
don't even think we can because
it's a workshop anyway, and we
don't have the district budget
in front of us. So go ahead.
Yeah, that was it. I just
wanted to make sure that we
brought that back and gave it
some attention, since solar
would be great. I'm all for
solar. She took a thank you
because it could be you could a
company like that, it might be
something even totally
different. Yeah. You know, and,
and a lot some lightings, even
low volt low voltage. So I
think it's a, it's not a it's
not as easy as saying get it
done. In other words, and we
know we don't want to pile on,
but I think it's the timing of
it would be something to look
at. Yeah, we can, we can do
this. You know, we did this
again for lighting throughout
the city. And we had an
agreement with well, we did it
for on the cra side. Yes. And
we did that for the length and
breadth of the cra. We worked
with some partners. We did the
design. We worked with fpl, I
believe on the cra side. We had
a contract. Faith, correct me
if I'm wrong for like fpl. In
fact, we did have a contract
for fpl to help us install all
of these things. We just have
to bring the design and then we
have to pay for maintenance
afterwards. Correct? Right. So
correct. So the design and
maintenance and we have to pay.
That's how it works. And and
that's what the cra board
actually did. So for the. Yes.
So we can we will explore it
and and bring something back to
you. That'd be great. I, you
know, one of the things I just
want to mention that I think so
we have we are assessing this
three island safe neighborhood
to enhance the safe
neighborhood and not doing
street lights in the three
island safe neighborhood, I
think is a gap that we've
missed. And I think if I were a
three islands resident and I
had been assessed and you
forgot to do street lights, I
would be a little concerned.
And it's from my understanding,
it wasn't an expensive item,
relatively speaking, but I
think it's important for us to
at least identify if we can do
it. And I think that would be
great, doctor Earl, if you
could bring it back. And I
think we can definitely do that,
that's great. If it's not part
of the I don't think it is, but
if it's not already part of the
Safe neighborhood plan. Okay.
So my next question about the
budget on the five year plan,
and I brought this up before,
so I wanted to ask on this five
year plan, we used 2.25% as our
estimated annual property tax
increase for every year going
forward, percent, 2%, 2.25%
this year and 2% going forward.
That's correct. Okay. So the
taxable value increases in the
past years, I'm just going to
tell you there were 10.72%,
17.26%, 9.09%, 8.17%. Those are
the last few years and then
2.25% this year. So the simple
five year average is 9.5%.
That's the simple average. If I
throw out that 17.26%, we're at
7.6%, right? So now we're going
all the way down to two. Not
opposed to it. I think it's a
great, you know, stress test
case, but I would love to see
this same thing with 4% and 6%,
right? Just easy way to do it.
I don't think that's a
difficult. And when you mean
four and 6%, you mean 4% in
which year annually going
forward. So we're doing 2%
annually. Go to 4%. Go to 6%.
Let's just see what that looks
like. I think I think it'll be
a little bit play, isn't it? It
should be, I hope so. And do
you want to see the impact of
that. Is that what you were.
Yeah. I'm just curious to see
how it looks. That gives us a
conservative, a moderate and a
historical norm. Right. So that
was one of my other requests.
Oh, and then so this one I want
to, I guess I can bring this up
later because it's not
specifically on our budget. We
can't, we're almost into, well,
now we have 530, so we have
some time. Keep going. Okay.
Because this I could bring up
some things under other two. So
go ahead. All right. So so one
of the, one of the questions
that I had, and I, I'm all for
us doing stuff at the beach. So
I want everybody to know that.
And I voted in favor of all the
funding. Oh my GOD. Now it's
like, no, I don't want it. No,
no that's not. Do you have
buyer's remorse, Commissioner?
That's not what I'm going to
say. You say something nice.
That is not what I'm going to
say. I'm teasing, but I just
want to be clear. So when we
first said, hey, let's do some
beach activation, it was in
support of this snack bar. And
I'm going to say that over and
over and over again, because
the snack bar didn't open and
we're still doing the beach
activation, not opposed to it.
Happy to do it. I made a
recommendation in a very long
email to the city managers, and
my apologies to everybody for
the long email that we we get
food trucks out there in order
to offset the fact that we
don't have a snack bar. So I
will I will be very open and
share with everybody that this
all comes from spending a month
with my kids going to the beach.
There are no amenities. You go
to the beach, you got to bring
everything with you. Good luck
buying anything. So so I'm
still interested in us doing
things that will help us
activate our beach. And the
$75,000 that we approved for
South Beach events. And we have
another one coming up, I think
very soon. We also approved the
so far sounds, which I think is
part of our 100 year
anniversary preparations. And
now we recently just approved,
I think, $250,000 for furniture
for the North Beach facility.
Now, all of those are great as
long as they all are leading us
to eventually getting a revenue
generating tenant into both of
those facilities. That's the
goal. That's what we're trying
to do. I don't want us to to
spend all this money in order
to have a good time. Not that
I'm opposed to having a good
time, trust me. But I do want
us to ensure that there is a
plan, and I believe that there
is. I just want to state this
on the record. I have I have
supported all this stuff and
I've supported it for the
reason, very specific reason
that I want to ensure that this
eventually will lead to us
being able to fill both the
South Beach and North Beach
facilities with a tenant. And
this ties back to conversations
that we had back when we were
looking for the South Beach
tenant. So I applaud the city
for all the work that it's
doing. I think, Director Shantz,
you've done a fantastic job
with the events there. I'm
excited about. Well, I don't
know if I'm going to be there
this weekend. Is it yoga on
Sunday 30? Yeah. No no no no. I,
I, I come and have a cup of
coffee. So I'm, I won't be
there. 730 but I'm very excited
about that. We're doing things
and that our North Beach
facility will actually have
some activity. And I even went
to the point where I suggest
that maybe some of our staff
should use the second floor as
offices. Right? And the only
point is, is in order to get
usage out of it, right? So that
people are using it on a
regular basis, that the
elevators are working, that the
air conditioning is working,
that we have people that are
utilizing the facility. So I
can't imagine somebody wouldn't
want to have an office there. I
would, but that was just a
statement I wanted to make
about beach activation. I meant
to do under other. But since we.
It's fine, we have the time.
Sure. I just had a thought on
that. You done with that one?
Yes, ma'am. I'm done with it.
Yes. You know, it occurred to
me sitting here, you know, we
we ran out a lot of our
facilities. We rent them out.
We have been sitting on that
asset. It has a kitchen. It has
a service area. Maybe we look
at it as a rental, a rental
opportunity. If somebody wants
to have a party or an event at
the beach, like we do at the
cultural center has a built in
kitchen, it has built in access.
We put a little bit more money
into it. Maybe somebody's going
to want to have a party there
or picnic or something and a
corporate event. So food for
thought instead of worrying
about one particular vendor,
because I certainly would rent
it out for a party. I think
it's a great gig place. We've
done that before, I think not
we had weddings there, right?
Or something. Are you talking
North city Future. South. South.
South. South. City. Because.
Because North doesn't have a
kitchen. North doesn't have. No.
It didn't have the kitchen or
any of that stuff. But we're
sitting on a kitchen and an
asset that's been empty for
like two years. So and if
somebody wants to have a party
or a beach party or have at it.
No, I think I think those are
good suggestions. We are. It's
just like an moment. Like I was
thinking North Beach too. Okay.
Go ahead. So South City Beach,
we we started and I think we
are going to complete at some
point I asked director Chance
to get full commercial fridges,
stoves, prep areas, everything
because we're missing all the
equipment. And I think you were
out there as I toured inside, I
walked all around it. So we're
going to damn this. Sorry. I
also this is a nice spot to
leverage. I also asked Director
Chance to see about food trucks
there on as as basically pop
ups as well. So basically we're
trying to outfit because in
speaking to restaurants, I've
spoken to restaurants would
want to come in most of those
restaurants who, who would
potentially do pop ups,
including local restaurants.
The lack of equipment in there
is, is one of our restrictions.
And so I've asked Director
Chance to go out and she did
she find some equipment
telepathic. That's pretty good.
No no no. So so we're so we're
doing that. And then we're also
going to work on. I know
Commissioner Butler mentioned
the food trucks as well. So
we're also going to work on the
food trucks as well. In terms
of the North City Beach
facility, we're also just this
week, because of the upcoming
events, we've added commercial,
fridge, commercial, like a prep
area and everything to that
facility as well. We do have
some staff that will be moving
in there temporarily for about
six weeks at that location. And
then we're going to finish
outfitting the facility with,
with, with Wi-Fi and everything
else. I know that Sean has been
working on, on getting that
done. So hopefully with all of
these changes, this is only the
first step to what you all have
asked us to do. So the the
other big part of it was to try
and combine both locations in
terms of having an rfp. So, you
know, we're trying to get the
first part done, which is to
activate it. I'm happy to say
that the events this week are
sold, not sold out, but the
events this week are sold out,
for lack of a better term. The
ones that all the wellness
events that we planned, every
one of those things are now
sold out. So fingers crossed.
Hopefully we'll and kudos to to
the team who's who's working on
that faith and Kathy and Rachel
and the rest of them. And, and
then the big part was just
waiting for the contract. The
agreement with Itaru Izumi
slash related. Now that we have
those parking spaces, well,
just just to be clear, we have
we have all the parking spaces,
but we have less active parking
spaces than we, than we, we
need, because there are some
work going on in the garage
from Beach Club that's taken
away about 15 of our parking
spaces, and then we have some
other internal parking needs in
terms of the fire department
and whatnot as well. And so
working through all of these
kinds of things, you know, our
team is also working on coming
up with a plan to join both
facilities together from a
parking perspective. So there's
a lot of things that our team
is working on now that we have
the parking spaces back as well,
it's going to, you know, this
is really that was really one
of our triggers that approval
from you all to now go out and
try and find someone because
now they now we can say we
actually have parking spaces in
that facility. So, so that was
huge. So we are trying to
implement everything that you
guys have approved. I know it's
sometimes in some cases slow
going, but I think we are we've
made significant progress. And
the other delay in the North
City Beach facility was the
elevator, which for it being on
the beach and not an active
facility that needed to be
fixed. And again, with your
with your help, with your
approvals, we were able to fix
that on an emergency basis. And
now we're going to have a major
overhaul of that elevator
coming soon as well. So so
we're so we're doing the things
and hopefully we'll do the
things a lot faster so you guys
can be happy. Now. You piqued
my interest. What are they
using storage for their own
construction. Beach club
they've the parking. No, Kathy.
They've just blocked off those
spaces. Come on. Yeah. Oh, it's
for security. For. So people
don't damage your cars and
stuff for safety reasons. Okay,
so it's about 15 spaces that.
No worries. No worries for a
while. You're good. No. Two
more. So two more because I. Go
ahead. Do you have one? I know,
go ahead. So the I don't want
to slow your roll. Keep going.
Now we're talking about it
though. Oh my GOD. I have no
questions. No. Well, I was
checking to see if anybody was
in the queue, so. Water tower.
Oh my GOD. I can tell you about
that. Please, I want to oh,
that's what I was going to
bring up. Okay, good. Wait a
minute. I want to hear it. This
is a great hair moment. Oh my
GOD. You know, I'm going back
to flc. You know, I'm strolling
around and one of the companies
that we used to use to do all
the water towers was there. And
I'm like, you know, and another
gentleman branched out and did
his own company. So I'm talking
to him. He goes, I go, you know,
we've been trying to get our
water tower painted for like
ages. He goes, I am so well
aware of your water tower that
when we had our water tower, we
didn't have we didn't plan our
water tower to have all the
things around it. And it's an
issue. It's like he told me, I
don't want to have like total
sticker shock. Like we had the
other thing with the mooring
field. But he goes, we can look
like $1 million to paint just
to paint the tower because the
screening and safety and
security and it has to be
sandblasted. They have to
secure the hotel, they have to
secure even beach club, beach
club, because everything's
around it. And it's not even
just about us. It's about
everything that goes into it.
But it's millions of dollars.
We awarded it already. Nope. So
we have we have $4 million. Oh,
we did okay in it. And now it's,
it's the execution of that,
that our team is now about to
work. So good. It's just it's
in process. Yes. It's. Yeah.
Money is there. I didn't even
realize we had awarded or we
allocated money. We didn't
award it allocated the money to
do the project. And to your
point, it is millions of
dollars to do that. There was
not an rfq awarded. I thought
we did. No no no no no no no.
It was back in 2025. Well, we
were talking about lighting and
it was something we approved
somebody getting in. Director
Luis, do you remember cleaning.
And I remember reading all the
backup material. No I don't
think. Yeah. My staff is. Yeah,
they're coming down now because
sometimes we've done so much.
It's like, oh, good, I got the
card. Actually, I was going to
give you the guys. I don't know
what it was to talk to him
about it, but I was like
sitting I'm like, I remember
reading the backup about how
you have to get into the. I was
just, they totally studied it.
And it has to be upgraded on a
regular basis. And I thought we
were doing that in conjunction.
I thought we were doing that in
conjunction with our 100 year
anniversary. Update do we want
an update or what do we want?
Okay, so now we're going to
we're going to hopefully now
that we have the city engineer
and hopefully in the future.
But we don't want to because
I'm usually good with numbers.
And I was thinking we talked
about 300 and some odd thousand
dollars for lighting originally,
and I didn't realize we had
executed a line item and we
were already budgeted and it's
in our budget. Oh, good.
Because I got the heartburn
like, oh my GOD, this is it's
in our cip. Okay, good. It's in
our cip. All right. Thank thank
you. So good. Thank you. If you
want to know all about it, I'll
give you the guy's card. So oh
my GOD, I want to this there's
one other topic I just wanted
to because I was going to talk
about that under other. Go
ahead. Oh, you were doing okay.
So we still have time. So this
this item I think for me is a
little bit difficult to open up.
But so one of the challenges I
think that we have. There is a,
there isn't a, a, I don't know
how to say this. So we are the
number one to me, the number
one purpose that we have, code
compliance is for
beautification. And I've I have
frankly been talking to. Bless
you, mayor. Excuse me. Wow,
that was loud. Wow. So we've
been talking about code
compliance and how code
compliance can contribute to
beautification in the
neighborhood, in the cities in
the city. Since I think it was
a report, I can't remember the
name of the company back in
2006. So this has been a long,
long time. I mean, well before
I sat up here. We we recently
had the two resident surveys
over a two year period. And
beautification didn't change,
right. We didn't see an
increase in beautification
during that time period. Over
the last five years, we've made
significant investments in code
compliance. And I think,
Director Massey, I had
mentioned to you that I wanted
to get an electronic copy of
our budget because one of the
questions that I had was, what
is our total code compliance
current? What is the total
budget? What how many FTEs do
we have today and how does that
compare with five years? And
this is part of the email. I
know that I sent you, Doctor
Earle, and the reason I asked
for this information is because
we're not getting the results
out of code compliance that we
want. Now, the results that we
want is beautification, right?
That's the outcomes that we
want to get. We, we, we
received an email that I think
is, is extraordinary that our
code increase in cases has
increased dramatically. And
that's a wonderful thing.
That's not a bad thing, but it
should also have a net impact
on beautification. That's what
we're doing it for, right. The
cases should lead to an
improvement beautification. And
so we're missing something. I
don't know what it is, but the
outcomes that we want after
making massive investments in
code, not massive. When I say
massive, if I have my numbers
correct, and I could very well
be wrong, when I became a
commissioner, we had five code
enforcement officers and we had
no administrative folks. And
now we have, I don't know, 12
code officers and at least two
administrative people. So we've
more than doubled the code
department. And we get a
doubling of the cases now from
a productivity, you know,
person per case standpoint.
That's that's not good, right?
That's a decrease in
productivity in cases per code
officer. But what's more
important to me is that we're
not getting the beautification
results that we want. And I
know this is a challenging
thing to measure because it's a
little bit amorphous. How do
you measure beautification? But
something something here,
obviously, I mean, other than
the resident survey, which I
should have came in my speech
yesterday. No, I'm just
laughing. Yeah, we can talk
about that too. So by the way.
No, because I talked about this,
I heard good response to I
didn't mean to interrupt you, I
apologize. So so this is
something that I just wanted to
bring up for the City
Commission to be aware of,
because I think it's an
important item, because it's
one of the three things that
our residents are asking us to
do, right? So traffic, flooding,
beautification, we've got a lot
of money that's going into
traffic. Our Department of
Transportation has already made
real world results and impact
for our residents, which I
congratulate them for. And
thank you again for that. I
know we have a ton of money
going into flooding, right? I
don't know how we were
measuring flooding, because I
think it's important to be able
to show to residents the actual
impacts that we're that we're
that are result from that. But
but beautification concerns me.
And I, I honestly don't know
what the answer is. I don't
know if it means if we increase
our landscaping budget or if we
create a team that goes around
and does a lot of the small
jobs that need to be done
around the city, like painting
fire hydrants, I don't know. Oh
my GOD, somebody just asked me
about it. Yeah, yeah, I hear it
all the time too. So it sounds
like such a small thing, but I
will, I will, I will tell you
like an example that I thought
was amazing response. A year or
two ago, I had shown some
photographs of street signs
that the city owned, and they
were rusting and falling down.
And within a week or two,
doctor Earl, the response was
amazing. You had people out
there, they painted them, they
made them straight again. They
just little things like that,
that if it were in my yard, I
would want to do that, right? I
would want to clean that stuff
up. And it made a big impact in
a very quickly. So I don't know
what the answer is. I don't
know how we move forward, but I
think it's a it's a it's a it's
an important gap that we need
to figure out how to address in
order to deliver on this third
item that our residents are
asking us to are saying is most
important for them. Okay, mayor,
I will shut up. I'm done. Thank
you very much for your patience.
Actually, it like to wrap and
this is how I phrased it
yesterday and thought about it
to me. And I keep saying it's
called curb curb appeal and
what code enforcement is
important. It stops when the
sidewalk, when where the
sidewalk ends. That's where it
is involved with public
property. The idea of even just
replacing and getting rid of
the clutter on the roadway,
cleaning the roadways I brought
up, you know, even power
washing, making sure that we're
doing those things. And I don't
know how that translates,
translates into actionable
items. I'll give you an example.
When I grew up, the sidewalk
was forced to maintain, even if
we had a swale, you had to cut
the grass, you had to clean the
sidewalk. You had to do
everything you had to do. Right.
Okay, now we're not in urban
America. We're no, we're not in
suburban America. We're in
urban America the other day,
and I know it might be a little
long winded. I was working out
at Oasis. I was looking down on
the street and that property
owner sweeps actually the
street. Their maintenance goes
out, scrubs the sidewalk. I
mean, granted, it's a new area,
right? Sweeps the sidewalk. And,
you know, I basically said, you
know, this is a joint effort.
People have to contribute to
making sure. But more
importantly, residents need to
understand what we can control
and what we can't control. So
if somebody's not going to do
it and we're going to code
enforce them and they're not
going to clean it and just
ignore it, it's still not
getting done. So code
enforcement is a tool, but we
can find and find and find. But
that means the job is not
getting done. So that has to go
back to the policy. Now like
you said, we staff's been great.
They cleaned up the baskets on
a one a and the trash cans and
all that stuff. So I think it's
a multifaceted type of approach
and means different things to
different people. You know, I
mean, we drive through Golden
Beach all the time. I mean, you
know, it's wonderful. They have
a beautiful one way corridor.
That's what they have to
maintain. Aventura. Aventura
has a ton of condos. Think
about what they have in the
public realm to take care of a
lot different than us. We have
much more public realm when it
comes to even Pembroke Road,
Hallandale Beach Boulevard, all
these roadways, and it costs
money to maintain them. So
maybe, you know, we have to
maybe sit down, maybe we do our
own exercise to say, let's get
every bus shelter replaced.
Let's look at cleaning, you
know, cleaning the streets,
doing those types of things.
But that's definitely that goes
back to general fund. It goes
back to investments, street
signs, all the street signs are
our responsibility. Hallandale
Beach Boulevard, it's fdot. We
can't even pave it. The ones
that are, you know what I mean?
So and that's what I talked
about. So if you talk about it
conscientiously and say we
don't a1 a we can partner with.
We invested money there years
ago, redeveloping the street
lighting. We did everything
down there. Right. It's been a
while, right? Maybe it needs a
little a little bit more
facelift, maybe a little bit
more landscaping. But those are
million dollar projects.
They're not like little, you
know, the signs. But getting
back to the science, it's not
our responsibility to replace
every sign on Hallandale Beach
Boulevard. That's not what they
did. And that's not what they
did. They did it on Golden
Isles Drive. And I'm saying,
that's good, that's good. And
it was it really made a huge
difference. But I agree with
you, mayor. I don't know what
the answer is. So and so I hear
you, but maybe strategically
when we're not worried about
all the moving parts with
property tax and, you know, I
encourage people go online, see
what see what is your
responsibility. But some of
those things, yes, we can do
better. The curb appeal,
cleaning it up, doing the bus
shelters, getting rid of the
million little advertising
things, that kind of stuff. So
I think we set in play some of
the stuff that will be real,
but I don't think we're not
going to change. And I'll shout
it out and it's horrible. Old
building where Harry's building
it. That whole building needs a
facade replacement. Yeah. But I,
you know, and it's ugly, so.
But you're going through other
areas that aren't 100 years old.
They're not as urban as us. Or
there are different type of
community that was with plan
design community. So it is a
difficult obviously, our focus
should be on the homeless to
homeless all over the place and
trash and the shopping carts.
So yeah, I mean that. So it's
really bad if we're just
talking about beautification,
obviously, what, what do we
have control over and what we
can, what we can influence. And,
and maybe this should be a
workshop. Maybe, maybe we
should sit down and, and get
somebody who actually is an
expert on, on tying these two
things together. We've made
enormous investments. I support
those investments and code
compliance. I just we're not
getting we're not getting the
outcomes that we wanted.
They're doing better because
they're foreclosing. Again, you
lost the component of how our
legal department is moving on
foreclosure. I understand the
benefit that we're getting out
of it. And I'm not I'm not
opposed to all of those
benefits out of it. We just
need to figure out how to
affect this beautification
thing so that two years from
now or a year from now, when we
do a resident survey, people
are saying, yeah, Hallandale
really has improved
significantly in that third
metric that is so important to
our residents. Yeah. So I'm
feeling you. I just talked
about it yesterday. Yeah. Yeah.
So we're good. Yes, ma'am.
Thank you. Talked about that. I
think we're good. I think we
can take a pause for ten
minutes. Give everybody a break.
Anybody else for budget. Oh and
great job on the budget again.
Thank you very much to all of
you. So I know you guys I
usually give you everybody
props. I'm a little tired today
so yeah. Okay. Thank you very
much. Thank you doctor. We're
going to take a recess. Thank