[10:59] Here is your plaque for 10 years of service as
[11:03] a business development coordinator. Thank you.
[11:12] thank you.
[11:18] that's it, mayor, thank you.
[11:28] all right, next up is a presentation
[11:31] it's gonna be
[11:33] proclamations b, armature radio week
[11:38] and do I have, is ben here? Yes
[11:50] good. It's good to see you. You too.
[11:54] see some familiar faces
[11:57] so I'm going to read the proclamation for armature radio week. But for those that
[12:00] don't know,
[12:00] with armature radio, while many see it as a hobby, they also play a critical role
[12:04] during disasters
[12:12] it's my understanding that you guys volunteer with the broward eoc and potentially
[12:14] the state during natural disasters,
[12:15] especially after hurricanes for, you know, communication, lines of communication. And
[12:18] they're having an event, if you want to
[12:27] mentioned the dates. Fill day is the last end of june.
[12:32] last weekend of june, they're having their field day. The 27th and the 28th of june
[12:36] will be our field day, and it'll be a quiet waters park at 401 south power line.
[12:44] and I've been to that, the last couple years, and it's pretty neat. They actually,
[12:47] through
[12:47] radios, can communicate with people across the world if the weather is, and
[12:51] everything lines up
[12:54] so I will try to be there on sunday to stop by and see you guys. And I know that tom
[12:57] savoka is also involved. He
[12:57] had work tonight, he couldn't be here for those that are wondering where tom is.
[13:00] so now I'll read the proclamation
[13:08] whereas amateur radio operators are celebrating over a century of the miracle of the
[13:10] human voice broadcast over the airwaves.
[13:12] and whereas amateur radio has continued to provide a bridge between peoples,
[13:14] societies, and countries by creating friendships
[13:23] and the sharing of ideas. And whereas amateur radio operators have also provided
[13:26] countless hours
[13:26] of community service, both in emergencies and to other local organizations throughout
[13:30] these decades
[13:36] and whereas these armature radio services are provided wholly uncompensated,
[13:40] and whereas the state also recognizes the services amateur radios
[13:47] people also provide to our many emergency response organizations
[13:52] and whereas the city of margate recognizes and appreciates the diligence of these
[13:55] hams, who also
[13:56] serve as weather spotters in the skywarn program of the national weather service, and
[13:59] whereas
[14:06] a-r-r-l is the national association for armature radio in the usa, and whereas the
[14:09] arrl amateur radio field
[14:10] day exercise will take place on june 27th and 28th, 2026, and is a 24-hour emergency
[14:13] preparedness exercise
[14:23] and demonstration of the radio amateur skills and readiness to provide
[14:26] self-supporting communications without further infrastructure being required.
[14:34] and now, in a moment, I will present to you the plaque with the
[14:38] city seal signed by myself, the mayor, and the commissioners
[14:42] and I'll read the rest.
[14:54] signed by the mayor, the commissioners, and the armature radio week, and we appreciate
[14:58] everything that you do for the community, especially in times of need. Thank you.
[15:16] we'll see you on sunday. Yep, I've seen you.
[15:25] we need to squish. I can't see that gentlemen
[15:44] and elsa's going to get a picture, too
[15:50] these are also all served members from parkland and coral springs,
[15:54] so I am very proud to be a part of your cert team. Thank you
[16:06] thank you. Thank you.
[16:24] but if you could just take those off to the side, please
[16:29] thanks again. Thank you.
[16:34] okay, next up is public discussion. You have three
[16:37] minutes to speak about anything that's not on the agenda.
[16:55] donna fellows, margate resident for six more months. Yay! But I just wanted to find
[16:58] out something. I
[16:58] haven't been here for a while due to circumstances and I just wanted to ask if the
[17:02] fair owner has paid up
[17:14] I've been wanting to ask this, but I haven't been here.
[17:17] it's an item on the agenda tonight, however, it's my understanding he has paid
[17:20] in full plus interest. Yes. Okay, so now I hold the ones that have voted for it
[17:30] has learned their lessons
[17:32] because the residents have been trying to tell you this
[17:40] obviously, if he didn't pay the first time, the 100,000 and finally came up with it
[17:42] because he was putting in
[17:43] another thing, I hope you all have learned your lessons because the residents have
[17:46] been talking to you, but obviously
[17:57] you are ignoring residents
[18:00] you're not listening to the residents when they're speaking
[18:04] so to me, this is a disgrace
[18:08] for the ones who are running again, or who are running against people, or running
[18:11] for it, I hope that you do not follow in these footsteps that have been already done.
[18:21] because of the fact that if you are, you're just gonna be losing
[18:28] a lot of people
[18:31] so I think that it's best that maybe you all think about what you're doing and start
[18:33] listening to your residents and what your residents really want, and what they
[18:35] are really saying to you in reference to this, because I know I have spoke to a lot
[18:37] of you in reference to this carnival thing, and him doing this, and why are we
[18:52] bringing him back here for it, which almost led us into litigation
[18:56] against him, which would have cost the residents more money
[19:05] because we're having to pay for the attorneys to go there and represent the
[19:09] city, which is wrong. Listen to your residents when they say no, it's no
[19:18] if it's only one resident telling you this, but it's not just one resident
[19:23] I know there's a few residents that have been saying it, and this
[19:26] is really ridiculous. Listen to your residents and take it from them
[19:33] don't just do it to line your own pockets for your campaign money of whatever it was,
[19:36] $1,000, $1,500 he used
[19:36] to give you, and josh rydell. Josh rydell stood up at this podium here and lied to
[19:40] you, saying he would never
[19:51] do that again. Well, he did it to us again, and
[19:54] look, we finally got it. Fine. Thank you. Thank you.
[20:03] good evening, jonathan crojick, margaret resident. Public trust in government is at a
[20:05] historic low, including at the local level, according to research
[20:07] by pew and gallup. Trust is not built through words alone, it's built through actions.
[20:09] when elected officials promise one thing and do another.
[20:23] public trust suffers. When tactics are used to avoid transparency, the sunshine law
[20:25] and the creation of public records,
[20:27] trust suffers. When an ordinance is passed to later not be adhered to by giving
[20:29] support and promoting an individual
[20:40] who is in clear violation of that said ordinance. Trust suffers. When a commission
[20:43] adopts rules of procedure,
[20:44] but does not consistently follow those same rules, while expecting residents to do so,
[20:47] trust suffers
[20:56] and when the city manager and city attorney appear more focused on
[20:59] satisfying the commission rather than serving the residents, trust suffers.
[21:07] if we want residents to trust the government, then government must demonstrate
[21:10] trustworthiness
[21:11] by honoring its commitments, following its own rules, and upholding the oath of office
[21:22] as trust in government declines, it is natural that residents will seek to petition
[21:26] their government and voice their concerns. The first amendment protects that right.
[21:32] unfortunately, city halls across florida and the nation have increasingly become
[21:34] battlegrounds over public participation, and margate is no
[21:35] exception. The current mayor has continuously suppressed free speech and public
[21:38] participation at meetings by discontinuing zoom public comment
[21:49] starting when he was last mayor in 2022. And for zoom, only to be brought back by the
[21:52] following mayor. And
[21:52] then again, this mayor took away the public's ability to comment using zoom once he
[21:56] got back in rain this year
[22:03] it's as though public comment is perceived as a threat. In 2022, the mayor removed
[22:06] the public's ability to
[22:06] have three minutes to comment on the consent agenda as a whole, only for it to never
[22:10] be brought back since.
[22:17] the mayor's latest attack on public comment came this year, when both of the two
[22:19] required monthly commission
[22:20] meetings are held on the same night. This mayor no longer recognizes public comment
[22:23] for the first of the two meetings
[22:31] although, once again, it's in the rules of procedure that this commission adopted,
[22:33] which states the second item of each commission
[22:35] meeting shall be public comment, limiting opportunities for public participation
[22:37] weakens public confidence in government
[22:49] if this commission truly wants to restore trust, it should lead by example, follow
[22:51] its own rules, expand opportunities
[22:53] for public comment, and demonstrate the resident voices are valued rather than viewed
[22:55] as an inconvenience. Thank you.
[23:16] good evening, elsa sanchez, moorgate resident
[23:20] at the last meeting, there were different opinions about the proposed idea of
[23:23] making changes and removing property taxes and what the consequences could be.
[23:29] comments were made about reviewing the city budget and maybe making some cuts. I hope
[23:32] the change does not happen,
[23:33] because I do not know what the city would be able to do as far as keeping up services
[23:36] and real expenses. But
[23:44] if they're going to be cuts in the city budget, I would like to suggest that the $600
[23:48] cal allowance that four of the commissioners receive every month could be one of them
[23:54] you will know that I have been against this from the beginning because I think
[23:58] it's an abuse of power since you proposed it, voted and approved it yourselves
[24:05] and just to that point, I know that the vice mayor attends events by bicycle, so I
[24:08] don't know if he
[24:08] does for health reasons, or if he does for if he does not have a car.
[24:11] so I'm wondering about that, too.
[24:19] does he still get the $600 car allowance? Does
[24:22] he have a car? I would like to an answer to that.
[24:27] another thing that happened at the last meeting was what I considered to be childish,
[24:29] unprofessional, and embarrassing
[24:31] behavior, when from the day as commissioners attack each other and bring up past
[24:33] issues and subjects about each other
[24:41] I have seen that happen here quite often, and I will continue to
[24:45] call it out to try to see if we can stop that, or we can change
[24:49] I really am embarrassed about it. Yes, you have the right to disagree and discuss
[24:52] issues, but just because
[24:53] someone disagrees or you're not getting what you want, there should not be this
[24:56] immature, unprofessional
[25:01] and embarrassing behavior. But I want to end with a positive comment. I
[25:05] want to thank city manager kel curtis, parks and recreation mike jones
[25:13] public works do. Another city staff that are doing such a
[25:16] beautiful job sprucing up the city for the 4th of july celebration
[25:22] and they are not doing that just for the 4th of july.
[25:25] they always do that. So thank you. I appreciate you.
[25:29] thank you
[25:38] hello, mindy w. Lee, 27-year resident of margate. I have two things I want to discuss.
[25:40] the first one is just a point of clarification. At the last meeting,
[25:41] commissioner arsario brought something up, and I just wanted to clarify it, and I'm
[25:43] not campaigning, but he had said that I had ran for the city commission in the past
[25:53] he encouraged all the residents to google the sun sentinel to see the horrible things
[25:54] that they wrote about me.
[25:55] I'm guessing here, arsario, you must have been 14 or 15 when I ran the first time, so
[25:56] you
[25:56] probably did not know that the sun sentinel actually endorsed me when I ran. For
[25:58] those of you that don't know what that means, it means that they chose me as the best
[26:00] candidate when I was running way back then
[26:12] so that's the first thing I'd like to point out. Now, why I'm here tonight is very
[26:13] important. I would like all five of you to vote in a moratorium for six months on any
[26:14] development deals that are possibly going to be signed into
[26:15] contract this year. Why? Because of what she just said. The property tax amendment is
[26:17] on the ballot in november. If that passes, we are going to lose a ton of revenue.
[26:18] we will not be able to operate the city without that tax revenue.
[26:37] that money can no longer be spent on fire, police, maintenance, building, landscape,
[26:39] even city salaries cannot be used on the money that we're
[26:41] getting from the property taxes. And we're about to sign away millions of dollars
[26:43] worth of real estate that we as taxpayers helped you buy
[26:52] the deal that you're putting into place right now, a 99-year lease worth the
[26:53] developer, that is not what the city wants. 2,000 residents signed a petition to tell
[26:55] you that they are against the
[26:55] development deals that are going on right now. Listen to the people of margate. You
[26:57] don't have five votes up there to decide what our future is going to be regarding
[26:59] that land. And we right now
[27:13] need that land in case we can't operate the budget come 2027.
[27:14] it's the worst-case scenario is, we could sell the land, take some of those millions,
[27:15] and pay for the services that we need. And I don't think any of
[27:16] you are taking that into consideration. So, rosano, I'm looking at you, sir.
[27:18] I'd like for you to make a motion.
[27:19] I'd like you to second the motion and bring it before the commission tonight and I
[27:20] hope that one of you
[27:35] has it in your heart to listen to the residents and think about the future of margate,
[27:36] because if we lose that tax revenue come the end of the year, the city, I don't care
[27:38] who's sitting up on that
[27:39] board, will not be able to run this city. Last meeting, he… city manager said we
[27:40] needed $1.6 million to pay for the firefighters that we have in place right now.
[27:42] if we do all of this development
[27:58] how are we going to pay for the firefighters and the police and all the other things
[28:00] that we need when we don't have the revenue from the property? So
[28:01] we need to take that into consideration right now. The future of margate and all the
[28:04] residents are in your hands. So please, tonight, pass a moratorium
[28:13] six months isn't going to make or break any development negotiation that you're
[28:14] dealing with right now, but it could possibly break the city, break the home that
[28:16] we've
[28:16] all decided to live in. 20 seconds. That's all I have to say. Please do the right
[28:18] thing, make the motion, second it. I'm begging arlene, pass it, please, tonight, guys.
[28:30] give us 6 months till we see what the city holds with
[28:34] the property tax bill. That's my time. Thank you.
[28:40] I think rich has a few
[28:44] I guess you forgot about rentals.
[28:48] before I start talking, just a question. Richard zucchini, lakewood circle. Before I
[28:51] start talking,
[28:51] stop, stop, stop the button. Item 7a, will the public be able to speak on item 7a?
[28:55] yes or no tonight?
[29:06] yeah.
[29:07] yeah, of course. I thought it was gonna be, postponed.
[29:12] are you referring to 6a, the military? Oh, I'm talking to 6a
[29:16] 68
[29:19] it's a development agreement. It still has to come up. It still has to come up, yes.
[29:22] but if
[29:22] you're going to table it, then the public doesn't have the chance to speak about it.
[29:26] correct.
[29:30] you'll have the opportunity to speak about it when it comes back up
[29:34] your honors want me to start your clock? Yes, please. More
[29:37] than likely, I won't be able to speak about it tonight.
[29:41] okay, a couple questions. Your name? We need a better quality of candidates running
[29:44] for commission that
[29:45] know what they're talking about. It's just absurd. On the one hand, you talk about
[29:48] the loss of revenue
[29:57] possible for homestead exemption. And on the other hand, you say stop development,
[29:59] which is exactly what is needed to generate
[30:01] the revenue. So, you know, it makes no sense when these candidates come up, and they
[30:03] don't know what they're talking about
[30:14] they don't know what the brownfield act is. They don't know what the live local act
[30:16] is. They don't know what the infill development
[30:18] act is, and they come up out of ignorance, and they think they know what they're
[30:20] talking about. It's just amazing. You know.
[30:30] we hired ron book as our lobbyist, and he came up in a previous meeting and presented
[30:33] and said, hey city,
[30:33] be aware, we are losing our home rule. So anytime we can do a development and have
[30:37] input to the development
[30:47] we should grab it, because very soon, we're not going to have that ability.
[30:53] like tonight, with the golf course, they can come back and they could say we want you
[30:55] to declare it brownfield and they would have every right to
[30:56] do that. It was a golf course. It is a brownfield. Then they would build whatever
[30:59] they want to build, and they wouldn't have to come back before you
[31:10] for permission, including the infield act. So, you know, the people that are coming
[31:12] up and think that they're campaigning and appealing
[31:14] to people by saying, no, no development, that's exactly what we need to generate
[31:16] revenue, to make up for, likely, what's going to pass
[31:27] and that is the homestead exemption
[31:30] the other issue is cra. You know, again, it's just so disappointing. We have
[31:32] nominated a developer. We don't
[31:34] call them in to have workshop meetings in front of the public, in front of all five
[31:37] board members on the cra
[31:46] to discuss
[31:48] what they have in mind. What's going to happen is you're setting them up for failure
[31:50] again. They're gonna come up with a plan, and you're gonna
[31:51] say, oh, no, no, I don't like it. Where you didn't… they can't read your mind. You
[31:54] don't give them a chance to present and have interaction with you
[32:03] so that the board can come to a consensus. And I think it's about time, like mr.
[32:05] rosano said, some many years ago, that we should have a new
[32:07] cra chair every year. So I'm going to nominate arlene schwartz. I think she should be
[32:09] the new cra chair, and maybe the vice chair should be
[32:21] joanne simone, we've had seven years of rosano as chair, and we didn't get anything
[32:24] accomplished. So
[32:24] please, let's put that on the agenda. The new cra chair. Yeah, no, no, lift it up,
[32:28] make sure I'm on camera.
[32:38] anybody else? Okay.
[32:46] projects to follow
[32:49] lauren, baraka, margate resident
[32:53] the first thing I wanted to say is, I found out at the last meeting
[33:01] a lifesaver. If any awards are given out for anything, he should definitely be
[33:04] nominated.
[33:05] he probably would have been good running for commissioner, because you call him
[33:17] you text him and within 24 hours he takes he
[33:24] he comes up with a solution, and he has made it so much easier of being a
[33:27] representative of a community when you have somebody like gio that, I mean
[33:39] out of the ordinary. So I really would like to say that. And then of course
[33:48] mayor, you always say, I have something negative to say, so here we go. I think it's
[33:50] very unfair. Kajiani, you're
[33:51] shaking your head at me. I don't, I don't… I'm not… okay. So, anyway, what happens is
[33:55] that when we get up to speak
[34:05] we have people that are making faces at us, rolling their eyes, or an eye roll, but
[34:09] I'm up here for that. And, it's very disrespectful, to have that happen, because
[34:21] some of us, it's hard for us to come up and speak, like myself, and so when I see
[34:23] that going on, you know, it really is
[34:24] unfair. And then we go and we sit down, and then we're pretty much attacked by the
[34:27] person that doesn't like what we're saying
[34:38] so I think it's very unfair that residents get to speak, voice our feelings
[34:42] about what's going on, and then get attacked afterwards. Thank you.
[35:01] nina culver, moorgate resident
[35:06] I was actually shocked when I got their awards today, that I knew everybody that
[35:10] had gotten them. Manny from fire has always been a tremendous community partner.
[35:17] I can remember the first time I met paul. He was extremely helpful over at the
[35:20] building department. I couldn't find my way or how to process papers, and he was just
[35:26] it was amazing
[35:28] gio's always great, but I just wanted to come up and say that,
[35:31] you know, the last meeting was a bit of a circus. It really was
[35:41] but other than the normal few crazy comments, you
[35:44] guys did very well. So I just wanted to give props.
[35:51] have a good night.
[35:57] as you're running your election now
[35:59] please no outbursts from the crowd
[36:02] thank you. You could be asked, you may be asked to leave if you do it again.
[36:10] I can wait.
[36:14] okay, public discussions closed.
[36:16] commission comments?
[36:21] commissioner schwartz, go ahead. Mrs. Baraka, geo has a better job.
[36:24] he's got job security.
[36:25] sitting up here, you don't have that. So I'm sure he's happier exactly where he is.
[36:34] with that in mind, I want to remind — well, actually, I was going to remind you about
[36:36] hurricane supplies, but since the vice mayor is here,
[36:37] I'll let him do that. I am going to remind you that children are out of school.
[36:40] it would be great if people stopped parking over the sidewalk
[36:49] kids are out of school, people are pushing strollers, people are in wheelchairs.
[36:52] it's an ada
[36:52] violation. That's a national policy that you cannot obstruct the sidewalk. It would
[36:56] be great if one day
[37:05] in this city, people stopped doing it
[37:09] having said that, apparently when it comes time to vote, we're going to have a new
[37:11] school board member to vote for because
[37:13] nora rupert chose at the last minute, I guess, not to qualify. So pay attention to
[37:15] whoever that may be who's running
[37:26] right now, I have no clue. And actually, that might be a good thing because
[37:30] margate has issues and perhaps someone new will pay attention to them.
[37:39] with that, happy father's day on june 21st. I wish everyone who is a father has the
[37:41] role of a father, is about to be a father, or is just a good
[37:43] guy to some kid. Happy father's day. I wish you all an absolutely sunny, great day to
[37:45] take advantage of it. And that's all for me, thank you.
[37:58] and gio, he turned a beautiful shade of red.
[38:05] commissioner simone
[38:07] yes, I'd also like to congratulate our employees for the great service they do for
[38:10] the city, our fire
[38:10] department is the best in the county. We're very proud of them. Each and every one of
[38:14] them is extremely
[38:23] proficient in what they do, and very helpful to the residents. So, manny, that was
[38:25] well deserved, and liz from our, development services director, she
[38:27] was absolutely correct in what she said about paul. At grand openings, all we hear is
[38:29] accolades for paul. How helpful he was and what a great asset
[38:45] to the community and to the businesses that he was. So that
[38:49] was well-deserved. So thank you, paul, for what you do.
[38:54] the sign that's in the works on paradise gardens looks awesome.
[39:01] yeah, it's not, it's in the early stages, but if you haven't seen it, it looks really
[39:05] nice, so I'm sure it is going to be beautiful when it's done. So, great job on that.
[39:11] mentioning children, you know, that summer is here, it's extremely warm outside, so
[39:13] if your child does not know how
[39:14] to swim, please take advantage of the swim central voucher. You can apply for a
[39:17] voucher. It's free to apply. It's $55.
[39:31] worth has a net value of $55. You can bring it to calypso cove and it will defer the
[39:33] cost of what calypso cove charges for swim lessons.
[39:35] so it's well worth it. Please take advantage of that. We hear all the time how many
[39:37] drownings there are of children over the summer
[39:50] so take advantage. And lastly, I implore you to, if fireworks are not banned from
[39:54] the governor this year because of the drought, please take advantage of going
[40:07] to a professional fireworks display and not do them in your own backyard.
[40:09] it's very disturbing to the
[40:10] veterans, it's very disturbing to pets, it's very disturbing to your neighbors who
[40:14] get up in the morning
[40:22] and see the soot and the ash on their cars. Have a fear that night that the roof may
[40:25] be burned
[40:25] from the fireworks landing on their roof, and also the harm that it causes dogs not
[40:29] only that night
[40:38] but also the following day, when you take your dog out, and they see the paper and
[40:41] the rolls with
[40:41] the material still inside that dogs are curious, they put it in their mouth, and it's
[40:45] deadly to them.
[40:53] so please think about your neighbors, be courteous, be a good neighbor,
[40:57] don't light fireworks at your house. It's for your own safety as well.
[41:02] and with that, I think that's it. Thank you.
[41:09] yes, good afternoon. Good evening everyone
[41:11] gio, you got a lot of props tonight, good job. But
[41:15] but, there's a guy sitting here, where is he here? I don't even know
[41:19] if he's here. Kurt, you here? Is kurt here? Yes, he is, isn't that?
[41:24] cal, can you just refresh everybody about the letter you sent us
[41:27] this week that involved kurt with the, the water department with the
[41:32] oh.
[41:34] yeah, put me on a spot. You gonna save that? Were you gonna save that?
[41:35] I'll let you think about it, and then when it comes to you…
[41:36] it's, you know, just real quick, so, I got an email
[41:37] from, kurt, which was authored by marta resko, who's the assistant director for the
[41:39] water plant over there. And as you all know, we have, you know, a $100 million bond
[41:41] project in the works
[41:55] a lot of design and planning going on
[41:59] and, you know, we're dealing with a lot of aging infrastructure over
[42:02] there that has become obsolete, but through the collective efforts of
[42:14] department staff, you know, their hard work, their ingenuity, they were able to
[42:22] bring back to life one of the older systems that we have and get some extra life out
[42:24] of it, and do that in-house with in-house labor.
[42:26] and so a lot of blood, sweat, and tears and the details of that email tell the story
[42:28] much better than what I'm telling right now
[42:38] but what I close the email off with you, and what I genuinely feel is that we are in
[42:41] great hands
[42:42] when it comes to using these bond dollars for the system, that we have the right
[42:45] people in place
[42:52] with the right mindset, the right work ethic that will utilize these funds and
[42:56] get the most bang for our buck and set the city up for the next 40 years. So
[43:01] that's the story. Thank you. I appreciate that, kurt. And I'm not comparing you guys
[43:02] or anything, but you guys all do a great job. We heard about the fire chief tonight,
[43:04] the public works and these guys do an incredible job and I just want to say thank you.
[43:07] and when the residents come up and say it means even more to us. So great job, guys.
[43:21] keep doing it. July 4th, the 4th of july
[43:24] parade, don't miss it. Starts at 9, I think nine
[43:28] on july 4th. Oh, the little dolls. So check.
[43:34] each one of the commissioners has a little, it's
[43:37] not a bobblehead, I don't even know what it is.
[43:41] it's like funko pop. What is it? So the… you'll see them around there, they're funko
[43:43] pops. They're little cartoon caricatures, and, you
[43:45] know, they're caricatures, but they're sold, there's a brand name of them, funko pops,
[43:47] and so these were, 3d printed by our assistant
[43:58] director. Parks and rec. Parks and rec team. They got photos of us, loaded it into an
[44:01] ai software and
[44:02] had our pictures turned into these funko pops. And then they loaded that image into
[44:05] the 3d printer
[44:13] which produced these, these, you know, customized, caricatures of you all. And then,
[44:15] ben and his, spare time, hand-painted all of these, and, and they all have
[44:16] little individual details that, that reflect you all, and so, he surprised me with
[44:19] them, earlier this week, and, and so we've surprised you with them here tonight
[44:34] ben, thank you. And it's funny, when you mentioned ben, he always says it's not ben,
[44:36] it's public works. I'm stuck on gio. It's
[44:38] parks and rec. Ben's a humble guy, and you guys do a great job, and mike jones,
[44:40] everybody from there down, you do a great job.
[44:49] mayor, the golf course item we're going to be able to talk about that tonight, or we
[44:51] just if there's a motion to table it, because I just had a couple
[44:53] questions when it comes up, so… yeah, I believe, I believe, yeah, I mean, as far as
[44:55] reviewing the hearing that they were going to have, they are
[45:04] postponing that, so they're not going to be here. But if there's some housekeeping
[45:07] things that we want to talk
[45:08] about… that's all, and I'd appreciate it. That's it, guys. Thank you. God bless, and
[45:11] thank you. Take care.
[45:15] vice mayor
[45:18] thank you, ben. It's so cool.
[45:21] thank you.
[45:23] I talk about it often every meeting, whether it's cra meeting or commission meeting
[45:29] I talk about june 1st being the start of hurricane season
[45:32] and
[45:34] anyone who
[45:36] opens up the news this morning, saw that the first storm of
[45:39] the season hit today in the panhandle. Tropical storm arthur
[45:46] causing
[45:48] dangerous flooding
[45:52] I don't care what you want to call it
[45:54] global warming, warming, cow farts, climate change
[46:01] whatever it is, the storms are coming
[46:03] faster and harder and I'm going to say it over and over and over again.
[46:09] start preparing now.
[46:11] start preparing now.
[46:13] buy a little extra food, buy some canned stuff, go out and get
[46:19] a jug for gasoline for your generator. Get it now before they're all gone
[46:27] do it now a little bit at a time
[46:30] because when a storm hits and the stores are empty,
[46:33] you're not going to be able to get what you need.
[46:36] so I'm going to say what I say all the time.
[46:38] prepare, prepare, prepare, prepare, prepare, prepare
[46:42] and I hope to see all of you at the 4th of july
[46:46] just be safe. Thank you.
[46:50] all right, good evening, everyone.
[46:53] as mentioned, the 4th of july is fast approaching, and we have a day full of
[46:55] festivities, 9 a.m. Is the parade,
[46:57] I believe from 1 to 4 is going to be a pool party at calypso cove, and then starting
[47:00] at 5 o'clock to about 9 o'
[47:08] the evening event and fireworks, so come out for that. And while I'm on the other
[47:11] side of commissioner
[47:11] simone on 4th of july and fireworks, because I know there's going to be people that
[47:15] will light them off
[47:21] I personally am someone that likes to light fireworks, but
[47:25] while I will agree with her is you need to be considerate
[47:29] and pick up after yourselves
[47:32] I know our neighbors the next morning were up bright and early cleaning the street
[47:34] off, picking stuff up because you don't want a dog or
[47:35] something to pick it up. So we do have a or child, we do have a show. It's great.
[47:38] come out and see it. If you are going to light them off
[47:47] just be a good neighbor and clean up your mess when you're done
[47:51] something that's coming up which I'm kind of surprised by now. We don't recognize it,
[47:54] but juneteenth, I know in
[47:55] the past year, 2 years when the calendar gets approved for the city days off, I've
[47:57] asked for it to be a holiday
[48:07] I don't believe it is yet, but I would like to see it. It is a federal holiday.
[48:10] I know it's
[48:11] a new federal holiday, but it's something that we should be observing here in the
[48:14] city.
[48:16] and I'd also like consideration on for next year, some sort of
[48:22] events or celebration or ceremony for juneteent
[48:27] I know most of the other cities are doing it
[48:30] so if we can look into that
[48:32] for next year, does anyone have an issue with it being holiday with the city
[48:39] I'll let cal go into it and see what he
[48:42] what the numbers are
[48:45] I don't have a problem with it. I just would rather
[48:48] cal have to take a look at it and see what would entail
[48:53] okay.
[48:55] I know the downtown came up a few times tonight. I have not seen any of the
[48:58] new reiterations of it. I, to be clear myself and commissioner rosano voted no
[49:08] on it. I'm not against the development of a downtown, but it was a lot of units
[49:13] and it's a piece of one of the few pieces of property left in the city that we can
[49:17] control. We don't have control on most of the 441 corridor and now golf courses
[49:24] so I was really adamant about making sure we get a proper balance in there. But
[49:26] myself and rosano voted no on that.
[49:27] I have not seen the renderings and the drawings since then.
[49:30] I do hope that we can get with the cra executive director
[49:41] to find out when we're gonna have our next round of discussions with them
[49:46] I can give you an update on it. So I had a meeting with brookfield this morning
[49:51] and the development agreement provides for a schedule, and so the next
[49:58] process is for them to come before the cra
[50:01] board with the initial or the preliminary design
[50:05] per the meeting that we had this morning, it looks like that is going to be our next
[50:08] cra meeting, so that'll be, I think it's july 9th, where they will present to you
[50:12] their,
[50:16] if it's preliminary or initial design and get feedback from you and the public
[50:24] all right, thank you. Calypso cove, do we know when the pump is going to be
[50:30] back and running again
[50:32] ben, do you have an update on that?
[50:38] in the process of being installed
[50:40] midday today, we're starting it back up tomorrow.
[50:43] okay. So we should be back up by the weekend
[50:46] so for the record, it's being installed as of now. It should be back up and running
[50:49] by the weekend.
[50:50] okay, perfect. Yeah, because I know a lot of residents have been asking about it.
[50:53] we've had some
[50:58] bad luck recently. I know it was shut down a few weeks ago for a similar issue.
[51:01] it's my
[51:02] understanding talking with the parks director that we are going to be getting a second
[51:09] pumped to have so when one fails for redundancy, we can,
[51:13] while that one's being serviced, put the new one on.
[51:17] that is correct. So the pump that's coming out will be refurbished. That'll go on a
[51:20] shelf, new pump will
[51:20] be in and so we will have a backup that is ready to go in case we find ourselves in
[51:24] this situation again.
[51:28] perfect. And then just kind of a quick comment, wanted to thank kale. I know
[51:34] I'm not thanking you for the hiring freeze, but I know there's a hiring freeze in
[51:35] anticipation for any potential tax implications. I know with that sometimes you can't
[51:37] foresee everything,
[51:38] so there may be a position here or there that we may deem critical or that we need to
[51:39] second review. I know something was brought to my attention with fire and a chief's
[51:41] training position
[51:54] and so I know a meeting was set up with the union and the chief and yourself,
[51:58] and you guys are working through that. So just thank you for being open and
[52:05] sometimes there's things need to be adjusted or exceptions made.
[52:07] so I don't know the final outcome of that, but I
[52:08] know that you guys are working on a solution. Yes, sir. That's correct. All right,
[52:11] and that's all I have city attorney
[52:20] thank you, alan gabriel, for davitosis. He sends his regards and wishes everyone a
[52:23] happy day and he's obviously not here, I am and happy to be here with you. Thank you.
[52:32] the manager? Nothing further to add tonight. Thanks. City clerk, go. Go ahead.
[52:40] since it has been brought up, and you said that the next time we see something from
[52:42] brookfield will be at our next cra meeting, and there are certain things scheduled,
[52:44] and that the public can get up and speak, is there a possibility that there will be
[52:46] city workshops so that the public actually gets to see something in advance
[52:57] and then gets up to question
[53:00] yes, the possibility for that is there. What I would suggest is we have this initial
[53:02] presentation, and based on feedback
[53:04] from the board, you may need to solicit further, you know, public input. You may want
[53:06] to provide further input yourself
[53:17] but I think we get the initial reaction from you as the board and from the public at
[53:19] that meeting, and then we'll know where to go from there.
[53:20] okay, because I will suggest that then we have workshops afterwards. This is for the
[53:23] future of the city, one way or the other, the good, the bad
[53:32] so thank you.
[53:35] commissioner rosano? Yeah, I just want to say this. The one thing I'm
[53:38] totally against with this whole downtown project is the 99-year lease.
[53:42] when I had mentioned months ago, meetings ago, whatever,
[53:45] about a 99-year lease, I was talking about the city renting to
[53:49] businesses to come in for a 99-year lease. That would be the incentive to get them
[53:51] here. So when people hear about the
[53:52] 99-year lease, there's no way in I would ever vote for a 99-year lease to give a
[53:55] developer a piece of property where we're
[54:02] never gonna do anything. We have no say on it for 99 years.
[54:06] so to me, that's the worst part of the whole deal, the 99-year lease. What they're
[54:08] going to develop, who knows what it's going to be. But if there's going
[54:10] to be something that we want, I know donna and I want a steakhouse, if we want a
[54:12] steakhouse, that money to get them here, it's going to come out of the
[54:22] the money that the city's gonna receive.
[54:23] so I can tell you this, whatever we want, we're going
[54:26] to get charged for it. So look, looking at the projected numbers that we're supposed
[54:29] to get
[54:31] they're all just numbers, it's just, as we were told earlier,
[54:34] arlene, placeholders years ago. They're just placeholders there.
[54:38] but, a 99-year lease is totally crazy to give a developer. We're better
[54:41] off selling the property and putting restrictions on what we want there.
[54:47] that's all. Thank you.
[54:51] okay, commission comments is closed. City manager report
[54:57] yep, nothing further. Thank you. Okay, consent agenda.
[55:01] and there's one item on the consent agenda, it's resolution 2026-155, a resolution of
[55:03] the city of margate, florida, approving a revocable license agreement with
[55:05] broward county and tcmc margate apartments llc, and assigns for the maintenance of
[55:07] landscaping and related improvements within the coconut creek parkway swale
[55:20] adjacent to 5205-5231, coconut creek parkway and providing for an effective date
[55:26] what is the wish of the commission
[55:31] I'll second that. Please call the roll.
[55:34] commissioner schwartz? Yes. Commissioner simone? Yes. Commissioner rosano? Yes.
[55:39] vice mayor kagiano? Yes. Mayor serio.
[55:42] yes, now we have public hearings 6a. I believe the applicant has requested a
[55:45] continuance to september, but city attorney, I believe we still reading, yes, yes,
[55:49] sir.
[55:54] this is resolution 2026-154, resolution of the city of margate, florida, approving a
[55:57] development agreement pursuant
[55:58] to florida statute section 163.3220-163.3243, known as the florida local government
[56:01] development agreement act
[56:10] to govern the development of the approximately 143.5 acres located north of royal
[56:12] palm boulevard, south of west sample road, east of holiday springs boulevard,
[56:13] and west of north rock island road at 3011 north rock island road, providing for
[56:15] proposed development of 540 townhouses at a maximum density of 10 units per acre
[56:30] not exceeding 35 feet in height, maximum of 30,000 square feet of commercial space,
[56:33] not exceeding
[56:34] 40 feet in height, and not less than 65.3 acres of open space, providing for an
[56:37] effective date.
[56:43] this is a matter that
[56:45] continuous is going to be considered, and I think
[56:49] it's a motion. I'll make a motion to the table
[56:53] as long as he doesn't get a second, yes
[56:56] go ahead, commissioner
[57:00] thank you for allowing me to speak on it before we table it. First of all,
[57:03] I don't even think this should be tabled. I think this should be voted down
[57:07] the property out there and
[57:11] I mean, there's no hiding it, I don't like it, none of the residents don't like it.
[57:13] we went from apartments being out there to
[57:14] now townhomes being out there, and people kind of think that that's a win.
[57:17] to me, it's not a win for this project to be voted down
[57:24] take a step back. That would be a win
[57:28] but the way I look at it is we're not getting anything for this property.
[57:33] I know arlene is kind of like, I don't know where
[57:35] she is on it, but I heard her say at the meeting that
[57:39] maybe she's not in favor of as well. So, joanna, I'm going to ask you when this comes…
[57:41] tommy, I thought you and I, since we constantly hear who has
[57:42] the downtown, you and I have voted against this project. Yes, I didn't want to put
[57:45] words in your mouth. I just said that. No, I voted against it. Okay
[57:55] so hopefully, joanne, I'm going to ask you, when this does come back, maybe you
[57:59] can possibly fight for that building or something that the city's going to get.
[58:04] because today, I heard that there's possibly going to be residential homes on there,
[58:07] which
[58:08] is all new to me. Then I also got a call from a resident saying that they're out there
[58:15] working on the lakes, measuring them, checking them, and now they're talking about
[58:18] filling them in,
[58:19] which is all new to me. So there's a lot of people out there that don't really know
[58:22] what's going on
[58:25] I don't know what's going on out there. I would
[58:28] love to see this thing stopped, not get approved
[58:32] I think the owner of the property has driven this place into a nightmare
[58:35] for eight years. Not only the property, but the residents living out there
[58:41] he was holding out for something that he was hoping to get from the
[58:44] commission, and he's already got his 3 votes to move on to the second reading.
[58:50] but to me, this is a horrible project. It should not move forward, and something
[58:52] should have been done years ago about it.
[58:54] there should have been fines all over that property. Residents get a fine for a blade
[58:56] of grass dead or something like that
[59:03] this property just keeps on going and going,
[59:05] complaints, it doesn't really matter. Private property
[59:09] you know what? The owner out there has been horrible to us and the residents.
[59:11] I'm not going to vote for this. I hope nobody else
[59:13] will vote for it. Let's just end it and let them go back to the drawing board and let
[59:15] them work with the city and the residents.
[59:20] to me, I don't think this is a good proposal.
[59:22] I heard from residents tonight, listen to
[59:25] since your residence, listen to your people. So I support the people
[59:29] on this, and there's no way I'm going to vote on this. Thank you.
[59:36] commissioner schwartz? It's my understanding that actually they would… that the city
[59:39] would like us
[59:40] to vote yes to postpone this, but I read it all.
[59:42] so my question more is, since there are changes
[59:50] does that go back before development review and start all over again with the drc
[59:52] since it's not what was originally proposed?
[59:53] and so I'll tell you exactly what the changes are.
[59:55] it's getting rid of the commercial property and building either more townhouses
[1:00:06] or single-family homes, because I read all of it
[1:00:09] so it's a change from what was originally brought to
[1:00:11] us, whether you voted for it or you didn't vote for it
[1:00:15] so my question becomes, do they start the process all over again? Because
[1:00:19] this was not what was originally proposed, whether I voted for it or not
[1:00:25] I don't think they start from square one, but there will be reviews
[1:00:29] by drc for any site plan changes, any site plan submittals, yes.
[1:00:34] so I think, tommy, that the city would prefer that you do vote to table it or
[1:00:36] whatever this is right now so that it is still
[1:00:37] postponed and we at least get to see what the changes. This would be a motion to
[1:00:40] continue the public hearing september 2nd, 2026.
[1:00:56] well, it doesn't appease us because number one, if they're housing
[1:01:00] that isn't going to give us any tax money, it's not appeasing us
[1:01:06] but that's what my understanding was that at
[1:01:09] this point it would serve us better to just
[1:01:12] let this go for the next couple of months and then see what the next step is.
[1:01:21] thank you. That was it for me.
[1:01:25] okay, I will second the motion to table. Continue. Continue to december 2nd was
[1:01:28] what was recommended. Yeah, september 2nd. September. September 2nd. September 2nd.
[1:01:37] please call the roll.
[1:01:39] commissioner schwartz? Yes
[1:01:41] commissioner simone. Yes. Commissioner rosano? No
[1:01:44] vice mayor kojihanna? Yes. Mayor asario? Yes
[1:01:50] okay, 7a resolutions
[1:01:54] this is a resolution for 2026-158, a resolution of the city of margate, florida,
[1:01:57] approving change order number 1 to the agreement with mbr construction for rfq 2025-01
[1:02:07] centennial park improvements awarded under resolution number 26-026,
[1:02:10] providing for a not to exceed increase of $532,350 per conversion of a
[1:02:19] sentinel park basketball court to one tennis, two pickleball,
[1:02:23] and one basketball court, providing for an effective date
[1:02:27] what is the wish of the commission?
[1:02:33] this is the change order to mbr construction for centennial park.
[1:02:35] so if you recall a couple meetings ago, the board
[1:02:36] authorized an agreement with nbr construction to make improvements at centennial park
[1:02:39] a component of those improvements were
[1:02:51] replacing the existing basketball court with a multi-purpose tennis court structure
[1:02:54] that
[1:02:54] could be used as tennis or the nets could be configured so that it could be used as
[1:02:58] pickleball
[1:03:02] since that approval, we got some resident feedback that they did not want to eliminate
[1:03:06] the basketball court, and petition this board to have us look into getting pricing
[1:03:15] to redesign so that we can have basketball,
[1:03:18] pickleball, and tennis at that court. So, this is the
[1:03:24] requested a change order, change of design, and cost of construction for completing
[1:03:26] that project with the three components,
[1:03:27] the pickleball courts, tennis court, and basketball. It would be a half court, it
[1:03:30] wouldn't be a full court basketball court.
[1:03:45] yeah, you're still up. Okay, first off, I think a
[1:03:48] half a million dollars is absolutely ridiculous.
[1:03:51] when this came about, I think there was a resident that came up and went on tiktok
[1:03:54] about why
[1:03:54] are we taking out basketball courts? I agreed, I don't want to take out the
[1:03:58] basketball court. So
[1:04:00] when I saw the line items in there for, I don't know if it wasn't specifically about
[1:04:01] removing of the basketball court. Why did we remove it? Well, that's the question.
[1:04:02] it was, I think, 130, don't quote me on this, about $130,000. Because the residents
[1:04:03] asked at
[1:04:03] the time that they not, when we first went through this that we not have basketball
[1:04:05] courts and lights on and kids playing late in the evening. If you go way back when
[1:04:06] this was proposed, it was proposed as a bigger park with a lot more amenities, a lot
[1:04:07] more money.
[1:04:29] and they didn't want it. So we tapered it back. So when this came out, it was a
[1:04:31] design build. Let's remember that
[1:04:32] it's a design build. There's nothing in writing. There's no drawing that we're going
[1:04:35] by. So there's nothing basically
[1:04:42] to build by. It's just what we want and how much it's going to cost and
[1:04:46] who's going to build it. So it came back as a design build mbr got it
[1:04:50] a couple of residents came up and said that why are we taking out the
[1:04:53] basketball courts? Even my kids said, why are we taking it out? I read
[1:04:58] from the city that they did a poll in the neighborhood
[1:05:02] some residents wanted tennis courts. I don't know who wants
[1:05:04] tennis courts. I'd rather have a basketball than a tennis court.
[1:05:08] but these are parks that are not specifically for
[1:05:12] residents in that area
[1:05:14] as much as people don't want to hear that, I know it is in royal spring
[1:05:18] south. However, it's being paid for by all the residents in the city.
[1:05:22] okay? So when I look at this, I talk to the city manager after the meeting,
[1:05:26] and I say, what kind of credit can we get if we leave the basketball court
[1:05:30] because you're not taking it out. So we're saving $130,000
[1:05:34] so ask the general contractor what kind of a credit we're going to get to come back
[1:05:36] with an increase of $530,000
[1:05:38] just blew me away. Supposedly, from what I'm hearing is because it's redesigning the
[1:05:41] property for the stormwater
[1:05:51] am I correct on that?
[1:05:51] it's not just that, but we can't leave the basketball court the way it is. Why
[1:05:54] not? 20 plus years old, it is full of cracks. And if we are investing in putting in a
[1:05:58] new park out there
[1:06:07] we would have a new basketball court
[1:06:11] and the way we were doing this before is we were taking out the surface of the
[1:06:14] basketball court and
[1:06:14] using that area, that sub base for the installation of a tennis court. And so now if
[1:06:18] we are looking at
[1:06:27] adding additional square footage out there, additional blacktop, additional earth
[1:06:29] removal, additional sub-base
[1:06:30] putting in. And yes, there is a counting that goes into that for stormwater retention,
[1:06:33] water displacement, or whatnot
[1:06:43] this is the price that the contractors come back to us for that.
[1:06:49] okay, and I think it's absolutely ridiculous. I wouldn't
[1:06:52] mind seeing a 20 by 20 concrete slab with a basketball hoop.
[1:06:56] so I don't know for a half a million dollars what kind of basketball
[1:06:59] court we're getting. And I understand it's a lot of it's going towards the
[1:07:03] the stormwater
[1:07:05] so my question is, because I've been in that neighborhood, it floods
[1:07:08] out all the time. Is the stormwater connected to the lake out there?
[1:07:12] just curious.
[1:07:13] I don't know
[1:07:15] because I think more of an issue of improving the park would probably be fixing the
[1:07:18] storm order.
[1:07:18] in case you're familiar with that area, there's a lake probably about a couple
[1:07:22] hundred yards away
[1:07:24] I don't know what it's used for. If it's not used for stormwater,
[1:07:27] for retaining water or overflow of the water on that property
[1:07:31] and why are we going to increase it? Why are we going to put all
[1:07:33] this money to a park that's still going to have a flooding issue
[1:07:36] so I don't think
[1:07:38] this proposal for $530,000 is actually
[1:07:43] I don't know, substantial. I think it's crazy, to be honest with you
[1:07:47] but more in all, I've heard that it's the stormwater is going to be the problem
[1:07:52] or the cost, so it just made me think that maybe the stormwater system in that area
[1:07:55] is flawed.
[1:07:56] maybe we should say it's the stormwater system or that it's a flooding issue out
[1:07:59] there, but
[1:08:06] you have the basketball court, and then you have, you know, it's all grass field, and
[1:08:09] so it's all
[1:08:09] impervious, and right? And so now we're looking at adding more asphalt into that area
[1:08:13] and displacing that
[1:08:19] grass. And so we have to account for that impervious area now, and so the stormwater
[1:08:22] retention becomes
[1:08:23] on the site, not necessarily tying into stormwater lines.
[1:08:25] it's not a flooding issue in that area.
[1:08:32] I don't disagree with you.
[1:08:33] it's saddening to see the cost of these construction projects
[1:08:35] and how much everything is coming in.
[1:08:37] we've gone back and forth on this project for years
[1:08:47] and, you know, the original design was a very grand type of
[1:08:50] project, and the community came out and said they didn't want that.
[1:08:55] so we went back to the drawing board, and we spoke to the community
[1:08:57] out there, and they told us that they wanted, you know, tennis courts
[1:09:01] and they wanted a very minimal
[1:09:06] you know, improvements to that park. And I certainly understand what you're saying,
[1:09:08] that this is… this is not their exclusive
[1:09:09] neighborhood park. This is a, you know, a citywide that it's anybody that lives here
[1:09:12] in the city is paying for and can use that
[1:09:20] and we heard from residents in that area and outside of
[1:09:24] that area saying that they wanted basketball as well.
[1:09:29] and so we are we're trying to, you know, appease, you know, the desires of
[1:09:38] many different users of that park out there
[1:09:43] and we have a price from our contractor to do that. And we can, you know, agree, you
[1:09:45] know or disagree with that pricing. But that's what it's come
[1:09:47] at come back at. That neighborhood definitely has a history of being divided. Is that
[1:09:49] the same neighborhood with the speed bumps? Correct, yes.
[1:10:00] they wanted speed bumps. They went through the process. The hoa voted on it, yes
[1:10:07] and then a whole half a residence that all of a sudden found out now don't want speed
[1:10:11] bumps, and they're bombarding the city. So it's kind of a history with that nature.
[1:10:16] to ask for things and then not want them
[1:10:19] I understand that. I remember the night that it came up with the basketball
[1:10:22] and I was in favor of keeping the basketball court and I don't even mind paying
[1:10:30] some money to
[1:10:32] create a new court or whatever additions that are necessary but
[1:10:37] for $500,000, and you being a contractor, and saying that is outrageous.
[1:10:43] take your expertise on that
[1:10:45] it's probably a little too excessive.
[1:10:47] well, I'm just saying, if we were going to offer the amenity, I'd rather
[1:10:50] have basketball over tennis, but to come back with a half a million dollars
[1:10:55] I would just like to see a 20 by 20 concrete slab with a
[1:10:58] basketball hoop so the kids can continue playing basketball
[1:11:02] not to mention, they do make asphalt now out of
[1:11:04] basketball. Of course, they use asphalt, that is pervious
[1:11:07] so there'd be no drainage issue, no problem with the stormwater
[1:11:12] but when I see this
[1:11:14] drives me nuts. And just for those that don't know, once you take on a job as a
[1:11:17] contractor, anything you want on that property, it has to go through that contractor.
[1:11:24] so, in other words, if we're doing this park
[1:11:26] and we say, hey, we want to add a flagpole
[1:11:29] the contractor doing the job has to do the flagpole, and you have to basically use his
[1:11:32] price or wait till he closes out the permit, and then you got to go pay to have it
[1:11:36] done.
[1:11:40] so it's one of these catch-22s where honestly,
[1:11:43] you know, I didn't think tennis was that big
[1:11:46] I've only read one letter of somebody that wanted tennis
[1:11:50] but I hate to give up the basketball court,
[1:11:52] but to see this price, half a million dollars
[1:11:55] because the neighborhood… and you have a good point. It's a city park. The
[1:11:57] neighborhood treats it like their own exclusive club and they
[1:11:58] didn't want people all these cars and coming in, but yet they want pickleball that's
[1:12:01] going to be being in a ball back and forth, making noise
[1:12:11] kind of just doesn't make sense
[1:12:13] no, it doesn't. Well, it's going to be one that I would rather see basketball than
[1:12:18] and I know pickleball is probably more popular right now, but based on the history of
[1:12:21] that neighborhood and them
[1:12:22] not wanting all of this attention and noise, it kind of baffles me that they would
[1:12:24] want pickleball just doesn't
[1:12:33] and that's where I agree with you. You know, I believe that this park is being
[1:12:36] funded by every taxpayer. So everybody in the city of margate can go there. But yet
[1:12:43] some people in there want tennis courts, and we're putting tennis courts in
[1:12:47] that's the way I feel about it. Pickleball is way more popular
[1:12:50] joanne, I congratulate you for bringing up pickleball when you first got here.
[1:12:52] I didn't think it was going to be so popular.
[1:12:54] it's huge, but to have pickleball there, you're going to have more people than
[1:12:56] playing basketball. And if they don't want
[1:13:01] basketball just doesn't make sense
[1:13:05] just the way I feel about it. That's all. Thank you.
[1:13:12] is there a motion? How about my number.
[1:13:15] go ahead, sorry, commissioner schwartz. We built
[1:13:18] the dog park for $499,999. Just thought I'd reminded
[1:13:25] I will tell you my conversation with the city manager. This is a city park, and I
[1:13:27] said to him, I'd like a sign out there so that people
[1:13:29] actually know where it is, because it is treated as a community park. They didn't
[1:13:31] walk on the walkways, they didn't want the bathrooms.
[1:13:41] they didn't want originally the basketball because they didn't want to have the lights
[1:13:46] we have redone this two or three times, and each time the price goes up.
[1:13:49] so I agree with
[1:13:50] you, if 20 by 20 does it, and we have to close out the permit and then bring it back
[1:13:57] with somebody else doing it at a normal price, but for
[1:14:00] a basketball court to cost as much as the dog parks did
[1:14:06] it's ridiculous
[1:14:09] and to be honest, if there was a petition, I never saw it for this, for basketball.
[1:14:12] I heard the
[1:14:12] person who came up and asked for it. But again, those people would like this to
[1:14:16] remain their park
[1:14:21] it's a city park funded by city dollars. I want a city sign
[1:14:24] out there that says centennial park, so people can find it
[1:14:28] because that doesn't exist right now. To add to your
[1:14:30] comment, I made the suggestion a long time ago because
[1:14:34] the first term I was here, I didn't even know… I didn't even know
[1:14:37] it existed. And I live at that intersection. I'm there all the time.
[1:14:41] lower the hedge. Right. Hedge… you've got the neighborhood fence, and then that
[1:14:43] podocarpus hedge. It's so tall, and
[1:14:45] unless you know the park is back in there, you do not see it.
[1:14:47] in 40 years, I've never had a reason to go in there.
[1:14:55] but now it's a city park funded, and it's a city park. People should know
[1:14:58] it existed. But if, indeed we don't have to spend a half a million dollars
[1:15:04] to put in a basketball court
[1:15:07] and maybe we ought to find another way to do that, even if it means that mbr, who
[1:15:09] happens to do all of our parks and all of our
[1:15:11] stuff, doesn't get to do that and that we do it after market when that's finished
[1:15:13] with a different way, with a different vendor
[1:15:22] so city manager, if do we already have a contract
[1:15:28] executed, I guess what I'm getting at is if this doesn't
[1:15:31] pass or it seems like it's not even going to get a motion
[1:15:35] what happens with the project? Doesn't pass, and it doesn't get a motion. We will
[1:15:37] move forward with the contract that you
[1:15:39] have approved, which is for an upgrade to the playground. It would be replacing the,
[1:15:41] basketball court with a tennis court
[1:15:51] now, if this board wants us to not do that and keep the basketball court there, we can
[1:15:59] that is probably a much easier thing to do. I don't know if there's going to be a
[1:16:02] cost change of that,
[1:16:02] just changing out, you know, the basketball hoops and whatnot, that all needs to be,
[1:16:06] you know, upgraded.
[1:16:13] but I think that would be substantially less. I would
[1:16:17] rather do that, and if the people really want tennis
[1:16:21] there are other city parks. Or they could justify $500,000
[1:16:30] I like the suggestion of just leaving the basketball court
[1:16:34] and not doing anything to prepare it? No. Yes, resurface
[1:16:38] it, repaint it, the nets, the hoops, whatever, but
[1:16:43] to dig out the
[1:16:46] we wouldn't be adding any more asphalt out there. We would be using the existing area,
[1:16:49] we'd be replacing
[1:16:50] the existing asphalt out there. What that use would be, whether it's tennis and
[1:16:53] pickleball or basketball
[1:16:59] you know, I think that should be very interchangeable within this contract, not
[1:17:07] a substantial cost, if any, but I don't know that without going back and speaking
[1:17:09] with the contractor. And if it's such a big deal, then instead of two pickleball,
[1:17:11] do one tennis and one raise the net. I mean, that's substantially the whole
[1:17:12] difference there. Right. And so, you know that's that's what we were doing with the
[1:17:25] the initial project was to put in a tennis court size piece of asphalt where the
[1:17:27] existing basketball court was and then on one
[1:17:28] tennis court, you can get two pickleball courts going, you know sideways. And so we
[1:17:31] were going to put the nets in this. It was just
[1:17:40] using that same existing space
[1:17:44] this change expands that footprint, so you have basketball and the tennis and
[1:17:46] pickleball courts. Do you have any parks besides firefighters
[1:17:48] park that has that much going on in it? Coral gate park has basketball, it has tennis
[1:17:50] and it has pickleball, and it has playground, yeah
[1:18:01] bigger areas
[1:18:06] so if this doesn't pass, I would certainly like direction from the board
[1:18:09] tonight if you want us to revisit taking out the basketball court and leaving in
[1:18:19] refurbished. Refurbishing the basketball court and leaving the basketball court and
[1:18:21] getting going away from putting in tennis
[1:18:23] courts, eliminating the basketball court. So let me do this. The first half of the
[1:18:25] puzzle is, is there a motion for this?
[1:18:35] seeing no motion, so this fails.
[1:18:39] right, so now I think the city manager, as he just said, is looking for direction.
[1:18:42] it's as far as do you want
[1:18:43] to remove the basketball court and move forward with the original agreement or to
[1:18:46] keep it a basketball court
[1:18:54] so any comment on
[1:18:57] keeping at a basketball court.
[1:18:59] commissioner schwartz, you're first. No, I'm
[1:19:02] sorry. I'll cancel that. Commissioner rosano.
[1:19:08] I mean, like it's been said, we've been going back and forth with this for a long time
[1:19:13] I would just like to see the pickleball courts, the tennis court, and
[1:19:16] the basketball area. Doesn't have to be a full-blown-out basketball court
[1:19:22] and my next question is, is there contingency money in this project?
[1:19:28] always.
[1:19:30] yeah, I believe there is. I don't have what that is. No, it's always 20. There's
[1:19:32] always a… it's never 10. It's always
[1:19:34] 20. It's a lot. It's always 20, and it's amazing how it always hits that.
[1:19:36] it's more than that. It's more than that.
[1:19:42] so, is it possible we can ask him what a
[1:19:45] concrete slab would be for a future purpose use?
[1:19:49] just to make everybody happy with the basketball, the tennis
[1:19:53] and just come back and put a hoop there, or whatever? I mean
[1:19:57] I have a feeling if we cancel the tennis
[1:20:01] those two or three residents are going to ask why we did that.
[1:20:05] I don't think converting
[1:20:08] tennis courts to pickleball courts make sense, though.
[1:20:10] I'd rather have just strict pickleball
[1:20:12] courts.
[1:20:12] it's just a matter of the height of the no no no it's got to be restripped and oh
[1:20:19] yes, it is
[1:20:21] it's not ideal to have pickleball courts on a tennis court. It has different striping,
[1:20:23] you know, it would really just be for, you know, people practicing out there.
[1:20:24] you wouldn't be able to host a, you know, a legitimate game or tournament style
[1:20:26] thing. So it's kind of like two-folded here, because if they don't want people there.
[1:20:39] go with the tennis courts. You know what I'm saying? If you want people to enjoy
[1:20:42] their parks, since
[1:20:42] they're paying for them, put the pickleball courts, put the basketball, and possibly
[1:20:46] a tennis court.
[1:20:50] but if you go by firefighters park, I don't think the tennis
[1:20:52] courts are being used that much. The pickleball courts are packed
[1:20:56] so common sense would say go with the one that's more popular. But
[1:21:02] that's not what the residents want. They want something that
[1:21:05] isn't going to draw people in. And we've seen that because of the
[1:21:10] proposal we had, it was beautiful, but that's not what they wanted
[1:21:14] so I'm going to leave it up to you guys, and I'll just
[1:21:17] go with you guys on this one
[1:21:20] it started it
[1:21:26] vice mayor.
[1:21:29] I got a text a little while back saying that on the basketball court with
[1:21:32] the issues that's there, that you can put an epoxy down on the old asphalt
[1:21:40] and make it level
[1:21:42] and make it look like a brand new surface for only a little bit of money
[1:21:46] I'm not sure. I don't know the product, but I'll find out the product, but I'm told
[1:21:47] that there's an epoxy that you can use that would… that would, make it look almost
[1:21:49] brand new again
[1:21:49] for a little bit of money. So you can, right, you can resurface, repaint, you know,
[1:21:51] there's stuff out there for it, but we've got, you know, lifting of asphalt, and, you
[1:21:53] know, you can't
[1:22:07] so the asphalt itself is… it is falling apart as 25, 30 years old. It is…
[1:22:10] it's due for replacement. Regardless of whether it's tennis or basketball.
[1:22:21] we're putting money into, you know, we're improving our park. And we've heard for a
[1:22:23] number of years that we don't want to, you know shortcut
[1:22:25] things. We want a park to be done nice and new, and if we're investing, you know
[1:22:27] parks bond dollars in there, it doesn't mean we, you know
[1:22:37] we're frivolous, but, you know. But cal, this half a million dollars would come from
[1:22:40] the general fund. Would
[1:22:40] come from a combination of rec trust funds and general fund? Not the bond anymore.
[1:22:44] we would be over that money
[1:22:52] we're finished with that. Correct.
[1:22:53] so I'm not interested in spending money out of those two pots. The original
[1:22:56] project, the original agreement was for 2.3 million. Correct. We have $1.3 million of
[1:22:59] parks bond dollars left
[1:23:08] correct. In that agenda item, we got authorization to use
[1:23:11] up to a million dollars of park and rec trust funds, right?
[1:23:15] if you approve this change order
[1:23:17] you can authorize the park and rec trust funds for it, which would
[1:23:24] ultimately deplete those park and rec trust funds or general fund
[1:23:29] right. Neither, to me, are good options
[1:23:40] I'm done. Commissioner simone
[1:23:44] so because this is such a controversy and going
[1:23:47] back and forth, back and forth, back and forth
[1:23:50] I think we should have a workshop on it
[1:23:53] and get the residents to
[1:23:56] come out and voice their opinion and let us know one way or another
[1:24:00] what they would like and be done with this. And how much it costs and let
[1:24:04] them know how much it costs. Yeah. So I think this calls for a workshop
[1:24:13] I would agree with that
[1:24:15] because how many times, this is the third change. Correct. And every time we change
[1:24:18] the price goes up for
[1:24:18] less. And it will continue to do that. And I don't want to pressure the board into
[1:24:21] doing one thing or the other
[1:24:32] but we are way past due on using these bond funds, to have a workshop. I think we've
[1:24:34] heard… we've got a community survey that
[1:24:35] showed what we wanted.
[1:24:36] we've heard from social media about, you know, other things that they want.
[1:24:39] we've gotten emails about it.
[1:24:50] I
[1:24:51] again, I don't want to pressure the board. If you want to have a workshop, we
[1:24:55] certainly can. But I think we have enough information. We don't like the cost
[1:25:00] and that's the difficult part of this. I don't think you can, you know, in the
[1:25:02] community, find out whether or not they approve of spending that
[1:25:03] additional dollar. I think the basketball folks are going to say they want basketball
[1:25:06] and spend the money, and I don't think either side will back off
[1:25:16] on saying what they want
[1:25:20] you know, the one thing that we could do is we can leave the original design in there,
[1:25:23] finish that
[1:25:24] project and come back in the future and look at putting in a pad for a basketball
[1:25:27] court on our own
[1:25:34] maybe it's not a bad idea.
[1:25:36] see how the community reacts to this project being completed? It won't be done with a
[1:25:39] basketball court. We
[1:25:39] can say we, you know, we're deferring that to future years. Let's see how property
[1:25:43] taxes, you know, roll out.
[1:25:51] evaluate, you know, feedback that we get from residents, asking
[1:25:54] where the basketball court went. It's not ideal to do that, but
[1:25:58] it's somewhat reactionary, but in my opinion, I think we've heard from the
[1:26:01] neighborhood out
[1:26:01] there, it's not a overwhelming majority of people that decided on this, but the
[1:26:05] majority did
[1:26:15] so we can continue to try to get more and more feedback,
[1:26:19] but I think we'll find ourselves in the same boat.
[1:26:28] I mean, at the end of the day — my suggestion, my recommendation at this point is
[1:26:33] to not move forward with this change order. Let's complete the project
[1:26:39] and we can evaluate expanding it in the future and adding in a basketball court
[1:26:45] or pickleball courts as trends change.
[1:26:49] cal, I'll go with that.
[1:26:51] commissioner rosano?
[1:26:55] do that, I don't mind doing that, but I would like to
[1:26:58] see that contingency money moved out for a concrete slab
[1:27:03] I know it's over $100,000
[1:27:06] so rather than see it get used up on
[1:27:09] revelist stuff
[1:27:11] maybe put a tag on it and cut the contingency down to 5%.
[1:27:17] it's still going to be over $100,000
[1:27:19] I think it's 160,000, I think
[1:27:23] no, no, no, the contingency. Okay.
[1:27:26] and every job we do, the contractors eat up the contingency.
[1:27:31] always. So at least we could say, hey, listen
[1:27:34] we're going to add a line item of $50,000 for the slab
[1:27:41] reducing the contingency, but at least we're going to be able to have a future by
[1:27:44] taking it out of
[1:27:45] contingency or line item it line item it instead of contingency being so high line
[1:27:48] item it, then
[1:27:57] he has to do it. Well, then they would have to do it. Correct.
[1:27:58] do we want them having to do it when they're making a prices like you're thinking,
[1:28:00] out of thin
[1:28:01] air? Well, he needs to go back and look at the real numbers. I mean, if you need a
[1:28:03] contractor to give a concrete number… I'm listening to what you're saying
[1:28:13] and if what you're saying is correct, that they'll find a way to spend whatever
[1:28:14] money's available, then we should remove that money, not give them the opportunity to
[1:28:15] spend it. Then later on, go to somebody else, say, this is the
[1:28:17] money we have. Correct. And that's what we want to spend. And listen, the reason why
[1:28:18] I'm saying that… 100%. The reason why I'm saying that, because supposedly, what I've
[1:28:20] been heard is the contingency money is for future lights
[1:28:36] so if these people don't want lights. If they don't want people there, they're
[1:28:40] not going to want lights. They told us they don't want lights. So take that
[1:28:45] whatever it is, thousand, I wish we knew the number. I'm
[1:28:49] looking it up. And use that towards the possibility of a
[1:28:53] basketball area. Doesn't have to be a full-blown-out court.
[1:28:54] no, it could be a half court. Exactly. Just, just something. I disagree with
[1:28:56] you. I just think that we should not only pull the money out, we should pull the
[1:28:59] money out and not leave it anywhere where it can be touched.
[1:29:05] but I think we've already approved the contract, if I'm not mistaken.
[1:29:09] yes, you've approved the base contract. So the base contract, it has a lump sum in it
[1:29:12] with a contingency, which we
[1:29:13] know is going to get eaten up. So why not draw some of that money back out, put a
[1:29:15] line item as the basketball area
[1:29:26] and go from there. I don't care how you do it, cal.
[1:29:30] if you can get it done, get it done. I mean, I don't disagree with you. Obviously, you
[1:29:34] know I'm on the same page with you. I just want him to have an opportunity to do it
[1:29:38] however, he thinks he can do it and get away with it within the contract parameters,
[1:29:40] that works for me. I honestly think it's doable with the contingency
[1:29:42] money there. Okay. And if we're not going to do capture lights there… you're right.
[1:29:44] well, how about the reminder that mbr has been doing all of our stuff
[1:29:55] and that they owe us a little bit for that.
[1:29:58] sometimes goodwill should work. I've done every park
[1:30:03] they've done every… I don't even think anybody bids against them. What you're
[1:30:07] saying is they should work with us. They should work with us. I got you.
[1:30:11] don't get complacent
[1:30:14] that's right
[1:30:15] because I think getting a check mark and an excellent
[1:30:18] rating from us might help them when they go to other cities
[1:30:22] all right, so there's no motion, there's no second. So this change order fails. What
[1:30:25] I'm hearing for
[1:30:26] direction is to move forward with the existing design as it is with the tennis and
[1:30:29] pickleball courts
[1:30:36] and using when I identify what the contingency is or allowances,
[1:30:39] finding a way to put in a… some sort of a pad for basketball. And I will
[1:30:47] see what we can do there. I will report back.
[1:30:50] good. Thank you. And then I think… last item
[1:30:53] discussion and possible action
[1:30:57] it's been withdrawn. It's formally be withdrawn from the agenda.
[1:31:03] okay, so it's we're done. Yeah, but just so that the public knows if it
[1:31:06] wasn't it was mentioned during public comment, but since the item is here
[1:31:12] the reason why we're not discussing it is there's no need for litigation because the
[1:31:15] person
[1:31:16] in question paid in full plus interest. So that defeats the purpose of us having today
[1:31:24] that's right, but… today. But the item was, if we're gonna sue them
[1:31:25] or not, we don't need to… no, no, but I'm just saying, today. Yeah
[1:31:27] meeting is adjour