[0:18] [Background talking]

[0:28] [Gavel bangs]

[0:57] Speaker: Gracious God we are thankful for all

[1:00] you have provided and continue to provide.

[1:02] We ask you continue to give us wisdom, understanding,

[1:06] and strength to lead in your direction and your community.

[1:10] We ask all of these things in your son's name Amen.

[1:27] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America

[1:30] and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God,

[1:30] indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[1:51] Chair: This meeting is called to order.

[1:55] Clerk please call the roll.

[2:01] [Roll call]

[2:09] We have two new employees with us tonight.

[2:15] When I call your name please stand.

[2:19] Michael Cortez, public works.

[2:23] Jesse Ponder's, public works.

[2:28] Welcome to the city family.

[2:36] [Applause]

[2:38] the clerk will provide the public notice.

[2:44] City Clerk: The August 18th Council meeting was publicly

[2:48] noticed.

[2:48] As a reminder, public comments and presentations

[2:52] are limited to three minutes unless authorized to extend

[2:56] beyond that time by council.

[3:02] prior to speaking at the podium please state

[3:05] your name and address for the record,

[3:07] to maintain order speakers must be recognized

[3:09] by the Council President.

[3:11] Please silence your cell phones and all electronic devices

[3:14] for the duration of this meeting, thank you.

[3:23] Chair: Item for, presentation of the mayor's citizen recognition

[3:28] Award to miss Cherise rivers, will you please come forward?

[3:48] Speaker: Every month we recognize

[3:49] people who are doing outstanding work in our community

[3:52] with the mayor's award, and just another amazing person who

[3:59] sets an example in the community for what it

[4:01] means to serve and give back.

[4:03] I'm going to read your nomination,

[4:04] and there's just so much more to what you do.

[4:09] Cherise is a shining example of a rising community

[4:12] leader who gives back to her community

[4:14] through action and selflessness.

[4:16] Beyond her work as CEO, she founded a non profit scholarship

[4:25] to help young students go to college.

[4:32] Shareece mobilized some of the country's most

[4:34] acclaimed leadership speakers, and helped lead the charge

[4:40] to bring them to Ocala for a high leadership conference.

[4:44] A founder and CEO of Zinnia Health Management,

[4:50] additionally she's a host for the Retirement Coffee Talk

[4:54] podcast.

[4:55] A mother of two, she loves to travel with her family

[4:59] and her free time.

[5:01] She serves on the Board of Directors

[5:03] for the Chamber of Economic Partnership

[5:06] and was chairman of the board in 2025.

[5:09] This is just a short list.

[5:12] What I see is when you are out in the community,

[5:14] you are behind the scenes doing some amazing work

[5:17] and you want to make a great difference,

[5:21] Ocala is better because of you.

[5:24] Congratulations on your citizen of the month award.

[5:43] Charisse Rivers: I'm here to serve the community

[5:46] and do all I can, I believe someone steps up,

[5:52] you're just adding so much value.

[5:54] Get on board if you are not!

[6:03] Speaker: You get a gift card and a pin,

[6:06] a key to the city, also a mayor's coin And a plaque.

[6:39] [Applause]

[6:48] Chair: Item for B, presentation of the Arts and health

[6:55] day in Ocala, Florida proclamation to Arts and health

[7:01] Ocala Metro executive director, Patricia Tomlinson.

[7:14] Speaker: It's my honor to a proclamation for Arts and Health

[7:17] Day in Ocala , improving mental health outcomes formerly

[7:26] recognizes arts as a source for supporting mental well-being

[7:34] in all stages of life.

[7:38] Arts initiatives have been shown to reduce symptoms of anxiety

[7:41] in patients recovering from addiction by 62%,

[7:45] improving feelings of belonging and veterans by 56% and reducing

[7:49] nervousness by 56% among school aged children whereas

[7:53] participation in arts promotes mental wellness,

[7:56] reduces depression, social isolation and loneliness while

[7:59] providing accessible opportunities for healing,

[8:02] self-expression, and personal growth for over 19,000 residents

[8:11] of Ocala and all programs .

[8:23] Whereas Arts and Health day within Ocala

[8:25] provides an opportunity to recognize the contribution

[8:28] of artists, healthcare professionals, educators,

[8:32] researchers and community leaders

[8:34] who advance the arts as a modality for mental health

[8:37] and healing.

[8:38] By virtue of the authority vested in me as the mayor

[8:41] of the city of Ocala Florida do declare August 18th 2026 to be

[8:46] Arts and Health Day in Ocala Florida.

[8:51] Congratulations, and thank you for this work.

[9:05] [Applause]

[9:06] Speaker: Thank you very much, we are a nonprofit organization

[9:09] but one of the more interesting things

[9:11] we do in addition to making art with the public,

[9:14] we also keep data on all of our arts interactions

[9:17] to prove that art is actually good for you.

[9:20] We work with veterans, children in the foster system,

[9:24] those with dementia and their caregivers and a lot more,

[9:27] and the statistics mayor Marciano

[9:29] cited are our own statistics from right

[9:32] here in Marion County, so thank you.

[9:41] [Applause]

[10:11] Chair: Item four C is the presentation

[10:15] of a service award to Jerry Tafoya,

[10:18] with 25 years of service for Ocala Fire Rescue.

[10:27] [Applause]

[10:36] Speaker: Fire equipment operator Jerry Tafoya,

[10:40] originally from Albuquerque new Mexico began his career

[10:44] in August 2001 as a certified firefighter paramedic in South

[10:50] Florida before moving to Ocala.

[10:52] Is currently assigned to engine four, as well as being

[10:57] a part of the aircraft rescue firefighting team

[11:00] at the airport.

[11:02] Is also a founding member of the Ocala Fire Rescue Swat medic

[11:06] team, having a hand in the team's development .

[11:12] For 25 years in service, please join me

[11:16] in congratulating Mr. Tafoya.

[11:24] [Applause]

[11:25] Speaker: Thank you for giving me a great place to work and not

[11:28] firing me .

[12:01] Chair: Item four D, the presentation

[12:04] of a service award to Joseph Dotten,

[12:18] For Ocala electric utilities.

[12:26] Speaker: Beginning in 2001 as a tree crew equipment operator,

[12:30] through his hard work and dedication Joe

[12:34] was promoted to lion truck operator in 2006

[12:38] and has continued to advance throughout his career

[12:42] and currently serves as line truck operator

[12:44] three, a position he has held since 2019.

[12:49] Outside of his daily responsibilities,

[12:52] he enjoys creating homemade sauces

[12:54] and cooking chicken wings For the annual charity

[13:04] cookoff, King of the wing.

[13:09] When he's not at work, Joe enjoys cruising and camping

[13:15] with family and friends.

[13:18] He and his wife have three children,

[13:20] and they are the proud grandparents

[13:24] of two wonderful grandsons.

[13:26] For 25 years of service, congratulations.

[13:34] [Applause]

[13:59] Chair: Item four E is the presentation

[14:02] of a service award to Jody Taylor,

[14:05] for 30 years of service in public works.

[14:15] [Applause]

[14:17] Speaker: Jodie Taylor has been employed

[14:19] with the city of Ocala residential sanitation Division

[14:22] for 30 years, beginning as a residential sanitation worker

[14:26] before being promoted to assistant crew leader and then

[14:31] clam operator and has been in his position

[14:35] for the past 27 years.

[14:37] Has expanded his role to learn additional trucks

[14:39] and responsibilities.

[14:40] Jodie is very reliable and dependable employee

[14:44] who can be counted on to do whatever is asked of him.

[14:48] Many times he has proved his value as an operator while doing

[14:54] storm cleanup .

[14:58] Not only is he a productive worker,

[15:00] but he has also shown the ability

[15:03] to safely remove debris from situations where

[15:05] it doesn't look possible and he's always found a way

[15:09] to accomplish the task.

[15:11] Jodie S lived in Ocala for 40 years

[15:14] and has been married for 37.

[15:16] Together they have three daughters

[15:18] and six adorable grandchildren, we

[15:21] are happy Jodie is a part of the city of Ocala

[15:25] and more specifically part of residential Sanitation division.

[15:28] Has been proud to make a career with the city

[15:32] and plans to continue for many years,

[15:34] thank you for your years of service.

[15:40] [Applause]

[15:56] Chair: Item four F is the presentation

[15:59] of a service award to Major Gregory Martin,

[16:03] for 30 years of service with the Ocala Police Department.

[16:16] Speaker: Shortly after graduating from Forrest High

[16:19] School, he served until 1998.

[16:25] Major Martin was hired at the Ocala Police Department

[16:29] in August 1996 after a year , he served many roles

[16:44] and as a member of the Swat team for 15 years.

[16:47] Was promoted through the ranks to Sergeant in 2006,

[16:51] Lieutenant in 2015, captain in 2017,

[16:55] and major in January of 2021.

[16:59] Is commander of Special Operations Bureau.

[17:02] He is married to his best friend and they have two children.

[17:12] Austin is a firefighter paramedic

[17:17] with Marion County Rescue.

[17:19] 30 years of service, thank you.

[17:35] [Applause]

[17:37] Speaker: Tony didn't bother me, 25 didn't bother me,

[17:40] but I woke up this morning and 30 is kind of weird.

[17:44] The most important part is not what I've accomplished,

[17:47] but I've done it with my best friend by my side and it is not

[17:51] easy .

[17:53] I thank her every day for putting up with me,

[17:57] because I'm a mess for sure and my son some of the biggest

[18:03] flexes in life are our kids.

[18:08] In the grand scheme of things, I've been incredibly blessed.

[18:16] We live in a phenomenal community .

[18:26] I've worked for tremendous people,

[18:28] I've had tremendous councilmen and councilwomen, city managers

[18:33] and mayors, and they've all been incredibly supportive

[18:36] of us our entire career.

[18:38] When you do that, you wake up every day

[18:42] and it feels like just another day, doesn't feel like 30 years.

[18:47] The citizens of Ocala have been fantastic supporting us

[18:51] throughout my 30 year career, Mr. Mayor, thank you so much .

[19:17] Chair: Before we move on to tonight's presentations,

[19:21] we are going to consider two agenda items out of order.

[19:24] First, we will consider agenda item ten

[19:28] E which is the adoption of a successful collective bargaining

[19:33] agreement between the City of Ocala and the local firefighters

[19:38] and officers bargaining unit.

[19:41] Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

[19:46] Chief of staff Chris Watts is recognized

[19:52] for the staff presentation.

[20:06] Chris Watts: Beginning October 1st and running through

[20:10] September 30th of 2029 -- the parties reached a tentative

[20:17] agreement on July 9th and the proposed contract was approved

[20:22] by the Union at a vote of 94 and nine against.

[20:27] If approved by the Council , it is $8.7 million over the next

[20:34] three years.

[20:34] Staff recommends approval and I am here

[20:37] to answer any questions you may have.

[20:42] Chair: Are there any comments from the public or the council?

[20:49] [Voting]

[20:57] Next we will consider item ten F,

[21:00] the adoption of resolution 2026 .

[21:17] Peter Brill is recognized for the staff presentation .

[21:28] Peter Brill: Council is considering

[21:29] the removal of the BTR, To move forward

[21:43] with the potential removal as pledge revenue,

[21:48] finance has secured this solution

[21:55] as the last piece needed.

[22:01] Chair: Any questions or comments from the public?

[22:07] [Voting]

[22:16] Chair: The ayes have it.

[22:18] We will return to agenda item number five.

[22:22] Presentation of the Risk Manager of the year Award

[22:25] to Richard Dennis from public Risk Underwriters

[22:29] of Florida Inc.

[22:40] [Applause]

[22:49] Speaker: Good afternoon chairperson, commissioners,

[22:53] and guest.

[22:54] It is my pleasure to recognize an outstanding public servant

[22:58] and leader in the field of public risk management.

[23:06] We are honored to present the risk management of the year

[23:13] award to Mr. Richard Dennis of the City of Ocala.

[23:18] Risk management is about protecting people, safeguarding

[23:22] public resources and helping organizations operate safely

[23:28] and effectively.

[23:29] Richard has exemplified those principles

[23:33] through his leadership, professionalism, and commitment

[23:36] to excellence.

[23:38] His dedication to promoting safety, managing risk

[23:42] proactively and supporting the city of Ocala

[23:46] has made a meaningful difference within your organization

[23:52] and serves as a model to all of our members

[23:57] with preferred governmental insurance trust.

[24:00] Richard, thank you for your hard work,

[24:06] Congratulations on a well deserved recognition.

[24:14] [Applause]

[26:08] Chair: Item five B is the presentation of the 2026 Florida

[26:12] Legislative Session recap in 2027 legislative session

[26:15] preview by Sarah Suski, from the Advocacy partners.

[26:38] Sarah Suskey: It is such a heartwarming experience

[26:41] to come to your city council meetings

[26:43] and see the presentation of the service Awards and all

[26:47] the things you guys do at the very beginning,

[26:51] it puts a pep in my step and makes me happy.

[26:54] To have that many people who have served

[26:57] this community for that long time and time

[27:00] again is so incredible, and it says a lot about your leadership

[27:06] and just a lot about this awesome community.

[27:09] I'm here to talk about the legislative session,

[27:14] and along those same lines today is primary Election Day

[27:18] in Florida.

[27:19] I see lots of I voted stickers in the room,

[27:23] you still have a couple of hours to get to the polls

[27:26] if you haven't voted and help decide

[27:31] who is going to lead our state in the next year or two.

[27:34] But I'm here to talk about the legislative session,

[27:38] and I have to start off again by thanking

[27:41] you guys for the opportunity to represent this amazing community

[27:45] in Tallahassee.

[27:46] Thank you for the access you give us

[27:50] to your incredible professional staff,

[27:55] they are a huge help to Steven and I

[27:57] and our entire firm at Tallahassee

[27:59] but it's truly an honor to get to represent this community

[28:03] and also work alongside the incredible legislative

[28:09] delegation you guys have representing you up

[28:12] in Tallahassee.

[28:13] The session ended officially on March 13th,

[28:16] doesn't seem like that long ago but it seems like a lifetime.

[28:20] Rather than going out with a bang again this year

[28:25] it went out with a bit of a whimper

[28:27] and for the second year of a row without a completed state budget

[28:32] which is the one thing constitutionally

[28:34] the legislature is tasked with doing every year.

[28:38] Despite supermajorities of Republicans and vote chambers

[28:41] of the legislature, once again this year there

[28:44] were some disagreements on priority and spending

[28:47] that ended up causing the session to continue,

[28:52] or multiple sessions I'm going to discuss here in a little bit.

[28:56] During the regular session there was almost 1900 bills

[29:01] filed in Tallahassee.

[29:04] 237 of those 1900 actually passed,

[29:09] and since the session ended, the governor

[29:11] has acted on every single one of them.

[29:14] Signed most of them and vetoed eight.

[29:17] One of them is going to be important

[29:20] and of interest to you guys, I know you were already aware

[29:23] but some of the notable things that passes

[29:26] here were data centers bills that preserve some local control

[29:30] over siting and development decisions,

[29:32] I know the county had some workshops going on to discuss

[29:38] those that have been postponed.

[29:51] a cap increase on immunity claims ,

[30:00] because of increased costs it would have brought to local

[30:03] governments.

[30:04] Another bill that passed was a piece of legislation giving

[30:08] additional authority regarding municipal utility service

[30:13] extensions , and agriculture package that connects farmers

[30:20] in Florida with families and food banks,

[30:25] legislation requiring verification of citizenship

[30:28] before folks can vote in Florida,

[30:31] and then a school safety package also passed.

[30:36] Sometimes in Tallahassee what doesn't pass is even more

[30:39] important than what does pass, and this year once again

[30:45] the Renaissance bill did not pass,

[30:48] the legislature did not successfully pass an AI bill

[30:52] of rights , and a couple of other things.

[30:57] But there were term limits for county commissioners, did not

[31:01] pass this year.

[31:02] And effort to repeal local governments authority to Levy

[31:06] local business taxes, and legislation that

[31:10] would have allowed large scale developments in Florida

[31:13] to bypass some of the comprehensive plan

[31:16] provisions that exist for local governments in Florida.

[31:22] Once the regular session ended we

[31:28] took a break for a couple of weeks,

[31:31] but the governor had other plans for us

[31:34] and called the legislature back for a special session on an AI

[31:39] bill of rights, medical freedom proposal

[31:42] and congressional redistricting.

[31:44] The legislature ultimately decided

[31:46] not to take up the first two, but passed

[31:51] the congressional maps that the governor proposed

[31:54] and then we were able to get on to the budget

[31:57] and complete that work.

[32:00] After several weeks of negotiation

[32:02] the legislature eventually approved a $114 billion

[32:06] state budget, which was $1 billion

[32:10] under last year's budget and roughly $3 billion less

[32:14] than what governor Desantis proposed.

[32:16] It includes $14 billion in reserves, $115 million

[32:21] in debt reduction, raises for correctional officers,

[32:26] public defenders, investments in natural resources

[32:30] and environmental restoration, funding for affordable housing

[32:35] initiatives, cybersecurity grants and an overall increase

[32:39] in education spending.

[32:43] Importantly to this community, that budget also included

[32:46] $500,000 for the city's exfiltration project which has

[32:52] been ongoing for several years, and we were very fortunate that

[32:58] the governor approved that line item this year.

[33:02] The budget passed on May 29th, and the governor signed

[33:07] the budget on June 29th a month later and a day before the final

[33:11] day of the fiscal year he vetoed $1.7 billion out of the budget,

[33:20] 800 million of which were local projects like the City

[33:24] of Ocala's which was more than last year but less than he had

[33:32] done in the past, so we are all grateful for that.

[33:36] Just when we thought we could head home for the summer

[33:39] the governor brought us back for a third special session

[33:42] and this one was on property tax reform.

[33:46] I know you guys are incredibly well versed in what is going

[33:50] on with that, but I will give a little bit of an overview

[33:53] so that the House of Representatives had undergone

[33:58] a pretty significant process of workshops around the state,

[34:01] and a lot of conversations came up with some proposals,

[34:08] and ultimately the Senate never took those up during the regular

[34:11] session so the governor felt that it was important to call

[34:14] everyone back to have a special session on property tax reform ,

[34:21] and in short, the proposal that passed would increase

[34:25] the homestead exemption for non-school taxes for Florida

[34:28] residents to 150 zero zero $0 in 2027,

[34:33] and that would go up to $250,000 in 2028.

[34:37] It also limits the increase on assessed value for property

[34:43] in the state and restricts local governments ability to use

[34:47] property tax revenue for non essential items in the budget .

[34:55] This proposal, as you know very well,

[34:58] will require a 60% plus one approval in the November ballot.

[35:05] We've already seen some court challenges that have resulted

[35:10] in on Thursday a rewrite of the ballot language,

[35:14] the summary and the language itself ,

[35:19] and that seems to be what will go on the ballot in November.

[35:23] If it does pass, the constitutional amendment will

[35:30] take effect on January 1st of next year 2027.

[35:34] The legislature will need to codify that as well as codify

[35:41] a process because the language says that local governments can

[35:45] use a plan to fully eliminate property taxes in a manner that

[35:52] is prescribed by the legislature.

[35:55] So, there's significant implications and lots

[35:58] of conversations going on in local communities and certainly

[36:02] here in the city of Ocala where you guys are

[36:06] growing continually.

[36:08] I know there are a lot of demands on the city's budget,

[36:13] et, so it'll be interesting to see what happens with that

[36:17] and the next couple of months.

[36:19] Now all of the sessions are behind us,

[36:22] legislators have gone back to their communities to spend time

[36:26] with their families this summer, campaign,

[36:28] a lot of elections are going to be decided today and it will be

[36:36] interesting, but once we get through the November election,

[36:40] the legislature will come back to Tallahassee in November

[36:43] the weekend of November 17th to formally organize for the 2027

[36:48] session, install our new leaders and get the committee process

[36:54] underway.

[36:55] Then in January, we will welcome a new governor

[37:00] to the state of Florida who will be inaugurated in January.

[37:04] In the meantime, we anticipate that in the legislature,

[37:10] Senator Jim Boyd will very likely become our next Senate

[37:15] president and Representative Sam Garrison from Clay County who

[37:22] is an attorney and has done some work for local governments

[37:25] in the past will very likely become

[37:29] our next speaker of the House, will also

[37:33] have some new leadership on state agencies

[37:37] and a few surprises will likely be on deck,

[37:42] we are going to be interested in seeing everyone's agendas

[37:45] for the 2027 session, although we don't

[37:51] know exactly what that is.

[37:52] We know it's going to be very interesting and never a dull

[37:56] moment in Tallahassee, so we will be ready for that .

[38:03] Our firm is incredibly grateful to get

[38:05] to represent the city of Ocala, and we

[38:08] will be back in the coming months

[38:10] to have a meeting with your senior staff

[38:13] and to meet with you individually

[38:16] as your staff works to develop your legislative agenda

[38:21] for next session, so we will see you again soon.

[38:26] We are incredibly grateful, thank you for your time.

[38:41] Chair: Agenda item number six is our consent agenda,

[38:46] are there any items with Council would

[38:48] like to include on the agenda for individual discussion?

[39:01] are there comments?

[39:07] call the roll.

[39:15] [Voting - all ayes]

[39:30] item eight A is the Ordinance.

[39:41] City Clerk: An ordinance to change the future land use

[39:48] designation amending the future land use map designation

[40:01] for property located in the 1700 block of Northwest Martin Luther

[40:07] King Jr Avenue from medium intensity to public ,

[40:22] approximately 11 acres.

[40:40] Chair: Item eight B is an introduction and ordinance

[40:43] reading .

[40:52] City Clerk: The ordinance amendment of the city map

[40:57] of Ocala in heavy industrial use,

[41:03] for property located east of the 1700 block of Northwest Martin

[41:08] Luther King Jr Avenue , approximately 11.2 acres.

[41:22] Provide direction to staff for conflicted provisions,

[41:29] provided for modifications arising from the consideration

[41:33] of the hearing.

[41:48] An ordinance amending the zoning map changing from B for general

[42:04] business to M1 light industrial .

[42:16] Approximately 5.93 acres , providing direction to staff

[42:27] repealing inconsistent provisions for modifications

[42:32] arising from considerations at a public hearing.

[42:53] 8d Is an ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala

[43:03] for 3.23 acres for a property located at 1501 Northwest 14th

[43:11] Street from governmental use to neighborhood business .

[43:42] 8e, An ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala

[43:48] Florida changing from light industrial to medium industrial,

[43:54] 3.05 acres of property located in the 1700 block of Northeast

[44:01] 18th place .

[44:30] 8f., An ordinance amending the city of Ocala comprehensive plan

[44:42] map series has required detailing the future land use

[44:51] change amending the map from neighborhood to public located

[45:02] in the 700 block of Northwest 14th Street,

[45:08] approximately 0.52 acres.

[45:15] Providing for modifications arising

[45:19] from consideration of the hearing and effective date.

[45:29] 8g., An ordinance amending the zoning map of the city of Ocala

[45:44] Florida changing from two family residential to government use,

[45:52] located in the 708 hundred blocks of Northwest 14th Street

[45:57] and the 1400 block of Northwest 17th place,

[46:01] approximately 9.94 acres .

[46:11] Approximately providing direction to staff repealing

[46:21] inconsistent , providing direction to the Codifier

[46:30] and providing an effective date.

[46:40] Chair: Is there a motion for 9a?

[47:18] Endira Madraveren: The agent for this request is Kendall Drake

[47:25] of Drake Construction Services, the properties impacted

[47:30] by the Northwest 13th Street aggregation include different

[47:35] ownership, which are the Magnolia Extension LLC as well

[47:41] as the property extension to the south.

[47:44] The portion of Northwest First Avenue being aggregated

[47:49] is internal to the Magnolia Extension site

[47:53] and will only impact that property.

[47:56] Both rights contain existing eight inch gravity sewer lines

[48:02] and Northwest 13th Street also includes a street light,

[48:07] but are otherwise undeveloped.

[48:11] Utility easement has been developed .

[48:19] The applicant has indicated the intent

[48:22] to utilize the aggregate of areas

[48:25] through further development of the site.

[48:28] Staff finds the requested aggregation will not negatively

[48:32] impact any adjacent properties.

[48:34] Other than city utilities, no comments or objections

[48:39] were received by any other utility providers.

[48:43] Staff recommends approval subject to the following

[48:46] condition that the applicant will assume responsibility

[48:49] for the maintenance of the eight inch gravity sewer lines upon

[48:54] the north half of the aggregation of Northwest 13th

[48:58] Street, and upon the aggregation of Northwest First Avenue

[49:02] and for the charges related to convert the street light

[49:06] on Northwest 13th Street to a yard light subject to the charge

[49:13] by OEU.

[49:19] I'm happy to answer any questions.

[49:27] Chair: Any public comments on this matter?

[49:32] call the roll.

[49:36] [Voting - all ayes]

[49:42] item nine B is a public hearing to consider

[49:49] approval for the on premise consumption for wine

[49:55] at via Panini.

[50:01] Endira Madraveren: The applicant,

[50:03] doing business as via Panini, is requesting permission

[50:08] to sell beer and wine for on premise consumption.

[50:12] Via Panini is a proposed restaurant

[50:17] located at 725 East Silver Springs Boulevard

[50:21] with a proposed 20 seats and two employees.

[50:25] Comments were requested from the Growth Management

[50:28] Department, police and fire.

[50:31] No objections were received, there

[50:34] have been three calls for service

[50:36] at this location during the past two years.

[50:39] There is one church and no schools or daycares located

[50:45] within the 500 foot radius.

[50:49] Staff recommends approval, and I'm here

[50:51] to answer any questions.

[51:03] Speaker: It will be nice to see it activated as a restaurant

[51:06] again.

[51:09] I'm going to make a motion to approve that.

[51:19] [Voting - all ayes]

[51:29] Chair: Item nine C is the amendment

[51:36] of the Housing Incentive fund revising criteria pertaining

[51:40] to affordable housing loan programs including length

[51:43] of terms, applicability, administrative process,

[51:47] and interest rates.

[52:56] Aubrey Hale: Chapter 106 addresses planning housing

[53:01] in general for the city of Ocala,

[53:03] but it also provides for the Housing Incentive Fund which

[53:08] is used to offset the qualifying under the city's definition

[53:16] of affordable housing.

[53:18] There's a code reference to a loan program that has limited

[53:21] or very restricted criteria.

[53:25] There's federal and state housing programs

[53:27] that help to address housing and greater access

[53:32] to affordable housing within communities,

[53:35] but the city current code reflects

[53:38] kind of a short term loan program

[53:40] currently at 0% interest.

[53:43] This does provide for a faster return to the Housing incentive

[53:48] fund, however it does have some limitations working

[53:51] with federal and state programs.

[53:55] Oftentimes those require longer financing affordability

[53:59] provisions as part of the state so this code addresses

[54:04] some greater flexibility and guidance to the programs,

[54:09] and really what it does is Establish loans

[54:19] that mature ten years or less from the effective date

[54:23] and have a maximum interest rate that ranges from 0%

[54:26] to half of the US Prime interest rate.

[54:30] Additionally, here's another one that establishes a long term

[54:35] loan program and does not exceed a 30 year max

[54:43] period for that loan.

[54:45] These loans for the long term program

[54:47] would only be available to assist with federal, state,

[54:51] or local housing programs and is worded in a way

[54:57] to not allow for the sole source funding out

[55:00] of the long term loan for assistance of other initiatives.

[55:07] Again, the interest rate would be slightly higher for the long

[55:10] term loans since they are longer term .

[55:21] It ranges from half the US prime interest rate up to the maximum

[55:25] of the US prime interest rate.

[55:28] Lastly, it provides administrative authority

[55:31] to the City manager designee to prepare the final signatures

[55:35] and approvals for the documents with the proposed code.

[55:40] In closing, the landscape of affordable housing is

[55:44] continuously evolving and due to these changes in federal state

[55:48] housing programs it provides flexibility and clarity .

[56:00] Staff recommends approval, and is available for any questions.

[56:14] [Voting - all ayes]

[56:21] Chair: Agenda item ten, general business.

[56:24] The adoption of the agreement for professional services

[56:29] with air show management for the production and management

[56:32] of the wings over Ocala Florida air

[56:35] show at Ocala International Airport.

[56:38] Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

[57:08] Matthew Grow: This is a new event for Ocala with

[57:11] the inaugural show scheduled for April 30th followed by spring

[57:16] events in 2028 and 2029.

[57:19] JLC Airshow Management is an experienced professional air

[57:23] show producer having completed several successful air

[57:28] shows around the Southeast United States.

[57:30] JLC takes responsibility for producing and managing

[57:34] essentially all aspects of the event, vendors, sanitation,

[57:42] fencing, insurance, and ultimately event operations.

[57:47] JLC is also responsible for all event parking

[57:50] both on and off site, shuttles, traffic management,

[57:56] all added expense.

[57:58] The city's role is primarily to provide the airport venue

[58:02] and coordinate public safety and emergency

[58:04] services that might be necessary to safely conduct the event.

[58:09] That includes specialized airport rescue firefighting EMS

[58:14] teams, law enforcement, regular fire services and traffic

[58:19] control along southwest 60th Avenue.

[58:24] There will be a cost to the city for those services,

[58:26] the police estimate approximately $23,000 and Ocala

[58:31] Fire approximately 15,000 for a current total of about $48,000.

[58:37] These costs will be paid for through the airport fund.

[58:42] There's also a 100,000 sponsorship from the tourist

[58:49] Council subject to approval and availability and it's intended

[58:54] to support production and operation of the event.

[58:58] The agreement contains a revenue sharing provision .

[59:12] For the first 300,000 of their revenue,

[59:15] they will retain 100% of it.

[59:18] For net revenue exceeding 300 000, they receive 70%.

[59:24] There is a mechanism to recover some cost to the agreement,

[59:32] there's other protections in the agreement and either party can

[59:35] cancel with 60 days written notice .

[59:56] From the airport's perspective, it's

[59:59] an opportunity to show off Ocala.

[1:00:02] We have a great facility out there,

[1:00:04] we could see upwards of around 45000 people

[1:00:10] and where we are right now with the airport is a perfect time

[1:00:15] to show it off.

[1:00:17] Those visitors generate hotel stays and quite

[1:00:23] a bit of other spending throughout the community.

[1:00:26] Staff from the Marion County Tourism Development Council

[1:00:29] are here and can address any economic related specific

[1:00:33] questions you may have.

[1:00:34] The airport Advisory Board absolutely supports the event.

[1:00:39] Staff recommends approval , happy to answer any questions.

[1:01:05] Speaker: As your representative, I sit on the council

[1:01:08] and he has been working on this thing for about two years.

[1:01:14] I always knew we had a diamond in the rough with the airport,

[1:01:20] they did a great job of bringing it to Ocala.

[1:01:26] Once we had it, then we had to wait to make sure

[1:01:31] we did get the Blue Angels.

[1:01:32] Now we've got it all tidied up, it's going to be a great event,

[1:01:37] I am excited about it.

[1:01:40] It's been a lot of work together,

[1:01:44] I'm excited to finally see in front of us.

[1:02:00] Speaker: I see a lot of new faces in the crowd.

[1:02:03] This money is not taxpayer dollars, the airport makes money

[1:02:08] and the money this airport makes is

[1:02:12] what is paying for law enforcement and fire

[1:02:15] to be there.

[1:02:16] This is not taxpayer revenue, it's

[1:02:18] coming from the airport revenue, I just

[1:02:22] wanted to say that for the record.

[1:03:05] Speaker: We're being conservative on those numbers.

[1:03:14] Speaker: Having spent 20 years around the aerospace industry,

[1:03:19] when I first moved to Florida we had

[1:03:22] the Blue Angels in Gainesville and we'd never

[1:03:25] seen anything like that.

[1:03:27] They traveled around the country, this is a huge impact

[1:03:31] and people will come far and away to see this

[1:03:34] because it's a great show.

[1:03:49] Speaker: We started initial contact in 2022

[1:03:52] and have been trying to get the Blue Angels, that

[1:03:56] was the initial push and we were able to get in the first two

[1:03:58] years of this attempt and this year we

[1:04:01] were able to get it secured by the federal government

[1:04:04] and we're hoping to get some more for the future of that.

[1:04:17] [Voting - all ayes]

[1:04:27] Chair: Adoption of resolution 2026-50.

[1:04:47] Matthew Grow: This meets goals, the total construction cost is

[1:04:54] $427,542.

[1:04:56] The airport's share is about $21,000 or 5% of the total cost.

[1:05:07] The project is consistent with the airport plan supported

[1:05:10] by the advisory board.

[1:05:13] Once the grant is executed and we have the hard copy in hand

[1:05:16] we are going to pursue some additional funding to further

[1:05:19] offset the airport to expense through grant monies,

[1:05:24] so you can expect to bring us back

[1:05:26] again once we get the additional grant money for the project.

[1:05:30] The FAA system grant disbursement

[1:05:35] is a little confusing at times.

[1:05:40] One grant was approved by Council, one was not,

[1:05:45] but they were both signed at that time on August 3rd.

[1:05:50] This agenda item at this time covers that signature ,

[1:05:57] I don't know if you have anything else you want to add

[1:06:00] about that.

[1:06:06] Speaker: Nothing that you spoke to them once you learned

[1:06:08] we signed it prematurely.

[1:06:14] Matthew Grow: Staff recommends approval,

[1:06:19] happy to answer any questions.

[1:06:25] [Voting - all ayes]

[1:06:40] Chair: Item ten C, do I hear a motion to approve this item?

[1:06:54] Matthew Grow: This is the budget resolution for the previously

[1:06:59] mentioned fiscal year 2025 2026 agreement .

[1:07:11] [Voting - all ayes]

[1:07:19] Chair: Item ten D is the adoption of the Second Amendment

[1:07:23] to agreement with Honorum productions Inc..

[1:07:27] Do I hear a motion to approve this item?

[1:07:42] Amy Liberty: This agenda item supports

[1:07:44] the city's strategic goal of quality of place

[1:07:47] and operational excellence.

[1:07:49] The Recreation and Parks Department

[1:07:51] are responsible for providing events featuring artists

[1:07:56] across various community venues and the city

[1:07:59] does not have the in-house expertise or equipment required

[1:08:06] to provide audio production services.

[1:08:12] Renewing this contract ensures continuity,

[1:08:16] maintains event quality and allows staff

[1:08:19] to remain focused on developing programs

[1:08:21] without technical concerns.

[1:08:23] This is the Second Amendment representing the final two year

[1:08:29] agreement option available under the original contract,

[1:08:32] staff recommends approval and I welcome any questions.

[1:08:50] [Voting - all ayes]

[1:09:01] Chair: Ten g, renew property, casualty, liability,

[1:09:06] and workers compensation insurance policies.

[1:09:22] Richard Dennis: This item supports the city goal

[1:09:29] of sustainable business.

[1:09:34] The recommended renewal will retain continuity of coverage

[1:09:39] beginning October 1st 2026.

[1:09:42] This is a favorable renewal that reduces the city's

[1:09:45] overall premiums, improves overall property protections

[1:09:52] across major risk exposures.

[1:09:57] The projection is $2 million representing overall reduction

[1:10:02] of $76,889 or approximately 2.9%.

[1:10:07] Staff recommends approval, and I am available for any questions.

[1:10:28] Chair: We have one additional item,

[1:10:31] the approval of an internal auditor employment agreement .

[1:10:54] Chris Watt: This agenda item supports the goal

[1:10:59] of being fiscally sustainable.

[1:11:06] Council voted to hire current assistant auditor

[1:11:11] for the internal auditor position.

[1:11:14] As a charter officer, he would work

[1:11:18] for council pursuant to terms of the employment agreement

[1:11:21] by the parties.

[1:11:36] As the internal auditor, the second council meeting

[1:11:41] per the city charter, staff recommends approval

[1:11:44] and I am happy to answer any questions you might have.

[1:11:54] [Voting - ayes have it]

[1:12:13] Chair: City manager, recognized for his report.

[1:12:25] City Manager Peter Lee: There's several items

[1:12:27] we will discuss on the city manager's

[1:12:31] report and the public comment portion of last week.

[1:12:36] I will leave those for you to read, especially the last two,

[1:12:42] I can discuss them with you individually at a later date.

[1:12:48] The email compromise incident, you may want to discuss.

[1:12:53] I brought Chris back up here, he was the editor of this document

[1:13:00] along with several staff members who I would like to thank

[1:13:06] for their procurement of the internal auditor the risk ,

[1:13:24] so they all work together after I found out about this incident

[1:13:32] to put this together, as you know we've got the bulk

[1:13:35] of the insurance money back , we got the check today so it was

[1:13:44] a 27 to $28,000 loss .

[1:13:52] Two employees are no longer with us as a result of this,

[1:13:57] I don't know if you have anything to add .

[1:14:07] Chris Watt: Mistakes were made and there

[1:14:10] have been several changes to procedure that

[1:14:12] have been put into place to prevent this

[1:14:14] from happening again.

[1:14:16] One thing I would like to say, if the procedures the city

[1:14:21] had in place at the time that we put in place in 2019

[1:14:25] as you will recall when this happened one other time,

[1:14:29] this would not have happened, the procedures

[1:14:32] if they had been followed would have stopped this

[1:14:35] from happening.

[1:14:37] Unfortunately, the employee did not

[1:14:39] follow the procedure that was in place.

[1:14:50] Mayor Ben Marciano: So you're saying

[1:14:51] you have a procedure that will protect us

[1:14:54] that hopefully now is in place?

[1:15:03] City Manager Peter Lee: We try to stay ahead of it,

[1:15:05] Richard and I try to draw up the best insurance that we can ,

[1:15:13] so when something like this happens --

[1:15:23] it's unfortunate we have to spend taxpayer money on that

[1:15:27] but as you can see, thank goodness that we do.

[1:15:52] Getting close on the parking garage,

[1:15:56] a lot of small things given the time and size and type of work

[1:16:07] that we are doing, but we are down to the elevators

[1:16:11] and signals from the fire rescue and safety in the parking garage

[1:16:16] and as soon as we finish with those ,

[1:16:22] I hope it's prior to next council meeting.

[1:16:25] On Friday August 28th from 10 to 11 we're going to do the ribbon

[1:16:31] cutting for the trolley.

[1:16:34] That's all I have.

[1:16:42] Chair: Item 13, Ocala Police Department Deputy Chief:

[1:16:56] First slide is going to go over the three different types

[1:17:00] of crime we track.

[1:17:02] All three are down, if you wonder what societal crimes are,

[1:17:07] they are things like public drunkenness, vandalism, drugs,

[1:17:12] white collar crimes .

[1:17:18] They are down this time this year from last year.

[1:17:21] The next is covering acts, these two are also down in comparison

[1:17:28] to last year's numbers , which is a good thing.

[1:17:43] Speaker: 364 compared to 640 year to date or for the whole

[1:17:52] year but we are trending down ?

[1:18:04] Deputy Chief: Just a little bit over 7300 incidents

[1:18:08] so far, slightly down from this time last year

[1:18:14] and dispatch calls are slightly up.

[1:18:19] Our final slide ,

[1:18:37] traffic is slightly down by 12% although we just added a new

[1:18:41] member to the traffic unit effective in September

[1:18:49] in crashes are down by 12% which is also a good thing .

[1:19:00] Any questions?

[1:19:21] Fire Chief: Total responded to vehicle accidents across

[1:19:29] the city was 164, total for the year is 17,480.

[1:19:45] Just a few updates or highlights,

[1:19:47] this was an extrication that happened on August 8th.

[1:19:51] We responded to a single vehicle that collided with a tree

[1:19:55] in the early hours of the morning .

[1:20:05] Also we had some promotions this past week, Battalion chief,

[1:20:13] captain .

[1:20:27] On behalf of all of our personnel,

[1:20:29] thank you for your continued support in the year.

[1:20:49] Speaker: Are we still seeing the trend in the right direction?

[1:20:54] Fire Chief: Unfortunately in the last month or so, I would say

[1:20:59] it's starting to trend back up .

[1:21:04] It could be a combination of things,

[1:21:06] I think probably the combination of drugs also that is out there

[1:21:12] that we are starting to see on the streets again .

[1:21:25] Chair: We do have some public comments,

[1:21:29] but I'm going to ask you to keep them to three minutes.

[1:21:45] Ryan P.: I started out with just wanting

[1:21:57] to know some simple questions and over the week I

[1:22:04] have called the city approximately 30 times,

[1:22:07] been hung up on 17 times, most specifically

[1:22:13] by the city manager's office.

[1:22:15] I called six times today, I left a bunch of voicemails

[1:22:20] and I don't know why I've been ignored.

[1:22:23] I've asked to talk to the city mayor and I've been ignored,

[1:22:31] I have asked to talk to the city attorney

[1:22:33] to find out if any of this was legal,

[1:22:36] I've been ignored and hung up on and I just really

[1:22:38] had some questions and I didn't know why I was treated that way.

[1:22:44] I don't know if you're willing to answer me,

[1:22:47] but I left a bunch of voicemails and I was just wondering why you

[1:22:52] didn't get back with me , same question me and you Mr.

[1:22:59] Mayor have had very good interactions.

[1:23:01] I left voicemails for you and the city attorney,

[1:23:06] I left multiple messages for you and I just

[1:23:09] wondered why I didn't get a call back from anybody.

[1:23:20] I wasn't asking for details of the case,

[1:23:24] I was asking just general questions.

[1:23:26] I feel like my First Amendment rights

[1:23:28] were violated because if I can't even ask questions

[1:23:31] to my government about money being misspent and scams

[1:23:35] and I can't even get a call back,

[1:23:38] I feel like that's a pretty easy violation of my First Amendment

[1:23:42] rights and I just didn't understand why

[1:23:44] you guys would do that to me.

[1:23:48] Anybody interested in answering that question?

[1:23:57] I could show you I have 30 times that I

[1:24:01] tried to call your office.

[1:24:08] Speaker: I heard about your phone call today literally

[1:24:10] at 2:00, I would have gotten back to you.

[1:24:18] Mayor Ben Marciano: I can't speak for the others why they

[1:24:20] didn't call you back, I heard about it today at 2:00.

[1:24:28] I'm answering your question, I'd be more than willing to talk

[1:24:33] to you afterwards when the meeting is over .

[1:24:47] City Manager Peter Lee: I got no messages to my phone,

[1:24:51] chief of staff represents our office

[1:24:56] and I told everyone he edited this document

[1:24:59] and there was nothing to talk about.

[1:25:12] Ryan P.: Though we're about to run out of time,

[1:25:16] I asked the sitting president if you

[1:25:18] can extend my time because this is a concerning matter to me.

[1:25:26] Chair: We had just got the findings a few moments ago ,

[1:25:36] so we know what we did know.

[1:25:40] There was an ongoing investigation ,

[1:25:46] so I can't answer why somebody didn't call you back .

[1:25:56] Ryan P.: This is a lot of times to be hung up on, asked to talk

[1:26:02] to supervisors, being totally ignored .

[1:26:07] Don't you think that that's inappropriate?

[1:26:15] Chair: Did you not talk to someone?

[1:26:24] Ryan P.: I talked to the secretary

[1:26:26] but they hung up on me when I called back and answered

[1:26:32] questions.

[1:26:35] Chair: How many times did you call back

[1:26:38] and talk to the secretary?

[1:26:45] Ryan P.: I believe it was 29 times,

[1:26:47] I left voicemail after voicemail after voice message,

[1:26:53] when I called back and asked for an additional question they

[1:26:57] would literally just hang up the phone on me.

[1:27:00] One time I called and they picked up the phone

[1:27:03] and said oh it's that guy and hung the phone up.

[1:27:06] Then I asked them, I believe the guy's name is Brian,

[1:27:11] I asked him to go back and listen and see

[1:27:13] if they hung up on me and he said he would call me back,

[1:27:16] and that never happened.

[1:27:18] I just think it's very suspicious or nefarious maybe

[1:27:25] that it wasn't brought to our attention,

[1:27:28] the city manager didn't bring it to the citizens

[1:27:31] attention for a long time and when

[1:27:37] trying just to get information, to ignore me for over a week.

[1:27:43] That's a really bad .

[1:27:48] You seem like an honest person, I

[1:27:50] wouldn't imagine that you think that's acceptable.

[1:27:55] Chair: I don't know what happened and what didn't happen.

[1:27:59] I understand, you're giving me your answers.

[1:28:03] I can't answer that.

[1:28:05] What I'm saying to you right now sir, I understand.

[1:28:09] The issue that we have right here now is we

[1:28:15] now have the information to give you,

[1:28:19] not just to give you, to give everybody.

[1:28:24] So please, the information will come out .

[1:28:35] I got what you're saying, but I can't

[1:28:38] answer what I don't know it is time now

[1:28:44] for me to move forward sir.

[1:28:47] We could stand here all night, and I can't answer the question.

[1:28:56] Ryan P.: I was trying to do this off

[1:28:58] of the record for the last week, and I

[1:29:00] think it would be really unprofessional to cut me off.

[1:29:08] Chair: I need to move forward sir, I do appreciate you coming.

[1:29:13] We do appreciate you coming, sir.

[1:29:21] Ryan P.: This is how we going to do it quacks this was not right,

[1:29:27] this was not right.

[1:29:55] Sonia Richie: I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you .

[1:30:03] We did attend the Marion County Commission meeting this morning

[1:30:08] and truly appreciated the commissioners

[1:30:09] being willing to listen, ask questions, and recognize

[1:30:13] there's an important distinction between traditional and

[1:30:19] synthetic products.

[1:30:22] I appreciate the willingness of the City Council

[1:30:25] to sit and have the conversation and I

[1:30:29] want to personally thank Ben Marciano for taking the time

[1:30:33] to come and sit down with us and have a conversation about what

[1:30:37] we serve and how we operate and the difference

[1:30:41] between traditional pure leaf and the products that are

[1:30:48] creating legitimate concerns.

[1:30:52] We stand with the city in addressing

[1:30:56] synthetic and manufactured products.

[1:30:58] What has been important to us from the beginning

[1:31:02] is making sure traditional pure leaf is

[1:31:04] understood and not simply lumped together with other products.

[1:31:08] For eight years we have operated responsibly

[1:31:11] as an alcohol free establishment in the community

[1:31:14] and will continue to do so.

[1:31:16] I wanted to acknowledge the willingness

[1:31:18] we have seen from both the city and the county

[1:31:20] to listen before making decisions.

[1:31:23] In my opinion, good policy starts

[1:31:26] with conversation, accurate information,

[1:31:28] and understanding what is actually being regulated.

[1:31:32] I appreciate your time.

[1:32:11] Kibbie Fulton: We are the only alcohol free bar ,

[1:32:28] we are a food establishment regulated by the state as a food

[1:32:33] establishment.

[1:32:34] I never can stick to the page.

[1:32:38] I heard some of your commentary not too long ago,

[1:32:42] and I would like to keep everything professional

[1:32:45] and let you know we run professionally

[1:32:47] and I would also like to be included with decisions

[1:32:50] you guys make, I would like you to be able to ask me questions.

[1:32:54] We don't believe in seven oh h, I

[1:32:59] think we align with Mr. Marciano if anything that is synthetic.

[1:33:05] We never sold it .

[1:33:11] A potato in a cup doesn't make it vodka,

[1:33:13] there have been bad players in the industry that

[1:33:16] have created something off of a leaf off of a tree

[1:33:19] and made it something that is not good for anybody.

[1:33:23] I would like to propose to you, like we have dispensaries

[1:33:29] for medical marijuana.

[1:33:31] Since we are food regulated, what

[1:33:34] if we were the dispensary for the leaf kratom?

[1:33:42] we're already licensed and inspected

[1:33:44] by the state, what if we helped set

[1:33:47] the bar for the testing, batch numbers, licensing,

[1:33:51] everything you guys are wanting accountability for.

[1:33:54] I'm just trying to offer you a pathway so that a Florida

[1:34:02] legal substance can stay legal.

[1:34:04] The state is already taking care of the problems .

[1:34:11] There will be more things that are probably

[1:34:14] coming up for testing.

[1:34:15] This is all new, the DEA is getting

[1:34:20] ready to drop the illegal side of the bad players

[1:34:24] in the industry, we are not one of them.

[1:34:27] I want you to know a lot of people jump to judgment

[1:34:31] not too long ago up here, and we've been in business

[1:34:36] for eight years.

[1:34:37] We care about our community, we care about integrity.

[1:34:41] I have compassion for anybody who

[1:34:45] has been subjected to people who are just seeking to make money

[1:34:51] and change something that it should have never been,

[1:34:54] that's just my proposal to you and I'm

[1:34:56] willing to answer any questions, I'm

[1:34:58] willing to sit down with you.

[1:35:00] If you guys go and make another meeting

[1:35:02] that has to do with this product,

[1:35:04] please let us be a part of it.

[1:35:06] I'm not here to cause problems for you,

[1:35:08] I'm here to actually solve some of the problems

[1:35:11] and make it easier and I can bring

[1:35:13] people in to help you to understand everything

[1:35:15] a little bit easier not to benefit me,

[1:35:18] it benefits everyone.

[1:35:20] Like this morning we had someone flying

[1:35:22] in from DC I had no idea who was going to be here to speak

[1:35:26] about the kratom leaf product.

[1:35:28] I know you have heard a lot of bad things,

[1:35:31] but there are some really good things

[1:35:33] that have come out of people in recovery,

[1:35:37] pain management, veterans, so they are not on opioids.

[1:35:41] It's just a leaf.

[1:35:44] That's all I'm asking you to do is just consider

[1:35:47] our small business.

[1:35:48] Thank you for letting me go over Mr. President,

[1:35:51] I appreciate it Mr. Marciano, I enjoyed meeting you,

[1:35:55] thank you guys for listening to me.

[1:36:11] Sabrina M. I'm also here as a representative of Muddy Lotus

[1:36:20] tea, I just wanted to say this is only relevant because we went

[1:36:25] to the county commission meeting this morning

[1:36:27] and it's convenient the public comment at the City

[1:36:30] Council, kratom has been a hot topic recently

[1:36:33] and it was quite wonderful and really engaging

[1:36:37] and informational, it was awesome to see support

[1:36:41] from places like our capital and have the global Kratom

[1:36:48] Association come take care of some things as well,

[1:36:51] I felt like there was some real headway.

[1:36:53] I feel like this has been beneficial bringing it

[1:36:57] to the attention of the city in general,

[1:37:00] I feel like things can get overlooked, shoved under, sold

[1:37:05] in the back corners of gas station in effect individuals.

[1:37:12] When we see the differences, it feels sometimes

[1:37:16] like you're having to put up a wall and fight,

[1:37:19] it's really nice to get that information out there

[1:37:22] that there are differences and these things do hurt people

[1:37:25] and there's people that need to be held accountable

[1:37:27] with standards.

[1:37:28] I think that's the biggest portion of that is that

[1:37:32] their standards to uphold and when we don't create better

[1:37:36] standards, people who hurt people just get away Scot free

[1:37:40] and that's always been the bigger fight behind not just

[1:37:45] banning it but really looking into the standards that we set

[1:37:49] that hold other people accountable to their actions .

[1:37:58] It's been great publicity, we did a good job at the bar

[1:38:05] keeping our community safe for the past eight years

[1:38:10] telling them over and over be careful where you go,

[1:38:12] be careful where you buy from, these things are unregulated.

[1:38:16] It's a passion project at this point

[1:38:20] not only to advocate for something that can help people,

[1:38:23] but also something that can also harm people when it's mislabeled

[1:38:28] and people are thinking they are getting something that's

[1:38:31] good for them, so I would love to see the standards,

[1:38:33] it feels like the county commission took it really

[1:38:36] seriously and they are interested in putting paws

[1:38:39] coming back to it reviewing it and making headway

[1:38:42] with that, so I'm hopeful in the future you guys will also

[1:38:46] consider what it looks like to really create standards and not

[1:38:50] just put a ban, because there's a good and bad to everything,

[1:38:56] and this is an industry that needs

[1:38:58] help to have its full potential and its good light

[1:39:02] and actually hold other people accountable

[1:39:03] to their bad actions.

[1:39:05] Thank you for your time and support.

[1:39:30] Peggy Thomas: I would like to first of all thank the city

[1:39:37] of Ocala , I am a descendant of Vern Dawkins,

[1:39:48] and I do have my badge with me that was presented to me here .

[1:40:20] Chair: There's nothing we can do from right here, it

[1:40:22] has to come from you and your staff here I want to hear,

[1:40:27] but I just need to have one of your people.

[1:40:31] You've got five minutes.

[1:40:36] Peggy Thomas: I inherited the family property and home where I

[1:40:42] reside .

[1:40:44] I've been back in Ocala at least five years,

[1:40:48] and I've been living in the house with no heat,

[1:40:51] no hot water , it's been a challenge.

[1:40:59] I found out my pipes were tampered with .

[1:41:09] I have children in the Miami South Florida area,

[1:41:14] it's been a challenge for me to be in the house.

[1:41:16] I signed up for the re Bilitation program five years

[1:41:21] ago when it first opened .

[1:41:28] Four months ago I found out that I was taken off the list,

[1:41:33] and I wasn't notified, no one sent me a letter

[1:41:39] as to what the issue was.

[1:41:42] Once I addressed it with Mr. Haynes

[1:41:51] then I was told that there was a lien on my house

[1:41:57] and I had to retain a lawyer to refute that, it was 20 years ago

[1:42:07] from a repossessed vehicle.

[1:42:09] I had a neighborhood of children I transported back and forth

[1:42:12] to school 20 years ago, so I've been having

[1:42:18] bumps in the road with this.

[1:42:20] Then, I was number two on the list to get a rebuild and then

[1:42:35] I've been Inquiring --

[1:42:38] I was told that I was taken off the list

[1:42:43] and no one had sent me a letter, no notification or phone call.

[1:42:56] I'm here to find out definitely when

[1:43:02] I will be scheduled for rehab, because they put me back

[1:43:09] on the list.

[1:43:12] All I knew was they were building houses all around me

[1:43:15] and I started to question if I'm number two on the list,

[1:43:20] why is everybody else getting homes and I'm not?

[1:43:29] once I inquired, that's what I found out about,

[1:43:35] a lean 20 years ago that I was not informed.

[1:43:41] I couldn't be in the home during the winters, most of the time

[1:43:46] during the summer I am in South Florida where

[1:43:49] my children and family are.

[1:43:52] I would like to get some answers as far as how should I proceed,

[1:43:58] what's going on .

[1:44:03] Like I said, I have no hot water.

[1:44:19] Chris Watt: We will be moving forward with your request

[1:44:23] as fast as we can.

[1:44:24] I will give you my card, if there's anything else you would

[1:44:28] like to speak to me about , you can.

[1:44:38] Peggy Thomas: Thank you all for hearing me out, I appreciate it.

[1:44:43] This has been a value to me, this is my family history and I

[1:44:51] respect police officers, my oldest brother was a retired FBI

[1:44:56] agent, I have a brother in Gainesville who's a retired

[1:45:00] colonel in the Army, so I respect law enforcement deeply

[1:45:08] and I just want to live out the rest of my life in comfort here

[1:45:16] I appreciate you giving me some extra time .

[1:45:35] Chair: Item 17 is notices about different activities

[1:45:39] that we have going on with the city, make sure to read those.

[1:45:47] Comments, we will start with Mr. Mayor.

[1:45:56] Mr. Hilty.

[1:46:04] Councilman James P. Hilty Sr.: Isn't there

[1:46:06] some record of the guy who said he called 29 times?

[1:46:09] I'm asking the city staff about is there

[1:46:13] a record of the voicemails, that you

[1:46:17] spoke to an individual did you leave a message to whoever

[1:46:21] you were calling?

[1:46:27] I don't want him, I want to hear from the city

[1:46:31] as to why the citizen isn't getting responded to.

[1:46:45] Speaker: Mr. Ryan's statements are not completely accurate.

[1:46:48] I spoke with him a week ago in the presence of the city

[1:46:51] attorney at which time he was demanding public records

[1:46:54] requests be fulfilled regarding this investigation

[1:46:58] and what happened.

[1:46:59] I explained to him it was ongoing,

[1:47:01] when it was done the report would be released to the public.

[1:47:05] That was unacceptable to him, numerous times he said

[1:47:08] I was covering it up, a crook.

[1:47:11] Eventually I said to him by when someone continues to go on

[1:47:16] and on I said I'm sorry I don't have any more

[1:47:19] information, if that's hanging up on someone,

[1:47:22] then yes I did it twice.

[1:47:24] Yesterday once I knew the report was almost complete, we would

[1:47:28] have it ready for council today, he had called many many times.

[1:47:33] All the calls that come through the switchboard are recorded,

[1:47:36] I've listened to dozens of them.

[1:47:39] His characterization of what happens is just not accurate,

[1:47:45] I called him yesterday to try to stop this nonsense

[1:47:49] and I called him at the number he had left

[1:47:52] and I told him that it was going to be released today

[1:47:55] and would he like me to leave it at the clerk's office

[1:48:01] or email it to him?

[1:48:05] he became irate and called me a crook and insisted I give it

[1:48:08] to him now .

[1:48:12] I said it has to go to the council

[1:48:14] first before it can be released, he

[1:48:17] said I don't want you to leave it at the clerk's office

[1:48:23] or to email it to me, I want you to be a man

[1:48:25] and hand it to me, which may it be observed, I did.

[1:48:29] I don't know what else to say other

[1:48:32] than his characterization of what occurred

[1:48:35] and what I listened to and what I

[1:48:38] experienced by speaking to him could not

[1:48:39] be further from the truth.

[1:48:43] I think he did call 29 times, I think

[1:48:46] he called more than that, but every time in an irate manner

[1:48:50] the man spoke to a city manager that was at a conference

[1:48:58] or had a business to run and wasn't at his beck

[1:49:01] and call eight hours a day and wasn't available

[1:49:03] and I tried to explain to this gentleman the thing

[1:49:07] that he was demanding wasn't ready to be released yet, there

[1:49:11] still in investigation and when it was I would have it for him

[1:49:15] and when it was I gave it to him.

[1:49:43] Mayor Ben Marciano: Thank you for coming out today,

[1:49:46] I've had several conversations with the Attorney

[1:49:50] general and the testing for the synthetic kratom,

[1:49:52] there's one place that does it and they have to come up

[1:49:56] with some more testing facilities

[1:49:58] to be able to put a major focus on the synthetic kratom which

[1:50:02] I do agree is causing issues in the community

[1:50:04] and there needs to be a focus on that.

[1:50:06] I'm going to be working on that to get that done, I appreciate

[1:50:09] the time we met together and I thought it was a good meeting.

[1:50:14] I also just want to reference I am in city council a lot,

[1:50:18] I do speak to a lot of citizens and I see our staff

[1:50:21] and how they interact with the citizens every day,

[1:50:24] and I really believe they go out of their way to do a good job.

[1:50:29] Sometimes we get it wrong, but I will tell you

[1:50:34] that a lot of times the stories we hear are not always accurate.

[1:50:37] I own a business, I hear from customers all the time,

[1:50:42] but I will tell you our staff go out of their way

[1:50:44] to try to do a great job.

[1:50:47] I see the email strings, I just want

[1:50:51] you to understand they are doing a good job most of the time

[1:50:55] and really putting a lot of effort

[1:50:57] into helping our citizens.

[1:50:59] Lastly I just want to recognize our public information

[1:51:03] office was named Government Team of the year,

[1:51:06] I think Greg and his team have done an amazing job,

[1:51:09] I think I wouldn't be able to do my job without him

[1:51:12] and it's a great acknowledgment of the work that is being done.

[1:51:16] It seems like a lot of our teams are consistently

[1:51:18] recognized for the work they are doing

[1:51:22] and Ocala is a great example for the rest of the country

[1:51:25] and how they should lead.

[1:51:38] Councilman Jay A. Musleh, Pro Tem:

[1:51:40] I would like to thank Pete and the rest of the staff

[1:51:42] for putting together the report on the fraud incident.

[1:51:47] I think it was very thorough, I managed to skim through it .

[1:51:54] It's unfortunate, but if policy and procedures

[1:52:00] had been followed, we would never have had a loss.

[1:52:05] To the employees that are out there,

[1:52:07] I think you are doing a great job,

[1:52:09] but the policies and procedures are in place for a reason

[1:52:12] and they need to be followed, particularly in this day and age

[1:52:17] when we are targeted for scams and frauds probably multiple

[1:52:23] times an hour .

[1:52:42] Thanks to the good work, we did recover a substantial sum

[1:52:47] of money and thanks to the risk management

[1:52:49] side we had the proper insurance in place

[1:52:52] and to the rest of the employees I just

[1:52:55] implore you to know your policies and procedures

[1:52:58] and follow them so we don't have an incident like this

[1:53:01] in the future.

[1:53:03] Thank you.

[1:53:08] Chair: Last week, a few of us went to the conference

[1:53:27] And we talked about a lot of major issues

[1:53:32] like property taxes, how to counsel management system should

[1:53:37] operate, the decorum, we talked about policies and procedures

[1:53:42] and just about anything you can talk about.

[1:53:50] Places like that to go and sit down and talk to your peers ,

[1:54:05] geographically things are different but most

[1:54:08] of the information is the same .

[1:54:17] We took advantage of a great opportunity

[1:54:18] and I think we all came back better informed on how

[1:54:23] to do our job, how we should work together and make things

[1:54:27] happen for our city of Ocala, and I just

[1:54:32] wanted to make sure we said something about that conference,

[1:54:38] because it was outstanding.

[1:54:40] Okay, we are at the end of the council meeting.

[1:54:43] I hope all of you will be safe travels,

[1:54:49] this meeting is adjourned.

City Council

Agenda

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