[0:00] the meeting to order. Everybody stand

[0:02] for an invocation from Commissioner

[0:03] Linda Thompson and then the pledge of

[0:05] allegiance.

[0:07] >> Dear Lord, we thank you for the

[0:08] privilege of gathering here today in our

[0:10] service to our community. Help us all to

[0:13] remember the citizens, families, and

[0:15] neighborhoods affected by the choices

[0:18] made in this room. Inspire a spirit of

[0:21] mutual respect, patience, and courage

[0:23] among our leaders and our public. guide

[0:26] our discussions so that we serve the

[0:28] common good and build a stronger, safer

[0:30] future for everyone we represent. Amen.

[0:34] >> Amen.

[0:36] >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[0:38] United States of America and to the

[0:41] republic for which it stands, one nation

[0:43] under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[0:46] justice for all.

[0:49] >> Carly, if you can call the role, please.

[0:52] >> Here. Thompson here.

[0:55] Penny

[0:56] >> here.

[0:58] All right. Well, good morning everybody.

[1:00] Um, thanks for joining us today. Today,

[1:03] we're going to induct an agenda meeting

[1:05] for the September 9th regular commission

[1:07] meeting immediately followed by an

[1:09] administrative workshop. Right now,

[1:11] we're just going to briefly go through

[1:13] the agenda items for next week. Uh,

[1:18] looks like we've got under public

[1:20] hearing, we've got an ordinance number

[1:22] 2026-01,

[1:24] which is an ordinance of the city of

[1:25] South Pasadena, Florida, amending

[1:27] appendix chapter A198, fees of the code

[1:30] of ordinances relating to rates and

[1:32] charges for sewage usage to increase the

[1:35] base minimum monthly sewer rates and

[1:37] sewer flow charge rate by 5%. Providing

[1:41] an effective date will be the second and

[1:44] final reading. Uh the next item that

[1:46] we'll review next week will be ordinance

[1:49] number 2026-02

[1:51] and this is an ordinance of the city of

[1:53] South Pasadena, Florida amending

[1:54] appendix chapter A198 fees uh fees of

[1:59] the code of yeah fees of the code of

[2:02] ordinance relating to the rates and

[2:03] charges for reclaimed water. Uh to

[2:06] increase the minimum monthly reclaimed

[2:08] water service charge for single family

[2:10] residential customers to $13.66 66 and

[2:14] to create the increase the commercial

[2:17] and municipal user service charges to

[2:19] $3901

[2:21] per pvious acre and this will be a

[2:24] second and final reading as well. Uh our

[2:27] third item will be resolution number

[2:29] 2026-06.

[2:31] A resolution of the city commission of

[2:33] the city of South Pasino, Florida,

[2:35] adopting a tenative millage rate for ad

[2:38] valerum taxes for the city of South

[2:40] Pasino for a fiscal year 2026 to 2027

[2:44] and providing for an effective date.

[2:47] Um next item, item number four will be

[2:50] ordinance number 2026-03.

[2:53] This is an ordinance of the city of

[2:55] South Pasino, Florida. adopting fiscal

[2:57] year 2026 2027 budget providing for an

[3:01] effective date and this will be a second

[3:03] reading. Uh then we got no unfinished

[3:06] business. We will have the consent

[3:07] agenda which will be the approval of the

[3:09] minutes from August uh which are always

[3:11] available here at the office. And then

[3:14] we'll have new business uh item number

[3:16] six which is a motion and this is to

[3:18] approve the extension of contract for

[3:20] legal services with Gray Robinson for

[3:23] services as city attorney for the period

[3:24] of October 1, 2026 through September

[3:27] 30th, 2027.

[3:30] Does anyone have any questions or

[3:33] concerns over the items for next week?

[3:35] >> No questions.

[3:36] >> We're all good.

[3:37] >> All right. Uh well, the agenda is

[3:40] approved for next week and we will now

[3:42] adjourn.

[3:44] Let's head downstairs.

[4:50] Hold on one second.

[4:52] >> Okay.

[4:54] >> All right.

[4:56] So, we're now going to call the

[4:58] administrative workshop to order. Uh

[5:00] probably to do the roll call one more

[5:02] time.

[5:02] >> Mer

[5:03] >> here.

[5:03] >> Magal

[5:04] >> here. Thompson here. Reed

[5:06] >> Penny

[5:07] >> here. All right. Looks like we've got a

[5:10] one item agenda. Uh personnel update.

[5:13] Who's handling all that?

[5:15] >> I'll come down. Some some others might join me at some point, but I'll

[5:18] come down.

[5:21] » This is should be relatively brief.

[5:27] Thank you, sir. Um, so as you know,

[5:31] we've had um a temporary office

[5:34] assistant position in community

[5:36] improvement that was previously filled

[5:38] and the employee moved away. So we had

[5:40] it has been um vacant. Uh in our in our

[5:44] discussions amongst the department heads

[5:46] and kind of looking at what the

[5:48] potential financial situation is of the

[5:49] city, we've been trying to find some

[5:51] alternative solutions to our needs if

[5:53] possible. Um and so in discussion with

[5:57] Terry and on. We decided that it maybe

[6:01] uh it may work out for all departments

[6:04] involved if we were to um sort of share

[6:09] the administrative assistant from public

[6:11] works into community improvement to help

[6:14] fill that gap. Um so she's uh Marie has

[6:19] worked over in C before. She she

[6:21] supported them after the storms and did

[6:22] a great job. Um, and it may just be an

[6:25] easier fit that way than trying to fill

[6:27] the temporary position again for just

[6:29] another year and then getting rid of it

[6:31] again based on our financial situation

[6:33] and sort of the unknowns with dropping

[6:36] taxes and whatnot. Seems like a logical

[6:38] thing to try and see if this would work.

[6:42] wanted to discuss with you all, let you

[6:45] know that our plan there is, if you all

[6:48] are okay with it, is to

[6:51] remove the office assistant position

[6:53] from community improvement and actually

[6:56] on the city's work chart listed as an

[6:58] administrative assistant position within

[7:00] community improvement and consider the

[7:03] position a part of that department

[7:05] because of the accounting that goes into

[7:06] running that department. Yeah. If the

[7:08] physician is going to be doing work

[7:10] there, it should be a part of that.

[7:13] >> Right.

[7:14] >> So that's our thought there. That's

[7:16] really why we wanted to bring special

[7:17] attention to it.

[7:18] >> So you're going to change a title, you

[7:20] saying to the job?

[7:21] >> Completely different position.

[7:22] >> Okay.

[7:23] >> And in theory, not consider it temporary

[7:26] over there anymore. It would be an

[7:29] administrative assistant position in

[7:30] community improvement and then on the

[7:33] city's work chart will leave an

[7:35] administrative assistant position listed

[7:36] in public works but not fill it

[7:39] >> if that makes sense.

[7:40] >> Yeah. So not not adding a position more

[7:43] shifting it from one place to the other.

[7:45] >> Leave their case in the future it does

[7:46] come to where we do need

[7:49] >> yeah just in case the need in the city's

[7:51] financial situation it were to make

[7:53] sense we could fill that also but for

[7:55] right now there's a pretty significant

[7:57] need in community improvement.

[7:58] >> You'll get support you need.

[7:59] >> Oh yeah yes yes 100%.

[8:02] >> Good and a lot of money. So just

[8:05] accounting wise it makes sense for it to

[8:07] be a community improvement department

[8:10] employee if that makes sense. So that's

[8:12] really why we wanted to draw specific

[8:14] attention to it was I wanted to be

[8:16] upfront about us

[8:19] >> a title showing her that she's half and

[8:21] half just a title saying she's C.

[8:23] >> She would be administrative assistant in

[8:25] C.

[8:26] >> That then also supports public works

[8:28] rather than administrative assistant in

[8:31] public works supporting C. So is public

[8:33] works going to be paying any of the

[8:35] salary?

[8:35] >> Most likely no.

[8:37] >> All come out of C.

[8:38] >> It would depend on the amount of work,

[8:40] >> but we think that the substantial amount

[8:42] is going to be in C.

[8:44] >> Okay. So you're saying they don't do

[8:45] much work over there.

[8:49] >> Just checking.

[8:51] >> Kind of sound like it. You know,

[8:53] >> honestly,

[8:53] >> she's able to do both.

[8:55] >> A testament to honestly how well it's

[8:57] run over there because everything is so

[8:59] set in processes and cycles and whatnot

[9:01] that it's They're such a welloiled

[9:03] machine is really what I'm saying. And

[9:05] >> by leaving position open if if he

[9:08] something came up where you needed

[9:10] somebody could always fill it.

[9:12] >> Exactly. So it would be listed on the

[9:14] org chart which there will be an org

[9:15] chart listed in the in the final version

[9:18] of the budget that you all get. So I

[9:19] just didn't want to shock you. If

[9:21] there's these positions, one is just

[9:23] going to be considered vacant. It's

[9:25] there if we need it. It's built into the

[9:27] city's system and structure, but we just

[9:29] are not planning to fill it right now.

[9:31] If

[9:32] >> there any pay changes for this process

[9:34] or anything?

[9:34] >> No, because she's already paid at an

[9:36] administrative assistant rate. So, it's

[9:39] >> the same.

[9:41] >> It would be the same. Correct. It's

[9:42] saving us the temporary office position.

[9:45] >> Gotcha.

[9:46] >> Office assistant position.

[9:48] >> It was a lower pay scale, but it was an

[9:50] additional pay.

[9:51] >> You guys have all chatted this out.

[9:52] You're good. And

[9:53] >> we have. Yeah. And Marie helped us so

[9:56] much during the storms that I it I think

[9:58] it's going to be a good fit. She also

[9:59] used to work over there.

[10:01] >> She used to do back and forth anyway.

[10:03] >> Yeah.

[10:06] She's good at what she does and

[10:07] >> you know it'll we'll we'll be okay.

[10:11] >> And I can

[10:12] >> going away

[10:14] fast two fingers.

[10:18] » Yeah.

[10:18] >> But no, we're good. We're We'll be We'll

[10:20] be good.

[10:21] >> Good.

[10:22] >> Okay.

[10:23] >> Yeah, it'll work. Sean and I are

[10:26] talking.

[10:28] >> Right. So there's nothing voting wise or

[10:30] anything. It just

[10:31] >> Well, well, I mean, we do want your

[10:33] approval to to do that. It is replacing

[10:36] a temporary position.

[10:37] >> Everybody's good with the

[10:38] >> consensus. It's saving us money.

[10:40] >> It's saving us money to do it this way.

[10:42] >> Okay, perfect.

[10:44] >> And we would continue. It wouldn't just

[10:46] be for the year.

[10:46] >> Yeah, it would be

[10:48] >> on and on and on and on.

[10:50] >> So that's indefinitely is is kind of the plan. So that's the one thing. I

[10:57] have one other Just to let you all know,

[10:59] um, we have some calls set up this week.

[11:01] Um, we've had a reserve employee in the

[11:04] fire department, um, who recently, uh,

[11:09] got orders for a three-year active duty

[11:11] deployment. Um, so his his orders

[11:14] previously had been much shorter than

[11:17] that, few weeks at a time, maybe a

[11:19] month. Um, yeah, he just got threeear

[11:21] orders. And so we're going to be

[11:23] evaluating

[11:24] um how we handle that in terms of we'll

[11:27] need to hire for that position. And then

[11:29] we just need to be ready with a plan in

[11:32] place for when he returns. If he returns

[11:34] to employment here with the city, we

[11:36] have to make sure that we are doing what we need to do um for him if he chooses to come back to the city.

[11:44] Sometimes when people have that long of

[11:45] a deployment, their lives change. They

[11:47] don't necessarily want to go back to

[11:49] where they were. We don't we don't know.

[11:51] But we just want to make sure that we

[11:52] have a plan in place and that we know

[11:54] what our responsibilities are to make

[11:56] sure that he's planned for.

[11:58] >> So he's becomes off the books for us for

[12:01] that period of time technically.

[12:03] >> So he he's still a city employee. He

[12:05] stays on unless he chooses to resign

[12:07] which he doesn't need to. He stays on

[12:09] the books. He's just not paid anything.

[12:12] He stops acrewing anything. But he is

[12:15] considered an employee. It's pensionable

[12:17] service.

[12:19] >> Yeah. He stops

[12:20] >> how does he how does a new

[12:22] >> No, he's still it's still pensionable

[12:23] term of service. He is an employee with

[12:25] the city. He's just not getting paid

[12:27] >> because it's military. Yeah.

[12:29] >> So, his pension increases.

[12:31] >> It continues to

[12:32] >> this counts as years of service.

[12:34] >> Okay.

[12:35] >> Unless he were to resign, which is his

[12:38] choice, but um he's dropped off of the

[12:40] city's health insurance. He does get

[12:41] health insurance through the military.

[12:44] Um

[12:46] >> how does a new person come in? They are

[12:48] they're like kind of like a ops op, you

[12:52] know, optional personal services or

[12:54] >> I mean that's kind of what we're going

[12:55] to look at. Most likely not. Our our

[12:57] hope there I think and we're going to

[12:59] need to we have calls set up for

[13:00] tomorrow and Thursday on this to try to

[13:02] get a a plan in place to make sure that

[13:04] we're doing what we need to do. The hope

[13:06] there is that we can fill the position

[13:07] and then it naturally will staffing will

[13:10] adjust because three years is a long

[13:12] time and there's you know potentially

[13:14] turnover in that three years. So there

[13:17] it's kind of it's a moving target.

[13:20] Obviously you can't hold anyone to any

[13:22] anything and we plan for everybody to be

[13:24] here for as long as they would like to

[13:25] be. Um

[13:26] >> but they know that's coming in that the

[13:29] spot could be might only be for three

[13:31] years. Is that how you tell this person

[13:33] that they're hired or

[13:34] >> probably not?

[13:35] >> Um I hesitate to answer some of those

[13:38] questions at this moment. Um, no. It

[13:41] would most likely be hiring for a

[13:43] full-time on staff position with no no

[13:46] terms of

[13:48] >> years and then we would the the

[13:50] difficult part would be adjusting and

[13:51] adapting when the other employee

[13:53] returns.

[13:54] >> That's we have to make sure that we're

[13:56] fair to both if that makes sense.

[13:59] >> So, worst case you'd be hiring an extra

[14:02] firefighter in the end if he came back.

[14:04] >> So, there was turnover.

[14:05] >> Okay. If there was no turn,

[14:07] >> we'll we'll make sure that we know what

[14:08] the city's obligations are truly and

[14:10] that we're, you know, fair and plan.

[14:13] >> It's it's a very difficult thing to to

[14:15] plan for, unfortunately. So, we're going

[14:18] to kind of have some contingency plans.

[14:20] >> Couple months ago, we were talking about

[14:23] the state legislating that we might have

[14:25] to add a force shift so that we went to

[14:27] a 40-hour work week. Do we know if

[14:29] that's getting any closer? Because that

[14:30] would encompass all this. Um, right now

[14:33] the the focus is so on property taxes

[14:35] that everything else is kind of kind of

[14:37] paused both at the state level and

[14:39] locally. Um, I think

[14:41] >> cities are not blind to the fact that is most likely coming down the pike

[14:44] at some point. Now whether that's a year

[14:47] two, three or six, seven or eight, it is

[14:50] most likely going to happen. I think the

[14:52] property tax changes, if that passes,

[14:54] could really affect the time frame of

[14:56] that because if that passes, you are

[14:58] significantly limiting the financial

[15:00] abilities of a lot of local governments.

[15:02] And so, if you're wanting to make some

[15:04] changes in that, you are slowing our

[15:06] ability to do that if if the property

[15:08] tax legislation passes. So, a lot of

[15:11] that is sort of paused. The the thinking

[15:12] is it's going to happen. It's just when

[15:15] >> So,

[15:17] if that makes sense. So, I just wanted

[15:19] to let you all know that. So if and when

[15:21] you see us advertising a position for a

[15:23] firefighter, that's that's what it is.

[15:25] >> So and that we're going to do

[15:26] >> you're fully staffed right now?

[15:29] >> Yes.

[15:30] >> Or is there there's no openings at this

[15:33] time?

[15:33] >> Okay.

[15:34] >> No.

[15:36] >> Okay.

[15:36] >> So just just the one we're about to

[15:38] post.

[15:38] >> Okay.

[15:39] >> Right. Right.

[15:40] >> So the only openings we have right now

[15:41] in the city is finance.

[15:44] >> Okay.

[15:47] All right. Anybody else have any

[15:49] questions or anything?

[15:51] >> No. Nothing else for us?

[15:53] >> That was it. I just want to let you all

[15:55] know

[15:56] >> we're we're working on it. So, I don't

[15:57] know if any of the other directors have

[15:59] anything, but that's all. That's all for

[16:00] me.

[16:01] >> All right. Anybody else over there got

[16:03] anything you wanted to say or no? Just

[16:05] want to come up hand or nothing. Okay.

[16:08] All right. Well, then we are going to

[16:10] adjourn.

[16:13] >> Great.

[16:17] have a chance.

[16:20] It only takes a minute, girl.

September 1, 2026 Agenda Meeting and Administrative Workshop

Transcript