All right, well, that's a little better. Let her sit down. Did you struggle the party? We all had a hard time. I called this meeting to order today of the Community Resiliency and Leisure Services Advisory Board. I'd like to start with the approval of the June 25th minutes. Does anyone have any comments? I hope that we approve the minutes. All in favor? Citizens to be heard? Yeah, I just was checking. Oh, I'm sorry. Yep, citizens to be heard. Do we have anyone? All right, so new business on the agenda. We have hurricane preparedness. Yes, so Ms. Maya McClaney from Emergency Management is here to provide that presentation that we were trying to schedule for the last time. Well, this week seems appropriate since the rally just formed. So good afternoon, everybody. My name is Maya McClaney with the City of Clearwater's Emergency Management Department. I'm just here to give you a – Can you speak up a little bit, please? I'll try to, sorry. I'm here to give you just a presentation on hurricane preparedness to you all today. Keep it short and sweet. So a couple of things I'm going to talk about. So it's just understanding your risks, preparing your household or yourself, how Clearwater prepares, how emergency management helps the citizens prepare, and just any questions or comments you have for me. So just a quick snapshot of the current hurricane season. So we, right now, we're scheduled to have seven to 13 storms, two to six hurricanes, and possibly two major hurricanes. And just a couple of snapshots from the El Nino, if you've heard of that, the tropical influence. So currently, right now, the eastern part of the Atlantic is pretty calm, pretty tame. We have Dolly possibly kind of churning into Atlantic. But if you look at current systems on NWS and NHC, National Hurricane Center, on the west side of the country, the Pacific, they currently have about four systems. Churning in the – and up in the far left corner, they have their most recent storm that let off a lot of rain on the Hawaii Islands. So basically from this slide, just take from – that we're pretty calm. We're pretty – nothing's too much going on in the Atlantic. But in the western part of the country, they're pretty active with their storm systems. So why does hurricane emeritus for clear water? Just a couple of things. Their coastal water impacts. So like storm surge and coastal flooding is pretty common for clear water concerning hurricanes. Winds and severe weather for strong winds and tornadoes associated with tropical systems. People kind of forget about tornadoes. You just think hurricanes, tropical storms for tornadoes are pretty, pretty common, especially after the after-effects of hurricanes come through the area. The conditions, the weather, the impacts of the hurricanes. And community disruption. So power outages, road transportation impacts, and essential services from lights, from energy to gas can be impacted by hurricane winds and impacts. So storm surge and coastal flooding. Just wanted to identify this because it commonly gets confused sometimes. So storm surge can go from 1 to 3 feet up to 15 feet. And coastal flooding can kind of go up to 3 feet. And it can be localized or from rain systems. So some common coastal locations and impacts, including heavy rainfall, strong winds, coastal hazards, and power outages. And some more information on storm surge. So normal tide, king tide, low tide. Just always be cognizant of that because hurricane system can kind of be worse than anticipated with king tides. So if anything, I hope you take away from my presentation today is just to make a plan for yourself and your family. Where will you go? Where will you evacuate? Whether it's a hotel, your family, your friends. It doesn't make sense to evacuate to your family or friends if they're in just as worse circumstance. Kind of defeats the purpose of evacuating. And if you go to a friend's house that they're in a flood zone, evacuation zone, go somewhere. Maybe it's go to Orlando. Maybe it's go out of state. But just make that cognizant effort if you're going to evacuate and make that plan to go to a more safer area. Don't go to anywhere just as worse. Kind of defeats the purpose of evacuation a little bit. I mean, just protecting your property, whether it's boarding up your houses, taking care of your lawn mowers, your garage, any of your things that kind of is not tied down, make sure they are tied down. Make sure they're in a secure space. Plan for your vehicle. If you have four vehicles, maybe have someone drive all vehicles or make conditions for your vehicle to be in a more higher lane. Clearwater is pretty low-lying. Kind of have a couple high points. So if necessary, take that extra vehicle, too, to a more high elevation point in the city of Clearwater to be safe in case some storm happens to come by. A go kit. I always equate a go kit to having that carry-on bag. You go on an airplane, you have your carry-on bag. So just pack that carry-on bag with medications, important documents. Don't forget maybe your Social Security card, your insurance. So say if your house is impacted by a hurricane, you want to kind of get the ball rolling on insurance and whatnot. So have those important documents with you. Have some extra cash. Sometimes ATMs or your cars, you might not be able to use them. So have some cash with you, some reserve cash. So medications for yourself and maybe your animals. Don't forget about your animals, their medication, their food, their water. Kind of keep that in the back of your head. There are insurance documents maybe. So items like that I always keep on hand. Flashlights, food, water that goes without saying. But make sure you don't forget your pets and your reported documents. Plan for the possibility of no power. Power may go out. So if you have refrigerated medicine, maybe like insulin or things like that, make sure you have refrigerated, maybe in a cold bag, a lunch box, or anything like that. Just make sure your medication can be safe and secure. If you have a generator, make sure you follow all safety precautions for generators. Not having it in a closed space because that's very bad, having an open space. The way you're not potential for death or anything like that concerning generator safety. If you have mobility needs, if you have a wheelchair, anything like that, make accommodations. Pinellas County has a really good system for special needs evacuation and registry. So if you have yourself or anyone, your family or friends who needs special needs consideration for your equipment, for your medical needs, look for those possibilities in case you possibly impact with no power. Evacuations. We don't see the clear. We don't take that lightly to tell anyone to evacuate just when nothing's happening or potential. Nothing's probably going to happen. We're staying evacuated. We really mean to heart to evacuate to a safer and secure environment. Like I said, whether it's family or friends, a hotel, make those necessary precautions if you want to. Follow the evacuation orders. Or if you stay, just make those precautions. Secure your house, whether you're in a local area. Just make sure you're in a safe and secure environment. And knowing your zone. So most of the clear water is in the red zone, so we're high risk. So red, yellow, and green, and orange. So most of the clear water, as you see concerning the graphic, is in the red area, so high risk. Multiple ways to stay informed. So evacuation zones are related to your storm surge risk, and flood risk is related to flood levels for floodwaters. So two different risks and zones, just to be cognizant. And that QR code takes you to the Pinellas County Know Your Zone webpage, so you can put in your specific address or your family or friend's address, and they'll know which zone they're in for evacuation zones. So what do I do? So emergency management, we do a lot of planning. And right now, we're pretty in the thick of mitigation and grant funding. So we have probably about 45 to 50 storm projects to still go through from Hurricanes, Helene, Debbie, and Millicent. So we still have a lot of projects to go through to get reimbursement and funds back into the city. So, so far today, we've received 9.3 million paid reimbursement funds. We're still working through a couple more million projects between all our city departments to get more funds back into the city, reimbursement through state and FEMA processes. So try to get some more money back at the city for more projects from those three storms. And we recently, last year, closed out Hurricane Hermine. That happened in 2005. So storm projects take a very long time to close out. We're trying to get better at that year by year to get those reimbursement funds and closed out. So by close out, I mean that project is physically complete and fiscally complete. So document and project. So two different things. So project is not complete. It may be done and dusted, but the documentation is not done. So that project is not done. Those two things need to be complete to get full reimbursement from FEMA and the state. And also, we just completed our training and exercise back in May with our city department. So that's another thing emergency management really hones in on is training up our departments to really coordinate, to just prepare for different hurricane seasons, for notice events, and no notice events. So that can be a bridge collapse. That can be a sewer line break. So I am here to talk about hurricane preparedness, but we also try to hone in on those no notice events. So those events can happen. They sometimes happen. Plane crashes, unfortunately. Things like that still need to prepare for, not just hurricane preparedness. So we try to prepare for those things also. So a couple things we're working on now. Like I said, we just finished earlier this week, Monday, actually. We had some FDM regional administrators come down and talk to our city departments about different projects, and just giving grant funding and issues like that to just really inform our departments about reimbursement and things we can get reimbursed. So it's better to go through reimbursement and projects for the state and also FEMA also. So preparedness is a city-wide responsibility. It can't all just be on emergency management. We need public works, public utilities, CGS, energy, all our gas partners to just really hone in for city residents, community partners, and city government to really inform the community about preparedness, the go-kits, extended community outreach, hurricane preparedness days, and expos. We really try to encourage the public to attend those to just kind of get some freebies, but get information and prepare their stuff for different hurricane seasons. So this circular figure just really holds in on preparing, responding, recovering, and mitigating, and building resilience. When we hit all of those factors in the circular graphic, we'll be a better resilient community. So the community has a role, too. So what the residents need from the city, they need accessible service, evacuation guidance, safe facilities and resources, transportation information, debris removal, and recovery information. And what a city needs from residents is to stay informed, so follow those social media, pay attention to reputable local news stations and social media aspects, whether it's Facebook, whether it's Instagram, whether it's X, any of those, to stay informed and prepare for different hurricane seasons. So staying connected. These are a couple things. Social media is the way of today. So Alert Pinellas is a really good option. And it alerts you, whether it's text message and email to receive information. They just don't kind of robocall you with information. They really, whether it's severe thunderstorms, whether it's hurricanes, whether those no-noticed events like water main breaks, something like that major, they'll alert you to their information. So they just don't kind of text you just for no reason. Also, NWS is a really good system. They send out alerts also, similar to Alert Pinellas. And National Hurricane Center is another good one to monitor information, for example, for the tropical system, a valley that is out in the Atlantic. And City of Clearwater, our social media accounts, whether it's Clearwater Fire and Rescue, the city page, Instagram, Facebook, all of those social media avenues are good sources of information to be updated. And I hope I prepared you guys enough for the hurricane season. That's it for me. Does anyone have any questions? How much of, on that map that you were showing, the evacuation zone, how much of that is in a critical high hazard zone? How much of that is in a critical high hazard? So generally the red and yellow are the most critical and hazard zones. The red and yellow? Red and yellow. So generally green, sorry, red and orange. Yellow and green, you're okay. Still need to be monitored, still need to be cognizant. But the red and orange, you definitely need to be cognizant and kind of on your toes with those zones. All right. So the whole beach, the entire beach is in a critical high hazard zone. So more inland, the central part of that, you're not necessarily in a flood zone. But different communities can still flood. We know a couple kind of notable apartment complexes and such that are more prone to flooding. So just so they're not necessarily in that flood zone, they're still a little more prone to flooding. But generally the left part of the state, not state, the left part of the city of Clearwater is pretty prone to flood. So in terms of the fact that our climate is continuing to change and, you know, get more frequent storms and more severity of storms, I would say I'm guessing that when you talk about mitigation, you're taking and lessons learned, you're looking at the 2024 storms and where we were vulnerable, where we flooded, where damage was done. Yeah. So concerning mitigation, so just kind of get it back up to the status quo or whatever it is, but more improve it. So it kind of defeats the purpose to mitigate it, to go back to some different projects, to go back to the same status. You want to improve it. Otherwise, another storm system comes through, you're kind of back at step one. So just mitigate it, but improve to better circumstances for whatever project that may be, whether it's home, business, public city property, improve, but make it better. So less likelihood to be impacted to a more severe level. Because people are going to build, even though they are in a flood zone. So, yeah, people are going to build in a flood zone, so it's best to just kind of inform them of, hey, if it's possible to elevate your home, different aspects to just improve your home quality and mitigate it from the start that way if some impact does happen, it's not as much severity level. So just mitigate it from the start and as you go. I think that's a maybe picky you in question. It seems to me like a lot of residents have electric vehicles, and I know that many times now they're catching fire during storms. Does the city of Clearwater have any kind of say-so in something like that or perhaps a plan to say, okay, you know, we've got 200 parking spaces in this that you can park in or anything like that? Just out of curiosity. Our plan is just to inform people who have those electric vehicles that, if possible, find a safe zone that was elevated. And State of Clearwater is pretty flat generally, but just to find an elevated level or go, similar to when you evacuate, go to a more safe or more elevated part of Florida or even out of state. So just, or even a parking garage is our good system. If you find a good parking garage, it is available to park there if a storm is approaching, a hurricane is approaching, to park at an elevated level is the best plan of action. Just not the library today? No. Well, during the last storm, I do recall that the city did inform the public regarding the parking garages because that was a concern. And so they did make a, identify those parking garages where they were elevated enough and where the parking was available. So that's part of the, I would say that would be part of public communications. When they get that information, they try to push that out to the community as much as possible. Yes, you try to push that information out because if you just kind of let your car be in a more flood-prone area for electric cars, it may catch on fire or just cause more damage to that vehicle. So elevated area is the best option. Thank you. So quick question. First off, thanks for all the work you do. I think it's really important. I want to know how we can best support your efforts because I saw, obviously, you need to engage the community. You can't do this all by yourself. How could we as a board be more helpful for you? Just continue to help us be out in the community. We try to do different community aspects. We just, a couple weeks ago, talked with the Santee residents. So just going out in the community, having quick presentations, just quick outings, kind of like mini little expos, just being out in the community because people are their best resources. So sometimes if some system comes, we may not be able to get to you just as quickly. For instance, our fire apparatuses, I think it's above 35 miles per hour. They can't be on a roadway. So you need to be self-sufficient for three to seven days if somebody who can't get to you, whether it's EMS or fire. So just informing residents, different events, whether it's locally, whether it's other surrounding cities, to just be as resilient as possible. So those mini events are really impactful to just informing residents to make them resilient as their self, their community, their family, but as a whole community of the city of Clearwater. So different events like that are really helpful. I think in terms of the stormwater, and this is, I think, along with what you're saying, is that, I mean, nobody wants their home and their garage flooded. But when that happens, all kinds of materials end up in our bay and in our surrounding waters. And so it's terrible for the environment. It's terrible for our water quality for this to happen. And so, I mean, it's a lose-lose all around. And I don't know if there's any way of mitigating the stormwater, just overwhelming our stormwater systems when we have big rain events or hurricanes. But I assume that that's what you're working on. Like, I know the city's working on lining pipes and, you know, trying to make our whole stormwater system and our wastewater systems more, bring them up to date, make them more resilient. Because, I mean, I know people. So in my neighborhood, we had flooding for the first time near 19 because, you know, we had a failure of our stormwater system. And so, you know, people came and parked their cars around that lake to get away from flooding where they lived, and they ended up with their cars totaled. So it was unexpected. And there's been a lot of infrastructure repair as a result of that. So, I mean, so that's a good thing. I think we'll be able to, you know, bear a big storm event, hopefully. But, I mean, the entire county was overwhelmed. I mean, all stormwater systems were overwhelmed in 2024. So, I mean, it's a big task. It is a big task. And, like you're alluding to, it's our goal to just kind of repair, replace, and mitigate where we can, where it's feasible, where it's plausible, to just, like I said, mitigate storms come and go. Severity levels kind of vary and fluctuate. But just different repair, replace, and mitigate will be on a better path to resiliency. Impressed me. What? Kelly, can you get closer, Chairman? What impressed me during the last hurricanes was neighbors, helping neighbors. And Glenna and her husband here helped me with all of my downed trees. So, is there, like, a place that you can direct people for help for their own yards that, you know, maybe they don't have a lot of money? Do you do that at all? Like, direct them to help? For a cleanup after a storm? Yeah. Like, you know, I don't know, call the city and say, you know, I need help. Is there a resource center for people like that to get help? Yes, depending on the storm severity, they're called MARCS. So, different kind of resource centers locally, kind of generally. Sometimes there are libraries. Sometimes it's probably the most common ones, like libraries, like little resource centers. People can come to get information about how to separate their debris, separate their trash. It's a really big one. If you've got batteries, whether it's wood, whether it's different aspects of your home. So, different aspects like that. There's resource centers like that. They're called MARCS, M-A-R-C, to get resource information about kind of helping yourself, helping your family and friends, your community, kind of paying it forward, lending a helping hand, like you're mentioning. Okay. But there's not really some kind of place that neighbors can watch out for each other, like a Facebook group or something. I don't know, posts, they need help. And, you know, we were really overwhelmed. We couldn't get help anywhere. We were lucky to have a friend cut down the trees and, like I said, them help us. But that's kind of where social media kind of comes into the picture in our public information and comms team. They kind of get the information out where you can go to kind of get information and resources like that. So, it's kind of where our social media and kind of communication teams come into the picture to get the information out to the public for information like that. Thanks. I would just like to comment on that. I know that, for instance, the city of Dunedin has, like, I don't know what they call the golf cart protocol or golf cart warriors or something. And they went out after the storm with chainsaws. And I know our neighborhood got together and did stuff like that. So, I think that's more of a kind of a volunteer organization as opposed to a city-sponsored thing. You know, I know our neighborhood. So, the city will sponsor certain things depending on the severity of the storm. So, out on the beach, planning staff had tents to help everybody figure out, okay, how do we get back into our homes? Because they were evacuated. There's going to be rebuilding. There's going to be all kinds of mitigation efforts. So, there's that. The county also. So, the city and the county work together to push all that information in terms of resources. But then it's also, and I think Ms. Westmark kind of alluded to it as well, is each community, your block. Because I know my block. I live in Countryside. And my block, our block of neighbors, we got together and we started checking on each other. Because as somebody who lived through Andrew, the county and the state or the city may not get to you as quickly as possible. But your neighbors are probably quicker. And so, sometimes it's just making sure you have those resources available to you at first. But the county and the city will work together to push as much. Because there were a lot of lessons learned during the last storms where we realized we needed more volunteers. In some cities, it just was very organic. And we're learning from all the other cities in the region. And so, those are things that we know, hey, people need this service and how do we get to them? Well, okay, let's try to group together. And that's part of the outreach effort that goes on after the storm. And two more acronyms you didn't ask for. VOAS is Voluntary Organizations. So, there are lists of organizations from Red Cross to Salvation Army. And some are local. Well, it's not as more kind of notable in name as those. There are more local resources to get your information and resources. And also PODS, so points of distribution. They'll be throughout the city kind of manned by our Parks and Rec team and led by them. So, you can get those physical resources and information at those PODS sites throughout the city post-storm. So, water and things like that beyond your capabilities if you don't have those resources at PODS, points of distribution. Along the same lines as what they were talking about with after-storm assistance. I think the biggest thing I noticed was a need for storm preparedness assistance. Because we had a lot of elderly people who called my husband and I asking for help. And there wasn't a direct resource to send them to. So, we just helped whoever we could get to to help in time. But I think you'd have a lot less to clean up if the elderly had assistance up front. And so, I would love to see maybe an initiative where there is kind of help with that. I know, like, with sandbags, it's kind of help yourself a little. But, like, even just, like, if you put those in someone's car, if they couldn't fill them themselves, they're not going to be able to take them out of their car either. So, I'd love to see a more. And maybe it's the Clearwater volunteers. But, like, our home is not in a flood area. And so, we try and help whoever we can help because we don't have a lot of storm prep to do. And there must be other people who similarly live in the very high points of Clearwater who would also be willing to volunteer their time. But I do think that kind of, like, a public initiative to, like, tell people, like, you know, hey, here's where you could submit them. And then the volunteers can sign up for them or whatever. But I do think we could do some prevention with some proactive assistance. Very nice. Thank you. I have a question. Maya, right? Yes, sir. Good report. Very good. I appreciate it. So, explain how Alert Pinellas works because you mentioned Alert Pinellas. We can sign up. And is it a coordinated effort between the county and the jurisdictions like Clearwater? Yes. So, the county, we can give information to them, and they send it out through Alert Pinellas. Well, this is a QR code. I have some Alert Pinellas cards to give out also. But if you just type in Alert Pinellas on whatever, whatever, your phone, laptop, whatever, it'll bring you to it. Just enter your information. You can enter as many e-mails as you want to, as many phone numbers as you want to. It'll kind of sign you up, and you go from there. Like I said, it's not just hurricane preparedness or tropical storms. It's anything that is of significance in the city of Clearwater and the greater Pinellas area also. Thank you. Also, as it relates to mitigation, repair and mitigation, what is the bottleneck? Because you mentioned that reimbursement funds are an issue. They take many years to come through. Why is that? And is that the bottleneck in getting the funding to do repair? Or is it staff shortages? It's a combination. Our emergency management department, we're a party of two. We still have about 45 to 50 projects to go. And we have about that amount and more that we have been reimbursed for and have received payment for. So it's a combination of just the landscape of recovery projects, the kind of parties involved, whether it's state or FEMA. It's just a bottleneck of trying to get through your different steps. And sometimes they have questions that we have to clarify, whether it's GPS, whether it's load tickets, whether it's people who work that specific project, that specific equipment, how many equipment. Little details like that matter a lot. They may seem kind of minuscule, whether the GPS location is here, where they need an answer on, whether it's right there. So little details like that, we have to answer on a quick basis to get that turnaround to them to kind of get the ball back rolling. So we can enter our project. We need invoices. We need documentation like that. Documentation matters. Like I said, a project can be complete, done and dusted, but a documentation part, that matters just as much as the physical project. So those go hand-in-hand to get that money rolling and reimbursement back into the city of Clearwater. Thank you. Yes, sir. I just have one comment. I have some friends who do this work in St. Petersburg. It's called Storm Squad. I don't know if you ever heard of Storm Squad, but it's through USF. And it's what it says, promotes equitable resilience and minimizes underserved and vulnerable communities, from, minimizes the differential impacts of climate change in underserved communities. And so, I mean, their mission is to have neighbors helping neighbors develop organizations in underserved communities. So I don't know if we could, you know, get involved in that or develop something like that in Clearwater. I think it would be, it's already a program, you know. So it's a thought. Yes, it would be a good program to just see what initiative to go for the city of Clearwater. Because, like I said, sometimes EMS, fire, other different departments, it may take a couple days, some instances to get to you. So you have to be resilient, self-sufficient for yourself and your local, your neighbor, your community. So being a resilient community just helps you kind of get back on your feet post-storm and prepare. Awesome. Thank you. All right, Reimagine Clearwater Maine Library Project Presentation. Good afternoon, board members. Jesus Nino, I'm the CRA Executive Director. Today, Mr. Brian Arbridge, he's actually the one that prepared a presentation. So he's going to give that presentation. In addition, we're all here to answer questions. I think Mr. Battle also slipped in the back there. I see you. I'm not here. And Ms. Obermeyer, she's also here, the Librarian Director, to answer questions. It's all yours. Thank you, Jesus. Well, good evening, everyone. My name is Brian Arbridge, CRA Coordinator with the City of Clearwater. And I'm here to talk about Reimagine Clearwater Maine Library, a cultural destination. So some of the things we're going to talk about today are the Community Redevelopment Agency, the department I work for, why this project is being undertaken, the call for redevelopment concepts, which was our effort last year to bring in something, lessons learned from that experience, and then what we've done in terms of marketing and outreach this year. And then I'm also going to end on the current status of this project, which is an invitation for ideas. So the Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency is an agency that administers redevelopment activities within the designated community redevelopment areas. We have North Greenwood to our immediate north, and then downtown Clearwater, which we are currently in right now, and where the main library sits. CRA activities are intended to address redevelopment needs and support economic development and private investment. So a lot of public-private partnerships, and ultimately what we would like to see is increased foot traffic and a revitalized downtown. So I'm going to move into a little bit about the project background. Back in November 2024, Councilwoman DeShera, as well as representatives from the Dolly Museum, presented to the CRA Board of Trustees, which also happens to be the city council, but within the CRA capacity. With the idea of redeveloping a portion of this library for an arts and cultural purpose, before I kind of talk a little bit more, I also want to talk about the city charter restrictions. And the city charter of the city for Clearwater states that in order for this building to be purposed entirely for something else besides a library, or to be disposed of, it would have to go out for a referendum, which means the general public would have to vote and approve that. However, it specifically allows portions of this library to be leased or used for art galleries, maker spaces, special events, or other compatible public and commercial uses. So the portion is up to the proposer. There's no, like, set square footage. But we on the team, as well as the Board of Trustees, are just keeping an open mind if you're wanting to know exactly what is out there or what ideas people have. So now kind of moving into what we did last year. So last year we issued a formal call for redevelopment concepts. We got six proposals back. We reached out to about 500 organizations. We got six proposals back. We had an evaluation team rank three of them based off the criteria of that proposal process. And just so you guys know, those proposals were the Imagine Museum, also known as the Glass Museum, the Wizard of Oz Museum, and the Comedy Hall of Fame. Ultimately, city council decided not to move forward with any of these proposals and ask staff to go back to the drawing board and kind of figure out a better way to do this call for redevelopment concepts. So just some observations that we went back to the drawing board and thought of was the type of outreach being more targeted and intentional instead of just mass communication, as well as considering the timing of some of these nonprofits and cultural institutions, because they have boards of directors, and they have to vote and make decisions on, like, big capital projects, such as redevelopment of spaces or relocation to a new space. And then also just improving our marketing materials. I've also provided a pamphlet that you can look at that we've put in our new endeavors. And so last January we started this new effort of a more targeted outreach and engagement. In the photo above is a picture of me at the American Alliance of Museums that was up in Philadelphia this past June. I was also there with Amber Bryce, who is our Arts and Cultural Affairs Manager for the city. I was just an opportunity to kind of showcase the city of Clearwater, let everyone up there know about this space, because there were museums from all over the world, developers from all over the world. It was just an opportunity to kind of showcase the city of Clearwater and the city of Brotherly Love, as well as the home to the Philadelphia Phillies, which also happens to be our spring ball team. And then we've also got a picture of the library tours that we've been giving. And then just to break down some of the numbers of our outreach and engagement, we've had about 87 active engagements. That's back and forth communication, e-mails, phone calls, conversations. And then that amounted to about 12 in-person meetings held, and then eight scheduled tours of this library space. That includes behind the scenes, the roof, both floors, the annex right next to Code Park. And just letting people walk through and kind of imagine, like, what could this space be used for, and what kind of ideas could come out of, you know, such vision. So now I'm going to kind of move into where we are right now with the project, where we're not going to officially have a formal proposal, but instead we're going to continue to talk to people, continue our marketing and outreach, but also just listen to ideas. And if someone comes with a good proposal, then the library team will definitely look at it and then see if it's feasible. And then if there's an interest to kind of move forward, then we would issue a public notice, so then that way it could be formally submitted. And then also allow other proposals to submit as well. There's opportunities, since this is a large space, for, like, multiple entities to come in, a lot of partnerships with local entities and national or international entities to kind of, like, really revitalize the space and use it to its maximum ability. And with that, I am happy to take any questions or feedback. I've been waiting a long time, because I sat in those meetings. They were good concepts, three good concepts. Why did they reject them? And I just felt that they just didn't like the people. And the projects looked great. I saw the projects that were presented. And how do you narrow from 87 down to 12? What's the criteria? So two separate questions. So the first question, I encourage you to kind of go back to the meeting that was held on September 15th when there was a discussion about this. I filmed it, so I know exactly what you're... Okay. And then for the second question, which was 87 down to 12 plus, that was just more of a directed, like, we're sitting down and actually, like, meeting people, you know, in person. Whereas, like, the 87 was back and forth emails, phone calls. But just, like, the 12 plus was just, you know, people that were much more interested instead of just, like, politely exchanging pleasantries. As far as question number one, I felt that there was never really a good answer why those three were discarded. Sorry, Jesus. I'll let our CRA director answer this question. Okay. Well, at the end of the day, the CRA board of trustees, basically city council, they made their decision. We're not going to speculate as far as what they're thinking in their mind as far as why they didn't choose them. We heard exactly what you heard, that they just were not moving forward with them. They just didn't choose them but didn't really give a reason why. Okay. Which they don't really need to give a reason. They can start a process over and over if they need to. So are you down to eight choices? No. Right now, we're still talking to individuals. We're still trying to see if anyone is serious as far as submitting any kind of proposal. So if someone has a credible proposal right now, unsolicited, we'll sit down with them. We'll sit down with others. And this is an opportunity for us to actually talk to these entities or individuals and see, you know what, maybe you only want a piece of the library. This person wants a piece of the library, too. Let's see how we can work together to bring something bigger. Or even if someone does want the majority of the library, maybe we can incorporate other ideas as well into that process. But like Brian said, once something credible and reliable is ready to go, we would have to notice, again, a window to accept all proposals that might come in during that time. And, again, the trustees would have that opportunity to entertain them or not. I have a question about what portions of the library would be – are you making available for this? Is it just the first floor, the part where we've had exhibits primarily, or is it second floor as well? That's a great question. So city staff is not limited or not limiting, like, what space that we're looking for. We're kind of inviting ideas. I could tell you, based off of some library tours, that the second and third floor were definitely interested – people were interested in using that for event space, especially with the views. A lot more of the fixed sculptures or, like, bigger pieces. The first floor was definitely more appealing to those organizations. And then there were also some immersive experiences that were very interested in this chambers right here, especially with the separate entrance off to the side. You know, they saw that as, like, a great build-out opportunity. And then the roof was very popular as well, just with the view up there. But we have to be transparent and honest and say, you know, there are certain restrictions that we have to get up to that space. So it seems like that – I mean, the feeling that I got was that there's – that we're looking for a more of a nationally – like, a more nationally known kind of entity to come in here. We'd like that kind of – that level. I just wonder, no interest from the Dali for a satellite site here, the Dali Museum and St. Pete? I mean, that's a nationally known museum. And I know that they were – that we've been talking to them, but they've not really shown any interest in having a satellite site here. I remember one thing some of the council members said was that they wanted something unique for Clearwater. Oh, not a satellite of St. Pete? Yeah, right. All right, well, I get that. Okay. Yeah. Does that kind of answer your question? I mean, I do encourage you to kind of go back to the September 15th, 2025 meeting, where there was a lot of discussion amongst city council kind of what they were looking at or what their expectations were, certainly. Are they looking at temporary or, like, limited event times and or permanent exhibits or both? So as far as temporary exhibits or event spaces, we're certainly open to proposals. If something comes to us that's appealing, we'll certainly entertain it. We're definitely not in a position to say no unless it conflicts with the charter. Then we have to have a deeper conversation because of the request. So how can we help you? Are you looking for brainstorming from us? Are you – some feedback, some ideas? I'm here to inform this board as well as if I'm open to feedback. You know, I have notes here, and I'm certainly able to write things down, also review the tape, and then, you know, bring this back to the team. You know, you're free to provide feedback as you wish, but my purpose here today is to kind of inform this board about this project. Okay. So I received a request from a board member to have an update on reimagine Clearwater, the main library project, as it relates to the library because there are questions about the library. So that's the only reason why it's here. All right, if nobody has any more questions, thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, item 4.3, to discuss how the board shall handle public comments, raise under citizens to be heard, read items not on the agenda. So before the board begins their discussion, I think after the last meeting, it's important that we – the board discuss this and we get on the same page as to how it's going to be handled. So the state of Florida requires us to have a reasonable opportunity for individuals to bring items to your attention. And that's really intended, A, before action is taken, they have an opportunity to speak, but also to make you aware of certain issues, to bring ideas. So that is why we have that item on the agenda. So regarding items not on the agenda because it's – they're a reasonable opportunity to speak. Having said that, I think also it's important to know you're not required to respond because it's not meant to be a dialogue at the moment. So we're required to notice, and from staff's perspective, I would recommend – but this is the board's decision on how you want to do it – is not provide a response at the meeting, but rather put it on the agenda, allow staff or the appropriate department to research whatever that request or idea or issue. I mean, grant, if it's not a safety issue, then I think that could be something that the board could say. We – there's consensus of the board to bring the attention to – the branch of the matter to the council's attention for their action. But if it's something that can wait for the next meeting, I would prefer the board do that because that gives me an opportunity to get the right individuals to provide you that information and their perspective because it might be something that sounds really similar or rather simple. And if we don't notice that you're letting one individual kind of dictate as to what the board feels as opposed to discussing it at the next meeting, having it on the agenda, so then that way that item is noticed, and if there are other citizens who wish to speak on that same matter, and if we have that information and are able to provide that research beforehand, then the agenda item can explain, well, this is what the board is going to consider and provide that information so that if there are other individuals, they can come and speak and not have one individual maybe dictate how the board is seeing something. But that's all I wanted to add, so it's really up to the board on how they wish – how you wish to handle those matters. I was thinking the same thing in some version of it in that, you know, I would like to – like in our last comment last month or two months ago, Mr. Johnson brought the issue of seashell mulching, and I don't remember – I mean, was that a handout at the meeting? He provided a handout. So there was no time to really digest that because, I mean, it had two parts to it, and it was – you know, and since then I've done some research on seashell mulching because I have some in my – you know, I have a seashell bed myself to see whether seashells were good for certain plants or trees anyway. But to have that, yeah, and I think it's beneficial to have sometimes individuals, you know, come back and give a presentation on, you know, or at least – but I love the idea of if it's brought to us in a meeting that we then put it on the agenda or decide to put it on the agenda for the next meeting and allow time for staff to respond. Yeah, and in that case, like specifically his issue, I will advise if it falls within your purview. Like he was talking specifically about code violations, which are outside of your authority. Right. But – and so if I know, I will – I'm not going to – you know, there's no reason to delay that, have the individual come back to only be told, I'm sorry, this doesn't fall within the purview. But how the board handled it in those instances where it was consensus to share with council, I provided that information to council. So they knew that the concern was raised here but that it didn't fall within your purview, but they still know, hey, the board listened to the individual and their concerns, realized that it falls outside of their authority, but want council to be aware of the matter. And so in those cases, we can still do that, but – because there's no reason to reschedule it if that's the case. But I will advise. If I know, I will advise. Could I make a comment? I'm a little – just to make sure I'm on the – it seems to me like when he had that, he had – first he had a PowerPoint presentation for us and then the next time he said, why basically – why didn't y'all do anything about it? And from my standpoint, and I'm new here, but it seems like a phone call would have been sufficient to call the head of the parks department and say what's going on, and then, you know, a simple response via e-mail would have been sufficient. Is that not accurate or – For Mr. Johnson's concern, he did that. He – his issue was that he was not happy that Parks and Recreation was using a portion of the code that allows them to use shelf or landscaping, crushed shelf or landscaping, even though our code says you're not allowed to do it. Planning allowed them to do it because they found something, and that was his issue. Okay. And so for him, it's a code violation. Okay. Which code violations do not fall within this board's purview. It falls under the Municipal Code Enforcement Board. Okay. So he was kind of asking you to do something and address a matter that, unfortunately, does not fall within your purview. Okay. Thank you. We did have a motion that carried related to that topic in our last meeting, and I'm looking at it – I'm moved to make a motion on Mr. Johnson's concerns with city council. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. What was the result of that? I shared – you directed me to send it to council, and I did. I gave them the minutes, and I explained the backgrounds and told them even a section of the video that they could see. But this is a very good example where follow-up is really important. So what did council say? Council has not said anything. And I'll – I meet with the manager. My monthly meeting is with the manager tomorrow. I can ask her and see if any of them have raised it. But I think from this board's perspective, you put it to the council. Council doesn't have to do anything with it. But I'll find out and see if she's had any conversations with them. Thank you. Would it be more appropriate to refer the subject matter to the Code Enforcement Board? No. Because, like, we're sending something to council that really has nothing to do with council. Right. It should go through the process of the Code Enforcement Board. It's not a Code Enforcement – Oh, it's just – his complaint is about what the code says. But what the code says and that the city is doing it. So did you relay that he wants the code changed and that's why it was okay to come from us to them? No, the code allows the city to utilize it. So that's the issue. So it is a real code. He is just in disagreement with staff's allowance of the department to use the crush shell for landscaping. But it's not a Code Enforcement issue because the city has not been served with a Code Enforcement violation. But he would like that to happen. I think that's his point. His point is that the city is not following its own code. Yeah. But staff has advised them that there is language in the code that allows the planning department to say, in this particular case, the city can utilize it. I think we're using a bad example to discuss this stuff. You're going to follow up with the city council. I will follow up with the city manager tomorrow and see if any of the council members have provided her any feedback regarding the board's advice to, you know, make them aware of the situation. Okay. Well, I was just looking up. I'm looking up the kind of palm tree. And there are certain palms that are rare. It's rare, though, for certain palms where that is a particularly good mulch for them. And so, and I was like, that's the, yeah. Anyway, so I've been doing that. I've been looking that up. And, you know, and I've got to identify for sure that that is a palm that actually benefits from seashells. Seashell. I know that sounds crazy, but from an environmental standpoint, you know, I mean, there might be better things to have around a tree well. I'm assuming, I guess what I'm saying is, city's very smart on these things. You know, I think city, I feel like city staff is, really works hard to not only, you know, be good stewards of trees, our trees, and helping what's the purpose of planting a tree and putting a mulch down that will suck the nutrients out of the, out of that, out of the soil for that tree. And that's the case for seashells. I'm getting educated on this. But, again, in this particular case, not a good example, but in this case, it shows the example of there are going to be some items that individuals come to the board that fall outside of your purview. Now, the board can say, okay, make council aware, and then now I know you want me to follow up with council, and I will do that. But the main complaint of the individual was the use of it, and that does not fall within the purview. And so I think it's important also to make sure that when those instances do occur, that the individual raising the concern does not get the impression that you have the ability to do something on it, because in this case, the board did not. Back to your original statement. Yes, let's, yes. I think we would provide better service if we had more context. So I love the idea of, you know, tabling a topic, having city staff respond, and then giving us time to respond thereafter, and that gives more time for the public to show up about any concerns they have. To me, I just think that provides us more information so that we can make better decisions as a group. Agreed. Do you need us to take an action? I don't need a motion, but if there's consensus, which there appears to be consensus, then that will be what we do. So if somebody does come, I will make note of it and then work with the appropriate staff or departments, however intensive it needs to be, and then we'll agenda for the next meeting, provide you, the board members, the information with the agenda pack, and then that way everybody is noticed and educated on what is before. I think with the, also, I mean, when somebody comes forward with a suggestion or something that they would like to see or a complaint, you know, just have the three minutes to say, to introduce that topic. I'm just thinking about other times on other boards, you know, where we've, it would be beneficial to bring them back, like Belle, Belle, Belle, the lake near Ross Norton, that neighborhood is the Belle, Belle, Bellevue, Bellevue, okay. Sorry, I lived in a neighborhood, St. Louis, it was Bellevue Village, so it's, Bellevue, you know, so their president came, their HOA, and asked for us, asked for cleanup of that lake. And so I was in, you know, to bring them back two months later to describe more of what's going on, and I think, you know, that would be beneficial. I think it's kind of a case-by-case, but. And I think that, again, those are instances where it'll be up to the board. So if the person comes in, brings an issue, we'll agenda it for the next meeting, and then if there's consensus among the board members to have, whatever the case may be, to re-agenda it on a future, then I think it's appropriate for the board to discuss it at that time. Perfect. Are you all good to move forward? 4.4, move the October 22, 2026 meeting to Thursday, October 29, 2026. I assume there's a conflicting meeting. There's a conflict, so if we can move it to the following, which anything beyond that, then now it's going to get a little difficult because I know the holidays are coming along, but I'm hoping that it does not conflict with your calendars. There's no conflict in the chambers, so I'm hoping that'll work. While we're talking about it, so the fourth Thursday in December is Christmas Eve, so maybe we should move that one while we're talking about it. Well, you can decide if you want to keep it or move it to, because I know this year we did not meet in January, so we can move it to the January meeting, what would be your January meeting. It might be better, in my opinion, to start over in January instead of missing out on all of January when we could be productive. I feel like December is not very productive anyway. So let's do October 1st. Does anyone have any problems with that? October 1st? October. I would like to do the October date move first in sequence. So is everyone okay to move October 22nd meeting to Thursday, October 29th? Okay. So we are going to move to the 29th. So would you like a motion? That would be great. Okay. So if someone can make a motion? I'll make a motion. Yeah. Okay. A second? Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Okay. So then while we're on the subject of meeting schedules, the next meeting after that would be in December, and the fourth Tuesday is Christmas Eve. Would anyone have any objections to moving that to either the fourth Thursday in January, or we can do something kind of like we did, I think, in June where we did like an additional, like we had a weird schedule just so that we weren't going three full months without a meeting. So it'll be January 28th. So can we move that up? That's kind of what I was thinking. To, I'm going to look at the calendar. As long as we notice it, like to the 14th maybe? No. Council. Oh, so the 7th? So either the 7th or the 21st would be great, yeah. Well, I guess. So either the what now? 7th or the 21st. Our options to move the December meeting to, in January, are the 7th or the 21st? I think either is an improvement on three full months. I mean, January 7th is fine if everybody's in the area. I know we don't really have meetings during that first week. Yeah. It's that first full week back after holidays. The 7th. Is everyone okay with that? Yeah. I make a motion for January 7th. January 7th. Okay. Well, but you also need to amend it to say that you want to move, that you want to cancel the December one. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. So, all right. So is there a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Okay. Let's set the agenda for next meeting, item 4.5. So before you discuss ideas or what you would like to agenda, I do have a request from the planning department. So they would like to come before the board. They'll need 45 minutes. To go over proposed tree code amendments. So during the summer, a couple months back, the council directed staff to amend the tree code. And so that's why they want to come and get your feedback. They're amending the tree ordinance? The tree ordinance, yes. I think it's just proposed ideas, right? It's just proposing, but that's why they're coming before. So they want to come and present the proposal to the board. So it's just starting with us. Yeah. Okay. That would be awesome. Yeah. I mean, I also, you know, what about my landings proposed agenda? Again, the council, I responded. Yeah. To, and shared what council's feedback was. And at the moment, council does not need feedback from this board. So regarding the landings, that's not coming before the board yet. Well, September 21st will be the end date for that, for other proposals. Again, council has stated that at this moment in time, they don't need the board. So if something, I know that the proposal is going to close soon, but that doesn't mean that anything has been received. And that's just the beginning of the next process. So it's not like it's going to be approved immediately. It's at that point, it would have to come back to council. And then council would determine whether or not they're going to move forward with it. And then at that point, if, let's say, they did, then the applicant would still have to submit an application. So there's not even an application before the city yet because it's unsolicited. So this is just on standby. I would say at this moment in time, if something were to happen with the proposal that's submitted for the landings with the current, I guess, developer, because right now that's the only one that I'm aware of, then at that point I would ask the city manager again, does council want feedback from the board? But it's up to council. The board advises council, and council has advised that at this moment in time, feedback isn't needed because there isn't anything before the city. So to be clear, when agenda items are generated from either the public who come here or from our board, do they always go through city council first to determine if they want us to entertain those agenda items? No, but in this specific case, because there is no item before the city, the board advises the city. And so the council has stated that feedback from the board right now is not needed because there isn't anything before the board. Okay. I understand that. And I understand that, and I just wanted to clarify. I just want to be clear. There is no project before the city. The developer has not submitted an application. So there's nothing before the city. It's an unsolicited proposal, and they've reopened it, or they have opened it to gather other unsolicited proposals. But even if the way that that P3 project works, even if they were to say, okay, there's interest, and we would like to see what happens, the developer still has to submit an application to planning. It still has to go through its application process. So potentially our engagement in that process would be that when there's applications, we could ask if we could provide feedback. And it would be on all of them, not specifically on just the one. Exactly. Okay. Perfect. Okay. That's great. I just wanted to get clarification on agendas, agenda items, and how they – I just needed clarification. So that's – because of this item, the way it is, that's the – that is the – that's the path in which it will take. On the landings, yes. On the landings project. Okay. Another suggestion that I had gotten in an email was to have – and our next meeting is going to be the 29th, which is getting really close to the November 3rd election, but regarding Amendment 3 to have the three divisions that we represent to come here and tell us what the budget – their budget differences will be if Amendment 3 is passed. That was a suggestion for our next meeting. Does the board still want that with the planning item on? Because that's going to be 45 minutes of just the presentation, plus your questions. So I'm just being cognizant of your time. Yeah. So we have to pick one or the other, right? I wouldn't say pick one or the other, but I know planning is scheduled to be here. Like, the planner asked me, can she be here, and I told her I don't see an issue with it. So she has it on her calendar. So I – I will say with as close as it is to the election, the majority of people vote early or by mail. We'll have by then. Yeah. Particularly since we've even tested – you know, made it a week later. Well, and because the city has also hosted events on that. That's true. So we would just be duplicating that, and I don't want to not, like, be wasteful of their time. I don't know. I mean, I've seen all the city, and I'm not sure that I'm really clear on, you know, what these three divisions will be. I also think a lot of community organizations are planning events regarding those. Like, I know a group that I participate in is having school board members come in and discuss what the impacts of the school board would be. And I think, like, one of the beaches neighborhoods is also hosting, like, a, you know, Q&A on the Amendment 3. The city does have a dashboard. If you go on the city website, there is a dashboard that actually communicates what happens if the – like, for us, it's a $20 million revenue, an impact to our revenues, what that would – what that represents, what it could be. If it were at $20 million, well, this is how it's going to impact services. Yeah, I think – And it just got live last Thursday, so it's not like it's been around. So I know that that's around. Now, I'll be more than happy to have individuals come. I just want to make sure that you guys have enough time to plan in terms of, okay, staff told me 45 minutes for the presentation. Yeah, well, if I had to choose 22, I would go with Therese. That's my suggestion. Well, it's so late. People made up their minds. I think, one, it's a very small audience, and two, there's other resources if people want to, like, go ask questions in person or there's the dashboard. So I have a question. I know that Glenna can't talk about it on my radio show because I'm there, obviously, but could she take over the radio show for that session and talk about it, just her? I'm sorry. I don't think it's a problem as long as it doesn't adhere to the specific subjects that we overhear. Okay. So, like, she could not go on the show with you and discuss, like, the impacts to the library budget specifically. Because you've taken over the show. You do that? Yeah. Okay. I mean, you're not – I mean, I think I would be careful because you can't necessarily be seen as conveying your own opinion, but would we – we wouldn't ever be voting on the cuts that would be being made to those budgets. Those are determined by counsel, so really – I mean, I'm not a lawyer by any means, but if I'm doing some critical thinking here, I don't think that her giving her opinion – even in front of you, maybe, and maybe we could get legal advice on this, but I don't think that her giving you her opinion would violate Sunshine in any way. Could that do they invite the other person, the developer? Yeah. And they canceled the day of? So that opinion was already requested. Oh, you're talking about the landings? Oh, well, that's different. Oh, that's different. Sorry, I thought you meant about Amendment 3. Yeah. So Amendment 3 is – I mean, because, yes, the budgets of those departments are not within your purview. The only potential would be grants, and that is not part of that discussion. But as individuals, as long as you're not stating, you know, a city position, as individuals, you have the right to go on the show and give her your opinion regarding Amendment 3, your personal opinion. But – because that's what I thought that was a conversation was. It was about – but not the landings. No, the landings is a different situation. It's still – the landings is still possible to come before us. It could possibly come before the board, so I would not – That wouldn't be appropriate, no, to have us in the same room. You could have someone else, but you cannot respond with your opinion. Right. So you can ask someone questions because those are just factual. And, again, I'm not a lawyer, but, like, so there's other people who are actively involved in the landings. So I think you could potentially have someone as long as you're – or maybe let Doug answer them or ask them. Just someone not from here. Yeah. We can get somebody. Okay. Any other agenda items? I know that we're running late, but I did want to add something. I'm trying to follow the Clearwater Greenprint 2.0, and I know that there was a guideline that by 2030 that they were going to create energy-efficient building regulations and to enforce that for new construction. And I would like to know what the board, in the future, we can put that on the agenda item, that we could ask what we could do to help process that or move that along. I think that's very important for the city, and that was one of their goals. So I'd like to know how we can help them do that. And I will double-check because that might be something that we could no longer do because of the state legislature. Okay. Thank you. So I think that's some of the issues that staff is going through right now with Greenprint 2.0 because we are – our hands are tied in terms of what we can require because of the legislature. Okay. Thank you. So I know that we – my understanding is we have a budget for this committee's use? We do not. Oh, well, that's what – Really? That's what I was told. I was told that too. No, we do not have a budget. All right. Well, because that was what I had talked about hearing about it last time, but that makes more sense. But I have been told multiple times that there was, like, for educational purposes. No, but what we can do, if there is a topic that the board wants to hold a community engagement session or a community outreach session, depending on what the topic is, we might be able to partner with the department. And kind of like what sustainability division did and having the speakers come out to those two events, we partnered with them. They invited you, and it was already something programmed. So if it's something that's already programmed or it's already budgeted, we can probably partner with the department. But if you give me enough time and lead time, I can find out. But this board does not – unfortunately does not have a budget. But that's the idea. The idea is to partner with other departments to see if we can coincide those sessions with something that's already been planned or they're planning. I think as far as the agenda for next time, as far as I'm concerned, it seems like our time is pretty spoken for when we have to try and get through all the other business as usual. Is everyone okay with that? Yes. Yes. Trees. Trees, please. Do you need – all right. Board members to be heard, I'll start. I – this summer, the library hosted an America 250 celebration event, and I went because it was American Girl-themed, which is a doll and book series for anyone who is unfamiliar. But they were released the year I was born, so I grew up with them and really liked them. And so I wanted to go and, like, see what they were doing. And it was so wonderful. They had so many kids. It wasn't just girls who showed up to participate, and it was a really smart way to teach them about American history because they all had the dolls, and it just gave them different time periods to be able to learn about. And they did crafts that associated with them, and they did, like, scavenger hunts. It was a really great event. I loved it. And not only can you take out the books, but because of the library, like, sharing with the other cities within the county, you can actually rent the dolls. Oh, rent the dolls. Yeah. Cool. Well, you know, I don't know if you've seen the signs here, but they have, like, a seed library and stuff. And so there's so much more to the library than what we give it credit for. But this was a really smart, fun event that they did. Anyone else? I attended the North Ward Historical Society meeting because I went to North Ward in 1969, and I wanted to see if it had changed, and it had not. It still didn't have air conditioning. But anyway, it was very nice. I appreciate the city putting that on. There was a lot. They were all – it was raining like crazy that day, and there was at least 250 people there, even though it rained. So I was very impressed. Wow. The city did a great job. Good. Okay. Anyone else? As far as outreach goes, I'd like to offer the idea of doing a field trip with stormwater management. A field trip? Like, you know, we go out in the field with them, and they go through a typical inspection and maintenance project that they're going through. So I have a problem with that, and so I like the idea, love the idea. But the problem that – remember, any time there's more than one of you, it's a meeting, and I have to have it ADA accessible. And that means I need to have it accessible to the public. So it's not just – a field trip sounds wonderful, sounds awesome. But I have to – I'm putting on my hat, and I'm like, well, how do I make this accessible to the public if anybody shows up? And can I make sure that it's accessible to those physically and hearing impaired? Yeah. There's a lot to it. So field trips have to be open to the public that we do? Anytime there is more than one of you, it's a meeting. Anytime there's more than one of us. It's considered a violation of Sunshine if we aren't adhering to all of that. So we couldn't go on a field trip, just two of us, or not as an official notice meeting, and hear about something that pertains to what we need. Now, let's say it's a social event, but it wouldn't be a meeting, as long as the members do not speak of items that could come before the board, then that would be allowed. But that would not be city sanctions, no questions, nothing. But like I said, I love the idea. I really do, because I think it's a great way to educate yourself about that. But unfortunately, Sunshine Law is a restriction here. So we couldn't ask questions? Like if we went to and did a field trip to tour the waste-to-energy plant, for instance? No, because what if they have whatever questions you were asking regarding the waste-to-energy plant, and we submit a grant for it, and you had to review it? And you review that information or that potential project then, and then it comes before you, and somebody can claim, well, I saw members Kelly and Westmark discussing this, and it wasn't a meeting. And they knew all this, and that's why they supported it, or that's why they voted against it. It's a violation of transparency. It's a violation of Sunshine Law. It's not that I don't want you to do it. That's why I continually said that I couldn't make public statements about my opinions on the landings, because everyone on this committee insisted on wanting to hear about it. And there was always someone from the committee there. There. And it would have been inappropriate and a violation of Sunshine if I had expressed my opinion in any way about that. Yeah. No, I get that. I mean, we can't express our opinions, but we could ask questions about that facility. No, because that's what she's saying, is that that facility, if you ask a question about something that needs to be upgraded in that facility, and we review a grant application, too. So you can't anticipate the things that you could potentially have to review that would come up there, and then it's not open to the public. Got it. No, I get it. Oh, but I thought the public was open. If you were going to do that as a private citizen, like, for instance, on the waste-to-energy plant or even the stormwater stuff, any citizen could call. It's my understanding, could call. And as a private citizen, you could say, hey, I'd like to take a tour. And most governmental agencies are like, yeah, somebody's interested in my waste-to-energy plant. Please come over. Well, I also would encourage you to participate in the Pinellas Citizens University. It's one of the nights. So if you are really interested, you can go, and you get a whole evening of a tour of every last detail. Or individually, you may call the agency and schedule your own tour. So just to clarify, if we did, like, a field trip and we took a stormwater field trip of our own stormwater system, and we invited the public, and we had ADA, you know, it was ADA appropriate, what would be our limitations? Would we not be able to ask questions about our stormwater system? No, because it would be a public meeting at that point. Yes. So if it's a notice public meeting and we can meet all the ADA requirements, and then have, I need to make sure that I have the ability to be able to take minutes and whatnot, because it's still a meeting, that is fine. But the issue is when, kind of, I had that request when there was, like, the art walk. They wanted to have council members, all the council members do one little art walk, and, like, great idea. But then I told her, well, here you have the issue of, is everybody going to, it has to be open to the public. Can all members of the public walk? And if they can't walk the walk, are you going to have the capability of having some kind of mobility? Then you need to make sure, well, since you're walking, not everybody's going to be able to hear, or not everybody speaks as loud as the other individual. Are there going to be hearing capabilities? So is there a microphone so everybody can hear? So if all those parameters are met, then we can call it a meeting. But if any of that is missing, then we run the risk of having a sunshine violation. So we could do that, all of that, in replacement of a meeting, actually? It could be. Oh, that would be a choice. Okay. But it's not as easy as saying, okay, let's do this, because I need to make sure everything is in place. Okay. Any other board members? Sorry, I have a comment. No, go ahead. Don't be sorry. Only because you said that about the hearing, and you know I'm hard at hearing, but there's been a couple of meetings with departments that they don't have a microphone, and I can't hear. I just got up and left because I couldn't hear. So is that a requirement? For public meetings, yes. For public meetings, yes. Okay. So that's why sometimes if, like during council meetings, if somebody gives me a clue, then I, or even public communications, they know when our mics are off, you'll sometimes see me walk over or PC will walk over to our mics and tell us to turn it back on. Because it happens. Sometimes people turn off their mics and then forget to turn it back on. I've now been to two meetings with no microphones, and there's no point in me being there. And sometimes that's why we also ask individuals to speak into the mics. So that's, and that happened earlier today, individuals at the podium, you know, we want to have eye contact with everyone, and then we forget these are directional and very sensitive. So if we move over, my voice may or may not be captured by the mic. Okay. Well, I made my complaint known. Okay. On both of those meetings. But anyway, thank you for that. We try to improve. We try to improve that if we know that there's an issue or somebody can't hear, only because, A, the people in the audience can't hear. But we do have, like, the wireless. If you have a wireless hearing aid, there's that capability. And so I know certain individuals, they will connect to it. So let's talk. This is the first I'm hearing about this. Oh, no, no, no. Let's talk. I'll show you. Okay. All right. Any other comments before we close our meeting? All right. Anyone want to? I'll move. Do we need to move to adjourn? To adjourn? You can have to, or you could just adjourn it. All right. Thank you. Just bang it. There we go. There we go. Thanks.