This time we'll call the order of the Monday, September 21, 2026 meeting of the City of Clearwater Downtown Development Board. This time we'll move to item two on the agenda, approval of the minutes. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? Motion to approve the minutes. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Move to agenda item three, citizens to be heard regarding items not on the agenda today. Are there any citizens here today that desire to be heard on an item that is not on today's agenda? Seeing none, we'll move to item four point one, set a final millage rate of zero point nine seven zero zero mills for fiscal year 2026-27 within the downtown development board boundaries and adopt resolution twenty five dash zero one on second reading. Good evening, chair. Members of the board, Brian Olbrich, area coordinator. This item before you is to set the final millage rate of zero point nine seven zero zero mills for fiscal year 2026-2027 and to adopt resolution twenty six dash zero one on a second and final reading. The proposed rate is point sixty five percent above the rollback rate of zero point nine six three seven mills. The item was presented on September 15th, 2026 for a first reading. Staff recommends approval at this time. I will turn the item over for resolution twenty six dash zero one to be read. And board members, because this is a millage resolution, the statute requires a little more information to be read. So I'm just going to read the entire resolution. I'll take an extra minute or two. Millage resolution, resolution number twenty six dash zero one, resolution of the city of Clearwater Downtown Development Board of the city of Clearwater, Florida declaring the millage rate to be levied for the fiscal year beginning October 1st, 2026 and ending September 30th, 2027. For operating purposes, providing an effective date of this resolution, whereas the estimated revenues to be received by the Clearwater Downtown Development Board for the fiscal year beginning October 1st, 2026 and ending September 30th, 2027 from ad valorem taxes in the amount of five hundred and twenty three thousand eight hundred nine dollars. Whereas based upon the taxable value by the Pinellas County property appraiser, zero point nine seven zero zero mill is necessary to generate five hundred and twenty three thousand eight hundred nine dollars. Now, therefore, be resolved by the city by the Clearwater Downtown Development Board of the city of Clearwater, Florida. Section one is hereby determined that a tax of zero point nine seven zero zero zero mill against a non exempt real and personal property within the Clearwater Downtown Development Special Taxing District is necessary to raise the sums to be appropriated for operational purposes for the fiscal year beginning October 1st, 2026. Section two, the levy of zero point nine seven zero zero zero mill constitutes a zero point six five percent increase from the rollback rate of zero point nine six three seven. Section three, this resolution shall take effect October 1st, 2026. Is there anyone here from the public tonight to the desires to be heard on agenda item four point one? Hearing seeing none, is there any, excuse me, board discussion? If not, is there a motion? Move to approve agenda item four point one. Second. All those in favor? All right. Opposed? Unanimous. Jaded item four point two, approve the Downtown Development Board annual operating budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 and adopt resolution 26-02. Good evening again, Chair, members of the board, Brian Albrecht, CRA coordinator. The item before you is to approve the Downtown Development Board's annual operating budget for fiscal year 2026-2027 and adopt resolution 26-02 on a second and final reading. The proposed budget totals $1,513,438, including $945,523 in current revenues and transfers. The item was presented for a first reading on September 15th, 2026. Staff recommends approval. At this time, I will turn the item over for resolution 26-02 to be read. Budget resolution, resolution number 26-02, resolution of the Clearwater Downtown Development Board of the City of Clearwater, Florida, declaring the final budget to be adopted for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026 and ending September 30, 2027 for operating purposes, providing an effective date of this resolution. Is there anyone here tonight that desires to be heard on Agenda Item 4.2? Hearing, seeing none, any board discussion? If not, is there a motion? Move to approve Agenda Item 4.2. Second. Those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Do item 4.3 approve a high-impact grant funding request from Florida Best Promotions, Inc. to produce the salsa and bachata at the district Halloween costume block party on October 31, 2026, and the amount not to exceed $20,000. Good evening. Vicki Shire, CR Division Manager. This item before you is a high-impact funding request from Florida Best Promotions for salsa and bachata at the district Halloween costume block party. The free event is scheduled for October 31, 2026, along the 500-600 block of Cleveland Street. It will feature live music, dance performances, lessons, entertainment, and vendors. The applicant estimates attendance of approximately 5,000 people. The request was presented to the board on August 3rd. The applicant has updated his budget and his estimated new total expenses are $57,253.50. And the applicant is now requesting $30,000 in DDB funding. In 2025, the applicant received $15,000 in funding and attracted approximately 2,200 attendees based on Placer AI data. The applicant gathered feedback from downtown merchants about the event's impact and on the proposed food vendors. Based on the high-impact funding guidelines, staff recommends approval amount not to exceed $20,000. At this time, I'd like to invite the applicant, who has five minutes to provide additional information about the event and the funding request. Thank you. Good evening, and thank you for having me again. And I'm excited for this event. The request is for $30,000. I do ask that you consider that amount against the $20,000 that is recommended. This event seems to be at a crossroads right now with Visit St. Pete, Clearwater, and a lot of different factors. And this is our chance to really get this event to be independent of this board and this grant. The plan is to not be in front of you for this grant again next year. And this event is part of the strategy to get there. So I need to get those unique visitor data up in order to accomplish that. And so that's my reason for asking for the full $30,000 request. And I'm here to answer any questions you may have. Okay. So anyone here from the public, then I have desire to speak to this agenda. Approach, sir. Yeah. My name is Ken Denton. Thank you for having me. I'm with Beasley Media Group. I've been partners with Richard for years now. What I'm very impressed with is the events that he puts on are well attended. They're well run. He does what he says he's going to do. I've not only partnered with him for this event on Halloween, but also for the last Saturdays that he did throughout the year with the city of Clearwater, as well as what he's done with the Sugar Sand Festival and programming several of their nights. There's very few people that I put my trust in as a media company to sell sponsors in, to participate in with third-party events, because they're never quite done in a lot of cases, as well as that we do them into our standards. And he delivers every time. And I think he will do a lot to bring people into the city of Clearwater, to bring a diverse group of people that don't normally come down here. I've seen it time and time again, and I put my full support behind him. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Denton. Mr. Denton, would you mind filling out a comment card here we have for you? So thank you, though, for your comments. Anyone else here from the public tonight desire to comment on this agenda? If not, we'll start with board discussion. Councilmember Auburn. So I've always been impressed with the event, and I know you're going to do a great job. However, you know, we are looking to cut things back this year with this impending referendum that will affect everybody. So I think when you came before and talked to us, you thought maybe you'd have to get some more people to fund your event. But let me ask staff something. You've recommended $20,000. Was there a reason that you stopped at $20,000 with a $30,000 recommendation? Based on the guidelines in our formula, we basically take the revenue minus the expenses, and that's the request that we come up with based on your policy and guidelines. Okay. Thank you. Further board discussion? Vice Mayor? Yeah, I have a question for you, sir. You just stated that if, you know, you got the $30,000, your plan is to hopefully not be before the board. And I know that you've been before us before. You've done great events. You know that we're trying to taper back on giving out funding and make people self-sufficient. Why do you believe that the extra $10,000 will keep you from asking for funds in the future? Well, because of where I stand right now with Visit St. Pete Clearwater, this is, you know, kind of my last shot to get back in there. I fell under a category according to Visit St. Pete Clearwater's placer AI numbers. I felt like I had stronger numbers than what was reported, but it is what it is. Now is my opportunity to get back to where we were. We'll visit St. Pete Clearwater last year, and I want to try some different things as far as raising money for the event. If I go through grant or take grant money from the city of Clearwater for the in-kind, I can't charge and do things like that. And I think that's where I need to go. A small fee, I think, would cover what I'm getting from you guys with the numbers of people that I bring. So that's the strategy, just to try something different than what I've been doing with you guys. I appreciate everything you guys have done and your generosity. And it's helped this event to get where it's at, which I think is a great thing for the city of Clearwater and the merchants, as well as myself. So that's the purpose, and we just need to get back in with Visit St. Pete Clearwater. So overarchingly, it's to get your numbers up. So what would you use that $10,000 for, specifically, to help you make those metrics? So if you look at the spreadsheet, I have on there, under marketing, $13,000. You know, if I don't have that $10,000, then, you know, that may cut into that. I wouldn't be completely there or probably, you know, spread it out throughout the whole budget, you know, and cut back a little everywhere. But I think that budget sets me up to accomplish that goal and not be in front of you guys next year asking for another grant. Well, I appreciate you, you know, taking our feedback and trying to, you know, go to other revenue streams and even increase different funding sources. I look forward to the rest of the discussion. Thank you, sir. Yeah, and I'm going to sit on the TDC, and I think that what hurt you this year was the percentage of folks who were attending the event from outside Pinellas County. It didn't bring in as many visitors as what the TDC guidelines are for funding. So I guess you're wanting to try to advertise in a different way to attract more from outside Pinellas County? Absolutely. I will not do, and none of that money would be spent less than 20 miles from Clearwater. So that money will be targeted 20 miles outside of Clearwater, every penny, except for, you know, the radio. That would include Clearwater, but also a wide range outside of that distance, 20 miles, which is what Visit St. Pete Clearwater is asking for. It's in my contract. Vice Mayor. Yes. Thank you for bringing that up, Mr. Mayor. Just a question maybe the applicant or yourself could answer. Do we know what metric he's off by with that percentage? Do we remember how much for bringing in? I don't remember exactly what that exact percentage was. From what I can remember, it was pretty significant, although we had a great turnout for Dia de los Muertos last year, and we typically do well at bringing outsiders in. You know, we typically do well with that. I mean, if you look at the data from, you know, Sugar Sand and even the data from downtown, you know, a lot of those people are not from Clearwater. I spend a lot of my time outside of the area marketing the event for exactly that reason. You know, I spend a lot of time in Hillsborough, Sarasota, Spring Hill, Trinity area, you know, all those outlying areas that would help me to hit that number. Yeah. And, of course, the TDC is funded primarily by bed tax, so it was overnight stays. This was, and I don't have them in front of me, but, I mean, no one with TDC and St. P. Clitoral questioned the success of your event. It was just did it drive overnight stays to Clearwater, and the statistics were it didn't. So it's still a great local event, but their funding is for events that draw overnight visitors to the area. So I think, I guess I'll go ahead and weigh in. You know, we were 15,000 last year, and we're raising you up. Personally, I love your event, and I've been to it several times. It's a great, all your events are great events. They do attract a lot of folks. But I personally feel like the staff recommendation is appropriate, and hopefully with the past success you've had, you'll be able to generate more sponsors and make it even more successful this year. And we are increasing, which is something we said we wanted to go the other way, so we are increasing some. But for me, I support the staff's recommendation of $20,000 in the board members. I just wanted to say how pleased I was that you chose Halloween. I know that for many, many years we merchants tried so many different things to keep busy during Halloween and with very limited success, and we just couldn't compete with the other downtown. So having a very specific event with someone like yourself who's been proven to be successful, I think it's going to be one of the first Halloweens where downtown is going to be busy, and I look forward to seeing that. The interesting thing about Halloween and the reason why you probably didn't have the success you were looking for in the past is Halloween is super competitive, super competitive. It's not an easy night to do, although there are a lot more people that will decide to go out on Halloween. You still have to compete with trick-or-treating, families that are going to stay home with trick-or-treating, and every place is doing a Halloween. Sorry. No, I know. You're fine. You're great. Any other questions? Other board discussions? Mr. Titlici. Yeah, I just wanted to, first of all, thank you right after the last meeting. I know that you personally reached out to all the merchants, and you're taking initiative on that. I really appreciate that. And we did have a conversation together. I think we had a great chat about your plan, and I do have now a better understanding of how this is going to be. I do remember from last year, we were operating on the fifth block, and we did actually benefit out of it a lot. My concern was that the food vending and alcohol consumption and all of that, but you did answer all of those questions, and I really appreciate it. And I believe understanding that the Halloween one is going to be a little different, I think it will be beneficial for especially the businesses on the fifth block for this event. Any other board discussion? Not as though a motion. I'll go ahead. Move to approve agenda item 4.3. The staff recommended $20,000. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Look forward to a great event again. Thank you very much. Move to agenda item 4.4. Approve a community event funding request from Clearwater Sister Cities, Inc. to produce Clearwater Illuminations, Lantern Festival, and International Night Market at Cochran Park on December 6, 2026, an amount not to exceed $13,000. Good evening. Vicki Shire, CR Division Manager. This item before you is a community event funding request for Clearwater Illuminations, Lantern Festival, and International Night Market produced by Sister Cities. This free event is scheduled for December 6, 2026 at Cochran Park from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. It will feature international experiences, Lantern Festival, and a night market. The applicant estimates attendance of approximately 1,500 people. The total event budget is $45,500, and the applicant is requesting $13,000 in DDB funding. Per the community event funding requirements, staff recommends approval amount not to exceed $13,000. And at this time, I'd like to invite the applicant, who has five minutes to provide additional information about the event and funding request. Good evening. I'm Stephanie Chill, Executive Director for Clearwater Sister Cities, the nonprofit that supports our interactions with Ixmi Kilpan and Nagano, Japan. The easiest way to describe Clearwater Illuminations is a public art installation, international cultural festival, and a night market all in one event. The centerpiece is an installation of illuminated lanterns throughout Cochran Park. This is inspired by the Tomyo Lantern Festival in Nagano, Japan, which has been held since early 2000s in commemoration of the Olympics that were held in our sister city, which is one of the first reasons we got involved and got our citizens involved in that relationship pretty heavily. As the evening falls, the lanterns will all be illuminated, transforming this into a really community-created artwork as the main installation. The lanterns are semi-permanent structures. They'll be reusable every year, so we could use them for future iterations of this event. There are panels, four-sided panels, that we will work with schools, communities, libraries, so that it really is community-built, displaying community artwork from people throughout the area. We also have plans to work with some hotels to make sure that we're also capturing people who are visiting and maybe draw them back to the event if they're here during their stay and they get a chance to do the panel at their hotel. Around the lanterns, we're building an international night market with cultural organizations, local artists, vendors, and family activities. There will be a stage that will have approximately 10 performances, music, dance, cultural performances, throughout the event. So it's not simply a Japanese festival, though that is the inspiration. It is really a chance to show the many cultures represented in Clearwater and Tampa Bay while introducing everyone to our international relationships here in Clearwater. The event is free and open to the public, and it also serves as the closing event for the Art Everywhere month-long initiative supported by Creative Pinellas and Visit St. Pete Clearwater. We've already seen a lot of media requests from that, a lot of attention because of it being the closing event for this month-long county-wide initiative. There is significant expansion from past events. We've had similar cultural festivals. Last year, we were on Cleveland Street, and this takes it from a two-hour event to a six-hour event with a lot more people involved and really trying to use the art installation, the lanterns, as a way to become a reusable asset for future Clearwater events. Again, our request is $13,000. Clearwater Sister Cities is contributing $9,000 through in-kind and financial support, and we do have $22,000 coming from third-party contributions. The biggest investment is really these lanterns to make sure that we can have a reusable lantern every year. We also, though, are creating a smaller die-cut cardboard, so if families want to come and decorate one and take one home, they can bring the experience home with them with something they've created here at the event. Another major expense for us taking on the event in this iteration is to make sure that we're doing it safely and professionally. Proper stage lighting and park lighting are essential to make sure all the performances are quality and able to be seen, as well as the safety of movement throughout the park for attendees. A significant portion of the DDB funds would be used towards the stage, sound, and lighting, as well as required city services to help the infrastructure of the event. These are foundational costs that create the atmosphere, as well as ensuring the safety and effectiveness of the team. We are intentionally keeping participation accessible. Vendor fees are quite low, and we do plan if vendors aren't able to make the money back of their deposit that evening that they would be given back their deposit after the event. We've reached out to downtown businesses on Cleveland Street and downtown merchants to ask them to participate, either through promotion of the festival, sharing with us a cultural performer or a vendor that they know that might want to participate, and asking them to be involved in the lantern project, whether they want to put a logo or a sign in one of those lantern panels. Our goal is for people to come down to Cochrane Park, but to experience all of downtown, not just the park itself as the destination. Marketing is quite broad. We have our own audience, but we're also obviously being promoted through Creative Pinellas and the Art Everywhere Initiative, Visit St. Pete Clearwater. We'll also be asking all of our vendors, cultural organizations, and the businesses to help promote as well. Finally, I have one request. I don't believe this made it onto the agenda, and I apologize, but regarding the request, we are asking that $6,000 be provided up front rather than on a reimbursement basis so that we could pay some of the required deposits ahead of time. There are a lot of costs that come before December 6th, the actual event, and as a small nonprofit, this could create some substantial cash flow. Thank you. So, yes, staff did not receive their request until Friday afternoon, so the applicant is requesting for up front funding of $6,000 as part of that $13,000. So it's not an addition to the $13,000. It's part of that $13,000 that they would like up front funding to help with the things that she did refer to. Okay. Is there anyone here from the public tonight who desire to speak to this agenda? I'm seeing none. Council Member Alderman, did you have something to say? No. Council Member Menino? Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, Mayor. Supportive. Looking forward to the event. Community-oriented, family-friendly, educational, free and open to the public. Represents our sister city relationships and partnerships. This one checks a lot of boxes, and your ask is reasonable. I support not only your $13,000 ask, but I do understand of being a small nonprofit that lump sum in the front end can hurt you sometimes and help you lock in some of those financial commitments that are needed. So I'm supportive of that. Thank you. I appreciate that. Council Member Tashida. Yes, I'm also in support of both your requests of the amount as well as having some of it up fronted. I understand the circumstances for that need. One of the things that really, to me, shines is that you are not going the normal route of having paper floating lanterns or the ones that go in the water. The fact that you're using reusable I think is a great investment. It makes it different as well as it gives you longevity. You can have those lanterns on the whole night versus having something that's temporary. So kudos to you for thinking outside the box. In Nagano, it's a week-long festival, so long-term goals. Yeah, yeah. And also make sure that you reach out to Art Alliance. They can be a great partner to help you promote and maybe share some resources. Absolutely. We've been in contact with them a little bit for woodworking. Council Member Tate Leitching. Excuse me, Board Member Tate Leitching. I am very excited about this event, and I think it's going to be a really good one, especially being it in the same month as the arts. The only concern I have is that the expected people are 1,500. Is that correct? So that's based on our estimate, our past events like this. We've had on Cleveland Street probably around 350 or 400 people came to that event. And that was based on just our own outreach. So having the support of Visit St. Pete Clearwater as well as Creative Pinellas as this being part of a major event, we are already seeing a lot more interest than we have for past events a lot earlier on because it's being promoted already pretty heavily through those. So I'm giving you a conservative estimate of what I expect. I think we'll probably see some more as we ramp up promotion, but I didn't want to completely overshoot and then not hit a number. Absolutely. Thank you for your answer. It's just Coachman Park is pretty big. And usually events in this scale, you know, 1,500, 2,000 people even, it does give a better feeling if it's on one of the streets, you know, 500 or 400 or even 600. But it sounds like you have the plan and, you know, it sounds great and I'm really looking forward to it. Thank you. Anything else? Not to store a motion. Motion to approve agenda item 4.4 in the amount of $13,000 to include $6,000 up front. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you. Congratulations. We look forward to the event. Look forward to see you all there. Ma'am. Agenda item 4.5 approved the restated coastal route funding agreement with Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority for the Jolly Trolley Coastal Route and authorize the appropriate officials to execute safe. Good evening, Ann Lopez, CRI Assistant Director. This item is a request to approve the restated coastal route funding agreement with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority for the Jolly Trolley Coastal Route. PSTA originally entered into an agreement with Jolly Trolley in June of 2021 to provide fixed route trolley services along the coastal route. That agreement also established funding contributions from the Clearwater Downtown Development Board, the cities of Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, and Pinellas County. Although the funding agreement inadvertently expired, the parties continued operating under its terms. The DDB's annual contribution is approximately $24,653 and is estimated at $26,231 for fiscal year 27. Beginning in 2028, the contribution will increase by 6.4% annually and by 2032, the annual contribution is projected to be $35,769. The coastal route operates seven days a week and provides approximately 14,142 service hours annually. At a cost of $112.54 per hour, the route's total annual operating budget is $1,591,540. The DDB's contribution represents 1.6%. This service agreement connects downtown Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, and other destinations throughout Pinellas County. It supports downtown revitalization by giving residents, visitors, an additional transportation option and improving access to downtown businesses and attractions. The DDB's ability to fund this agreement is contingent upon outcome of ballot measures and its impact on local government revenues. Based on available funding, the parties may mutually agree in writing to amend the term or funding. Staff recommends approval of this agreement with PSCA, and I have representatives here to answer any additional questions. So anyone here from the public tonight that desires to speak to this agenda? Hearing, seeing none, any board discussion? If not, is there a motion? I do have one quick question. Okay, Vice Mayor? Yeah, just one quick question. Where did the annual increase of 6.4% come from? I must have missed it in some of the attachments. That should be in the contract itself. We do have that outlined for all of the municipal partners as a part of the agreement. Okay, perfect. Thank you so much. Any other discussion? Not, is there a motion? Motion to approve it in item 4.5. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Thank you for coming tonight. Move the agenda in item 4.6. Approve a community event funding request from Downtown Pizza Sports Bar and Grill for the Hello Cleveland Street Live Music Series on the 400 block of Cleveland Street from October 2026 through May 2027, and an amount not to exceed $15,000. Good evening again. Vicki Shire, CRI Division Manor. Oh, yes. I forgot. Yeah, I would like to say something on this. With the City Attorney Caller's suggestion, I would like to be excluded from this discussion because I am a business owner in the 400 block, so I would like to be excluded if that's what you need. Okay. And we conferred last week he would have a conflict under 112.3143 because he's an appointed public official. He would not be able to participate in this, but he can stay. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Tudelanger. Okay. Now proceed with the staff presentation. Thank you. Vicki Shire, CRI Division Manager. This item before you is a community event funding request from Downtown Pizza Sports Bar and Grill on behalf of the 400 block merchants for Hello Cleveland Street Live Music Series. The proposed series includes 35 Saturday evening patio events on the 400 block of Cleveland Street from October 2026 through May 2027. Each event is free and open to the public and will take place from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. The applicant estimates the attendance of approximately 310 attendees per event. Downtown Pizza has participated in the DDB microgrant program since January 2026 and has received a total of $44,560 to support the Friday and Saturday events. The applicant is now requesting a longer-term funding structure with upfront funding to secure bans earlier and improve event planning and marketing. The total proposed event budget is $150,000, and the applicant is requesting $120,000 in DDB funding. Community event funding awards are limited to $15,000 per the DDB funding policy. Staff recommends approval of the reimbursement grant amount not to exceed $15,000. At this time, I'd like to invite the applicant who has five minutes to provide additional information about the event, series, and funding requests. Good evening once again. Dan Mahoney, co-owner of Downtown Pizza and the leader of the 400 blocks Cleveland Street Concert Initiative. Our members are all here from Clear Sky, from Tequilas, from District Bistro, and Nubo is also here who wants to join our group, which I think is a good sign that we're heading in the right direction. We're also joined, importantly, by Kimber Trotter in the second row. Kimber has been in the booking at Bans Business in the greater Clearwater, Tampa, St. Pete area for eight years, and she's booked the 15 larger concerts that we've had up on the stage and the 26 ones that we've had just on the patios in the summer, smaller because of the bad weather moving in and outside and inside. So the first thing I wanted to say is that we've got – we all have deep gratitude for the partnership with the DDB board and the staff that's worked really hard with making these events a success. And we're now looking to graduate from the $5,000 per month to this larger $120,000. I realize it's a large step up, but I will explain that as we go along here quickly. For the eight-month period from October 26 to October 27, on stage concerts held like they were in the spring, right in front of the Colony Hotel because it's dead center in the middle of the block. The patios are adequately far away where you're not getting your ears blown out. People can stand in front of the stage, dance, have a good time. It's been, I think, a really good event – events, I should say. So there are – yeah, a few comments on just the community aspects. But other than – it's different than the Sound or Cap Theater, both of which, of course, are great and are the hallmark of the town and just, you know, great events like we had on Saturday night with John Fogarty at 81, unbelievable, and Steve Winwood. They were fantastic. But these are more local in nature, and they've got that whole feel to it. It tends to be residents from right in the area that are all familiar with it. But we've had – a number of you folks have come to, and it's been great. I think it's just been – a lot of people have said, Dan, these are the best concerts, things we've had on Cleveland Street in quite some time. Keep them up. You know, it's just got a great feel to it. I will also say that a key reason why we're asking for this is that we observed that the better-known bands simply stated just attract larger and bigger crowds. When we went with the lesser-known bands out of cost considerations and there's that $5,000 cap, we would just – it was hit or miss. We'd get some that would attract good-sized crowds and have meaningful participation, some that would not. We also had to contribute, even with that cap, to maintain band quality, 28 percent of the capital. So we didn't do 20 percent. We did 28. And we also could only do about two or three concerts on average per month. We couldn't do the four that we're asking for here to have that consistent, which I think is important. People always want to know, when are you going to have the events? Well, Saturday night. That's what we're going to – well, what Saturday nights? All the Saturday nights, whether a sound show was going or not. And like we did on Saturday with the sound event, we started early at about 6 o'clock, had people play to 7.30, take a break, had them go to the sound show. And then when they came back, lo and behold, we're still going. We had a really great time there Saturday night. A lot of people enjoyed it. So going forward, we desire to only be hiring proven, well-known bands in high demand. From an administrative standpoint, I think it will be much easier on us and on the staff where we're not having to go through the monthly hoops, which is just – it's really difficult. As a business owner, it's really difficult for the DDB staff to be doing that. You know, we're also – well, I've referenced the better local – the better bands that we'll be able to attract because a lot of those folks, they book out a long period of time. And if you come to them and it's three weeks out, can you play for us? No, are you kidding? Come on. We're booked out three or four months. We'd also be spending a bit more on the marketing side of things. We were more limited in what we could do in that regard. We wanted to get a little more sophisticated with some paid advertising that's selective. And the last thing I'll say is that we were quite efficient with how we spent the money. We did – 66% got spent on the bands, 20% got spent on stage and marketing, and there was 9% on other costs, primarily city-related costs. So we were quite efficient with that, and we continue to be doing just that going forward. So with that, thank you, and I'll take any questions you might have. First, we'll see if there's anyone here from the public that would like to speak to this agenda. We're seeing none. Is there any more discussion? Mr. Collins. Hi. Thanks for coming. I have just one question. You mentioned it's going to run from October 26 to October 27. October 26 to May 27. May 27, right. Just the summer periods are just for reasons we're all familiar with. Winter visitors go away. The weather's not as predictable. Our smaller ones that we do in the summer, we purposely have like two-person type setups. Totally makes sense. Inside when it's raining. Right. Yeah, totally makes sense. I think it's a great idea. I think it's a great plan. I personally believe that, you know, we've been trying to make this very well known that Clearwater is associated with music, specifically with music. 100%. I believe that if there is a broader public that does know that Clearwater will have Saturday live music on 400 block, they know it's coming. They can plan. They will attend. Right. We're achieving our goal. That's as far as I can see. So I'll be definitely in support of that. I also believe that 400 block is a big part of downtown. And I believe you guys are doing an amazing job, all of the merchants. I commend every single one of you, because any time I come to 400 block, it's always full of people. And I think, I mean, I would love to help you as much as we can, and I think that that helps our goal. And, yeah, I think it's a great, great idea. Great. Thanks. Okay. Councilman Merle-Britton. Great idea. I tell you, I can remember back when we did this back in 2010 and 11, and we didn't have the money to do the really good bands, but just having music on the street brings people in. And I see Councilmember Johnson here in the back, and he actually made, he came to the DDB when I was on it 10 years or so ago and said, wow, I was out at Cleveland Street, and it drew me in because the music was great. So I know it works. And having it every Saturday night really worked, because people know that they can come on Saturday night, they can have a good time listening to music, and they can eat in all the restaurants and have, you know, a good time doing that. So it's a really good thing. I'm glad you're doing it. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Romano. Thank you, Mayor. First, I'd like to point out, not just to yourself, but to the whole block of merchants for showing up together, working together, collaborating together, that energy that drives the downtown. It's not just the dais and our staff, obviously. It's the community. And you guys working together means a lot to all of us. I know that. And this is nice to see. Yeah, it's great partnering with these guys. That only grows. So I commend each and every one of you for that. We talk a lot in a handful of our meetings about Dunedin's success and safety. Well, the very thing that made Dunedin successful was its downtown merchants, the ability for them to come together and row and be on the same page. So I love seeing this. This checks a lot of boxes. We've talked about this before. This is our brand for downtown Clearwater, arts and entertainment and music. And, you know, we sit up here and make a lot of Shark Tank-like decisions over events. And in the forefront of our mind, other than being respectful and responsible with the tax dollars, is how best can we help those brick-and-mortar businesses, how best can we drive attendance to our downtown to see what it's about. And this does it. The ability to plan going forward, the efficiencies and time savings, that it doesn't only help you and the team, but what it does to staff. No doubt. And their time is no doubt. Logistically, the ability to schedule in, Brooke, I feel your pain. That's hard. With limited time frames and people want commitments and they want money and they want to be locked into a calendar and some of those better bands, you're not touching them within four months because they're good and they're booked. Yeah, that's it. This will give you that flexibility and be a good tool to lock up that consistency. So, yeah, thank you for all for being here. Love the energy and the being together and collaborating. And I think this is a great idea moving forward. Nice, Mayor. Thank you, sir. Thank you all for being here and being in attendance. I would say that this check's the only box that needs to be checked. You know, this board, in my opinion, exists to help better serve you all and make sure that your businesses are thriving. You're the ones taking the risk and, you know, putting the sacrifice out there. And any way that this board is able to assist you, I think that you can tell, but especially when you all are the ones making the request. And you did an extremely good job of presenting what you need it for, why you need it. I think it makes perfect and complete sense. I feel the sentiments and share the same with my colleagues that are up here. And I look forward to the bands to come every Saturday night. I was there, actually, on Friday night, downtown pizza, with my son's baseball team. We got rained out, but the families went down and the live band was there. And I can't tell you, the majority of the adults were like, these guys rock. This is awesome, because it was their first time there. So it's just a sentiment to, you know, what Council Member Oliverton said about Council Member Johnson. You know, music attracts people, and when you have those types of things that people then know are going to be there every weekend consistently, they're going to start coming back. So I think this is great. I look forward to it and being down in the downtown to enjoy it more often as well. So having been on the other side, as you guys are, I know all the hard work that it takes to not only run a business of food and beverage and all the challenges that come with that, and includes the hours, right, and then adding event planning to it, I fully understand what that means. And so from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for leading this effort and for all of you to get together again and taking your success, right, and not just, you know, leaning on anybody else. You're basically being one of the best solutions for this year. Consistency and frequency is important. It's been proven over and over again that that is important. The identity of downtown has been an organic process, which is beautiful, and that is music and entertainment. And so we need to add to that, not just Baker Sound, not just Capitol Theater, but an all-encompassing experience. This will be it. Having it every Saturday for eight months I think is an incredible thing. I also acknowledge that it's a lot of work. Again, I need to say that. And so thank you so much for owning your success and not just waiting for others to help. And I appreciate it, and I fully support this. My brother Frank is watching this, and he's put in a lot of time with this. I couldn't have done it without him. So he's a head paperwork guy. Good job, Frank. Yeah, well, I don't want to repeat what others have said. I'm the only one who hasn't said anything. So just it's a joy to see this because it plays in our strengths. As you mentioned, the concert Saturday night, I mean, we're just building on a reputation we've already started building, and that's to be the best place in not just Tampa Bay but in the entire state of Florida to come watch live music. And this just adds on to that, and I think it's a great idea, and we will work together with you to make it successful. I was saying to Bobby Rossi just last week that together we got Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear, the sound cap theater, and live on Cleveland Street. So it all works. Trifecta. Very good. Okay. Is there a motion? Move to approve agenda item 4.6. There is a thing we need to put in the miles. We need to put in the miles. One thing I'd just point out is that this warrants, I'm underlining. The microgrants work on a $5,000 of grunts, and then we put ours in along the way, and that's the way they work, and we've worked through that for nine months. As I understand it, the community grants are all on a reimbursement basis, which may work for a one-event type of a situation when it's going to be the one event. It's going to be next Saturday, and, hey, you guys, sponsors, pay for it, and then come see us next Tuesday, and we'll reimburse you at that point. I can just tell you with all of our businesses, that doesn't work with an eight-month process. We can't possibly, you know, go and, well, guys, you just throw all the concerts and pay for it through next May, and then we'll see you next June. And I know that's a little complicated from a legal structural perspective, but from a pragmatic standpoint of just what it takes to fund these things, we're fine with accounting for every dollar we've spent. I can do that easily. But we have to have funding along the way, you know, so I leave that to you guys to perhaps best figure out how that's going to be accomplished. So, city attorney, do you want to weigh in on that? So just a couple things about your motion, Mr. Olberton. I think your motion was to approve 4.6. I think I'm hearing from the board that they want to go up to the $120. So you would probably have to approve $120 for the money. So $120, is that what else? For eight months. That's $130. For eight months. Right. Right. The other part is, is the request to get the money in advance? Well, periodically in advance. I mean, in other words, that averages about $15,000 a month. And we're fine with doing things like saying, hey, here's an accounting of all the expensive. Fortunately, it's a very limited use of funds, right? You pay a band. We pay a lot to rent stages just to put that out there. I mean, we could have a stage that we purchase for five or six months of rental. I got you. I got you, Dan. All right. So, but the costs are only, even as I've got here, it's the bands, the stage, marketing, and city costs. That's it. But we need that at the time that they're incurred. When a band plays, the first thing they do, yeah, Dan, this is great. Where's my check? Yeah, you know, so, go ahead. Yeah, can we just do something to approve the $120,000 and then disperse $15,000 the first of every month? Well, it wouldn't be every month. Well, for the eight months to equal $120,000. Would it be easier to break it into, like, every two months so it's easier for staff so you're not just whipping out checks every month? Or split it in half the first four months and then the next four months? Sure. The only trick that I can see there would be we've got to get that fifth month, the second half, right at the beginning of that second half. Or there could be a gap. You know what I'm saying? Is that, you know, well, the first four months is done here. And then we've just paid out all that stuff. I can do the accounting kind of as we go along and submit that. But right at the beginning of that next time period, as we go into months five, six, seven, and eight, we'll need that next amount. And we'll put it in a separate bank account. You know what I mean? We don't even need that, we only need for the next month, but, you know, whatever works for you guys. Is it that you want the $15,000 one month in advance? So, for instance, if you had an event in November, you would want it in October? The ideal thing would be if we're starting this on October 1, right, that we get $15,000 on October 1. And then a November 1, the next $15,000, and we just periodically account for it as we go through the eight-month period. So you would reconcile along the way? So if I can make a recommendation, what we could do is instead of it being month-to-month or doing half, you know, do four months, and then we would reconcile and then we could do another. What we could do is on a draw basis, so we could do every two months, we could do $15,000 up front, which would allow for them to get started, reconcile, and then it's every two months, assuming that we get everything that we need in order to reconcile. So we could do it that way, which means that every two months they would be receiving about $30,000. It's on a draw basis. I think what you said second, we need that second. Right, but what my recommendation is to give the initial $15,000. So you would get $15,000 and then, yeah. When do you get the money for the two? But we still have to be able to reconcile. So that would be, there's. Yeah, that's fine. Then check. So in month two, you do the accounting for month one. In month three, you do the accounting for month two. You never, we can't ever get two months behind and we still haven't submitted, that's the only thing. But as long as you've been staying on to keep getting the money, if we get behind, that's on us. That's our problem. Is that? Well, I'm not. How do I say that in a motion? I'm not sensing any objection from the board to giving you some money in advance. But we do need to get a clear motion together to allow some flexibility to the staff to distribute to you in a way that makes the event successful. So I don't know if we can. Plus, my question for the city attorney is what legally can we do. I mean, I'm not sure we can. So you mean get the money up front? Right. I think you could agree to give it up front. The issue is, is once you give the money, and if there's a problem, it's getting the money back, right? And that's why we typically would do the reimbursement. At the same time, the last item, we gave that organization $6,000 up front. So as long as it's being reconciled, then we can continue, right? That's how the premise is? Is it an max of two months? Can you only go that far in advance, or would you be able to do that? No, no. If I may, this is where you're going. It's exactly what we just talked about. So go ahead, Ann. I'll let you go ahead and keep it on. Thank you. Two months. So we could do up front for two months and then every 60 days. Recyc, yeah. Which would allow for? The objection to that. All right. No? That's okay? That's a little further. Okay. So I'll modify my motion. $120,000 up front two months and then every 60 days. 60 days. It's not your recognition. Okay. Did we get that right? That's fine. Okay. Does it work? You got it? I got it. Okay. Okay. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Unanimous. Can I add something? Because Dan is actually, thank you. Dan was, and I had a conversation today, and he had a great idea, and I'm going to follow up. And that suggestion is, I think it's worth looking at before we close out the fiscal year, which ends in about two weeks. That one expense that comes up repeatedly in all the events is a stage rental, right? So rather than continuing to pay that cost event after event after event, I think it may be worth exploring whether the board should simply own a portable stage. So I did a little bit of research real quick this afternoon, and there's several options depending on what you want. But basically, a 12 by 20 portable stage with stairs and storage cart would be anywhere between $15,000 and $20,000, depending on the specifications, right? Whether we want a roof or a canopy, but basically, most would be $20,000. So we're currently at about $568,000 in unallocated funds with two weeks left of this fiscal year, and getting another 523 roughly. So I'm thinking that this is a good investment for the DDB. I'm not suggesting we spend money simply because it's available, but with only two weeks left in the fiscal year. If we are repeatedly reimbursing organizations for stage rentals, I think it makes sense to at least compare those recurring costs with the cost of owning one. So I think we should consider having a one-time purchase with a stage, and your requirements, and a lot of them are usually about 12 to 20 feet, right? Yeah, it's 12 by 20. I've tried smaller and got complaints from the bands because it wasn't big enough for them all to get on the stage. One, two, the other. If you know artists, they are absolutely this way. That equipment is like their universe. And when they've got $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 of equipment on it, they want to know it's protected so that from both the rain and then also if they're getting beat by the sun. So if we had, and I could look into this because I've started to, type where even the roof comes off and gets stored underneath. Right, it's a canopy type. It's about $18,000. And then you just, that would be very well received by them. It would be a one-time purchase. It would be our asset that we can use year after year. And then the grant, the people that would ask for grants would not have to have us reimburse it at every event. The other one last, it's also, because I'm the guy that typically meets them to move it in and out. If it's always there, it's always there. There's nothing, oh, the gate's open. Yeah, well, it's not an agenda item tonight. So that's one of the things where I think she's just raising the idea, and I don't, it sounds reasonable. Personally, I'd just like to see it flushed out a little bit. Yeah, I was thinking more, like, then staff can come back. I think it could make sense. Yeah, I do too. Vice Mayor Proust. Yes, thank you very much. I think that it's a great idea as well. I know that we just approved the agenda item. That takes care of stage costs currently, correct? So maybe that's... Yes. So maybe that's... We have savings for that, no doubt. So maybe we take the time to really flush out the type of trailer that's needed. We see what's going to happen with the November vote and ballot, and then we can really get with the merchants to see what type of a stage would be best. And by April of next year, maybe try and order it, or before that, February, or something like that, to where it would be in by the end of May. We have a stage ready to go, and that's just my thoughts, since we've already allocated funds to go towards that right now. Just throwing it out there. But I know that we've put on a future agenda item, and we can discuss it for that. Future agenda item, yeah. Because we could do the stage earlier, and just... I can see what you're saying, because it's been allocated for their funding. But I would love to see that stage before, and so everyone else can enjoy it, because there's events all the time. Anyway, just thoughts? Yeah. I think we should look at it. Yeah. Yeah, no, it definitely saves money in the long run, but you have to consider what you're also paying for, is storage, who stores it, where you store it, who's responsible for it, who's setting it up, who's breaking it down. Are we putting staff out there after hours, early hours? There's a lot of labor that goes into that. But it definitely, in the long run, would save this board and the team a lot of money. It's just there are logistic conversations that have to be had. And if I may, we're in the middle of working with AECOM, as far as for the design of 400 and 500 block. That's an item that we can bring up to them, and they would figure out, as far as maintenance, storage, who does what. Go ahead. Thank you. All right. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Malone. That will move to item five on the agenda, director's report. I have no director's report, since I provide it at September 15th's DDB meeting. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Dineau. Item six, board members to be heard. Any board members? That will move to item seven, and that is to adjourn the special meeting of the downtown development board for September 21, 2026. Good job. Yeah, we'll recess for just a minute or two while we change the configuration of the diets. Thank you.