City Commission - Regular Meeting - Feb 03, 2026

Good evening, everyone. Welcome to this meeting of the Delray Beach City Commission this Tuesday, February 3rd. If we could call the roll. Commissioner Markert. Here. Commissioner Cazell. Deputy Vice Mayor Burns. Here. Mayor Carney. Here. We have a quorum. Great. If you could all please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you all. You may be seated. Okay. This is agenda approval. I'm asking that item 6D4, because the family is actually here, I'd like to move item 6D4, which is a presentation to former Chief Kerry Cohn, to be moved down right after 4D and before, right after you make your presentation, Kathleen Stubbs, and before the presentation of the Opioid Committee. So I'd like to make that 4DD, what do you make it? EE. Whatever you want to do it. We'll call it whatever works. Okay. Are there any other matters for the agenda? Any changes? Any this, that, or other? Nope. Then I need a motion to approve the agenda as amended. Motion to approve the agenda as amended. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Agenda is adopted. Thank you very much. All in favor. The first presentation will be the Delray Beach Public Schools Leadership Presentation. Janae, you're somewhere? Ms. Bowens, are you around as well? Yeah. Oh, you're going to be? Okay, fine. Yes, please. Good evening, Mayor Carney, Deputy Vice Mayor Burns, Commissioner Cassell, and Commissioner Market. Thank you so much for giving us time this evening to share an instructional update on the City of Delray Beach Public Schools. We really appreciate being a part of your agenda, and I just want to share that I do have members of the regional office here that are supervisors to the Delray City Beach Schools. Ms. Steiger, Dr. Sanders, and Dr. Lockhart are all joining us this evening, along with all of our City of Delray Beach School principals, our site administrator from Historic Carver, and Mr. Fred Bartsch, who is in charge of the Director of Adult and Ed Community Schools. My name is Rachel Capitano, and I do serve as the South Regional Superintendent and very proud to represent our Delray Public Schools. So, we'll start off this evening with a look back into how our schools have been performing. You can see that we are reviewing data all the way back to 2019, and it was very clear that we had some work to do in our public schools. So, if you pass forward from 2019 to 2025, you can see that we did have some increases in our school grades, which I'll take a look at on the next slide in comparison to the school district. We had two of our schools increase to A letter grades, which was Banyan Creek and Pine Grove Elementary. And then we also had SD Spadey decrease to a C. And what I'll talk about with Spadey is that at the time that they were an A in 2024, we barely got that A. We were right on the border of an A, B, and it was just enough to push us over to an A. And then when we fell, obviously that was devastating for Spadey, and it was just right at the top of the C. We went through some challenges with teaching staff leaving positions in the middle of the year, and it really took a hit to our fourth grade scores. However, I'm happy to report to the commission that our current projections for this year's school grade do put us back up in that upper B, possibly lower A range for Spadey. When you take a look at how our Delray schools are performing in comparison to the school district, you'll see back in 2019, we were only 22% A rated, and we had 67% C rated. Fast forward to this past school year, we have doubled our A ratings to 44% and decreased in half our C ratings to 33%. So we're very proud of the growth that we've had for our Delray schools, and it's in much more alignment with how the district's performing as a whole. And I'm happy to report that we have not had any DRF schools in the city of Delray Beach. Our kindergarten readiness. So at this time, I want to take you through the trajectory of how our students enter our Delray schools all the way until graduation and post-graduation workforce in the presentation. So we'll start with kindergarten readiness. So you can see that as a total, Delray Beach is coming at about 50% kindergarten ready. The district in the past two years has been right around 45%. So our students are coming in a little higher than the district itself. You can see our two biggest concerns are at Orchard View and Pine Grove with our next concern being at Plimosa. And when we really took a look at how those kindergartners are coming in, in terms of readiness, we see that under half of them are engaging in any type of VPK or Pre-K or Head Start program to help prep them for kindergarten readiness. Kindergarten readiness is determined at the beginning of the school year with a state test that consists of about 27 items that will take the students anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. So that's how that score is determined. I am happy to report, however, that Orchard View, their third grade, even though they're coming in at 21% this past year, their third grade last year was scores for reading proficiency was at 50%, Pine Grove was at 73%, and Plimosa was at 83%, and all three of those schools are A or B rated. So even though we do have some concerns that they're coming in kindergarten ready, the schools are doing a lot of work by the time they get to third grade. So we are preparing to launch our Step Into Kindergarten campaign, and this is where we provide all of our parents with a kindergarten readiness kit. And that kit consists of about 192 items, and it does come with a parent handbook. We do provide videos in multiple languages, and any student who registers in our schools, the parents receive the kit to be able to start preparing. This year we did make a change where we increased our grade levels for the kindergarten readiness kit from ages four to six, and so we are hopeful that that will only add to our kindergarten readiness, especially for those students who are unable to engage in any type of learning, VPK, Pre-K, prior to entering our schools. We will start registering kindergarten the week of April 6th this year, so anything the city can do to help us increase and bring awareness to that and increase our registrations would be greatly appreciated. And speaking of enrollment, so we know that enrollment in our Delray schools has been a challenge. The district itself has felt a big decrease in enrollment this past year. We've been 6,000 students down, and in the south region, which is from the Lake Worth area all the way to Boca, we've lost about 2,900 students in just one year. Delray lost about 500 students last year. So we know that we've been watching enrollment over the past couple of years in Delray. This isn't anything new that we're talking about, but the district got hit very hard. The state lost about 50,000 students, and our urban school districts, such as Miami-Dade lost about 13,000. Broward lost about 10,000. Projections for enrollment next year still show another decrease, which is why we're taking efforts to really reach out to our families, re-engage our families. For example, we do have a committee that the district has formed with principals on it, and one decision the committee made was to send out a text message to all of our families that are not in our zone schools to find out why, if you're still living in your zone school area. Is it because of academics? Is it because of culture? Is it because of safety, student support? We want that feedback from our families, and then if you've moved out of the district, was it because of a job change, affordability, environment? You know, we want that information back from our individual families so that we can begin to re-engage those families that are still living in Palm Beach County. We're also increasing our marketing campaigns. We've held our showcase of schools and doing work around customer service. This is a very big initiative for the school district. Here's a look at our English language arts data for the past five years. So, you'll notice that back in 2021, Delray schools were at about 50 percent proficient in grades three to ten. We did have a test change. We saw a dip when the state changed the test to the fast assessment, and now we're back up to about 54 percent in grades three to ten. The district's at about 57 percent. Here's a look at our math data. You'll see that we were at about 43 percent, and then surprisingly, when the test changed, we were able to hold that data at 49 percent, and currently Delray's performing at about 56 percent in grades three to eight, algebra one and geometry, and the district's performing at around 60 percent. The two-year trends of our proficiency by school, you'll see that Pomosa School of the Arts has had the largest increase with 23 percent plus over their K, they have K-8 obviously, so that's accounted for the two years of the ELA data, and then you also see that Village has had a double-digit increase of 12 percent. For our math proficiency, Pomosa again ranks at the top with 17 percent. Orchard has had a double-digit increase at 11 percent, and Village also at 10 percent. You'll see that there's a dip there at Carver. Carver has increased their acceleration and access to algebra and geometry, and that's accounted for the dip. We still want to keep on holding our expectations high for our students and increasing acceleration, but that's accounted for why you see that three percent dip at Carver. We are so proud to let the City Commission know that over the past four years, we've been working so hard to make sure that each and every student in our middle schools have access to at least one accelerated course. This could be one core course, English, Language, Arts, Math, Social Studies, or Science. We are at a hundred percent across all subgroups of at least one accelerated course, although they could have more than one. Here's how the district looks at 93 percent. Delray schools are at 100 percent for middle school students. When we take a look at our Delray high schools and their access to college level coursework, this would be accounted for, of course, at Village Academy and Atlantic high schools. You see across the subgroups the setting increase that we've made since 2022 all the way up to this past year. Again, we're really proud of those numbers, especially for our Black and our Hispanic students. Double digit increases. Here's a look at our dual enrollment. So from Village and Atlantic, we've had 82 students partner with Palm Beach State College, which has been a tuition savings of around $88,000 and resulted in about 374 courses. We are so proud of our graduation rate. So Village Academy is once again 100 percent. Every single graduate graduated and Atlantic had plus 5 percent graduation rate. And we're so proud that our Delray schools are above and beyond Palm Beach County. Okay, so I've given you an update on when students start with us from kindergarten readiness all the way through graduation. I wanted you to be able to see a review of the life of a student as they're traveling through our schools. But we know how important it is to make sure that our students are college and career and workforce ready post graduation. So now I want to talk through some of the things we're doing to prepare our students. So we've focused in on four key areas, career pathway, career advising, industry partnerships, and student and family engagement. So as we look at our choice programs, we see those at all levels, elementary, middle, and high. And I am so proud to say I was just debriefing our choice program applications for next school year just closed last week. And Carver has tripled in the amount of applications for next year. And Atlantic is at about 260 across different their different choice programs for next year. And so now we're going through to check eligibility for students to meet those programs. But what is most impressive, as I was just talking to Principal Edwards, is that the majority of the applications submitted for Atlantic were in criminal justice and their new biomedical CTE program, which I'll talk about in just on the next slide. Those applications, the majority of them came from out of boundary Atlantic high school students. So we're very proud of that as well. So here's a look at our CTE pathways. We know that these are specialized programs to help our students become career ready, career ready, post-secondary. Principal Edwards will speak for opening a brand new biomedical engineer program next year at Atlantic high school. And that application pool was higher than our IB pool. So we were very pleased to see that that program's opening and the interest in the applications for the program. And again, most were out of boundary. Historic Carver. So we are so blessed to be home in Delray Beach to our historic Carver program. Mr. Fred Barge, along with Mr. Cortez, have done so many awesome things at this program to be able to offer on the site licensing, apprenticeships, mentorships. They've got their HVAC program, License to Chill. They have their electrical program. And I recently toured the facility with the United States Deputy Secretary of Labor, Mr. Keith Sonderling, who's up there, and the Director of Workforce. And they were so impressed. I was just debriefing with Mr. Barge, and they've already reached out to put him in contact with others in the Department of Labor to be able to replicate what we're doing at Historic Carver and how we're aligning right out of school, right into jobs. And so that is critical for not only the United States, but Palm Beach County and Delray Beach, and we were so fortunate to have that visit and to be able to take them to Historic Carver. We have so many community partnerships in the city of Delray Beach. The community wants our schools to succeed. It is evident in the amount and the volume of partnerships that come in and help our students, our principals, and our staff, and our schools every single day. We meet regularly with organizations like Roots and Wings, Best Foot Forward. Chief Hunter is involved in our schools monthly, and I know that he's a carver every Friday. So we're so blessed to have just a list of so many community partnerships. And those of you who are here this evening that are affiliated with these groups, on behalf of the school principals, students, and staff in the regional office, we really thank you for your commitment to our schools. Here's pictures from Chief Hunter. They do quarterly pay setter awards with our Delray Beach schools. We transitioned with the help of Ms. Bowens into this for this coming school year, and you can see some of our students and our principals in these photos, and we say thank you so much, Chief Hunter. So I really just want to highlight three areas on this slide for how the City Commission can help us. And we are always looking at our attendance. Delray aligns with the school district in absences. We have about 65% of our students miss about five or more days, and roughly 32% of our students miss 10 or more days. So we're always looking to decrease our absenteeism and our tardiness because we know that students need to be in school to learn. So that's our first big initiative. Our second initiative is really to be kindergarten ready. I was thinking at some point maybe the mayor or one of the commissioners, you guys could even do a video with our kindergarten readiness kit to talk about our families coming to our school to enroll and register and the kit that we provide to help us, you know, make sure that we're getting investing early in our children for our Delray schools. And then last but certainly not least is really just our access to internships. We want our students to be able to leave school and be able to go to internships and apprenticeships right here in Delray Beach. We know that we're preparing the next workforce. We know how important that is and so any support that you can give us with our students in the career pathways always greatly appreciated. And you are home to Principal Shantae King of Pine Grove. She was the Palm Beach County School District Principal of the Year. Pine Grove is an A rating and we did open up Pine Grove this year. And then most recently Principal Sandra Edwards, one of 15 in the state, was just named the Florida Tax Watch principals for her movement with our at-risk students. So congratulations to both of these ladies. And at this time I'd like to invite the principals up to come up and give you an update on each of their schools. Probably going to be more efficient for them to speak from the podium. I think that's how we did it last time. If you all want to go ahead and go over there so that way we're not. Thank you so much. Good evening. I am Sandra Edwards. I am the very proud principal of Atlantic High School. And just to share a little bit about Atlantic, we were the first school in Palm Beach County to bring the IB program. And our IB program consists of our middle years, 9 through 10, Atlantic with our diploma program, 11 through 12. And then we have a career-related program where those students enter in our IB program. But they can go, they can receive an IB diploma or they can receive a certificate in their career. Atlantic, we have a lot of in-house academies. So there's a lot for students to choose from. As you can see, we have 14 choice and in-house academies. And like Dr. Capitano shared, our biomedical engineering, we're really excited about that. The district is really pushing that for us. So excited about that. And then, of course, our clubs. There's always something for students to do at Atlantic High School. We offer a lot of clubs there. And we do believe in the whole child. They get their academics there. They get their sports there. They get their social there. So a lot is offered in Atlantic. And as the principal of Atlantic, I invite everyone or anyone to come visit Atlantic and just to show you the great things that are happening there. But thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. Thank you very much for your work. Good evening. I'm Jerry Riopal, the proud principal at Banyan Creek Elementary. And it's great to be able to be here and talk with you and talk with you in regards to Banyan Creek. Banyan Creek is an A-rated school. We are a PBIS Bronze Award winner for our positive behaviors that we have going on. We are servicing about 816 students in pre-K, VBK, kindergarten through fifth grade. We're a diverse school offering different programs, whether it's gifted, gen ed, accelerated math programs, deaf and hard of hearing, augmented communications for some of our most needy students, ASD, and EBD, an emotional behavioral disorder. We usually run about two gifted classes per grade level. And we also have our accelerated math programs in three through five. And one of the proud things is that with our fifth grade class last year in the AMP, they had 100% were level fives for the fast tests. So we're very proud of that. We are also recipients of a $50,000 FPNL grant, which is going to help build our robotics and STEM programs at the school. We have many different things that we're going to be incorporating in there. And we've been able to open up two robotics labs on the class on the campus. So we also offer digital toolkit certification for our students. We are a choice program for technology. And we also offer many different extracurricular activities on our campus. And Banyan Creek is the best choice for your children. Thank you very much. I'll hurry up and go before they come and get him. Okay, elementary. My name is Shannon Grice. I'm the proud principal of Carver Middle School. We are the proud Eagles. We are also the highest rating of PBIS model school. That's our behavior. We have wonderful choice programs. I know they already went over them. But I do want to highlight our Criminal Justice Academy. Officer Adaya, which I would like to say thank you to the city of Delray, because she has loaned to us during the day to be an instructor. She actually spoke at the Lapson National Conference. That's the Law and Public Safety Education Network. We are the only one in the country along with Atlantic High School that has that pathway from middle school to high school. So that is something definitely to be proud of, because we're getting a lot of our students ready for a job with the batch, meaning a career in criminal. Thank you. Thank you. And the Fridays he's there. I just want to say it's fun Friday. We have music playing. We have games. We have jump ropes. So everyone is invited between 9 and 9 30. So please come out. A couple other highlights for Carver Middle School. Yes, we are increasing our enrollment, because I know that is something on everyone's mind. Just so you know, this year we took our bus. We picked up every single feeder school, fifth grade, and even some from Boynton Beach. And we brought them on campus to see our beautiful campus and to see all the programs we have. We think it's important they experience a day at Carver. And it was interesting because the adults and the children were like, wow, this is beautiful, because we have a beautiful campus. A couple other things, Delray. Thank you so much for your waste management grants. We have now eSports. We also have our Makerspace. And we just purchased drones. We're starting a drone class next year. We also started our pre-medical academy in line with Atlantic High School. We do align our programs. And also we're stopping our kids from going to Boca. They were traveling to Boca. Sorry. I know. But they were traveling to Boca to go to pre-medical. So we're like, all right, you don't need to travel. So we're really excited. That just started in January. And so those are some of the things that we're doing. Thank you, Delray Tennis. They come every week. First Tee Golf comes every week. We also have our eSports, No Place for Hate, National Junior Honor Society, Student Government, our after school programs, cooking art. I believe that our kids need to play after school and be exposed to those kind of fun things. Just a couple of other things. I already mentioned drones. Our robotics club is actually competing at regionals. We're really hoping to go to state. Actually, the club sponsor already filled out the paperwork. So I may be coming for donations to send our team to the state competition. So great things happening at Carver. Please come out and see us. We just refinished our media center. And I'd love for you guys to join us. So thank you. Joe Cortez. Good evening. My name is Joe Cortez. I'm the site administrator for historic Carver Technical Education Center. We serve the adult learners in the community, and we are extremely excited to do so. With that in mind, if I say anything that interests any of you, please come see me after the meeting. But we offer lots of different programs. We started humbly with phlebotomy and home health aid in 2017. With the expansion of our campus in phase one with a new building and renovated building, we now offer pre-apprentice trades. We offer apprenticeships in electric and air conditioning. We've expanded into the medical field with medical assisting. We now offer a culinary program. And so we've partnered with a lot of organizations in the community and in Palm Beach County. We want to continue to strengthen and expand those programs. So we're communicating with the local high schools, Atlantic and Village, about ways to partner and possibly offer dual enrollment in the upcoming term. So we really want to provide an opportunity for students to enter into the workforce, whether they're 18, 19 years old, you know, looking for kind of their first career opportunity, or they're 40, 50, looking to retrain and learn some new skills or different skills that can help them enter into the workforce. So we're really excited to do that. And we operate both in the daytime and in the nighttime. So we have programs, you know, for everybody. And like that, we're we're exciting about we're excited about continuing to just grow and offer more opportunities to the community to help them into the workforce. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good evening. My name is Stephanie Coletto. I'm the proud principal at Morikami Park Elementary School. And thank you very much for inviting me to speak. I'm honored to share what makes Morikami Park such a special place for our students to learn. We're located in Delray Beach. We're an authorized IB World School dedicated to the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program. What does that mean for our kids? It means we don't just teach facts. We foster internationally minded students. Through our inquiry-based learning, our students explore the world in three languages, English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. Our students challenge themselves through our advanced math pathways. By the time they reach fifth grade, they're tackling real world global issues in a year-long service project called Exhibition. We'd love you to come and see it. It's at the end of the school year. As a result of our rigorous curriculum, Morikami Park is currently ranked in the top one percent of all Florida public elementary schools. We're a national blue ribbon school of excellence, a magnet school of distinction, and a PBIS gold level school for our positive campus culture. We believe in educating the whole child. That's why we pair our academic rigor with a robust fine arts program, including music, art, and our innovation lab, all supported by an incredibly active parent community, many of our parents from Delray Beach, and a diverse student body that prepares our children for the real world. We aren't just preparing students for the next grade. We're empowering the next generation of global citizens, and we'd love for you to come take a take a tour of Morikami Park. Thank you very much for allowing us to speak. Thank you very much. Good evening. I'm the very proud principal of Orchard View, Danielle Garcia. I'm also a Boynton Beach resident, and my student is at Atlantic High in their amazing criminal justice program. And we love it. We love it. It helps that it's five minutes away. At Orchard View, we house pre-K through grade five. We also have five units with students that have autism. We're a bronze school for positive behavior support and for school culture. We do a lot of work there. We're trying to provide opportunities for students in schools so that when they get out of school, they have some sort of a pathway besides going to middle school and high school. We have an AMP program that starts actually at grade one. The district starts at grade three. We brought it down to first grade to try to provide those learning opportunities and outside the box thinking prior to third grade AMP so that we can hopefully keep those students in AMP until they get to fifth grade. We also have an outside the view. We try to make sure we're so focused on students that have, you know, learning challenges and they need extra support, but we then kind of forget about the kids that are higher that we need to really enrich. So our outside the view program provides that opportunity and gives them learning experiences with math, science, some social studies, financial literacy, and they really are doing a great job with that. And we're very, very proud of that. That's just at Orchard View. So I like to put that little little thing in there. All of the work that we do at Orchard View is data driven. All of it from the beginning of the school year, really from the ending of last school year to the beginning of the school year and throughout the year we're making shifts so that we're providing the best learning opportunity for our students as well as the best teachers sitting in front of them. You know, we want to make sure our kids are ready, not only for Orchard View. We're working on our kindergarten readiness. We have two VPKs there to try to get them ready. Unfortunately, not all kids stay at Orchard View, so we're working on that piece, maybe even trying to get an additional VPK. We work closely with Carver Middle to make sure that we're sending them the very best students. I think we've done a pretty good job in the past couple years sending you some really good kids. And they're excited and that experience that they had where they went to go see Carver was eye-opening for them as well as our as our teacher. So we're doing great things at Orchard View. Again, please come by and see our school. I don't have any choice programs, but we're doing great things there and we'd love to have you any time. And thank you very much for letting us know. I'm looking forward to seeing you in Delray Reads. That's where I always go. Well, good evening. My name is Rhonda Smith and I am the proud principal of Plamosa School of the Arts, your A-rated premier performing arts school located here in Delray Beach. There I am. All right. So I'm like, that's not me. All right. So a little bit about our school. So I have provided you all with some information regarding the school. Nice little folder there. But we are the recipients of the EcTech Award, which is given by the state of Florida. And it is the Exceeding Expectations Award. This is very close to being a Blue Ribbon award-winning school where we are in the top one percent of Title I schools here in the state of Florida. My team and I were able to go and receive that award over the summer and present on all the best practices that we utilize to be able to achieve our A-rated status. In addition to that, we have a robust performing arts program offering eight different disciplines. And we also offer a Spanish language immersion program, dual language program. And I have to tell you, of all of the programs, because we offer many at Plamosa, that one is near and dear to my heart because it really does afford students a multitude of opportunities by becoming bilingual and biliterate by the grade, fifth grade. And so that is really amazing. Something else that we are super proud of, and Dr. Capitano actually mentioned it, was our 83 percent proficiency in third grade reading. That's a huge feat for us. I've been the principal at Plamosa now for four years. Tomorrow's my four year anniversary. Thank you. And it has been such an amazing ride. I'm most proud of the teachers, the people who pour into students each and every single day. It has not been an easy feat jumping from a C to an A and then of course maintaining that A. But we are steadfast on making sure that we provide a multitude of services to our students, more so not just to make sure that they are academically sound, but they're well-rounded by having the artistic talents cultivated in them each and every single day. In addition to all of the wonderful things that we're doing on top of our campus or inside of our campus, we also did a promotional event here in Delray and it was called Fall in Love with Plamosa. And we were so excited. It was a week-long experience where we went into your city, our amazing city here, and we partnered with the Creative Arts Center and we facilitated classes for an entire week offering the community free classes to be able to come in and experience what it would be like to be on our campus on any given day. And it was such an enriching experience for, I believe, the community, but definitely for my staff and I to be able to pour into our community and really show what it is that we are here to be able to provide. Plamosa is the only school of its kind in Palm Beach County, being that it is K-8, it is a performing arts school. Many of our students do matriculate and go on to schools like Dreyfuss School of the Arts, which you know is one of our renowned schools here in Palm Beach County. And we're really proud of that. And as a principal, I have to say I'm very, very proud to be a principal here in the city of Delray. I've worked in a number of cities and Delray definitely loves on their schools. They love on their principals. The amount of the people sitting inside of this room today that have impacted our school and our students in a multitude of ways, like we're forever grateful. So thank you for all of your support and thank you for your time this evening. Thank you very much, Honda. Hello, everyone. My name is Jasmine Compare. I'm here on behalf of my wonderful principal, Shanta King, who was unable to make it today. I would like to highlight a few things that are happening on our brand new campus. The first thing is safety. We were awarded a gold medal for PBIS last school year. We have brand new automatic door locks on each door. We have a, throughout the school, is the Tinge's crisis alert system. We have our police officer on campus every day. We also have an access control system throughout our entire campus. And we have over 80 live cameras are in color, which is very cool because we get to see everything. Another thing we're working on is instruction. Last year, we had our 73% proficiency rate for third grade. We continue to focus on providing high quality instruction aligned with the Florida state standard. We have small group instruction that happens every day for reading and math. We have all hands on deck approach for all students, which means our principal and assistant principal are pulling small groups to make sure that all students are getting what they need. We have AMP for our advanced learners. And we also have pre-K third and fourth year old classrooms for VPK. And last but not least is our enrichment. We have wonderful programs on our campus, which is Teachers for Tomorrow, Drummers Club, Battle of the Books, Dolphin Chorus, as well as No Place for Hate for Step and Dance, which were featured in the Delray Beach Christmas Parade. So thank you. And we love Pine Grove. Woohoo! Dr. Capitano and Ms. Steiger meet the people of my neighborhood. 18 years at Spady Elementary, I get to live the dream, right? I get to work here, live here and play here. So this town is everything to me and the school which I serve. So everything that everybody has set up till now, like we're doing the same. So I'm going to highlight some of the things that you may not have heard from other schools. And one of the things is we started at age three and we have an application. We are 100% choice. And so far we have three applications going into next year. So we're pretty excited about that. We are the proud recipients of the Betty Harmon Warner MMUN Reading and Emerging Leaders Center. That's a mouthful, but it also came with a really nice check of $250,000 over the next five years to get our students reading and learning. And they participate in the Model Montessori United Nations program in New York City. So this grant will fund their trip and all the teachers to get them ready for it. In fact, they leave in two weeks for the maiden voyage and we're very excited to see all the things that they can do. The program had eight kids going originally because of affordability and now we are over 20 and we hope that soon we will be 40 and we will just keep growing over those five years. Our chorus is an award-winning chorus that has gone to Carnegie Hall. Our music teacher, Mr. Clark, has been servicing Speedy Elementary for 38 years. All right. And Chief Hunter, thank you for the honor of letting us sing the national anthem at your swearing in ceremony. And we are also home to December's Thank a Teacher recipient, Ashton Hines. And we are also the recipient of the best school in Delray Beach at the holiday parade two years in a row. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. I am Latoya Dixon, the proud principal of Village Academy, home of our students from the cradle to college and all the things that everyone else has said. So, well, I do want to share that Village Academy is one of the most unique schools in Palm Beach County. We are the only public school in Delray Beach serving students from Head Start, which includes VPK, infants and toddlers, three and four year olds, elementary, middle and high school students. And as you heard earlier, that soon our students will have an opportunity not only to go to Palm Beach State College for dual enrollment, as we have, but have an opportunity to possibly explore some opportunities in the career dual enrollment program right next door to the historic college. So excited about hearing about that. So one of the things that I'm most proud of during my time here at Village Academy is being able to sustain a 100 percent graduation rate. You might ask, why are we able to do that? Thank you. Our structure at Village Academy is to nurture children from the cradle to college. You know, without a high school diploma, it is nearly impossible to be all that you can be in in these in these times. So our school is small enough to know when our students are sneezing, why they're sneezing and why they might not be sneezing. So it is a goal that is achievable, but it's also done with a lot of heart and love as the name of our school, Village Academy, because it truly does take a village to raise a child. So on on to our families. I want to say at Village Academy, you can see here that our families have the opportunity of staying with us for 15 years. And at every graduation rate, no matter what the enrollment rate is, nearly 50 percent or more of our students have been with us from elementary all the way through high school. Our focus, we have a choice focus. Our program is choice, 100 percent choice. Plus, we focus on highlighting on the small environmental piece there. Families choose our school because they do like the family structure that we have there. A lot of our families are working class families and they really entrust the school principal and the leaders to make sure that we are guiding their students around down the right pathway. So speaking of pathways, college and career pathways at Village Academy, we are an avid school. We have honors programs. Our students take advantage of accelerated courses, ACE and dual enrollment pieces. And we don't end the day at 225 for our middle and high school students or 205 for our elementary students. Our day is extended by our After the Bell program. We have a long-standing relationship with the Achievement Center for children and families. We have an elementary program, a teen program. Our students also get to have an opportunity to earn money. There's an entrepreneurship program with the Achievement Center where the students are reaching back to the younger students and mentoring them through our after-school program. Our school is home of the 21st century after-school program, which again extends the day and enables us to kind of, you know, capitalize on enrichment or learning experience opportunities that our students may or not get when they leave our campus. Additionally, I like to add that we are recipients of a new grant in the amount of 85K plus or minus with an after-school program that is being funded by the Quantum Foundation, the Children's Service Council. And I'm also partnering this year with the Coalition of Student Achievement. So they have been instrumental in making sure that these programs are solid and funded here at Village Academy. So I do want to say a shout out to programs such as that and also the Roots and Wings program that has been with Village Academy over some times and they have helped with the growth of our school. So the Learning Lab, which I just mentioned about with the partnership, the Quantum Foundation, is really an exciting program that is really taking off with our middle and our ninth grade students. And through this program, again, we're extending the day. We are reinforcing the importance of school doesn't end when it ends. You have to put in the work if you want to really go above and beyond. So that is contributing to the growth that we're having. We have included community partners have come in. We've had over 15 guest speakers to come in and meet with our children. And I would like to say to Deputy Vice Mayor, get that right, for coming in and being one of our speakers. And I also open that up to other members as well to come and give up a Friday afternoon for us. It's a great time for our middle and high school students. And I end with saying it really does take a village. That is cliche, but it is the heart and the pulse of Village Academy. Our school is built on relationships and our community members are not just partners. They are visitors on our campus and we welcome them and our students are role models for each other as well as our entire staff. Thank you so much. Ms. Dixon, who is your SAC chair for the last 10 or so years? Pardon me. Our SAC chair for the last five or more years is Deputy Vice Mayor Angela Burns. She is absolutely amazing. Thank you. Shameless plug. I have no shame. Continue. Mayor Carney, we want to say thank you to yourself and the City Commission for affording us this time this evening to be able to present on our schools. Thank you very much for coming. It was a great presentation. I think we all learned a lot. Thank you. And you're all doing a great job. The next will be the next will be a presentation by the Honorable Mike Caruso, who's the Clerk of the Circuit Court and Controller for Palm Beach County when he finishes politics. Well, you are up, Mr. Clerk. Well, good evening, Mayor Carney, Vice Mayor Burns and the City Commissioners. I'll give it up for these principals. They've accomplished so much. You know, it's good to be home. I raised 35. I've raised 35 kids over seven years here. Now, sometimes it felt that way. I raised seven children and 35 years, but it's great to be here back here in Delray Beach as your Clerk of Court and Comptroller of Palm Beach County. You know, and to hear about these schools, you know, my kids went to these schools and and to hear about the graduation 97% over 97% graduation rate internship program, vocational training, multilingual studies, and 100% accelerated class participations. My gosh, it just shows how when a community focuses on an issue, they can accomplish so much. And with, you know, and I know none of this happened without the support of the commission and all members throughout the community. So, congratulations. Mission accomplished. What a great report. You know, when I was first appointed Clerk of Court, back in Palm Beach County by the governor in August of 2025, I laid out five priorities. One was to modernize the vendor payments. They were still doing it all by hand, $10 billion of payments throughout the year, and they're processing it all by hand in the county. So, we're in process of changing that. We advocate for a statewide unified searchable database so that no matter where you are in the state, you can look up records without having to go to each individual county to do a search. Maintain conservative and sound investment principles and then to protect citizens, our elderly citizens, against guardianship fraud and all of our citizens against property deed fraud and other scams. And that's that's what brings me here today. As Ann Gagas from the Palm Beach Post says, tis the season for scamming. Throughout Florida, people are getting phone calls, texts, we all get it, right? Every day, emails from our county clerk's office and from, I say the county clerk's office, from the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, from the Department of Highway and Motor Safety Office, reaching out trying to scam you out of your hard-earned dollars. These messages are good. They are really good. And some of the ones I want to talk tonight have to deal with unpaid traffic tickets, citations, jury duty failing to show up for jury duty and then, of course, property deed fraud. And this is a big deal. You know, the Federal Trade Commission reports that there was 12 billion dollars of scam fraud last year. Well, if you know that 95% of scams don't get reported, we really had about 160 billion dollars of scams throughout the country. And that's just way too much. So, and of course, Florida, number one, always, you know, we're the scam capital of the world, I think. And no longer are scams as obvious as they used to be. It's not getting the phone call that you've won the lottery from Nigeria and all you got to do is pay the tax on the money and we'll wire it right to you. No longer is it the IRS asking you for, you know, calling you up and saying, listen, you owe $4,500. Otherwise, we're going to come and arrest you. I'll meet you in the parking lot of Home Depot and you can have some gift cards for me. It's no longer than that. No, these are trained professionals. And they even focus group their scripts. Can you imagine? They focus group their scripts to see what is more effective at getting your hard-earned dollars. And that's what brings me here today. I've been working as your clerk. I've been working with Alexi Cox. I've been working with Sheriff Bradshaw to stop this and to push it out of Palm Beach County into another state even, another country. I want it to all go away, but my priority is Palm Beach County and you as our constituents. The clerk's office, we're here to help. And part of that help is through a plan with the state attorney, state attorney's office, and the sheriff's office to educate, apprehend, and prosecute. And our part as a clerk's office is to educate. And our teams, we've been visiting communities throughout the county. And I intend to go to, I'm going to try to get to every community in the county. I think tomorrow night, I'm in Tropic Isle right here in Delray Beach talking to their community about the property fraud, a deed scam that's going on where they're stealing. They don't want, they no longer want to steal the stuff in your home. No longer the TVs or the VCR, if you remember those days. And, and you know, they want to steal your home itself. And that's insane. So we want you to be aware, be smart, and be safe when it comes to, to what's going on out there. And when in doubt, don't give your info out. It's as simple as that. You could have this much belief that what is being said is true and accurate, and that it is the clerk's office calling. You could have that much belief that that's what's happening. But if you have that one peppercorn seed of doubt, don't give your info out. It's that simple. Because anything that they're saying, this urgency that it's got to be done now and here, it's false. Nothing has to be done like that. Just if, and I give you the general rule, if they're calling you, and they eventually get to the point where they're asking you for a credit card, that's a scam. Period. End of story. It's the way it is. So let me talk about a couple of them. One, clerk's office calls you. I say the clerk's office, not me. Okay. But it's the clerk's office. It's some criminal sitting in a chair, having a beer, smoking a joint. Okay. Who's calling you from a focus group script. Okay. And this is organized crime, I promise. And what we don't know is when you get a traffic citation, it becomes public record. Everything on your driver's license becomes public record. And that the actual traffic citation. So what they do is they confirm that they have the right person, that they've got Mike Caruso. And I live at 1830 Lake Drive, Delray Beach, Florida. And I'm 5'10", got green eyes and whatever. Okay. And they knew I got a traffic citation for failing to come to a complete stop at a red, at a stop sign, you know, on Lake Drive. Okay. And they know exactly when it is. And they give you options that sound real. Okay. To pay it. One of them is you could go to the Palm Beach Gardens courthouse and pay your citation. You go, well, that's legit. That's a real deal. You could, you could go to the Delray Beach one, but they know, they don't want to tell you that because they know you won't go to the Palm Beach Gardens one. Okay. Or you can mail that citation in with a check to the, to the address on the citation, which is, which is our address. That's legit too. But it's due in two days and your license is going to get revoked if it doesn't get here within two days. So that's legit. Or I'll transfer you over to my deputy clerk and they'll be happy to take your credit card. Okay. And, and so you go, well, I don't want my license to get revoked. They knew everything about me. Who else knows all of that about me other than the clerk of court, Palm Beach County. So you give them that couple things happen. They'll even charge you the 4% fee for your credit card to legitimize it. Okay. That's how good they are. Okay. They're that good. Don't do it. Um, give it out. Another one, jury duty scam. Palm Beach Sheriff's office calls you up. The Palm Beach Sheriff's office calls you up and they say, there's a warrant out for your arrest. You failed to show up for jury duty. And your response was, what is it everybody? I never got a jury summons. And I just saw you, Commissioner, you've got, you've got a jury summons right now on you. You showed it to me. Okay. Um, that's a real one, but make, make sure you show up. Um, but, but let me tell you this commissioner. It's a real one. Yeah. You verified it. Got my name on the top. That's right. Um, and, and my name, yeah, we were talked about that. But, um, if you don't show up commissioner, I'm not going to put out a warrant for your arrest. Okay. I'm not. Okay. Because I don't. Okay. But they say you failed to show up. There's a warrant out for your arrest. And, um, here's your options. You can come to the, you can come to the courthouse again. Okay. But we've got facial recognition. You'll probably get arrested before you make it to the front door. Okay. That's a good, and they go through the things, but then they're going to transfer you to Lieutenant so-and-so. Okay. For payment. And I called, this one was so good. I got this call. This one was so good. It was about a week before I became clerk. Okay. Before I knew all the way things operate. It was so good. I picked up my wife's phone and I called Rick Bradshaw himself and he answered. And I tell him, I go, Rick, I got this, these people tell me there's a warrant out for my arrest, blah, blah, blah, you know? And he says, Mike, hang up. It's a scam. I said, man, it sounds good. I said, I didn't know the Lieutenant that's, that's calling, you know? And, and he goes, Mike, if there's a warrant out for your arrest, we're not going to call you up. We're just going to show up at your door and handcuff you. Okay. You can't pay off a warrant. So that's, that's one, but those scams will create, you'll, you'll spend some money. You might lose five grand. You might lose 10 grand. Okay. It's going to ruin your day. Maybe you're weak, maybe a month, but here's the big one. Here's the big one. They want your house and they're stealing your house. And it takes them about an hour to fill out the paperwork, file it to where they're filing a quick claim deed that transfers the provider, your property, your home out of your name into their name. Within a week, they've got a loan against the property. And within a month, they've sold the property. And you don't find out until they knock on your door and say, who are you? They're saying to you, who are you? And you go, I live here. And they say, I just bought this home. You need to get out and they're going to call the sheriff and probably you're going to have to get out. Okay. And so what we've got, we've created a system of an alert to where you can go onto our website and you can register your property. Okay. For property fraud alert, that if somebody messes with your deed, okay, anything that happens to your deed, you're immediately going to get an email. And we've all seen it on TV, the service. My service is free. Okay. You don't have to give me any of your personal information because I already know it all. Okay. But these things on TV advertising, you've got to give them all your personal information. Here's the worst one. You have to give them your credit card. Okay. And I don't like that. See, our service at the clerk's office is free. So you sign up. What we do is we attach an email address, your email address, or up to five email addresses, your attorney, your CPA, your son, who's always on the internet, you know, okay, or whoever you want. And five people, including yourself. And the moment that something happens to your title, okay, you're going to get notice. Okay. And if you act immediately, we can, which includes calling our office, okay, we can tell you and advise you as to how to alleviate the fraud that's taken place. And, but please, no delay. If you wait a week, like I said, they will have a loan on your property. And if you wait a month, they will have sold your property. And it's almost impossible to reverse after all that takes place. So if you get that, please sign up for public property fraud alert. It's the website is mypalmbeachclerk.com backslash PFA as in property fraud alert. That's mypalmbeachclerk.com backslash PFA. And my, my goal, my mission, my mission is we have 600,000 properties, parcels in Palm Beach County. My mission, I will not stop until all 600,000 have signed up for property fraud alert. And we kick these, these criminals, this organized crime, this, this scam on our people out of Palm Beach County down the road a long way. So that's, that's what I want to do. Um, it's, um, it's a big problem. Um, don't fall for these scams. Please don't fall for these scams. Uh, what, like I said, remember when in doubt, don't give your info out and sign up for a property fraud alert. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you very much. Very, very good information. Could I ask one question? I've actually already signed up for it. Thank you, mayor. That's great. You can sleep at night. I know that anybody who hasn't signed up is going to be, if they don't sign up tonight, they're going to be worried about it. Well, I would, I would encourage everybody to sign up now on your phone. Thank you. And if, and if mayor, if I could, um, if you have any trouble signing up for this property fraud alert, you call, you call me, call my office. I'd rather you call me and ask how to sign up for it than not call, not sign up. And, and then call me down the road and go, they stole my house. That's the call I never want to get. So my number is 561-702-9319. If you didn't catch it, catch it on the replay. And you do answer. And I answer. That's my phone. That's the one my wife, Tracy, right there calls me on. So I'd rather get that phone call than the other phone call. So please sign up. Thank you. Yes. Mr. Creel. So how else are you notifying residents, Palm Beach County residents about this? Well, we've got some public service announcements on TV, uh, that are out playing airing right now. You'll see them through, uh, the end of February and then you'll see them on the Olympics. And I think the March Madness they're going to be playing. So we're trying to get the word out. Um, my part of the job of the, of the trifecta here with the state attorney and the sheriff, my job is education. I am going to, if you're part of an association, call my phone number, uh, text me. We would love to, I'd love to come with a team of 10 people with their laptops from my office and sign everybody in your community up. Um, that sort of thing. So yeah, spread the word. I'm going to Tropic Isle tomorrow and hopefully we'll have a hundred, you know, homeowners there and get it signed up. And I know the hundred that didn't show up. Okay. We'll be calling me back to have me come back and finish it. Okay. I'll be contacting you. Could I also, Mike, I did see your advertisement and I didn't mean to sign up. So thank you for the reminder. I'm going to, is there a particular demographic affected? I mean, you're going to Tropic Isle. So really this isn't just affecting people who maybe English isn't their first language or they're maybe, struggling to understand when someone calls and what specific information is given out that someone can take the deed to your home? Well, you're, you're, you're every, all that is public record, right? That's my public record. Anybody can look it up. I could look up you and your home and all that stuff. How are they transacting? And, and who they're targeting is, and, and, and sadly they, they target our most vulnerable, right? Those are your fixed income elderly over 65, that homestead, their home. Um, and, and, and, um, they're the ones that are attacking most and don't have a mortgage. They've paid it off. They're living their golden years. They're the ones that are, are, are number one, uh, being attacked. But if they are using AI to look for the elderly, to look for properties that are paid off, to look for properties where the address on the property is not the mailing address. Got it. And they are targeting them, a vacant lot, uh, things you don't visit. It's, it is, it's, it's sad, but they are using AI. They are trained professionals. I describe it like this. Um, they are a major league baseball player pitching at 102 miles an hour. To a 10 year old. And an 85 year old woman at bat. Yeah. We hardly have a chance. And I'm trying the, even the playing field with a property fraud alert. Right. Maybe through the tax collector's office, a mailing or even churches and everything. I mean, I'll spread the word. And I have been, just last week I was in Tallahassee or no, I guess two, two, two weeks ago. Um, today's, today's Tuesday, but yeah, two, two, two Tuesdays ago. Um, I was in Tallahassee with my team going from legislator to legislator, from Senator to Senator talk. We've got legislation up there that will give me more tools in my toolbox to stop this, to fight this so that somebody just can't walk in with a fraudulent deed, a fraudulent signature and a, in a notary that doesn't even exist. Right. Okay. And, and file that, that change of ownership. So, um, hopefully that'll get passed by the house, the Senate in Florida and signed by the governor. And then I'll have more tools in my toolbox. But until then, God knows, just sign up for PFA. Thank you. Thank you. Have a good evening. Thank you very much. We now have a presentation of 211 Awareness Week. So I have a proclamation here that I need to read. Hello there. Hi. How are you? Good. Whereas 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast has responded to more than three million calls to the 211 helpline since inception in 1971 and receives over 120,000 requests for help each year. And whereas 211's highly trained and accredited team continues to serve as frontline responders 24 hours a day, every day of the year, including times of disaster and great uncertainty. And whereas 211 provides free, confidential, and 24-7 access to life-saving crisis intervention, suicide prevention, emotional support, and community navigation services year-round. And whereas the mental health of many in our community is at risk due to challenges with health, addiction, and a lack of basic needs such as housing, utility payments, food, and transportation. 211's team handles every request with compassion and empathy, de-escalating crisis situations, and helping people navigate community resources to overcome everyday struggles and life's darkest moments. And whereas 211 also offers specialized advocacy and support programs to groups who face a higher risk of crisis, including seniors, veterans, and first responders, and children with developmental delays and other special needs. And whereas 211 is also the regional responder for the National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, the Florida Veterans Support Line, and other special projects designed to help people facing unique crisis situations. Now, therefore, I, Thomas F. Carney, Jr., Mayor of Delray Beach, on behalf of the City Commission, do hereby proclaim February 11th through February 17th, 2026 as 211 Awareness Week. In the City of Delray Beach, I urge all citizens to be aware that 211 is available by phone, text, email, or online chat, 24 hours a day for anyone seeking help with everyday challenges or crisis situations. The 211 team also helps people connected to local resources for mental health counseling, substance abuse disorder, health care employment, food, housing, daycare, legal services, and so much more. In witness whereof, I have set my hand and sealed and caused this official seal of the City of Delray Beach to be affixed this third day of February, 2026. Thank you so much. First, I'd like to take a photo with you and then share a few more details about 211. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Elizabeth Burrows, and I am the Director of Development and Community Relations for 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast. And I haven't always worked there. I actually used to work here in Delray Beach, so I'm glad to be back here in the commission chambers for another meeting. Feels familiar. I'm very, very grateful to be here to share with you all about 211 Palm Beach and Treasure Coast. So as you heard in the proclamation, our agency was founded 55 years ago in 1971. So we're not new to this. We're true to this. And we have served over 3 million people and responded to over 3 million requests for help during that time. In 2025 alone, we responded to, again, over 120,000 requests for help. More than 48,000 of those were in Palm Beach County. And over 30, about 3,700 were in the Delray Beach area. And how do we know that? It's because when people call our line for help, we ask a few voluntary demographic questions. And so if the caller or texter is not in crisis, then hopefully they give us some of that information. But part of what this also means is that not every Delray Beach resident that calls 211 is represented in those numbers. Because if they're dealing with crisis or if they decline to share that information, then they're captured only in our regional numbers. So those numbers that we can share with you always underrepresent the people that we serve in our communities. What we can say is that the work that we do is incredibly important. It is life-saving and it is life-enriching. And we are proud to have such great support and partnership with the City of Delray Beach and the communities and organizations that are here in this community. So we are accredited three times over, once by the American Association of Suicidology, that is for suicide prevention. We are also accredited by Inform USA for community navigation and crisis intervention services. And we are also accredited by Nonprofits First for our nonprofit management and fiscal oversight. And what that means is that our organization is committed to quality, high service, and to doing things according to industry standards and best practices. And so we are committed to getting positive outcomes for everyone who calls or texts or emails us for help. We also have partnerships with over 1,600 organizations, many here in Palm Beach County and in Delray Beach, who have agreements with us. They give us information and we list their programs and services in our online database so that our specialists who take those calls and request for help can pull up information and get people connected to the help that is most relevant to them at the moment when it counts. Because what we know is that when someone is in crisis and they are feeling overwhelmed or confused, if they are confused about what resources are even legitimate and hesitant to be scammed, then they need a trusted resource. And if the only thing that they can remember to do is to call 2-1-1, then they've made it to the right place and we will help them find the next best step. So we are extremely excited. I actually have some really good news. So in addition to this being our 55th year, we have some really big things happening. So we are next month going to be demolishing the building that we have been in for many, many years in Lantana where our corporate headquarters are. And while our new corporate headquarters is under construction, we're building a 12,000 square foot facility, we will be temporarily relocating to two different office spaces. And one of those spaces is here in Delray Beach. So we will be bringing a team of about 40 employees to Delray Beach. And I'm sure many of those employees will be patronizing businesses for lunch and shopping and just living life because they are in the area. I'm very excited to share that. But I also want to share that there are three main ways that the Delray Beach Commission and the Delray Beach community can support us. You can help share the work, you can fund the work, and you can do the work. And all three of those things are happening in Delray Beach. So by presenting us with this proclamation and declaring next week as 211 Awareness Week, you are helping us get visibility for our critical services so that people in need know to call 211 or 988 when they are in crisis and need help. You are also helping to fund the work. So I don't know if you all know this as the commission, but the Delray Beach Police Department's Law Enforcement Trust Fund often funds a funding application and gives a grant to our 211 helpline to help ensure that our services remain available 24-7 to anyone in need in Delray Beach. So Chief Hunter, be on the lookout for our application next month or this month. Thank you so much. And we also, in addition to us moving employees into Delray Beach, we are hiring. So you can visit our website 211palmbeach.org because we are almost always hiring for specialists who are committed to providing help to people in need. We are always looking for people to take those calls and respond to those text messages and emails for support. And we also are always looking for volunteers in particular for our Sunshine Telephone Reassurance Program, which is one of my favorite programs. It offers free daily check-in calls to any senior that is isolated or homebound in our five-county service area. So if you know somebody who is age 60 or older, they live alone and they could use a check-in to make sure that they are okay, that they're taking their medication, that they have not fallen and are unable to get help. Please have them call 211 and ask for the Sunshine Program. One of our staff or volunteers will call them every single day at a scheduled time of their choosing. And if they don't answer their scheduled call, we will initiate a welfare check. We have saved countless lives over the years with that program. Each year, we do over 200 interventions because people don't respond to those scheduled calls. And many times, someone is hurt or in danger. So that is truly a life-saving service. And volunteers make those calls. So we will be hosting our volunteer team for that program in Delray Beach as we relocate next month. So very excited for the support. And I thank you so much. Thank you very much, Elizabeth. I'm going to now turn this over to Commissioner Burns for the Centennial Certificate of Recognition for Kathleen Stubbs, 100 years. Yes, so we have a very special recognition this evening. Centennial Certificate of Recognition, Kathleen Stubbs, 100 years of legacy. Mother Kathleen Stubbs was born on the shores of Orange Creek Cut Island in the Bahamas on February 11, 1926. In the early 1950s, she and her late husband, Virgil Stubbs Sr., migrated to the United States, joining a vibrant Bahamian community in Yamato. Yamato. Now we call it Yamada, but... They later settled in Delray Beach where they built a loving home and raised 10 children. A familiar and respected presence in the community, Mother Stubbs managed, if anybody remembers this, the Eagle and Army Navy store on Northeast 2nd Avenue. If you went in there, you saw her. I remember those days. She's earning a reputation for kindness, generosity, and integrity. Her commitment to service extended deeply into her faith life, as she has been a devoted member of Ebenezer Westland Methodist Church for more than 60 years, and her pastor is standing here. And she, her life has been anchored in her guiding scripture, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. As the matriarch of her family, Mother Stubbs is the eldest of 10 children born to Abraham and Annie Stewart of Orange Creek, Cat Island. Mother Kathleen Stubbs, life stands as a powerful testament to resilience, compassion, and unwavering faith. Her legacy continues to inspire her family, her church, and the greater Delray Beach community. In honor of her centennial birthday, the city of Delray Beach proudly celebrates Mother Kathleen Stubbs for her extraordinary life and lasting contributions. Her steadfast dedication to family, faith, and service has enriched the city for generations. On the occasion of her 100th birthday, we recognize her as an exemplary citizen whose life continues to uplift and inspire all who have the privilege of knowing her. May this certificate of recognition serve as a heartfelt tribute to her enduring legacy and the joy she brings to the city of Delray Beach. Presented this third day of February of 2026, and Mother Stubbs' birthday party is on Saturday, and I have to wear pink. Yes! This next proclamation, and I'm so delighted to be presenting this proclamation to Chief Carrie B. Cohn, a man who served the city of Delray with many years with distinction as a chief, a man who in his last four or five years of his life, I had breakfast with every Friday with a little group, and he was always, he always was very sage in his, in his distinction. He would wait to hear what everybody had to say, and then he would say something. And everybody would pay attention because he measured what everybody said. So, let me go ahead and read you. Are you going to, do you want me, you want me to read the proclamation, or do you want to read the proclamation? I am prepared statements, but I will defer to you, sir. Let me read the proclamation, then you can go with your prepared statement. Whereas Carrie B. Cohn was a devoted public servant whose life and career were marked by a steadfast commitment to the safety, health, and well-being of the citizens of the city of Delray Beach. And whereas Chief Cohn served the citizens of Delray Beach on two separate occasions as fire chief, providing a combined total of 16 years of distinguished leadership and service to the community. And whereas Chief Cohn was an integral part of the Delray Beach community, actively involved in numerous civic organizations and clubs, and consistently demonstrated a deep dedication to public service beyond the fire department. And whereas Chief Cohn was instrumental in building and advancing modern fire and emergency medical services within the city of Delray Beach, earning a well-respected reputation as a forward-thinking leader and innovator in the fire rescue profession. And whereas Chief Cohn cared deeply for the men and women of Delray Beach Fire Rescue Department passionately advocating for their safety, well-being, and professional excellence by ensuring that they were well equipped with the best tools, modern apparatus, and resources available. And whereas under Chief Cohn's leadership, four fire stations were constructed to update and modernize the department's facilities, improving working and living conditions for firefighters, and enhancing emergency response capabilities throughout the city. And whereas Carrie B. Cohn's legacy of leadership, compassion, professionalism, and dedication continues to inspire generations of firefighters and public servants, even following his passing on April 11th, 2025. And now, therefore, I, Thomas F. Carney Jr., Mayor of the City of Delray Beach, on behalf of the City Commission, do hereby proclaim dedication of the Delray Beach Fire Station 113 in honor and memory of Chief Cohn in the City of Delray Beach, recognizing his lasting contributions to the fire rescue department, through the City of Delray Beach, and the community he faithfully served. This dedication shall stand as a permanent tribute to Chief Cohn's legacy, ensuring that his name and service remain an enduring symbol of leadership, commitment, and excellence in public safety. And witness whereof I have set my hand and seat up this third day of February. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Honorable Commissioner, City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk. There's not much more to say after reading that beautiful proclamation other than this. I originally assigned Division Chief Sean Gibson, who wanted to be here, but a personal commitment took him away earlier than expected. So I'm going to try to do justice to a man that, as leaders, we always try to define what does leadership look like. Ms. Cohen, thank you for being here. This man wore many titles. Chief, Fire Chief, Boss, Innovator, Leader, Mentor, but the most important title that you hear throughout the people who knew him was Friend. He shaped the fire department then. He laid a cornerstone and laid the bedrock that the Delray Beach Fire Rescue Department continues to build on today. His fingerprints, his shadow is everywhere through our organization. Up to the command staff and the executive staff that I rely on for counsel, advice, and to help determine the path of the Delray Beach Fire Rescue Department today. Enough can't be said. Dedicating our newest fire station, which is built around service, optimizing service, health and safety of our employees, the men and women that 40 to 45 times a day roar out those doors to service our community, is a befitting tribute. And I thank you for this momentous dedication of this facility. And Mrs. Cohen, thank you to you and your family for sharing your husband and letting him build something we are all so proud of because he not only defined what service was, he more importantly defined what service felt like. Thank you. Thank you very much. Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Cohen. Thank you for sharing your husband with us on those breakfasts. We now have a presentation to the City Commission about the initial recommendations from the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee. I saw them. Oh, there you are. I was looking over here. Mayor and Commissioners, Jeff Orris, Assistant City Manager. I'm the liaison to the committee. I'm going to try to keep this presentation moving because I know we've been taking a little bit of time so far. The purpose of the Opioid Settlement Advisory Committee, as you know, is to prepare recommendations for the commission on how to expend funds from the statewide opioid settlement agreement. Funds from this settlement agreement are designed to be spent on harms created by the opioid crisis, including treatment for those who were involved in it, as well as prevention to prevent those from in the future from becoming addicted or having issues related to opioids. Annual plans are supposed to be submitted to the state each year by July 1st. So what our special, I'm sorry, not a special event. Our grant, our settlement policy asked the committee to bring something to you by May 1st so that you all can adopt in June and have submitted our plan for the upcoming year by July 1. We are behind schedule still on some of our plans. If you recall, you all had approved allocations of $158,000 for some things that we brought forward as a city that left some dollars behind. We have current dollars and will also in the near future be bringing a plan for the dollars that will be given to us next year as well. The committee has had some meetings to date. They've had six meetings to date. They welcomed all who showed up to participate. They've reached out to other entities, including the Delray Beach Drug Task Force, and really listened to the expertise on that group as well. And they looked at the Drug Task Force presented some written recommendations. The committee considered those and are moving forward with some of those. What we're really looking for is that the committee is seeking the direction from the commission as to some of their initial list of priorities to make sure this is the direction you'd like to see them go before they really start putting a lot of time into it and start assigning dollars to a recommendation on different areas. So I am going to turn it over to Mr. Jeff Lefton of the committee who's going to start you through the initial slides, Jeff. Perfect. So we did, in our initial meetings, we prioritized four different areas and we're going to talk about all four of them. But the committee is making a recommendation that we take the paramedicine, to use these initial funds for paramedicine, which looks like a co-responder model where we have fire rescue responding with or shortly before a behavioral health professional. So they would coordinate care for the person that is in need. It's either with a peer or with community resources, treatment centers, those kind of things in an effort to promote recovery. So with paramedicine, we looked at two different ways that this could look what this could look like. The first is that the city actually run the program through the fire department. So the fire department would hire somebody to be the co-responder. The second is that the city can seek to contract with a provider outside of private or a private not-for-profit organization. Breaking those down, the positives of this of the city doing it through the fire department would be continuity of involvement. So it would be a responder with fire rescue that works for fire rescue. There'll be consistency with information. There'll be continuity of that response. They'll be able to immediately respond. So the communication between the employee of the fire rescue and the first responders will be immediate. And better control of cost. We'll talk about cost here, but the cost of the program and the program design would be better control of those things. The negatives are that the fire rescue would have to hire somebody. Somebody would have to hire somebody anyways, but fire rescue would have to hire a qualified professional. And then the funds each year are variable. So being that way, the funds would only cover part of the cost and also only cover part of the people that fire rescue is responding to because of the, like Mr. Orr said, the funds are specific of who they can cover. So that's with fire rescue doing it. The other option is to hire somebody from an outside agency that would respond with fire rescue. And the negatives are that no additional city employees need to be out of the positives. I'm sorry. It would be no additional city employees would need to be hired. They'd be hired by the by the contracting agency. It would be a pre negotiated price. So it's fixed cost. So that's different than if it was the city actually taking on the responsibility and outside organization can be required to bring additional resources. So they would need to bring additional resources in order to fully fund this program. The negatives are the inconsistency of the funds available each year. Again, it's not the fit. It's not a fixed amount every year. It varies from year to year and an additional organization being involved. There's some opportunities for information to fall through the cracks and just coordinating with another agency outside of the city. And a real issue is trying to find an agency that would be willing to do this given that the funds are only partially would only partially. What's that? Yeah. So finding a partner would be difficult. My name is Chuck Ridley and I serve as citizen at large. I also serve with the inside of a recovering attic of 35 years. My sponsor happens to be sitting here tonight and he had a hard time with me. There is another way for the commission to do this is to look at if you don't go with the paramedicine program and we strongly encourage you to do that. And before I go into that, I'm going to speak as a recovering addict who's OD'd on many occasions. And as a recovering addict, it is not our first inclination to have a paraprofessional come in and help us navigate our way. Having OD'd over 26 times, through the grace of God, I didn't die. But the addicts that were in the room with me didn't ask me if I wanted to go get medical services or treatment. Interesting they wanted to know where I copped from. They wanted to know how they could find something that would take me that close to death. This program, if you choose to support it, is one of the best ways you can begin a process that save people long term. It's innovative, but if you choose not, then let's leverage dollars. And we believe you can leverage those dollars in three, actually in two categories. One is recovery supports. And that'll have a drop down of looking at how to eliminate barriers to employment, affordable housing. And then the second category is prevention. If we look at barriers to employment, one of the truths about being a recovering addict is that you live the kind of life that makes it hard work when you finish that run to become employed. And the barriers are all over. It's in your arrest record. It is in the fact that you no longer have the skills. My skills eroded to a place where I was really unemployable. Many would say I'm unemployable today, but I certainly was unemployable in 1990 when I decided to change my life. Was there a community that was accepting of what I was here to do? No. I had to find other ways to hustle. I had to find ways to take care of my family. And you know Cynthia. Yeah, she's had maintenance. So I had to find a way to be able to take care of my family. I was lucky. But the truth is, many of those who are like me in recovery face barriers that they can't get to. There are those in this community that can help us work through that. Then the other thing that we want to look at is supportive housing. Affordable supportive housing. As a person, you know, your recovery doesn't end when you leave treatment. When you leave treatment, you come into a community. And if you do not have housing, I can almost assure you supportive housing that you are going to, I guess I ran out of time. No, continue. All right. Supportive housing that will make sure that you have the best opportunity to not go back into the same lifestyle. We have organizations here that can help us with that. And then the third bucket is prevention. As a recovering addict, I am fortunate to be a recovering addict. But the truth would be, I would have never wanted to be an addict in the first place. And prevention would have brought that for me, especially if it was incorporated at the school site, because it makes it easier to make that happen. And then if you do look at prevention, those of us who do come back, there is relapse prevention. There's educations and opportunities and trainings. And here is why I say leverage the dollars. Because particularly after meeting with the drug task force, we are clear that the talent and the desire to help exist in this community. But what we need from you is guidance. We would hope that you would embrace both the innovation of the paramedicine program and to use these dollars to leverage so that Delry can once again be the front runner in this area as well for those who another vulnerable population that are that would be in need. Oh, back over to you. Oh, you did it for me. Mayor and Commissioners, I'm the liaison. I didn't make any of these decisions on what to bring to you. But what I hear the committee asking you for is some direction on whether paramedicine is something you're interested, because that would pretty much eat up the dollars that we have, or whether you want them to look at the other items of support of it, which would probably end up being grants to outside agencies. And they've had discussions about how that might look. We would certainly follow the city's outside grant policy if we do that. I would also suggest to you, if these are programs you like, whichever you like, or however you like, we can always look at supplementing these with CAREN funds. The CAREN funds are still there. Your earlier discussions about that, it was these sort of things that we had discussions about. And the system is sort of designed that we can put those funding together and move it all forward on whatever direction you want to give the committee. Based on your direction, I will work with them to come forward with solid recommendations with dollar amounts affixed to them on what we we'd like to bring to you next to move forward with and have that in time to submit that plan to the state in a timely manner for next year. Thank you very much. Mr. Marker. Yeah, thank you guys. That was that was a really great presentation. I I'm in favor of the paramedicine program. I think what you presented looks very comprehensive and holistic to me. And you know, certainly, you know, you've talked openly about the battles of this. And I think I want I want to put my hand up and be there to help. Yep. Commissioner Burns. Yes. And definitely in favor of the paramedicine program. Also leveraging the dollars. I mean, this this is blood money that belongs to the community. And so whatever it takes to support the community in these efforts, I'm for that. So did I hear you say that it that there's not enough money for the paramedical program? No, the the settlement funds never exceed $100,000 a year. I think at most we're anticipating 92,000. And in it, there's no rhyme or reason really as to its fluctuation at its minimum, we'll get $62,000. Its maximum, it's about $92,000. What are we working with now? What do we have left after we gave to the internal? Right now, we have $185,000. There is another 90 we would expect next year. And so with these funds, we can't do both of this, the paramedical and the leveraging? We could probably do the paramedicine for a year or two. But that's about it. Then then we'll drain the opioid funds. And it won't support it annually. Okay. Well, I support whatever is for both. I support both. But whatever we can do, the recommendations from the committee, you are the professionals on this. So whatever those recommendations are, I'll support. Thank you. Commissioner Casale. Thank you for the presentation. And thank you very much for sharing your personal story because it's helpful for us to understand that perspective. Do you mind me asking though, at that time, it was very different, right? In terms of different from now, recognition of the problem, resources. And I ask this because if someone right now has a problem on our street, the fire department picks them up and they bring them to a hospital. And the hospital has care coordinators at the hospital that kind of will align them. And I guess my point and what I'm trying to say is I'm going to speculate at your time that probably there weren't resources for you and you kind of, and now there are resources. And so if we are hiring someone on, we're hiring on someone who is just going to take on the resource that we could otherwise push off to another organization. And then I thought, I went and visited Ms. Spencer's facility. She came here and she did a presentation. If you were to ask me, because I do think there are resources out there for people in that moment, and then we would have to hire a coordinator to coordinate care in our fire department and then try and monitor the person's care and help them through recovery. It doesn't seem like one person would be qualified to handle all of those stages. Because coordinating the care right in that moment when that incident occurs, then maybe placing someone someplace is like another connection you need to have. And then trying to make sure they're going through their recovery is a whole other one. So you'd be looking at one person you're hiring, and you'd be asking them to do a bunch of services. They wouldn't necessarily be qualified for all, and there are resources out there. So I don't know why in Delray we aren't going to focus 100 percent on making sure our kids don't get addicted. We have an organization right here, a mom right here in Delray, who is an expert in this field. I visited her facility. What they're doing is amazing, and the only thing she's not doing is enough of it from my perspective. And she's not just going in and doing a little period of time with kids. She's focusing on the full health of the family, which I think I as a mom can say that's the most important thing. How do you keep your kids from getting addicted to things, whether it's drugs or the computer or a whole host of other things? It's a family effort. And I would love, because this is not a lot of money, to put this money towards preventing our children from getting on drugs. And I share your concerns, and I think what we could do – I mean, 211 was just here talking about all their resources. There are agencies doing what you gentlemen are recommending we hire somebody to do. We can connect with them. We can work with them. We can help connect the people we encounter through the fire department with them. But I don't know why we would want to take on that job and hire somebody instead of be going all in on prevention. Commissioner, do you mind if I respond to a piece? Not at all. I would love that. Thank you. So the first thing I want to respond to is 35 years ago, it was the war on drugs. It was a crack epidemic. It was criminalized. That same services could have been there, but the demographic, who was the face of that, prevented those kinds of conversations. Treatment was either you detoxed yourself – we called it kicking back then. Well, you went to jail. That's just – that was your – that was just – okay. So I think that's more nuanced than just that during my era, it wasn't there. I also want to share with you, though, that as a – now, more than one thing can be true, because I'm a fan of Dr. Spencer. You better believe that and the work she does. The other thing that can be true, though, is that there is no one who knows what is happening in this community better than your fire department, because they see it right in the moment when I'm the most vulnerable. And if you hear me asking anything is to consider investing more than what's coming through the – what's coming through the city – settlement grant, that you lead the way as a city of helping folk understand that this is a public health issue. We can recover, but it's going to ask you, because it's easy to do the minimum. It is easy, and most cities that we looked at are just doing whatever to just do the check mark. That's not the Delray way. We're asking you to consider that you get a chance not only to meet Cynthia, but you get a chance to meet Dr. Ashley Ridley, who was the child that helped me change my life. I wanted to get clean, all right? But there had to be services. And then Cynthia had a couple of more that weren't bad either. But I speak for those addicts who – because when I was in the crack house, there were many days I wondered, was there anyone in this community that cared for us? And many days, there wasn't. I'm sorry. And we need a city that can lead the way and think broader than the dollars that are being brought down through the opiate grants, because we do recover. And I can't tell you the amount of people that are sitting in this audience. Some you know, some you don't, but understand the dilemma of this disease. Can I ask a question also? The funds that we allocated for internal, wasn't all of that dedicated to prevention? Well, Narcan. Narcan. Some of it was for training for police and fire. There was a little bit of prevention, just a – I think it was about $2,000 to restart the D.A.R.E. program. So it really wasn't in prevention. And I don't think at that time, Steph, we were really thinking that. We're just like, okay, what can we do right now? And also knowing that would not be recurring dollars. All right. Can we get a list of where those dollars are allocated to? Sure. And could I ask also, Ms. Burns, while we're at it, because we are going to probably have to have another discussion on this. Can you tell us right now – I want to know step by step what happens when you drop somebody at the hospital, what resources do they experience there? I have no problem talking about the paramedic, but I don't want to duplicate efforts unnecessarily if we can put money in a place where it'll be effective. So what happens when someone gets in the ambulance and goes to Delray Medical or Bethesda or whatnot? So I can speak for Delray Medical Center. I work at Delray Medical Center. I'm the Director of Behavioral Health there. And I will tell you that they will see a physician and they'll do life-saving miracles at Delray Medical Center. But what they'll do is if the person wants to leave, they leave and they don't have any resources. And if they want resources? If they want resources, we will give them resources, but it's not that warm handoff. That's not that – if we have a first responder, for instance, come to Delray Medical Center, we have a first responder program and we will make sure that they leave there in someone else's literal hands to make sure that they don't need to come back. But just the average citizen coming in with fire rescue, they have some data where – well, we have one person that's been at Delray Medical Center nine times since Christmas Day, you know, and back and forth. And of course, the person's given resources, but if this program was in place, they would have somebody that would – we could hand them off to and make sure, like we do at the police department. You know, Ariana is here. She's with the police department. And we do have that kind of resource with the police department, but not with fire rescue. And a different population, but it would be a similar process. Thank you. I do agree, having seen it multiple times, that the paramedics will show up at the scene and deal with the immediate crisis of a drug overdose or worse. And so the paramedical portion makes sense because it's kind of a direct – it's a direct intervention. On the other hand, the point is very well made that some of these third parties also have the ability to get grants and these other kinds of stuff. Because, I mean, Narcan, you probably get most of it for free anyway. I mean, pretty much. But, you know, I guess I'm trying to look for, like, a hybrid because it's clearly a great program and we want to continue it. But, you know, there are other methods to get money. And if it's a city-run program, it would be very hard to get a grant. If there's a third party out there, so not-for-profit, they do get grants. And they are much better. They do a lot of the interventions and they do a lot of the preventions and they do things like that. But I'm not trying to minimize the importance of the paramedicine because that's actually saving lives. I mean, that's a given. So I guess we're going to come back. I mean, my view is – I mean, I overall agree with Commissioner Markert and Commissioner Burns that the paramedicine is probably the way to go. But I think we need to also explore something along the lines of what Commissioner Casale said regarding getting – how do we introduce into what we're trying to do some of these other aspects, which I think will broaden our – and I understand it's always dollars and cents and I understand it's always dollars and cents. But, you know, maybe some of the Karen stuff could be – I don't know. But what I'm saying is it's not just the problem of the addict in the street, although that's really important. It's preventing the addict from ever getting into the street, which you articulated very well. You didn't want to be doing that. So I want to thank you for sharing your very emotional story. Didn't know that about you, by the way. But so that's kind of where I am in this. So, I mean, I think we have to continue with the paramedicine portion. But I do think your group needs to explore, you know, something along with how do we introduce some of these others into the mix, the prevention people, things like that, which the reality is, you know, those – that level is where you stop people going. They're succumbing to peer pressure, succumbing to all this other kind of stuff, so they end up down a path which we just don't want. Could I ask a question, if I may? Go ahead. There's talk of the Karen money. I thought there were some restrictions on that. Is that not the case? I mean, can we take the Karen money and give it to Ms. Spencer's organization because they work in schools? I'd have to bring it back. I think on the prevention side, you can. Because I really feel if we really want to tackle this problem, we need to tackle it at its root, prevention, before it happens. And if there's money – if the Karen money can be utilized for that, then we can accomplish both and everybody will be very happy. Yeah. I mean, the opioid is clearly one pool of funds. But as I recall the Karen Foundation, there was a big component of the Karen Foundation, which included prevention. And if that's the buzzword that's going to work, then there's some of these other entities out there that you all would know and be able to work with and coordinate with that could give us a more comprehensive response because it's not getting any better. So ladies and gentlemen, given the feedback, as noted, we'll be offering considerations relative to the paramedicine program approach, as well as clarity regarding the use of Karen money. Right. And I do recall the eligibility piece, including a prevention aspect in that regard. Many of us have been familiar with Dr. Spencer's program and other similar initiatives out there. So in the coming weeks, we'll be offering a path forward, given the feedback haven't been offered. So, Ms. Doris will likewise continue to work with members of the committee to come back with a more structured approach, based on consensus and feedback offered this evening. Great. Thank you all really for... Does the city attorney have a comment? An impossible job, but you know, thank you for everything that you're doing. I can't believe we're getting into comments. We're number five on the agenda. We only have 68 pages to go, so trust me, it's going to be great. City manager's response to inquiries and highlights. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes. Do you want to take a five-minute break, everybody? I'm going to have a five-minute recess here. It's now seven o'clock. We're going to recess until 7.05. Does that work for everybody? That works fine. Does that work for everybody? Yes. 7.05? Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. We're in recess until 7.05. Good evening, everyone. We are recommencing the meeting of the Delray Beach City Commission. It's about 7.06. Next item, well, the first item we have is from Mr. Moore, city manager's response to inquiries and highlights. Mr. Moore. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So the items I have listed, update and clarity regarding railway improvements as well as such regarding right-of-way landscaping and applicable jurisdiction, is in response to comments and concerns having been raised by Mr. David Harden two weeks ago. And interestingly enough, I did have an opportunity to visit with him telephonically five days ago with the assistance of leadership from both the Department of Public Works and the Department of Parks and Recreation to offer a fairly thorough response in terms of why we are where we are and what's being executed to get to the best place possible. As part of the practice, when discussion or concerns are raised at a city commission meeting, I do what I can to offer a brief clarification publicly and likewise, I've asked both Director of Public Works, Missy Barletto, and Director of Parks and Recreation, San Mitot to assist this evening's dialogue and update to that effect. This will be fairly brief in that regard, but I think we had a fairly productive visit five days ago with Mr. Harden, and likewise, I feel that all is well. Miss Barletto, if you would begin, please, briefly. Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners. This will be very brief. We only have 500 slides. I move that they're all approved. Thank you. The presentation that's up here is not the one we're talking about now. So Mr. Harden came and he was talking about several of our TPA projects that are ongoing in the community. North Swinton, Barwick Road, and Lindell Boulevard. So of those three, they are all on schedule. North Swinton is a little bit over schedule for phase one, but they are wrapping that up now and the next week you'll see them finishing changes to the roundabout on 22nd over by Unity School and also doing the final lift of asphalt on the first phase. That is from city limit to 16th, and we will be beginning on the second phase, which is from 16th down to Lake Ida Road, and that is a much simpler phase. There's no stormwater in that. It's just sidewalk, curb, and mill and resurface of the roadway. So that will go much, much more quickly. On Barwick Road, we're about halfway through. We did a presentation on this for the board not very long ago. They're expected to be complete on that job in around the mid-summer, around July time frame, and on Lindell Boulevard, we're actually ahead of schedule and expecting to complete that project, have that project substantially complete in May. So while it appears that these projects are going on a very long time, they're actually on schedule and moving forward in the way that we had anticipated. So one of the other issues that he had brought up was about the pedestrian level lighting and whether or not that is incurring additional maintenance costs and expenses for the city. In the days when Mr. Hardin was the city manager, Florida Power and Light did not offer decorative lighting. That was not part of their things that they offered. They do have a number of different decorative lighting options now. All of these projects that are basically a significant part of the funding is with federal highway dollars. They're bicycle and pedestrian improvement projects and they require us to provide pedestrian level lighting. So that's why you see the shorter decorative lighting alongside all of the new sidewalks to provide for public safety. And those are all being put in with on our FPL contract and they are not city-owned lights and light poles like the ones on Atlantic Avenue downtown. So that was just a matter of straightening out a misunderstanding. Thank you very much. Are there any questions? No, but I would say I do feel that I appreciate Mr. Hardin coming out, but I don't think every time one person comes out with questions we need to do a presentation. It's fine if a group of people like that whole neighborhood came out, but I feel like we're seeing this time and time again. One man asked a question about a utilities bill and Mr. Hajimiri did a very long presentation. If a large group of residents are concerned, I would utilize staff time for presentations, but I think if it's one person and you've addressed it, merely noting that would be sufficient in your comments. Well, traditionally, the city manager's response would listen to what people were saying and coming up, but that's been the tradition for a long time. Right. Um, so, um, but he addressed him directly just, you know, well, okay. Staff has to spend the time prepping for these things. I agree. And I managed that pretty efficiently and the thinking behind this is because the thinking behind this if I'm sorry, I'm not sorry. Okay. Clarity behind this, quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, if a matter is brought before the city commission publicly, a number of people had an opportunity to witness and hear it. Time is not, it's not a terrible length of time to prepare and respond accordingly. We offer the courtesy as a brief update. It's not terribly lengthy, but I think it's appropriate for the record to reflect that clarification and response had in fact been offered because it did. The experience was here, had here at the city commission meeting. We likewise have a obligation. I believe professionally to offer clarification publicly the same. So not a much of an inconvenience at all, not terribly timing, not labor intensive at all. So I'm happy to continue to provide that, that, that update and do what we can. But again, we will not be wasteful, I assure you. And I, for one, like all the updates because I, I'm sure like the rest of you, we all get these emails from people and I like to be able to write. And I do understand that as well. So clarity regarding public right-of-way landscaping, landscaping and applicable jurisdiction. Yes. The, the question was mostly about, um, the landscaping and the medians along Lake Ida. Much of that just happened to be addressed in the next, uh, routine maintenance schedule. That was that following weekend. Um, but I did ask the contractor to pay extra attention to that area and do some further removing of some, uh, plant, plant life that didn't need to be there anymore as it's been decaying a little bit. So I think we've already made a significant improvement along Lake Ida. And then secondly was some decorative nodes on second going north. Um, and I think, uh, when we, when we visited that they were in need of some attention. So the staff is preparing, um, purchasing of some additional landscaping to put in those areas and get them back up to where we expect them to be. Thank you. Thank you for that update. Are any, any, any, are we all set up here now with the two sets of comments? Thank you ladies and gentlemen. Thank you both for the update. Thank you. Okay. We are now up to that great portion of the meeting where we get to hear from the public. You, um, if you have, uh, if you wish to make a public comment, except on item 7c, which has to do with the seawall, 7d, which has to do with the, um, uh, car wash, and 8c, which is the Congress Avenue rezoning of those three parcel, four parcels, which would you, which you, if you have comments on those, you will address those at the time those are called on the agenda. This is just for general comments, inquiries. You have three minutes, your name. Well, I'm asking for six because there are some people here. If you raise your hand. Okay. Without it, without objection, I, I said, that's fine. Okay. Any objection? No. Oh, and by the way, I'm, I'm a staunch, um, prevention. That's my thing. Mayor, commissioners, very emotional because what took place at, at the last city commission meeting left me in utter disbelief to what I witnessed. It was a blatant disrespect, abuse of power. Mind you, this is my opinion and a virtual slap in the face to me, this community and most disturbing was a total disregard of the city charter. I can do what I want to do. When one name, only one name was put forth and the gavel came down, signaling that the nominations were closed. The person's presence, there were voters, residents, my former principal, my pastor was here, my family, former students, co-workers, other clergy, and many others watching online, gave a spontaneous applaud because given what just happened, like me, I felt finally, but no, commissioner referred to this as some kind of shenanigans, said something about the mayor having some kind of unlawful act, got on the nose, and the most one that was really, really got my goat. It's when I was referred to as you know whose grandmother. I have a name. It's Yvonne Bernadette Lee Odom. So here I was, no other name was put in, but you'd rather vote for a blank chair than the only name. The person who referred to me as you know whose granddaughter did apologize, but I told them, no, no, I do not accept the apology for, there's times, there's some things there are no apologies for. And remember, when somebody apologized, the person accepted, they have to accept it. And then there's the other no vote. Well, had a very good meeting, what I thought was a protective meeting. Even wrote a personal copy of this book, and I quote, Yvonne, you are so special to Delray. We cannot thank you enough. Maybe I'm not special enough to be a yes vote. So that was puzzling. But you know what it reminds me of back in the day when they say don't fall for no smooth talking joke, because the intentions was never to have a positive vote. That's what puzzled me. So that's why I'm here to make sure it goes on the record. This has happened more than once, and I don't like it. If somebody disagrees, that's fine. But it's not worth retaliatory, degrading, sarcasm. I don't like it. So let me just tell you about me, because I have seven grandchildren. Well, three children, I'll start with the children, seven grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. So let's just say about me. My granddaughter was a 1943 graduate of Florida. My grandfather, I'm sorry, 1943. My father, 1948 Bethune-Cuteman University. My daughter, my father-in-law was a pastor here in Delray. All three were pastors. All three died as pastors of their prospective churches. My husband formed a major leaguer, and he spent his life giving to this community, and we've been doing it together. My sister-in-law was the very first executive director of the Spady Museum. I have seven veterans, three brothers, my dad, two nephews, and uncles who served. Three police officers retired. 45 years I taught in this school, all in Delray, and my kids are all over the place, and some in this hall right now. Colleges and universities, boy oh boy, let me try this out. Florida Memorial University, Bethune-Cuteman University, Edward Waters, FAMU, Florida State, University of Florida, West Virginia-Westland, South Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Nova University, Georgia State, Dillard University, Warner College, University of Indiana, Case Western Law School, Talladega, and Tennessee State, just to name a few. Careers, so many teachers, principals. By the way, my niece, you might have seen her commercial at the Super Bowl last year, maybe this year too. Law enforcement, it goes on and on, but needless to say, what do you have to do? And what really got me, one of my former students was sitting there. I didn't realize it, but she was in tears. Her mother called me the next day, and she's having me appear at a panel so that these young people can see. 1968, I had a white parent take her kid out of my class when she found out I was a black teacher. And here we are, all these years later, and on that day, and I want to make this point. You honored a young girl, 30 years service. But the irony of it, the daughter, I was in school with her daddy at Secret, segregated. My husband, Carver, segregated. They both played linebacker. They both admired each other. And that's why I love Delray so much. We have a history of the black and white people admiring and respecting. And no, it hasn't been easy. It never will. New people come here. Now we got to re-educate. I'm sorry. I'm going to wind it up. But anyway, not Delray. We see what's going on in the state and in this country. Y'all get registered and vote. And please stay active and come to these meetings. If you can't, come watch it online. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. If it don't know, now you know. Montre Bennett, 33444. I'm here to speak about the spirit and impact of Derry Beach's city charter and land development regulations. Government documents are not neutral. They shape who benefits, who bears the burden, and whose future is protected. When residents say Derry Beach has racist policies. They are not accusing individuals. They are naming outcomes. And many of those outcomes are produced directly through how the charter is interpreted and how the LDR is written, applied, and amended. The citizens are at the top of the charter. The charter establishes values and power. The LDR translates those values into land use, density, redevelopment, and displacement. And for historically black neighborhoods, those regulations have two authentic functions as barriers, rather than bridges. We see it when zoning restricts density in black neighborhoods while allowing flexibility elsewhere. We see it when redevelopment standards invite outside investment but fail to require protections for legacy residents. We see it when revitalization advances faster than affordability and when market growth is prioritized over community continuity. These are not technical oversight. There are policy decisions. Spiritually and ethically, this city is out of alignment when it rules, when rules meant to guide growth instead of facilitating erasure. Progress that displace people is not progress, it is extraction. Race-neutral language in the charter and LDR does not erase racial harm. When historical segregation shape land ownership, wealth, and access, applying the same rules without repair, simply loss inequity in place. Equity requires intention. It requires acknowledging that the starting line was not the same and governing accordingly. If there are breaches serious about justice, then the charter and the LDR must be tools for repair, not reinforcement. That means embedding equity analysis into land use decisions. That means zoning that supports density, affordability, and ownership that has historically harmed the neighborhoods. That means requiring redevelopment to serve the people who are already here, not just those who can afford to arrive later. A city's moral compass is revealed in how it governs land because land is legacy. It is memory. It is survival. The commission has the authority and the responsibility to align our governing documents with our stated values. You continue to defend frameworks that produce harm, or you can choose to amend them with courage. History will remember that choice. And y'all need to force testing out of the schools and find a better way for our kids. Thank you very much. Good evening all. Alex Burns, 33445. I would ask that if I go over my three minutes, can I get someone, someone else's minutes? Um, well, are you representing a group? Yes. Montre, you can't be part of the group. You already spoke. I'm sure I have. Oh, I got someone here. There we go. Okay. Okay. All right. All right. Okay. Okay. Mr. Mayor, commissioners, attorney. You've got six people. Um, I was recently selected at the Dairy Vision Committee, and I attended my first meeting. And actually, this is, I've had this around for about 10 years going on now. And I've been carrying this around because for me, and it's much what, um, Ms. Odom Montrevis is actually talking about ironically. Citizens are at the top of the city charter, right? Which means that the citizens are supposed to be helping to run and or make and dictate what goes on in our city. We're supposed to then relate that over to the commissioners that we choose, that we elect. And then they figure out a way, by way of working with the city staff, a pathway forward, not a pathway that says, no, you can't, but how can we? Right. And I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything because, um, I recently saw one of the older city commission meetings and it, it really stuck, stuck with me. And, um, I stayed up all night cause I just couldn't, I couldn't believe it. So, uh, it reads, I was recently selected at, to the dairy vision committee and attended my first meeting. And lo and behold, I'm starting to see the light on record at its fullest capacity. 90 attendees were in the building, charting out the city's future in the building where some dignitaries, dairy PD, dairy fire staff and citizens working together, sharing ideas and wants to help mold what is to come of Delray in the future. This process was familiar, yet it lacked the participation that I'm accustomed to in the set with planning of this magnitude. We typically have at least a hundred plus that's on record, a mix of the city's finest citizens, along with some dignitaries, dairy beach police department, fire city staff, et cetera. But there are some key differences, differences that cannot be changed, differences that should be respected. The difference of white led versus black led, the funny thing is the white led planning meetings with the people of the city is always less than the black led neighborhood planning meetings. Notice how I said black led meetings are for a neighborhood with a greater mix of the city than the white led meetings for the entire city. Let that sink in. Even when we have more participation for a small part of the city, we still get scrutinized and ultimately told what to do. How is that a small number of white led meetings garner the support needed to pass the decisions of a small group, but when we can't seem to get the same support from this body? Miss me with that BS. In other words, don't tell me anything about qualifications or elected officials are the ones to make the decisions. We have seen what kinds of qualified people you have chosen decisions that have been made. Let's see the latest appointed a child pornography viewer, a fire chief without a degree who also served as interim city manager and made out like a fat cat, overdeveloped parts of downtown without proper parking, the marketplace of disaster, old school square debacle, and I could go on. The point is we are all just citizens of Del Ray. No better, some worse, but citizens the same. I want to take a passage out of my book that I have here because it also screams the same. For example, if you told a slave that he must perform in getting out our crops in parentheses and he knows the language well, he will know that our crops in parentheses didn't mean our crops and the slave system will break down for he would relate on the basis of what our crops really meant. The set community has been here for years, dating back to redlining in 1939. If I am correct and truly longer and then experienced racism like redlining that is creeping its ugly face back up. When you have a city mayor wanting to take Atlantic Avenue out of the set feels a lot like redlining all over again. Tell me this, who do you consider the city? Who is the city? I thought it's citizens. Am I wrong? Tax paying citizens? Or is it like the Willie Lynch letters on how to make a slave? How is this any different? Is this not our city as well? Do our tax dollars not contribute to the city like everyone else's? Now let's, now it's a grave concern about the gateway to the city. Well, let me, let me let you in on a little secret. It's been the gateway to the city since 1939. We've been asking for our tax dollars to be a priority to West Atlantic, but maybe just maybe we're not heard because we're not considered citizens of the city. We had the main street plan Atlantic Ave that included for some reason Pineapple Grove. They are not in a main street nor part of the gateway, but somehow made it in the plan. Can you guess how that plan went? The people in the set sees that as a fail, but I'm sure others see it as a success. Pineapple Grove is beautiful. Let's talk about the DDA. At the Visions Committee planning, you heard how proud everyone is on the work that the DDA has done for their district, helping to create over three economic booms. Outstanding. On the outside looking in, you would say great job. That helps the city and it does. However, the citizens in the set would have a difference of opinion of their performance as it pertains to their entire district. As I wrap up, Delray's second largest community is on the bottom of the economic totem pole, yet another failure of the city. As I continue to dive deeper, as I continue to listen to the disgusting entitlement coming from the mouths of our dignitaries, the plan is becoming even so clear. Change policy to kill their businesses, steal their tax dollars so they can't rebuild, cut the resources at Swinton, and wait them out. Once they are on the brink of total collapse, take the last resource, the gateway, not on our watch. We are going to have to give mutual respect and kill that disgusting spirit that's creeping back in. And with that, I yield. Thank you very much. Thank you all. Good evening, honorable mayor, members of the city commission, and everyone in their proper protocol. My name is Minister Greta Britt, the founder of United Believers of Delray Beach. I'm speaking to you tonight as a concerned citizen and as a minister in Delray, who believes deeply in the values of integrity, stewardship, and faithful service to one another. Scripture reminds us, to whom much is given, much is required. And public office carries with it a sacred responsibility to serve the people with transparency, diligence, and fairness. With that in mind, I am concerned and disappointed that seat two was not filled during the January 20th city commission meeting. An unfilled seat represents an unfilled voice for the community, and every voice matters, especially in a city as diverse and engaged as Delray Beach. The city charter exists to ensure order, fairness, accountability, and transparency. It also reflects the will of the people. The voice of the community has been clear in its expectation that seat two be filled in accordance with those guiding principles. When there is a lack of transparency, it burdens the community and weakens confidence in our local governance. When this item came before the commission on December 8, 2025, the commissioners were on board with following the charter, which was evident by making nominations and voting. However, at the January 20th meeting, not so. With that being said, I have a question for the city attorney. Since the city charter, which is our local constitution, is to fill the vacancy of a commission seat by appointment, and two votes taken at the January 20th meeting were based on a personal filling not to fill the seat by appointment. Would that be considered a derelict of duty? I pray for wisdom, unity, and discernment for each of you as you continue to lead this city. May your decisions be guided by a genuine desire to serve all residents with fairness and humility. Thank you for your time, your service, and your commitment to Delray Beach. Thank you very much. Good afternoon, mayor, commissioners, city manager, and attorney. I have been in Delray. My name is Ernestine Holliday. I live in 33444. I grew up doing Jim Crow and doing the civil rights. I raised my children during segregation, and I have seen the good, the bad, the bad, and the ugly. If Mr. Patton had had the support that Mrs. Odom had on the January 20th meeting, would the results have been the same? Are we trying to turn back? Are we going forward? To move forward, we need answers, and I would very much like to see us move forward instead of reverting back to the Jim Crow days, because that's the way it's looking right now. Thank you very much. Andrea Bruton 33445. Two weeks ago, the citizens of Delray Beach were cheated out of a full commission by intentional delay tactics that prevented a special election mandated by the city charter. I and several other community members were left with questions unanswered. One, seat two was eligible for replacement on November 19th, 2025. So why was the leadership not ready to appoint someone at that time? If these same commissioners were on the campaign trail, do you think they would have would have answered yes to the question, would you intentionally violate the city charter? Additionally, what do you think the answer would be to a question about being prepared to conduct city business in a timely manner on a campaign trail? Of course, the answer would be yes. When two of our commissioners had a clear path to put the business of the city over personalities, they flippantly refused. Unfortunately, they failed miserably on January 20th by reversing their earlier willingness to select a nominee. The black community and sole nominee Ms. Yvonne Odom have been subjected to injustice. Our question is, who is the mastermind behind this? Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm actually going to borrow some minutes from my fellow citizen over here. You're going to borrow what? I'm going to use her minutes. She's going to donate her minutes to me, so I want six. That's really not the way it works. You need six people. You have three minutes. If there are six people that who have not already spoken and we're not part of six for somebody else. One, two, three, four. Okay, well, that's fine. I'll see. Hopefully, I can get through it. Okay, so the first thing, I just want to make a suggestion to the commissioners that we we prioritize education. You have to introduce yourself, ma'am. Oh, I'm Lucica Suarez, 11th Avenue, Southwest 11th Avenue. Okay, so I just wanted to make a quick suggestion as far as like trying to elevate our education. It would be really nice to have a dedicated line item for education, much like Boca and Wellington and some Royal Palm to actually dedicate to help advance some of the things that was mentioned during the education. So I would love you guys to actually consider that and I can sit down and we can talk about that. So the next thing I want to point as a taxpaying member of Delray Beach, I was secondhand embarrassed about how things had progressed in the last meeting. As an elected leaders, elected leaders by the people and person after person from different neighborhoods, different creeds, different races came up to support Ms. Odom being in a seat for what less than a couple months. So they came up here and expressed their support and yet that was ignored for whatever reason. And what really not, I can handle disagreement. What I can't handle is the way in which it was. Everybody was celebrating and once that happened, all of a sudden it became a problem. If there were issues before then, I'm pretty sure you guys have minutes before you come here. It should have been addressed then and not when people were celebrating. That is completely unprofessional and that goes against what leaders are supposed to do. The way that particularly to behave, I wouldn't trust you to lead ducks across the street because that's not how you conduct yourself. I'm telling you how to do your job because we, the people, hired you. This is a job performance review and if you had to come before us and ask for your job back, we probably wouldn't hire you again because of how you conducted yourself. I suggest you reevaluate the type of leader you want to be because I'm pretty sure that's not the hill you want to die on. Okay. So that's the second point. The third point is I heard a couple of comments about the, um, West Atlantic development. I personally was on a commission and was told to go out and ask the community for what they wanted. A lot of that stuff was a part of the plan. This was, I came in unbiased. I didn't know any history or whatever the case may be. I learned afterwards, but I came unbiased and this, a lot of things that were in that, that plan were what the community wanted. They didn't know who I was. They didn't know anything and they expressed exactly what was on that paper. So when I hear language already ready to shut it down before they even hear, and then we had, we paid what, uh, uh, an agency over $60,000 to come here and actually get the community express exactly what they wanted in its plan. And for me to hear that our mayor's already trying to shut it down, got me wired up. So again, we are elected leaders. And if this is what the community wants, then that's what the community is expecting. We're not expecting folks to be contancreous and hold up progress because they're personal issues. If you have personal issues, you take that up with God and pray about it, but that's not where you come in and express it and hold up progress because of some, something fervor, fervor, uh, attacking another member to hold up progress. So again, as you're elected, as you are elected by the people, you need to do what the people have asked you to do. Otherwise you don't need to occupy that seat. Go in, go in to own public sector, start your own business. Okay. Great. Thank you very much. George Long, three, three, four, four, four, um, three things very briefly, about a minute or two. Um, is anybody going to talk about the town hall meeting coming up at February 5th at 5 PM? 5 30. No, it says 5 o'clock online. I just looked at 5 30. Okay. You're okay. He knows more. He's not getting into 5 30. Okay. Anyway, it has to do with the noise ordinance, the new ordinance, what you feel about it. And I would encourage people to come to that meeting, even if you have a, uh, loud venue and, uh, tell us to go to hell. Uh, I'd like to hear it. You know, tell us that we don't care or tell us what you're going to do about it. If anything, or if you're one of the citizens who object to the noise, let's go over it at that meeting. Don't wait till the last minute up here and they have to make a decision to, uh, pass or not pass it. Um, go through it. Okay. Secondly, Black History Month. I went to an event Sunday afternoon and I picked up a brochure. There's a lot of good things going on that you need to go to. Um, I saw about three that I would go to for sure more. Also, I want to give you, uh, credit for some, some success at one of your programs. I went undercover, sort of, and I impersonated a speeder. It was very difficult for me to see if that thing worked. And by golly, it did. Really good. And the, uh, and seriously, actually, this is a very good thing because it reminds you to watch out for those signs. You don't always have a yellow blinking light going at you and crossing guards and people all around. It's sometimes you have to actually read the traffic signs and see that it's eight 30 or seven 30. These change all different times. I went through three of them in less than a, about a quarter mile. One was seven 30. One was eight. One was seven 52. Got it right down to the minute, uh, about when you're speeding at the school, school hours. Thank you very much. Thank you for adding to our coffers. Steve English, 102 Northeast 10th Street. I'm just following up in regards to the January 20th meeting, which I think was absolutely a debacle, a shame. Delray deserves better. And the words matter. The words that are said on this dais especially matter because it goes to the integrity of the democratic process. So when words like mischiefs afoot or allegations bribery of a public official are not followed up on, the citizens deserve better. As was echoed, you work for us. So when we sit there and we talked earlier about economic development, who wants to invest in a town that can't have a functional city commission? It's such a bad look that takes away from the integrity of this community and the brilliance of this community. When you have a civic icon treated in the manner that Yvonne was, who wants to come out and get involved in city politics when that is what their their guidepost is? I mean, we have really got to get our blank together and actually value one another differences opinions, have them transparently investigate when there's allegations and report back. I don't care about the foliage on the side of the street. I care about when someone's saying there's public bribery and then just lands it and walks away. You can't start fires and not put them out. So learn your lesson and actually do your job. Thank you very much. Good evening. Deborah Walker, 33444. And Mr. Moore, I do want to hear answers to citizens concerns. So please continue to give us feedback. I am here to make the mayor and the commission aware that I am disappointed in the outcome of the vote to place Yvonne Odom on our city commission for the remainder of Rob Long's term. I believe I express the sentiments of a great number of the Delray Beach residence. On a lighter note, I would like to offer a big thank you and shout out to Chief Ronald Martin and the fire department, to Chief Daryl Hunter and the police department and their teams that supported our drive-by birthday celebration for Mrs. Mildred Livingston's 99th birthday celebration on this past Saturday, January 31st. Their support and participation helped put the icing on the cake for a very wonderful day. Thank you. Thank you. Hi everybody, Marjorie Waldo from Arts Garage 33444. In December 2025, Visit Florida released their tourism impact numbers for all of Florida, specifically designed to show us how we as agencies benefit from their work. In addition, they shared the following metrics. According to Rockport Analytics in 2024, tourism saves Floridians nearly $2,000 per household in federal, state, and local tax burdens. Mind you, tourism is not just arts and culture like Arts Garage, it's the tennis center and the beaches and everything else. Visit Florida reports 143 million visitors to Florida in 2024. Rockport Analytics also reports that tourism has an economic impact of $133.6 billion in Florida. The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County states, Palm Beach County's cultural organizations are not only artistic anchors, but also employers, educators, and tourism drivers. In addition to economic impacts, the Americans for the Arts, in their list of 10 reasons to support the arts, they report that communities, seven in communities, sorry, the arts unify communities. 72% of Americans believe that the arts unify our communities, regardless of age, race, and ethnicity. They also state that 81% of the population say that the arts are a positive experience in a troubled world, and 69% believe that the arts lift me up beyond everyday experiences. Arts Garage is proud to continue to work to provide everyone in our community all things art and culture. I hope you will find time to listen to episode 11 of Culture Under Fire with Marjorie Waldo, Making a Case for the Arts. Kelly Smuts podcast, and it's kind of fun and exciting to do one. I've always wanted to. It's a lot of work. Kelly Smallridge, CEO of the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, in episode 11, spent time discussing with me the economic magnetism that arts and culture add to our communities. I also repeat my invitation for the Kimmel Family Series on Wednesday, December 25th, at either 10-15 or 12-15. We will host 600 local elementary school students that day for a performance of the Pendlestiff Circus. As always, I'm incredibly grateful both as a citizen and as the CEO at Arts Garage for your accessibility and passion for our community. Thank you very much. Hi, everyone. Stephanie Immelman, Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce. I have a couple of quick things. First, on 8-D, you've got an ordinance on the automated external defibrillators. And I know you're just reassigning the language on this, but I was really happy to see that the commissioners... Mayor, I'm sorry. That has to be done during the public hearing portion. Oh, do I need to wait? Yes. Okay. I'll wait on that one. All right. Delray Beach. The AED ordinance. It's second reading. Oh, that's right. You have to wait to the second reading. I can wait for that. That's fine. Anyway, I think you're doing the right thing on the 20,000 feet, but I'll stop talking. Okay. The Delray Beach Chamber candidates forum is tomorrow night at Arts Garage. The doors open at 5 p.m. and it starts promptly at 6 p.m. So if you want to hear from the city commission candidates for C2, please come and join us. Also, if you want to hear more from Mike Caruso, you have your chance on Friday, this Friday at 9 a.m., we have the Delray Beach First Friday Forum, and he'll be our guest. And you'll have a chance to ask him questions and interact with them. And you can join us via Zoom. If you go to delraybeach.com, you can sign up and register and you'll get your Zoom link there. Thanks. Thank you very much. Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, Commission. Good evening, City Manager. Dr. Spencer 33445. I just wanted to say that as the city continues its conversations around the opioid settlement funds, I just thought I'd share a little bit of insight from a committee that I sit on. It's actually the Overdose Fatality Review Committee. And what's interesting is every two months, a group of stakeholders from all different parts of the system get together and we review the cases of a fatality. And of course, as you would expect, every individual that we review, they come from unique families, they come from unique traumas, they come from unique life experiences. But do you know the one thing they all have in common? They all went to schools. And I just, I continue to encourage you that these funds that the city has was meant to do two things. And that was to respond to what's happening now. But it's also to make choices that the likelihood of the same harm doesn't show up again in the next generation. So thank you for your consideration. Thank you very much. Are there any other members of the public wishing to speak? Seeing none, public comment is closed. You're getting ready for another break. Are you kidding? I'm supposed to move everything until next week. Anyway, I need a motion to approve the consent agenda. Motion to approve. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Good. Consent agenda is approved. Moving right along to our regular agenda, item number 7A, discussion of the Crest Theater and the, where's Missy? Good evening, Mayor and Commissioners, Missy Barletto, Public Works Director. Tonight, I'm very pleased to introduce to you our auditorium renovation team of architects. that have been working to bring you options for how to move forward with the auditorium renovations at the Crest Theater. I have with me Michael Schnoring from Mills and Schnoring Architects, Katherine Fry, and Jody, I am going to butcher your name. Jody Kovalec. Kovalec. That is not how I would have said it. So, thank you. I appreciate that. I'm going to turn the microphone over to Michael to do the presentation, and it's going to be longer than 10 minutes, but we're doing our best to keep it short. Thank you, Missy. We will move things along as quickly as possible. Again, I'm Michael Schnoring with Mills and Schnoring Architects. It's a pleasure to be with you tonight. We are very excited to share with you several months of work studying the Crest Theater Auditorium and all its attendant spaces within the old school square. This work has, there we go, okay. We want to talk to you about our findings, our process a little bit, and we're going to move very quickly through options that we have developed over time with Missy and her staff. And these options are built to give you some information to move forward with, either in part or in total. So, that is the basis of our discussion. On the screen, you're seeing the Crest Theater in the middle of the old school square. It is the orange-ish color. On the bottom is Swinton Avenue, and to the left is the north side of the building. So, those are things to remember as we go through this. Okay. So, we have been engaged in a concept design, and by definition, that is a broad brush review of the building, its conditions, the code issues around the use of the building, and also future uses that are potential as part of this. The bolded text is where we are today. So, we've gone through an extensive review of the building. We have a team of engineers, architects, theater consultant, Shuler Shook. Jody is with Shuler Shook as a theater consultant and an audio visual consultant who's been assisting us through this process. We've looked at the building. We've gone through design studies. We've studied the code. We've looked at accessibility, and we're here today to show you some options. So, we're going to spend a little bit of time on this slide. We've developed these three options. They are base scope. So, this is a baseline of getting the building open again and useful, and the intended use of that would be small events, comedy, lectures, recitals, one-act plays, minimal performance lighting, and AV accommodations. This would also include fairly significant finish upgrades, seating upgrades, accessibility upgrades to both the auditorium, the stage, and the back-of-house spaces. Option one builds on that. So, all the things in the base option are carried forward into option one. It's a significant upgrade to accessibility in the back of house, which adds an actual formal elevator to the building for back-of-house accessibility, and really significant theater system upgrades that provide better functionality for musical theater, multi-act plays, and cinema, to name a few. Option two, again, carries all those things forward, but then there are some basic upgrades to technology, which Jody will detail in a little while. Jody, do you have anything you want to say about those uses? I think I would emphasize that option one, basically, in terms of the theatrical systems and the support for performances, brings it in line with modern standards and a quality to where it was before it was rendered in its current condition, where many of those systems have been rendered inoperable or removed from the building. Thank you. So, Catherine will go through our base scope of work in option one. Yes. So, the base scope of work includes general renovations throughout that area that was highlighted in orange to begin with. And we're focusing on the design changes on the back-of-house, first floor, access to the stage from the auditorium for patrons needing to access a stage, and also renovations to the balcony. And the accessibility focus is on getting a first floor dressing room that would be accessible, as well as that patron access to the stage. The general renovations would include finished upgrades throughout that area, replacement of the seating with refurbished end standards, and then providing some improvements to the light and sound control around the stage, as well as upgrading the loading dock and railings, as you see in the picture there. The back-of-house accessibility. In the center, one of the dressing rooms would be made accessible, and also we would be replacing the wheelchair lift that's currently on the loading dock with a new piece of equipment. What's back there now is in very poor condition, but this would provide accessibility to that first floor back-of-house. Within the auditorium, we will be looking at providing a ramped access to the stage for patrons needing access, as well as adding seating, an additional front row of seating with four accessible wheelchair positions. Also in the back of the auditorium, we would provide some space for sound and light control. In the balcony, currently there are three control rooms across the back of the balcony. We would be removing the two side control rooms which are not needed to add two accessible wheelchair platforms in that area and some additional seating and better access to the center control room. In terms of the the base scope and the the systems that make this function as a theater, we would be restoring a very basic level of functionality and undoing some relatively unsafe conditions that currently exist as a result of what was done to the space. So it would allow for some basic stage curtains and masking. I'm just going to be very overview of this so we can get into details if we really want to. Restoring the basic sort of infrastructure of the theatrical lighting system in addition to a basic public address system and assisted listening system which currently doesn't exist. So a lot a lot of this in addition to the other architectural elements is focusing on accessibility accommodations within the space that it currently doesn't have. And so so again this is sort of stabilizing the current conditions that some of them may be unsafe and starting to rebuild the infrastructure that doesn't exist anymore in order to support performances. There will also be acoustic improvements made to doors and things where there is a sound leaking into either from the stage or from the reception area in various areas. And then as also electrical HVAC plumbing and structural improvements to support the the renovations. So building on the base option which was all contained within the existing footprint of the building in option one we're looking at expanding the footprint of the building in two areas both the rear where the loading dock is and the side of the building that you see in that image. So there will be and that is both to provide additional accessibility. One would be a new stair an elevator addition at the rear and the other would be to provide access to the stage. So I'll go through this. Currently there's a stair in the center of the the back of house space and so this would be moved out and that would free up some additional area in that crossover hallway for a small green room and a kitchenette and it would provide elevator access to the second floor of the back of house as well as an expanded loading dock. Within the second floor there would be an accessible dressing room on the second floor and an additional wardrobe laundry area and small kitchenette. And this is an image of what the the back of the rear would look like with that more permanent canopy of the loading dock, that elevator and stair tower and then a vestibule leading into the elevator. So that would provide access very like a permanent enhancement over over what you see in the base. And I think it's important to state what's what's provided here that's not in the current building is that you will have presumably you would have acts coming to the the building to perform on the stage. This is a real formal entrance for those acts whether they need accessibility or not. They're able to now come through the back of the building in an efficient and safe way. That's one question before you continue. Why do you need the accessibility for the patrons to get on the stage? You have accessibility for anyone participating in the acts to get in through the rear. Why do you need that ramp to get on the stage? That's a great question. This is frequently one that we answer. So if you you do a let's just say graduation on stage and you want to have people come up from where you're awarding people to come up to the stage, you want to have that equal access throughout the building. They don't have to go out, get in the back door. That's the fundamental reason. Okay, thank you for that answer. I appreciate it. Yeah, sure. It also provides the accessible path from the front of house or the lobby area to the backstage, even though you have to go through the the auditorium, the theater, and the stage to get to the back of house area. That is the accessible path without having to go outside. Additionally, as what will probably be a non-producing theater, meaning you don't have a theater company resident that's producing shows, you're going to be bringing shows in a lot. And so the improvements to the loading dock area are critical for that sort of functionality. When shows are coming in, they may have trucks, small trucks loading in equipment. The current conditions are actually kind of difficult to utilize, we believe. And as an extension of that question or answer, we have another solution for the accessibility to the stage. Yeah, so this is an alternative to the ramp scheme that was shown on the interior in the base option. This would provide a small exterior addition on the side that would include both a wheelchair lift and a stair so that there would be equitable access for those patrons that needed to access the stage from the front of house to the back of house. And to Jody's point, it provides another way for front of house staff to get to the back of house rather than going onto the stage itself, which is what the base scheme includes. And then this is an image of a preliminary concept of what that exterior addition could look like. And we'd be very sensitive to the existing architecture with any additions that we would propose. In addition to all the other architectural improvements, we would be recommending putting in some new, what we call front of house lighting positions. Currently, those were served by a fixed pipe over the balcony that is very difficult to access for maintenance in particular, but also from show to show. Lights need to change. So we've developed a scheme of adding a catwalk system in the upper ceiling area of the theater that would allow for very easy access and safe access to maintain fixtures, lighting fixtures, change them on a per show basis, and allow for other potential functionality if a show is pushing out into the audience off the stage. They might be able to hang stuff from there and those sorts of things. So that's what the catwalks would allow. Just stepping back a second, in the base scheme, we actually would be proposing a motorized pipe out there that would raise and lower to sort of serve that functionality. The challenges there, of course, is that you have motors that you need to maintain. So this is more of a passive system. The theater systems in what's being called option one is actually a restoration of what was there previously, the functionality in terms of what could be done on stage, what could be done in terms of lighting, what could be done in terms of audio and video presentation in the space that with modern systems that doesn't exist now. It's sort of recreating what was there that has been removed, but utilizing modern systems. So they will have some additional functionality regardless because it's more advanced technology. And so this would encompass all of these different areas. Yes. Jody, maybe mention the AV improvements as well. Yeah. So this would take it from a little bit more of just a basic sort of public address system. You might have a speaker lecture type thing. This is where we're actually putting in more of an audio system that could support in-house. If bands come in, they could utilize the in-house system. So this actually could potentially become a revenue stream for the space. They could rent the internal equipment to a show that's coming in. Same with lighting, actually. It would allow for musical theater. We saw some photos earlier, perhaps, or maybe I saw them on my phone, actually, of some of the productions done at Palmosa School of the Arts. And so this would actually kind of create a space that had some, just for scale maybe, some similar functionality to kind of the production work that they do there. Allow for that for community groups to come in, both in terms of lighting, audio, video, and all those sorts of different aspects of theater production. On to option two, technical upgrades. Oh, we're into technical upgrades on option two. I thought we're still on option one. So option two, which we haven't gotten to the rest of that yet. But in terms of the theater spaces, in place of the catwalk, we are proposing what would be referred to as a tension-wired grid system. So this is a large walkable surface of woven mesh grid, woven aircraft wire into a grid. It allows for a very flexible use of the space in terms of where you're putting lighting, how you access it. It's very safe, low maintenance, and just provides a much greater amount of flexibility than the catwalks would for what could be future production use of the space. Again, we're trying to sort of do some fortune telling here of how that space could be and might be used in the future. Yes. And on the next one, right now, again, this is focusing on sort of safety and access for technicians, not necessarily patrons. On the side walls of the theater right now are these pipe assemblies that are difficult to access in terms of lighting. And so we are proposing some potential mezzanines that a crew member could walk out onto in order to change the lighting for the stage in addition to the catwalks or the tension-wired grid. It becomes a very safe way to do this. You don't have to utilize ladders and fall arrest systems necessarily. And we obviously worked together to design this in a way that fit within the the aesthetic of the space so that it didn't just look like it's tacked on the wall, let's just say. And continuing with sort of the option two expansion, this is taking those sort of systems that we've now restored and expanding them a little bit further to give you greater flexibility for future usage. Again, not necessarily knowing how the space might be used and what types of shows might be coming in. It would expand the amount of rigging on stage. We would improve and expand the lighting package. One of the things that we would add in this particular thing with the AV system is live streaming. So this allows for a show that's ongoing to be captured by video, streamed live to YouTube like this session right now perhaps, or however else you decided to do it. And it would continue to sort of upgrade more of that infrastructure of electrical and structural to support all these different systems that we would be looking at. I think we're good. So we're going to show a little slide about cost. And I want to just caution you that this these are conceptual budget numbers. They're based on, as I said in the start of this, conceptual designs, which again are broad brush. So we're building these these three buckets of base building option one and option two. There are options within those options which can slide around between the two. So these are not definitive. They really are based on what the city decides to do with any of these options. So again, just giving you a little context. So the base scope, just as we have described, to get the building open, to refresh finishes, to address accessibility in the auditorium, really throughout the building, and to treat it basically the way it's treated now, is about three million dollars. The graph, just by explanation, the blue line is the total cost for each of the options. The orange line is, are all the contingencies and markups that go along with the budget estimate at this time. When we build these estimates, we have to put in a lot of allowances, a lot of contingencies, general conditions, all of those things that go into a contract later. We will make judgments about those along with our estimator and our engineers to try to build this budget. Option one is a significant upgrade. As you saw, there are plan changes. There are technology changes. There's lots of infrastructure that goes into the building as part of this. So it is a lot more cost to do that option. Option two is a leap above that. And as Jody was describing, it's mostly technology related to make the space do lots more for the future. And again, we're sort of looking into the future of what might be here. Now, we've said that there are lots of options within these things. A lot of these items can be brought in as alternates. They can be brought in as phased elements for the future. So if you decide to do something that is get the building open and add a few enhancements beyond that, you can still be planning for some of these enhancements in the future. And with that, we'll take your questions. Great. Missy, did you have any comments? Did you want to say anything? I know you've been working on it for, you know. I think you've been presented with a wide array of options. One of the things that that Michael said that I want you to remember as you talk about moving forward is that there are things in each of these option baskets and the baskets can be moved around. So if there is something that you are really anxious to see available in the auditorium, we can accommodate depending on exactly how you want those options to go. Obviously, our directive was to bring the auditorium back to the functionality that it had previously and that would be option one. That is the base option plus the upgrade. For me, that is the more attractive option because it doesn't have a big ramp in the auditorium that is going to take up some of the seating. It gives us additional ADA accessibility and all of the building code issues and safety issues that exist in the auditorium now are going to be accommodated. Thank you. Commissioner Marker? I just had a question, Missy. Did we have the balcony look down? Is that deemed safe now? Yes. We have a letter from the, a signed and sealed letter from the architects that say that the balcony is structurally sound for the purposes that we want to use it for. Yep. And we will be enhancing that safety by changing the railing system across the front. I know that there are people who were concerned about the safety of the balcony without having those railings there. Okay. All right. Thank you. Commissioner Burns? Yes. I just have a question. So I know, thank you for your presentation. Very, very, very nice and promising looking. But, you know, we recently had a joint meeting with the DDA and we got, I know this work was done way before that because you couldn't have had this nice presentation ready by that time. But we decided, we had a consensus to have a feasibility study done. So now can we move forward in part or in whole without the feasibility study? Yes. Actually, the feasibility study that was discussed at the workshop was for the entire campus. It's not just for the auditorium and what kind of shows will be available in the auditorium. It is to look at every piece of the, of the campus and to assess how that would go forward. We actually have been talking with a group out of New York City that has done a number of these in throughout the state of Florida. They've created, they've completed several in the last two years in a number of different cities where they will look at assessing the market for, for the old school square seeing, seeing what is available there now and what amenities the city might want to add to that across, across time in order to enhance the cultural attractiveness of the, of the campus and capitalize on that market availability. All right, thank you because I thought we were specifically discussing the theater and the DDA taking that. So I thought that feasibility study was just for that. So thank you for that clarification. I don't have any other questions at this time. Thank you. Commissioner Cussell. Thanks. I agree with you on that option which gives you the little entryway and then a little mini lift instead of having the large ramp, but that's just my personal opinion. I, we have five million in our CIP for this current calendar year to utilize. 3.5. Oh right, because we extracted, well no we had the five and then. We'll get it next year. That's what I'm thinking. Because I feel like if we're going to do this we need to probably look at that third option, second option, option two, and or look at a phasing in process because the idea is, and we did discuss this, this is where money can, revenues can be generated and the better way to generate it is to give yourself more options for use. So what I would like to see, this is my opinion, is that we look to get to option two but maybe as you say in a staged way. Maybe we have the brackets up for the mesh but the mesh goes up in another period of time or what have you. I don't know if you can outfit it with technology but make it so that you can have the better technology in the following fiscal year. I feel like if we're going to do all this at this point in time when you're looking at what amounts to potentially a million and a half dollars but you said you can manipulate that number. I feel like we should try and do the best that we can with this and make it so that we have greater options for use. Yes, okay. I mean I think that Delray deserves at least to bring it back where it was. So we're that kind of, I mean the base thing is fine but if we're going to be able to do like you know shows with the light in front of you as your rabbits that's not really theater. So I mean I do think, I mean from what I'm listening to, because I'm trying to get what's the biggest bang for the buck, whether it's option one or option two. But in option one, let's say we do option one for the six million dollars or five and a half, whatever, six million dollars. By what I'm hearing you saying, to upgrade, to add additional features between option one and option two is going to be a heck of a lot easier than trying to do them when you're doing your base product which everything's already kind of done. I mean you have to redo an elevator, got to redo. So you know so I think the starting point would be option one. Personally, I'd like to do the maximum flexibility and do option two, but I understand the finances involved and I would like to see what kind of a timeline we could get to all of those features because you know I had a lot of conversation with people on this and odd when you talk to people that are in the business, you know the design is important but you then you got to deal with the actors and the unions want you to have this, this, this and this in your facility. And I mean it just was an amazing conversation I had. And so for us to be able to do the proper thing, I mean this is not fair to ask you, but what do you think the biggest bang for the buck is? I do think it's option one. Okay, so we're agreeing on that. And some of the things that are in option two could be designed in for the future. They're a little more difficult, I think, and I think maybe Jody would agree, I don't want to speak for you, but if you go with a catwalk system as opposed to the the woven mesh system, if you do the catwalk system, you're probably not coming back to the woven mesh. Going back to the mesh. So that's why some of it can be done, some of it, I mean as this evolves, we can decide you'll come back, someone will come back saying, look, we've looked at this, I mean, we clearly needed at least a catwalk system. I mean, that's, that's, that's, that's an option. Yeah, but the mesh system is really what everybody's, that's where everybody's going now. I mean, so are you thinking the same thing? We look to get to option two eventually, but, you know, I wish we had the money to just write the check and do option two right now, but I want to get it started. I don't want to delay anymore. So one of the, one of the things that, that I've had in the back of my mind, and this is not fair to my teammates here because I have not discussed it with them, is that we could do option two, but remove the elevator option for the back of house, because we actually have accessible dressing rooms on the first floor. Okay. So there will be accessible dressing rooms for those, for those folks, the people on the second floor will have to put the elevator in at, at a future date, but that would get us to option two, with more amenities and then, but we would need to plan to put that elevator in at some point in the future. I think you're going to need that elevator in the back of the, I'm in the back of the house. Is there any grant money available? Did I, did I step in it? I think you will need to. Is there, yeah, 100%. In the back of the house is, it's like, in order to get the kind of people that we'd like to do these shows, they're not going to want to walk through, I mean, they're going to want a proper theater entrance, you know, stage door entrance, and I, I, which is what we, which I'm concerned about. I want to make sure that we do whatever we're doing. It's always interesting to say you can do something later, but going back to the well to do something after you've done one is problematic. So we should maybe make the decision we want to do two. Yes. See how we can design it, and if we wanted to remove things in the processing, it's going to be a little more expensive than we thought, then we can adjust, you know, some of those amenities, you know, in accordance with, because you can design to put those additional lighting features and sound features. Yes, potentially. Yeah. I think as Michael was suggesting that there are some elements in two that like, and one, like, we're just going to use the catwalk in that tension wire grid system as the example. Right. You're not going to change those later on down the road. Right. So we would make decisions if we, if we know what, you know, kind of like what our, what our budget is, we start to make decisions about what are the infrastructure improvements that are necessary for the space and we'll give it the most bang for the buck. And then particularly in regards to the theater systems, there's a lot of equipment that is not something that is hard attached to the building. Right. And that's where a lot of this cost is. And that's stuff that very, very easily we can start to do alternates to say, okay, we're, we're, we're going to put in all the infrastructure to make sure that the systems are there to support the flexibility and, and the, the capabilities of the space in the future. Um, but maybe you only get 48 light fixtures and not 64. Got it. And so those sort of things are the things that we start to target to try to scale it. And there might, there might be other things like the elevator, like Missy mentioned, that would be a thing that could be an alternate that could come in later. And, and a few, maybe some others that we could identify as we go, but. Missy, are there unforeseen structural needs that we're unaware of? Are HVAC, are we, how are we with the building as a whole? Are we going to be, do we have other needs that we may not be considering in this conversation that are going to come up in the next few years? Yeah. We need to do some roofing repairs, but we're going to be accomplishing that because the HVAC improvements and upgrades are included in this. Um, we didn't talk a lot about systems because I thought I saw it up there. That's boring. Yeah. But, um, we are actually going to make sure that people are comfortable while they're in the auditorium. Right. So all the theater system stuff is incorporated in this cost and the exterior, you think you, you, you need a roof. Yeah. And you know, it will, because we're, we're adding, we're changing the exterior envelope of the building. We will have to go through historic preservation. I just wanted to, um, to let you know we are already working with them. They have extreme confidence in this team that we're going to bring forward things that, that will be, um, excellent and acceptable. There is a big push in the historic community right now to upgrade theaters like ours to make them more accessible. So, so we're, we're confident that that will be a fine thing. Is there any grant money out there that we could be looking for in terms of helping us with this process? So in order to get grant money, you first have to raise funds for yourself. All of the, the grants that are for the arts, for improving buildings and things like this require you to go out and raise your own funds first as a sort of, to show that you've made every effort. Is that what we have in our CIP, though? That's not considered matching? No. It has to be like actual fundraising activities. Okay. I'm confident. I'm actually confident that's something I think we can do. I think there's enough interest in trying to get that done. And there's people that are expressing interest. They really want to see this, you know, kind of up and running. So, I mean, my inclination, as I say, and you know, I'd like to do number two, happy with number one, as long as I can phase into number two or start off with number two and cut some of the stuff back, you know, but I'm, I'm of the, this is Maine and Maine. I mean, this is, this is the heart of our city. It's got to be something that, I mean, we, we, we, we waited to spend a lot of money on the golf course because we wanted the best. We wanted, we, you know, we're, we're, we're, we're getting an attitude of we want the best. So this is where I think I'd love it to be. I'd love you to have come back and said, well, option two is $3 million, but that was not going to happen. So, so I will say that the, the feasibility study that we're, that we're working on, um, has about a three month timeline for that. So it'll be within three months, they're going to be able to give us information about the market analysis and what kinds of, of, um, events, shows, productions, the community, this, this campus will support, which will, will help to inform the eventual decision on exactly how much budget we want to put along with this. What do you need from us this evening? I just wanted to be what, at least what it was. Well, what I'm hearing is that you've given us consensus to design to option two. Correct. And, um, I'm assuming that the board is in favor. I think that's what we're saying, but with the understanding that we may have to. We like one's price better. We may have to adjust, you know, with the phase into two. Yes. You know, with the design. Yes. The design plans will be built so that, so that there are options, but we'll design the full plan. Perfect. And with, with what we usually call adults, additional alterations. I think the wire mesh makes more sense than the catwalk, but I mean, I just think there's a safe option too. So maybe in option one, we put in the wire mesh and we don't put in the catwalk. Right. So those are the kinds of decisions that, that will be made. Okay. Okay. Just a quick question. I don't know the answer to this. So I hear from, uh, a lot of the acts that we have at the amphitheater and other places, we don't have a lot of equipment necessarily. So we always wind up in this situation where we have to go out and rent equipment and that's becoming cost prohibitive with, with this plan that you're putting in front of us is all the basic equipment covered. Like we shouldn't need like a lot of rentals because I've heard loud and clear the past year, the, these rentals are kind of crushing our budgets and it's nobody's fault, but we just don't have the equipment. So I'm just curious how much equipment is built in here that will save us some money on the rental end. Yes. Love that answer. Good. Thank you. That's great. Thank you for the succinct answer. So, so it'll cover the basics. Absolutely. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and more so if we're talking about the scale of the project that we're talking about here, um, that's, that's the intent here is to limit, you know, what you have to go out and rent, uh, to stage a production, but it also gives you the opportunity to have all that equipment in house to rent to a production. Okay. Okay. So we should take that into account when we're budgeting that we are going to get some savings on the back end of this that, you know, that currently is costing us a lot of money. Yeah. And additionally, the feasibility study is going to look at the condition of the existing facilities beyond, beyond Crest theater building. Okay. So they'll look at Cornell, they'll look at the concession stand and they'll look at the amphitheater and recommend the improvements that we need to make in those facilities and give us cost estimates on what we need to plan for. Okay. So we're going to follow what you said, right? Do we have, do we have consensus to follow? You're designing to lead us towards option two, understanding we want the option one cost. So we're going to try and manipulate in between and we're trying to do it in a phased way. Right. So we're all in agreement? Yes. I think, well, do we need a motion? No, we don't. We've got consensus. So I mean, I just can tell you that there are so many people in this city that are just happy we're getting this done. It's another great. Thank you. This is very exciting for us. Thank you very much. Appreciate your hard work. I actually went through all hundred pages. You know, you had, we had all that backup. I actually went through it all. Sure. So I expect this afternoon going through it all. And I'm saying, there's a lot of, a lot of work, a lot of work. We went through every gritty space of that. Well, that's what we wanted. Yeah. Thank you so much. Thank you. Good. Very exciting. Okay. Thanks, Missy. Thank you, Missy. Once again, get it out of the phone. Okay. We have resolution number 26-26. A resolution of the City Commission of the City of Dari Beach, Florida, amending its budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025 by providing for supplemental appropriations in the amounts identified in Exhibit A, repealing all resolutions and consistent herewith, providing an effective date and further purposes. Mr. Mayor, I'll go ahead and take this one. This is briefly two line item adjustments involving the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services. One, general fund, no change as an expense to expense transfer in a general fund specific line item in that regard, followed by a sanitation fund, no change $79,408 expense to expense transfer in general fund based on level of service approvals that were authorized during the current fiscal year proposed budget process. Otherwise, we have deputy chief financial officer, Carmen Aleman, along with director of neighborhood and community services, Jerry Pryor, present to address any questions you may have. Otherwise, it's straightforward. We don't need to. I think we just, if I can get a motion to approve this. Motion to approve resolution number 26-26. This is just money moving. There's no change. Correct. To the budget line item. That is correct. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Great. Now we have resolution 29-26. A resolution of the City Commission of the City of Delray Beach, Florida, approving a waiver to Table 717D of the Land Development Regulations to allow a seawall to be constructed above the base flood elevation for the property located at 614 Northwest 8th Avenue, as more particularly described herein, providing an effective date and further purposes. And Mayor, this is quasi-judicial. I'm getting ready to read the instructions. The 7C is a quasi-judicial hearing. It will be conducted in accordance with the quasi-judicial rules. The applicant in the City shall be allowed 15 minutes each to present their case. The public shall be allowed to speak for three minutes each or a maximum of six minutes if the person represents an organization or a group of people who are present but agree not to speak. The City Commission and staff and the applicant may be allowed to cross-examine a witness. The City or the applicant will be allowed to offer rebuttal testimony. The decision to approve or deny an application or appeal may not be legally made upon personal views as to whether or not a project is a good project or not, nor may a decision be based on the numbers of citizens who support or oppose a particular project. The law requires that all decisions must be made on the base of whether the project meets the requirements of law, the comprehensive plan, and the land development regulations. Now this is a quasi-judicial. If there's anybody here wishing to to speak on this matter, if you could please uh rise and get that yeah 7d. And also if anybody's here to speak on 7d which is the car wash that is also quasi-judicial. And Mayor, they're rezoning also. That's quasi-judicial? That's quasi-judicial? Yes, because it's privately initiated. All right, the number 8c which is the rezoning of 2855, 2875, 2905 South Congress. So anybody that's going to be offering testimony on those three items, please stand and get sworn by the clerk. The clerk invested in me, the owner of the state of Florida, do you swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and not the truth? Thank you all very much. If staff could please enter the project file into the record. Good evening, Anthea Geniotis, Development Services Director for the record. Under file PZ000347-2025, that's the waiver file. Okay, were there any ex parte communications? None for me. None for me. If there's something on the server, but otherwise I had no direct contact with anyone related to the file. So to the applicant. Okay, thank you. Good evening, and thank you for your time in. This presentation will be brief. We have the request for the waiver of the city's land development regulation and code for the seawall elevation at this residential property that has 80 feet of waterfront canal in Lake Ida Estates. Sorry, I am the agent representing the owner who's present this evening, Bettina Steppen, and as well the developer and general contractor here who's built the home that was fully permitted and approved construction pending seawall improvement in order to complete the necessary lot infrastructure, if you will. So again, an 80 linear foot seawall being installed and needing to maintain compliance with the code to offer this waiver for the relief of the maximum elevation that Del Rey standardized as the base flood elevation. So as an agent, I represent a lot of marine construction throughout many, many municipalities and each city sort of has a little bit different language in the code with regards to shoreline stabilization and infrastructure. Some have FEMA's BFE as a maximum in the case of Del Rey and some have it as a minimum plus free board. So again, I think this is more of a formality and a technicality. This parcel is unique as every residential property is specific to its location. It is on a sloped piece of property that the elevation at the crown of the road sits much higher than that of the canal on the backside of the property. And based upon the permissibility of the home improvements, the upland residential property improvements and structure, the necessary elevation for the finished floor is over 18 feet because the crown of the road is pushing almost 17 feet. So here it is located on this waterway canal where the big red arrow points on the image to the left, Lake Idaho being north of it there, and several properties in and around this area that have installed similar 12-foot elevations and those that exceed FEMA's BFE's at this time. Here's the parcel that was purchased by the property owners with the one-story residence and then fully permitted to construct this single-family home, again requiring all the various disciplines and review processes prior to permit issuance. And these civil drawings indicate that the seawall to support the waterfront portion property boundary would need to be at a 12-foot elevation NAVD in order to work within the civil drainage plan that is incorporated as part of the issued permits. As is requested, I have visual pictures here from the front of the property and the rear of the property as they currently exist. The illustration on the right showing that we've got retention so fencing in place to keep things stabilized until the proper seawall can be installed and then we still will have about a five and a half foot drop in pitch from the rear of the property to the elevated seawall at 12-0 which is then in compliance with the other codes that would otherwise be too steep if it exceeded a four to one and things of that nature. It's really just necessary as a formality. Again, here's a little closer permit issued segments of the drawings for the home improvements as they relate to the engineered civil drainage plans clearly showing the baselet elevation. The pool deck elevation is a little less than that 18 and a half finished floor and then we have a slope that is much more graduated still still about 32 feet of distance from rear of property to waterway with a five and a half foot drop so for safety more than anything in addition to the drainage requirements. Here shows the finished floor as it is related to the 12 foot structural detail plans are under building permit review. I only put this slide in here because it calls out again the specifications of the existing seawall. The new seawall that will be built within the code required 18 inches just in front of the current seawall and brought up to an elevation that will allow the then developed finished grades of the property to be at a more graduated slope per the civil plans and then each of the compliance requirements that afford us this opportunity for the resolution to be approved at this waiver of limitations are in compliance so I don't know if I need to read all of these you do you do them often enough but it is consistent most importantly with that of the upland approved development and civil engineering plan already issued by all of the authorities and agencies and much of the work complete at this point the crown of the road established elevation for the finished floor on the improved residence is quite significant where the code does afford finished floor elevations to be tied to the bfe that is on the more typical parcels where the street front to back of the property are much more level lands this is again more of a hillside from street to waterway and for that reason with necessary drainage to prevent runoff to comply with safety requirements all of those boxes getting checked the finished floor with the crown of the road and the freeboard is up over 18 feet so nine feet bfe compliance on a seawall would have it a ski slope and and not safe so again important that we not create an unsafe situation to the country this is to prevent those hazardous drop-offs on this parcel and no special privilege being granted our company has certainly built a lot of seawalls that are above 90 in palm beach county and in this area and and some significantly higher than the proposed 12 here to try to get completely level lands but in this case just to be compliant with the safety and the civil drainage of what was already permitted so just to summarize and and sort of restate the same things again these elevations and grades are adhering to the approved civil engineering plans there are the unique circumstances on this parcel where the elevation differs between the crown of the roadway that elevated finished floor elevation and then the waterfront boundary that makes code compliance impractical and unsafe this seawall is designed with current coastal resiliency standards long-term infrastructure durability we want shoreline stabilization and erosion control and it's very typical of modern coastal construction as far as all of the other design elements this relief eliminates the abrupt drop-off in the backyard and important life safety avoiding risks of fall hazards and things like that let it be known also that all regulatory approvals from the state of florida fdep army corps of engineers are in compliance and determine that there's there's no adverse impact to any of the surrounding waterways with the process that you described i'm not sure if it's appropriate for questions or the next presentation yeah so um that was all thank you very much um so anthia geniotis development services director for the record i think you have a pretty good overview of the request in front of you there is a uniqueness to the situation with the yard with the crown of roads then it eventually slips you know it slopes not slips it slopes downward even at 12 feet um the seawall is only the height of the middle elevation of the yard and the limitation on height is typically meant because it's a balance between resiliency and the protecting neighbors yards across to water things like that um we do you know ultimately we don't have a limitation on fill so to you know bring the house when it was constructed up to the height you know a lot of it was accomplished through phil um we that's a conversation for another day but nonetheless the existing yard is it really does have a dramatic slope where it moves from you know 18.5 where the lowest dip in front of the existing seawall goes down to 8.75 so there there really is a uniqueness to the situation that prevents it from being a special privilege so i'm here if you have questions i'll forget the presentation oh we have to open well with the public hearing first let me let me see if are there any members of the public wishing to speak on this if so please come to the lectern you will each have three minutes seeing none public comment is closed is there any rebuttal to the from the city to the to the applicant or to the applicant to the city to the commission commissioner kasal thanks i mean it's we have to approve this based on what we're seeing but i do question when you go back to the neighboring property do we concern ourselves with any adverse effect of them having their wall so much higher the elevation of their yard is so much higher i'm assuming on the adjoining property there's constructed wall to to retain their yard within their yard right and obviously we need this the seawall but i just do we concern ourselves with potential adverse effects to the neighboring properties i mean that's that's a good point because we know what happens when the yards are filled and then they put the fence on top and the next thing you know the neighbors looking at something gigantic but right this actual slope is um sorry nothing is on the water um is these um these points are you can see some of the elevation tick marks of the neighbor right so the neighbors got 14.33 here 16.5 so they're relatively consistent the the entire kind of piece is going out my question okay commissioner markner no i don't have anything further right we've seen this before no i'm good i'm good i'm i'm good as well motion to approve resolution number two nine dash two six second all in favor commissioner markert yes commissioner caffield yes deputy vice mayor boris yes mayor carney yes thank you very much thank you so much we have resolution 10-26 resolution of the city commission of the city of davray beach florida reversing the planning of zoning board's recommendation to deny a level four site plan application with architectural elevations landscape plan and conditional use request to allow a 4207 square foot car wash at 14145 south military trail as more particularly described herein approving conditional use to allow an automatic car wash approving level four site plan with architectural elevations and landscape plan for said property providing a complex clause and a severability clause providing an effective date and further purposes great i'm going to remind everyone here that this is a quasi judicial hearing uh if any of you have not been sworn yet you would now have the time to do it anyone anyone who do a comment that that has not already been sworn we go mr katz in the back you waived it great thank you very much if you if the staff could introduce the file uh good evening at the engine notice development services director for the record i'm going to enter two files um 2025-110 which is the conditional use in 2025-109 which is the accompanying site plan level four application okay great this is a resolution to reverse the decision of the planning and zoning board correct yes mayor this is an appeal and so um just a reminder this is de novo you don't have to consider with the planning and zoning board you can if you want but you don't have to they get a fresh new start you get a fresh start perfect okay to the applicant uh thank you very much uh mayor commissioners my name is matthew scott i'm a zoning attorney at greenspoon marty with an address of 2255 glaze road boca raton excuse me uh were there any ex parte uh communications thank you yes for me yes i spoke with the applicant and attorney and uh received some um from the legal counsel of the association homeowners association commissioner casal any ex parte excuse me i also uh spoke to the applicant and whatever is on the server which is here i also spoke to the applicants and their attorney and have some leftover paper as well uh i spoke with the representative brad miller back here so mayor i did leave a packet of emails that were on the server oh yes and plus anything any emails any email stuff which i believe mr scott received those emails as well yes emails as well that's already public record so anyway okay i'm sorry that's okay start again sure um so again my name is matthew scott i'm a zoning attorney here on behalf of the applicant uh fazio consulting llc i'm joined by um our consultants that are get up in a moment introduce themselves as well as well as my client as stated we're seeking approval from the city commission on a conditional use application for a car wash and a level four site plan application we did receive a uh a recommendation of denial from the planning and zoning board but under your code we have the right to appeal that and it is de novo meaning it's a fresh hearing so to speak the proposals for a car wash but before getting the details i just wanted to go over some of the um sort of standard of review because there's many people here from the community that we've met with um and there was um lively discussion of planning a zoning board i think it's always important to provide this this background of the standards so um in a quasi judicial hearing the decision always has to be based on competent substantial evidence as opposed to sort of feelings or generalized concerns but with a conditional use application like this it's really important that i be clear that we bear the burden the applicant has the initial burden of showing how we meet the criteria in your code the way conditional uses work is it's a test the city creates a bunch of questions on that test and we need to show that we've complied or addressed all of the items on that test if we meet that burden then we have an entitlement to an approval for our conditional use unless someone who is opposing our application has competent substantial evidence that we haven't met the test in some way and so that's really important to emphasize because this is different than a rezoning request we are not seeking to change what the city has decided for this specific parcel a rezoning request alternatively would be asking to for the city to make a policy decision a legislative matter to to decide that this could be the best thing it's a little different here with a conditional use application so i just wanted to emphasize that um as we go into our presentation with that being said quick background on my client they are a long time car wash operator and equipment manufacturer they have over 75 years of experience operating car washes and making equipment for car washes in south florida it's still a family run business and so we've been working on this application with this family operation that is local for over a year and we've we believe we passed all the tests that um staff have presented for us and so we're excited that we've kind of gotten to this final moment and we can pitch our case as to how this will be a um it will meet all requirements in in your code and be an improvement for this area and so with that being said i want to bring up bradley miller to talk about some of the specifics of the property and the plans good evening mayor vice mayor commissioners my name is bradley miller i'm a land planner with urban design studio at 610 clematis street i'm sorry yeah clematis street in west palm beach uh i've been uh uh uh acting as a uh a certified planner in palm beach county for the last 35 going on 36 years here so uh with a lot of it right here in delray beach i started my own office in delray uh quite some years ago um i'm gonna walk you through a couple of slides here location wise for this project this is out on military trail uh north of atlantic it's at the southwest corner of conklin drive and military trail the the light blue line shows a designation of where delray beach boundary is and where palm beach county is so the the the west side of conklin drive west of our property is is within the unincorporated area of the county and uh and then the east side as you go north of our property you can see there's uh there's several different commercial uses along there and this is uh it's not unusual on military trail with the amount of uh activity there that uh it is commercial um to the south is sierra vista which is within the city uh townhome community and then to the east of the property is is high point that's also uh within the city uh this parcel is zoned general commercial uh it was uh annexed into the city in 2006 in 2020 is when it got rezoned to general commercial and then that and nothing ever happened after that at the rezoning this zoning district does allow for car washes it allows us to to make this request and it's subject to the conditional use approval uh now now by you our plan uh here on conklin drive is um it's a small narrow piece of of property that that you can see our access is is coming off of conklin drive and that's uh there's a reason for that is because the county which controls military trail uh in this point won't allow another driveway to military trails so our only choice regardless of what use would go on to this commercial property it would come off of conklin uh the the circulation would come in on the driveway on the west side the left side of the screen we have three lanes of of queuing there that total up to over 300 feet uh each of those meet the requirement of a minimum of 100 feet of queuing before it comes up to the point of service at the point of service there's a a retail lane which is the people that that uh haven't joined as a membership if you've gone through those uh you know that you you get the the pitch of membership uh when you go to them so the northern most the yellow arrow right at the right by the pos on the screen is the retail lane and then there's two member lanes and and that uh helps facilitate the the speed of the the cars and the frequency of the cars uh as they continue through they go through the the tunnel and then they circle around the east end of the property and then have the option of either leaving or they can use the vacuum spaces that are available for for any of the uh the patrons um we do have buffers all the way around the property uh and and landscaped uh uh very well uh your staff has uh did a good job of uh dragging us through their review process to to get it to this point uh from the landscape standpoint to point out here we have uh eight foot walls uh on the south and west property lines which are adjacent to the uh the residential uh pieces and then we also have walls on the uh east side uh with military trail it's a six foot wall there and then a four foot wall along conklin drive so it's it's walled in with the exception of the the driveways uh with landscaping all around this gives a good exhibit as to this is looking at a cross section looking to the east so you have the car wash and then sierra vista is is to the right side of the screen um the the nearest residential uh home uh in sierra vista is about 90 feet away from the car wash building and there's landscape buffering in between they have their own hedge there uh you can see our our landscape and and our wall there so uh we just wanted to show that to give some perspective of to the the the proximity of uh how we are along that south property line um and and the um how how that's uh situated uh and then in relation to the the buffering and the wall that we put put on there i think uh with with that uh quickly the architecture um this is uh the palette i'll go through these quickly just to give you a feel of of what it will look like again your staff uh was helpful in in working through this and uh we we think this is a an attractive looking building uh it does have the covered vacuum it some people have asked about what are the the things the the shade looking things and that's exactly what they are shade features for the for the vacuum spaces so with that we'll let uh matt continue thanks sorry we're uh we're gonna try to go quickly through the key criteria here because we're pressed for time and uh we understand it's late um in meeting with the neighbors uh multiple times in uh in going through the planning and zoning board we identified that there were three main issues of concern lighting noise and traffic we are seeking no variances whatsoever no relief no waivers the staff report indicates we meet code in all ways that being said the staff report suggests we should consider doing more in the way of lighting even though we meet code oh sorry continue please so the staff report suggests uh we meet code always in lighting that being said we should try to do more and so between planning and zoning board and now what we've done with our lighting plan is we're proposing a condition of approval that we would um use motion sensors on all of the south and west lighting so that at nighttime it's off at all times unless someone is on the site so we're exceeding what your code requires even though we already meet code with regard to noise i'd want to call up our noise consultant very quickly you can come up and introduce yourself we met code as to noise the first time around we were under the noise levels between planning and zoning board and now we've worked to make that even lower to reduce the noise and so i want to introduce our noise consultant to speak to that good evening my name is jt stevens with lsa associates emeryville california i've been doing this for a little over 21 years now as he stated we've modeled the noise contours for the proposed project uh prior to the reducing of blowers it met the standards but sensitive reduced uh taken out two sources of noise and the blowers that are at the exit of the tunnel obviously that's on the east facing side so we're reducing that side as well as the noise coming out of the entrance to the west we've also added as it's been stated in the walls that are also noise reducing features in the perimeter walls as well as um silencers on the blowers so before you go quickly prior to planning and zoning board did our project meet code as to noise yes after planning and zoning board what did we change to make it even quieter uh we reduced uh two additional blowers beyond the original um noise reduction features great i'm going to try to get this in on affirmance thank you very much the next biggest issue and most important issue by far is traffic we get that military trails a busy place i'm going to call up our traffic engineer and introduce yourself good evening adam kerr with kimley horn and associates 477 south rosemary avenue in west palm beach i'm a registered professional engineer and have been in practice for over 24 years doing traffic engineering here in south florida a traffic study was uh was submitted and was approved by palm beach county which is the requirement for any uh development within this within delray beach uh for the one lane car wash as uh as demonstrated here we also have looked uh since then we've also looked at the number of trips associated with other uses that would be allowed on this site such as fast food fine dining or drive-in bank all of which generate much more traffic than this one car wash would fast food almost five times and so prior to planning and zoning board did our project meet code as to traffic yes okay but we heard from staff in the community that we should do more with traffic because it's an issue so between now and then what did we do so we also met with palm beach county to discuss uh and finalize any access along military trail uh there is a full opening full median opening at conklin and uh and military and then of course the signal to the south and the signal to the north and various other median openings uh in discussions with palm beach county they uh they confirmed that there would be no modifications required along military trail to accommodate this traffic if they did believe and if we believe that there was uh a significant traffic impact we would be required to make those uh those those improvements whether it's lengthening turn lanes changing the medians things like that we would not have been approved without making those changes there should be a traffic county approval showing yeah and then another thing that we did we did do a uh signal warrant analysis to uh to to analyze the county's criteria for uh potential for a signal at this location and the volumes did not warrant uh or the the crashes did not warrant a traffic signal at this location this is a copy of the palm beach county traffic approval which states that the project does meet the traffic performance standards thanks very much okay so just to piggyback off of this we aren't required by your code to do a warrant study of conklin it's just not required you go to the county and say based on the use based on the number of trips um is this permitted is it is it within the traffic performance standards they gave us that but we did conduct this warrant study anyway because we heard concerns from the community about conklin what the county told us was nothing would be warranted here even if it were a fast food restaurant which is a permitted as of right use not a conditional use nothing would be warranted in the way of traffic improvements just based on the volumes and so while we expect we're going to hear from the neighbors the traffic is really bad and that certainly may be their lived experience we can't deny that from a technical test perspective under your code this proposed use does not necessitate any changes to the roadways and does not just simply does not create enough traffic to warrant not being permitted and so finally i got 48 seconds we're going to do get up quickly with our appraiser you go ahead use yourself yes my name is clayton belger i run the automotive specialty practice with bbg real estate services 13 000 sawgrass village circle ponte vedra beach florida we appraise or do feasibility studies and or need studies on approximately 350 plus car washes per year and based on our study and analysis of the market we did determine that there is a need for an additional modern express car wash in the market area 16 seconds so i'm going to make it quick we meet all all requirements of your code every single item in your code we meet if the city wanted to adopt specific requirements for car washes in this area they could have they chose not to the city knows this because in other parts of the city they have specific car wash requirements they chose not to here and so we meet code in all ways but finally the real test of our application is the conditional use criteria which is whether there will be a significantly detrimental effect upon the stability of the neighborhood with in which it will be located as you heard from our experts under all quantifiable criteria of your code there will not be a significantly detrimental effect on the neighborhood under every test all right thank you very much to the city mayor before miss gianotis begins um i just want to put in the record a copy of the staff report i'll give it to the clerk miss you've seen the staff report correct mr scott it's the same materials correct so it was inadvertently omitted mr scott have you seen this report this is the same one that was before the planning zoning board can you send it to everyone to be clear it adds the warrant analysis that you submitted as well and i just want to i just want to disagree with one thing that mr scott indicated this is a conditional use so it's not a permitted use it's it's discretionary within the commission to determine if it's going to be allowed in addition to that you are permitted to add conditions uh you know to mitigate the impacts of the use which is why that's its second additional consideration so i just wanted to say that i do disagree with that we are getting you a copy of this the city okay um so i will give a quick analysis hopefully and then we'll open it to public comment so the request for four years level four site plan for the specific design of the proposed use and then a conditional use to allow the car wash in this location because it is not a permitted use by right um so uh this is the location i think that um you have a good overview of that it's at 14145 south military trail the land use is general commercial as is the zoning it hat is surrounded by automotive commercial to the north this is a tire kingdom and then low density residential to the south and then rl to the east and the west is currently agricultural residential it's in the unincorporated palm beach county however it is in the city's annexation area which is the agreed upon area to eventually be brought into the city over time so there are future voters you know they're not voters now um so sierra vista is in um and the subject property is a wooded area right now um on um military trail and so you're gonna you may hear people from high point there's a cube smart this was intended to be storage at one point and it's there's been different proposals but you know nothing has come to fruition and until the car wash so uh this is the location here's the tire kingdom here's military it's um most of the property is on conklin drive this is um was presented the way that circulation will work so this is what's theirs now there now um the car wash um so is the military is on this side um and then the access would be here this is the wall this is actually not a house the house is set back further so to be fair i don't think that the rendering is exactly accurate the house is further away it doesn't directly adjoin the south potential and it does adjoin so a conditional use is not permitted by right because it is not appropriate in every context um you have to make two findings as mr scott went over that it is not detrimental and it's not going to hinder redevelopment the other thing i want to put on the record um subject to section 2.4.6b is conditional use approvals can be revoked so if it turns out that the noise analysis is not consistent with the reality and practice and the noise levels are higher this could be brought back forward to the city commission for reconsideration on whether or not the use is appropriate there or not um so by definition a conditional use is a use that would not be appropriate generally or without restriction throughout the zoning classification however if it's controlled through location design etc it can ensure um you know that it's appropriate so again not a detrimental effect upon the stability of the neighborhood or hinder redevelopment or development um because you're this is overruling these planning and zoning board also approving the site plan so just um quickly all of the um the conditions um all of the uh design conditions etc are um considered including concurrency the biggest issue i think that everyone will agree on is traffic the traffic performance standard letter from the county basically indicates that military trail does not require additional improvements a signal warrant was done at the time it seemed to indicate that there was an existing traffic volume about of about 176 vehicles on conklin drive daily my understanding is that the the car wash will add another 166 which means that effectively traffic along the entry to conklin will um pretty much double there are multiple comprehensive plan policies about having a complementary mix of uses um using design characters characteristics and patterns um that make sure the the intensity etc is um managed um the western uh neighborhoods to protect and enhance the residential neighborhoods located west of 95 uh we have economic policies um to promote uh job creation and business ownership opportunities um so when we look at the circulation for the car wash um the actual um motor you know that you drive through the tunnel you've had a good overview of that um all of these spaces have vacuums as well so i think just in terms of the setback of the building is one thing but there's activity that is is anticipated within the parking lot itself if you go to one of these you know um and um there are i think 19 of them this is the circulation pattern um and this is i believe from mr kerr's um analysis explaining the total number of vehicles you know viewed and anticipated the noise is probably one of the biggest issues that is concerning with this type of use the constant hum and drum of um what a car wash could could do to surrounding residential so the applicant did provide um two noise um studies um both of which were under the current reg limit of 60 um they did take out three blowers between planning board and now and i believe it meant it did a very small like it does one decibel if i have it wrong i'm sure the applicant will correct me on redirect but um so uh i think that the the other thing i'd like to put on the record as you know we're in the middle of doing a noise ordinance um the noise the the proposed noise ordinance which has gone to first reading the levels that are in front of you would still comply um however um they are they are lower and it does establish the nighttime and the active hours and your noise level is not a grandfathered level so they need to be prepared to meet whatever the standards are as they go right now the analysis appears that it will um you know there's no sound coming over onto these people's properties so i don't understand that completely because there's a six-foot wall here and the sound goes over so that might be something we could ask for further clarification on by the applicant in terms of light intrusion these are parking lots and there's a balance between security and you know glare i do think it's important to note that if you were looking at the position of the wall and the position of the landscaping the wall is not on the property line they set it into their property to put some of the landscaping on the outside of it as well in an effort to try to you know pull some of that into the site again it appears based on the analysis that by the time and this is where the residential house or uses directly abut their photometric shows that it is at zero at that point um so let's see um there the the property is fairly wooded right now obviously when you develop um as much as we don't like to remove trees in the city trees do get removed they have a landscape plan that you will also be approving tonight that mitigates that issue um you know in compliance with the code um so again this is a four foot wall these are eight this is six um if you are inclined to approve it um i would just request that we have a condition that administratively we can sort of have a final resolution on this design i mean it's six feet to here you know during off hours there may be some sort of security the applicant has discussed security with staff multiple times just in terms of of how to do that so just if you're inclined to improve it i would just appreciate a condition that we work to finalize the detail on this um and they've been amenable to security so i would hope that that's not an issue um you're also proving the architectural elevations and aesthetics i don't think that um i think the planning board even commented that there was not a concern with the actual design of the car wash in their deliberations but ultimately this is part of what you are evaluating as well for harmony and aesthetics this is what it looks like but again facing east there's actually a pretty significant landscaper um along military so i mean ultimately the considerations are like whether it's compatible with the surrounding uses as dictated by the comprehensive plan um and are any potential adverse impacts ameliorated with the design and the landscaping um and then ultimately are the soundproofing measures sufficient to mitigate potential noise impacts to maintain the level below 60 the current operating hours are consistent with the proposed active and quiet hours in the new draft however they're right at that threshold so you know if they you know when it is measured they need to make sure that as they're operating they maintain compliance whether the six foot masonry wall in front of the building which is intended to ameliorate sound and light creates a safety issue we can probably resolve administratively if you're so inclined to improve it ultimately is doubling the trips on conklin drive which is a you know a dead end local street um and appropriate for vehicularly oriented use in this location and then i would consider whether or not the use by its nature affects the stability of the surrounding area which is the findings um and then planning board to vote to deny this is de novo so you can start fresh okay great city's finished right this now this uh is now open for the public any members of the public wishing to speak on this item i'm assuming everybody if you have not been sworn everyone has been sworn thank you very much you will each have three minutes you got your name and zip code for the record no name and address for the record good evening commissioners i'm laurie vinacore 10626 la reina road delray beach florida 33446 i am president of the alliance of delray residential associations you are in receipt of the alliance's letter supporting the planning and zoning board's recommendation for denial of this application a few things with our standards analysis and findings which which we use which are some of the gold standards used in these quasi-judicial meetings first of all compatibility with surrounding uses of course it's not compatible with the surrounding use it is completely incompatible with the adjacent residential communities and the agricultural enclave on the street it is not a transitional use at all like a professional office would be or a public storage would be which would provide much less intensity and less traffic impact it is not a transitional use second second um the other thing is design does not minimize adverse impact of course this does the design coming in on that street the entrance placed off of a a residential street it's not conducive to a car wash or a fast food restaurant or anything like that more like something that is a has a lower traffic volume to comment on the the warrant the warranted uh traffic signal at that area that the county has now stated that it isn't warranted at this time though the county uses many different types of uh of criteria for signalization and one of them is the they look at the amount of fatalities and crashes at a site there are lots of different criteria they use just at this point it doesn't warrant it but you'll hear from of course residents probably with the amount of traffic and accidents that have been there third the the other thing is design one one of the other criteria that we use in i happen to be on the zoning commission of palm beach county so one of the one of the things we use is design invite has environmental impact and this seriously has environmental impact we have to understand and i wrote in the letter here that um that we have tropical breezes sound carries on breezes and the faster it is the faster the sign sound carries the it it is it will it will carry and all year round we have breezes and they are mostly in the time of winter and early spring so even the turnpike walls you see you can't make a wall tall enough to protect these residents you you you simply can't not from from this type of sound even the the turnpikes you can see how high the walls are how massive they are and still people hear the sound and it's not the people that are even adjacent to the turnpike the sound goes over the homes and goes and travels please do not pass this resolution please deny this application thank you very much thank you mayor can you remind everyone that they are subject to cross-examination good evening everybody i just wanted you to remind anybody who's going to speak now that they are subject to cross-examination i know mr scott i don't know how you want to do it but yes you're anyone testifying is it it's it's subject to a cross-examination so just as long as everyone knows that the applicant will be able to question you all on whatever conclusions you i have these to hand out to thank you continue name and address for the records sir uh my name is hank vogel um i live at 1597 conklin drive and i need to have you take a look at this real quick there's a picture in there two pictures wait is one of these for each of us yes there's nine there it was said to bring nine um you uh i live at 1597 conklin drive um in the and there you'll see a picture of my house and the entrance to the car wash where it relates to my house when i bought that house my wife and i bought that house 25 years ago it was not zoned commercial with conditions this is a quasi-judicial appeal and the question for you is not whether the applicant has now tried to improve the project but whether the planning and zoning board had competent substantial evidence to deny the application based on what was before them the agenda itself confirms the board denied the application due to traffic impact noise and incompatibility with surrounding residential uses the applicant submission of new traffic and noise studies after denial actually confirms the board's concerns were valid even with these changes the agenda admits traffic on conklin drive will effectively double and that the noise reduction is negligible most importantly none of these new materials address the unresolved groundwater and private well risks that remain completely unstudied i rely on well water for everything cooking washing bathing and scotch and water every now and then so i i'm sure he's using eco-friendly chemicals but what i'm worried about is what is washing off the cars the oil gas heavy metals etc my well is 40 yards away the engineering plans show the exfiltration trench bottom at a 12 and a half feet while the water table is 14 and a half feet this places the trench two feet below the water table no soil borings or seasonal high water table verifications were provided and no groundwater contamination assessment was submitted as far as noise he is at the threshold for noise his hours are from seven in the morning till nine o'clock at night 14 hours a day seven days a week we get to listen to car wash and vacuums was it 19 vacuums seven days a week 14 hours a day as far as traffic he says 166 cars that is very low for a car wash very low he needs 300 even at the last planning and zoning meeting he was asked if he can make money on 166 cars he was and uh his answer was only if i'm the most expensive car wash around he wants to double it i guarantee you once he gets in there he's going to push for 300 cars to make money he's putting in two million dollars he's not going to make it on 166 cars um so let me see so if the applicant claims changes to lighting or vacuums those changes do not address the central deficiency groundwater contamination risk to private wells and an unsupported drainage design and if this is an appeal those changes are outside the record and should not be considered so i need you to wrap this up everyone has to get the same time it's crazy for these reasons i request the city commission thank you very much and that we are not against developing that land just make it compatible with our neighborhood thank you very much sir good evening my name is mike caruso believe it or not there's a parking space for you over the couch okay i'm trying to i'm just trying to figure out how to stop this thing and start it real quick somebody how do i how do i pause this all right so i just wanted to point out what the situation is here on military trail outside of what the experts say um is the traffic pattern so i've lived on this street for over 25 years and every day it's it's it's a crapshoot if we're going to get out of that intersection in one piece so if you look at the gray pickup truck on the left hand side heading north right there that truck that truck is trying to make either a u-turn or a left turn onto conklin most likely he's trying to make a u-turn because he's leaving the boys market and it's an endless endless amount of cars hour after hour minute after minute and the problem is is that that guy can't make that u-turn because the traffic that's coming southbound on military trail is endless the problem is is that when the southbound traffic on military is trying to make a u-turn to go north now you've got these two cars facing head to head and they can't the guy in the in the gray pickup truck can't see what's coming because the car that's trying to make a u-turn to go north on military trail is blocking his field of view now you're going to have car after car exiting conklin drive out of the car wash if that guy wants to go north he's got to wait for all that northbound traffic and all those u-turn people to clear the way that's it that's conklin where that blue car is waiting to make that right turn correct yeah that's it so at the end of the day adding another 150 or 200 cars a day to exit conklin drive which by the way the exit for the tire kingdom is going to be completely head-on so everybody trying to get in and out of tire kingdom and everybody trying to get out of the car wash they're going to be sitting there forever because it just non-stop there's no traffic light there there's no rhyme or reason to just look at all these cars making u-turns and left turns right there and this is all as a result of the traffic that comes out of the boys every single car that leaves the boys that wants to go back south has to do this every single day every five minutes there's another car making a u-turn or a left turn right one after another and something that has affected me personally living here is one of my best friends was killed on that corner by a semi that came out of the trucking depot overshot the entrance try to make a u-turn to get back into the trucking depot and when his tractor was facing north the trailer was facing east to west my buddy was on a motorcycle he jammed on his brakes slid head first into the landing gear died on the scene and the tractor kept on going it dragged his body 150 yards he was unrecognizable from the waist up your rep up sir so this is a very dangerous intersection and adding another 200 cars a day to that corner is going to be a nightmare thank you very much thank you for your time to the commissioners and there's nine copies there thank you uh good evening uh mayor carney and delray beach commissioners my name is dr marcy weiss i'm the president of sierra vista homeowners association and i uh submitted um i submitted emails to you from the previous hearing with the uh planning and zoning board so that you could see uh the the concerns of our residents and and the communities around us i'm speaking on behalf of the residents and regarding this the proposal for the car wash i've just i what you see on the first part uh is long so i've shortened it uh are you here representing the association yes then you're actually afforded six minutes okay thank you sir okay thank you uh uh our concern is public safety this project would introduce additional high volume traffic into the area that's already a dangerous and increasingly congested as we just saw a moment ago it was very uh shocking to see that it's even worse than we thought i've provided the commission with resident concerns regarding traffic along with photographs of recent crashes in this immediate area these are not theoretical concerns they reflect real and ongoing safety risks the planning and zoning board carefully reviewed this proposal and determined that a car wash is not recommended for this site that decision considered traffic impact compatibility and community safety safety excuse me as well as what we're discussing is noise and lighting the traffic conditions along military trail and conklin road have worsened significantly due to the rapid population growth residents pedestrians and cyclists are navigating an already hazardous corridor we did meet with the applicant and his attorney mr scott and other professionals on zoom meeting to explore ways to address community concerns and perhaps mitigate some of our concerns however traffic impacts could not be resolved and no solution was identified that would reduce the existing safety risks since april 4th 2025 there have been multiple serious crashes in this immediate area including the april 4th 2025 accident where a 53 year old man lost his life additional major crashes occurred on december 5th and again on january 8th and january 27th of this year i provided you with photographs of that so you could see the impact and how dangerous these incidents demonstrate a clear and continuing pattern of danger at this intersection while my research focuses on the recent period accident history in this area extends well beyond these dates traffic studies provide projections but they cannot fully capture real world driving behavior congestion stack congestion stacking or dangerous turning patterns that residents witness daily adding another high turnover traffic generator at this location would likely intensify an already unsafe situation as has been presented residents residents are not opposed to development we support development that is compatible with the area and priorities and public safety for these reasons we respectfully request that the commission uphold the planning and zoning boards recommendation and deny this application we feel that good planning does not just prepare for growth it protects the people who already call this community our home thank you for your time and consideration uh my as i said the full uh report from the uh planning and zoning listing all of our concerns um is in your packet along with pictures in the back thank you for your time and consideration thank you very much dr wise my name is aaron sullivan 33484 um i just want to say thank you for listening to all of us i don't know how you do this all the time it's a very long meeting neither do we by the way um so basically i'm not going to repeat what everybody else said you know that this is not a good fit for this corner um doubling the traffic i was just out a week ago and i have submitted this um via email this is what happened one week ago on tuesday there was a major crash i was just walking to the post office um to send some things um for my work for my job excuse me and um it was terrible the traffic was backed up for an hour each way obviously the side coming toward the southbound side was completely shut down the northbound side was backed up for over an hour um needless to say when i was trying to cross back over um i like i i had to wait like a half hour just to cross there you know i was trying to take my time um so traffic environmental impact as you may know increasing garbage i recently noticed there's like a lot of garbage in that area it's an uptick there will also be overflow from i believe this project as well um the trees not saving any of the trees the habitation pollution um noise and light pollution so i don't know what where they um created that diagram of how the noise does not come into the sierra vista side uh for a six foot wall i believe that that's incorrect i believe that that's false and they're creating a false narrative um i found a similar study and i submitted it and basically it was like almost the exact structure of the proposed project and it was much much higher in decibels um also i know that there's a new noise ordinance that is going to be or hopefully will be passed um the prohibited activities to include loosely stated the sound of any horn or motor vehicle for any unnecessary period of time operating any loud vehicle without a muffler or any loud vehicle needing repair to create a noise disturbance this project would attract all of the the above including loud music etc so right alone like right there is you know noise in itself um or simply to sum up the ordinance section 99.04 letter k a noise disturbance um you know i'm sure that you all care about the city i just recently moved here a year ago and i feel that what makes it so special is the community um and it's everything about it and i just don't want to see you know it become a more dangerous place and um oh just to mention also it couldn't impede on um the current um established businesses that are there such as the boys there's an orchid orchid market um so it could you know impede on those businesses as well thank you for your time thank you very much um robert berkland 33484 and member of high point two you need your full one two and three you need your full address sir because this is the quasar traditional oh one four three nine six canal view drive delray beach florida three three four eight four thank you okay the i'm not going to take a long time since it's already my bedtime um i live in a community they showed high point on one of those slides but that's that side is totally closed off and doesn't go on to military i'm on the other side of the street which is on the same side of sierra uh same side as conklin and we have not we have about 900 homes and they're all occupied by people supposedly 55 and older probably more like 65 and older now fortunately i've been driving 60 years knock on wood i haven't had one accident but i've started to take diverted routes because the traffic on military is ridiculous i come out lakefront into the boys and the post office now under any circumstance the amount of traffic that comes for the boys is ridiculous then you add the post office on which is kind of a little snake turn around i come out and i go well i can't go straight across the street to my place because there's too many cars coming so i hang a right and i'm one of those guys that go up to conklin and i do the u-turn it's safer but it's still really not very safe because the speed limit's 45 miles an hour there's only two i think somebody mentioned three there's only two turnarounds above the post office conklin being one and then the other one into the back end of our high point three so everybody's got to do that turn there and then they got to come people are charging off of lake ida coming down that road wanting to get through the traffic i don't know if you've all been down that way but it is it is really a nightmare and you know this will be a negative i suppose to some people i'm originally from new york i know how to dodge traffic i know how to get around traffic but at the same time it's even got me a little worried and i thought of that getting worse is unbelievable and somebody mentioned at the last meeting that the city or state is in control of the intersection like at the boys you know and i assume also for conklin and they can't do anything about that so that means we're kind of trapped and we don't have any i think so i'm going to wrap it up and because it's been a long night i'm also hungry thank you very much sir okay good evening good evening mayor carney commission panel the remaining attendees name and address for the record sir i'm sorry my name is david d'amico i live at 5068 north la sedona circle in sierra vista and um i'd like to just address well there's really not much left to say other than what's already been said as far as the traffic the potential traffic nightmare that we could be facing um i do have uh one thing i'd like to show in support of all these comments and concerns i do have a short video of the other one the next one of the recent uh traffic uh traffic accident that happened uh a week ago 10 days ago uh dr uh marcy weiss submitted uh photos i believe but i thought maybe a short video it's only about 10 seconds long be demonstrative of uh of what we're looking at here on almost on a regular basis these days there's the parcel in question is right in in back there this was a two-car crash and this was just one of multiple car crashes over the past four months that happened along that corridor that's the intersection we were looking at i got reprimanded for videotaping the uh the accident but um that's really all i wanted to say as far as the the traffic concerns and then i have another short video um i wanted to mention or just thought the nice artists rendering the architectural presentation of this car wash i just thought i'd try to bring it to life a little bit this is a carbon copy of this car wash that's being proposed and this is what we will be looking at this car wash also has uh 20 vacuum stations now this was taken on uh like a tuesday afternoon about 2 30 so not exactly peak peak time i wonder what it's going to look like what it looks like here on the weekends did you wrap it up sir i just wanted to mention that uh within a three mile radius of this of this property there are seven car washers three of them are more or less state of the art that's the newest one that's right up on atlantic avenue and lions road uh there are a couple of others off of congress and i need to cut you off we gotta give everyone the same time okay um thank you sir and i just wanted to respectfully request that this application be denied thank you sir thank you hello everyone my name is lynn holtzman i live at 5024 north la sedona circle in delvary beach i am against having a car wash built at this location for the following many reasons to start the proposed car wash will absolutely have a significantly detrimental effect on the stability of the neighborhood this type of commercial use is incompatible with a residential neighborhood this particular type of commercial development will absolutely alter the traffic conditions causing more volume automobiles are the car washes business the more cars the better and that leads to more traffic and more congestion it is a goal of this business to constantly move cars in and out of their building and therefore they pour onto and out of conklin drive picture the congestion on military in conklin there is no other exit or entrance to and or from the car wash they will have to cross military trail north and south and interfere with the general traffic and add to it the cars that have no choice but to make a u-turn at that same corner this isn't the usual type of commercial traffic activity that applies to just any type of commercial development this type of commercial enterprise belongs in an established commercial area not in a residential front yard our residents would be exposed to the chemicals in the air if the chemicals are strong enough to clean a car they are unhealthy to inhale on a regular basis studies have proven that regular exposure including the consistent drift of commercial car rush car wash chemicals can cause eye and throat irritation respiratory issues and chronic diseases such as copd not to mention that the act constant noise from industrial vacuum stations and constant activity can cause stress and sleep disturbance this type of commercial use is completely incompatible with the residential neighborhood we are entitled to a quiet healthy and peaceful life according to planning and zoning my home is one of several homes that are 41 feet from the proposed development that's what i was told that's a picture i was sent 41 foot distance there is no type of landscaping or wall of any height that will contain noise lighting or hazardous chemicals from going into the air residents are sleeping at 7 a.m and at times before 9 p.m and the above factors would be very disturbing to the peace and quiet of our residential neighborhood please consider every one of you here today would not want to have a car wash 41 feet from your front door not to mention affecting your home value consider trying to sell your house with the car wash in front of it in closing i want to state i am not against development of the parcel of land i am against the development of a car wash there has to be something more appropriate like an office building medical building storage facility or something that will not generate additional traffic problems and chemical health concerns i implore the board to take these arguments into consideration and reject the appeal from the developer on behalf of our 60 residents i thank you for your consideration thank you very very much thank you hello my name is lauren richards i'm at 5028 north la sedona i'm her neighbor and um i just wanted to say you know again this is also very very close to my residence as well these are not occasional inconveniences that are going to be caused from the car wash but daily unavoidable conditions that will affect sleep privacy the use of my outdoor yard and my overall well-being i don't care about the walls the landscaping or hours of operations that can't fully mitigate the mechanical noise at that short of a distance not to mention the headlights brake lights car horns anything else that you put into that mix and from a real estate perspective this close proximity to high noise commercial use is a known factor that reduces buyer demand and property value this is a recognized form of external absence it reduces buyer demand it increases time on market and it often requires different price concessions and these aren't speculative points these are how appraisers and buyers actually evaluate a residential property from a planning standpoint this type of adjacency to a residence is exactly why zoning buffers and setbacks exist to protect the residential quality of and approving this car wash really undermines the intent of that code and shifts the burden entirely on to me the homeowner regardless if this is zoned conditional use commercial this is an intensive commercial use involving mechanical equipment multiple vacuums idling cars vehicle turnover and these are fundamentally incompatible with residential living at such a close proximity this is not a matter of personal preference this is a land use compatibility issue and these impacts are continuous they're unavoidable and they're permanent and they fall disproportionately on all the nearby residences and specifically my home at just 41 feet away so the planning and zoning board's original decision reflected major legitimate concerns raised by residents and neighbors and i believe they should be upheld so with all of my neighbors i respectfully ask you the city commission to please deny this application for the safety traffic and quality of life of sierra vista and surrounding residences thank you thank you very much good evening ladies and gentlemen i don't want to keep your time much longer but i just want to concur what everybody said before i'm the one who lives closest just behind the car you need to give your name and address jacqueline wartman 5098 i want r9 just 10 feet away approximately my windows are so i would suffer a tremendous change of life no outdoors no sleep deprivation and all that because i live so immediately behind it and i just want to concur that that little quiet street would change dramatically dead end street thank you very much thank you very much oh mitch katz 1618 west classical boulevard delray beach um first of all i'm a member of the planning and zoning board that denied this i'm here speaking on my own behalf um i live one mile from this property and when it came to me and when i saw it on the agenda i was excited because i actually would like to have a car wash of this caliber nearby me and it makes a lot of sense and and i was like wow and i met with the applicant i'm like you know what it kind of makes sense and then when we came to the meeting i started to really examine especially after listening to the residents the safety concerns and um and really and i didn't really kind of put it together at the beginning was that u-turn because everybody goes to the boy i mean boys gets what a gazillion people a day and half of them are going north half are going south everyone that's going south has to make a u-turn there and i passed almost every day that intersection and i never really paid attention to it because i'm usually going straight i'm one of those cars whizzing by and i and now i start to look and you saw it in that video he presented and that was actually probably not as bad as it normally is i actually um since the meeting i'm a member of the elks lodge and we got a grant for the there's a veterans group that meet at the the horse farm that's right there behind it and we got them a grant and we had a meeting there but i was coming from the north to the meeting and i had to make a left onto conklin because that's where it is and there were eight cars in front of me to make that left onto conklin it took me like 10 extra minutes just to make a left off a military trail to go to the meeting um because every single car in front of me not one was making a left onto conklin everybody was making the u-turn so i did one of the thing i brought up one of the things i brought up at the meeting was maybe a light would help things and they did a warrant study and showed that a light won't help so there is no fix to the safety problem that's what i thought was maybe a light would could come in well they did a warrant study in a warrant study the county and the cities have to look at facts well the facts of war so they're only allowed to look at the ingress ingress in conklin they're not allowed to look at that but common sense you as the commissioners for looking at safety are allowed to look at that u-turn but whether or not you could put a light there you can't do that so to me they're there i'm glad they did the warrant study because the warrant study justifies the decision i made earlier even stronger to deny the application because it shows there's not even a safety fix available to say hey what if we put a light there to fix the problem you're not allowed to put a light there you can't even consider that to fix the problem because the warrant said he doesn't allow the light according to the study that i read read online again i would love to have a car wash like this with within a mile from my house um you know try to get teenage kids to wash your car is not happening um but there's so even on the video the picture they show the site plan there's all that commercial just south uh just north there's so many areas there that would make more sense but not next to this neighborhood i can't imagine those people that have to make that i made that left the people that live in that hoa making that u-turn every day that would drive me bananas thank you very much good evening mayor and commissioners my name is leah coluso i live in 33484 i'm also a registered nurse who works directly in public health and safety in delray beach and palm beach county as a healthcare professional i'm trained to identify health risks before they become a problem and i want to focus tonight on wastewater storm water and the safety of our private wells and specifically on the assumptions this project is relying on the concern for residents is not whether these systems exist it's that they rely on perfect operation perfect maintenance and no failures as it was assumed by the to be stated by the city engineer the drainage system meets or exceeds standards but those standards assume ideal use conditions public health planning does not assume perfection it plans for failure during the prior meeting the applicant explained that wastewater from the car wash flows through concrete tent trenches into underground tanks then into all oil water separator and ultimately ties into the sanitary sewer stormwater runoff they stated is handled separately through exfiltration and on-site retention systems the applicant also stated that these wash bit the wash bay is a self-contained building and trench separate from sanitary or storm sewer and that storm water is simply run off from the hard surface the separation may exist on paper but over time systems degrade overflow and fail separation does not eliminate risk when water is intentionally discharged into the ground we were told that tanks are serviced regularly through a pump in a tank company servicing after the fact is not a fail-saic system monitoring it is car wash operations involve chronic exposure to petroleum residues surfactants and metals federal epa guidance recognizes that long-term low-level exposure to these contaminants is associated with increased cancer risk endocrine disruption and development developmental harm especially for children homes on conklin drive rely on private well water when groundwater is impacted exposure occurs daily they're drinking water cooking bathing often after after often for years before health effects are detected by then remediation is difficult and sometimes impossible in addition unresolved risks to well water increase traffic as we've discussed and continuous industrial activity directly affects the use enjoyment and marketability of our nearby homes particularly those reliant on private wells what is missing here is a fail system there is no independent groundwater study no baseline well testing no ongoing monitoring no clear responsibility if the system fails and does not perform as designed i respectfully remind the commission that conditional use approval is discretionary meeting technical requirements does not mandate approval conditional use exists to allow projects that fit in neighborhood and to deny those that pose real-world risk to public health and safety thank you for your time thank you very much is there any other members of the public which do i do cross-examination now or yeah yeah i'm just kind of i need to make sure the public comment is finished no we're still going huh still going oh it's still going we we will give up you're on the list we'll get to you so i just call people back up you'll be able to cross-examine people correct good evening mayor commissioners my name is eric calcagno i live at 5166 conklin drive right there i'm going to get through this as best as i could bear with me i'm not a polished public speaker but i'm going to try and make my points as best as i can i serve the community as a firefighter and paramedic captain and my work focuses every day on public safety and emergency response today i want to speak to you about traffic impacts operational reality and emergency access and why those issues play a role in making this decision the applicants traffic materials focus on average daily trips and peak hour counts they acknowledge that the traffic would nearly double from 176 as it is now upwards to 330 and above that's pretty significant on a dead end and mostly residential street with one way in one way out two lanes only it critically changes how that intersection operates what the traffic study does not evaluate is the real world behavior of the car wash it's not a people that aren't planning this they're not timing it to all go at certain scheduled times it's cars back up and they do have a generous allotment on the property but what about when the cars go out onto the street what about when cars are waiting to turn into the car wash what about when cars are waiting to turn out onto military trail it's going to create a gridlock right there on conklin and military where nobody's going to be able to pass by more importantly also what happens is that these are mechanical systems that are in place the you drive up you pay or it scans your car you go through what about when there's a delay what about when something's not working properly all these are ideally used situations and things are flowing perfectly but things aren't always perfect and things do back up as my job as a firefighter the emergency ask us is not theoretical i'm always thinking about how are we getting in how are we getting out what's the safest means of ingress egress and ingress when this traffic is going to happen it's backed up onto the road it's backed up into the neighborhood how are we going to get down the street when there's an emergency where the car is going to pull off to into people's front yard into the swale it just creates a bigger headache additionally the conditional use approval exists because not every use is permitted and it is conditional upon your discretion so i'm asking you to take that into consideration tonight and not to approve this thank you thank you very much excuse me you're referencing that from the start good evening jeff over can i get my name oh wait your name and address for the record please sir i'll wait until it's all passed out like she has all right here's another one good evening jeff overstreet 5132 conklin drive thank you for hearing us there's a lot to go through so i apologize for cliff noting a lot of this page one that i've given you is the ldrs and you'll see that this does not meet 11 individual items of those ldrs on page two it highlights other concerns especially as relates to deficiencies in the developer documentation their needs study in particular is deficient as there are two car washes that are competing by definition of their needs study on page 20 of their needs study five out of seven planning and zoning members voted down this proposal for good reason that's not nimbyism it's about meeting the regulations it's about life and safety too often we think of traffic issues as being an inconvenience the reality though is that they cause considerable monetary losses and devastating personal losses injuries permanent and otherwise and of course much worse something all too many of us are acutely aware of the exacerbation of traffic problems from an already burdened intersection is a primary concern as it should be i've mentioned uh recent accidents there on pages three four and a side note on page five page four shows two collisions one of which blocked conklin drive for at least 20 minutes as eric the firefighter neighbor mentioned that would be tragic if somebody needed to have an emergency response to conklin drive as does happen the analysis shows 166 eastbound track trips on conklin drive one thing that drives me bonkers is we keep saying they're talking about doing 166 cars no 166 trips is 83 cars this car wash tunnel has the capacity to do that in one hour and 23 minutes their stated goal is actually to do see 150 to 200 cars in a day that would be an additional 300 to 400 trips onto a small residential road and through an already overburdened intersection collisions are already happening with alarming frequency again i definitely reference page three four and five but one thing that i will mention is the bicyclist that was hit by a car trying to get across to make a u-turn from the southbound travel lanes he ended up injured crawling out of the roadway that southbound u-turn as someone else mentioned should not exist it is blocking the visibility for people headed north trying to make a u-turn or a left-hand turn and also adding additional crowding to that intersection please vote no this project does not comply with the ldrs it does not protect or enhance the surrounding neighborhoods it exit it exacerbates existing traffic problems thank you thank you very much good evening my name is thomas gary 5185 conklin drive i've lived on the street for about seven years i do work an office job and i have the the privilege to come back and try to make that u-turn that everyone has been saying during the hours of 3 and 5 pm during the absolute peak and uh it's haunting to hear everyone's story being the same as my own experience um the northbound turning lane the left-hand turning lane to turn into conklin drive can queue up about six cars if everybody can actually space themselves correctly and i thought i was very clever because i found a way around it you just jump past them go to the next u-turn make a u-turn and then make a right-hand turn um the problem being is during the peak hours as of the current traffic patterns now there's more cars queuing up into that left-hand turn lane instead of spilling back into the three lanes on uh on military going north it's blocking the left-hand turn lane and in some cases because people want to get over it's blocking two lanes so i'm trying to get uh you can try to get over and bypass this turn to make the next u-turn but now you're going 45 miles per hour northbound into a dead stopped left lane because everybody's queuing up to get into that left-hand turn lane uh it's it's dangerous i've been in the uh the gridlock that evan mentioned in tire kingdom where people are trying to get out of tire kingdom and turn on to uh atlantic i'm trying to turn into conklin but you're stuck out in uh out in military completely exposed as traffic's barreling down on you you can't move so pulling up into the grass and around the people is the only way to go this is just the current traffic patterns if we're talking about adding you know 47 extra cars during the peak hours uh the traffic pattern currently can't clear itself again it's if there's no safety solution now adding something that's going to add a lot more cars is just going to make the situation worse my concern is solely about public safety my own safety my family's safety so i'll i urge everyone to just deny this and again hope for hope for a business that's more compatible to our neighborhood that's all thank you thank you very much are there any other members of the public wishing to address the commission on this file seeing none public comment is closed now this is we're going to be having cross-exam how to help so according to the local rules mayor cross-examination it says in here that it's limited to two minutes i'm assuming it's per person however as the mayor you do have the power to halt cross-examination if you feel it's being repetitive not relevant harassing or things like that um so i would i would say that i would offer a little bit of latitude um because this is quasi-judicial and it is an appeal um but again it's your discretion no i i agree with you um you are entitled to cross-examine each witness for two minutes to the extent that you can consolidate those cross-examination so that we're not here you know forever that would be great um but it is a quasi-judicial and it's your call you of the council uh thank you mayor uh matthew scott for the applicant we're not going to cross-examine any of the neighbors we just would like an opportunity to respond to um some of the comments that they made it oh that would be a separate map that's rebuttal i'm sorry that that's considered rebuttal so correct what's the time they've been on rebuttal i think it's three minutes i think it's three minutes maybe i should do some of the cross-examination for that well i'm willing to give you a latitude as opposed to having you bring up 10 people for two minutes right that was my thought so i appreciate that mayor right do you have a discretion if you feel that you know for purposes of due process do you think five minutes would work for you yes we can make it quick why don't we just do five minutes so that rather that than you cross-examining everybody great me as well of course not want to thank you all for coming i don't want to cross-examine any of you um we appreciate your feedback we just like the opportunity to respond to it as i said at the beginning of my of our presentation that um this hearing must be based on competent substantial evidence um rather than cross-examine all of these people that came here i think it's important to note that not one neighbor got up and said here is my competency in this space here is my specific expertise about traffic about noise about water retention or any of anything of that nature and so we want to speak to those items um with competent substantial evidence i think the first one would be traffic it's the most important and so i want to use the bulk of our time um we heard from staff that this project would present a doubling of trips which sounds like a big deal we heard from a lot of neighbors that it'll be transformative for this area um so i think if you could speak to the meaning of of the doubling of traffic in the overall capacities and then also speak to um the accident information again adam kerr with kimley horn um the the doubling of traffic to the uh you know over 300 trips per day on the roadway to put that in perspective the uh the the capacity of a road we think of as level of service the acceptable level of service here would allow up to for a two-lane road in the city up to 15 a little over 15 excuse me 15 000 cars a day wouldn't expect to see that on a road quite like this but that's the threshold that we're we're uh we're judged against so while it is double lane it is still a very small amount of the overall traffic that would be allowed um on that road as far as the uh the turn lanes the u-turns and the crash data uh the the analysis that we did in december which is is is is certainly getting into peak season uh showed about 94 left left turns and u-turns for that northbound to uh that northbound u-turn that everyone was talking about um so about one and a half cars a minute there we did an analysis on that to just to to demonstrate internally for ourselves that there was not a a queue that would back up and block regularly block military trail that cue shows that the vast majority of the time that we were required to analyze 95th percentile that does not back into military trail and that's the standard that we look at we also look at crash data there too um certainly there are a lot of near misses that aren't reported but the crash data itself was again well below any threshold uh that the county would consider uh you know alternates to um uh alternate methods of of dealing with that medium great thanks i just want to call up my client mr fazio to speak about the the water concerns we want to address that head on how you doing my name is jeff fazio 8300 northwest 110th lane parkland florida so i'm a fourth generation car washer my family started washing cars in 1949 in boston we've owned and operated but we've also manufacturer we manufacture out of tamarack a company called sunny's enterprises i've participated in 200 car wash projects nationwide i've owned and operated my own and as far as the groundwater contamination county and state building codes dictate how we design it how it gets reviewed how a building permit gets issued inspections during the construction process so i just car washes wouldn't be allowed to exist if our designs were contradicting best practices especially when it comes to epa issues so i just want to level set on that we don't have a say in that they dictate what we do and as far as the chemicals i've been in a car wash since i was 11 so i've been around all these chemicals our industry has made leaps and strides over the last 30 years related to safety on all fronts including chemical chemical handling the dilution ratios and i'm proud to tell you that my daughter has been in these car washes i would never allow my own family let alone others who work for me being in a dangerous environment hydrofluoric acid sodium bifluoride those are things long gone in our industry so i i just i just want to add some factual context to the epa issues great thank you and so we obviously heard from a lot of neighbors with a lot of concerns i think it's important to note though that those were generalized concerns not based in competent substantial evidence your code has requirements for traffic for noise for lighting we have met all those requirements and so under the code for conditional use the question is whether there will be a significantly detrimental impact not even a detrimental impact alone not even you hate the project and you can deny it in a discretionary way there needs to be significant impacts and so from a traffic perspective the staff report says this project will not create significant impacts it also says there will not be impacts as to lighting or noise or any of the others and so with that we would respectfully request approval of our applications thank you does staff have any questions i do i saw you i saw you moving around your chair a lot i thought there's probably um for mr kerr we are going to take a two minute break we are going to take a two minute break thank you okay two minute break everyone it's now quarter after 10 we'll reconvene at 17 or 18 after 10. we are reconvening it's 10 19. thank you all the staff you have 30 yes excellent um so my question actually related to traffic capacity mr kerr is conklin drive is a little bit over a thousand linear feet correct yes um and it's also a dead-end road correct yes does that mean the traffic can go any other way in or out on the street if there's a backup at this intersection to my knowledge the the only the only way in and out is is of course military trail does that affect a 15 000 vehicle per day estimate on what this road can handle it it doesn't affect the the capacity is what we call generalized so that's you know all two lane roads again to put that into perspective though we're looking at uh you know between three and four hundred versus 15 000 if if in reality if we think that 15 000 which is what's allowed certainly allowed in the comp plan but if that was something less than that it's still going to be substantially more capacity available right and and that is an estimated trips based on the use category of a car wash not necessarily the capacity of the specific car wash so uh the the rates are we're required to use the rates when we do the the traffic studies through palm beach county those rates are based off of national and local studies the county approves that it's based off of the number of car wash tunnels that's the the restrictive point it's based off of the the car wash tunnels um again to that point we're required to use that 166 per day right if if that doubled just theoretically if that doubled and you add that to the the existing trips on conklin you're still well under what's the available capacity on on conklin okay thank you the other um thing that i would like to point out in terms of ldr section 3.2.3 which is the standards for site plan action because you are also approving the site plan the standards that apply to this request include standard i which states that development should not be approved if traffic associated with such development would create a new high accident location or exacerbate an existing situation causing it to become a high accident location without such development taking actions to remedy the accident situation so the question is ultimately is that there is a warrant study that's been submitted that doesn't signify that a traffic light is warranted is what's it just the trips don't require it um but based on a vehicularly dominated use i mean that's a big vehicular use right um on a dead-end residential street with 300 spaces no other way in or out i think that's a standard that you may want to consider for the site plan it's also the only way in or out for the tire kingdom and the other businesses that are on the street as well um i don't if you have specific questions about the drainage we can speak to that so we'll just wait for you to ask us that i think um and then ultimately um the issue with i'm hoping i have it up here the noise i i had the slide of the previous noise um this is the latest one this is the lowest one um and so i think it's important to note that right now the rule is 60 decibels for commercial um and the rule for uh active hours of residential will also in the new noise ordinance be 60 it drops for quiet hours after 10 p.m and that what you have um submitted is that each uh sensor is sort of key to what is anticipated so this is r5b which is at 58.4 it's by the tennis courts it's by military trail obviously that's not the source of concern it's really 9b uh r1 which is at uh you know 52.7 r9 is at uh 53.8 so it's very close to the ultimate limit that is in place and i just again for the record um want to state that you don't get the noise level grandfathered in when an ordinance is coming so before we spend a million dollars be absolutely sure that the sound is going to meet established standards anthea was there something mr scott referenced something about um the staff report didn't reference um so the staff report does acknowledge that the tps letter from the county and which is what is required the the two i think one of the um residents alluded to it that military trail is not a city road so the county it's not in the tcea so that we send applications to the county they provide a traffic performance standard letter to us letting us know um based on the land use model they cook in there i'm sure mr kirk could explain it better than i can in their computers whether or not the new development is anticipated to require an intervention like a deceleration turn lane do you need a signal do you need something like that the staff report acknowledges that the tps letter from the county you know which is only concerned with military not with the local road in my opinion um that there is no intervention required if this business goes in in this place okay no there's no there's nothing left it's now it's the commission sorry i didn't i must have missed the opportunity to cross-examine staff i guess was when you were saying cross-examine you meant neighbors and staff i didn't catch that procedural noise there it wasn't a procedural nuance he could cross-examine anybody and he chose to take five minutes instead for rebuttal it's just tricky because staff is basically testifying with new new arguments now at the very end about about substantive matters that are different than what is in the staff report so in fairness it would make sense to be able to ask a couple questions about things that are being said we're going to be here all night so i think staff has the ability to have the last word if you have questions about what staff just testified to you're more than welcome to ask those questions now but i just feel like you know with this back and forth it has to come to some closure well what what um could we give could we give him five minutes all right can you do can you take we'll give you five minutes yeah it's less i'm going to give you five minutes i'm sorry thank you very much if he misunderstood our rules i apologize that was five minutes to cross-examine staff thank you very much um so does the staff report say that based on the trip generation provided the project will create an insignificant amount of traffic not significant but we can it's your staff report so it's only one person who can answer the question so i think he's looking because there's a lot of talk about how much traffic is going to be generated while the staff report says the staff report says that uh the signal warrant traffic operations analysis indicated that conklin drive currently experiences an average cumulative volume of 176 vehicle trips during a 12-hour returning movement count i believe that's from your study right the traffic statement performed by pinder trotman consulting dated august 5th 2025 and the tps letter issued by palm beach county traffic division states the proposed automatic car wash is anticipated to generate approximately 166 daily trips therefore the projected volume on conklin drive would effectively double as a result of the proposed development regarding internal circulation the traffic analysis concludes the proposed car wash ensures the continuous flow of traffic and the required queuing of vehicles is maintained on site the commission should consider whether proposed use would increase the level of activity inversely impact the local street and so okay so putting aside that the staff report does say that it would create an insignificant amount of traffic if the county approves it is there a separate layer where the city reviews traffic with a traffic engineer for example we review it against i'm sorry it's getting late we review it against our comprehensive plan and our comprehensive plan policies um and so that would be uh the way that we review it we do not reevaluate the county's letter to say that no there's a light needed even though the county said there isn't do you know i hope that's right and so is is the county is is the county's finding incorrect the county is the authority over military trail okay and so then you spoke about noise and you said we should get this right now because we don't know if we're not sure about the noise components so um in reviewing the noise study did you see that there was actual data collected from the exact same machinery used proposed for this site yes and so and you provided two and the second one removed i believe three blowers from the proposed mechanics to increase uh the threshold between 60 which is the limit and it dropped at a decibel approximately give or take i don't know if your acoustic person's here right so your your commentary was we need to make sure we get this right with the actual data and so you're saying the data in the study from actual blowers the exact same machinery wouldn't be so i think that my concern is that when you look at the study submitted and i hope your acoustic person is here this wall is six feet and we still see the green and the yellow going beyond the wall in the berm so this is 66 which is exceeding it this is 62 which is exceeding it this is a four foot wall it's spilling over a little bit here this is of course the area where we're abutting residential and the sound waves completely stop and drop below 60. i just would like to know why we're so confident that there isn't that flow over it would be i think good to speak to that you want to speak to that that's not how this works respectfully okay and so this is this is a quasi-judicial proceeding it's similar to a trial so we don't just call people up thank you very much we appreciate it thanks we appreciate it finished yes any more comments to the commission who would like to go first don't all raise your hand at once i'll do it commissioner casal i'll walk the plank um so first of all thank you everybody for coming and providing your input and staying so long this evening and i really do appreciate your concerns it's very hard being in this position because i sat up here once in a very similar position where the people came in and they were adamant against something on the property it hadn't been developed and what ended up happening is uh it was denied but what came next was worse and the that's the fear i actually have what is that noise sorry thank you sir for you is that you could potentially be looking at a fast food place which i'm sorry mayor can i just make a point of order you could please do i think we need to be very careful no no i will i'm just i understand hours of operation there's other factors i know we're considering this but i'm saying to them honestly it's a hard decision i understand but i i don't want the record to be to reflect something else that's not before you so today what's before is a car wash that needs a conditional use and a level four site plan i will say i like mr katz met with the applicants i live i live right in your in your area around the corner i'm on military every day since 05 and when they put in those partitions when you come out of the boys that's where it all got screwed up because well people couldn't cross the lanes properly so they had to put them in because there were a ton of accidents and then they put them in and everybody does go but at the end of the day unfortunately one of the byproducts of being an amazing city that's attracting so many people is traffic we're seeing it all over i go to congress i experience taking the left turn takes me four turn signals versus it used to be one five years ago it is a problem i'm more concerned about when you talk about your quality of life and how is your experience going to be the staff brings up a good point about this image which is that the line does just break now you see the r8 the r7 the r6 there's a road there right so you could argue with an adequate wall and adequate buffering the residents there but the r9 is very close to the property now there's you read online there's so much you can do there's sound boxes acoustic boxes that protect from sound um there's um potentially the lights you seem to have addressed the lighting issue i i think there's a lot of factors and it but it's very difficult to know the ramifications until it's done and that's always the concern is trying to make the best and right decision and i do i am a little concerned i think i'm not concerned so much about the lights i don't i think the traffic is inevitable and we all have to proceed with caution on military myself included i'm a little concerned about how uh if there's a way if people are inclined to support this project to really ensure that there is not a flow over of noise into the residential area and i don't know if that's larger buffers i don't know if that's higher buffers i don't know if there's some screening i know there's sound blankets i know there's those acoustic boxes i know there are options but i want to hear what everybody else has to say because i do think we we do care about the quality of life of the residents and but we also care about supporting property owners and businesses so i'd like to hear what everybody else has to say commissioner burns yeah so um i would like to uh thank the the applicant as well for going over and above to try to mitigate um all of the the concerns of the residents and for all the residents to come out and all of your comments and your concerns however um i i have listened tonight and based on the evidence that i've heard i do see that the um this project would significantly um president permit a different a death detrimental effect upon the stability of the neighborhood um so that's where i am with that okay commissioner markford yeah uh thank you to everybody that stayed up this late apologies for that um for me there's just too many red flags here so i'm i'm going to be a no um there were two items as i remember in a conditional use that you have to be able to prove you have to be able to get one is which i think they they're fine with um i'm trying to remember what what they uh hinder development or redevelopment of nearby it won't it won't it won't i don't think it'll hinder redevelopment but i do think that it it will be certainly detrimental to the guy who lives right across the street from that entrance it will certainly be i mean i understand i look at these noise tables or these noise studies are you know good i guess uh but the reality is on a cool crisp night like tonight you're going to hear these you know not at 10 o'clock because they'll be closed but the point is noise is no noise is an issue i'm not i i know i know everyone wants to make a big thing of the traffic i think the traffic can be managed i think the light can be managed i think and maybe the sound can be managed with with increased buffers i don't know but on a site plan we're also approving the site plan and an important ingredient in the site plan is the net effect on it's it's it's a broader standard than it is with the the conditional use um and i think the site plan is what i find problematic with the because i don't think if i don't think the site plan fits with i'm trying to remember there's a number of things you can do in a site plan but one of the things is you you get to look at whether you think that the traffic is going to be an impact regardless of the traffic i mean you know you have these traffic studies and everything but your site plan approval is got a is a broader thing so i i don't think i don't think it meets my test for the site plan to to get approved i mean i i mean i understand that the legal analysis for everything done and you say well we've made it meet these criteria but if i don't think they can honestly say it's not going to be detrimental to the neighborhood when the entire you know the neighborhoods come out i mean they're it's it's not theoretical so so this is remember this is a package so you know well that's why i said i've also on the site plan portion right i think there's an issue because it relates to does the traffic negative negatively impact the neighborhood and i think that whether it's 80 cars or 150 cars or whatever it is they're all going down conklin and taking a and headed turning into the south you know into the south and when people are coming out and let me tell you when people are coming out of there you you could get in because it's only a two-lane road you get stuck behind someone trying to take a left to go north and you could be there for a while so that is kind of where i am on that so the resolution is written in the affirmative it would be reversing the decision of the planning and zoning board so based on the comments that i'm hearing um you would actually vote to deny this resolution because that in effect would affirm the decision of the planning and zoning board to deny the application and deny the conditional use and i need a motion uh from everybody anybody it would be a motion to deny resolution 10-26 i'll make a motion to deny resolution 10-26 26. second do i have a second please call the roll commissioner cassell i guess i'm a yes i'm i'm very sorry i appreciate all your effort in trying to accommodate the residents if the motion to deny the motion to deny is is denying the application i mean a yes vote denies the yes yes denies the application fine that denies the appeal denies the resolution correct which was yes which would be affirming what the lower board did all right so yes okay deputy vice mayor burns yes mayor carney yes commissioner market yes motion passed time to go thank you thank you it was about two hours ago inch so the rules the rules requires to stop at 11 unless you vote to keep going forward i wanted to stop at 11 two hours are we continuing yes the next few items mayor what the next few ones are yeah well i don't know why that's not what we asked for i asked for to the financial review boards that's what you asked for this is a whole different this is a dangerous thing to start mayor do you want me to read the resolution no this is essentially auditing the owner look at mayor i think listen that's what we talked about i know what i know what i wanted mayor i understand do you want me to read the resolution yeah i'm sorry would you like me to read the resolution well yeah i just want to start before you even get to the resolution i remember i sat here and talked about and i checked my records when i saw this on the agenda i went back and i said and i talked about the creation of a financial review like we always had and i had believed commissioner casal had said the same thing when i asked for it i in all fairness what i was asking for was that but i think i was using the word audit because i was thinking they would sit so there may have been confusion because i'm i asked for it and it understood i know what i want and you know what i want here's my problem i do think we need to pull this one it's late in the evening two i'm like super ticked off at the fact that once again um changes were made to the agenda or tried to be last night at nine o'clock having received no consensus from the group and you know multiple times mr moore we have discussed that that should not be happening and i expressed to you my concern again that you did not get a consensus and that is a violation of the charter i don't want to belabor the point tonight i am well i don't want to speculate either but it's here so it's no no no no no please don't don't defend this situation mr mr mr mayor thank you because he the only one he spoke to last night was you and he already told me that we've had the conversation i spoke to him i spoke to him i said why is it on the agenda i feel as though you should not be he's already acknowledged what transpired and that he did that so if you're standing here defending him it's because you're okay then don't i'm defending the thing whether it's a violation of the charter i think that what you're dealing with it's a city manager's agenda no he last minute first of all we all agreed multiple times that he's pulling things because you're asking him to first of all okay that's he acknowledged that that is he said he's you're the only one he spoke to i did not pull anything that's not exactly how it came out that it was going to be removed from the agenda are we really going to do this well it's on the agenda so after i complained about it brought it to the attention of the city attorney emailed back and forth at nine o'clock at night mayor well we're going to pull this i think you you said you want to pull this i want to pull it i'm content pulling it and we can discuss it because what the mayor is saying is is is accurate in the sense that where i don't really feel like we're looking for someone to audit the annual auditor the annual audit reviewing it everyone should be doing that in the city who wants to i also don't um believe that the committee should be selecting the auditing firm necessarily but more what i was hoping for is people who would um have some insight as to when we bring up potential things to audit and then you begin the process you're checking in with them and then they're giving you giving you feedback in the process and then you know reviewing the audit at the conclusion so it's not just us it's people with respective skills in that field and i think that will be helpful to you and to us and i know what you provided us is just the beginning framework it's just your idea of what we maybe we're looking for but i i have a sense of what i want and i can share that with you um well the audit the the the financial review board that they had before which is what i was talking about now we may be miscommunicating every different we're not we want the same thing but the i mean that was it where they would look at you know spending they they really would look at documents i mean they would look at it wasn't really well that's auditing the procedures of the auditor okay that's why we need to move this to another time and then come back to the table with what we're specifically looking for this group of individuals to do and also what their criteria is going to be to serve how many of them are going to serve i think the conversation is is just beginning and you know okay that's what that's fine because you know as i said i don't need to have we were too small of a city really to essentially have an audit committee audit the the procedures of our auditor i agree just that that makes no sense so that's why that was a comment i was the only comment i made last night so i just because i'd read the statute and then i looked at examples of the statute and then once you uh you know you adopted you can't you you're stuck you can't we were just having a conversation tonight but but i want to circle back to what you were saying you're you're wrong mr moore was making a move to remove this without getting a consensus from from a majority to me so well that's what the email was that came out last night did you read your email no it was being pulled from the agenda after speaking to you i apologize that's not what i was up to that is not what i was up to there's no confusing the messages those emails were very clear my conversations were with internal folks last evening until this morning there was no direction to pull anything that's why that's not what the email said the email said it's going to be pulled again oral discussions i did not pull anything it's here i didn't this is where it gets so no no i i think we've had this discussion too many five times when the agenda gets published that we're very cautious of course of course it's leading to high blood pressure and i thought about that as well and i will endeavor accordingly and i will and i will and i have and i will on this topic of the audit i i i think we should have that discussion elena and i had a very good discussion about it i mean you know i but i think we should come back to the table with our expectations it's definitional we gotta sit down and define it and then see if it why don't you put it on the next agenda for discussion mayor could we just move put it on the next agenda and then we'll have the discussion mr mayor i'd like to support that recommendation for the february 24th regular city commission meeting okay we'll bring it back as the city commission offers expectations and communications so if we can have consent to that effect that would be great thank you for waiting all right now we're now we're on the nomination for the appointment i'm going to move this along nomination to the board of trustees for the fire retirement systems board based on the rotation system the appointment belongs to mr mr commissioner thomas marker i would like to appoint joan doro oh good choice second that even though we don't have to oh his joan oh i didn't bless you thank you she's great she is great um all in favor yes all right any post great nomination the appointment of the green implementation board here's this commissioner john edwards sorry john edwards second thank you all in favor all right any opposed done okay we are on 8a you want to read the whole ordinance um and thea were you going to make a request to postpone this no i agree because we had to there's a lot of people that don't know okay so we were going to we're going to postpone this to the to can we do it to a date certain mayor what's the date date sir the 24th of march 9th so it would be a motion to postpone ordinance number 10-26 or march 9th whichever one of you we do because there's work we got to do on on and also i don't think the city should be signing these agreements these three-part agreement on the easement portions on private property why are we making work for us anyway we'll discuss it if we're going to do it so maybe we should do can we do it march 9th march 9th i would recommend march 9th march 9th works for me so it's a motion to postpone oh were you here to speak on this mr costello if he speaks today he's not going to be able to speak at second reading so do you want the 24th so it would be at the 24th so if it's a it's a motion to postpone ordinance number 10-26 of february 24th 2024 at 5 pm or thereafter we need a motion so moved second all in favor aye opposed okay sorry mr costello you're charging your client though right i mean you get to get it you know so mayor i'm sorry mayor 8b and 8cr related it's a privately initiated item i think we should just um if we go past 11 o'clock the commission has to vote to go past 11 do you want to just make that motion now because this is going to go past 11 o'clock so moved second all in favor aye any opposed i'm opposed okay now it's a tie so i was kidding i'll be all in favor thank you okay no this is a this is we we should get this should i redo that no it's okay mayor can i um read both together 8b and 8c and and it's it's uh 8c is the question is a no it's a public hearing quasi-judicial it doesn't say it on the agenda it's a reason it is quasi-judicial correct ordinance number 0526 an ordinance of the city commission of the city of dalry beach florida adopting a small-scale land use map amendment redesignating parcels of land measuring approximately 7.6 acres located at 2855 2875 and 2905 south congress avenue is more particularly described herein from congress avenue mixed use to come to commerce pursuant to the provisions of the community planning act florida statute section 163.3187 providing a complex clause and a severability clause providing an effective date and for other purposes 8c is ordinance number 04-26 an ordinance of the city commission of the city of delbury beach florida rezoning parcels of land measuring approximately 7.6 acres located at 2855 2875 and 2905 south congress avenue as more particularly described herein from mixed residential office and commercial to mixed industrial and commercial amending the city of delbury beach zoning map july 6 2021 providing a complex cause a severability cause providing an effective date and further purposes and this is quasi the 04-26 is quasi-judicial you were sworn earlier yes sir so is there anybody else who uh who uh who would wish to speak on this item was there any ex parte communication on this item okay seeing none please enter the file into the record uh good evening anthia geniotis for development i'm sorry it's late for me um okay uh anthia geniotis development services director and i would like to enter file pz174-2025 which is the rezoning and it is accompanied by land use change which is pz172-2025 thank you very much to the applicant great uh david millage uh 14 southeast 4th street boca raton uh here on behalf of the applicant good evening mr mayor vice mayor and the commission um i'm going to try to go through this application with some expediency but i want to cover it all just in case so this is the uh subject property it's approximately seven acres just north of the c15 canal on the southern limits of the municipal boundaries of the city of delaro beach it consists of three parcels five existing office warehouse buildings there are two requests one request is a land use change which changes it from the cmu to the cmr land use designation and then also rezoning from mrock to mix industrial and commerce uh like i mentioned there are five existing office warehouse buildings for a total of approximately 200 i'm sorry 102 000 square feet um there is a history with this project back in the 80s it was approved for this office warehouse buildings that were constructed on the overall parcel at that time it did have a commerce land use and was zoned light industrial but then in 1990 it did receive an approval for rezoning from light industrial to the mic zoning district then as you might know back in 2006 and 2007 the city had itself initiated rezoning and land use changes which changed 63 different parcels along the congress corridor that changed it from to i guess to the existing cmu land use in the mrock zoning district you know what the the issue here is that mrock is incompatible with a lot of the existing non-conforming uses at this site so there's significant hardships for the owner with attracting new tenants keeping new tenants at this facility facility this is within a existing industrial cluster that's on congress and these are some of the tenants that are currently non-conforming they really deal with um kitchen fabrication installation users cabinets countertops hvac contractors home automation security systems and sign manufacturing so back in 2023 the city paid for a market informed development and retail strategies strategies recommendations from cbre and street sense what this study they they analyzed this i think it's around a four mile stretch of the congress area and they had some some findings that were of note one was that the vision of the cmu land use has not been fulfilled within this somehow 20 years that it's been around there remains many office and retail vacancies along the corridor there is limited industrial space within within the city um and that it's encouraged for these industrial clusters to be preserved within the city um we've reviewed the criteria for land use changes and rezonings and we do meet those criteria and just to summarize this property was originally approved for light industrial uses and in order to preserve the limited industrial businesses uh and uses within the city we're asking for uh the approval of this future land use map amendment and rezoning which allows the businesses to grow expand and reinvest in the city um the the issue with non-conforming uses is that there are limitations for repairs expansions and then also um issues when a tenant leaves the space has to be reoccupied within 180 days so if you take into account um future tenant build outs getting necessary approvals there's many times where now the previous uses that we think that the city wants and to encourage is no longer permissible with you know this property in specific with that um i don't want to take any more time happy to answer any questions okay i also don't want to take a ton of time um so uh in this instance what is um we've been grappling with and part of why we engage the street sense folks is that um the vision for mrock which is meant to be mixed use line line the street you know start to create a corridor very different than the one that's there innately has conflicts with some development that is existing that now contains uses that we have concerns about inadvertently not having enough of we do have only four percent of the city is allowed to have industrial uses only two percent actively does and it's probably less now that the live local project took the heart grave site offline so i agree um with um you know the applicant's presentation i did want to point out that this is probably one of the only applications that's been brought to you that has a significant decrease in traffic so if you have any reservations maybe that um would would quell them um and they and in that street sense um analysis um while uh it was interesting because the compatible uses like cabinetry stores and other um uses like that are um there is a demand for them and they are a little bit more um compatible with um residential and other mixed use commercial uses and right now um you know they're they're not allowed to go in there and if the space remains vacant for too long then the non-conforming status is gone and yet the physical building is still built with a loading dock or you know so this is you're aware of this conflict and it is on our our list to address in this case the applicant um you know wanted to move forward without waiting for a staff initiated amendment so um i'm here if you have any questions i'm gonna do that now this is a public hearing any many members of the public wishing to address the commission on this agenda item please come to the lectern give your name and address for the record you will each have three minutes my kind of crowd seeing none public comment is closed oh yeah i was going to say is there any rebuttal let me get the re there any rebuttal to any many presentations okay um thank you super quick question because we flew through these slides but when you're changing from um mrock to mic do we have to worry about live local with the industrial component in other words as right stands now you can't do live local on this right well live local uses the mrock standards they're the most intense standards in the city for height they could come in and do live local now and if we change to mic they cannot no they still can because it's but it's less than but we would be able i want to just understand which one which scenario they're the same because so live local requires that you offer the highest density allowed in the city right and the highest height within i think it's a mile radius um the highest height and the highest density in the city is mrock right so you know if something something changes it's yeah exactly it's the same intensity but the change here now allows the more industrial uses that the building was designed for to maintain which we are concerned about losing so i just that was my question thank you i support this okay anyone else yeah economically when we make this change he's not going to want to he's not selling that property anyway because it's going to do really well with that with the new zoning so i mean that risk factor is really not much of a risk okay so i need a motion to approve motion to approve ordinance number zero five dash two six second all in favor aye any opposed fine now hc which is the quasi-judicial i need a motion to approve motion to approve ordinance number zero four dash two six a second would you please call the roll commissioner cassell yes deputy vice mayor burns yes mayor carning yes commissioner market yes motion passes have a good evening good to see you do you want to keep flying through these will be quick well we've got the bleeding control kits which i think everybody's agreed to an 18 and 8e do we just do an ordinance motion to approve no i have to read it no we have to read it quickly though okay ordinance number in 8d and 8e are the same oh i thought you left chief martin i was going to say you already would take your ordinance number zero uh dash two six in ordinance of the city commission of the city of delray beach florida meeting chapter 96 fire safety and emergency services of the code of ordinances of the city of delray beach by repealing section 96.18 automatic external defibrillator and bleeding control kits and readopting same as revised as a new section 96.12 automated external defibrillator and bleeding control kits reestablishing the city-wide defibrillator oh my god i can't even read reestablishing the city-wide automated external defibrillator and bleeding control kit program with provisions to provide definitions for automated external defibrillators and bleeding control kits in the ordinance to require all business occupancies exceeding 20 000 square feet provide automated external defibrillators and bleeding control kits and to authorize a fire marshal designee the discretion to make adjustments to the location of automatic automated external defibrillators and bleeding control kits providing for immunity from civil liability pursuant to florida statute 768.1325 providing a coffee sauce severability cause authority to codify providing an effective date and for other purposes ordinance number zero nine dash two six in ordinance of the city commission city of delray beach florida amending the land development regulations of the city of delray beach code of ordinances appendix eight definitions to remove the definitions for automated external defibrillators and bleeding control kit providing conflict cause the severability cause authority to codify providing effective date and further purposes and these are both second reading public hearings okay this is a um is there any do we need to see the chief's presentation i mean do you feel strongly about it i'm sorry he doesn't no i don't but i do want to ask the city attorney when we last uh talked about this you're going to change this to you're putting the um mechanism every every other floor um do we feel again the question was is this too much for the businesses to comply with we were going to talk about surrounding areas right if i mean if you want to see the presentation there are surrounding areas in broward county predominantly that have adopted this ordinance have adopted the bleeding control kits ordinance so after meeting um with chief martin about it and speaking um with chief mazio i do feel comfortable that it is consistent and i do think that palm beach county if they it's coming around but i think it was predominantly a broward um initiative commissioner casal no i guess i mean so then can we get a motion again motion to approve this is a public hearing anybody wishing to speak on this item or this item 8d and or 8e please come to the lectern give your name and address the name and zip code for the record you will each have three minutes seeing none public comment is closed motion to approve ordinance number 08-26 second thank you all in favor aye any opposed okay um motion to approve ordinance number 09-26 second all in favor aye any opposed okay thank you i didn't want to keep you any longer because you got that breakfast first thing in the morning in the morning at 7 30. oh he's good he's he's a kiwanian he's a kiwanian well he's a you know the the the the the the rotary's the rotary's dozing back there well this man's up here working that's all i'm pointing out it's a good breakfast it's a good breakfast oh wait they're not a thank you sir and thank you for stepping if you go around the world in the medical community cpr and aed is unequivocally the way people survive in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and to have your leadership all of your leadership up here in the dais and supporting this and having community partners to support this will save lives and i think we've taken a reasonable measure here tonight to ease the burden but it does result in saving lives and that's an undisputed medical fact we appreciate you bringing it forward we're sorry we appreciate both of your hard work we really do 9a 9a first reading of 03-26 in order to the city commission city of w beach florida amending chapter 32 departments boards and commissions section 32.64 qualifications to clarify the criteria for appointment of board members providing an complex cause and severability cause and authority to codify providing an effective day and for other purposes okay um we're to approve ordinance number zero three two six first reading yes second yes sir all in favor aye any opposed okay first reading is approved on that ordinance 13-26 an ordinance of the city commission of the city of dowry beach florida amending the code of ordinances of the city of dowry beach title three administration chapter 36 acquisition of goods and services and disposal of city property section 36.02 commission approval required to increase the threshold for city commission approval of acquisitions from 65 000 to 100 000 providing a conflict clause the severability clause authority to codify providing an effective date and further purposes motion to approve ordinance numbers one three dash two six second all in favor aye any opposed good comments and inquiries on non-agenda items mr city manager briefly friendly reminder noise ordinance town hall engagement between 5 30 and seven o'clock this coming thursday february 5th over at the vintage gym at the old school square campus otherwise 5 30 to 7 5 30 to roughly seven o'clock yes sir just to be clear and we'll make sure our communication at some point to reflect that yes sir otherwise i yield to the city attorney any comments nothing good night to the city commission super quick uh historical society has a paint and sip friday february 27th looks like a lot of fun uh lori durant is having an event at um lily pulitzer on february 28th that's a saturday 3 30 to 6 30. it's a shop to support high school seniors in the debutants mentorship program uh gene is not here but the article in the um atlantic ave is fabulous and also i love my new mug and mr moore i don't want to beat a dead horse but i'm going to here's your email direction is likewise being offered to the office of the by the office of the city manager to remove the proposed resolution as noted and my point to you is one it's it's less than 24 hours away from the item being heard that's not fair to the residents two you did not get a consensus and i've brought this up over six or seven times i will not bring it up again next time i'm going to demand action from my colleagues you need to get a consensus from a majority to be doing things like this thank you i appreciate that you will do that in the future thank you um no i'm good i was good well i i sent her an email so that was it well you know sometimes you say something and you really don't mean it me so well no just um gina and the success of last month being uh the most successful month for the creative art school it's very impressive and um just you know congratulations to her and her team on the great work that they're doing and um every commissioner cassel said some of the other stuff so i'm good thank you okay i have nothing i did have i had i did have something i wrote it down but i'm not going to do it because i want to go my poor wife twice she said she said she said anytime soon and i hadn't looked at the thing and that was like 30 minutes ago and i just wrote her back well hit the gun oh a demonstrator