City Commission on 2026-04-06 6:30 PM - Apr 06, 2026

to turn the meeting over to District 1 Commissioner for the invocation. Commissioner

Harriet. Thank you, Vice Mayor. We'll start with the Pledge of Allegiance, if everybody will stand. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. And if everybody will remain standing, I'll just lead us in prayer for a moment. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity today to gather and conduct business at the City of Deltona. We ask, Lord, that you give us the courage to make the hard decisions, the wisdom to know which decisions need to be made, Lord, the grace to make them in a way that is thoughtful to every resident. Lord, we ask you today to keep all of our first responders safe, all of our military personnel safe, Lord, and anybody that is in need in our community, we ask that you fulfill those needs. We ask this in your son's name. Amen.

Amen.

That was off the cuff.

Thank you, Commissioner Harriet. At this time, we're going to go to number four, A4, additions and deletions. Does anyone have any additions or deletions to add to the agenda? Not agenda, consent agenda items. That is on the agenda already. That will be done when we get to number seven. So does anybody have any additions or deletions? None. I have one. I'll turn my to Commissioner Howington. I would like to add the 56th Infantry Day, April 13. That has always been added. I'm surprised it wasn't added this time around. That is also known as Borinquenia Day. So I would like to have that added. Okay. Thank you. Presentations and awards. There are no presentations. No, she was just, am I correct? Do you have a question?

I was just kidding.

It's, yeah. Presentations and awards. There are no presentations. Tonight, Deltona community events. Everything is going to be displayed on the screen. There is paperwork on the back that you can look at. And there's also going to be on the city website. So now we go to number seven, consent agenda. At this time, we're going to move to the consent agenda. Does anyone want to pull an item from the consent agenda for discussion? Commissioner Howington? I'd like to pull B, D, E, and G. Okay. You're pulling B as in boy, D as in David, E as in Edward, and J as in Jack? G. G. No J. Yeah, no J. Okay.

And then I will make a motion unless anybody else wants to pull anything else.

Anybody else pulling anything else? Okay. So I'll entertain a motion for now and a second for consent agenda items. A, C, F, A, I, J, and K.

I will make a motion to approve A, C, F, H, I, J, and K.

Okay. I had a first motion by Commissioner Howington, second by Commissioner Harriet. Are there any public comments on this item? Do you want to know which one was to pull?

No, we have one person that wants to talk about five different items. So we're trying to figure out which one was pulled. We'll have him talk during those. So right now, if Tim Blodgett can come up and talk about C, which was not pulled, and I, I think, that was not pulled, and then we'll call him back up for D, E, and 8A. Okay.

So Mr. Blodgett is up for?

That's very thoughtful. C?

Okay.

Can I start now? We're talking about Volusia Forever. I'm all for keeping funding going, and I don't really understand why they want to end it. The only thing that I would change about it is I would start gobbling up some of this open, free space to make it open forever. Call it a wildlife management area or whatever you want. If you keep them open, you can't build anything on it. That would be the other stipulation that I would make because once it's gone, it's gone forever. And you take a look at what's going on in South Florida. They're gobbling up land right and left. They're overdeveloping it. They're destroying it. They don't have enough water. They open their taps. They're getting salt water coming out of their taps. And they just keep on filling people up. And if you think that the developers are going to be self-regulating, you're fooling yourself. We can see that now with, like, malls. Do you know that there's something like 27 cubic feet of retail space for every person in Florida? And they're losing out because nobody's going to the malls anymore. Everybody's buying online. So don't let them do it to housing. They've already done it, completed it. They've gone their whole cycle in the commercial field. And we need to be very, very careful about how we develop here. We can have Paradise or we can have Swamp Huts. The choice is yours.

Thank you. Kathy Bryan, please.

Okay, thank you. Kathy Bryan, Deltona. I know. So item C, I know you guys are sending a letter. I'm very glad we're doing that. I hope that we are stating it in such a way that we make it very, very clear to the county that this is what the voters decided. And forever is forever. Forever is not, well, for now. For Volusia forever, it also doesn't mean, well, let's cut in on the edge of this one here. Let's cut in on the edge of this here. And let's cut in on the edge of that there. Because the more you put people closer to those areas, the more damage and destruction you do that's irreversible to the whole ecosystem and in and of itself. And the destruction of one thing in an ecosystem can lead to multiple things in an ecosystem. And we need these areas. We need these areas. Not only our wetlands, but our drylands. I've said this many, many times over and over again. And putting in parks and whatnot is not always the ideal thing either, whatever kind of park it is. Sometimes you just need to have natural areas that are left undisturbed. So, I hope that's in all of your hearts. I really don't give a crap of what the developers want. When you buy property, you know what you're buying. Buyer beware. And then you want to go change it later, have it rezoned. Oh, I didn't know. Sorry. Do your research. We did before we bought our house here. That's why we're on a nice hill in the house that was already developed when we got here years and years ago. So, you know, poor them. Poor them. And there's places for people to live. There's people moving out of Deltona and out of the area all the time as people are moving in. So, I can't cry over that. So, I hope it's in all of your hearts and that you stand up to the county on keeping Volusia forever in perpetuity.

Thank you. Okay. That's it for public comments. Right. Can we call the vote? Okay. Motion passes. Six to zero. At this time, I would like to, well, actually, go to Howington first, or do you call the resolution? Attorney.

This is item 7B. This is pulled from consent. This is resolution number 2026-24, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Deltona, Florida, adopting a revised master fee schedule of fines, fees, costs, and or penalties, and various administrative fees relating to the City of Deltona code of ordinances, providing for conflicts, severability, scrivener's errors, and an effective date.

Thank you. Commissioner Howington pulled the item. I don't see your name on there.

Thank you.

I mainly pulled this because, as we heard from residents at the last meeting, they've asked that we not bundle things into the consent agenda, that they actually want to have the opportunity to have conversations relative to specific items. And so, that was one of the main reasons being that the master fee schedule is being adjusted for water rates. And so, I wanted to make sure that our residents have the opportunity to speak on this topic, as well as ask any questions. And so, I see Mr. Parrish is there and prepared. I believe that, are you going to be doing a full presentation on this?

Depending on what questions y'all may have.

Okay. Because I think it would be nice to have an overview for the residents of what the proposal is, as well as why the proposal is what it is. Sure. And how we got to this point, if that's possible. Sure. Thank you.

Absolutely. So, hello. How about now, Commissioner? All right. Awesome. So, where we're at, we've had a couple of meetings and we had a workshop about it, about why we have rates, why we have the need for increases. You know, where the utility is, is we have, you know, services that are essential public services, that we have to provide continuous operational support for it. It's very critical that we have those items. And in order to do our repair and maintenance, plus any new type of projects, capital improvement projects, we had a rate study done that said, we have X number of dollars that are needed in order to maintain our daily operations. And then we have X number of dollars, and then we have X number of dollars that are needed for capital improvement costs. Once we had that study in and we saw what the rates were currently, there was a shortfall that came to approximately 6% across water and wastewater. Okay. So, we looked at, and we said, what type of capital improvement projects did we do over the last five years, which there were 21 of them which were successfully completed. Out of the last rate study, there was only one item that we deemed was not necessary during that five-year period. So, we didn't spend that money. So, we've determined that there's 19 capital improvement projects that need to be completed to either improve the quality of our operation, improve the infrastructure of the operation, and make sure that our residents have a water system that we are taking care of correctly and timely so that we don't have issues. Okay. So, we looked at those, and we said, what items are not necessary? And we removed some of those items. We do that every single year as we're looking forward over the next five years, not only whenever we have a rate study done. So, we really honed it down to the items that are either mandated, funded, or unfunded from our regulatory agencies. What type of items do we need for repair and maintenance over the next five years that, if we don't do, are going to cause critical infrastructure failure? We looked at all of those, came up with a list of 19 items, which said, this is what you need in addition to your operation and maintenance and repair. So, we have those 19 items, and we looked at it, and we said, okay, we have compliance issues that we have to deal with. So, we have these 19 items that we have. On top of it, we have funding opportunities in grants and bonds and so forth, and we've done a huge effort and come a long way in a short period of time of making sure that our bond rating is elevated each time that we have a new evaluation. We've increased each time over the last several years. We're looking at an A, double A minus coming up, and what that basically means is the city of Deltona and the utility is very stable. In our normal daily terminology, like for a normal individual, you know, we've got good credit, bad credit, and so forth. Well, it's almost like the city of Deltona right now has a credit rating of 850. You know, we can do a little bit better, but we've got an 850 credit score if you're looking at it as an individual. Well, if we don't do these improvements, then you're going to see our credit rating drop. Right now, we don't have to have any bond insurance. That's like having PMI. That's like having to add mortgage insurance on your house when you get a mortgage. Right now, we don't have to do that because we have a very high credit rating. If we don't do these improvements, then it's going to cost us more to do these projects because our credit rating is going to go down. We're going to have to have bond insurance. We're going to have to have those items. So we looked at it and we said we have these necessary items that we have to do, but what can we do to make it so that it is as least impactful on our residents and on our users? So we've come to the dais with a couple of different options before, and each time we said, hey, try to do better for our residents. So we got together and we said, all right, so we've got 38,000 users that are on water. We've got 7,500 users that are on wastewater, and the big impact that we see is in wastewater. We understand that the wastewater rate is extremely high for the users, and we hear that and we feel that. So we said we have a dollar amount that we're short, so what can we do to make that so it's least impactful on all users? So we said we're not going to increase any wastewater rates, zero increase on wastewater rates at all. On the water rate, it would be a 9.54% increase. So what does that mean to the end user? Well, our average water rate, the bill that our average user sees is about $30 a month, $30, $31 per month is what the average user sees. So if you've got a person that's using 2,000 gallons of water per month, that 9.54% increase equates to $2.28 a month. That's less than a soda that you get, a Polar Pop, that you get at Circle K. Now, a user that uses 5,000 gallons per month, you're seeing $3.03 per month, so about what a half a gallon of milk would cost. Our high users that are watering their lawn all the time, that's where we're seeing the folks that have 19,000 gallons worth of usage, they're going to see a $13.36 on average increase, but that's a choice that they're making to have green grass. So that increases a little bit more, because that's the choice that they're making, but a normal average household, you're going to see somewhere around $3 a month increase for 19 capital improvement projects, for regulatory compliance, for 24-7 operations. That's what our study has shown that we can use to benefit the city without having as much of an impact on our residents. Questions?

Commissioner Howitton. Thank you. One of the questions that I had asked in the workshop was about looking into the option of selling the utility off, because as we've seen, these rate increases become very political, and so we do see where there may have been some challenges experienced by the utility over the years due to political pressure. Would you mind letting the public know kind of what you guys found?

John can speak to that.

There you go. Okay, thank you so much.

Good evening, Commissioner. So our rate consultant happens to work with the entity in question, and at the last meeting, it was discussed Nassau County, Amelia Island area, that recently privatized their utility. And the key difference is, is here at the City of Deltona, on our rates, we have the ability to make adjustments based on Deltona. The utility in question, their first year right out of the gate, had a double-digit increase when they privatized, and the city commission, city council had absolutely no control over that increase, because now it's been privatized. So as I stated in several of the meetings, Jim Glenn and city manager's office and our rate consultant, you know, we really went to bat looking at everything. And as stated, we started at increases that were pushing 18% here in one year. So we've definitely tightened our belt, looked at all expenditures, and were able to come to you with this final recommended staff increase of 9.5% for the first year.

Thank you. And I know that we spoke about this a week ago, so I know I wasn't trying to put you on the spot.

And when I say 9.54%, on the average for all utilities, if you look at both water, sewer, reclaimed irrigation, it equates to an average of 6% annually.

So we've looked at the potential impact of rate increases, but we've also looked outside to see what the impact would be for residents if we were to sell off the utility and let someone else manage it. So we've done our due diligence to kind of look at the best opportunities out there as far as what's available to our residents.

That is correct. Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. So when we bought the utility company, we bought it from a private entity. And the result of having it been owned by a private entity was they had shareholders and stockholders. So when the users paid their water bill, they weren't paying for improvements to the system. They were paying stockholders to get their dividends. And that's the big advantage about the utility being publicly owned versus privately owned is all what the rate payers pay goes back directly into our utility. And it doesn't go to pay stockholders that aren't even here in our own community. So I think that's a very key component. Did we ever look at, on the wastewater side, being they're not going to have an increase, and you had said that the highest use tends to be people irrigating their yards, do we have a program or can we create a program to incentivize wastewater customers to be able to get irrigation meters?

Yes, sir. Jim, Glenn, and I have discussed that, and we will put something together and bring it back during the budget workshops.

I'd like to see if there's something the grant writer can maybe find to help with that, too. We will work on that, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you, ma'am. Vice Mayor.

Attorney.

Thank you so much. This is resolution number 2026-24, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Deltona, Florida, adopting a revised master fee schedule of fines, fees, costs, and or penalties, and various administrative fees relating to the City of Deltona Code of Ordinances, providing for conflicts, severability, scrivener's errors, and an effective date.

Thank you. Do we have any public comments on this?

Yes. Jose Martinez, please. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Jose Martinez, and I live at Lake Baton Estates. I live at the Lake Baton Estates. I'm sure you've heard how much we pay for water. So I'm not sure where the gentleman averages $31 a month. My last bill for April was $222.34, and I'm within the 3,000 to 5,000 or 6,000 gallons of water. And some of us don't have an option of whether we irrigate our systems or not, or our grass because of the fact that we live with an HOA. So either way, we have to make sure that we pay the difference of all that and still maintain the upkeep for our grass. So I'm sure that most communities don't pay the average that we pay at Lake Baton Estates. So I was wondering if you could take into consideration other communities and how much they pay throughout the month, throughout the year, because right now I'm on track to pay $2,600 for water, which is a God-given resource. So I just want to make sure that you take that into consideration as well before you vote to raise water for every single community and not take into consideration that some communities do pay their fair share all year long. So thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. That's the only one. Thank you. Okay, can I have a motion and a second? I'm sorry. Hold on a second. Commissioner Herriot.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

You have 8A.

Can I ask staff John to, or maybe Jim? It's not on here.

Hold on a second, please.

If I'm correct, what's happening possibly here with the public comment was that it's the sewer bill. Is that part of the community on sewer?

Yes, it is. It's a community like Baton. They do have sewer. And the statement that was made was that the average home in Deltona is not on sewer. So the average bill for most of the homeowners is around $31. So for the residents that are in one of those communities that have sewer, they will not see any increase on the rates for their sewer. They will only see an increase on the rate for their water. Okay, and that's on the same bill. Which is the same bill. So it's the same rate that's being charged to everyone. The water rate is the same no matter what community you live in in Deltona.

And the water bill contains water and sewer costs all in the same bill. Correct. Okay. Thank you, sir.

Commissioner, are you on it? Commissioner Novick.

Thank you, ma'am, Vice Mayor. I move resolution number 2026-24, updating the master fee schedule for fiscal year 2026 to 2030 be approved.

I have a motion by Commissioner Novick, second by Commissioner Santiago. Can you call the vote, please?

4-2.

In favor.

It passes, 4-2.

Motion passes, 4-2. Okay. Now we're going to – no, it's not working. That's why the deputy city clerk and the city clerk are calling out the results of the votes. Right now we're having a problem bringing it up on the computer. But the motion was 4-2. The other pool item is item D.

Yes, Vice Mayor. This is 7-D, resolution number 2026-26. A resolution of City of Deltona, Florida, authorizing the city manager to award purchase orders in accordance with city budgets to SAC Construction, Inc. pursuant to the city of Deltona agreement with SAC Construction, entered into pursuant to piggyback agreement with city of Gainesville contract 2024-083-E, providing for renewals in accordance with city budgets, providing for implementation, and an effective date. Thank you.

Commissioner Harriot, you pulled it. I mean, Howington, did you pull it? Did you sign in already? Commissioner Howington? Thank you.

So, this is something that's more of an ongoing maintenance project as far as routine. So, have we had a contract with SAC Construction previously, or is this?

Yes, we have. So, during our last year's capital improvement go-around, whenever we were going through and getting this particular one approved, we were piggybacking off of a contract through Port St. Lucie. At the time, Port St. Lucie had the best rates around, because at the time, that year, they were going to be doing the most lining through a contract that we could piggyback off of. So, we went to SAC, and we said, hey, your services are great, but we've got to make sure that the value that we're getting is there for our residents. So, we went to them, and we said, hey, not only do we need to look at our rates, we need to look at the type of work that you're able to do, because we have more manholes that we need to have rehabbed, as opposed to sanitary sewer lining and so forth. So, they went out, they found three different contracts for us that had their best rates that they had. We looked at Gainesville the most comprehensively, because it actually was a lower rate than what we had previously with SAK. And then, in our conversations with them, because they are located in Sanford, and we're essentially one of their closest customers, they said that they will not be charging us for mobilization and demobilization, which is approximately 12% of what the contract comes to, because they have to bring all of their equipment over. They stage it, and so forth, and then once they're completed with that round of the cure-in-place pipelining, then they take it somewhere else. And there's a cost that's always incurred for that. So, that's going to save us a tremendous amount of money and let us do more lining off of that same dollar amount that we've been spending. So, we did a good job of negotiating with them, and at this point, we just need the commission's blessing to move forward with the cure-in-place pipelining that we do annually. We have approximately 91 miles of sanitary sewer pipe. This $1 million will do three and three-quarter miles of that. So, we have to have, you know, it's approximately a 25-year turnaround. So, once you've done one section of it, then by the time you get finished with everything, you're basically starting back over. And that's part of that maintenance of the infrastructure.

Okay. I appreciate it. And, again, as I mentioned previously, this is a large contract. I think it behooves the public to have that explanation. So, thank you very much for sharing that information with us. Thank you.

Commissioner Herriot?

I'd like to make a motion to approve Resolution No. 2026-26.

Okay. Any public comments? Tim Blodgett, please.

A lot of public here tonight. I'm glad I'm not working. I'm not running for office. It's no secret that we inherited an infrastructure that is less than optimal. And Mr. Parrish appears to be working overtime, trying to save us money and give us the best bang for his buck. So, I've got to say, whatever he says, do it.

Thank you. That's it. Thank you, Liz. Okay. Can we call the motion, please? I have Commissioner Herriot first and Commissioner Hobbiton second. No. Passes 6-0. Motion passes 6-0. Thank you. We move on down to Consent Agenda Item E. Commissioner Hobbiton?

Thank you. So, again, this is a $1.6 million contract, and it's in the consent agenda, but I think it would be beneficial to the residents to hear about what we're actually doing.

So, in 2016, we commissioned the Eastern Wastewater Plant, which is a submerged biomembrane plant, uses filter plates, basically. Those plates are good for about 10 years. It's time for us to replace them. It's about 7,200 total plates. We started our process of getting a budgetary bid last year during our budget season. They gave us basically $1,650,000 to replace those 7,200 plates, and they came in right in under that. So, this is a predicted cost that we had. It's budgeted, and we're within budget.

What is it that the membranes do?

They filter the wastewater sludge so that there's no sort of suspended solids that are left in the reclaim. They basically do all of the filtration for the wastewater plant to make it so that it is able to be put out for reclaimed water.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Is that it, Commissioner? Okay. I know. I'm looking. Commissioner Santiago.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd just like to make a motion. I move to approve Resolution No. 2026-28 for the Budgeted Capital Improvement Project for Replacement of the Kubota Membranes at the Eastern Water Reclamation Facility.

Do we have any public comments on this?

Tim Blodgett, please.

I'm going to feel like a broken record in a minute. Same thing as before. Gittens turn into cats. Puppies turn into dogs. Pumps break down, wear out. Filters need to be replaced. First, Mr. Parrish has done his work. Thank you for breaking this all down into individual chunks so we understand it better. You have no idea how much we appreciate that. That's it. Have a good night.

Thank you. That's the only one. Thank you, Liz. Attorney?

Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. This is Resolution No. 2026-28, a resolution of the City of Deltona, Florida, authorizing the City Manager to approve the purchase of replacement Kubota Membranes at the Eastern Water Reclamation Facility through MKI Services Incorporated. Recognize the competitive bidding exemption pursuant to City Purchasing Policy 4.07, providing for implementation and providing for an effective date.

Thank you. I have a motion first by Santiago, Commissioner Santiago, second by Commissioner Howington. Can we call the vote?

It passes 6-0.

Motion passes 6-0. Now we're going to consent agenda G, as in George, Commissioner Howington.

Thank you. So, first off, I wanted to say thank you to Mr. Manning. We had an issue that arose over at Manny Rodriguez Park, and he has responded quickly, and I do appreciate that with dealing with the residents who are having foul ball issues. So, I just want to say thank you for doing that. Then I had a question. During the budget cycle, we had discussed the lightning detection systems. Are those going to be included in any of these plans? Has there been any discussion?

The lightning detection would be part of the budget process going into next fiscal year. We're looking at the options now to include that in the budget for a regular operating budget. That will not be capital.

Okay. So, that is part of next year's regular. Okay. Perfect. And then, do we have any sort of documentation kind of showing what the changes have been? We approved, I believe, just over $8 million in parks and rec, and now we're down to about $5 million based on what is currently in the approval. Is there any way for us to be able to create a bridge for residents to see what the change is?

We can create that, yes. This is just the first phase of what we originally approved of the $8 million. This is the quotes we've just gotten in, but we are going to get other quotes that will be coming before you in the next couple of meetings that will finalize that rest of that $8 million.

Okay. Thank you very much. That's all I have. Thank you. Does anybody else have a comment from the dais? Commissioner Herriot?

I'd like to make a motion to approve resolution number 2026-30 for citywide park improvements.

Okay. Do we have any comments from the audience? Yes. Dana McCool, please. I'm sorry. It's supposed to stay on.

Yeah.

It's okay. Thank you very much. I wanted to thank you all for improving and saying okay to these improvements to our parks. Our parks are so important to our residents because it's about the only free thing. It does. They pay for it through their taxes, but I mean at the point of pay where residents can go. And I'll tell you, thank you for solving the problem that the two houses had with Manny Rodriguez Park and the foul balls. Because that's two houses involved, but thank you for taking them seriously. They don't go to the third house. That's my neighborhood right there. I've lived at that park for 22 years. I know it upside down. I know how deep the water is and the pond there. Pretty much everything about that park. So it's two houses. Thank you for taking them seriously, though, and hearing them. Second thing is I want to thank you for, again, the approval for all of these park improvements. But to let you know what you have done for Manny Rodriguez Park, replacing the lights, replacing the playground, reconstructing basketball court with lights, that basketball court is used every single day of the year. It is. Inside District 4, outside of District 4, it is heavily played. Basketball, thank you. I used to go over there and sweep that court off because these kids were serious about keeping it. 90% of them, 92% of them, very well respected for that park. The same thing with the constant resurfacing and the work that you're doing over there in the baseball field. People love it over there at that park. Kids go over there and they play soccer in the extra field. People walk their dogs around the park, and I mean the outside of the park. That park is so important to our neighborhood, and we wanted to thank you for taking this so seriously because, again, I am not kidding. Every day of the week that park is in use. It's where a pickup point is for kids coming and going off the school bus. I remember a year, what, two years ago, a year ago, I sat there with some kids because they were being bad little kids. So I said, I'm going to sit here with you every morning at 830 until, you know, you get annoyed with me and start being respectful. It was a great experience. We ended up having a kid at that park that was involved with a shooting at that park. This kid confided in me, and, you know, today, a year and a half later, this kid is a producing member of society. This kid changed his life. He called me. He changed his life because we care about that park there in our neighborhood. The people care about it. It's good residents. We don't have a transitory nature there. It's a very solid neighborhood there. So thank you for all the parks, but especially Manny Rodriguez. I know that you could have done something different, but you didn't, and it's so appreciated. The new restrooms, the trails. On behalf of my neighborhood, thank you all, and thank you for the overparks. We love our parks. We need them, and just thank you very much. We appreciate it.

Do you have any other comments? That's it? Okay. Attorney, can you read the resolution into the record, please?

Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. This is resolution number 2026-30, a resolution of the City of Deltona, Florida, authorizing the city manager or designee to award multiple purchase orders for parks and recreation improvement projects at Festival Park, Harris Saxon Park, Keysville Dog Park, Manny Rodriguez Park, Thornby Park, Tom Hoffman Park, and Veterans Park. Providing for implementation and an effective date.

Thank you, attorney. I have a motion, first by Commissioner Harriet, second by Commissioner Santiago. Can we call the vote, please? 6-0. Motion passes 6-0. We're now going to consent agenda J, as in Jack. Am I right, Commissioner Huffington? I'm sorry? Oh, we threw with the, I thought you pulled the J. Okay, okay, so that's it then for that. Now we're going to ordinance and public hearings. The next item is item 8A, as in Apple, public hearing ordinance number 03-2026, animal ordinance chapter 14, animals as second and final reading. Can I have the city attorney read the title of the ordinance into the record, please?

Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. This is ordinance number 03-2026, an ordinance of the City of Deltona, Florida, amending the general ordinances, chapter 14, animals, to update regulations related to animal licensing, breeders, dangerous dogs, and irresponsible owners, providing for conflicts, codification, severability, and an effective date. And as you already noted, we are here on second and final reading.

Do I have any comments from the die? Yes, we do hold on a second. Commissioner Harriet.

I'd like to make a motion to approve ordinance number 03-2026, animal ordinance, chapter 14.

Do we have any comments from the public?

Yes, ma'am. Tim Blodgett, please.

Hi there. Okay. I'm all for the TNR ordinances, but I don't see anything that restricts their distance from the Scrub J sanctuary. So I would like and suggest that you, there's currently a sanctuary located on the corner of Elkham and Lake Helen Osteen Road. And I would suggest, strongly suggest, that you take whatever distance that is from the Scrub J sanctuary and make that the absolute minimum closeness that any of these sanctuaries can be established so that they don't go around eating the birds like the stray cats do in my backyard. Anyway, that's it. Have a good night.

Thank you. That's it. Do we have any other, Commissioner Howington? Thank you.

In Section 1488, under investigation and inspection, are we authorizing code to enter people's homes without permission? Because without a search warrant, is that legal? 1488, it's on page 16. And it may just be misinterpretation on my part. I just want to confirm that we're not authorizing code to enter people's houses without permission.

No.

Because it says that if somebody's not present, that they can, after making reasonable effort to locate the owner or other persons having charge or control of the property and request entry, explaining the reason, therefore, if entry is refused or cannot be obtained because the owner or other person having charge or control of the party cannot be found after due diligence, the animal control officer or authorized representative shall have recourse to every remedy provided by law. So I just want to make sure. So I just want to make sure that lawful, because it does say lawful entry and inspect the property. So, I mean, that sentence right there sounds like we're authorizing people to enter someone's home without permission.

We have done this in the past with a search warrant, ma'am.

I think our attorney wants to jump in.

Yeah, thank you so much. And obviously, we've worked with staff on this. To be clear, this is not saying we can go in your house to look at your dog. If you are, if the property is occupied, which is this sub point, so if you're on page 16 and you're looking at section 14-88, investigation inspection, you go to sub point B, 1 and 2. And I believe you're referring to 2. Yes. Which is, if such property is unoccupied, the animal control officer shall first make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or other person having charge or control of the property and request entry, explaining the reason thereof. We still have to follow the law to secure lawful entry and inspect the property, but I'm going to explain to you when this has been used in recent past. There was a person who was renting a property, and that person was incarcerated, and in that property were like 30 cats, and we got reports that they were not being fed or watered, and we did not know if there was anyone going to the property. We spoke to the landlord, and ultimately, the landlord provided access, but that's the type of circumstance when this comes into place. No one went into, marched into anyone's property, and the landlord certainly had the right to open the door, which is what ultimately happened. But that's when this happens, when there's animals inside, we see them, or usually a neighbor sees them, hears them, no one is there, no one's caring for them, and we know they are incarcerated, deceased, or something otherwise tragic has happened. And that's when this comes into play, but certainly all lawful methods of entry are always followed, and typically, these are the cases you see where you then have to just reach out to the landlord and say, we need to get in to get these dying animals and save them.

Thank you very much. I really appreciate that. I just wanted the clarification to make sure that if anybody asks.

You okay now? Yes, I am. Thank you very much. Anybody else also?

Just a quick comment. I just want to, for the record, the last public comment was actually for the next agenda item, so that's just.

If there are no more comments, can we please call the vote? 6-0. Motion passes 6-0. We now move to the next item, A, B, as in boy, public hearing ordinance number 05-2026, Trap, Neuter, and Return Program TNR, Animal Ordinance Number, or Chapter 14, Animals at First Reading. Can I have the city attorney read the title of the onus into the record, please? Thank you.

Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. This is Ordinance Number 05-2026, an ordinance of the city of Deltona, Florida, amending the general ordinance's Article 7, Trap, Neuter, Release Program of Chapter 14, Animals, to provide for updated program governance, providing for conflicts, codification, severability, and an effective date.

Thank you. Do we have somebody doing a presentation? Is there a presentation, Danny? Or is somebody out to speak about the TNR?

Good evening, ma'am. Yes, we can present this case. Good evening, Commission, Vice Mayor. We would like to update the ordinance on the TNR. So Deltona Animal Control seeks to expand the TNR ordinance from a pilot program to a city-funded program. It's been a long time coming, and this is the direction we would like to go, with your permission. Just some information with TNR. City staff currently manages TNR scheduling with volunteer assistance with the cat trapping. On average, per week, 10 to 15 TNR surgeries have been performed here within the city of the cats. Just to add, we do have an organization that wants to come forward and take over the program. That's one of the things we did bring up when we had the workshop going, and with direction from city manager, city attorney, this is something we were looking into. So tonight, the main focus is to move forward and approve the new updated TNR ordinance. Any questions?

Any questions from the dais? Commissioner Howington?

Thank you. So when we had the workshop in July, we had requested that it go out to bid. And is this the selection based on the bid process?

We did put it out for bid. We did get no, we didn't get any bids out there. And from what I'm getting from the community is they don't go and demand start when it comes to this type of program. But shortly after, I did get the previous mayor, Heidi, came to me. Hey, listen, I have a program. I have an organization that's very interested in taking over the program, and that's why we're here this evening.

And I noticed that the cost is $48,000, and I think that we had authorized a little bit more than that in the budget. Was it $65,000 or $70,000? I don't know if anybody remembers the exact number. So is this a reduction, or is this what the estimate is from this organization?

Oh, I mean, we would love to definitely provide you that information when an agreement comes forward, you know, between the city and the organization. But this evening, just I would like to say, hey, we're just trying to focus with the ordinance update. Yes, currently the budget is for $48,000, but I think we did mention about opening that up if an organization comes forward and takes over the program.

Okay, so all we're doing at this point is just changing the verbiage that we just saw in the last, because maybe that's where it got messed up. Yes. TNR is listed in that.

Yes, ma'am. I did want to bring out that there is somebody interested that would like to take over the organization, the platina.

Perfect. Okay, thank you so much. That's it, Commissioner Hamilton. Commissioner Colwell.

Danny.

Yes, sir.

How is the city going to be monitoring this? Are we going to be getting reports monthly, or?

We are using that FRP that we provided out there, and it has, you know, guidelines for when. They're also going to be presented to you, you know, plus you're going to be approving this agreement between the city and the organization that takes over. Guidelines, requirements, prerequisites, policies and procedures, when whoever takes over the, you know, the TNR program.

Have we identified all the areas where the cats are?

No, but that's one of the things that's on the list that we are going to request when that organization comes forward.

Okay, thank you.

Commissioner Novick.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. So, 10, 11 years ago, this TNR program came forward. Heidi was sitting up here as the mayor, and it was a budgetary issue that we were spending tens of thousands of dollars a year on this cat program, and this was going to solve all of our problems. Cats were going to, through attrition by TNR, they were going to disappear, they were going to go away. It didn't happen in the last 10 years. What's different about this that we're going to be doing now that's going to make this work? Because the problem that I have is that they catch the cats, they neuter them, they do whatever, they release them back, and the resident still has the issue of the cat being there, creating a mess, tearing up screens on porches, so on and so forth. What's different about this program than what we've done for the last 10 years that hasn't worked?

And like I mentioned, this evening is just to upgrade, but let me cover that. CCFAW is the organization that's willing to come forward. When I took over the position for co-compliance manager, this is 2023, we had, it was very minimal of the volunteers that we had to do this. So there was a shortage of volunteers, not enough cats getting fixed. From what I'm getting, that this organization can take over, because they do it for a lot of the jurisdictions here within the city, within the Volusia County. And from what I see, there is progress, there is a change, but this is what we have to offer you at the moment.

And how are we going to measure this with this reporting you're talking about? What's the measurable factors?

Provide you updates of how many surgeries have been completed, the areas that we are currently working at, show you a list of all the colonies within the limits of the city of Deltona. Those are the things that are missing currently. And from my understanding, in order for this program to work effectively, all those things are going to be needed, and they're going to present that to the commission.

Based on what you know, or maybe there's somebody you can refer to in the group here, what would be a reasonable amount of time, and what do you see as a benchmark in that amount of time? In other words, you want 90 days, you expect to see a 10% improvement. What's the window? Now we're getting the expert. There you go.

There we go. Okay, thank you. Heidi Hertzberg, Deltona. So, Commissioner Novik, as you know, you're asking the questions that we did the program in the past, and how do you have measurable results with this program? The reality is that you have to have a core group of volunteers that do your work. You have to have the funding, which the city has generously provided over the years since we began the program. The funding has not been an issue. The issue has been the level of work and the policies and procedures that have to be put out by the city. And if you don't have policies and procedures that are memorialized, like you're trying to do right now, you're trying to memorialize a program that was a pilot program before, and now you're trying to make it a program by ordinance. And what that's going to do is have a lot more accountability, and it's going to have a lot more solidification with policies and procedures, which is sorely lacking in the past, because every time we've had changes with volunteers, changes with staff, changes with the commission, the program's parameters change, and you're never going to get proper measurability and accountability if you continue to change all the policies and procedures. So the organization, Concerned Citizens for Animal Welfare, does this for six cities in Volusia County, has been involved with this since 2012, and has a program and a way of dealing with this. And they have accountability also in terms of surgeries, how many you're actually doing, what are your results, and so forth. So to have a measurable result, it can't be in one month, it can't be in three months, it can't be in six months. If you look back on the program, you look back on the numbers, which we would be happy to present for you at the next meeting, or when you choose to approve the contract, if you choose to do that, we have all the data for you. It's my understanding that today is just memorializing a program, not details and not any part of the policy. But if you are so inclined to have that information, we have all of that available to you in terms of we have cost, we have past records of surgeries, I have records of impounds from 2024 to 2025 to give you a visual as to what you're dealing with, not only with cats, but with dogs. And the reality is with the Trap, Neuter, Return program, you have basically two options. You either implement a program to try to control the population of the cats, or you don't, and you have the option of either letting it continue, or you're going to take them to the Humane Society or whichever shelter you decide. And then you'll have the policy, which you have a contract with Halifax Humane Society right now for impoundments, and you have also a return to field program that Halifax is implementing and taking in cats, because most of the Humane Societies are not going to take your cats and euthanize them, because that's your other option. So population control is what you're really looking to achieve. And the last thing I'd like to say is if we look at the city of Deltona, this city has a population of 100,000 people, and police staff, correct me if I'm wrong, 38,000-plus homes, and a good percentage of those, probably, what, 25% are rentals. So your bigger problem is how many people leave animals behind, especially the cats, how many release them. You can talk to the volunteers, of which a great group are sitting behind me, people that have been doing this for a long time. They're going to manage the colonies, and I'll guarantee you every month there's a new cat dumped there, a friendly cat, a cat dumped out because people move and they leave. So that is what your ongoing problem is. You're never going to eliminate all the cats in the city. It's not going to happen, because you have a continual group of people that are dumping them back in colonies. And that's not only cats, it's dogs as well. So I'd belabor that long enough. That is what our organization is looking at doing. Full transparency, concerned citizens for animal welfare is a 501c3. They are a nonprofit, they are not a rescue, and I am on the board. It is not my organization. I've been on the board for this organization for a long time, and I'm here to support them in terms of working with the city of Daltona.

Thank you.

Just to add, commissioners, we're looking at about 180 days presentation, kind of giving feedback to the commission on the TNR.

Commissioner Harriet.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Mayor, I appreciate that presentation, that short presentation. I want to highlight something that was said at the end about the circumstance that we're in being an ongoing and perpetual circumstance due to the abandonment of animals. I also, along with this, want to see this commission address that in a more heavy-footed way. And to say it clearly, I want to make it really, really expensive for somebody to abandon an animal in Daltona.

I want to say something about this. Because I was part of, probably I just got elected when this program started. And the program was working when volunteers and staff worked together. Something happened along the way where procedures fell between the cracks. Relationships between volunteers and staff also fell between the cracks. And in order for this program to work, we all need to work together. It's not one side more than the other. Of course, the city will always have the upper hand on this program. But they can also work with the volunteers because youth volunteers are the ones out there doing 100% of the work. So I just got to say that, that in the beginning it did work. And I'm pretty sure with Danny, Danny was not there at that time. With Danny on board, I'm pretty sure he's going to do a great job of making it work. So I am looking for a motion.

Vice Mayor, a question for the attorney.

Commissioner Novick, again.

There we go. To Commissioner Harriet's point, can we add something between first and second reading about toughening up the abandonment thing? Or do we need to go back to the other ordinance to do that?

My recommendation would be to move this forward as drafted. It's clean, it's tight, and it's limited to this one program. But certainly we're happy to work with staff to either create an additional section, amend our current section about abandonment, to bring you something, to bring you another program for you to consider. Because I don't want to risk slowing this down.

Can we have consensus then, Vice Mayor, to direct Danny and the attorney to work on that abandonment enhancement?

All at once.

Aye. Aye. Thank you.

Nay. All passed.

And I approve. I make a motion to approve ordinance number 05-2026, Trap, Neuter, and Return Program, TNR Animal Ordinance.

I know I have Commissioner Santiago on the board. Would you still like to talk?

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Okay. Did we have public comments on this already? No. Okay, can we have some, do we have anybody to speak on this? No? Can we call the vote, please? See what happens when everybody works together? So we're moving on to the next item, item 8, C as in Charles. Public hearing ordinance number 04-2026, amending chapter 2, article 4, to update the sections related to financial policies at second and final reading. Can I have the city attorney read the ordinance into the record, please?

Yes, Vice Mayor. Thank you. This is ordinance number 04-2026, an ordinance of the city of Deltona, Florida, amending article 4, finance of chapter 2, administration of the general ordinances to newly created division 4, annual external audit of article 4, finance of chapter 2, administration of the general ordinances, providing for conflicts, codification, severability, and an effective date.

I'm going to just wait until the room clears up a minute. Okay. Okay, can I have a motion? Versus Howington, can I hear a second? Do we have any more comments from the dais? Are you on, Heron? Not big.

Waiting on you. Change me from blue to green. There you go. Mr. McKinney, if you would be so kind. This has got the provision in it about the, for lack of a better term, I'll call them intermediate audits.

Yes, sir.

And you want to briefly just explain that or the advantages of that and circumstances?

Absolutely. Let me go to it. Commissioner, under this change, then the city commission would have the ability to ask our external auditors to do a limited scope audit of any kind based off of five criteria. Circumstance or situation has arisen involving a breach of public trust. Two, an organizational change such as a charter officer, finance director, fire chief, et cetera. A regulatory or noncompliance issue, an operational efficiency issue, or a preparation for an upcoming external audit. Those are the five items that are specifically spelled out in this ordinance change that the commission could call an additional audit.

Thank you, Mr. McKinney, I had met with the manager and Mr. McKinney when I recently came back and had some concerns about our ability to use our current auditors to do these specific types of intermediate audits. Because I think that gives us the ability to catch something sooner than later, especially, and then it gives a clean slate to a new or incoming manager or department head that has a large budget. So, I'm very happy with what Mr. McKinney came up with regards to that, and I hope we can pass this and move this forward tonight. I'm 100% supportive of it.

Commissioner Colwell.

Yes, Mr. McKinney.

John.

Under Section 2, Division 5, collections and delinquencies, will there be a maximum set on what this group can write off? Will it come back to the commission for approval?

Yes, sir. Per the items that are detailed, it gives the limits of authority for staff, finance director, and city manager. Anything above that automatically comes back to the commission for approval.

What are those limits?

$1,000 for the finance director, $5,000 for the city manager, and everything above $5,000 would come back to you specifically.

All right. Thank you.

Anybody else from the dais? Do we have any public comments on this? Okay.

I do have one. In reviewing the backup on tonight's agenda, and I just pointed this out to the city clerk regarding the item that you brought up, Commissioner, for some reason it has in there, it's stricken for the five items upon a supermajority vote. That was not changed under first reading. So, that's incorrectly stricken.

Thank you so much, Mr. McKinney. So, just to correct on the record, if you look at page one under section two dash 183 spot one introduction, the second paragraph, there is an incorrect strike, strike through. So, please, we are adding that back in. It is not being struck. The part that is incorrectly struck that is now going to be, that is going to remain in there, that was in there at first reading, is four lines down. Upon a supermajority vote, the commission may request a limited examination or special audit. So, that language will now be in there as it was at first reading.

Any other no votes from the public, Liz? Thank you. Can we vote, please? We now move to the next item, item 8, D, as in David. Can I have the city attorney read the title resolution into the record, please?

Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. This is resolution number 2026-27, a resolution of the City of Deltona, Florida, approving the Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, CAPER, ratifying transmittal of the CAPER to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, providing for implementation at an effective date.

Thank you. Do I have a motion?

Okay.

Any comments from the dais? Nobody under the—any public comments? Okay. Can we have a first by Harriet and second by Santiago? Can we vote, please? Motion passes 6-0. We now go to action items number 9, the letter A, consideration of appointments to the Planning and Zoning Board. We will now go to the District 4, Commissioner Howington, to make her appointment.

I move to appoint the following member to the Planning and Zoning Board for a term to expire on March 15, 2029, Larry French.

Can I get a motion for that? Okay. Can we vote, please? Motion passes 6-0. I will now go to Commissioner Knobbick to make his appointment for District 6.

I make a motion to appoint Lori Warnecki to the Planning and Zoning Board for a term to expire March 15, 2029.

Okay, I got a first motion by Commissioner Knobbick, second by Harriet. Can we get a vote, please? Motion passes 6-0. I make a motion to approve Rachel Amoroso for District 3, P and Z Board. Okay, motion. Okay. First by Maritza, second by Caldwell. Can we please get a vote? Motion passes 6-0. We're going to item B, as in boy. Do I have anything for alternate? I don't have anything for an alternate up here. Do we have a? Okay. Is that a?

It's already on.

Yeah, let's bring it back next motion so we don't have to rush into it. Thank you. Item B, consideration of appointment of a city representative to the Tourist Development Council, which is TDC. This is a board that I was a member of, being that this is my last term, and I think I have one more meeting to go. I thought it was proper for me to resign and let somebody else take it if they're interested. It's a very informational organization. They think they meet quarterly in Daytona Beach and is really interested. So, if we have anybody up at the dais who wants to?

Yeah, I did it when I was here the last time, and I would, if you're ready for a nomination, I'll nominate Emma.

Did you guys see that? Me, me, me, me, me, me. Okay. So, first by NABIC, nominating Commissioner Santiago. Second by Harriet. Can I get a vote, please? Good luck. Motion passes 6-0. Do we have any city attorney comments?

Yes, Vice Mayor. Thank you.

So, we have had... Can I just interrupt you a second? I know we're going to go into time, so can I get a motion to extend the meeting? Oh, we decided to go for 30 more minutes. How nice of that. Okay, let's go. You got the floor.

Thank you so much, Vice Mayor. I will be brief, although happy to answer questions on this. So, we've gotten some questions from the community and from the commission about the Enrico Ridge project and the Thalita Terrace project. And so, I wanted to bring you back an update on where we are with both of those matters, and then happy to answer questions. So, there was a previous approval by this commission to foreclose on the Thalita Terrace liens. The current total of those liens is $279,400 that they owe the city. And to be clear, the work has not been corrected, right? So, they're still outstanding code violations. So, they would need to pay the liens and also correct the violations to be able to move the project forward. That is in foreclosure, and we have gotten some contact from agencies purporting to work with the owner to try to remedy the situation. They've been a little cagey in that they won't explain or provide a lot of detail about their legal relationship. We have asked them directly if they represent the owner, and they say no. So, I'm not quite sure what legal relationship they have with the owner, but they have indicated they do not represent the owner. Regardless of that, there has not been correction. The work has not been corrected. Permits have not been pulled. And, obviously, the lien has not been resolved. So, the foreclosure has – we've been moving it forward, and it was filed – it was filed about two weeks ago, the hearing. So, we're waiting to set the hearing on the final judgment. So, we're going to be able to move that forward pretty quickly and resolve the lead of tariffs and foreclose. And then, obviously, we'll schedule a sale date, and it will continue to move forward through the foreclosure process. So, that is moving. Now, again, up until the day of the foreclosure, they can stop it, right? They can stop the foreclosure just like anyone can stop a foreclosure. So, they have that option available to them. Thus far, they have not done anything other than make representations that they want to. So, saying I want to not have my property foreclosed on is different than applying for a permit to correct the work, which was why they were leaned in the first place, right? That's how they got here in the first place. So, that has not been – that has not occurred. The city – and I want to commend the staff. The staff has done an incredible job. They have bent over backwards, fire, building, planning and zoning to work with them, to make themselves available, to do site visits, to do everything possible to help the owner correct this and be able to complete this project and get out of foreclosure. But to this date, they have not taken any of the steps other than telling us they would, which they still can. Please, and if you're listening, please, we would much rather you come and finish your project than have to foreclose on it. So, we would love to work with them. The staff has been incredible working with them to this point. And certainly, we're here if they want to correct this and complete their project. So, Talita Terrace is in foreclosure, and we expect to have a hearing relatively soon, in the next few weeks, and then we'll keep you updated when it's set for final sale. Enrico Ridge is not in foreclosure. So, I will say this. Does anyone have questions about Talita Terrace first? Yeah. I'll just tell – I can just –

The lineup I have is Howington and Colwell. So, who's going first? Toss a coin. Okay. Here we go. Commissioner Howington?

Okay. We've had a lot of hearsay coming to the commission. Foreclosing on this property is a large action, in my opinion. Is there a way for us to set up either a mediation or an executive session with the commission to sit down with the ownership group so that we can face-to-face have a conversation with them? Because, frankly, I don't know that I believe the information that I'm hearing, and I think that there's some questionable statements being made on both sides. And I would like to be able to hear directly from the people who are involved.

Yeah, Commissioner, and certainly you're more privy to this information than most. But there was a default entered against the respondent in this case on February 3rd, 2026, for failure to serve or file any document as required by law. They literally did not even reply. So they were properly served. They did not even file. They didn't file a motion for extension. Nothing. No paper was filed. No contact. So, certainly, if you think an executive session is warranted, we're always happy to meet with you to discuss cases. But this is a group that if you're not willing to even come and ask for an extension, file a paper. Have anyone. You don't have to be an attorney. They can file pro se. The owner can file a notice of appearance. They can say, this is my property. I want an extension. And courts are very generous in foreclosure cases. But they did not even appear in the case. So, we're moving this forward as a default because they didn't file anything. So, certainly, believe what you will. But the case is a public case. I'm happy to – everyone's welcome to look it up. And it's here in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. It's case number 2025-13537-CIDL. So, you can pull the court case. You can see that they have not responded. They still can. They literally can come up until the final sale. So, they still can come, but they have not done that. So, we are happy to work with anyone who wants to work with us. And, again, the staff has met with this outside group who wants to presumably help finish the project, maybe take it over. But nothing has happened from that. So, we've made ourselves available. The staff has been, again, very generous with their time and meeting with the groups connected with this project. But nothing has been done. Not a single dollar has been paid to the city. Not a single permit has been filed. They have not replied. They have not come forward in the lawsuit. They have not filed anything with the city. They have not paid a penny. Happy to stop. You're right. It's a big action. And we're happy to give them all the rope you want them to have. But I'm just letting you know, I would not say that they are a willing participant in this process thus far.

When was the last time that the city met with them?

I know, Chad, you met with them on site. And I'm sorry to drag you up here. But I know you met with the outside group on site.

I can't remember exactly the date we were there. Commissioner Caldwell was there. I was there. The fire department was there. We gave them the path to reopen permits. I've opened them. I told them I would not open these permits up again until I absolutely saw people there working. Because every time I get to run around with them, I opened them up one time for six months, 180 days, and not a thing. Crickets. And that's what I've told everybody that has ever asked me. So, and I told them that I would only open them up 30 days at a time because I feel like I'm getting let along, along with the city and everybody else involved.

So, are you requesting that they start working without permits in hand?

No, I want to see them show up with some stuff that they can actually do some work. Look, they're not showing up even up on site.

I mean, I don't know. If I was a business owner, I wouldn't show up with equipment if I did not have permits to move forward.

I understand what you're saying.

Yeah.

But at some point, there's got to, the trust has been lost.

I want to, I don't want to interrupt you, Chad, but just to put a finer point on it. The city is certainly willing to issue permits, but because the project has languished for so long, for anyone to even apply for a permit, they have to come in and assess the conditions on site right now. And that has not occurred. So, we're certainly, the building official is not saying he wants them to go out there with hammers, but they have to demonstrate that they are assessing the condition of the building and their ability to actually do the work that they are applying for in their permit. So, that's sort of the issue is that it's been sitting for so long. And, again, I was not at the meeting, but I know there was a meeting early February. And, Commissioner Caldwell, yeah, there was another meeting in March on site. So, I think you can answer that as you were there.

You're good, and I'll go ahead. You're good. Okay, thank you. Let me just go back here again. Corwell?

Yeah, I believe Chad did give them a path to move forward, but as he feels and I felt at the same time, it didn't feel like the interest was that much there. They were looking for, I guess, just to extend time. I'm not sure what they want. I don't think they're willing to work.

It's always, we're going to do this, we're going to do that, and it doesn't happen.

I'm sorry. But, by my request, did we find out if the two parties involved do have a contract involved?

So, that's, again, that's the information when I said they were being cagey. They are being cagey in that they will not provide us any documentation of their legal relationship. But when asked point blank, do you represent the owners, they said no. So, I can't force them to give me a document, but I know they don't represent the owners.

And that would be true with the Enrico Ridge project, too, that they're supposed to be representing that project also?

Chad.

As far as I know, they've said yes to that, but they don't seem interested in messing with Enrico. I'm, yeah, I'm correct in saying that. They're not jumping around because I think that project is so far from completion as a total project that I don't think that they're real interested in it.

Right.

Don't know that for a fact. It just seems from the conversations I've had with them.

Okay. Thank you. That was my question.

And Commissioner Carwell, the meeting you had was March 12th. Is that right? That's correct. Yeah, Phyllis did indicate that that's when they met on site at Philita Terrace. Yes.

Are you good? I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Harriet?

I want to make sure that it's very clear that these folks have gotten more than enough rope to get this project done. This isn't there. I don't think there's a question of whether they've had ample time, ample opportunity to get this done. And at this point, it's become a community nuisance. It's past being a community nuisance. This is probably one of the projects or one of the things that it's definitely in the top five of, like, what I get calls and questions on. So whatever the city needs to do to move this forward and move it forward swiftly, I'm supportive of.

Commissioner Novick?

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Yeah, so, again, my previous life, my previous two lives, first as a fire marshal, we dealt with a very similar situation with this on the, what is now a church on Lake Helen Osteen. And that went through numerous owners. It went through numerous code cycles. So then we got to the point of it had gone so long, what are we looking at code-wise? And we had to have partial systems re-inspected, determined, like they have to do with this building, where are we, and then does the new code apply to that? Staff has been more than taken advantage of in this project. The taxpayers have been continually footing the bill for staff to go out there and spoon-feed these people. It is time you drop the hammer. Clean it up, get it off the books, put it back in our hands. Somebody will buy it. Somebody will take it. The problem is the people that are there right now are playing a game, and we got to stop playing the game. So just drop the hammer and get a clean slate so that a new developer can come in and say, okay, I can evaluate the building. Here's where we're at with systems. They can have a meet with the building official and the fire official and say, okay, this is the starting point we see we're at, and let's move forward from here. This group is just running us around in circles for some advantage that I don't understand what it might be, but it's time we get this off the books and drop the hammer.

Okay. I agree with Commissioner Knobbeck and Commissioner Harriet. I think is this the same one that came in, had our commissioners agree to give them access on Harlem Boulevard to that little piece of property that they can open up to go in and do whatever they wanted to do? And that money that they sold that property for was supposed to be used to upgrade one of these projects. Is that the same one? Because if it is, I voted no on it. Shame on them for trying to, you know, fool the city and our city staff using spending their time on this project every time they want to come up and talk about it. So I think it needs to be put to an end on our side.

And Jordan can address that issue.

I don't think we need any more, you know, explanations from staff. I think staff has done everything that has been required of them. I think at this point, commissioners have spoken, and we'll leave it like that.

Good evening, Vice Mayor, commissioners.

So the project you're referring to, Vice Mayor, is Aloha Estates. And it's staff's understanding that that sale did not go through, and that's all we know at this time.

Yes. And to the point where Edward Rose, who was going to buy it, requested that we return their bond.

Correct, which we did.

And we did, because they did not, they were not moving them. So additionally, this isn't a rumor. They came, they made a formal request. We reviewed their request, and we said, yes, here is your bond back, because they did not move forward with the sale.

Okay, so you heard what the commissioners, the majority said, and you go with it. Okay, do we have any comments from the city manager? Who wants to speak? Oh, you were on again?

So.

You on the money today, Mr.

Yeah, I'm so sorry. I don't like talking this much, but I certainly want to give you all the answers you need. And just so everyone knows, the property for Thalita Terrace, the address we're talking about, that was 29112 Thalita Terrace, Deltona, Florida, 32738. This next property, Enrico Ridge, is 2911 Alatka Lane, Deltona, Florida, 32738. This property is more troubling for us legally than Thalita Terrace. They have the current liens, and again, staff is incredible here. They did a really great job giving us an updated payoff and an updating title search for this property. Their current liens are $651,300, and we got an updated title search, and the challenge with Enrico Ridge is that it has over $15 million. So in addition to our 651 or 651.3, there's a mortgage on this property that's $15,500,686.61. Is that including the second mortgage? No, that's the primary note. There's other debt on this property. There's a judgment as well. So obviously there's our liens against it. There's a judgment from stick framing and a list pendants, which is, I'm not sure if it's been resolved, but they got a final judgment in October of last year for, I believe, $141,000 on that property as well. So there's a lot of debt on the Enrico Ridge site, which frankly will make it harder to sell in a foreclosure action. So that property is certainly more challenging. And I'm happy to answer any other questions, but we have a different recommendation in that it's not as clean a shot as Toledo, which has a relatively low, a very low mortgage for what it is. And so we have a different recommendation in that at this point I wouldn't recommend foreclosure. Certainly we are happy to take direction. But just for contrast, the Thalita Terrace Mortgage, and again, we still have our liens, and there's still some other debt. I think there's tax debt. But the mortgage, which is the big note, is $2,753,333, spot 23 on Thalita. So it's just a much easier, more digestible mortgage for someone to come in and buy, right, and buy the property. Enrico Ridge is a trickier project in that it has such a huge note tied to it.

So your recommendation on Enrico would be to move forward with foreclosure?

No. Okay. My recommendation is to get – I thought I misunderstood that. Yeah, no. If you want us to, we will. That's a big bill. It's a big bill. It's going to be really hard to find a buyer. It's a lot of money for someone to assume to take over that project, which, again, is not complete and is in various states of disrepair. So, I mean, code can keep continuing to cite and continuing to accrue fines, which I certainly would – we do recommend.

With that being said, and the contract being broken between – that we had made with them between Aloha and Enrico, is there any legal action we can take to condemn or have the buildings removed?

So the short answer is likely. That's a building official question.

I don't mean to put you on the spot, Chad.

But likely, and we'll kick it to Chad for the full details on that.

I haven't been inside those buildings in two years. I couldn't tell you what's going on with them. The only thing – good thing that I can tell you is that the roofs were inspected and they're done. They have been stuccoed. They have been painted. But windows are open. Doors have been ripped off. There's no telling what was going on in there. As I told the investors a long time ago, I wouldn't do any inspections without you getting a third party in there to do an analysis of any mold content or anything like that. I just wouldn't do it. So at this point, I don't think some of them are condemnable because there's not enough in them to condemn because some of them are still just in frame inside of them. Now, the ones with drywall and stuff, possibility, yes. But the ones that are just in frame, if there's no water getting in there, what's it doing?

Oh, I know they're getting water.

Yeah, I mean, I just don't know. I haven't been in them in two years. I walked around a site one day just to look to see if there was any fires down the hallways where maybe somebody was camping out in them.

So there's extensive water in the framing. There could be structural issues.

Yeah, I mean, like I said, I haven't been inside of them, so I don't know.

So your suggestion is to get an outside party in to give us an analysis on them?

I think to condemn them, especially the framed ones, if we went in there and saw a lot of damage, I think getting an engineer in there to do that would be the best way to do it. I'm not that guy. I'm not an engineer. I mean, anything can be fixed, of course.

You know, this process seems to take a long time. Obviously, we've been working on this for about four years. I'd like to move forward with getting an engineer in there to give us a report on a condition of impossibly, you know, maybe not tear them down right away, but to at least get that judgment so we have, you know, a hand to move here if we have to because this is a process, and this could be another two, three years before anything happens. So, you know, with that being said, I'd like to get independent in there unless there's other options. I mean, can we force their hand in the end of the way to, you know.

I certainly think the manager and the building official are open to seeking to following the direction of the question. Do we need a consensus for that? Yeah, I think that would be good. There's obviously going to be a cost associated with that.

Well, I think, excuse me for interrupting, I think that maybe I should take a walk in there before we start hiring out engineers and doing this stuff. I mean, I'm smart enough to know what's right and what's wrong. I've been doing this for a little while. Let me take a look at them. I will have some results and take some photos and stuff like that and present you with something and show you what's going on in each building. That way, you know, and then we can make a determination from them. Let's not just go get an engineer. Let's get them over there.

Let me look first. How long would that process take to get you in there?

How long would that process take to get you in there? Week two, maybe. I'd probably get it next week.

So we could possibly bring us up on the next meeting?

Oh, yeah. I don't know when the next meeting is.

14th.

14th? 20th? By the 20th, I would have something, sir.

Okay.

Okay, do we still need a consensus on that?

I think we need to.

Or do we just.

Chad does his analysis and then. Have him the analysis first?

Yeah. If you want to give consensus.

Do I forward it to you? Right.

To have the building official do the analysis and make a recommendation.

Mm-hmm.

And if he recommends moving it to an engineer, then we have direction to move to an engineer. That would speed it up.

Can I get consensus to be on the next agenda, anyhow?

Do we have a consensus? Just out loud? Yes. There's other people waiting to speak, so can we get a consensus on putting on the next agenda for now?

The next agenda, based on his analysis.

Okay. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Are you good, Kowal?

Yes, I am.

Commissioner Novick?

Thank you, Vice Mayor. So, you said there was a $15 million mortgage?

On Enrico Ridge, 15 and change.

So, who's holding that mortgage? Why aren't they moving forward with trying to take the building and do something with it? And is there no construction insurance that's involved in this still?

I don't know the answer to that. I mean, I'm happy to give you a copy of the, and we can talk through title documents.

I'm just saying, it seems like there should be other, there should be some other people pressing hard on this to get it finalized. And then, before I forget, Jordan left, I guess, the, the, oh, is he? He's hiding behind, he's hiding behind Joyce's computer. We need to look at developing process to safeguard us against something like this happening again. We need to, we need to look at also reaching out. We're not, we can't be the first community that this has happened in and, and look at getting some input from some other communities on maybe what we can do to, to try and move this along a little, a little bit better, reaching out to some folks. Cause we've got some talented people here, but this seems to have gone on way too long at this point. And it's, it doesn't take very much to, to make this a public safety hazard and condemn the building. So we need, we need to look at that. You, you've got more than likely you've got vagrants in there. I know there's chain link fence that's gone up, but I've gone by there and seen kids running up and down the hallways. I'm sure when it's got, when it got cold out, we had homeless that were, we're in there.

Yeah.

So, um, we, we need to come up, kind of come up with a playbook on this from where, where we're at today. And it starts with your evaluation of going in there and giving us a base of where we're at. Thank you, sir. All right.

Thank you, Commissioner Novick and Colwell. Okay. So we're going to go down to, uh, city manager comments. Thank you. Unless, uh, do you have anything else, attorney? Please say no.

No.

Thank you. City manager comments, please.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Two, uh, two quick things. The commission was alerted this weekend that we received a, a Tyco settlement for PFAS litigation in the amount of $664,000. Uh, so that's good juju. And then also last thing, just want to thank the commission for the, uh, the parks passing that tonight. Uh, you're going to see some good ribbon cuttings coming up throughout our parks, throughout the city, uh, from walking trails and courts and pavilions. So that's, that's a great thing for our community. Thank you.

Thank you. So we have eight minutes and if you have one minute of comments, commissioners, what? Lord Jesus. It's, um, okay, I'm going to start with commissioner Novick. Thank God. Colwell.

You know, last, the last meeting was cut short.

Can you turn on your mic, please?

There you go. In my opinion, the last meeting was cut short at two and a half hours. I guess we determined the start of the meeting at six o'clock. Is that normal procedure?

A discussion with staff was if all the commissioners here at six o'clock, that's the beginning of the meeting. If we have say 40 items, 40 people.

Isn't it, isn't it recommended to be here? It's not a mandatory thing for us to be here. How do we determine the minutes that are passed by? If there's one comment made and we go to recess for 25 minutes, we lose 25 minutes.

I would say because you're all here. The issue is if you have 40 commenters, if there's a big item, I thought tonight, definitely more TNR people would speak. You're going to get way past the first 30 minutes, which means our rule is, of course, speaking after the meeting. So if you're starting at six and you went to 830 and you still had 15, 20 more speakers, you're going to be here until 930, 10 o'clock. You're going to have a four or five hour meeting where the plan was to have a two and a half hour meeting. So although it's not on television, it doesn't mean public comment is not part of the meeting. It literally is part of the part of the actual agenda.

According to our agenda, the official business meeting starts at 630 p.m.

But unless if if the commissioner believes that you guys don't have to be here at six o'clock, then I guess that would change. But then I think the citizens would expect people to be here at six o'clock.

So mayor, Gail, Gail. Yes. Oh, thank you. Thank you.

So what I'm requesting is I'm going to official statement. When does our meeting start?

Well, the meeting starts at six o'clock. You're having public when public comment was part of the meeting, like started at six o'clock.

Then it needs to be part of the meeting televised and then it's recorded.

Well, televised and meet part of the meeting are two different things. What's that? None of the meeting, as we all talked about, we all know this. None of the meeting has to be televised whatsoever. Holly Hill got away from television and went right to audio after many years. of being on television. So being on television is not actually part of the meeting. The meeting is the meeting.

I'll just leave my comment at that. In my opinion, the business meeting starts at 630 and that's when our time should start.

Our position as the staff was that the commissioner's all here at six o'clock. You're here because the meeting's going on. You're listening to the residents. That was the only thing. Yep.

Okay. Commissioner Howington, do you want to turn you?

Thank you, Vice Mayor. So, yeah, the agenda says very clearly business meeting starts at 630. If we are counting public forum to be part of the business meeting, then we need to treat it as such. So, you know, either we have public forum or we have a business meeting. If the business meeting starts at 630 and we're supposed to be here for two and a half hours, that clock starts ticking at 630 when the business meeting starts. Now, whether or not we televise the meetings, I mean, if people want to stop televising the meetings, that'll be interesting. I won't support that. But anyway, with that said, I'm going to go on to my commissioner comments because we did not have commissioner comments at the last meeting. School zone cameras, if we could get that brought back to us, we asked in November to have it researched. Last I heard in February was that it was going to VSO and that they would need to come back with a recommendation. And I've heard from VSO and they said that they communicated with the city manager that that is something that is in the city's purview. So I believe that needs to come back to the city commission as requested in November. And after the March 2nd meeting, we had ADA potential issues that were discussed pertaining to the change in public comment and no longer televising the people. And Ms. Barr, I don't know if... Yes, Ms. Barr, I have an answer for you regarding what happened with the public comment during the regular meeting and an email that was sent by the city manager to our communications director said, without a visual of every speaker being broadcast by the city, I believe this will allow for residents to make a comment to their mayor and commission with a lesser fear of finding their life and livelihood upended by being engaged with their community. So that is the official response. It is public record that email can be provided to anyone. One, that decision was made before the March 2nd meeting. I, as a commissioner, was not made aware of that change. As we know, we have had residents that have come out and said that that does raise an issue with people who are lip readers. And that is an official form of communication. And it is not subject to being forced into sign language. So I would like to know what our ADA modifications are that are currently being worked on. If we could get a presentation on that, I'd appreciate it.

So the city is compliant with ADA?

We'll see what happens when some doctor's notes start coming in. That's okay. I don't need a response. Thank you.

The city is in compliant with the law already. The city is not in compliance. So to be very clear, we offer ADA compliant with closed caption.

Closed caption is not a sufficient accessibility request for someone who is a lip reader.

So an ADA accommodation must be a reasonable accommodation. It does not have to be the accommodation requested by the person. So here's a good example. A person who is pregnant might say, my doctor says that I must be in a room that is 80 degrees. And so I am requesting an accommodation that you set the AC in this commission meeting at 80 degrees because my doctor says I need that accommodation. And we could say a reasonable accommodation for you, person, would be, A, we could set up a special 80 degree room that you could sit in and watch the meeting and you could speak from there. B, we could offer you some sort of small space heater for where you're sitting. C, some sort of additional like clothing that is not restrictive that you could wear. Just because a person with a disability requests a specific accommodation does not mean we must give them the accommodation they are requesting. We are required by law to provide reasonable accommodations. And we did provide a memo on this early on. I know there was a lot of questions about, at one point, about doors. And while it is great to have buttons on every door that swing open, we are not legally required to do so. So as long as the force pressure of a door meets the ADA requirements and the building code for the weight of a door that you're permitted to have to pull open a door, even if that is your preference as someone who has a mobility issue who cannot open a door, as long as we meet the requirements under the ADA and under the Florida Building Code with respect to like force pressure of a door, we do not have to install those little push buttons at every single door. As long as we provide reasonable accommodations, we are legally compliant. The city does provide reasonable accommodations. We are legally compliant. People are allowed to certainly request the accommodations of their choice. We are not legally required to provide every single accommodation that is requested. We are only required to provide a reasonable accommodation, which we do.

So when closed captioning fails, what is the backup scenario?

For someone that's lip reading, the moment that two commissioners are talking at the same time and you're not on television, they can't read any of that. The moment we show a video from the back of the room that somebody's speaking, they can't see any of that. So the disagreement of closed captioning is unacceptable because they have to have lip reading. And we know at any given time watching any meeting, the moment, Commissioner, you may be done speaking, the camera just gets on you. And at that point, it doesn't get to me quick enough where I say something. I would defy someone to be able to watch any commission meeting anywhere in the country and be able to read lips when the camera is not moving quick enough. The entire county commission meetings are from the back of the room. You can't read anybody's lips for anything whatsoever, but they do closed caption. So to have somebody say, we must now figure out, stop the meeting, move the camera, stop the meeting, move the camera, to qualify for lip reading across the board when everybody has different dialects also, seems a little extreme compared to the fact that, yes, we are in compliance, we're doing closed caption. If it's too fast for somebody, then they have to just repeat the meeting at that point if they want to watch every single word. But to say we now must make sure everybody's lips are on the camera, otherwise you're not getting much of the story if that's the focus of the commission. Because I would think any time you're talking over each other, and I don't know if the camera's on me right now, but if it's not, you can't read my lips.

So we won't be able to get any sort of a presentation about ADA modifications that have been made by our coordinator or anything? That's not possible? Because that's what we're asking us.

We're happy to talk about ADA accommodations. So, again, we did publish a memorandum, I believe, in early 2025, and we did a brief presentation about ADA. Happy to do that again. Happy to certainly work with the ADA coordinator to do so. So the reality, though, is accommodations are unique to each person who is requesting them. They certainly have the right to reach out to our ADA coordinator who will work with them to make that reasonable accommodation. I'm also going to just put this out there. I mean, we're happy to talk about it, but I don't actually think it's reasonable for us to provide a list of every accommodation we have made to every single person. But we probably would need their consent if they're a medical accommodation, if they've provided us medical records from their doctor. So we can't just wholesale come into a PowerPoint about all the accommodations we've provided for all of these people. We certainly can discuss reasonable accommodations. We can talk about the ADA law. We can talk about reasonable accommodations that courts have ruled to be appropriate. And certainly this city is compliant and I think does an excellent job at providing accommodations. I understand that this is not the answer you want, but it is the law.

I don't think that you understand what I'm asking for, but that's okay. I'll move on. Have there been any updates on Poinsettia Park? Do we know? Can we get an update on Poinsettia Park if there have been any discussions on that?

We can get back to you.

Okay, thank you. Did the city receive a cease and desist order from Mr. Velez? I asked that question. The attorneys did not respond to me. You did not respond to me. I was not made aware of one.

So I think it might be helpful if I explain what a cease and desist letter is. A cease and desist is not an order from a court. It is not something that is issued. It is not a writ. It is not served. It is not issued by a judge or a magistrate. A cease and desist letter is just that, a letter. People send them to each other all the time. Neighbors send them to each other all the time. Your dog is disturbing my child's nap. Cease and desist. There is a NORS ordinance you are in violation of. You do not have to be an attorney. They are not issued by a judge. People write them and send them all the time. A cease and desist letter is a letter that we receive. We receive all sorts of correspondence from all sorts of people making what I would call a demand of the government. But the same way when we as lawyers send demand letters and say, you, contractor, broke our city sidewalk, we demand you pay us a million dollars, they're not legally required to pay us a million dollars. Certainly we want them to, and if they don't, we will sue them and we'll pursue them in court. But a demand letter and a cease and desist letter are sort of, I would say, the similar vernacular in that they're a letter that is making a request, and it is a little bit of a FYI, if you do not do this, I will sue you. That's often where it goes. It doesn't have to go there, and they don't always go there. So cease and desist letters do come into the city, and certainly Mr. Volez has sent correspondence that he has titled cease and desist letters. I think he emailed us very recently, and in his email he made a statement that said, I demanded this information. I demanded you do these things. A demand by a person in the public is not a legal order from a judge. It is not something we are required to do. It is not a public records request. Certainly public records requests we are obligated to fulfill, and we do, and again, our clerk's office does an excellent job with our public records requests. But a human person from the world who just writes and makes demands, and again, this happens all the time. We get emails from people who have a lot of issues with the state and the school board and the sheriff, and they make all sorts of demands in their correspondence to us. We do not send them all to you. I don't know that you'd want all of them. If there's certainly information you'd like, we're happy to send it to you. It's all public once it comes in, but candidly, there's a lot of clutter that is not germane to the work that you do. We do try to keep you apprised of everything that happens that we do think is germane, and if there's something you think is germane that we're not giving you, happy to provide it. Happy to send you the letters from Mr. Volez. But to be clear, there was never an order or a writ or anything issued by a court or a magistrate to the city. So, no, you were not provided.

Can we get a yes or no because there's a very short time? I don't know the answer to that.

I don't know. Mr. Volez is a prolific emailer, so he very likely sent many correspondences. I'm happy to check the date and work with the PIO to check the date of all his correspondents, but he is a frequent emailer.

Can you please? Because we don't have much time, and we have two more.

And just for direct, Commissioner Howington sent an email at 516. I was in his chair 44 minutes later, so besides other work, your email wasn't sitting out there with no response. I did not receive that, no.

No, not at all.

That was not an issue. All turnout gear, no matter what, has limitations if the heat is too much in the same spot. At all times, maybe, Commissioner, if you wanted to respond to that a little bit, if not to put you on the spot, but that's what I was explained by the staff.

Fire Department follows NFPA standards when it comes to the equipment that is purchased, and then there is a maintenance schedule and an inspection schedule. There are certified people within the agency here locally. If they inspect a piece of equipment, suspect that it's failing, substandard, has been subjected to extreme conditions, that equipment is pulled out of service. Every one of our firefighters, to my knowledge, has a backup set of gear that they can go into at any time. And it's something that's monitored, sent out to a third party, then, if it needs to be repaired or comes back with a recommendation that it needs to be replaced. So there are limitations to different pieces of equipment that we wear. As an example, a bunker coat can sustain higher temperatures for a longer period of time than the face mask can. So, depending on which piece of equipment you're referring to that may have come into question, there's written inspection records by certified people within the department. And I personally know the people that do the inspections, and I know they're very good and they're very rigorous. And if there's ever a question that something may be in question, it's pulled out. The firefighter's put in the backup gear while that then is rotated out and replaced.

And during my administration, as well as the sitting commission up here, everyone's been very supportive of the fire department. It's not a question of them having the best. We've always tried to give them the best.

We just approved, I believe in this budget, we just approved a massive amount of new gear. And, of course, anybody new that comes in, then gear is now customized. It's a custom fit thing. They go for sizing, and they don't just take something off the rack. Yes, ma'am.

Okay, Commissioner Harriet.

I don't have any major comments. The only thing I'd like to add to what Novick just mentioned was that we'd approved a budget for the newly to the market PFAS-free gear.

Yes.

Not just the same bunker gear that they've had. Yes. So our fire department is on the leading edge of gear that comes out and training that comes out. There was some information floating around social media that, you know, we don't get grants for things and whatnot. Those grants for fire department operations typically come out after it's considered common practice in the industry, where our fire department is typically on the leading edge of getting those PFAS-free gear, the decontamination stations, and whatnot. So we've done very well for our fire department and our residents. So that's all I have.

Thank you, Commissioner Santiago.

Thank you, Vice Mayor. Just I have two quick things. One, two shout-outs. One to DME Academy. They are in Daytona Beach. 1 a.m. this morning coming in on a flight. I was with the group of ladies basketball team from DME Academy that won the championship in North Carolina to our residents of Deltona. So shout-out to them for winning that. And the other one is for the Deltona Fire Department, Station 65, our transport unit transported mom, my mother, to the hospital this morning. And as I was standing there with her in the ER, I saw them three additional times coming in and doing transport. I'm like, you're here again? You're here again? And just as a follow-up, I wanted to ask the city manager maybe the next time he can give us, not now because I know it's late, but just an update on the transport and how that's coming, just an update on that and the additional transport for our city. And that's all. Thank you. Have a good night, everyone.

Okay, I just, you know, there was, it's been a while since commissioners have had a chance to make comments, but right now I can think of only one very important comment, and that's a shout-out to our Deltona and County Veterans Stand Down. If you did not come to see that event, you missed it. I can tell you that our staff went out of their way. Okay, Catherine, you were awesome, and so was your staff. I mean, I can sit here and mention staff one by one, but I'm going to put them all in a hole. But Catherine was near me every step of the way from the beginning since last year. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And I can tell you a shout-out to Scott Olson, who's in charge of the Veterans Affairs for the County of Volusia. His staff was unbelievable. And the walls back there delivered by the Patriots, if you didn't see it, it was like the back of the center was designed specifically for the display of those walls. For those two days, we named it the Memory Garden, and that's exactly what it was. We're bringing it back next year, right, Doc? We're bringing it back next year, and we expect every Deltona resident to stop by and say hello. So, you know, as a veteran wife, a Vietnam veteran, and a son who just retired, it meant a lot for me. I found two of my cousins on the Vietnam wall. So I hope to see everyone there. Again, thank you to staff. Thank you to Scott Olson from the county. Thank you, everyone, who made it possible for us, sponsors. I know that I don't have anything for them right now, but I can tell you that Unidos Supermarket donated free food for 300 people, free of charge. So please support these people, El Coqui Bakery, Pava, who's in Sanford. Thank you, thank you, thank you, city manager for helping us making this possible. Well, thank you, and everyone have a good night. Get home safe. Media adjourned.