CITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING - Feb 05, 2026

Try that again. Good evening. Welcome to the February 5th, 2026 City Commission meeting. I'd like to call the meeting to order and we'll start with invocation and Pledge of Allegiance by our City Attorney Jen. Let us begin this meeting by taking a brief moment of silence and reflection. Amen. 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. What happened to our Toronto Blue Jays logo? I wanted it left on until our presentations start, because until then it's all about the Blue Jays and hope, the hope spot. We love that. Okay. We're going to go to the first item, which is Florida Gulf Coast Hope Spot Day Proclamation and I will turn that over to Commissioner Walker. I'm sorry, Vice Mayor Walker. Sorry. I slipped. Florida Gulf Coast Hope Spot Day in Dunedin. Whereas, February 28th, 2026 has been designated as Florida Gulf Coast Hope Spot Day in Dunedin to educate our community about the hope spot and to promote actions that support the ecological health and marine heritage of our waters. And the City of Dunedin has been recognized as the home city of the Florida Gulf Coast Hope Spot and the Gulf Coast supports countless species, including shorebirds, sea turtles, manatees, whales, mangroves, oysters, and seagrasses. And the City of Dunedin is dedicated to being a leader in sustainability practices and the ocean produces over half of the world's oxygen and absorbs 50 times more carbon dioxide than our atmosphere and therefore protecting its health is paramount to the health of our citizens and the sustainability of our planet. And February coincides with World Whale Day, where we celebrate some 17 species of whales that live in the Gulf year-round, including one of the most endangered whale species in the world, the endemic rice's whale, with a population estimated to be only around 50 individuals. And human threats, such as oil spills, ship strikes, plastic pollution, warming temperatures, and seismic blasting from offshore drilling activities, negatively impact the species of the Gulf, and an unhealthy Gulf will hurt economic growth and cause hardship for our citizens. And Dunedin is the home of world-renowned marine biologist, oceanographer and explorer, Dr. Sylvia Earle, who developed the Global Hope Spot Initiative. The City of Dunedin has partnered with the Dunedin History Museum and numerous local organizations to host the annual Gulf Coast Fest on Saturday, February 28, 2026, in downtown Dunedin. Now, therefore, I, Robert Walker, vice mayor of the City of Dunedin, Florida, do hereby proclaim February 28, 2026, as Florida Gulf Coast Hope Spot Day in the City of Dunedin, and call upon all residents of this great city to join me in supporting the aims and goals of this worthwhile effort. Thank you. In garb. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, commissioner, city manager, and all of us here this evening. My name is Natalie Gass, sustainability program manager for the city. Although I may look like a Dunedin chandelier, I am here as a jellyfish to promote our Gulf Coast Fest happening Saturday, February 28, from 10 to 2, at the History Museum and City Parking Lot. We are going to kick off the event with a Keep Pinnell's Beautiful Cleanup at 9 a.m. Anyone who's interested, please sign up so we have enough supplies for you. This is an ocean-friendly, zero-waste event celebrating that designation of our coast through Dr. Sylvia Earle and her International Mission Blue program. The designation recognizes the integral ways the Gulf and our local waters shape our lives, economy, and natural resources and how important it is to protect, preserve, and to continue learning about their wonders. The connection of our land and waters is undeniable. In Dr. Earle's words, no water, no life, no blue, no green. This family-friendly event is filled with educational booths, sustainable product and craft vendors, local expert speakers, live animal shows, music, and more. We will have lots of different aquariums there, Florida Aquarium, Clearwater Aquarium, Tarpon Aquarium, Moat Marine. We'll have different clubs from our local universities and many other great vendors. We'll have speakers there to showcase mini documentaries, again, live animal shows. We'll hear from Sierra Club about the endangered rice's whale. We'll also hear from our 2025 Dunedin environmental hero, Beth Reynolds, to speak about Honeymoon Island. And then we will also hear from our city's team about stormwater. And finally, Terry Fortner, granddaughter of Myrtle Sharer Betts, who will speak to her family's history of her grandmother living on Caledice. And that book highlighting those pioneering days will be autographed by Terry in a book signing. So there's more details on the city's event page. We really look forward to all of you joining us and celebrating this great event and achievement. Thank you. Awesome. I think we're going to get a picture with the jellyfish. Is that, we get a picture with the jellyfish? Okay. So our next item is Toronto Blue Jays Welcome Back Proclamation. And before we start, we're just going to stand, well, we have some special guests. We have Ace from Toronto Blue Jays. We have Shelby Nelson. And we have Matt Woke joining us. But if we could stand up. Gentlemen, let's go Blue Jays. Let's go Blue Jays! All right. Welcome back for the 50th season. I'm going to turn this over to Commissioner Sandbergen. But before I do, February 14th, we usually wear red. But in Dunedin, we're going to wear blue. February 14th is Dunedin Goes Blue Day where we're going to have a golf cart parade. It'll go into the stadium, I think, is it from 12 to 3? 12 to 3. Free hot dogs on the Blue Jays. And it's going to be a great event. But it's really important that we get enthusiastic. 50th season. I mean, only spring training home that Toronto's ever known. And it's us. And it's a great partnership. And proud to have you here. And we got to all go blue. So on that note, I'm going to turn it over to our very own Toronto Blue Jays liaison, Commissioner Sandbergen, who will do the proclamation. And any other comments? You know, 100 plus jobs, 40 million Canadians share and give us a chance to host that team during the spring. Dunedin to Vancouver to New Hampshire to Toronto. And like last year, we had a player that made all the stops all the way along. You know, the economic impact that you've given to this community in the entire Tampa Bay area is immeasurable. And I know each of you individually and I say thank you myself. So I'll read the proclamation and we'll come back. Whereas the city of Dunedin wishes to recognize and commend the Toronto Blue Jays for their historic and exciting 2025 American League championship season. And whereas our city celebrates the start of the franchise's 50th season in 2026. And whereas the Toronto Blue Jays played their first game at Grant Field in 1977, beating the New York Mets. And Dunedin has proudly been their spring training and minor league home ever since. And Toronto is the only major league franchise to have only one spring training home. And this 50-year partnership and friendship has contributed to the economic well-being of Dunedin, the entertainment of our residents, the athletic development of our children, and the overall quality of our life in this city. And whereas generations of Canadians have made Dunedin their home away from home, and many visitors have embraced spring training, and whereas the annual spring training event has greatly contributed to Dunedin's and Pinellas County's economies with fans visiting our shops and restaurants, and whereas, under ownership of Rogers Communication, Mark Shapiro, President, and Vice President of Florida Operations, Shelby Nelson, we hope this trend will continue as Major League Baseball is very important to the state of Florida, Pinellas County, and the city of Dunedin. So now, I, therefore, Stephen Sandbergen, by virtue of the authority vested me by the mayor of Dunedin, and on behalf of my entire city commission colleagues, do hereby welcome back the Toronto Blue Jays to spring training in Dunedin, and I encourage all citizens of Dunedin to catch Blue Jays fever and cheer on our home team as they begin their journey toward another championship season. We hope to see everyone at TD Ballpark for the Blue Jays opening game February 21st against the Philadelphia Phillies. It's all yours. Thank you, Commissioner Sandbergen and everybody else, obviously Mayor Freene, City Manager Jennifer. This is going to be my 19th year here. It never gets old for me. I appreciate, I mean, the amount of support that has grown and grown within this commission over the years that I've been here is tremendous, and from all this, you know, everyone that lives here, anyone in the community, you know, one of the greatest things that I got to, unfortunately, I never got to go because I was in Toronto, but got to see videos of and see pictures is the excitement at TD Ballpark during the playoffs when we opened it up for fans to come and view the games, and it was just so cool to see the excitement everybody had, the amount of Blue Jays shirts going around the city, and then obviously the excitement within everyone in front of me right now and hearing, you know, getting phone calls and excitement of how the team was doing. We were this close, but we had such a successful year. We're excited for another successful year. As you said, February the 21st is opening day. We've got 15 games this year, so please come and support the clubs. Come watch our team. Also, come support your Dunedin Falcons high school baseball team who they're going to kick off at our stadium before us on February the 16th, so we're going to give them some great game entertainment, great stuff while they're there, so please come out. New coach, Scott Cannell's been awesome to work with, excited about their season ahead. I want to have Matt talk a little bit about our Welcome Back event that he's putting together for everybody. We have our Welcome Back event on February 14th at TD Ballpark. We're really excited about it. It's going to be a free event. We've got a lot of great activities going on. As Mayor Farini said, we have a lot of hot dogs we have to go through, so we're really excited to have everybody back. Welcome everybody back to the ballpark, and if you haven't been there before, this is your opportunity to come see it for free and come check it out, walk around. We have the field open on the outfield to walk around and play some catch, throw some baseballs out there on the field, and a ton of great local vendors, a ton of great local partners. A lot of our restaurants are going to be out there. Welcome back to Blue Jays. We also have our Jays shops going to be open, and if you haven't purchased your spring training tickets yet, now's the time to come down. February 14th, 12 to 3, TD Ballpark. Thank you. One last thing. I always want to thank members of the Park and Rec team with the City of Dunedin that always help us, our sheriff department, our local sheriff department here, our EMS and paramedics that come out and are at every one of our games and are awesome, and I also want, and Jorge, who's been great to work with, I also want to, we recently had a little bit of an issue and Michael Larson came through and provided some support for us, and I just wanted to thank him. This is a great spot to do it. I just happened to be here, but he was really helpful with the city to provide us some advice and find somebody to help us through our challenge, so I just want to thank the city for everything, and go Blue Jays. So, Ace, you want to say anything, or are you good? Okay. Okay, well, it's the 50th season, so I want every commissioner to get a chance to say something. Vice Mayor, would you like to say anything? Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, 50 years, and I don't think there's a lot of franchises that can say that, and you know, you can't think of Dunedin as Dunedin without the Blue Jays, and you guys, your organization, your partnership, your community support, you guys, we couldn't, you know, it's such a, just a great relationship, and we are so proud to have 50 years with Toronto Blue Jays. On a side note, you sure made last season very exciting for us, and I will say, you know, I think all of us up here attended every single watch party that the city put on, and I think the city literally shut down for about two weeks because it was, and, you know, just, and I look back and I think, oh my God, that was the most unproductive two weeks of my life, and, but it was exciting, you know, to, yeah, it was so darn exciting, but thank you for all you do, looking forward to this season, and thank you. Mr. Sandberg? Yeah, it's, you know, 94 wins, and we were two outs from being world champs. Last year, as everyone knows, the mayor and I were, went to the World Series, and I'll say it, what do you all say? On our own dime. She asked me, tag teams, yeah. I was going to jump that in. No tax fair money. No tax fair money. And, you know, it's, it's just, it's just such an, an incredible time, you know, and this is, this is the year, you know. Somebody told me yesterday, a local here in town, she said, I'm not a baseball fan, but I'm a Blue Jays fan. And, that's, that's huge, and that's something we hear all the time, so thank you, you know, again to the whole organization, you know, that I've said this before, when, you know, the citizens see the, the players in town, you know, they call them by name, and that's why it's our team, and that's why we've grown together. And I said in Toronto, partnerships galvanized, and it's never, never going to be hurt. So, thank you. I would like to say, Matt's in charge of our promotional items that we give away. Matt, we got to think about that shirt, you know, of doing something, something, something next year. That's, that'll work. That'll be good. Yeah, Commissioner Sandberg bobblehead night. Oh, you'll make him, he would be beyond, yeah, we wouldn't even be able to live with him. Yeah, that's, that's too much. That's, that's over the top. I don't know how you're going to follow this, Commissioner Gal, but it's Gal Kishai. You know, 50 years is amazing. And you had this year follow last year. You know, we, we are, we're, we're not players, but we, we wear the shirt in, and our outfits like the uniform. And the idea is that, you know, putting it back on today for us is really like, this is it. Here we go. And the excitement you get is fabulous. So we're all very excited, but one, you know, it is so hard, it is so hard to get, to get on your field. And you guys were kind enough to let us on your field. And I was amazed at the damage we did to your field with, with chairs and stuff. So thank you guys. How is the field? Is it, is it back in shape? It's back in shape. We, we had to send our head groundskeeper to Toronto and then to LA. So he didn't get to see it at all during that time. But thank you for the, the residents, the crowd, the fans just loved it. So thank you very much. And Matt, I guess Matt or Shelby, whichever. So when's the merch available? Merch is going to be available in the next couple of weeks, right around. Welcome back blue Jays. So come on down. Okay. Right around or just before open 10 to four. Every day. Right now, Monday to Friday. And I'm thinking about the, the 50th anniversary merch. Some of it just arrives to wait a few more days, but I know some of it just arrived. I was told yesterday at the gift store that they're not going to sell the 50th anniversary stuff to opening day. Is that true? Oh, maybe. I just, you know, okay. All right. I'm just, I had inside information. Okay. Well, if we could get inside information on merch, it'd be wonderful. She got that on her own dime. Yeah. It's on my own dime. No tax fair money. But thank you gentlemen. We're excited. Go blue Jays. Commissioner Degard. Thank you, mayor. Now that everybody's said everything that I thought about saying, I would like to say that commissioner Sandbergen makes that look good. And my colleagues have been wonderful tutors in the love of blue Jays. It's a great community made so much better by a professional baseball team, spring training right here. And then you add onto that, what you brought to us last year with the world series. Some of us are still sleep deprived from that particular event. How many innings did that one game go? 18 innings. 18, yeah. Some of us stayed at pioneer park. I know. On our own dime. So you make us special in so many ways. And we're so grateful to have you here. And we're looking forward to seeing all the team come back and getting engaged with this year and looking forward to the season and maybe even as many wins and maybe one more series run. Absolutely. Thank you so much for being here. Before I have the last word, city manager, you were pretty sleep deprived as well. So you want to have anything to say? Absolutely. Well, I, I was telling my neighbors on the days here. I put on my blue Jays garb this morning and went to my husband and said, look, ta-da. And he said, already? And if, if I feel that way, if we feel that way, I know you feel that way twice as much. And, you know, just, just what an amazing month that was. And I know how heartbroken all of you were to, to come up short, if you will. You know, and I, I know that we were with you every step of the way though. And we are proud of you. Very proud of you. And it, it, it doesn't matter, you know, where you ended up. It, it was the companionship, the camaraderie, the excitement around all of it. And I know you're a professional ball team. It's all about that big trophy. I know that, but we won. I mean, we won as a result of, of that, that world series run. And we're very grateful and grateful to all of you for, and thank you Shelby for your, your accolades for staff. I very much appreciate that. We have a wonderful working relationship with Toronto Blue Jays, but it's not all wine and roses, right? Not all the time, but, but we always manage to work out everything and, and get to where we need to go. But we are exceptionally proud of all of you. And we're grateful for everything you did for this community. And especially ACE. I mean, I just, you know, I love ACE. Yeah. So thank you very much. Glad, glad, glad it's almost a spring training. So I have to start by saying, um, I called Shelby. It was like a couple of days. I waited, I waited and come right away after the last game of the world series. I waited a little bit and, uh, I, I called him to leave a message. Cause it was something I needed to know. And well, he texted me and he said, he said, Hey, I can, I'll get you an answer or whatever. But he, but he, he said, I can't talk right now. I don't, I'm not sure when I'll be able to talk. Cause he had been at the last game of the world series with his son and, uh, ready to grab the trophy. And so it was, uh, wherever you were, it was, it was a heartbreaker, but, but, you know, it doesn't take away from what an amazing season that the Blue Jays have had. But you know, that's, that's last year. Uh, it's 50 years of a partnership. And I, I, I'm not sure which, and who said it on this side, but the Blue Jays have been here ever since I've lived in Denny. I cannot imagine this city without the Blue Jays. And there's been up and down points about which we didn't know that we could, as a small city, afford to keep you here, uh, with the things that you need. Uh, but because even last time, because the Toronto Blue Jays stepped up, because the state stepped up, because the county stepped up, you know, we got like $112 million asset for $6 million of our taxpayers money. So, um, but we're just lucky. And, uh, when people ask me about it and, um, you know, what's so, what's so great about it, right? Without them here, on top of just the economic development opportunities, um, what a great partnership. I mean, when we take our trip in June, um, up to see the, the Jays play, um, it's like being with your family. Because after 50 years, everybody knows everybody. We've been through the battles and negotiations on the taxpayers' behalf, and you guys on your organization's behalf. But, but you gain a big respect over all those years. And, it's a, and I have to say, big shout out too, to Mark Shapiro. He's certainly a big part of it. And, um, uh, but we, we love the Blue Jays. And we want it all. This year, we want it all. You know, get those last two outs. and if anybody who's thinking about going to the opening day of the game, the highlight will assuredly be the mayor throwing out the first pitch. And last year, it wasn't great. Okay? It wasn't great. And I'm working on it. Uh, as a matter of fact, it was a quick little shove to the side that, that didn't go too well. Uh, but I'm working on it, and it might be worth seeing. It's 50-50, how it'll go. But, anyway, um, we're excited. And, um, and I think on top of that, I love that it's America and Canada. I love that we're two different countries. I love, we love our Canadian visitors. We love what they bring to the community. Um, we honor them. We want them coming down. And, uh, but thank you. Thank you for what you bring to our community. And I can't believe it's been 19 years. That's amazing, Shelby. Yeah. Okay. Anyway, thank you very much. So, let's go Blue Jays. Go Blue Jays. That's on our own. I don't have a cap, sorry. My hat's always on. Yeah, that's not right. I'm in the shade. Mr. Gallup's a little bit. Oh, this way. Behind me. Stop. I'm trying to get you. Oops. Who said you got it? Can I have you? Yeah, I'll go over here. Okay, you're on, you're off the island. Okay. Thank you. Take care. See you hopefully next. Let's go. See you there. We'll be there. We'll be there. Okay. Um, citizen input. Uh, does anyone in the audience wish to speak on a, topic that is not on the agenda? Yeah, I didn't think it was you. Okay. All right. Seeing no one, I will, uh, close citizen input. Oh, do we have somebody? Okay. If you want to come forward. Sure. Uh, just name and address for the record and three minutes. It doesn't even have to be about the Blue Jays. Just kidding. Yeah. I'm with you on that. I'm with you on that. Um, I'm Dale Phillippe. I'm a Florida resident and a homeowner here at 644 of Asteria Court. Um, I live close enough to the TD ballpark that the no parking signs are posted on my front lawn during this season. So, I live close by. I will try to do that. Thank you. So, do I need... You just, you just, do it. Just continue. Just continue. Okay. Um, I'm here to, to, uh, ask about the implementation of the Beltree Safe Street Plan, um, which I'm holding here. And it's posted on your, on, on the town website. Um, this, uh, plan, Beltree, you know, um, Beltree's runs from Patricia Avenue down to Edgewater Drive. At least that's what this study does. And it was commissioned, uh, two years ago because of safety concerns, uh, along that area. And, and that's a route that I take. Um, it was prepared by, uh, a company called Fair and Peers. They're a national transportation, uh, and street planning company. And they have an office here in Tampa. The point is, is that it was well done. Uh, the report runs 165 pages. And I would give it high marks for clarity and, uh, completeness. Um, let's continue here for a moment. How's my time? You're that time. Um, however, I, as I stand here today, Beltree still looks exactly the same as it did two years ago. And, uh, I'm old enough to know that everything comes down to dollars and cents. And within the report, uh, if everything was done, it would be two and a half million dollars. And I understand that that's a significant amount. There's, there's no doubt about that. But this, but the two and a half million includes, uh, milling of the road, repaving, uh, widening sidewalks, adding signs, meeting all ADA requirements, uh, altering the stoplights, quite a number of things. I suggest, and I'm here to say, that, uh, we start somewhere. It gives us the biggest bang for the buck, uh, rather than look at the whole plan. So, I would like to suggest, or I am suggesting, that we simply paint the lines, which are, almost non-existent, for, uh, cars and bicycles, clear the landscaping, uh, between the curb and the sidewalk, where it has overgrown into the sidewalk. And, and the, so when bicyclists come along, they have to pull around it to go, or, or, uh, other situations like that. Um, while the report does a complete job of detailing the physical issues of Beltrees, it fails to include how Beltrees functions from the community. Beltrees is the gateway to Senior Center, the TD Ballpark, the Veteran Foreign Affairs Building, the Pinellas Trail, the library, uh, and then, the, the, the traffic that's there during the Mardi Gras, and, uh, access for those parades is significant. So, it is an important, uh, road for me. Um, at the beginning, an apoclamation was read, and I think that the implementation, uh, of this plan would help show that, um, what we mean, what we say to the Blue Jays, and that we give Dunedin residents a return on their investment at the cost of the plan. Thank you, and, uh, for your full attention, and I want to thank also the, uh, employees here at Town Hall who answered my phone calls and emails so that I could gather more information. Thank you, and as soon as we're done with citizen input, I'll, I'll have the manager give you any update that she might have. Um, anyone else, um, in the audience wish to come forward and speak to, on an item that is not on the agenda. Alan, name an address for the record in three minutes. Hi. Alan Brand, 1731 Hickory Gate Drive North. Uh, in 2019, I was contacted by the Lunds Group, uh, architecture firm who had an office down here on Main Street at the time, and, uh, they were working on the Courtyard on Main, Courtyard on Main Street project, and they wanted to talk to me about the possibility of putting solar panels on their, uh, project. And, uh, I jumped at the opportunity to help them out on that, and their concept was that, uh, if you remember, some of you may remember the project, um, first floor was, uh, shops, and second and third floors were, uh, 18, I believe, condos, and every condo was going to have between 15 and 18 solar panels, and with the option of batteries. Uh, I was really excited and proud to be a part of that and helped them along on that. And, uh, uh, I got, I got a good way through the, uh, engineering of it just to make sure they had wanted a unconventional, uh, mounting method. So I got a good way through the engineering to, uh, make sure the concept was sound. You can't see it from where you are, but anyway, this is, I still have, I still have a file about the whole thing here at home. Uh, uh, this is a picture of the roof with the, uh, solar panels, uh, in groups, uh, for the, for the residents there. Uh, uh, project got canceled in 2022, I believe. Um, and then, uh, last Tuesday, I looked at the, uh, Tampa Bay Times and saw an article about, uh, the, uh, new development called, uh, Main Street Exchange. The new development, Main Street Exchange. There you go. There you go. Okay. And, uh, it, uh, on the same site. And, uh, the article was, uh, pretty glowing and optimistic. And I read it and I was disappointed to see nothing about the possibility of solar power there. And I blew up the, um, the artist's rendering as much on the screen as I could on my tablet and couldn't see any solar panels on the roof. Uh, so, uh, I did some calculations and, uh, information I had on hand. And, uh, since, uh, in the last six years, the cost of solar power has gone down by 17%. The cost of the energy that we buy here in Dunedin has gone up by 52%. So, that's 71% total to the good, uh, the economics of the economics of solar power. And here, six years later, we've got this and we have other, two other signature projects that, uh, don't have solar power. Uh, so, uh, I just wanted to remind everybody that the Sierra Club, uh, beside myself, we have, uh, a clean energy committee with, uh, two experienced, two other experienced solar power professionals that are more than willing to help educate not only the city, city, but anybody, any developers that come to the city, I want you to know that we're ready, willing, and able to help, uh, bring them up to speed about their opportunities with solar power. Thank you for listening. Oh, and I know that, uh, the article said that there would be a hearing on this, hearings on this. February 19th is the first public hearing, so. I don't mean to get ahead of the process, but I'm in and out of town a lot, and I just want to take this opportunity. Thank you. Absolutely. No, well-timed, actually, well-timed. Thank you, Alan. Um, anyone else in the audience wish to come forward and speak on an item that is not on the agenda? Okay. Seeing none, just, and, so just to reiterate, Alan, uh, February 19th is the first hearing. I forget when the second hearing of Main Street Exchanges. Uh, March 19th. March 19th. So, again, we'll have an opportunity to ask, because we have not seen that at all. It'll be the first time next meeting that we'll see it. Oh, okay. We think it may be moved to March 5th. I'll have to double-check on that. I hope not, because that could be a problem, just so you know. Oh, okay. Yeah, just a side. Okay. Okay. So, uh, okay. Um, update on Belltree's road plan, or safety plan, whatever it was called. Yeah, thank, thank you very much, Mayor. Um, so, traditionally, when the City Commission adopts a strategic plan or a plan, like the multimodal transportation plan, you know, even the Strive for 35, we then commence to roll some of those capital items into the budget. So, it is a gradual process. There's some low-hanging fruit that I need to check on that we could probably get done quicker than, than that. Um, but it, it does take, if it's a capital item, and there is a cost associated with it, then we gradually roll it into, uh, the budget year to year. And so, I would really need to get with staff to get a full update on exactly where we are, and what we have implemented, um, or what we have budgeted. So, if I can do that, and I will, um, go ahead and send that to you under separate cover, and then if I can get this gentleman's name, we'll send it to him as well. Yeah, if you're, if you're able to give the City Manager your name and number, that'd be great, because then she can get some feedback back to you. I'll get him to, oh, you can, okay, oh, here we go. She's going to give you her card. Thank you. And we're well aware, I mean, with Bell Trees, there's, there's a lot of things we can do, so it's just about priority and money, and when we can do it. So, appreciate you getting together with the City Manager. Okay, uh, we are going to go to Consent Agenda. And on the Consent Agenda is approval of the minutes for the 12-18-2025 regular meeting, and the 1-6-2026 workshop, uh, the Board, uh, the Board and Committee appointments, so our, we have one, Arts and Culture Advisory Committee, Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory, uh, Edgewater Drive Advisory, Library Advisory, and, uh, the other two items on Consent Agenda are Dunedin 2026 Mardi Gras Celebration, presented by the City of Dunedin, and the Greater Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, Inc., uh, irrevocable license agreement, and, uh, 2-D is Purchase a Trailer-Mounted Wastewater Bypass Pump from Mercino Water Solutions, via piggybacking, the Florida Sheriff's Association Cooperative Purchasing Program, at a cost of $85,000, 445.17, and, uh, is there anything that anybody wishes to be polled? Okay, can I have a motion? So moved. Second. Okay, um, is there anyone that wishes to speak on any of those items in the public? Okay, seeing no one, I'll close, uh, public input, and then, uh, all in favor? Aye. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously. Okay, before we go to action items, um, I've asked the City Manager, she did prepare an overview of, um, the cost of the, uh, restroom that's going to go in the, uh, Grand Oak Park, uh, which is the former City Hall site, and, uh, we've had a lot of questions about this, and how it could cost that much money, and so, uh, we, uh, we've asked our staff to, to really drill down so we can create an understanding, uh, because it's a lot of money, and we don't want anyone out there feeling like we're being extravagant about a bathroom, so. Okay. Okay. Very good. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioners. There is, uh, a lot of misinformation, uh, out on social media regarding the restroom facility for the Grand Oak Park. That's, that's our new park where the old City Hall, uh, used to be. It was demolished, as you know. So, um, really Grand Oak Park is the next great thing that we're going to be doing for our downtown. Um, when it's completed, it will be the centerpiece of the east end of downtown. The initiative has been ongoing, an ongoing effort since 2023, when the demolition of the old City Hall was imminent, and we knew that we really had to do something special, uh, in that park, in that area. Uh, there's been, as I said, a great deal of discussion in social media, et cetera, that the cost of the restroom is exorbitant, when in fact, it is probably the most cost-effective restroom facility that we could procure. subject to specific architectural upgrades, uh, which I'm going to talk about, that we're incorporating in the design to ensure that it's in line with our goals for downtown. Uh, in order to walk you through the cost of the structure, I need to touch upon how it was procured, and more importantly than what drives the cost of the restroom facilities. Most importantly, this facility was competitively procured, and competitively bid. When the restrooms were first discussed on February 5th of 2025, that's last year, almost exactly a year ago, um, when the, that was when the conceptual plan for the park was discussed before the City Commission, staff forward a tentative cost for those restroom facilities at that time of $600,000, uh, and at that time it was not budgeted, and that was just a projection, uh, and we had not budgeted it. At that cost, though, we quickly ascertained it would need to be a pre-manufactured structure, which costs less than toilets constructed on the site. Why? Site-built toilets, restrooms include the cost for one-off design services by an architect, multiple consultants, while the pre-manufactured units, the design fees, are typically included in the cost, and are completed in-house with a standard set of drawings, uh, with signed and sealed drawings by an in-house engineer or architect. So it's all done in place, in-house, uh, in one, in one area. Uh, site-built toilets, those are the ones that, that are placed in the slab, and then built from the ground up, uh, in the traditional design bid, build delivery method, include a general contractor, subcontractor, uh, who bid markups on materials, equipment, labor, while the pre-manufactured toilets are manufactured by one manufacturer, on-site, with no markups. Site-built toilets, and the traditional design build then have additional conditions, general conditions, because the general contractor is managing and coordinating more trades in and out of the site during a construction process. So you have a contractor, subcontractors, markups, and, on bids. Um, for these reasons, early estimates for the site-built restroom facility were far in excess of the $600,000 that we had budgeted, and so we turned at that point our attention to a pre-manufactured building in order to deliver these restrooms within our budget. So procurement is very important, and it's important when it was, um, when we first decided to turn to the pre-manufactured that we get it at a competitive price. You go to market. We've got to go to market. The city was able to leverage a previously advertised and publicly procured contract in order to purchase a pre-designed, pre-manufactured restroom building. On January 22nd of 2026, the city commission authorized the use of a piggyback agreement for the future Grand Oak Park restroom facility, with the public restroom company of Minden, Nevada, in the amount of $454,679. I want to talk a little bit about piggybacking, because it's a very common procurement process for governments. So what is piggybacking a contract? According to the National Institute of Government Purchasing, it is a form of intergovernmental cooperative purchasing in which an entity will extend the pricing in terms of a contract, in terms of a contract entered into by a larger entity, and in this case, the state of Minnesota. It was the contract that we piggybacked off of through a clearinghouse essentially called SourceWell. Generally, the larger entity will competitively award a contract that will include the language allowing for other entities to utilize that same contract, and then they get a reduction in their price, and we get the economies of scale. In essence, we get the restroom facility for the same price as the state of Minnesota in all their restroom facilities as well, even though they may order 100 and we're ordering one. This saves time in developing a solicitation document, preparing to advertise, solicitation, accepting responses, and so on, the whole bidding process, which usually takes about 45 to 60 days. It saves resources as well in terms of advertising and staff can work on other projects. By utilizing this construction design delivery method, the city was able to avoid traditional architectural design and construction document professional services. The award was to the public restaurant company, public restaurant, public restroom, not restaurant, company. It takes advantage of the delivery of a turnkey structure, in essence, designed and constructed on site, on one site, a turnkey, which is already pre-designed, and as such, it does not require aforementioned architectural costs that I've mentioned several times, and I'm repeating myself because it's an important point. The company that we did use, by the way, the PRC, is a family-owned and managed modular construction design, build, and installation firm of pre-fabricated restroom buildings for parks and public spaces. So they have a lot of experience in essentially designing and installing pre-fabricated restrooms. They're known for building architectural pleasing, safer, cleaner, odor-free, vandal-resistant, and longer-lasting public restrooms, and offering a 20-year structural warranty and five years for parts as well. So we've got a warranty on the restroom that we're going to proceed with. Now, that's how it was procured, competitively bid at the lowest possible price that we could find. Actually, that contract with the state of Minnesota through SourceWell was awarded in May of 2025. So we're availing ourselves of prices from last year. Let's talk about the cost. There it is. We have it on the larger screens and the screen in front of you right now. The restroom building itself selected by the city was PRC's model PS033 at a discounted base price of $232,736. So everybody in the community whipped out their calculators and started making calculations and saying, well, this is how much it costs. No, that is the construction cost of the building itself. The additional costs are for shipping that modular structure. It comes in the back of a truck. Then the installation is $58,000. They'll send four people who will install it over a three-day period. So the other method is the on-site build principal structure would take weeks or even months to build. This takes about three or four days to install. We need a crane, and that crane is $23,274. So those numbers together, that's the cost of the building that we purchased. Now, there were some add-ons, and I'm going to talk to you a lot about that in a moment. And these were things that we wanted to see as the city of Dunedin to ensure that it is architecturally pleasing and appropriate for our downtown. But that is an alcove with drinking fountain and bottled filler, covered entry with posts, brick wainscot for the building and the posts, and lap siding as well for $17,000. So the total cost then was $454,679. $454,679. So what is it then that goes into it? What drove that cost up? What drives the cost of a commercial building like this? So restrooms are expensive to build. If you've ever remodeled your house, you know that it's usually the bathrooms and the kitchens that are most expensive. And remodeling a bathroom and a kitchen and a home is much more expensive than other spaces in the house because the larger spaces tend to dilute the price, right? So to compare costs to build a house to that of a standalone commercial restroom, which is what a lot of people are doing. Well, I build my house for X. But to compare that to a standalone commercial restroom building, they're vastly different as far as the per square foot. And it's not an apples-to-apples calculation at all or a comparison. Much less you can't compare residential versus commercial construction or industrial construction. I know we have architects in here who would agree with that. For the Grand Oak restroom building, then, the square footage includes design and engineering of the structure, not just the construction costs. ADA compliance of two of the three toilet... Rod just nodded, so I think, you know... Okay. I'm glad he's still awake, so that's good. ADA compliance of two of the three toilet rooms, which comes at a premium, which is very important, but it's a premium. Grab bars and higher toilets and then the baby-changing stations as well. Finishes need to be very durable. Graffiti and vandal-resistant and weather-resistant as well. Public restrooms are heavily abused and require high maintenance to keep them socially acceptable. And we know that in all of the restrooms that the city owns, that they're very subject to vandalism. They're heavily used. They need to be very durable. So this restroom includes... Floor coating includes an additive of coarse flakes for skid resistance and slip resistance. I don't have that in my bathroom. I don't know about all of you. Stainless steel wire vents in lieu of galvanized steel for improved longevity. Instead of exposed trusses and wiring, which can be attractive to vandals, the entire building receives a cement board ceiling. Water faucets are metered faucet types, so they intentionally shut off. Unlike many public restrooms, ours takes a tankless water heater for warm H2O in all three sinks. So it's actually warm water. Not hot, because we don't want people to overdo it, but they are warm. I think that's important for families sometimes who need warm water. Low-flow toilets and lavatories are stainless steel, not porcelain, to resist vandalism. And they are wall-mounted, which is more expensive for ease of floor mopping, odor reduction, and general housekeeping. We have hose bibs that we put in the building, on the outside of the building, for ease of exterior maintenance and washdown. This is an important one, too. The electrical panel is sized, so it's larger. We have a larger electrical panel on the building than we need in order to support additional electrical demand for the events in the park. And as you know, electrical is always very expensive. Exterior lights are dark-sky compliant, per our sustainable initiatives, and are on a photo cell for energy conservation. The interior lights are occupancy sensors. Both interior and exterior light fixtures are marine-grade LED devices that are durable and, again, vandal-resistant. So you see where I'm getting here. The empty conduit and interior wall space is being provided, and that's at the very back, for mechanical and electrical room to allow for future public Internet at the park as well. So we really, when we looked at this building, we were really looking for its performance, not just now, but in the future, which is the way we in Dunedin look at everything. How is it going to age? Is it going to endure? Is it going to remain in, you know, a condition that we expect of our facilities? The addition of valuable amenities, such as exterior stainless steel drinking fountain with a bottle filler, that was $22,000, I believe, but, again, it's important for the public to have that access to water and for families in particular when they're in the park. So what are some of the architectural additions that we put on? And I'm going to talk about exactly what they are, how much they cost, and why we did that. So the front porch. Oh, no, let's go ahead and... There we go. Okay, so on the left of your screen, you see the PS033 model of the restrooms. And that is the base model that if we just bought that, that's what they would plunk down on the foundation of what used to be the existing restrooms at the Old City Hall. And just to elaborate on that a little bit, as you know, we are taking advantage of the existing infrastructure at Old City Hall to hook up to the water-wastewater so that we don't have to put in that infrastructure, again, to ensure that this is not, that this is as cost-effective as we can be. Now, the one on the right is the restroom that we ordered, and it has the front porch, which we thought was important for relief for some folks as they wait. Standing seam metal roof. So for our downtown, the standing seam metal roof is particularly popular. It's very durable, and it really adds to the architecture. There is a fiber cement lap siding, and you can see that it's in the off-white there. Exterior brick wainscot and black mechanical room, and a back mechanical room to enhance functionality. Again, the ADA compliance, the two to three bathrooms with the grab bars. These architectural features cost, along with the water fountain, at about $105,000. But really, they are the only added cost to the restroom feature itself. And they're important because this is not a building that is going to be set way back in a park behind trees. The building is visible, and it's a large component of this park. For two generations, the City of Dunedin has been deliberate and foresightful in creating a sense of place in downtown Dunedin. These are the types of projects, this particular park, that make the downtown the $304 million asset that it is for the City of Dunedin right now. And keep in mind, it started in 1988, Bob, as a $35 million asset. It should be noted, also, that there have been eyes of the public on this restroom facility all along, and that's in the form of our committees. So the restroom facility was first reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee in October of 2024. The Architectural Review Committee, who recommended these upgraded features in May of 2025. And the CRA Advisory Committee, who approved the restroom facility in May of 2025. So there really was community input and other eyes on the facility itself. So in closing, as I said, there's a great deal of misunderstanding about exactly what this is. But it's not like building a bathroom in your house or even in your backyard. This is a commercial-grade building that is built and is currently being manufactured to endure and to reflect the values of our downtown. It is in keeping with the architectural guidelines, which is the bar that we hold everybody to who constructs structures in Dunedin. So, Mayor, that is my presentation. Are there any questions? Questions starting, Commissioner Gow? No questions. Commissioner Dugard? Vice Mayor? No questions. Commissioner Sandberg? So was there a second bid, or this is the only price we got on that restroom? So this is the price that we got through the competitive bidding process. So there was nothing to compare it to? So we looked at a number of restroom facilities that have been bid competitively, and this was the one that was the most cost-effective and would fit in our downtown the best. No, it wasn't. We don't go out to bid directly and using the piggyback. It's a contract that has already been bid. So you don't have to bid it twice. In that bid, I saw it referred to, there was out of Ocala and out of somewhere in Nevada. That's a far cry as far as delivery or shipping. And I don't have it in front of me, but I went back to the last meeting, and I think it was in the purchasing memo, it referenced that public restroom company of Ocala. So you just said it's going to be manufactured in Nevada, not Ocala, because that's a far cry in delivery. Correct. They were the ones that had the restroom facility that was most appropriate. So we feel comfortable piggybacking out of a group in Minnesota compared to anything here in Florida? No, let me put it this way. This is a state of Minnesota contract, piggyback contract. Okay. So the company is out of Nevada. Okay. That's all, Mayor. And just to answer your question directly, though, I do. I do feel very comfortable. Whatever it was that you saw that Ocala had, it wasn't what we need for the downtown and for this restroom facility. In that RFP, it also said it includes a shower. There's no shower in these facilities, right? No. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. Reference to shower? Yes. Okay. I'm good, Mayor. But basically, I mean, when you're piggybacking, it could have been any contract in any state. Yes. And the company could have been in any other state as well. So the thing is, you're looking at everything. Everything is on the table, which makes it a more broad perspective of trying to get the best deal, best price, best fit. And to that point, Mayor, this is a national contract. I mean, it's nationally. I guess that's kind of... And so this restroom facility that you see there would be the same in Nevada or Minnesota or Wisconsin or wherever. So what I'm saying is that although people feel that it is exorbitant, this same building is bid in lots of different places. And this is how much it costs. Okay. Well, everybody out there feel good. They know everything about bathrooms. They ever wanted to know, right? Okay. Probably more than they wanted to know. Yeah, I'm sure it's way more than you want to know. It's a lot of handshaking. Okay. I also want to make the point that the cost is the same for unisex or men and women. That was good. You weren't here. This commission spent about an hour talking about unisex versus men and women. So you'll have to go back and watch it if you're interested. I'd advise against it. Okay. All right. So moving on. Thank you, Jennifer, for that and staff. I know it took some time to put together. But really, I mean, I can't remember an item that I had as many questions about as this bathroom and the cost of it. And I know I'm not the only one. Okay. Cool. Action items we'll go to. First one is second reading of Ordinance 25-11 regarding Duneen's Sustainability Matrix and Sustainability Development Scorecard Ordinance, amending Chapter 105, Section 28.4 of the Land Development Code. Jen, could you please read Ordinance 25-11 by title only? Ordinance 25-11, an ordinance of the City of Dunedin, Florida, amending the City of Dunedin Land Development Code to amend each subsection of Section 105-28.4, Sustainability, to provide for a Sustainability, I'm sorry, Sustainable Development Scorecard and exemptions thereto as an alternative to the existing Sustainability Matrix and correcting grammatical errors, providing for applicability and separability, providing for conflict, providing for codification, and providing for an effective date. That was Ordinance 25-11, read by title only. Great. And could I have a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. Staff presentation. Natalie. Thank you. Natalie Gass, Sustainability Program Manager for the City. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. And I just want to say, you know, a really big thank you through this whole process. It's been years in the making. And to just take a brief moment and to thank some great people and great groups, first with my supervisor, Nicole Delfino, all of her encouragement and guidance through this process. Savannah Bunch, where we spent a lot of time back and forth reviewing every little piece to this. Our overall environmental team and our staff and our divisions, departments that really reviewed all of this and provided great feedback. And I also want to say a really big thank you to FAST, the Faith and Action for Strength Together, which they have had a group cheering and really encouraging this all along, showing that support. Our CEQS, Committee on Environmental Quality and Sustainability, that is the advisory committee to City Commission that I'm the staff liaison for, their review. And I will say their most recent recommendation being just for more encouragement of solar, knowing that that's not something that we can mandate on every project, but more encouragement. So we're going to be working on that. And they also want to be informed of design review projects that are coming forward. So we're going to make sure that they get those updates. The PSTA for providing feedback, our local developers for reviewing this and reviewing it in depth, taking some of their current projects, running it through the new scorecard, and seeing how it's feasible to achieve points and how they can get more points for the different strategies that they're incorporating. And then also our city manager and city attorney for guidance and going back and forth on all these edits and just making sure that we're staying in compliance with all of the regulations that we need to. So I don't have really any edits or changes per our last meeting. I'm happy to review anything if you would like me to. But there were no edits per commission's direction at last reading. Anybody wish to go through the whole presentation again? Okay. So I think then we'll go to any questions for staff, starting with the vice mayor. Yeah. You know, we've gone through this so much in detail, and this has been a long time in coming. So I really don't have any questions. Okay. Commissioner Sandbergen. No, I have no questions, mayor. Commissioner Gao. Thank you, mayor. If we could go through the whole presentation, I wouldn't. I'm kidding. Okay. But I do want to talk about Senate Bill 180. And if you could just kind of give a summary of the genesis of that, the interaction with this, and are there any drop-dead dates that when Senate Bill 180 no longer exists? So, and to provide a brief background for those who may be new or like, what is the sustainability matrix, what is the new scorecard? This is a document that is required of any design review developments in Dunedin, primarily those larger developments of five or more units or a commercial unit, 6,000 square feet or larger. This requires developers and owners to go through and comply with so many points within the matrix or the scorecard that they are incorporating intentionality and environmentally sustainable design into their projects. So, when this came about, we had the goal of updating the matrix to a new updated version. Senate Bill 180 came forward that said you, for any cities in the path of past hurricane, and Jen, you may want to speak to this because... Yes, no, basically Senate Bill 180 came about and affected every community in the state and basically said to local governments that you cannot pass anything that could be more restrictive or burdensome for a period of time. And it was an extended period of time. Currently, there is a bill that's before the legislature right now that's looking at changing what Senate Bill 180 did. It's still, I believe, in committee, so it hasn't passed yet. But should it be successful, I believe it will limit those dates rather than being years in the future to, I believe, the proposed one right now is June of this year. So, with that, because there was already a matrix within your code, and to ensure that there was nothing that was construed as more restrictive or burdensome, before you now is a scorecard that will be an option. So, a developer coming in that needs to comply with these requirements can go under the old matrix, or they have the option of going under the new scorecard, which offers them a variety of different ways of getting the points needed to be approved. And thank you for that. Sure. And the goal is really to have a single, unified, updated scorecard. That is the goal. And we are just waiting when we're actually able to do that with state regulation. So, we're here moving it forward, but ready for that next step when it comes available. If I may, Mayor, we staff sat down and kind of debated whether or not it was better to adopt in February or to wait until June until it was sunsetted and we could move on. But that was just too scary to wait. So, FAST would not allow that, I don't think. And so, we're bringing it to you for adoption, and then we'll address it later on. That's great. Thank you, Natalie. That's all, Mayor. Thank you. Commissioner Gardner. Thank you, Mayor. We go through learning curves on a number of things, and this has been a great learning curve. Congratulations for getting here. It's been a trek of a major sort. But I was looking, and I want to understand this, because as I see it, the business impact estimate, the form that was completed, I took a look at it, except I didn't understand the fact that almost all the answers was N-A. Can you help me understand why that was the case? So, this is looking at our land development code and updating that and understanding that the scorecard is an optional next step. And the points within there are actually, it's at a lower percentage that you have to achieve it, but it gives you more flexibility and options to be able to pick and choose what works for your project. So, again, it not being under that mindset of it not being more restrictive. And I can get back to you on that. I know community development had good information when they were guiding you through it. George is right behind you, Natalie. He can help. Perfect. There you go. Oh, I stumped you. Natalie. I know. That's hard to do. That's hard. Yeah, the business impact summary. So, as Natalie mentioned, if a project qualifies as a planning initiative through Florida statute as defined, we're basically N-A on all of the requirements because we're adopting legislation. I figured something like that. Consistent with. Under most other initiative we would take, we would have answers to these questions, but this didn't apply to this particular piece. So, really, it just, we have to put the form in there, but it's not really, it's a non sequitur. Yeah, you typically see that business impact summary for all that land development code stuff we bring, and it's made out of the exact same way. I figured that, but I just needed to be sure. Thank you so much, George. Cool. My only question, and Jen, I'll ask you directly on that. So, when we were up in Tallahassee, you know, things were moving along in the Senate with the fix-it bill, but they weren't necessarily, there wasn't anything really matching in the House. And do you know if that's changed, if the House side's getting... I'm not aware of a change at this time. Have you heard anything? Okay, go ahead. Yeah, I actually, I was discussing it with Nicole this afternoon, and apparently the bill in the Senate slowed down a little bit, too. So, yeah, there's not been very much progress at all to addressing Senate Bill 180. Okay. Fast. Get on them. Okay. All right. I'll have you come up in a minute. Okay. I don't have any other questions, so I'm going to go to open public input. And so, anyone in the audience wish to come forward. Name and address for the record in three minutes. I'm Linda Mifsud. I'm with First Dunedin UMC. We're at 410 Main Street. And I'm here with some of our fast friends. We're a member congregation, and a lot of our members came here tonight. This began a few years ago with our House meetings when water quality issues were identified as concerned. And we came up with this approach working with Natalie and Mayor Freeney and Commissioner Walker. We really believe that we came up with a wonderful approach to dealing with adding green stormwater infrastructure to the water quality as a new item in the matrix, which is now referred to as the scorecard. We're going to call it the scorecard. We really commend you all for following through on your commitment to include this. Tonight being the final vote, the timing is right. There are several developers that have projects moving forward, and I know at least one developer that is going to use the new scorecard. We so appreciate the work that Natalie Gass has put forth. She worked really hard on this update for all the categories, not just water quality. That's our concern. But there were other issues that she worked through with the various departments. And she has a very sound approach to developer reviews as it concerns sustainability. So we know this wasn't easy getting to this point. But this wrinkle that you got from the state legislature made it really hard. And I can't tell you how hard Natalie worked at coming up with the right approach with the city attorney and the city manager to make sure that we were on solid ground. And I really commend you for moving forward with this because it might have been easy to say, well, let's just wait. But so much work had gone through and so much momentum. Why delay it? You would miss projects that are in the works. And now we have it available as an option. And I can tell you Natalie has come up with a very good scheme on the point system so that it is attractive to developers. They not only don't have a problem with it, but it actually works better than the 2019 matrix did. But that said, we do look forward to supporting you as we go to one scorecard. It seems silly that you got two out there. It really does. But you work with what you have. And so until they fix this bill, and yes, there is a House bill, a companion bill for the Senate bill. And I didn't bring the numbers with me. I didn't want to get into that detail. However, it is moving forward. They are going to be finished by March 13th. But we want to invite you all to celebrate this update tonight. We want to invite you all to join us as we celebrate Dunedin for taking a leadership role in sustainable development for the city of Dunedin. We invite you all to join us for the Nehemiah Action on April 16th. It's on a Thursday this year, not a Monday. The hope is that this sustainable scorecard will serve as a model for others in our county to follow. And so we thank you so much for your efforts in moving this initiative forward. We look forward to seeing you at the Nehemiah Action. We hope that you can join us because we do want to celebrate you. And by the way, First Dunedin can provide some bathrooms until you get your bathroom in place. So just let us know when you need to borrow it. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to come forward and speak on this issue? Nicole, you can get that on our calendar. Okay. All right. So we'll close public input. I will go to commission comments, starting with the maker of the motion, which was Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. You know, this has been a long time coming. And it's just, you know, for all the reasons that were stated, you know, it's absolutely the right thing to do. And I just want to say, you know, I'm so proud of our community, but I'm absolutely amazed at faith, action, strength together. You all are passionate. You are committed. And, you know, I think every community needs to feel your energy. And, you know, this is a good day. This is a day to celebrate because this, and, you know, I guess the other thing that really kind of, you know, stands out for me is the fact that, you know, Dunedin is taking the lead on this. And so I'm proud of the community. Natalie, you did such an amazing job. You're steadfast and persistent. And you know what? I don't know that we could have pushed it through without you. And anyway, I just want to say thank you. Okay. Seconder of the motion was Commissioner DeGuard. Thank you, Mayor. Congratulations to everyone. Getting this through is a big accomplishment. I really like abandoning the word matrix. I think that had kind of a dark leather coat aspect to it that we're really glad to get rid of. Scorecard feels so much better. But in a serious way, this is a constructive piece to the future of our community. It allows us to go forward with something our builders will embrace in a way that's going to help in environmental impact ways. And so we all deserve to see this for what it is as a step forward and celebrate its accomplishments. And thank you all for what you do. It's an extraordinary partnership. We enjoy it very much. Thank you, Mayor. Mr. O'Gal. Thank you, Mayor. I look forward to this discussion continuing in June or July. Wouldn't that be wonderful? You know, where we have come from in the last eight years since I've been on the dais is just leaps and bounds on things that we've accomplished to the thought process. And there was a lot of times where I kind of felt I was alone, although the city has always done a good job. But it's really been our focus. And when it comes to resiliency and sustainability, certainly Dunedin will reap the benefits of being a leader. But this has impacts far beyond our city limits in what it does to the environment and protects the environment, to the way other cities and communities and residents, wherever they're living, will see the successes in Dunedin. And they'll take those successes back to where they live. And so you'll start to see that. If you all have ever seen Natalie and her cohorts when they have meetings, because we are blessed, we are truly blessed to have Natalie. But there are some other cities in our community, in our county, that have the same, they all have Natalies. And to hear them all talk and what they're doing, and they're all doing something different, but it's all amazing. And it's just really exciting. So thank you, Natalie, for all of your hard work and your focus and dedication and your passion. And it's just amazing. So thank you very much. Thank you, Mayor. We have the best Natalie, though. We do. We do have the best Natalie. Thank you. Mr. Sandberg, in final comments? Yeah, you know, I guess this is a scorecard to monitor accordingly. You know, I know the developers today get hit with a lot of high costs and costs of doing business. And I'm glad they were consulted. You know, this is a win-win for everybody. And I appreciate all your hard work that you've put into it. So thank you. Thank you. Well, I'll start out. Thank you, Natalie. And thanks for everyone involved. Thank you to FAST. As I said before, it's not a typical thing that you would see the churches joining together and fighting for. And I think it's fantastic. I just think it's fantastic because it has so much to do with our quality of life, with the sustainability issues of our future. And so I commend you guys for really being kind of very proactive in looking at the future in something this important that's kind of dull, but it's so critical. It's the baseline, right? So thank you for your commitment. So, and it has been a long time coming, but again, great job, Natalie. I just, I think it's fantastic. I think it has so many options to it. I can see where, you know, like you said, Linda, that it can draw people into some options and things like that. So, okay, so roll call vote. Commissioner Gow. Aye. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Vice Mayor Walker. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. The motion passes unanimously. Okay. Thank you. Thank you all. We'll see you when we, well, we don't have to do anything. If the fix-it bill passes, we don't have to do anything, right? It just, will we have to do anything if the fix-it bill passes? We will formally have to just go back to, then one, okay, so. That's right. That's right. If it passes, then yes, we'll bring forth another ordinance that'll strike all the maintenance. So, we may see you guys twice, you know, again, so, okay. All right. Sounds good. But Mayor, I did check, and April 16th, we do have a commission meeting that night. So, sorry about that. Yeah, but thank you for the invite. Aye, there you go. I love it. Okay. Where is it held? First, okay, wow. He remembers it well. Okay. Thank you, guys. Okay, we're going to go to 3B, Resolution, hold on a minute, let me just go here. Resolution 2602, Non-Ad Valorum Revenue Note Series 2026, Non-Revolving Credit Agreement. Jen, could you please read Resolution 26-02 by title only? Resolution 2602, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Dunedin, Florida, authorizing the issuance of a not-to-exceed $12 million non-ad valorem revenue note series 2026 to finance the cost of repairing damage to various capital facilities within the city as a result of recent hurricanes and to pay associated transactional costs, approving the form and authorizing the execution and delivery of a non-revolving credit agreement with Regions Capital Advantage, Inc., appointing the registrar for the note authorizing certain officials of the city to execute any document or to take any action required in connection with the issuance of the note and providing for severability and an effective date. That was Resolution 2602, read by title only. Okay, could I have a motion? So moved. Second. And I apologize to my colleagues. I did mean to take a break right there, but right after this item, we'll go for a quick break. Okay, so I have a maker and I have a seconder, and I'll go to staff presentation. Les. Great. Good evening, Mayor, Vice, Mayor, Commissioners. Les Tyler, the Finance Director. And as mentioned, this item is Resolution 20-02, Non-Applarium Revenue Note Series 2026. We have key members of our finance team with us today, and we've got Joe Tindall with Hilltop Securities with us today, right behind me. We've also got Dwayne Draper with Bryant Miller, all of PA. He's our disclosure and tax counsel with us also. And also our city attorney, Jennifer Cohen, is a member of the finance team. Some brief background. Staff estimates that the cost of our hurricanes, Helene and Milton repairs, will total approximately $13.6 million. That's our best estimates today, and up to about $12 million potentially financed by a bank loan line of credit. The line of credit is necessary to pay for the repairs until such time that FEMA reimburses us, FEMA and the state reimburses us for those repairs. FEMA is taking longer than originally anticipated to obligate and approve projects, as of today anyway, and process reimbursements. The estimated repair expenses for Helene and Milton are shown in Exhibit C in the staffing report. The dollar amount of FEMA and state estimated reimbursements is just under $12 million, is our maximum estimate at this point. On December 19, 2024, the City Commission approved Resolution 2433. That resolution approved the intent to reimburse the cost of repairs and damages to various capital facilities within our city because of Hurricane Selene and Milton with a future tax-exempt financing, and that's what we're here discussing today, is that financing. The financing plan for the bank line of credit is a tax-exempt bank loan secured by the City's covenant-to-budget and appropriate non-advalorium revenues for repayment. The debt service is included in the fiscal year 26 budget. On December 8, 2025, the City issued RFP 25-2546 for a tax-exempt loan proposal in an amount not to exceed $12 million to be repaid up to a four-year term, and the purpose of which was to obtain a tax-exempt variable financing loan. The intent of the RFP was to select a bank with financing that provides the lowest overall borrowing costs for the city and meets the city's financing requirements. The city received six proposals that were deemed responsive by the January 9, 2026 deadline, and an evaluation committee was formed to discuss the proposals, and the committee members were myself, the finance director, Les Tyler, also Gene Harshwater, the budget manager, and also Bob Ironsmith, the director of economic development and housing, on the committee. The evaluation committee ranked the region's Capital Advantage, Inc. proposal the highest. That was unanimous by all members. Staff has performed due diligence working with our bond counsel, Bryant Miller-Olive, PA, and our financial advisor, Hilltop Securities, to verify that the terms and conditions of the loan are acceptable to the city. The region's Capital Advantage, Inc. proposal provides a variable interest rate based on a formula. The formula is 79% of a one-month term SOFR index plus 59 basis points with the interest to be reset every month. Now, SOFR is an acronym for Secured Overnight Financing Rate. That's a Secured Overnight Financing Rate. That's a common rate that's used for these type of loans. It's an index that lots of banks use. As of January 21, 2026, the estimated variable interest rate using that formula is 3.49%. The loan will have a repayment term through February 1, 2030, a four-year term. The loan provides the city with flexibility to prepay with no penalties over the life of the loan. And I also want to point out that the loan has no unused fees, and some lenders will charge a non-usage fee for a line of credit. It's very common. It's a fee they charge for the unused portion of a line of credit during the term of the line of credit, and that can be anywhere from 15 to 30 basis points depending on the bank. The Regents Capital Advantage, Inc. proposal has no unused fees, so the interest on the line of credit amount, we will pay interest only on the line of credit amount that we draw down over the term of the loan. Some key financing information that is mentioned in the staffing in the background section I want to point out is the assumed close date will be February 10th, we expect the loan to close. Final maturity is February 1, 2030. The closing costs are $60,000 estimated costs, and that's for our bond disclosure and financing team. The total interest cost maximum amount would be $1.6 million over the term of the loan, over the four-year term, and that would be assuming we drew the entire $12 million down on day one. That's what that math comes to, a very conservative number. We don't plan to do that. Our plan is to draw down only for cash flow needs. We'll be monitoring cash flow on a monthly basis. We'll evaluate every month the cash flow, and we will draw down on a monthly basis based on our needs. The minimum draw on the line of credit is $500,000, so we have to draw at least that much every time we draw, which is fine. That's totally reasonable for our plans. I also want to mention that our city debt policy included in it has a limitation of a debtless target. It's a target that's in the policy, and the policy states that the overall outstanding ratio of annual government debt service, our government debt service loans, divided into our annual governmental revenues should not exceed a 20% ratio. It's a mathematical calculation that we go through every year when we do the budget. We also look at it when we're looking at future financings. And right now that ratio with our current financing or current governmental debt is 11.2%, well below the target of 20%. And with a line of credit of $12 million included in that calculation, we're at about 16.8% and still well below the limit. The proposed resolution 2602 is attached in the staffing report. It authorizes the issuance of a not-to-exceed $12 million non-evalorium revenue note series 2026 to Regents Capital Advantage, Inc. to finance reimbursements, repair damages to various capital facilities in the city of Dunedin because of recent hurricanes and transaction costs. That concludes the overall presentation. As I mentioned, I've got our bond disclosure council and also our financial advisor here in case you have any technical questions and they can help answer those. Thank you. Okay, so questions. I forget the way I started last time. I started over here last time. I think so. I'll start here this time. So let me ask you. The debt service by the government, our government revenue, less than 20%, is that based on the assumption that we do a whole $12 million draw? Yes, it is. That's a good question. Yeah, but it's a very conservative calculation because it's assuming we do the whole $12 million draw. That's correct. Yeah. All right. You know, I looked at this pretty intensely. I don't really have any more questions on it. Mr. Sanberry? Do we have to put up some kind of – do we have to pledge something? Or is there some security on this? Or is it just the line of credit? Yeah. I'm going to let Dwayne or Joe answer that just to get it technically correct. Yeah. Yes. I'll start over. Hi. Dwayne Draper, Bryant Miller, and I love your bond council. The source of security for the note is the covenant to budget and appropriate legally available non-advocable revenues, which is a well-regarded credit that the city has provided in the past. I guess I wanted an answer. Could you say that again? A covenant to budget and appropriate legally available non-advocable revenues. Okay. That's the source of security for – Because we didn't put the building up or something like that then. Yeah. So the local governments can't mortgage City Hall like we can in the residence. So you're able to secure it with a variety of non-advalorem revenue-type sources. You have to go to the voters if it's ad valorem tax. So what this is called is the covenant to budget and appropriate legally available non-advalorem revenues. That's the way in which this one was structured. Okay. Back to you, Les. Is there a – I think he's – during your presentation, what is the total cost to the city to obtain this? The transactions cost in total is about $60,000. $60,000? And it references in the comparison of the bank's bidding document. What exactly did that mean? There was nothing more to read. It just said bidding document. What does that mean? Well, the – our – we had an RFP. We had an RFP process for this month. So we did an RFP. We had it out for, I think, 30 days. And I mentioned we had a pretty good response. We had six proposals from six different banks. And, you know, the committee did rank the – the one we're recommending, everyone ranked that number one. It was unanimous. But we had – we had some pretty good proposals. Okay. And if I'm not mistaken, isn't Wells Fargo the main bank for the city of Dunedin? Yes. Wells Fargo is our main bank. They do our checking and our concentration account and our payroll account. That's correct. Yeah. And they did bid. They did – And they didn't come through with the best offer in our day-to-day bank. They were not the most attractive offer. That's correct. We – they – their interest rate was competitive. But some of the covenants and requirements they required – and they did have – I mentioned that unused fee. That unused fee that you pay. They had an unused fee of 30 basis points and which, you know, two other ones had no unused fee. The one we're recommending has no unused fee. But they had that. But I think the bigger issue was some of the requirements and covenants that they were – they would want the city to agree to that were not favorable for us, to us. I guess just as, you know, as a citizen of Dunedin, let's – you expect a little bit more loyalty from somebody that we've been doing business with. So, I mean, if they're listening, they're welcome to reach out back to me. So, thank you. Thank you. Vice Mayor, questions? Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, actually, I think in summary, all of this kind of needs to be repeated. Did you just – what's the max amount of this line of credit or this – Yeah, well, the max amount of the line we can draw on is $12 million. And that's the max amount we could draw on. We're not – you know, our plan, as I mentioned, we're going to manage cash flow. I don't anticipate us drawing anywhere near that number, you know. But a lot of that depends on FEMA's reimbursements. You know, we have projects standard. We have the east wall that's going now. And our first draw will be for the east wall probably next month. And then we've got the – we've got the pier and the pier this fiscal – or this – in the next 12 months, you know, to be worked on. So we'll be drawing on those. But I do expect – I expect that by July or August or sooner that the bulkhead will be obligated and we'll start getting reimbursed for that. So part of it will be as long as FEMA does move things along and they get their budget situation straightened out, I do expect that we'll be drawing and then things will be obligated and we'll be paying it off, in other words. And once we receive FEMA money, we are required actually per the agreement and we'll be doing it anyway, you know, we'll turn around and pay that line off that week, you know, as soon as we can. So we're just kind of obligated to pay for these projects in a faster timeline than FEMA is able to provide funds. That's exactly right. So this is kind of just bridging the funding. That's correct. This is sort of like a bridge alone, sort of. Okay, and so the purpose of this is strictly to help us recover from the hurricanes and those FEMA-related projects? 100 percent, yes. Okay, and nothing is going to go to general fund operating expenses, anything? No. This is just for hurricane repairs and damages. I knew that. I just felt the residents needed to hear that. And so the minimum draw is $500,000? Yes, correct. And so any time there is a draw, will that come before the commission? Do we have to approve that, or is that? No, that's just part of the terms of the agreement. We will be doing, well, it depends. We may do one draw a month. It would just depend on the time of the project, yeah. Okay, all right. That's all that I have. Thank you. Commissioner DeGuyne. Thank you, Mayor. This is something that's being done probably by other municipalities that have also been impacted by the storm. Have we any knowledge of how that's operating for other communities? Is this very common right now? Yeah, there's other communities doing it. I might ask Joel. Do you have any comments on that? Joel's our financial advisor and works for lots of cities and counties. He may be able to give some good information on that. Sure. Good evening. Joel Tyndall with Hilltop Securities. We serve as the city's financial advisor. There, yes, a number of other communities have used these lines of credit over the years as a way to cash flow the recovery, rebuilding costs in response to hurricanes prior to FEMA reimbursement. Because there's some uncertainty on the timing of the FEMA reimbursement. In this case, the line of credit gives you four years. So if FEMA, if the projects are completed and FEMA comes in earlier, everything could be paid off earlier. But it's a pretty common tool to use is a variable rate line of credit. And the variable rate line of credit, in this case, provides you a couple important things that are beneficial in this context. One is you only pay interest when you draw it down. So if you don't need to draw the principal down to pay project costs, you don't pay interest on that. The other is because it's a variable rate, variable rate typically is prepayable at any time without penalty. So if you do draw down and you spend the funds towards the project costs, as soon as you get reimbursement in from FEMA, you can immediately pay down that principal and stop paying interest on it. In addition, this has the benefit, like Les mentioned, of not having an unused fee. So essentially, if you didn't use the $12 million at all, you're not paying on it as you're sitting there, even though that typically would be or cost the bank something to provide you that availability. Thank you. Now, as I understand it, the SOFR is calculated on the outstanding balance. It's not on the date of withdrawal. Is that correct? It's calculated two business days before each month, each calendar month, with the exception of the initial interest rate, which would be two business days before closing. Finally, last question, interest costs, are they reimbursable under FEMA? Yes, the interest costs for all of our replacements are reimbursable by FEMA. We should be reimbursed at 87.5%. For draws that are not for replacements, they would not be reimbursed, but we don't plan on having very few of those draws, so we expect that most of it will be reimbursed by FEMA. Thank you. That's all I have, Mayor. Thank you. Okay. I'll do my questions, and I think Vice Mayor has an additional question. So, the interest that we do pay is reimbursable through FEMA? Yes. For all the work at the marina, the major replacements, the pier and everything, that would be reimbursable. If we were to draw down on something such as, if we were to draw down on our grants management costs we pay, you know, for Tetra Tech, that would not be reimbursable. But we're going to be monitoring this very close, and our plan is to not draw down anything that won't be reimbursable. And then, like, what if FEMA doesn't pay? If FEMA doesn't pay, then, you know, what we would have to do is we would have to, at the end of four years, get a longer-term loan, working with the finance team, get a seven- to ten-year loan to be determined the dollar amount. And to push that out, then we'd also have to look at possibly capital projects, not doing some capital projects. You know, there's some things we could look at, but we'd definitely probably get a long-term loan and then, you know, push off projects and look at other ways to get that paid down. So, but you feel confident they're going to, I mean. Yeah, there's been, you know, there's a lot of discussion about FEMA and what they're, and they're working towards changing FEMA, the current administration. And, but everything that I've heard from, you know, Tetra Tech and Wood O'Brien, who both, they specialize in this area, and things I've heard from others, everything they are changing is moving forward, not affecting prior storms. So, yeah, I'm confident that we will get paid, you know, treated by FEMA as normal without those new changes, but it may take longer than normal to get our money. Great. Thank you, Les. Okay, I think, Vice Mayor, do you have an additional question? Yeah, this is actually related to the mayor's question on the FEMA reimbursement. So FEMA will pay 75% of the damage, the cost, yeah. And then we pay 25%. Where's our 25% coming from? Yeah, actually, the FEMA pays 75%, and then the state pays 12.5%, and then we pay 12.5%. Okay, and that 12.5% that we pay, where does that come from? Yeah, that's coming from our budgets. Like in the Marina Fund, in our financial forecast right now, we've got that match factored in. You know, we're assuming that we pay that 12.5%, and then FEMA reimburses, and state reimburses 87.5%. Same in the general fund. Again, we're expecting FEMA to pay their portion, but we have that match for us factored into our 26th and future year estimates. Yeah, that was good. That's exactly what I wanted to hear. Thanks. Thank you. Anyone else have anything additional? Okay. So I will open this to public comment. Does anyone in the audience wish to speak on this issue? Okay. Seeing no one, I will close public comment. I'm not sure what's going on out there, but okay. Oh, the banner, the wind sail. There's a mesh banner coming soon, but for right now, that's a sail. Okay. Let's see. So we're going to go to commission comments, and I'll start with the maker of the motion, which was Commissioner Sanberger. Really not much to add. 16 months we've been sitting up here talking about hurricanes, and it just keeps going. And I know you're looking out for the best interest, and if this is something we have to do, I understand. Man, it's just unbelievable how much damage those storms really caused. So thank you, Les. Okay. Vice Mayor, you were the seconder. Yes. Thanks, Mayor. Yeah, so I, you know, this is, you know, my opinion. I know that the procurement was, you did your due diligence on it. And on top of that, you know, I mean, owning and operating a business, you know, this is just the cost of doing business. But the good news is, is that we have recourse for reimbursement on various aspects of this. So, you know, I, yeah, I think, you know, it's a necessary thing that we do this. So thank you. Commissioner Gow. My comments have already been mentioned. Yeah, I'm good. Commissioner Andegard. Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to seek a little forgiveness. I'm going to throw in a question. That's okay. How will this affect our financial reporting? Well, we, we will be having, you know, when we pull down, we'll have interest expense that we'll be recognizing in the very, you know, whether it depends on, we'll be tracking this for, depending on, a lot of its Marina Fund, as you guys, as you all know, a lot of our damages are in the Marina Fund. The, the, the, we have other damages in the general fund and in our storm recovery fund. So we'll be tracking it by fund and we'll be, but we will be having interest expense, you know, that will be over the, over the life alone. And then, and then, you know, and, and we'll be, and again, we'll be paying back as, as we get, get our reimbursements. So we'll show a, a, a payable inside our financials for the outstanding balance as you bring forward? Yes. Okay. So we'll see that, not the full line, just the amount of the line that we're using at that time. The, the, the amount of the draw, that's correct. Yeah. Okay. That's right. Thank you. I'm sorry about putting a question out there, but I just wanted to see how we would be able to track this as we go forward. I am amazed at the extraordinary management I've seen here from the start of the storms, how we managed to borrow money from ourselves. This one's a little bit big for borrowing money from ourselves, but we've done a great job of keeping the management costs down. I am completely in favor. Thank you. Okay. The sale is not going to damage the building, right? The sooner we get the mesh sign, the better comment. Whoa. Okay. Yeah. So, no, no, I, I appreciate all the hard work. Les, I always have confidence in the work you do. And, again, this is another example of, I think, just keeping us in line, making sure we're doing the right things to protect our financial good. And so, I appreciate that. So, it will be a roll call vote. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Commissioner Gow. Aye. Vice Mayor Walker. Aye. Commissioner Sambergen. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And the motion passes unanimously, and we are going to take a short break. And check on the sale. We're going to go to, let's see, item 3C, consideration and approval of Resolution 26-03 of the City of Dunedin, Florida, approving a $610,000 loan to the flats on Main Street LLC. Jen, could you please read Resolution 26-03 by title only? Resolution 26-03, a resolution of the City of Dunedin, Florida, approving a $610,000 loan to the flats on Main Street LLC in connection with an affordable housing development to be known as the flats on Main. Making findings, approving the form, and authorizing the execution of the loan documents, construction, loan subordination agreement, and permanent loan subordination agreement, and providing for an effective date. That was Resolution 26-03, read by title only. Okay. Can I have a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. So, staff presentation. Yes, Mayor and Commissioner. Bob, there you are. I moved. Bob Ironsmith, Economic and Housing Development Director. Mayor and Commissioners, this is just really more of a switch from, if you remember, what was approved was a $610,000 grant for the affordable housing project, the flats. This was something that was done last year. And, of course, we're very excited to see this project happen, 78 apartment units for low incomes. But as we went through the process with Archway as a developer, we needed to look at changing it from a grant to a forgivable loan over a period of time. And the reasons for this was some tax implications, but also to make sure that all the funds are put in toward the project, as opposed to just being spent on administrative type costs. So, this is a transition, if you will. I do have one of the partners here, Dave Hayslip, if you can answer any questions. Again, kudos to Jen Cowan and her colleague there, Mark, who really helped make all this happen. There was quite a bit of involvement with the other banks as well as the city. And this represents, again, a forgivable loan over a period of time, as opposed to just an outright grant, which was previously approved by the commission for the flats. And I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Okay, questions starting with Commissioner Gow. You know, I really don't have any questions, but I'm good. Okay, Commissioner DeGuard. As I understand it, we're moving from a grant to a forgivable loan. Is that where we're going? Correct. That's exactly where we're going. The numbers haven't basically changed in any way. Is that correct? No, Commissioner, still the same. $610,000 just streamed over a period of time, as opposed to just a one-shot grant. That's all the questions I have. Thank you. Okay, Vice Mayor, questions? Are you able to provide any detail on what the tax consequences are? I'm just kind of curious how this... I would have to ask Dave Hayslip that. You know, obviously, as a layperson, I would think it would be a capital gain type situation, but I'm going to let Dave answer that one. Sure. Good to see everyone again. Dave Hayslip with Archway Partners. If the contribution is structured as a grant, it's treated as income to the property, and so we would have to withhold taxes. It's roughly $200,000 to $250,000. By structuring it as a loan, which may be forgiven at the city's discretion, it's not taxable. Okay. So we can utilize the full contribution. Okay. All right. Now, that answered my question. Thank you. Certainly. Great question. No questions, Mayor. They're getting to, just in general, getting ready to close on this property, and they're looking to, I know Dave just stepped back there, but they also need to get some approval from HUD up at Tallahassee. So if everything goes well, they're looking to break ground here in the latter part of the spring. Okay. Well, I do not have any questions, so I'm going to open it to public input. Anyone in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Seeing no one, I will close public input and go to Commission comments. Maker of the motion was Vice Mayor. Yes, I have no additional comments. Thank you. And seconder of the motion was Commissioner DeGuard. No questions. No comments? Yeah. That, too. Commissioner Gow? No comments. Commissioner Sandbergen? Nothing to add, Mayor. Okay. Roll call vote. Commissioner Sandbergen? Aye. Commissioner Gow? Aye. Commissioner DeGuard? Aye. Vice Mayor Walker? Aye. Mayor Franey? Aye. Net motion passes unanimously. Okay. All righty. Thank you. Okay. Next one is 3D, Application DR-2025-0004, Second Hearing and Design Review Approval. for the development of a two-story, 21-unit residential vacation home project called Azul Avenue Vacation Homes, located at 1380 Pinehurst Road. Okay. And this, reminding everybody, this is a quasi-judicial hearing. I'm going to open public hearing and request that the city clerk swear in all who wish to provide testimony on the design review application to be heard. Okay. And has anyone had any ex-parte communication to disclose for the record up here? Nope. Okay. All right. So we'll go to staff presentation. Francis slash George. Thank you, Mayor, Vice, Mayor, Commissioners, George Kinney, on behalf of the Community Development Department and Francis. Leon Sharp is also with me, our planner too. And she will kind of walk through it very quickly. Again, you saw most of the information on the first read. So we'll move through it very quickly, but I just wanted to very quickly remind everybody from a project description standpoint, the project will include the components of 21 townhome units, approximately 1,377 square feet each, two bedrooms, two baths per unit, covered parking spaces. And I wanted to mention this, rooftop solar, because I know that's kind of fresh in everybody's mind. So they are proposing rooftop solar panels. Community amenities will include a swimming pool with pavilion, outdoor cooking station, for residents and guests, and a golf cart and car charging stations, walking past sitting areas, and private drive with stormwater ground vault system and private sidewalks. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Francis. She'll go through it very quickly again, just to kind of orient you and the public to the location and just a brief overview of the project, and then we'll open it up to questions. Thank you. Yes. Thank you, George. Francis Leong Sharp, Planner 2 for the city, presenting this application once again for DR-2025-0004. Just to quickly go over the background of the property itself, it is located at the south, near the southwest corner of Pinehurst Road and San Christopher Road. As you can see in the area there, the size of the property is just over an acre, and the underlying land use designation is retail and services with a zoning district of FXM or form-based medium. As George had mentioned, the proposal of the project is a 21-unit vacation rental units that is going to be situated on the site here, and the site is currently sits vacant, but it was once a charter school that used to be occupied on that land. And here we go again, just indicating the surrounding land use designation to the left image and the zoning designation to the right image in relation to the surrounding properties. And as mentioned in their previous presentation hearing, the land use does permit the property to have up to 24 dwelling units per acre, and as proposed, the project once again is proposing 21 units, which is well below the maximum density that they're requesting for. And once again, with the zoning designation of form-based medium, they are proposing to meet the setbacks and the dimensional standards of that zoning as shown on the table here. And once again, based on the staff's compatibility evaluation, we do deem that the proposed project is compatible to its surrounding area, where by and large you see that there are mixtures of single-family homes as well as commercial uses that are abutting against the property. And then in terms of height, based on the attachment that is supplied in the staffing, the aerials do show that there are heights that are close to what they're proposing in that area as well. And once again, going over the dimensional standards of the project, they are meeting the parking requirements, which is one space per bedroom, as well as providing buffers around the surrounding neighboring properties, the appropriate buffers. And then they have also provided the traffic impact analysis and citizen participation plan. So there was an outreach that was done for this project prior to coming before you for this request. And once again, going back through the committees that this project has been presented in front of, the DRC has been, have reviewed this project back in December of 2024. The Architecture Review Committee have reviewed this project multiple times. Uh, as you can see in summary, uh, and the, uh, local planning agency or the LPA, um, have reviewed this project on November 12th. Um, all of the committees have recommended approval of this project as being shown today. And then once again, City Commission did review this project back in, um, January 8th of 2026. Uh, also, uh, made the motion to approve the project at first hearing. Uh, thus far, um, there has been, hasn't been any changes, uh, since the first presentation of this, uh, application. So, once again, staff determined that, um, the project has met all the, um, criteria, um, based on the, um, provisions that were set forth in the land development code. And also, we recommend, uh, approval of this application as well. And we'll go ahead and provide you the rendering of the, oh, right there, of the project in itself. And, um, staff is available for questions. Okay. Let me ask you, is there going to be an applicant presentation? Uh, you're, you're, uh, if you'd like, Mayor, they are here. Okay, so, um, but we, if I was going to take questions, but I, I thought maybe we might want to do, well, if there's not a set presentation, I was going to make, we could ask questions overall. They're, they're here to, they're here to present. They're here just. Yep. If you need, if you need to present. Only if needed. Yep. Okay. Okay. So, all right. So, um, does anybody, well, why don't we go ahead and do our questions and maybe we'll achieve everything we need to by then. So, uh, I start this time, Vice Mayor. Okay. Um, thanks, Mayor. Um, could you go back to the land use and, um, zoning? Yes. All right. Um, can you remind me, land use, retail and services, zoning, form-based, medium? Um, and I'm just curious, I'm, I'm just asking just partially for my own education here, but, um, what other kind of businesses, structures could go into those places? Yeah, good, good question, uh, Vice Mayor. So, uh, you know, as the commission knows, they work together. So, the land use and zoning work together. In this case, retail and services offers a series of what are called primary uses and then there's secondary uses. So, for this particular application, the RNS would require that the base or the majority of the project fit, be it commercial or retail operation. Okay. And in this case, short-term vacation rentals in the city, from a city perspective, are considered non-residential or commercial. Right. Then you have to kind of layer the zoning on top to find out whether or not the use that they're asking for is permitted, knowing that it has to be a commercial first and a residential second. So, the FXM is one of our, I would say, one of our more robust zoning categories in that it offers a variety of uses. So, this is really set up to offer, uh, you know, a number of opportunities and different kinds of uses. So, there could be some transition over time. Um, that said, um, um, the, uh, I just lost my thought, but, um, um, the, um, hmm, anyway. Um, so, um, you know, anything that would be a change to this particular ask would have to come back through the design review process. Okay. All right. Um, yeah, thank you. Any other questions? Are you good? Yeah, no more questions. Okay, Commissioner Sandberg, question? I believe that, uh, the short-term rental rules regulations was added, but was that on the last presentation? No. So, we included that as an exhibit because there were some questions about it at the first reading just to see what they said and what the requirements were for management purposes. And, you know, I know they've got a management plan. Um, and the commission may recall, too, that we recently amended some of those short-term vacation rental standards to include a registration fee per unit. Uh, so they are, um, tracked and monitored by our office. So, um, okay. But those are just there really just for your, for yours and the public's perspective to see what those rules and regulations are around those. Good, good. Yeah, I brought that up last time. Uh, I, uh, there was one of the neighbors here at the last meeting that had a question about a tree. I, I was a little confused. You seemed to know what he was talking about. Was that resolved? So, I, I know that the commission, I'll kind of defer the applicant on that. I know the commission said try to continue to work with that. Okay. It's, it was the neighbor, I believe, to the- In the south, I believe, yeah. Um, so, uh, you know, these, the, and I don't think they were, they were referring to the grand oak that was saved as part of this. I think they're referring to a tree a little farther back along that property line. Okay. I'm not sure if they've had any discussion since the first read on that. I don't know. Um, but, you know, certainly as part of this, when it comes to infrastructure review and permitting, our, our city arborists will have an opportunity to take a look at this. Yeah. And like with every, uh, construction project, you know, I, I know there was a traffic impact study. Is there any thought or concerns about, uh, you know, the traffic from Duneen high school? That's a pretty busy north, south road, the east, west, San Christopher, um, any plans, anything that the city's discussed with them about blocking traffic or tying up traffic during the construction? You know, uh, I think their traffic folks are probably here or somebody can probably answer, you know, speak to that, but I, you know, the TIA certainly, uh, you know, talks about the peak trips in and the peak trips out, uh, which are significantly reduced from the previous use. Okay. I guess, you know, but that high school, there's a lot of traffic north, south, anyway, so they might be able to speak. Okay, good. Thank you, George. Thank you, mayor. Okay. Uh, commissioner Gow. No questions, mayor. Uh, commissioner DeGord. Uh, I was studying, thank you, mayor. I was studying the, um, traffic analysis and I must confess it's a little bit Greek to me when I was taking a look at it. I was particularly trying to, um, assess the traffic patterns relative to the previous tenant, which was a, um, Da Vinci school, I think. Um, have, did we do a comparison of the differences between those two? Yes, I believe we did. And I think that's in, I thought we had that. Yeah, so, uh, yeah, so the charter school, uh, was producing, uh, 185 total trips with 90, 98 entry trips and 87 exit trips. The apartment complex will produce 15 total trips for entry for exit. And that's, that's AM peak PM peak. Uh, the charter school is producing 131 trips, 64 entry, 67 exit. And the apartment complex as proposed would have total trips of 14, nine entry, uh, five exit. Substantially better than it would be the explanation of that. Is that correct? It's basically, uh, uh, uh, about, uh, 280 trip difference. Yes. Oh, perfect. Okay. For both teams. That's all I have, mayor. Thank you. Okay. I, I don't think I have any additional questions. Well, actually I take that back. Um, I couldn't remember, were there any outstanding items from last time that we actually had? Uh, there was some conversation about the front, the decorative front wall. So, uh, you know, we did do a little, uh, you know, took a peek at that because there was some concern about it being a six foot solid wall. Um, so actually the, uh, when we went back and looked at it a little bit harder, the form-based code requires anything above 42 inches to be 50% opaque. So it couldn't be a solid black wall all the way to the top. Yeah. Good. Okay. And then, yeah. And then as far as signage goes, I know that in here it basically was an NA, um, but, but what kind of signage? It would just go by the normal sign code or? Yes, ma'am. Pretty much. Okay. All right. That's, that's the only questions I had. Um, so, um, does the applicant have a presentation or want to speak to any more, do we need any more clarification on traffic or are we good on that? Okay. All right. So, um, so let me ask, is anyone in the publish, public wish to speak on this issue? Um, this would be the time. So name and address for the record in three minutes. Good evening. My name is Tom Michaels, 1370 Pinehurst Road, Dunedin, Florida. The property immediately south of the proposed development. I think you all know I object to the development. I said that last time, so I won't dwell on that. I wanted to bring, once again, some important issues. 21 units, two bedrooms, parking for two cars, maybe three or four extra parking spots. That's it. With the people that are going to be coming and going, either staying there or visiting there, there's woefully insufficient parking. Where are they going to go? There's no parking on the street. So I guess they're going to start coming over into my parking lot. And I don't want to have to become that ugly neighbor that puts up no parking, tow-away zone, et cetera. So then where else are they going to go? The veterinarians across the street? I mean, it's an enclave, totally fenced in, as you can see. And when the school was there, we didn't have a problem. I didn't have a problem. I'll put it that way. Yeah, every morning, cars lined up, dropped their kids off. And late in the day, they lined up and picked their kids up. But they were gone. They weren't coming and going all day long. They weren't coming and going at nighttime. It was flow in the morning, flow in the evening. So early in the morning, it was before business hours. And in the evening, it was, you know, at the end of the day. And then, so we got a parking issue. And then, as you can see by that diagram, and I brought it to everyone's attention about the fencing, a six-foot fence. Well, before, when you took your break, I went over here, tried to get an idea of what a six-foot look like. Now, their property is about a foot higher than my property, okay? So if we look at that third painting right there, that's a little under seven-foot. So that's how high this fence is going to be. Six-foot, take about eight inches off the top, the six-foot. And like I said, I just took my little tape measure there and flipped it up to get an idea. So we're going to have a fence that high. Now, if you're in a car, probably maybe where your height is, you can't see through that. You can't see over that. You can't see around it. And they're going to run six-foot on the front and six-foot down on the side towards my property, which is going to make it extremely dangerous for anyone leaving my parking lot. The other evening, when the weather wasn't quite so chilly, I was trying to leave my parking lot, and there was someone zipping down on the sidewalk on their e-bike, and I would have hit them if I could have seen. If I, you know, I didn't hit them because I could see there wasn't any fence like that. I do need to wrap up. Right. Time's up. So I think it's a danger to people out there. You mentioned about the school, your school kids funneling down there day in and day out, you know, when it's in session. And I had other issues. But I'm very concerned about that. And at least a four-foot fence. Opaque where you can't see through, what good is that going to do to me? Okay. Thank you for your comments. Anyway, thank you very much. Thank you for your comments. Does anybody else wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Okay. Seeing no other person, I will close public input. George, can you respond to some of the comments? So I don't know if the applicant has had a chance to meet with the neighbors since the first reading. But, you know, we can certainly permit something other than a six-foot fence along the sides. And as I mentioned, that front facade wall would be required as part of the project as the street screen. But only the first 42 inches can be solid. So anything above 42 inches then would have to be at least 50% opaque. You know, certainly from a permitting perspective, we can work with the applicant and the neighbor if there's some other alternative kind of consideration for the side yard. Applicant, any comments on that? Yeah. Just to give your name again for the record. Walter Macchio, Azulev. So Mr. Thomas and I are getting along great. And while he's objecting to this, we have a very good relationship, I would say. We're not in love with the six-foot fence in the front anyways. So we would be totally on board, especially if it's a safety concern for him. As a good neighbor, we would take that into consideration. We are following the form-based code as it's written and trying to comply with it the best we could and put forward a product that was undeniably in line with what the form says. But a shorter fence for a developer means less material. So we're happy to bring it down and we're happy to do whatever it is to make it most beautiful too. So, yeah, absolutely, we will work with both the city and Mr. Thomas to make sure that visibility, even though it's been studied and we have some objections to the things he's saying, we would definitely, you know, make sure that it was something that made him happy and was still beautiful for the city and for our project. Thank you for that. You're welcome. Thank you for your comments. Okay. Anything else, George, before I close public hearing? I don't think so, Mayor, unless you have any specific questions. Okay. Everybody good. Anybody else have any questions? Okay. Commissioner DeGuard. Are we restricted in any way to lowering that fence by code? So the form-based code does require a six-foot fence. But we're only talking about that front piece because it's what's called a streetscape wall and FXM requires an 80% frontage build-out. So that's how they're meeting that 80% frontage build-out. So that portion of it's required. That fence can be, though, however, lower to 42 inches and then supplemented with maybe some plantings on top of that to get to that six feet. So it can be a much softer wall. But the requirement does exist within the form-based medium zoning provision. Thank you. And I think Vice Mayor had one more question as well. Yeah, related to that. So any structure that goes in there would have to have that fence? Not necessarily because it can be structure itself. So they just didn't carry the structure. As you see, part of that streetscape wall is the structure that's on the right-hand side of that photo. So that's a piece of it. That counts towards that 80%. But to fill that, to reach that other 80%, instead of additional structure, they chose the wall, the streetscape wall. So the other option, just so I'm clear, it would be to bring, have an actual structure all the way out to the line. There could be structure that takes place of that as well. But like I said, Vice Mayor, if it's, you know, 42 inches, you're bringing it considerably farther down. And we did have this third-party reviewed by our traffic engineer, and he did confirm that the site visibility triangles are fine with the proposal. But that said, we could certainly, you know, certainly look at something much softer to fill that gap between that 42 inches and the boundary. Did the school that was there before have a fence? I can't remember. No, but they were legal nonconforming because they weren't, you know, they had been there for a long time prior to the FXM zoning going into place. All right. Thank you. Anybody else? Questions? Okay. All right. We're going to close the public hearing, and I need a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. Go to Commission comments, starting with the maker of the motion. Commissioner DeGuard. When I look at the possibilities for this particular piece of property, and I look at this particular project, as well as the efforts on the builder's behalf, the developer's behalf, I see nothing but green lights. But I did hear what you had to say, and if there is some way we can bring that wall down, that would help my support even better. Thank you. Okay. Seconder, the motion was Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. You know, as a commission up here, you know, we really don't have a lot to say about who buys the property. But what we do have control over is the fact that the property is used as it's zoned and it's commensurate with the land use. And, you know, from the perspective of, you know, just that area in general, you know, what's there currently is a vacant lot that just, you know, it's just a vacant lot. And I do see the potential here for this to actually, you know, enhance that area of town. But, sir, I did hear what you said, and I really agree with my colleague, Commissioner Dugard, that, you know, we need to do something about that fence. So, um, greatly appreciate, you know, your consideration on that, and those are my comments. Okay, and, uh, Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I was a little hard on you guys the last time. I recognize that. And to a certain extent, I do apologize. Um, but my comments were real. Uh, I just, my, my issues with this project is there's nothing around that area that is a destination place. Uh, and so if somebody is coming there, there's nothing walkable around them for them for visiting Dunedin. They're going to come to Dunedin, stay in this place, and every place they want to visit in Dunedin is not walkable from where they are. So they're going to drive in to this project, and then they're going to go downtown, and they're going to go to Clearwater, they're going to go to St. Pete, and they're going to go wherever they're going to go. And that's where they're going to spend their money. And so in my last comments, I, I might have even said zero economic impact, and that's not true. You'll have the occasional person that will, late night, hit up Domino's and have that pizza, but that real economic value is going to be in downtown. So they're going to drive in and have to drive out. I think this is a much better project, somewhere closer to our downtown, that makes, once they get there, where they're staying and where they're visiting is the destination. So they can walk into our downtown, create, um, less, less traffic. Um, uh, during the presentation, you talked about, uh, the density for that is 24, and they're only going to 21. So it's well below, well is a bit of a stretch. If they were going eight compared to 24, that's well below, but 21 to 24, um, I just, I, I just think that the surrounding area is residential and commercial. And this is categorized by commercial, but it's really not, right? It's not providing any service to the community that's around it. And, and so while the, this project is allowed to go forward, I just really think that staff needs to look at the zoning and look at that area and the area around all of our fixed route corridors. I'm just a real believer in a much better use of that property is mixed use. It's on a fixed route corridor. It's close to a school. And the reason that they have to put up a fence or come out to the, uh, the, the sidewalk is because if it were commercial, it would be inviting. You want people to walk by and go into, but there's no, there's no going into if I'm walking by. It's, it's just, if I'm a resident, I'm just walking by. And so it, it does nothing for the residents that are around them. And so my concern is that, uh, it wasn't mentioned tonight, but it's a catalyst project. I'm, I'm really concerned, not just about this project, but the projects that are coming before. And I really think that we can do better in Dunedin on the types of projects. Again, it's nothing against this project. It's really, it's really nice. And you've checked all the boxes and instead of 24, it's 21. And all those are great. But if it were in another location, if it were somewhere on Skinner or someplace like that to where it can really be a destination that makes it walkable and things of that nature. But, you know, so anyway, those, those are my comments. I just think we can do much better in Dunedin. Thank you. Okay. Commissioner Sandbergen, final comments. It's interesting that, uh, Commissioner Gow just said, I think it's a good project because it takes some pressure off of downtown. As, and I'm, I'm glad that it is away from downtown. Um, it just seems like, uh, uh, we keep trying to fit and load more down more into this downtown area. I think it's a boost to those merchants up there. And I, and I hope that you can stress to the guests, you know, with flyers, with brochures to promote all of Dunedin. Um, you know, they're all going to want to eat. They're going to want to visit, you know, uh, we've got some great establishments here in town. And, you know, if, if this project is a success, it's going to be a success to the whole community. And, uh, I think you've done well and, uh, definitely support what you've brought before us. And I appreciate it. Thank you. So, um, yeah, I mean, I, I, trust me on Commissioner Gow, I fully appreciate what you're saying. I do think there's limited areas that we allow, you know, vacation rentals. So, um, I, I do think it can be a catalyst. Um, um, it can be walkable depending on how good a walker you are. I mean, uh, it could be definitely bikeable. Um, and, and in fairness, uh, there's Pinehurst Pub, there's Pie Pizza. Probably big time, if it was me, I'd be over to the convenience store getting chips and M&Ms and, you know, that's it. I know it's your time, Eric. But, yeah, but the thing is that they're going to be in downtown Dunedin, and that's where they're going to spend their money and get their drinks and eat. By the time they get back to their hotel rooms or townhomes or whatever, their short-term rentals, they're tired. They've already been out all day. They might go for that beer at Pinehurst Pub. They might go to Pie Pizza. Might. But. We're definitely going to learn from this. I said my word. I'm sorry. It's okay. It's all right. I mean, we're definitely going to learn from this. But I do think, I mean, that, that intersection, I mean, it's, it's the nicest looking Domino's Pizza I've ever seen. But other than that, there's not a lot there. I mean, it's just, uh, uh, so, yeah. And especially the strip plaza and, you know, by the side. So maybe that'll, you know, kind of, uh, throw that into doing something different. So, uh, I, I, you know, I think it's a good project. I like the project. I, I, uh, so I get that we always need, uh, need, uh, more housing. Um, but I, I think this is a good project. I think, uh, I think it does have a disability to be a catalyst. So I am in favor of it. Um, obviously there's a way to soften things. You know, that's a good thing. Just keep everybody happy. That's a, that's always a good thing. So, um, that's it. Uh, so roll call vote. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. Commissioner Gow. Aye. Vice Mayor Walker. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And the motion passes unanimously. Okay. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, staff. Appreciate it. George Francis. So. And I hope I get to eat my words. Yeah. It's most likely pizza dinner. No, I, I mean, hey, we'll see, right? We will all see. We will see. We will see. Okay. So we're going to go to three E, which is proposed agenda for February 19th. And, uh, I need to ask if there's any additions or deletions. Michelle, any additions or deletions on, uh. No, ma'am. Only one proclamation. Oh, wait, what? We're only adding one proclamation. That's my only change. Okay. The whale. Yes, ma'am. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Okay. Sierra Club asked for that. And, hey, who doesn't love whales? Especially if they come around us, right? So, um, okay. Um, and then the other thing I just kind of take note, uh, is that the Skinner four-story building, that's actually just going to be something that's potentially tabled to another meeting, right? Actually, we're going to request to continue to date specifics. So date specifics. Yes. Okay. So otherwise I think it would be a pretty crazy night. Yes. Um, so that, that will help. Um, okay. So can I have a motion? So moved. I'll second that. Okay. And all in favor? Aye. Aye. Any nays? And that motion passes unanimously. Okay. Informational items, uh, commission discussion and comments. Um, let's, uh, start with somebody different this time. Commissioner DeGuard. He is different. Are you not ready? Because I'll start with Commissioner Zandberg. Yeah, please move on. Okay. Commissioner Zandberg, you want to start? I just, uh, just talk about, I think our trip to Tallahassee was very successful. We had a chance to sit down with Senator Hooper, Senator DeSigley, uh, Representative Burfield. You know, it's, uh, it's, it's easy to wave the Dunedin flag when you have Dunedin fans you're talking to. I think we accomplished a lot. I, I, I think I probably most enjoyed the meeting with the DOT. They seem to be, agree, a little too easy to everything we asked for. So, but I, I, I think that was a good meeting. And, uh, not put that kind of comment on record. They'll change their mind. But, uh, no, that was a very successful trip. And, uh, I think we did a good job waving the Dunedin flag. And hopefully we have some good results out of that. Thank you. Okay. Uh, I'll go ahead and go to Vice Mayor then. Thank you, Mayor. Um, so the federal government actually, the Congress actually passed a budget. And, uh, well, with the exception of, uh, Department of Homeland Security. Well, there, there's, they're under CR still. But, um, that's not the important thing. Well, it is important. But, um, as part of that, the House Housing Urban Development Appropriation passed and contained within that was the earmark that Congresswoman Luna put in there for, uh, $812,000 for specifically, uh, earmarked for our peer. And, uh, the PSTA is going to be putting out a press release on that soon. But, uh, I, I'm, I'm personally excited about that because, uh, you know, we, uh, we, right after the hurricanes, we did advocate on a number of different fronts to, you know, get assistance from federal government, state government. And, you know, that's how the process works, and it worked. And, so, um, I think that's great. Is that related to PSTA and the ferry? Yeah, that's right. Sorry, yeah, it is. So, it's, uh, the, the grant act, I'm sorry, the appropriation, the earmark actually goes to PSTA. They submitted that on our behalf. And I know there's still some work that needs to be done on that. Uh, but, you know, I do want to put in a plug for PSTA because they have been such a great partner of the great city of Dunedin. And, uh, that's, uh, you know, that's, they're, they're, they're great to work with. Um, and with that, uh, that's all I have. Okay. Okay, I will go to Commissioner Gow. Uh, thank you. Um, I'm starting to get my rhythm back. So, um, um, Saturday, February 7th is Saturday. Two days from now, City of Dunedin, uh, Pipe Band is holding a, a pub crawl. It starts at, uh, 5 o'clock at Rosie's. And it would be cool if we could all be there. But I know calendars are full, uh, but to support our Pipe Band, that would be wonderful. Um, as been acknowledged today by the Blue Jays on February 16th, Dunedin High School. We'll have their, uh, game at, at TD Ballpark. And that's at 6.30 when it says on what I could read. But I will get that confirmation. And I will throw it on your calendars. But if you can't attend, you can't attend. But it's there. It's just kind of an FYI. Who's the date again? Uh, the 16th. Yeah. And then there is, um, uh, a girl by the name of Allie that lived in Tarpon Springs. And I'll make it short. She passed away, um, from childhood cancer. And, uh, she had a best friend, uh, Isabel, that created a ride for Allie that, uh, for the past number of years has ridden their bikes from Tarpon Springs to Clearwater Beach. And they have a halfway point at Cafe Racer. And, um, I've ridden the ride once, um, but they asked me to come every year and, and just talk and thank them for coming and say some words about childhood cancer. And I've done that. Um, Isabel is going off to college and passed it on to, uh, Sophia, her younger sister. And these are friends of, of, uh, Allie who, who passed away. And, uh, so, uh, she has done it for the last couple of years, but now she is going off to college. It is possibly the last time they will do this ride. Uh, and so they really, they really want it to be good. And if everybody could show up, the challenge is, it is February 21st. It is opening day for Dunning Little League. It's opening day for the Blue Jays. And that's why I can't do the ride anymore. And they end up coming in my Blue Jays outfit and, and then I can talk for 10 minutes and I'm, and I'm out of there. Um, I know the ride starts at eight in Tarpon. They should be in Dunedin by nine. I believe opening ceremonies at the Little League is 10. So there is a window. Uh, so just, and I'll put this on your calendars as well. If you can make it, that would be fantastic. I just, I just love the effort and it was done by kids. It was done by friends who missed their friend. And so it's just a beautiful thing and that's it. So thank you. Well, I'll certainly do my best to get there. So thank you. No, thank you for that. Um, uh, commissioner guard comments. Yes. Thank you for allowing me to delay. Um, I appreciate that. You'd like to compose your thoughts a little bit about a meeting. I want to, um, compliment the manager on her presentation relative to the Grand Oak Park. So facilities for, uh, the restroom, um, that was a difficult area for some of us, me particularly, um, because it felt, uh, when we first saw the presentation, it, it felt extreme, uh, and it turned out not to be. And so I did a little homework after our meeting where we first saw the numbers. And it turns out when you have a small, smaller building, your foot costs go up substantially because you have to have everything that's there for the project if it was six times as large. And so I, I learned something through this exercise and I really appreciate the presentation, but small doesn't mean cheaper. Small sometimes means more expensive. And so, um, I didn't want to leave a false impression that, uh, I hadn't done my homework. And secondly, that the project was not reasonably bid and, uh, pursued. So I wanted to say that, um, Jeff, thank you for what you bring. Um, I regret the day you won't be sitting to my right side. Uh, you bring compassion, you bring a heart to the commission that is, it, it warms all of us. And I appreciate what you do in keeping us focused on walkability and our city and little things like that. And what you do in the schools is just absolutely something I don't think we'll ever be able to replace. Thank you, Mayor. I'll double down on that comment about Commissioner Gow because I dread that day that you're not sitting up here because I do think you bring something very unique, uh, and very important to the commission's voice. Uh, so I'm just going to say that. There we go. There we go. We'd have to change the charter, but you know, there we go. Um, yeah, so, um, so I'll just comment again, uh, Tallahassee was, I thought, a great trip. And, uh, um, but, uh, and I think he walked through it, uh, a couple of the centers and of course representative beer filled and, and, uh, I thought the meetings with both department of transportation who the, um, secretary of, uh, of area seven of DOT literally like drove up from Tampa to meet with us up there. Um, and it was a fantastic meeting and, uh, and he's just extremely likable on top of being extremely knowledgeable. And then, um, and then, uh, our meeting with the department of emergency management was fantastic. I mean, the people all there were extremely knowledgeable, very helpful, um, you know, kind of explaining different things, whether it was elevate Florida or other things or FEMA and the likelihood of us getting our reimbursement back and how that process was moving along. It was really, really good. Um, and, um, but you know, the other part of that, you see a lot of your different colleagues, fellow elected officials, you get to kind of share ideas and thoughts. And so, um, so, uh, obviously the biggest issues that we, uh, dealt with up there, um, some of the top ones that were of course the property tax issue, uh, the, um, sovereign immunity, you know, I think they're going to increase that probably, but we just didn't want them to get extreme because, you know, it just kind of goes right to the, to the. Do you have a dollar amount? Had they, had they talked about? So they're down, like, okay guys, help me out. I think it was like 300, 450 or 250, 450 or. So right now it's 200, 300 and they were going to 300, 450. Right. But that's the, that's the, that's the, that's the house side or Senate, Senate side, I think was that one. Yeah. The house side was like, the top was 1.2 million. Yes. And 500 to 1.2, so that was just very extreme. And, uh, so, um, we just encourage everybody to go towards the Senate side because that's much more focused on cost of living increases and things like that. So, um, and I, I just shared because I used to be the risk manager for Dunedin that every demand letter you ever got was always what the cap was. So, you know, it's all of a sudden you're just elevating the demand letters to a cap that's extreme. So, um, and it just does drive the cost. Um, so anyway, overall it was a really, really good trip. And, uh, and we were the last table of people to leave the big party and Largo was sitting with us and Largo was with us. Really? Mayor Brown and some of his staff. Did you meet Largo? No, no. They came and sat at our table. Oh. Yeah. And, uh, and so our, you know, we were all together. It was 830. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Which is so funny. There was an after party and that was probably part of it. It's not as if it was. Yeah, I know. I shouldn't act like it's one o'clock in the morning. It was kind of funny. We're still the last. Thanks, Jennifer. Thanks, Jennifer. And it was past our bedtimes at 830. Um, I, I wanted to bring this up just cause I, I kind of wanted at some point, you know, I, I think it'll, it'll be something we talk about up here, but, uh, so there's, uh, been some discussion about the possibility of becoming a Red Star City and, uh, Red Star City, you know, the whole Red Star is based on military individuals that have committed suicide and, um, kind of as that group that gets forgotten at times, um, and a lot of it can happen after the war with the devastation of what's happened to you. Um, and so, and so we're kind of working, uh, Tony is working on just kind of researching that a little bit, what obligations come with that, et cetera. And also, I think the thinking too, and, and, and just got discussed a little bit about at the military, uh, advisory board about the importance of, you know, making sure that because the Red Star is kind of the last star, we have Gold Star and Blue Star and, and making sure that we're in some way helping to educate and honor and support all three of those things. And, and how, what's the best way to do that? So I just kind of wanted to bring everybody up on that. Um, and, and that was talked about with military advisory and, uh, Jennifer's been involved. So, you know, so ultimately we'll, we'll, you know, get to a good place with that. But, uh, I just want to make sure it was on everybody's radar, especially with you, uh, vice mayor, because, you know, you're, you're a veteran and I just kind of want to loop you into that, um, here on the, on the, on the dais. Yeah. Just a, just a statistic on that. Um, yeah, so I, this was, this has been something that VFW has been working on for, you know, that just think that they don't, don't quite, they didn't quite understand the process and the path, but I'm, I'm glad you picked that up. But, uh, the statistic is, um, we currently have the highest rate of veteran suicides since the Vietnam War. So it's, it's a big deal. So, um, so, uh, anyway, so I want to make sure everybody, right, 22 veterans die every day, at least what it is. That's, that's just tragic. Um, Jennifer, the Orange Blossom Vacation Rental Place, it's literally just past the vacant land where the bank is supposed to be, like at the, at the crossroads. Um, I would have thought that would had to come to us, but it's obviously, right, it's only three units. It is only three units. Yes. Okay. So it does not meet the threshold for design review. How big are the units? So, I'm not sure about the size of the units. George is still here. He and I were talking about it yesterday. Yeah. The, the height is 32. Yeah. 32 feet. Well, again, it just goes to show, if you're under five units, you know, we've got to, I just want to be careful we're keeping things compatible and good. And I'm not saying it's not going to work. We did a full compatibility review as well. Okay, so you guys are comfortable with it. I just saw it and I was like, okay. So I thought, I figured it was, I figured it might be four units or something, so. Okay. I think it's that, and George and I were talking about it yesterday, I think that that's one of those, those situations where we have to wait until it's done. Yeah. No, I completely agree. You know, speaking of something that can be a catalyst, you know, it might, it might be absolutely fine there. It just caught my attention. So, and I did want to say I have a retirement party that conflicts, it's at Bascomson, the thing this Friday or Saturday. Saturday. Yeah. So the public call. Mayor's not going to be there. Sorry. I'm going to write that down. Yeah, I'll write that down. Sorry, but it's a good friend, so I can't miss it. Anyway, that's actually all I have. So we'll go to city clerk update. Okay. And manager, I know you have something for us. I do have an item for all of you, and on the dais, and Michelle, we'll commit this to the public right as part of the city manager's update, is a briefing paper for you regarding Elevate Florida. And so, just a background on the program. Elevate Florida program is a statewide initiative, and it's aimed at enhancing community resilience by providing funding for residential mitigation projects to protect homes from natural disasters. And Elevate Florida has injected, I think, George, $12.5 million in grants here in the city of Dunedin. It's designed to assist homeowners in mitigating damage from natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods. The program aims to expedite the application process and reduce the time it takes for residents receiving funding for necessary improvements to their property. There is one component of the Elevate Florida program that is a little bit different than the other components in terms of just elevating your home and making it storm resistant, and that is homes that are damaged in hurricanes. There is an opportunity for acquisition and demolition of the project. So the property owner may elect to use the Elevate Florida program to essentially turn the property over to the municipality, or I would assume if it's unincorporated Pinellas County, it would be Pinellas County. For the project to move forward in terms of the acquisition of the property of the city of Dunedin, FDEM would need the city to express interest via email and complete a notice of intent to participate form, and that deadline would be February 13th in order to notify them. Now, we knocked this about as staff and ran it by our attorney, who I agree with that this is a you decision, not a me decision, in terms of whether or not you want to acquire that property. And just some background on the program. The city would agree to take ownership of the property, maintain the property's open space in perpetuity, and agree to periodically report to FDEM regarding the status of the property. Essentially, there is no cost to the city. It's the homeowner and it's the FDEM who bears the cost of acquisition and demolition of the property. Just some of the uses of the property then. So it has to be open space. It has to be compatible open space. And the uses may include parks for outdoor recreational activities, and that could include some playground equipment, picnic tables, that type of a thing. Wetlands management and natural reserves, cultivation grazing for our herd of goats, camping with some safety-related exceptions, and unimproved, unpaved parking lots. You know, as far as taking the long view of this property, well, first of all, the assessed value on the Pinole's County Property Appraisers' website is $668,000. The, uh, and interestingly enough, the, excuse me, that's the, that's the market value. The assessed Save Our Homes value is, um, $125,000. They bought it in 2003. So that gives you an idea of Save Our Homes. Um, the taxes that they're currently paying for the city of Denina are $175. If it were to transact, um, and a new owner comes in, it would be $2,700, given our, yeah, given our, um, our millage, current millage rate. You know, thought long and hard about this one, and in taking the long view, uh, of this, of this, this property, I think that we need, my opinion is we need to pass on this opportunity. And, and there are several reasons for that. Um, most notably, um, this is a lot, it's, it's, it's, um, uh, Lindhurst, and I, and I provide, the land uses are 60, the zoning is, um, residential urban. It sits between two standard single-family homes opposite Fenway. Um, the property was damaged, and obviously it needs to be demolished. It's heavily overgrown right now, but there are no code violations. The, um, and in taking the long view for this lot, first of all, um, the two uses that would be most likely would be unimproved, uh, parking lot, but meaning shell, you know, like, like most of our, uh, parking lots, and a park with some recreation equipment, both of those uses would require ongoing maintenance, you know, minimal maintenance in terms of the parking lot, but, but maintenance nonetheless. Uh, both of those, those uses would also, I believe, be objected to by the adjacent property owners, uh, in terms of, there's no reasonable expectation from them to have either a playground or a parking lot next to their homes. Um, so, so, um, in terms of the, of the parking lot, there wouldn't be that many spaces associated, and who does it benefit specifically? Um, the, um, as far as the, as the playground goes, it is, this, this lot is within a stone's throw of the linear park as well, so there is a park near it, very near it, there is open space. I don't really recognize the, the benefit to the neighborhood, um, itself. So, uh, you know, as far as insurance goes, we, we don't insure land. It's only if we improve it that we would insure it, so insurance is, is not really an issue. Um, so essentially what we would do is, is go through the Elevate Florida program. The lot would, would need, uh, it would be demolished, it would need to be cleaned up, and that would have to be maintained in the future, the trees and the grass and all those sorts of things. And eventually, I believe that the, that the area residents are going to say, what are you going to do with this? Yeah, are you just going to leave it? Um, and so, so I think the long view that the neighborhood is better served in, in eventual demolition of this property and a new home being built there, it is in the overlay area, so it will be subject to the, to the overlay. Um, so, so I, you know, I'm going to recommend to the city commission that we pass because we, we exceed our level of service for, uh, parks and open space as well. It's not something that we must have in our inventory, and I don't think it's very strategic for us to take ownership of it and not really have a use for it other than just open space in the neighborhood. The pervious versus impervious is an advantage, right? If it's pervious, it, it'll percolate, uh, more stormwater, but I don't think, I don't see that as a huge advantage over, you know, some of the, some of these obstacles that I see moving forward. So, uh, but of course it's up to all of you. If, if you would like to proceed, we'll be more than happy to, to, to, to send in the, uh, email and the notice, um, uh, of intent to, to work with the program. Okay. So any questions, uh, Commissioner Gao? Do you have any? Jennifer, have you talked to the surrounding neighbors? No, we have not. Is there a reason for that or just? Timing more than anything. Yeah. If, if we were to act on this, what would be the impact? Not as far as activity, but just doesn't, because if, if we go through with this, then in perpetuity, it's green space. Yes. It's green space that we had to report out to FDEM. Right. And so do we know what the designation of that lot, what that does to the value of the homes on either side? I mean, is there any concern that it negatively impacts them and their value or elevate Florida and, and, and all of that? Um, I think, yes, yeah, that is a concern. I mean, I think you could look at it both ways. I mean, open space is always an excellent amenity next to your lot. That said, it's access, accessible to the public. And the question is, do the adjacent homeowners want that? Well, I mean, I'm, I'm not concerned about that. I'm concerned about the value of their homes or the category that now I'm next to a lot that was deemed unlivable, basically. Like, what does that do to my property? I see what you're saying. Yeah. And, and do we, do we know an answer to that? What's the impact to them? I don't think that, uh, you know, from that perspective, I don't think it's deemed as unlivable by any way, shape or form, but that using public dollars, uh, and demolishing it means it has to, has to remain open space that we can't sell it and we can't, you know, so, um, I don't think that this would deem it unlivable as far as impact goes. Okay. Um, yeah, I, I. There's questions? Yeah. I'm done with questions. Okay. Commissioner DeGuard. Do we have any kind of acceptance policy on such opportunities like this? Is there any policy? As I know in my previous life, uh, we had to have gift acceptance policies at United Way because sometimes people gave us, uh, things that we didn't really want to have and they were more of a liability. This strikes me as something in that category. We might, if this is something that might occur again, that we have kind of yardsticks on, uh, benefit analysis up against costs, just like you've kind of outlined already before we make such decisions, but I'm fine with the manager, uh, manager's recommendation. So questions? So just, um, curious as to what the, you know, what, what the can, the owner's contingency is, I mean, you know, what, what, what happened, how, what are their, what are their options? In terms of, sure, George. So the other two pieces to the grant program are elevation and mitigation. So this, this is an acquisition piece, but the property owner could choose to migrate towards an, you know, an elevation grant or a mitigation grant, a hardening grant, if you will. So, or, you know, it's my understanding that, that this particular owner just kind of wants to walk away from it, basically. Okay. Okay. So not necessarily. So, and they can certainly withdraw and just continue as they are. And the appearance is just, there's, this isn't a hardship issue. No, no, he, he's voluntarily entered into this grant program. Okay. Um, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm in favor of the city manager's recommendation. So if, if, if we simply say no, plan B would be the homeowner would be forced to, or what does it, do they have any plans? Yeah, no, they're not forced to do anything. So they voluntarily, voluntarily, voluntarily entered into the program. It has the three components. So you have the choice. You can either pursue elevation, you can pursue hardening, or you can pursue this acquisition program. This, this person actually chose to, the acquisition program with the hopes that the, they could work with the municipality for the demolition and, and, uh, that piece of it, but certainly. Do not, sorry, do not of the above and sell the. Exactly. And it can just, it can just continue. It can be sold. It can, they can continue to live there. I mean, the option's theirs, but everything's voluntary. No, I, I disagree, or I agree with what the city manager's recommended. And, uh, so commissioner, I kind of stopped you from saying what you thought. So everybody did. So go for it. Yeah. Well, and I guess the, the question, right. Cause apparently the homeowner had choices and he chose this, and this option is only working with the municipality. So if we say no, now that category is done. Now he's got two other options or walk away. Right. Is that okay. Okay. Um, no, I, I've got comments, but I don't have. Yeah, I'm not going to, I wasn't really going to do comments. I was going to get consensus, but. Oh, okay. So if you want to. Well, my comments are pocket parks, pocket parks, just the, I, you know, I think we have enough and I'm not saying that this would be good for that, but I just don't want to be the idea. I, I just don't want it in our heads. We've got enough, no more. So if we do have come across something like this that might fit, Hey, that would be a good place. Then I don't want it stuck in our head. We've already have enough, no more, you know, that leave that open. So I just wanted to, to make that comment. No, that's good. I mean, I don't have any questions, but no, I, I mean, when I met with Jennifer and she talked about this with me, I'm like, you know, I, to me, green space is good, you know, and I, I'd, I'd go for more any day. Um, um, and I actually brought up, uh, you know, there's a house where I don't think it's going to go that way with this, but if it did, it's right next to the Kiwanis park, uh, pocket park. So it'd be a great expansion of that park. So it would kind of make sense, but, um, I, I completely agree with your recommendation. I just think it doesn't, it's in the middle of a neighborhood. It's just going to be a maintenance headache for us. It just is. So I just think as soon as the neighbors find out about this, they're going to be all over it. I hope so. Yeah. Don't buy it up. Great. And then they'll want to build across both lots and there'll be a McMansion. Give us something else to complain about. It'd be wonderful. But there definitely won't be any playground equipment on it that I can think of. Oh, okay then. All right. Well, you know, we're all going to pie pizza. No, I said, okay. Um, all right. So I think you have your concise distraction. I do. Thank you very much. Okay. Anything else? City manager. Oh, anything else? Let's go blue Jays. Okay. That's good. Okay. City attorney update. No update. Okay. So if there's nothing else good for the order, I think, or I think I covered all the bases. Meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.