CITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING - Feb 20, 2025

I'm going to call the meeting to order. It's a rowdy crowd tonight. So good evening. Welcome to the February 20th, 2025 commission meeting. And this is nice, Vince, because this is clearly for you here, all these people. So that's great. But we're going to start with the invocation and pledge of allegiance from our city attorney. Let us begin this meeting by taking a brief moment of silence and reflection and include in our thoughts and prayers the family of Gene Franey. 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, for liberty and justice. Okay. So we have one presentation tonight. And usually I delegate these to other, not delegate, but pass it over to other commissioners. And I did not do that. I was selfish tonight because I wanted to do Vince Gizzy Day proclamation. So Vince, if you want to come forward and maybe we can have behind him, the staff of Reckon Parks and any retired staff kind of stand behind him as we read the proclamation. Come on up guys. Come on down. Here comes everybody. And I did wear green for parks. Okay. Just wanted you to take note. Okay. Vince Gizzy Day. Whereas Vince Gizzy began his career with the city of Dunedin on February 25th, 2008 as the parks and recreation director. And whereas Vince has faithfully served the city of Dunedin for 17 years and the parks and recreation profession for over 40 years. And whereas these years of service have been marked by exemplary dedication to our parks and recreation system, which is vitally important to the quality of life in Dunedin. And whereas during which time numerous projects were successfully completed under his guidance, including the acquisition of Josiah Weaver Park, construction of the Kiwanis spray gun, the agreement for the Achieva Dog Park, the negotiation and renovation of the Blue Jay Stadium and player development complex, the development of the Gladys Douglas Preserve, the remodel of a new parks operations building, the construction of a new sailing center, the restoration of the Dunedin golf club, and the construction of 10 new pickleball courts at Eagle Scout Park. And whereas Vince has been a constant champion for parks and recreation, ensuring it starts in parks by leading the charge to provide premier recreation and parks opportunities in Dunedin. And whereas these projects and advocacies will continue to have a revitalizing impact on the city of Dunedin. And whereas Vince is looking forward to spending time with Susie, his wife of 40 years, their children, and their grandchildren. And whereas Vince plans to spend his time in retirement traveling, attending concerts, discovering new hobbies, spending time with family and friends, perhaps a little at the Hard Rock. I'm sorry, Vince. I had to say it. And whereas on behalf of the entire city commission, I want to express my sincere appreciation to Vince for his loyalty to the city of Dunedin over the past 17 years and wish him much happiness as he begins this new chapter in his life. Now, therefore, I'm Maureen Mofrany, by virtue of the authority vested in me as mayor of the city of Dunedin, Florida, and on behalf of the entire city commission, do hereby designate March 4th, 2025 as Vince Gizzi Day in the city of Dunedin, Florida, and urge all citizens and employees to join me in congratulating Vince for his meritorious service, loyalty, and dedication he has rendered to this community. Vince, before you get to speak, I'm going to give all my colleagues an opportunity to say something, and then I'll wrap it up, and then you can speak. Okay. But so let's start on this side with vice mayor. Yeah, I got nothing. No, Vince, certainly your title and position is a little more personal for my family. And so first and foremost, my mother cannot be here, but she thanks you for all that you've done for the city, for the kids, for the adults in our green space. You've just been amazing. Uh, so thank you for what you've done, and just please know that the city is better because you were here. So thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Sandbergen. I think I met you about the first or second day you got here, and I'll tell you, I have really enjoyed working with you. I watched you, I stood next to you, and I worked with you and saw the effort that you put in to keep the Jays. You know that will always be special to me. Between Engelbert, TD Ballpark, we've traveled to Toronto, I've had a chance to meet you, Susie, and your kids, and I can't imagine ever having to replace you, and I consider you a Friend for Life, Vince. Thank you for everything. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Walker. Thank you, Mayor. So Vince, uh, you still have a few more days to reconsider. You know, I've just been in awe of the things that you and your team have done to make Dunedin truly what it is. And, uh, I, all I keep thinking about is, is that, you know, as the city looked for your successor, there's some really, really big shoes that person is going to have to fill when they look at, you know, compare it to your resume, your career. And, uh, I, uh, I'm, I'm proud to not only have worked with you, but to call you Friend. And, uh, I'm just happy that you're not going far, but again, you have a few more days to consider. Thank you, Vince. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. You know, this could have been an eight-pager. I'm, I'm impressed that the Mayor could get this down to just one page as far as the proclamation. So many things have been accomplished during your tenure here, but I'll reflect on when I decided to move here, which was only about 10 years ago. And I drove through town and I saw people enjoying life in many different ways. And it was just a place I wanted to be a part of. And I decided to move here because of what you and your team have done. It's magic what you've done. Um, more importantly, um, I've gotten to work with you on the golf club project. And when we were putting together a strategic plan, before they hit the iceberg, we saw the problems. You saw them right away. And you were about trying to find the best way to fix it. And you did. You just decided that, okay, we can fix this now. And that's what you do. You fix things when they're broken and you make things better when they're not. I couldn't ask anything more from anybody. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. I'll let you go first. City Manager. I do. And thank you very much, Mayor. And, um, I'm going to have a lot more comments at your party a week from tomorrow. I can tell you that. Uh, but Vince is the first department director I met, um, in Toronto, actually, before I even started working for the city. And he told me about three years after that, he, that he took advantage of every moment to get ahead of those other department directors. And he did. Um, and I had a similar experience to Commissioner Dugard, uh, when I first came to the city to interview, uh, just looking at the recreation facilities, uh, looking at the parks and the open space, um, how well maintained they all were. Uh, they're, they're a true economic driver, economic development driver for our city, not just parks and open space. Um, and, and I know that, that Vince is very meticulous about not putting tape on windows, which you'll see throughout city hall here. You will not see one window with tape on it because I, you know, you followed your, your lead. Um, but you know, one thing that, that people don't realize is that how passionate Vince is for his staff and in support of his staff and, um, and always thinking about them and at all of our events, always thanking all of them, making sure that he got everybody thanked, even though sometimes it was longer than the presentation. But anyway, so, um, um, truly, I had to make sure that you were all mentioned. Absolutely. Um, and the one thing, and like I said, I have a lot more to say, but, um, that, that I first noticed about Vince after I got here and all those events that we all go to, you know, every time you turn around, Vince is there and right beside him is Susie Gizzy. So this is also her retirement party and her plot proclamation. So we're going to add her name on that. It's going to be Vince and Susie Gizzy Day. So, um, but, but really just there, just present, um, supporting staff, uh, supporting the attendees. Um, and, and this is a vacuum for us. Um, I'm going to miss Vince personally, uh, some of our discussions I'm going to miss too, and we've had them, believe me. So, um, um, it, it's a true celebration when you see somebody retiring on top, on top of his game, um, in a beautiful city, a beautiful family, and so much to look forward to. So we're going to celebrate you, Vince, not just on your party, but on Vince Gizzy Day. So, um, I'm really excited for that. I'm excited for you for the future. I do want to read a letter, if I may, Mayor, uh, that, that, uh, we all received from the Florida Recreation and Park Association, and I want to read it for the record. It says, Dear Manager Bramley, Upon the retirement of Vince Gizzy, Director of of Dunedin's Parks and Recreation Department, it is our privilege to send this letter commending his 17 years of service to the city. And it's actually 42 years in the industry. Vince is, has been a passionate and dedicated member advocate in the parks and recreation industry, and his commitment to providing quality recreation, aquatic, and athletic programs has served the city of Dunedin well. Vince has always been willing to share his insight with others at meetings and educational events, so that others could learn and better serve their own communities. Dunedin's residents and visitors are fortunate to have parks and open spaces and recreation facilities and programming, which encourage healthy lifestyles, protect valuable natural resources, provide environmental resilience and sustainability, and build community by bringing the community together for events and after trying times. Vince's mark on these spaces will provide benefit to the Dunedin community long after his retirement. We wish Vince the very best in his new quest for a life filled with leisure. Sincerely, Elena Wormack, Chief Executive Officer, Florida Recreation and Park Association. Wow. Very nice. Thank you. So, um, well, um, yeah, a lot of stuff we can't say to your retirement party. We can't tell those jokes. But first of all, I just want to start, this is your letter, your retirement letter. So, um, so, uh, we, we've tried, we've tried to beat him up out of it. But, um, so first of all, Vince, it's a credit to you to see everybody here tonight, including all the military people here tonight. That's awesome. So, uh, it just, it's, it just says a lot about what you've done and meant to this community. Um, you know, we are first and foremost, a quality of life, uh, city and a community. And, um, you know, so, um, I, I do always kind of chuckle and we've talked about this where, you know, you're parks and recreation director. How hard can that be? You know, come on, you just go play golf, you play pickleball, you know, you throw the balls around, you know, you, you just, it's a cake, it's a cakewalk. But we all know behind the scenes, wow, when people can get passionate, they can get passionate about pickleball. We know that baseball, um, afterschool programs, all the things that involve their kids and their seniors. There's so much passion there. And you have been that person who has really tried to, uh, balance the needs of the community, the needs of different parts of the community, quite honestly. And, um, I obviously consider you a dear friend and I know I'm not saying goodbye to you. So that makes all this really easy for me. And matter of fact, I'll be able to, you know, have, have more fun with you now since I'm not your, your staff and I'm mayor. But, um, I just, um, I think one of the things that I've told you this over and over, and I'm going to say it tonight is that the word I think of with you is ownership. When I call you on anything, sometimes I worry not to say too much to you because I know you won't sleep that night and because you have such ownership. And so there can be times when I might say something to someone else and they'll brush it aside. And that didn't seem like a big issue. You never do that. I can hear from you like hours later that you'd already checked on it. You found out it was correct. The citizen was right and you fixed it. And I just, uh, you have huge shoes to fill. I mean, I'm going to miss you. I know we all are. So, um, but congratulations to you and Susie, you deserve this. Um, you two have a great marriage relationship and you deserve the time to enjoy your family and your friends. So congratulations. My turn. Your turn. Well, thank you, mayor. Thank you, city commissioners, vice mayor, Jennifer, Jennifer, Michelle. Uh, thank, thank you all for, um, doing this for me this evening really means a lot. I'm overwhelmed, honestly. I also wanted to introduce, well, first of all, I did ask that all the staff retired and, uh, there's business people here tonight and the military advisory and the parks and recreation advisory, uh, came in support. And so I can't thank you all enough for, for being here tonight. Again, that really means a lot to me. So I'm going to go ahead and just introduce my family real quickly. So my wife, she's been mentioned. Susie is, is my daughter, Jacqueline is here. My son-in-law Peyton is with us this evening also. And they have flown down from the state of Washington, attending a conference, uh, in Tampa. So this really, really worked out. So thank you for, for, for being here. Jacqueline also has her degree in parks and recreation, administration from Florida State University. And she also has her master's degree from Gonzaga. So she's, uh, followed in my footsteps to some degree, but is working for a YMCA right now. That's great. The YMCA USA, it's the national YMCA. So, um, others are streaming remotely. Uh, my son Vinnie and Joey couldn't be here, uh, but they are, um, streaming in if I'm saying that correctly, um, and, and their families. And I have two sisters also, Palma and Lee, and my brother-in-laws, John and Carlos. They're also watching this evening as well. And a really good friend of mine who now moved to Ohio, uh, but was involved in hiring me, um, 17 years ago. Harry Gross and his wife Susan are, are streaming in as well. So, um, again, thank you for the proclamation. I just have a, a couple of, uh, comments that I would like to, to make. Um, and I, you know, again, I, I can't say that this enough, but I mentioned that this, the, the accomplishments and the proclamation that was read, that's why I asked the staff to stand behind me because this is for them also. So, um, after I graduated college and started working professionally, um, I started out my career working in a YMCA. I did my internship at a YMCA, spent about two years with, with the Y. But I, you know, my sights when I graduated were to, um, to work in municipal government. So, um, I spent my first 26 years in the city of Fort Lauderdale. And you know, that question that you get asked at interviews, where would you like to be in the next five or 10 years? Well, you know, my answer was, I'd like to be the director of a department. So I worked for Fort Lauderdale. I started out as a coordinator and I worked my way to superintendent level, uh, working for the director, but I wasn't the director. Um, then a new manager, uh, new city manager was brought in, um, at, at a certain point and it, the, the brought his, brought some of his own people in. So that didn't work out for me. So, but I was still determined and I, you know, always I, one of my mentors would say to me, uh, if you can't compromise, it's time to move on. So if I wanted to be a director, I needed to, to, to relocate. So, um, I'm looking for positions and I was looking for some place where I could work that had spring training in Fort Lauderdale. They had the Yankees for 30 something years. And I was a big part of that in my, my 26 years there. Then we brought the Orioles in when the Yankees moved on to Tampa. And I also want to be someplace where there was a beach and water. So those were my two criteria for the position that, that I chose. So when the director's position opened up, I was keeping my eye on the vacancy list around the state, uh, had an opportunity in Arizona, but I really didn't want to move to Arizona. Um, but they did have spring training. They do have spring training there. So, um, so my affiliation, uh, with, um, with spring training was there throughout the state, there was a, uh, the, called the grapefruit league. And that's where every team, every city, um, that had a team was involved. So that's where I also had known Harry Gross from, uh, and he was the former parks and recreation director here. He also was an assistant city manager. He also acting city manager. So, um, he was instrumental in, um, the interview process and I was able to, uh, obtain the job. But you know, when, when Susie and I first came here for the interview, um, we drove down main street and we said, right away, if I get off of this position, that this is the place pumpkin patches on at pioneer park. And it was just, I just had that feeling, just coming into town off of five, five 80. So we knew that this was where we would, we would, we would live and where we would commit to. And when I was also asked, well, about how long do I think I'm going to work for? And I said, probably another seven to 10 years. Well, if you had those two together, I ended up here being here for 17 years. So, but I had a great career. Um, no, no regrets. I've worked with three major league baseball teams. I've worked with two professional soccer teams, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers from the North American soccer league and the fusion from, um, Miami Miami, Miami fusion played in, in Fort Lauderdale. I've had many trips, uh, Toronto, maybe hold the record. I've had 10 tips, trips to Toronto, um, during negotiations and afterwards just trying to keep our, uh, our, our, our, um, strong relationships with, with the blue Jays, two trips to Sterling, Scotland to continue our relation with our sister city and just many great experiences and relationships in, in, in my career. Um, also the, um, hug that I got from at the time, commissioner Bojowski, who's was then the mayor, uh, had something to do with me staying here as well. I was just so welcomed when I, when I, when I came, came here. Um, I was able to raise my, my, I've not raised my children. When I got here, they were all in, I had three at one time in Florida state. So this job really helped me support getting them through school as well. So, and the state is in, in the, in the proclamation, um, there were many significant accomplishments. And again, this team behind me was involved with, with a lot of those accomplishments and, and projects. But if you asked me what my most significant, uh, project was, um, I would say that being able to relocate 35 of our parks employees to, um, from the broken Jones building that they had a, you know, work in and live in for, for so many years, one of my biggest, I felt one of my biggest accomplishments with them working with me, uh, was to relocate and renovate the, um, Blue Jay player development complex into a parks operation. And they went from a broken building to I've heard it called the Taj Mahal. But they deserve every bit of it. So I just want to say that. So, and again, also, you know, I have to mention Susie because as Jennifer said, she's been really part of this team. She's hosted many luncheons at our house for, for our staff, especially during the holidays. And she's just really been a part of this and really have supported my, my entire career. So I've committed my whole life to this profession and now it is time for me to move on. And so I want to thank all of you for just giving me this great opportunity. So thank you. So there is one last thing I have to say. So when, when, uh, when I was telling my son, Joey, that, you know, they were doing this day for me, he said, well, that's okay. He says, I can celebrate this next year with you on, on the same day on March the 4th. And I said, no, no, no, Joey, you don't understand. This is like a one day day for me. It's not like every March 4th. So anyway, Joe, if you're listening, thanks for being there. Thank you. We're going to do some pictures. And I know a few other people want to speak. So once we get pictures, just sit tight. Come on, everybody. Yep. Everybody's going to get, get close. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. Yeah. Don't, he won't bite. Keep coming. Keep coming. Keep coming. I don't think I'm going to be able to get everybody in here. Oh, maybe I will. I do. I do need a lot of more people. I'm going to need more of this way, more of this way. There's a former risk manager that terrifies me. All right. I got it. I got it. I got the chair. I've got the attorney next to me. Okay. Okay. And then we'll do it. Okay. We good. Okay. Um, yes, we're good, but we have some other speakers that would like to come up. So let's all sit down for a minute. So if there is anyone in the audience that wishes to come forward to speak to this issue, please come forward. Thank you for letting us talk because this is important for us. I have said several times to you before the city commission makes this town work, but it was parks and recreation that has always made it special. And I have learned over the years working with parks and recreation, that if you want to know the quality of a director, you don't look at the director, but you look at the people that work under him. And I think that Vince's special talent and gift, and certainly his legacy, is in instilling a sense of pride and love, um, uh, in his staff. I say that for having, you know, been, uh, uh, part of numerous veterans day and, and memorial day ceremonies and Vietnam, the 50th anniversary of Vietnam war. We renamed a section of all 19. Uh, we do the purple heart ceremonies, uh, the lighted boat parade. They are all done without a glitch because everybody Vince at the top and everybody who works under him makes it personal because they understand that it's the events that make this town special. So, um, all I can say is that, and I'm sure that I speak for the veterans community in thanking Vince for everything he has done to enrich the lives of our veterans in this town. Um, I love him for that. Where is it? I don't want him talking to you in third person. Um, I love you for everything you do, you know, and what you have done is you've let your staff show that love and pride that they have, and it all starts at the top. So thank you, my friend, for everything you have done for us and our veterans community. Would anyone else like to come forward to speak to the issue of Vince Gizzy? Okay. So if all the military would like to come forward? Yeah. Yeah, we'll get a picture of the military with anybody else who wants to come and speak. Everybody with the military, let's get that picture. Yep. The Biden study does support us over all the years. Anyone else wish to come forward? I see our former mayor, Julie Bajowski. Welcome, Julie. Hi, Julie Ward Bajowski, Chamber of Commerce. Yeah. Yeah. I know, I was watching the clock. I'm like, is she timing people? We're not, we're being a little loose on this. I'm going to be at that party too, but I thought you might find, I thought you might find this little tidbit, um, interesting. So for those who don't know, Vince and I worked side by side on the Toronto Blue Jay deal. And so I was just doing a little math. Four years, okay, is 1,460 days. Two phone calls a day is 2,920 phone conversations. Now I got to do the other math. Um, let's see. What was that? 1460, a meeting a week. I can't do the math. I'm getting brain dead, but think about that. We got to know each other pretty well. Um, yeah, he was weary. He was getting weary. Yeah. And we strategized a lot, many trips. We, yes, this man drove me to every stadium in Florida, almost to show me what we should and shouldn't have. And we did have a little fun along the way that will never be mentioned in public. But I don't think if we didn't have our consistency of that daily call, that weekly meeting and being dedicated for four years, I don't think it would have happened. But we weren't accepting no, which is why we had those two phone calls a day. So thank you, Vince, for your service. Anyone else wish to come forward to speak on this issue? Okay. Well, Vince, you are loved. You are in Susie. So are you. And, um, you know, you're not going anywhere. Stay in our community. You're still going to be part of our community. But we, we honor your service here today. Thank you. And Vince, don't feel like you have to stay. Run. Thank you, Vince. Thanks, everybody, for coming, too. That was great. The next item is our citizens' input. Does anyone in the audience wish to speak on a topic that is not on the agenda? Please come forward. Okay. Seeing no one, we'll close that and we'll go to action items. Our first action item is a 2A resolution 25-06 regarding application number 25-01V, request to vacate approximately 420 square feet of existing private retention pond easement at 726 Main Street, Dennean, Florida, as recorded in book 6535, page 659 of the official records of Pinellas County, Florida. Jen, could you please read resolution 25-06 by title only? Resolution 2506, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Dennean, Florida, vacating the retention pond easement recorded in book 6535, page 659 of the official records of Pinellas County, Florida on the property of 726 Main Street, Dennean, Florida, 34698. Parcel identification numbers 272815-62874002-0110 and 272815-62874002-0120 and consisting of approximately 420 square feet, providing for severability and providing for an effective date. That was resolution 2506, read by title only. You can have a motion to adopt resolution 25-06. So moved. Second. Second. Okay. I think Commissioner Walker and I think Commissioner Sandbergen. I barely beat him. Did you beat him? I beat him barely. Good morning. We'll go with DuGuard then. Okay. Staff presentation by Clay. Yes. Good evening. Excuse me. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. Clay Watkins. Excuse me. Assistant Utilities Director and City Engineer. As stated, we are here for the vacation of a 420 square foot retention pond easement on 726 Main Street. This item was, or excuse me, the applicant has applied for the vacation of easement to allow for the future development of the parcel. The item was advertised in the Tampa Bay Times on February 5th and the 12th. The applicant has provided proof of a mailing notice to the residents within 500 feet, with that mailing being on January 20th of 2025. The applicant has provided the required no ejection letters from the franchise utilities companies. The city's utility department does not have facilities within this easement and does not take an objection to this. The city's public works department has no maintenance responsibilities for this pond and will not have any responsibilities in the future. This pond does not actually have a pipe connection to the city's system. And when the development applies for any permits, they will have to accommodate for this storage volume and we'll have to meet any city, state, and yeah, city and state drainage requirements for any development. And then also, if there's any other questions regarding the future development, the developer and engineer are here for any other questions. So if you have any questions with me. Okay. Any questions for staff? I'll start with Commissioner Walker. No, no questions. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. Mayor. You mentioned that there would be responsibility for storage volume in the future. Yes. Yes. As they go through and they show their drainage calculations, there'll be, you know, there's a volume associated with, they'll have to prove that, you know, that they're accommodating for that in the future and meet any discharge rates per our requirements. And for them, they actually have to go through the DOT also. That's all I have, Mayor. Okay. I'll go to Vice Vice Mayor. Any questions? Thank you, Mayor. Yeah. Can you run us through the history? Why that retention pond? Is there why the easement is there? So we, so from what I have understood, there is, there was a previous policy where the city would request easements over private retention ponds. A lot of times that was just for like, in case of emergency, we have the ability to to go in. I think we would just do it in most scenarios. And also in this scenario, it does overlap two different parcels of land. So at that point in time, there might have been two owners and they might have done it that way. It's sort of, that's the best guess that we can kind of come up with. Okay. So had that retention pond built, and if it was active, it would have been used by multiple businesses? It's mainly for the furniture store, the parcel that the furniture store is. Mainly, but it could be used. It could have been, yes. Okay. Do we have any other retention ponds in the city, private, that are used by more than one owner? I would say in that scenario, you're probably looking at some of the newer developments, like residential developments, where there's the lands have been plotted and you have a joint retention pond in that scenario. That's probably where this would come about throughout the city. Okay. All right. Thank you. That's all that I have. Okay. Commissioner Sandbergen. No, I had no questions, Mayor. Okay. And I don't have any either. So I will open it to a public hearing. Does anyone in the audience wish to come forward and speak to this issue? Okay. Seeing no one, I will close the public hearing, and I'll go to Commission comments. Maker of the motion is Commissioner Walker. No additional comments, Mayor. Okay. And the seconder is Commissioner Dugard. No comments. Okay. Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, I'm—you'll hear my vote in a second, but it's going to be no. I'm—after the hurricane season that we've been through, we're in the middle of a vulnerability study. I'm concerned about any—giving up any potential access we might have to retention ponds or future retention ponds. I just don't think time is now. My decision might change after the vulnerability study. I'm—I'm not sure. But for right now, I'm just a little uncomfortable removing the ability to have access in—in the middle of the climate change and sea level rise. Thank you. Okay. Commissioner Sandbergen. I have nothing else to add, Mayor. Okay. And I'm—I'm supportive of this—of this and don't have any comments. So roll call vote. Vice Mayor Gao. Nay. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Commissioner Walker. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And that motion passes four to one. Okay. We'll go to 2B, a limited assignment and amendment of three-year auditor contract with MSL PA and Forvis Masters LLP, a Missouri limited liability partnership. And I will turn that over to Les for—unless the city manager wanted to kick it off. Just go to Les. No, just to Les. Thank you. Okay. Les, you're on. Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. Les Tyler, the finance director. As mentioned, this item is limited assignment and amendment for our three-year contract with MSL PA, who is our auditing firm, and with Forvis, Forvis Mazar's LLP. Some brief background. The city commission approved the MSL PA auditor contract for a three-year term on the September 3rd, 2024 commission meeting. That was item 2E. Prior to that selection, there was a formal RFP process performed. The RFP process began in June and was completed in July, and then we received five proposals from different firms. We had an auditor selection committee that evaluated the proposals and ranked them one through three, and the firm of MSL was the number one firm and recommended to the commission. MSL firms done a great job for our city. They've been our auditors for a number of years. So then on November 1st, 2024, Forvis Mazar's LLP, the assignee, acquired certain assets of the assigner, who is the MSL PA firm, and a number of team members, including the MSL PA firm, including our audit team that provides our audit for the city of Dunedin. They've been providing our audit for a number of years, as I mentioned, and the firm desires to continue to work with our city and do our audit. The assigner MSL PA firm team members providing our audit for the last number of years will be the same team. There'll be no change. They've joined the firm of Forvis Mazar's LLP company. The experience and the ability of the personnel during the audit and also our engagement will be the same and the same team members we've had for a few years now for the city. There'll be no change in the audit fees, the contract terms or anything. The firm has a large presence in the Tampa Bay, Florida in the area and will continue to perform auditing services in the state of Florida. We do have Jeff Wolf, a partner with MSL PA firm and now the Forvis Mazar's LLP company here with us this evening. If you have any questions, you might have for him. And staff's recommending approval of a limited assignment between MSL PA and the Forvis Mazar's LLP firm. And that includes my comments. Happy to answer any questions. Great. Thank you, Les. So, questions for staff? I'll start over here with Vice Mayor this time. Yeah. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah, no questions. Okay. And Commissioner Sandberg? I think you said terms stay the same, conditions, dates, prices, everything remains the same. Yeah. Good. Thank you, Les. Okay. Commissioner Walker? Uh, no, no questions. I was on the source selection committee and a solid, responsive, great partner. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Um, Commissioner Dugard? Uh, thank you, Mayor. Um, question. What is our rotation policy regarding accounting firms to do audits? Yeah, we go out to RFP every, every, we have a three-year contract with the two-option renewal. And so, uh, in this case, we renewed last time. So, we, we, we go out to RFP every five years. And, uh, we do a full, a full recruitment process. And then, uh, that firm, that same firm may be selected again, or we, or, or we could rotate to another. That just depends on the audit selection committee and, and the evaluation of, of those firms. So, this would be the completion of a second term? Is that what I'm hearing? Yeah, that, yeah, they, the, the firm, uh, the firm's done our audit for 10 years. And then with this contract, they'd be a total of 13 years. Yeah. After this contract expires. Yeah. Okay. And when will this expire? This is a three-year contract. It, it, it would, it would expire in three years, but it could be renewed for two more years. Okay. Yeah. And that, that expiration date is what? Just so I get a picture on that. It's, uh, it would be, it would be September. It was approved in September of 24. So it'd be September of 27. It would be the, the three years would be up. And then if it went to additional, it would go to 29. Excellent. Good practice. Thank you. Okay. Um, I don't have any additional questions, Les. I think you covered everything. Um, so is there anyone in the public that wishes to speak to this item? I do have one card. Uh, Lori Scott, 978 Sunrise Drive, Tarpon Springs. I take your Lori. I'm Lori. Yes. Welcome. Good evening, Honorable Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. My name is Lori Scott and I'm pursuing a bachelor's degree in public policy and administration through St. Petersburg College. I reside in Tarpon Springs on Sunrise Drive. Although I'm not a resident, I have the pleasure of commuting through your beautiful city every day going to work. While this agenda item may not be the most challenging one brought before you, it is a critical issue to the, for the residents and citizens who enjoy your city. This item is another opportunity to strengthen their trust and Deneen's government as good stewards of public funds. On September 3rd, 2024, the city approved the contract with the firm Moore Stevens Loveless PA MSL PA to perform the city's required annual external financial audit. The contract covered an audit for the fiscal years of September 30th, 2024 through September 30th, 2026. On November 1st, 2024, the firm Forvis Mazars LLP bought out MSL PA. In order for the city to honor the contract with MSL PA, a limited assignment and amendment to the original contract is necessary. I realize there are uncertainties when one company buys out another regarding the employees from the original company, whether they will continue working for the new company, and whether the new company will uphold the same expectations as the former. Florida statute 7 statute 218.39 requires any municipality with revenues that exceed $250,000 to perform an annual audit from an independent certified public accountant. The independent auditor ensures adequate internal controls and are in place and determine if there are any risk factors associated with those controls. External auditors provide an independent view of the fiscal responsibility of a municipality. They determine whether the city complies with the financial reporting as determined by government auditing standards. This independent audit also assures the residents of Dunedin that their government is working with their best interests in mind. In addition, an independent audit provides one of the necessary transparencies in government as outlined by the Florida statute's sunshine law. Every resident of Dunedin deserves to feel pride in the government that represents them. Residents should feel confident that their elected officials are adhering to the policies, regulations, and statutes that they have been entrusted to uphold. When residents question whether their government is misappropriating public resources, it is difficult for them to rebuild that trust. Providing an annual audit for the city is an important mechanism to gain and withhold trust among residents and other citizens alike. My recommendation is that you approve this item with a stipulation that if by chance, the MSL PA staff with the original contract do not continue working for four of us Mazar LLP, that there is a way that the city can void that contract. I appreciate your time. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Appreciate your input. Thank you. Okay. Anyone else in the audience wish to speak to this issue? If so, come forward. Seeing none, I'll close the public hearing. Okay. I need a maker of the motion. So moved. Second. Okay. So we'll go to commission comments, starting with maker of the motion, Commissioner Walker. No additional comments, Mayor. Okay. Commissioner Sandbergen. Nothing to add, Mayor. Okay. Vice Mayor. No comments. And Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. Just one comment. Starting an audit process for a firm is a sizable first and second year expense for that organization. And I can see why they would want to continue this contract. And if we were not to approve this contract, we'd go back into a process of finding another firm to do this process that is very important to the city. I consider in this particular case continuity to be important and I support it. Thank you. And I support it also. And we've had good service from the firm and uh, it looks like things will remain the same, but you're always on the watch. So thank you, Les. Um, okay. So we'll go to roll call vote. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Vice Mayor Gow. Aye. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. Commissioner Walker. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And that, uh, motion passes unanimously. Okay. Thank you. Okay. We're going to go to 2C, which is the approval to amend the City of Dunedin contract with Tetra Tech Inc., a Delaware corporation, and to utilize the agreement for disaster recovery consulting services related to Tropical Storm Debbie and Hurricanes Helene and Milton based on contracted hourly rates and an estimated cost of $969,918.80. And I'll turn to, uh, staff presentation. So, Les and George. So you're back on. Sorry. Thank you. I almost was shooing you away, but you're back on. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, Les Tower, the finance director, and, uh, and, and also George Kinney's here along with also, uh, Joey DePasqua in the, in their department to, uh, for any questions that may come up, uh, for this item. As mentioned, this item is, is approval to amend the City's contract with Tetra Tech Inc., uh, by extending the term for two years and also adding terms required by FEMA and to also authorize three purchase orders or change orders to purchase orders under this contract that we'll go over in a few minutes. I want to mention that, uh, we, we extended the contract for, uh, for a two-year period with options for, uh, extensions of one year each. And we're extending the contract because we want, we want to clarify that Tetra Tech will work with our city as we, as we work through Helene and Milton through, through completion working with FEMA, which could be two to three years. So we want to make sure that we were, uh, in our contract, it was clear that they would work with us, uh, to complete those storms, uh, because they, it goes on for a number of years. Uh, also on this item as mentioned is we have, uh, the first is we have a PO, uh, uh, uh, 250-128 number PO for Tetra Tech Inc., and that was for disaster recovery services related to Tropical Storm Debbie and Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The agreement and terms are based on hourly rates at an estimated cost not to exceed $478,000. Then the second item is PO 250-125. We issued this purchase order in October 2024. And this was an emergency declaration for Tetra Tech to assist with, uh, substantial damage assessment services working with the community development department with the city for Helene and Milton. And that was an estimated cost of $267,000. Then the third item would be approval of a new purchase order, uh, with Tetra Tech Inc. for disaster recovery, uh, engineering and support services and project management services and design support for the, for the Dunedin Marina projects. And that's an estimated cost of $224,000. Uh, some brief background, uh, on this contract, uh, the commission intended to do a contract with Tetra Tech Inc. for disaster recovery services on August 4th, 2020. As mentioned in the purchasing memo attached, which is exhibit B in the staffing report today, the city commission awarded the contract as part of RFP 20-1156 to Tetra Tech Inc. That, that, the purpose of that RFP 20-1156 was, was a competitive procurement, was to, uh, find and contract with a firm to provide personnel materials and all the required services to assist with the disaster recovery efforts with, with, with storms. The consultant will, would, would assist the city in expediting financial recovery efforts. Consultant would also assist the city in expediting financial recovery and mitigation efforts working with FEMA and, and makes me, and making sure that the city's in compliance with all federal laws and state laws, uh, uh, associated with, with, uh, recovery efforts. Uh, there were three bids for that work. Uh, Tetra Tech was the vendor selected back at that time. Uh, and now following hurricanes, Helene and Milton, uh, disaster recovery services are needed, obviously. And we, uh, we, uh, we had a, uh, a notice to proceed and a purchase order issued to Tetra Tech for the amount of $30,845. That was issued in, uh, October 24th, 2024. Since that time, Tetra Tech has, uh, provided a formal estimate of the estimated cost for various deliverables for Hurricane Helena Milton, uh, storm damage with the city. The total estimated cost is $478,000 per the attached proposal. That's the attachment, uh, exhibit C in your staffing report. And the services provided for this would be providing detailed knowledge related to the emergency assistance, um, and provisions of regulations, 44 CFR and two CFR 200. Those are FEMA guidelines, uh, financial payroll and grant management services working with FEMA procurement and contract management support insurance and other support, other funding support, hazard mitigation support, emergency management support services, and, and CFR 200 compliance with rules and language to satisfy FEMA. Uh, in addition, following the hurricanes, Helene and Milton, we had substantial damage assessments, uh, for the, uh, so we, we issued a PO for the community development department, uh, for the notice to proceed. That was done under the emergency declaration with the city. And that PO was, uh, issued a PO 250, 125, uh, in the amount of $267,000. The attached proposal, uh, is exhibit D in the staffing report. And the substantial damage process includes, but not limited to collecting damage, damage information, performing substantial damage determinations, and communicating the determinations to the property owners. Uh, and the last item, uh, is the new PO I mentioned, and that is, uh, hurricanes, uh, Helene and Milton caused damage at the city's marina. Uh, city intends to repair the damage directly caused by the marina as, uh, expedited as possible. Tetra Tech Inc. through their contract is able to provide these services and provide engineering, project management support, and design services, providing, uh, support to city staff, and assist in providing project management support for design permitting and bidding, uh, the repairs needed at the marina. The total estimated cost for that work is $224,766. The attached scope of work is exhibit E in the staffing report. And the services for that include, but are not, but are not limited to project management and coordination, phase planning and improvements, public meetings with the city commission and the Marine Advisory Committee, and RFQ packages for the docks and fishing peer replacements and permitting services as well. And also, uh, an independent peer review of engineering services and submittals. Uh, staff recommends that commission approve the amended contract between, uh, the city and Tetra Tech Inc. and to authorize the city manager to utilize and execute the contract to increase the, uh, the PO for $447,222, uh, for the grant support services. And the second item is to approve and ratify the previously issued purchase order 250115. That was the PO that was for substantial damage and was part of the emergency declaration back in October. And that's a total cost of $267,085. And the third one is to approve the new purchase order to Tetra Tech for engineering related services and project management for the marina, uh, the marina, uh, work and, and damage repairs there. And that's an estimated cost of $224,766. That concludes my comments. I want to mention this idea before George Kinney is here along with, uh, Joey DePasqua, uh, for our, uh, our city's departments. We also have representatives from, from, uh, Tetra Tech Inc. here. We have, we have Tucker Conklin, who is the deputy director of post-disaster program for Tetra Tech. And we also have Gary O'Neill here, who's the director of flood claim management and mitigation with Tetra Tech. And that concludes my comments. Any, happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Thank you, Les. Um, okay. So questions for staff. We'll start on this side, uh, with Commissioner Walker. Thank you, Mayor. Um, I think based on prior, great presentation too, by the way, um, prior discussions that we've had, uh, we're, we're, I don't want to say assuming, but we, we think a large majority of this will be reimbursable. Do you have a, like a rough percentage or? Yeah, we're, we're, we're hopeful that all of it will be reimbursable at, uh, at FEMA, FEMA reimbursing 75%. And then, uh, the state reimbursing their 12.5%. We're, we're hopeful that all of it will be, uh, at this time. Yeah. Well, I also want to mention that some of the, uh, the, the debris removal that, uh, that we had done for about 5 million, that's a hundred percent reimbursed by FEMA, but, but everything else for the most part will be 75% reimbursed by FEMA. Okay. Great. Um, and the next question I have is, is, well, I guess it's probably combined with the other question, but, um, just to kind of understand that process for the grant support. Um, how, just, how does that work exactly? Just high level. Um, I, they submit an assessment of the damage to FEMA, then FEMA comes out, reviews it, and then basically what happens next? Yeah. I'll, I'll go over at high level and then, uh, Tucker's here, uh, also if, if I don't cover everything, uh, basically, yeah, we, they assist us in preparing packages. And for instance, we have a package for the Marina that they've, they're already working on, uh, Tucker and his team Tetra Tech. And, and they prepare packages for all, for all, all the different damages. We'll have packages for the Gabions that are damaged and, and, and, and various other, uh, you know, things we have damaged at the city. They prepare that information and then they work with us in FEMA at making sure that we package it in a way. Also, they, they assist along the way with making sure that we're following our, our procurement guidelines. Uh, we, uh, we ask for their input often, uh, along with our attorney, uh, as we work through, uh, procuring, uh, different, different, uh, uh, uh, items, you know, for, uh, for the, for the Marina and, and all the different damages. So they really just kind of go cradle to grave through, uh, the beginning, you know, making sure up front you're careful how you procure things and also making sure that you're putting your packages together in a fashion that FEMA wants to see and, and they'll accept and, and hopefully expedite, expedite the process. Tucker, can you add to that or? Uh, good evening. Uh, Tucker Conklin with Tetra Tech, uh, Madam Mayor, Mr. Vice Mayor, Commissioners, uh, City Leadership. It's nice to be here again. Uh, with regards to your question on the process, I, I think Les hit it at a high level there. Um, if you'd like some more details, I'm about to list some alphabet soup, so I'll, I'll do my best to explain the, the acronyms. But, um, as Les said, you know, there's, there's a, there's a compliance side to it, which is identifying risk. Um, but more importantly, the, you know, FEMA has a number of programs. The, the main bucket or avenue for reimbursement is through something called the public assistance or PA program. Um, now that does a few things. You can get reimbursed for actual costs for debris removal, um, for emergency services, for staff and labor costs during emergency to respond, and then to, you know, rebuild facilities. I know the Marina was a, was an example. Um, the process that entails, you know, getting FEMA to essentially sign off on that project, uh, usually starts with an inspection, which was performed, I believe, about a month ago. Um, probably the last time you all saw me here. Um, followed by an agreement of what was actually damaged. So, you know, looking at the details of the seawall, how was it designed, how was it damaged. Um, following up on, you know, agreeing on an estimate if the work's going to take a while to get done, um, as large projects usually do. Um, after that, we usually sit down and look at, you know, what mitigation measures can be employed here and, and, you know, either providing, um, support to the city with suggestions and writing up something called an HMP or has a mitigation proposal to get FEMA to sign off on, um, you know, extras that you can do to the Marina. You know, how do you strengthen a wall? How do you strengthen some docs and some peers? Um, and then that whole package, as Les said, is, is submitted to FEMA for their review in concurrence with, um, what was damaged, the scope, the estimate, um, and so on and so forth. So once FEMA approves that money sent to the state, um, followed by, you know, when, when the city actually does that work, they then, uh, follow the steps to request to, to draw down from those funds from the state. So, uh, I hope that wasn't too into the weeds. Um, but, and I hope that it answered your question. No, that's perfect. Does the state have to come out and do their own assessment for the remaining 12 and a half percent or? Um, the, the state provides a local match 12 and a half percent of the policy standpoint. They, if FEMA signs off on the scope. Okay. Um, they will not come out and do an inspection. They are, they will perform their own audit, if that makes sense, um, just to make sure that the amount that we're asking for is what was spent. Um, but that's their large role is what I should say. Um, in your experience, what are some common, because obviously, you know, this, the, the due diligence on this is extremely critical. So, I'm just kind of curious in your experience, what are, what are some of those red flags, those things that would cause a problem for our reimbursement? Well, you know, federal money's great, but there's extra hoops to jump through, if you will. Um, I think the largest one that can be a pitfall is, is procurement, which I know the city's already, already taken steps to make sure that, um, you know, everything's in alignment with federal regulations. Um, that's a, that's a large pitfall. So just the procurement, make sure that we're following our own procurement guidelines then. Yeah, it, um, basically the most stringent, unfortunately, between local, state, federal, pick the strictest. That's what you got to abide by if you want federal money, unfortunately. Yeah. Okay. Um, yeah. I appreciate that. Um, on the substantial damage portion, um, just what, uh, what is the ultimate deliverable on that? Does that mean our residents will get their substantial damage assessment letters more timely? Or are you on the side where once that's been determined, you put the packages together and then send them off to FEMA for reimbursement? I'm going to turn that over to our, our co-worker. That's a good evening, Joseph Deposco with, uh, community development. Yeah. So, so essentially each, um, and I'll, I'll also ask Gary to chime in and, and add anything to this, um, because he's leading up this operation for us. But essentially each person who's had an assessment, uh, would receive a letter with a summary report. About 425 of those have already gone out. And we're, um, you know, we're hoping the balance of those go out very shortly. And, um, essentially it's a determination, of course, a percentage. And the, the critical is if it's greater than 50%, then at least preliminarily, it's considered substantially damaged. And we deal with them on a number of potential options moving, moving forward from that point. Okay. All right. That makes sense. And you've sent out, you know, I think what last estimate is, is we had 400 plus residences damaged, and it sounds to me like you've sent out most of the letters to this point, right? We actually had, I believe, you know, maybe Gary has the exact number. I think there was close to a thousand buildings that had, um, assessments done. Okay. Um, about, um, about 425 received letters, um, at this point. Uh, it's also important that the city's issued, because our message had been, uh, very much that if, um, if our residents or building owners felt that they had, um, not been substantially damaged, they were able, they were already getting prices. We were encouraging people to apply for permits immediately and see if they could start the repairs. And I'm certainly pleased to say we've issued over 400 permits for storm damage repair, obviously at no fee. And those have been expedited. And so a lot of people have already, um, you know, uh, tackled that, that large task of repairing their home, uh, many of which have already completed the repairs. So when you combine the letters that have gone out and the number of permits, I think we've made pretty good headway, um, at this point. But we're hoping to wrap it up here very shortly. Yeah, that's good to hear. Uh, finally, on the engineering related services, uh, as it pertained to the marina, uh, the, the project manager will, the scope of which will sounds to me like it'll be everything but the, uh, the eastern bulkhead. Is that what the scope of those services or is the project manager going to be also involved in, um, in the bulkhead repair as well? Yeah, I believe they'll be involved in that as well. I may not have mentioned that, but yeah, they'll be involved in all the aspects, uh, through design and, uh, and up to construction. They won't be involved in construction, but up to construction. Okay. Um, and then this is such a, this is such a critical role for the restoration of the marina. Is Tetra Tech, have you named a person yet to fulfill this? Uh, we have. The gentleman's name is Tim VanderWalker. Um, he can't be with us here tonight, but his resume and credentials were sent over to the city for review prior to this. Um, if you'd like a brief explanation of Tim's credentials, he's a certified professional engineer in the state of Florida. Um, I believe with over 20 years with Tetra Tech and, um, performing this kind of work, he's located in Orlando. Um, he also coordinates, uh, extensively with our local Tampa office as well. So, um, you know, there can be some, some folks on the ground real quickly if needed. If not, Tim's only an hour and a half away, I believe. Um, but he has been performing similar work for, um, Tetra Tech as an engineer, as well as familiar familiarity with, um, arenas and bulkheads. He supported the, um, I believe the, uh, New York, New Jersey, uh, Port Authority with their bulkhead repairs, um, following Superstorm Sandy. Um, he supported my group, uh, in Southwest Florida, um, for a number of communities with their marina projects. So, um, he brings experience and, and, you know, is also a local resident of Florida that's looking forward to supporting the city. So, highly qualified. He is, sir. Okay. All right. Well, thank you. That's okay. Uh, Commissioner Dugard. Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. Um, we're now at an estimated cost of six, uh, $969,918. Um, and that is a sizable amount of money. Now, what we're hearing is, and my question pertains to, of that amount, should it land there because of its estimated cost? Seventy-five percent is reimbursable of that, and 12.5 by the state? Is that what I heard? Uh, yes. If I'll, I'm gonna bucket these three items, if I could, just because they are reimbursed at separate costs. It is, it is a complicated set of issues, so go through it, please. Uh, so the, the top line item that says $478,000 for grant management support, is reimbursable to 100% for the duration of the contract. Okay. Um, that's a value that's set as a percentage of your total disaster costs. So, for simplicity's sake, you have a $10 million disaster, you're eligible for drawing down up to $500,000 for those services. 20 million, 1 million, 30 million, one and a half, so on and so forth. Uh, it's a sliding scale. Um, I would say that I think 99.7 percent of the time we come under that five percent. So, um, we are used to operating within the requirements, um, to help our clients fully get reimbursed for our services for that type of scope. Um, the, uh, the second item for the substantial damage assessments is reimbursed, reimbursable through the FEMA PA program, um, at a 75% federal cost share. And as you said, 12 and a half percent, um, is matched by the state. Um, and then the third item, uh, for the project management costs, which would be a part of the marina reconstruction costs, is also eligible for reimbursement through the FEMA PA program at the 75, 12 and a half, 12 and a half match. Uh, my next question is rather difficult in light of what we've experienced, uh, in federal cuts in the last, uh, 30 days. Um, have we had any indication that any of the past regulations associated with FEMA will be impacted, uh, for this particular coverage? Not for these particular services to, to our knowledge, to the best of our knowledge. That's all I have, Mayor. Okay. Thank you. Uh, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, that, that is a lot of money. Uh, Joey, if, if we were to say no to this tonight, or this might go to the city manager, I don't know. What, can we do this in house? Can we, do we have the staff to do this? Do we have, I mean, if we say no to this, what's the impact of the rest of the money and our ability to one, restore the city and two, to recoup the costs that we would use to restore the city? I, you know, I think at this point, Commissioner, um, Tetra Tech has completed their initial field analysis. They've, they've, they've got a pretty heavy lift already completed. So if we didn't have that information and have them finish it, we'd have to do some resetting, which whether we had the staff or not would be, would be a, would definitely hold us back. Um, so I, you know, to me, it, I won't, I don't ever want to say, you know, I have tons of faith in staff and certainly if, if we have a task that we need to get done. And so do I that in, within respect to my question, the utmost respect for staff. But the supplemental help is, is so valuable because obviously we are a smaller operation. So, I mean, at this point, if this were not to be able to move forward as anticipated, it certainly would give us a pretty significant setback. And, um, when we're this close to, I think, wrapping up the effort, you know, certainly, um, I, you know, I don't know that that would be a, you know, a great move for the residents at this point. So, um, you know, we're, we're encouraged to, to get this thing, this project completed as quickly as possible. And do you know what, again, if we were to say no tonight, what the impact would be for the timeline of getting whatever we can get done, done? Well, there's a, there's a deadline for being reimbursed and I don't believe we'd be able to make it. So it's a possibility. We, we would not get that, that 75% and potential 12 and a half percent if we did not meet the required deadline. So certainly there, there's a major risk there quite, quite candidly. Okay. Thank you. Those are my questions. Okay. Commissioner Sandbergen. Um, you know, we look at task one to task two. If, where would you consider we are today? Are we through task one? Are we through task two? With regards to the, uh, the grant management support? Yes. Um, I would say task one is completed. That's operational planning support. That's where you're identifying what your universe is, right? In a disaster. Okay. Um, that effort has a deadline and is, has been met. Um, task two, which is quantifying physically what's damaged is, is something that started, right? With the marina inspection, with working with FEMA out there in the field to agree to the specifics and, you know, literally quantities and linear feet of what was damaged, that's underway. Um, and task three has also started concurrently. They, they kind of move independently of one another, um, which is, you know, we've, the city's incurred large costs already. Right. Um, so the, you know, review collection and processing and aims to get all those, you know, contracts and invoice and payment documentation to FEMA to try to speed up the reimbursement for what can be reimbursed so far is underway too. So, um, I would, to answer your question directly, one's pretty much completed, two and three are underway. Okay. Um, directly. A minute ago you were talking about, uh, you gave a gentleman's name. Will he be considered the project manager for the marina repair? Yes, sir. From, from Texas. Okay. You know, I guess it's a, I'm sure, I hope you can answer this. When will those folks down there start to see some activity? Um, may I, Mayor? Yes, please. So, so we are having a special meeting on, on the, um, on the 25th, uh, on upcoming Tuesday. Um, and I, we're going to do a full presentation as far as the timeline goes. Um, the east bulk head wall is under design right now. Um, and then that will go out to bid. So, um, I can give you the full timeline. They are going to see here subsequent to the, the, the meeting on the 25th in which we will ask the city commission if you want us to move forward on expenditures to restore the marina to a minimum of storage capacity and then to operating. Um, uh, you know, we're going to have to spend some money in order to do that. Um, we do have parks and recreation out there. Uh, Lori Ferguson, our Harbor master asked for help. So, uh, parks operation, um, has a punch list and they're out there tidying up and cleaning up. We've had electrical there. Um, we've had looking at the panels and the, and the pedestals. Um, fire suppression has been out there inspecting, um, and we should have entered into a PO at this point to, to repair the fire suppression. So there's been activity there as far as construction activity goes. The soonest that we will start with anything would be August of no, January, 2026, we would start. And I do want to say something about the project management to clay, uh, the start of construction for East bulkhead wall, which would be the first would be probably be when. Yeah, I would, right now we're estimating start, excuse me, start, start of construction for the East bulkhead wall is looking at August. This is our best bet. We'll see some other crews come in to start. Well, we've got, the electrician has been, has been there. It's cleaning up some stuff so we can get some, some electrical stuff we're operating and fire suppression. The, the, that consultant should be out a couple months or so, depending on their workload and timeframe. And that's probably shooting, uh, pretty long. And they're working on, uh, another, um, contractor to do, fix up some of the repairs to some of the docks and stuff like that. So you'll, we'll see major construction until August. You'll just see a small work up until then. I'm good then, Mayor. I'll wait till later. May I comment on the project management, Mayor? Go ahead. Uh, Commissioner Sandbergen. So, so, uh, Tetra Tech will be providing the project manager, um, as far as that engineering expertise, expertise goes. We will still have, uh, Clay Watkins from our part as the city's portion of the project management. I'll still be involved. Jorge King just will still be involved in it. So we're not pulling staff off of it. We're actually adding additional resources onto it. Good. Okay. Um, so, um, with the project manager for Tetra Tech being living in Orlando, um, does staff have any concerns about that, the location and the ability to be? Not necessarily with him. And then they have staff in the Tampa that will also be able to assist with that too. Okay. Okay. So you're good. And also his contract has a number of meetings. I think it's, it's for Murray advisor committee meetings for other meetings as well. So a number of meetings, uh, baked into the contract. Uh, and we can also, uh, use modern technology to, to have him, uh, virtual in when, when we need that expertise. So, um, Joey knows I've struggled with the substantial damage and he's probably maybe shared that with you, but so as somebody who, you know, was flooded out, um, just got the permit. Thank you. And they're in there starting to work in my house, which is exciting. Um, I, I don't get the substantial damage letter because first of all, I've never gotten any, I w I wouldn't even know it existed if it wasn't for the city, you know, that I'm involved with the city. Um, and I'm trying to figure out like, let's just say Santa Barbara drive. So did trucks go down Santa Barbara drive and look to see what was damaged and how did they do that? And how does that compare with the fact that you have a number you have to meet with the property appraiser? And then, which I would not have met and if I hadn't had an independent, uh, you know, independent appraisal, like I, I kind of don't get it. So help me. Let me start. And then I'll certainly ask, um, Gary, if he, if he has anything further to add. So, so the, um, so there's, it's really a sort of a multi-step process. Certain, certainly the very first thing that happens is the day after both storms, both September 27th and October 10th city crews, there's a team of eight go out like every other city in the county and they do damage, initial damage assessment. And what we're looking for is areas in which we're hit. And we all know who the, what those areas are and they spend a good deal of time out there just identifying where there's flood. They try to take a lot of photographs of where water lines are and things of that nature that's reported out to the county. Obviously this was a little unique because we had the back to back storms. Um, but after the second storm, then our next step is to do the substantial damage assessments. Cause we know their homes that had significant flooding. And so that is when you go in and oftentimes that is done weeks after the storm. So you rely on the initial data and then you go out and you do what's essentially a curbside. And this is the task that the teams from Tetra Tech did. It's basically from vehicles and walking up and down the street, they're, they're identifying the areas of flooding. They're identifying based on our data that we provided to them, the level of flooding that likely happened in those areas, uh, looking at basic maps and, and the things that, and they're gathering that data of what happened to each home, the level of flooding that may have happened. Then that information is then collected. And that is the information that's put into the, um, substantial damage estimator tool. It's a, on, it's a program, a FEMA program, and the data is put in and the, for the purposes of essentially look, you're looking at the, what's the market value of the building going. Pinellas County, because the property, the property appraiser provides that number, uh, for us, Tetra Tech used that number. And then they estimate the damage that, that the likely damage to the building, uh, based on its size and that value. And they estimate this is what we think the damage cost of the damage and the repairs are versus what the property appraiser is saying it's worth. And then that's a percentage, obviously of the two. And that letter, that report and that, and a letter is mailed out saying, we believe this is the value of your home, which you, you, but you know, you can get an appraisal, you can get a different number. And we believe this is the cost of the, the damages. When you put them together, that percentage is either, you know, greater than or less than 50%. And it is meant to be sort of the first shot over the bow because oftentimes the number for the repairs is either low or high. Of course, you might get an appraisal. The property value can go up or down. Um, and we will accept an appraisal as well as the property appraisers. And so, you know, that may be a, sound like a difficult answer, but really that's what it comes down to. It's, it's, you're looking at a building, you're saying this building's potentially at four feet of water in it. This is what we believe the damage is versus what we believe the building is worth. And here's your percentage of damage. So, I mean, my question would be then why didn't I get a letter? Why did you get a letter? Why didn't I get a letter? You probably are in a future batch. Okay. You probably have not received your letter yet. Okay. Yeah. So, so then when you say it's the first line across the bow or however you put that, like, it feels like the last line across the ball. Because from someone who really, you know, as much as I'm mayor, I didn't know. And I'm like figuring it out as I go. And somebody told me, oh, go to the property appraiser, get your letter, here's your number. And then I'm hearing from, you know, the people that are tearing stuff out and, you know, which was $24,000. So I'm like, okay, now I'm down to this number for what I got to repair. And people are like, oh yeah, you're never going to make it. You better get an independent appraisal. And so like, then, you know, then I'm hearing substantial damage letter. I'm like, like, I just, I, so it's required to do this. Is that what it is? And because it does seem like way, way, way, I mean, like, like, well, I get the letter before my house is rebuilt. I, that's, that's what kind of cracks me up about it. I'm just. So you, and you're, you're correct in that our message from the very beginning was, as I mentioned earlier, if you believe you can repair your home for under 50% of what the Pinellas County property appraisers is saying your building is worth, or you're getting an independent appraisal, please come in and get a permit and start repairing. The, the letters are, are going out later. And sometimes first, first of all, the assessments were done in November, but the letters aren't being mailed till, till just now, just in the last four weeks. So it's possible you could have already had a permit to repair. We have an obligation to do this. So the letter in your case, you can probably disregard it. You have a permit that you've documented. You can repair your home for under 50% of its market value. So even if our letter came to you and said it was greater than 50%, you could disregard the letter. But we have an obligation to mail these. It's part of our participation in national flood insurance program. Exactly. So it's an exercise we, we must go through. Right. I mean, I, I just remember citizens saying, you know, I got to get that letter. I got to get that letter. And, and I kept trying to figure out, well, how does that help with the whole equation? So it does. But I, I get if it's required. It just seems, I mean, we're paying a lot of money for this letter that. Okay. So, you know, again, I don't want to get too far in the weeds, but there are people that are hoping their letter comes to them and it's greater than 50% because they want to use it to get their increased cost of coverage money so they can pay, get that money to elevate. Okay. So there, there's a myriad of reasons you could use the letter. In some instances, the letter may have no value to you because you've already received a permit and you're repairing your home. In some instances, you're waiting for that letter because you'd like to use that to leverage some additional dollars, maybe grant money to repair, to elevate your building. And there are a number of people that were encouraged by receiving their letter because they're, they have no intention of repairing their building. They'd like to mitigate. So is that letter kind of the trigger then? I mean, like, let's just say no letter ever came to me. Can I prove that out myself? Or is that letter a critical component of your home is substantially damaged? Like the letter's got to validate that. That's the validation. So if you're looking to, under your flood insurance policy, if you're looking to have a claim for the increased, it's called the ICC money, that you need the letter. Okay. Well, that makes sense. Okay. Well, at least, good. There's legitimate reason why people need those letters. There are, I can't emphasize enough, there are well over, I've probably spoken personally to well over a hundred residents that have absolutely no intention of repairing their home. They want to elevate or do what's called a mitigation reconstruction, either repair it and elevate it or rebuild with the ground floor converted and build above or simply tear down and start over. There are lots of residents that want to do that. So that letter coming to them has a significant value to them. Okay. Well, that makes sense. So that, then one more question, if you guys don't mind. And that is, what is actually available to people realistically to help them demolish and rebuild or elevate? What kind of process? Like I'll hear different things. There's a, you know, elevate Florida, but nobody can ever really get it. It's meant for something way, way out there, not for immediate crisis. And then I hear there's a $30,000 to help you build up, which is, you know, I've always kind of said it's kind of laughable because, you know, it's big money to try to rebuild. So I guess, so what is really out there? Mr. Joseph, you want me to? Yeah, I'll just point out the elevate Florida is for people that it, that program was set up specifically after these storm events, these three storm events for folks who are looking to do one of three types of elevation projects. The first one is not desirous, it's acquisition. The second one is to elevate the existing structure. In other words, take your building and lift it. And the third one is a mitigation reconstruction, which would be to either convert your building, your ground floor to flood resistant and build your living area above or tear down and rebuild. That the elevate Florida program is the program the state of Florida is encouraging people to apply for and to get on the waiting list for and to get into that email box, that inbox. And the ICC money is in addition to that. So if you were to be granted the What's the ICC? Is that the $30,000? That's the increased cost of compliance. Yes, that's up to $30,000 that would be available under your flood policy. And you can, you can do both. You can both get your up to $30,000 and you could apply. And if you're successful getting the elevate Florida funds, then you can do both. And how much is elevate Florida? In the past, the match, I believe it was a 75-25 match with a $220,000 cap. And that may be the case again. Now, I mean, again. And I'd ask Gary if he's had any other ideas. Yeah, because I mean, I just, I was at a, you know, kind of a consortium thing. And one of the resiliency people in one of the cities was like, yeah, there's a city that actually put somebody, hired a staff person to be on this. And they still have had maybe one person get this thing. So I'm just curious, is it, is it real? Is it take, is it like, take a lifetime to get it? Is it, is it happening? Are you seeing people getting it? It's very real. First off, thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioners. And Mr. Joseph, thank you for, for letting us come out here and talk. My group is actually working the substantial damage process, but I'm actually also our Director of Mitigation Grant Services as well. And so, one of the key pieces of these letters, one of the several different values that are generated by this letter going out saying, yes, you are substantially damaged. If you don't participate in Elevate Florida, for example, there's a myriad of different grant programs out there that are available through FEMA. Same, a different pot of money than we're talking about here with what we call 406 or public assistance. But there's hazard mitigation grant program funding. There's flood mitigation assistance. This is going to be alphabet soup, like Tucker mentioned earlier, FMA, FMA Swift Current. And those are used all across the nation after a disaster to do the three basic mitigation activity types for residential structures that Mr. Joseph mentioned, which is, number one, you want to elevate that home above whatever the base flood elevation is. If you're in a special flood hazard area, you're going to identify what that BFE is. And then FEMA is going to pay for the cost or help supplement the cost to a grant of up to 75, or in some cases, if they're repetitive loss or severe repetitive loss, there'll be additional cost shares above 75%. But you could layer that with your ICC funding, as Mr. Joseph talked about, again, using that letter to supplement your out-of-pocket costs to be able to mitigate. You'll go up one to two foot, or if you have flood of record, you can go two foot above the flood of record if that's higher than base flood. But you could use FMA, FMA Swift Current, HMGP, Elevate Florida is a huge program that the state is implementing here. My group does them all day, every day, from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to Maui County and Hawaii. Folks are elevating structures after a disaster. So that stuff is definitely out there. Is there anyone in Dunedin that's actually put in for it? Or, I mean, I wonder if we're doing enough to make sure people know about it. Yes. So in the past, there have been. This particular past year, we had three, before the storm events, after Debbie, but before these two storms, we had three applicants, three residents put in for the FMA program, the flood mitigation assistance program. We submitted notices of interest. That program has been replaced with the Elevate Florida. So they've been moved over into that group. So it, because that's essentially what Elevate Florida was. It was a, it was an opportunity where the state came in instead of said, and basically said, instead of having applicants, residents come through the city and then have the city go through the state and the state go to FEMA, having four steps, we're going to let the resident go straight directly to the state and try to get those monies. So those three individuals have been told, your applications just get, are basically going to get pushed over to the state, and they're going to take them from here forward. But years past, yes, there has been, I believe, three in, in prior to my arrival here, there have been three people that were successful in getting the flood mitigation assistance grant to elevate their structures. I know one in North Douglas, but okay. I mean, I just want to make sure we're doing enough for our residents and to make sure they're aware. Sure. Go ahead. Just so, you know, with the process being what it is, the Elevate Florida program, is there a deadline to this? I believe the state, I don't certainly want to, don't want to speak for the Division of Emergency Management, but I believe that where they're at right now, they're still accepting. You can, you can go to their Elevate Florida page and there's an email web, email box there. I think anybody can apply. By simply going there, you end up on a subscribe list. And I don't believe there's any deadline at this point where they're telling you they will not accept you. At least I haven't seen anything yet. Okay. So I would encourage anybody who's interested in it, the opportunity to try to see if one of those projects work for them to go ahead and do that. Okay, great. Thank you. So in the past, how long has it taken for somebody to actually go through a full process before they actually can be elevated? My experience has been from sort of data from application through review, roughly six months to a year before the grant is essentially awarded. Now Elevate Florida might be different because it is definitely an opportunity for the state saying we need to, we need to expedite this. And so maybe it'll move a little quicker. But in the past, you know, my experience has been both here in a community I worked at in the past, about six months to a year. Okay. Okay, great. Okay. Well, thank you for allowing me that extra time, gentlemen. So, okay. I think we are done with questions. So we'll go to opening public hearing. Is there anybody in the audience wishing to come forward on this issue? And seeing no one, I will close the public hearing. And I would ask for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. Okay. And so we will go to commission comments. And I'll go to the maker of the motion, Commissioner Walker. Thank you, Mayor. You know, I think that the presentation was good. I think you characterized the urgency of this. And I mean, you know, the city staff has done an amazing job to get us to this point. And we just need a little extra help to get it over the finish line. And I'm very, you know, I'm pleased that we're starting to see this progress. And, you know, now we're talking about the nuts and the bolts and the things that we're going to need to do. And so, anyway, yeah, it is a big number. But at the end of the day, you know, what we've experienced with the three storms was unprecedented. So if this helps us get there faster, I'm all for it. Thank you. Great. And seconder, Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. My father had an old expression, don't buy half a horse. Doesn't make any sense. And I think if we didn't approve this, we'd be buying half a horse. So it makes perfect sense. And because it comes with recommendations from staff, I'm sure the sense of satisfaction with your performance so far is high. So compliments to you on that. We are all fatigued by what we've had to go through. And it gives me comfort to know we've got a good set of professionals helping us get through it. I support this motion. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. You know, I just can't imagine life before FEMA, life before where everybody was just up to each individual, just good luck. And no matter how long it takes, cities, counties, states, good luck. And this is, certainly this is, I just love the focus on getting everybody back up and back to normal just as soon as they can. Tom, very interesting, half a horse. I kind of like that. Yeah, we're already into this. And we're coming up on another hurricane season. So the quicker we can get... Let me knock on the wood here. Knock on wood. No hurricanes. You know, it's just wonderful that we have these services and the focus on a rising tide, races all boats, no pun intended. But, you know, as a community, everybody get back up and get back to normal. The stress is unbelievable. So the quicker we can do that, the better. So thank you all. Yeah, I'm in favor of this. Great. Commissioner Sandbergen. It's been a challenging time for the residents and we need to stay committed and do whatever we can to help. And you guys have done a nice job, a nice job keeping this thing going. So I fully support pushing it forward again. Yeah. So I went to my house today and it seems so fantastic to see floor, protective floor coverings and drywall waiting to be put up. And I think they're going to get going this weekend. And I know some people that are still aren't to that point. So my sympathies with that, but it feels really good to get to that point for me. And it's been, you know, it's been tough on our whole community. And I certainly appreciate what Tetra Tech has brought to the table. I agree. We don't want to have half a horse. We want to finish this game strong. So before I get the motion approved here, I know there's three parts to this. Are we good with just the one motion of the whole thing, staff recommendation? We don't need to break that out in any way, right? You don't? I mean, as I understand it, your motion is to approve all of the staff recommendations. Right. And the city manager has the authority to authorize. Okay, good. Okay. So I need a roll call vote. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. Vice Mayor Gow. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Commissioner Walker. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously. Okay. Thank you, gentlemen. Okay. We're going to go to the proposed agenda for March 6, 2025 commission meeting. And is there any, are there any additions or changes? So right now we have Midtown parking garage design criteria update. We have discussed city commissioners, city commission's rules and procedures, which I know we'll talk about our meetings, et cetera. And then the proposed agenda for March 20th. So any changes or additions, we're good. Okay. And so if I could have a motion to approve. So moved. Second. Okay. Okay. Walker and Sandbergen. And all in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. And any informational items from anyone? Mayor, I have one. Yes. Go ahead. City attorney. Yes. I'm going to need to request a shade session. So I'll say pursuant to section 286.011 of the Florida statutes. I'm advising the city at a public meeting that I desire advice concerning litigation, specifically in the matter of stents v. City of Dunedin. It's case number 8-23-CV-1321. And after this meeting, we'll be coordinating the date for the shade session and then providing all the proper noticing, getting the court of order and all of that. Great. So do you need a motion, second? I don't. I just needed to advise you that I'm going to need advice on this and I'm going to be scheduling that. That's awesome. Great. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. And the only thing I'll say is I have done a little bit of practice since I'm throwing out the first pitch Saturday. Not promising anything, but I try not to embarrass my fellow commissioners. But it's going to be a big day, obviously. And so we've got a big weekend and I know we have the Indian Cares as well, right? So, so. And Little League. Little League's starting. Don't want to forget that. So anyway, anybody else have anything for the good of the order? Okay. Motion is adjourned. Meeting is adjourned.