CITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING - Jul 23, 2026

23rd, 2026 City Commission meeting. I want to call this meeting to order. It's good to have everybody out on this beautiful night. So we are going to start with an invocation and Pledge of Allegiance by our City Attorney General. Thank you. 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. Okay, we have one presentation tonight, and it will be the Purple Heart Recognition Day 2026 proclamation. And I'm actually going to do that one myself. And military order of the Purple Heart, Reverend Swick, and all of you come on up, if you would, and I'll read the proclamation. Whereas August 7, 2026 marks the 244th anniversary of the inception of the Purple Heart Award and the 94th anniversary of the military order of the Purple Heart, and whereas August 7 has been officially designated as National Purple Heart Recognition Day in honor of those American veterans who have earned the military tribute by virtue of their bravery and their sacrifice, and whereas the Purple Heart is specifically awarded to any member of the United States Armed Forces that has been wounded or killed in combat with the declared enemy of the United States, and whereas throughout history brave and patriotic individuals have answered the call of duty and nobly engaged in the fight to eliminate the oppressive forces of tyranny that have threatened our freedom, and whereas on this 18th anniversary of the city of Dunedin being congressionally recognized as a Purple Heart City, the city celebrates Purple Heart Recognition Day and honors the sacrifices of our nation's men and women in uniform. 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 proudly proclaim Friday, August 7, 2026, as Purple Heart Recognition Day in Dunedin, and ask everyone to pause and remember those extraordinary men and women and their families who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom and those who were willing to make that ultimate sacrifice and to pray for the safety of all those defending our nation today. And Father Swick, you want to come up and... Before I make a remark or two, I'd like to have our state commander introduced. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor, Councilman. I really appreciate the fact that I can be here again. I'm originally from this chapter, and I am the newly elected state commander for Purple Heart. So I just want to remind you guys, every time I talk about you guys, number one, Dunedin, the first Purple Heart city in the state of Florida. So I always pump that out there to them. And the fact, at the national level, you guys, we are the, between the second and third most populous state of Purple Heart veterans. So at the national level, the state of Florida carries a lot of weight. So we were able to get up there and get a lot of votes in and kind of gear our national charter to where we want it to. And Florida's leading the way. So thank you very much. I invite everybody here. August 7th, Purple Heart Day, I will be your guest speaker. So come on out. And we hope to see you there. Great. Awesome. Anyone else? Good evening. My name is Scott Daniels. I'm on the committee for 18 years. So I can tell you that for 18 years, the city of Dunedin has been a leader as it is with many other things in the sense of recognition of what's good and well and important in our city, our state, and our country. I'm on the committee because I asked to volunteer to help somehow because my father received a Purple Heart when he was in World War II. And I'm the oldest of four children. I get to keep my father's Purple Heart. I also get to introduce our guest speaker each year. I'll be introducing Richard on August 7th at 10 o'clock in the morning downtown by the Purple Heart Memorial area. But I want to thank you, city council, staff of the city of Dunedin, Parks and Rec, who've really made it very nice for our Purple Heart veterans, all our veterans, all of our citizens in Dunedin to be able to celebrate people who care about our country, care about freedom, and care about recognizing when good deeds are done. Thank you. Thank you very much. And let us pray. Oh, I'm sorry. You know, we are the first Purple Heart city here in the state of Florida. And we're very proud of that. This community is one of the most patriotic communities I've ever run across in my many years. I came from one up north, and I thought that was the most patriotic place I've ever been until I came to Dunedin. We have a spirit here of patriotism that we should emulate across our country. I thank you, Mayor Moe, and all you commissioners for all that you do in your leadership to promote that patriotism. We need it in our country today. And the city of Clearwater, or the city of Clearwater, listen to me, the city of Dunedin prints out a Super Bowl Heart Recognition Ceremony flyers. And I'd like to, was that God calling? I get very nervous every now and then. But I'd like to share these with you first. But that's great. And they'll be printed out and be passed out throughout the community shortly. Yeah. And I do want to say, Vice Mayor Walker is not here tonight because he's on business out of town, out of state, actually. And of course, he's the only vet that's up here. And so he probably wouldn't normally read the Purple Heart Proclamation. But he, you know, all of us, you know, are just proud of all of you and what you do and what you've done. So that's great. And we're going to get a picture too after we do one. Okay. We're going to get a picture. But before we get a picture, Jennifer, do we, are we having Rob on Zoom? Mayor, we are having problems. Every time we connect, it drops. So we don't have them yet. Okay. So we're going to get Vice Mayor on here. But in the meantime, let's have a picture. Okay. We are going to go to citizen input. We're going to continue to try to get Vice Mayor on the, on the Zoom call here so he can be part of the meeting. So citizen input is a time for anyone who wants to come forward to speak on an item that is not on the agenda. And I know a few people have filled out cards, but really, I don't really need the card if you're speaking on an item not in the agenda, which obviously most of you are here, I think, for the issue on the causeway. But if you're not for that and you've got something that's not on the agenda, you can come forward now and you'll have three minutes to speak. So David. Hi, good, good afternoon. David Ballard Geddes Jr. I live on Georgia Avenue in Palm Harbor. Pinellas County Resolution 95286 Section 4 C-2 stating absolute bill of sale, full warranties of title and release of lien. The county has been sold to the water district as recognized in various statutes. The ad valorem property tax lien portion on our ad valorem here is no longer valid. This portion of the bill as sold has been released. The county, using a quid pro quo agreement racketeered with the water district, is intending to shapeshift the county and its city and municipal governments from their fortnighted statesmanship into a politically laundered watershed operation, laundering water jurisdictions under the 14th amendment in the form of a non-ad valorem levy, giving rise to this portion of the billing practice, giving rise to water jurisdictions, whereas the city was once the seat of government. The water jurisdictions are recognized as fortifications approximately 10 miles square in Article I, Section 8, Clause 17, and its captures of the water supply seen in Article I, Section 8, Clause 11, birthing a ship of war in Article I, Section 10, intent on levying upon the civilian population, taxing us directly. Our current constitution is a state of dissolution. The Declaration of Independence states to dissolve our current government and assume separate but equal stations among the powers of the earth. Legislation is using water as their Second Amendment weapon of choice. Our current government is seen as being dissolved in reclaimed water statute 15303, Section 7 and 11, recognized as an interagency self-liquidation process in and of itself in Statute 163.01, transferring county function and power in Pinellas County Home Rule Charter, Section 2.04Q, in an internal selling the county to an internal foreign occupier, that are reflective of Statute 218.415, Section 16F, hoping to reconstitute itself in Statute 373.715. Thereby, not only as our county, city, and municipal governments along with the water district engage in racketeering and perjury that are guilty of high-seize crimes of constitutional contempt, using our current constitution as a bill of attainder a letter of marquee creating ex post facto laws and reprisals to include treason in the form of a non-advalorem levy thank you okay uh would anyone else like to come forward and speak on an item that is not on the agenda this would be your time not in the agenda okay uh seeing no more uh we will move forward and we're going to go to our consent agenda our consent agenda is approve the minutes for the 618-2026 regular meeting uh 2b board and committee appointments i think we have causeway and coastal waterways committee appointment we have 2c addendum number one for construction phase professional services the gec agreement service authorization number ww-3-25 with tetratec inc a delaware corporation for the wastewater treatment plan plant emergency generator building rehabilitation project in the not to exceed amount of fifty four thousand nine hundred sixty four dollars 2d duke energy utility easement for two 2,500 kilowatt transformers of the wastewater treatment plant 2e award bid 26-2615 for the renovation of the wastewater treatment plant break room renovation project to penoya i think i'm saying that right development llc in the amount of 169,850 2f duke energy utility easement for electrical service at grand oak park 2g addendum number two for limited construction management professional services additional inspection services to the contract with ardura group inc for the marina bulkhead repair project in the amount of not to exceed thirty four thousand four four eight for a total contract amount of eighty three thousand seven two six are there any items to be pulled uh i'm sorry but i'm going to pull one and it's uh 2e um and uh so everything else um uh can i have a motion to approve everything but 2e so moved second okay and is there one in the anyone in the public that wishes to speak on any of those consent items uh you can come forward now he's seeing no one i'll close public input all in favor of the items except for 2e aye aye any opposed uh those passed unanimously okay i just had a question about the break room um just it seemed like a lot of money for the renovation and i just want to make sure i understand it so yes good evening clayton walkins utilities and engineering um a lot of that cost came into effect once we had to upgrade the electrical in the system with the newer appliances we needed more electrical so we had to add a panel to the building and because it's not a residential kitchen we had to add a range hood for fire protection so that drove their cost up and when's the last time that was done yeah this will this will be the first renovation since the building was built which is 30 yeah i think 1991 is when it was built so 30 some odd years yes okay okay but that's all i needed so um could i have anybody else have any questions on that one uh can i have a motion so moved okay second it is anyone in the public wish to speak on that item okay seeing no one i'll close public input uh all in favor aye okay okay aye and any opposed motion passed unanimously forward oh okay we'll go to action items um i think the main event here first reading of ordinance 26-08 an ordinance amending the city of denean code of ordinances to prohibit launching motorized watercraft from the denean causeway beach to protect the shoreline reduce negative environmental impacts and reduce overall user safety uh jen could you please read ordinance 26-08 by title only ordinance 26-08 an ordinance of the city of denean florida amending the city of denean code of ordinances to prohibit launching motorized watercraft from the denean causeway beach to protect the shoreline reduce negative environmental impacts and improve overall user safety providing for applicability and severability providing for conflict providing for codification and providing for an effective date that was ordinance 26-08 read by title only so uh jen is it appropriate to take a motion after we've had all the public input and uh and and get the presentation so what you're looking to do is take the public input have the presentation and then and then we'll take a motion i just think for something this big it's a kind of a good way to do it so it doesn't seem like we've made up our minds open-minded um okay so uh on that note we're going to pass over that we'll come back to the motion and we're going to go right to staff presentation we've got jorge tony and nicole all uh on this one good evening mayor city commission and members of the public uh we're here to kind of represent the information that we uh provided during the june workshop uh discussing the launching of motorized watercraft from the dunedin causeway um let's see from all right so we're going to provide a little brief history and background the current environment on the causeway benefits to the environment and the public uh pinellas county support the current ordinance and the um uh proposed ordinance and with uh those recommendations for your consideration uh good evening uh mayor and commission this is nicole delfino too close to the microphone uh strategy and sustainability manager just could go over the history and background of the causeway um of course uh many of us know these points here but it was built in 1963 uh open for recreational activities uh currently between 5 a.m and 11 p.m um in 1990 uh the city commission tentatively banned uh launching motorized vehicles or watercraft from the causeway um and then following in 2025 uh 2012 and 2014 there were a number of studies and um task force reports uh there that are indicated um then in 2019 the county ordinance which we will get into a little bit uh further in the presentation uh restricted usage on the north side and then in 2024 as we all know the south side of the causeway was closed for storm damage and erosion um and then the county came in 2025 and updated the circulation uh for the causeway to one-way traffic due to safety concerns and then here we are now in 2026 in which the pinellas county has completed the beach renourishment erosion control repair um and and here we are now ordinance tony sure um the current ordinance uh delineates separate areas from the beach for different access for watercraft on the north side uh there has been no launching of watercraft or motorized watercraft since the 90s on the south side there's been three distinct sections there's been a section that has allowed motorized watercraft there's a section that prohibits any watercraft launching at all and then there is a non-motorized watercraft area to the far west this is just a different map of that a little bit clearer on how that looks this is the language from the the county code just stating that it's unlawful for any person to cause seagrass damage within the aquatic preserve system which this whole area is part of the pinellas aquatic preserve with discussion with the county they're supportive of a change of eliminating motorized watercraft uh kind of pursuant to this code and just their their general uh stance of preserving the environment going into the benefits of the environment the dunnyden causeway is gateway to honeymoon island and cal dc state parks the causeway itself is an active recreation space for many forms of recreation providing waterfront access to the public for paddle sports fishing swimming and motorized watercraft currently it also is a place where people go to run walk enjoy the environment and just connect with the outdoors it's connected to the pinellas trail system which allows for that running walking biking and access to the state parks and other recreational opportunities to enjoy this natural space in late 2025 the dunnyden causeway and coastal waterways committee made a recommendation to prohibit motorized watercraft along the entire causeway the causeway does not have a developed boat launch on it this is a shoreline launching that uh is kind of ad hoc where people back their trailers up to the water's edge and launch their their vessels uh this shoreline walk uh launching has many impacts on the natural environment and this has been brought up that impacts are also caused from kayaks as well as as foot traffic as well but the motorized watercraft have been shown to have a greater impact and in many different ways than just disturbance of the seagrass motorized watercraft produce higher wake energy and propeller thrust that crashes into the shorelines strips away protective aquatic vegetation and erodes the banks disturbs the bottom launches and shallow water maneuvering such as powering off a trailer or onto a trailer cause prop scarring and and um jet wash as well with that there's more sedimentation that occurs within the water uh resuspension of that sediment changes the shoreline profile and increases wave thrust against against the shoreline and then turbidity suspended particulate within the water column blocks sunlight and affects the native flora and fauna of the area as well as nutrient loading the churning of the bottom sediment uh increases nutrients within this space and then additionally chemical pollution from uh internal combustion watercraft uh is is present with the vegetative damage that's been discussed as well as wildlife disturbance from the noise wave action turbulence displacement nesting birds are disturbed as well as uh stranding and injured fish a prohibition of motorized watercraft through this section would reduce congestion and remove some of the recreation conflicts that are currently present on the causeway uh this effort has received uh considerable support from outside groups including the aforementioned causeway and coastal waterway committee uh the pinellas county has supported this effort as well as the sierra club tampa bay estuary sailability and the wind lasses so i do not believe chief handoga is here with us today um this is um some information that he shared with us at the workshop um again as he had stated at the workshop it is a little bit difficult to separate the different types of calls that are being received because they're coded for the causeway in general um but they did an analysis um from pre uh closure period of january 1st 2021 until at that time the current date of may 16th 2026 and you can see there the number of calls and rescues and i know when he presented here during the workshop he had also mentioned the two related deaths that had occurred adjacent to the causeway and also teresa smalling who presented on the pinellas county sheriff's data we did request that they put this information together again extending pre-closure period um starting january 1st 2022 to april 30th 2026 you can see the number of calls that were there of the of those calls i for the causeway 80 were jet ski related this is attached to the agenda item the type of calls and the incidences are all listed in that item you can see pre-closure many of the the um offenses so to speak um were in regards to jet skis that were on plane or um not going through the proper wake zone um and then following the closure most of the uh calls were related to unauthorized launching good afternoon hori king as deputy city manager as as tony alluded we've been coordinating with pinellas county for quite some time um they support uh the restriction on the south side similar to what they've done on the north side they also acknowledge that there's a significant maintenance expenditure that they have to deal with on a periodic basis regrading and reestablishing material along the banks that's caused by much of the of the vessel traffic in the area so um in addition to all the environmental uh concerns that tony and nicole have mentioned the county is uh very supportive of us moving forward with the recommendation and um the ordinance i'll i'll spare everybody from reading it but um you know it does recognize that um you know impacts the sea grasses and damage to the aquatic preserve um is uh impacted by vessel operations in this area and just so everybody could understand when the panel in pinellas county passed that ordinance it was to affect the entire pinellas county aquatic preserve which you can see here highlighted in this map and then just for you know reference we did pull together based on mapping those launching points that were closest to both the causeway and to the dunnean marina and you can see those listed here as those available spaces um so most of them are public and do come with a cost to launch there is i believe a few that are listed that are private as well and then of course we you know when we when we presented at the workshop we were going through what this looks like as far as the ordinance review process goes when we presented it we left with the consensus direction to develop the ordinance language which we've done we did the proper advertising as you can see and this is the makes up the first reading of the ordinance today july 23rd 2026 to be able to move forward then we will have another advertising period and a second reading so with that the staff does recommend the city commission adopt ordinance 26-08 and amending ordinance 14-21 section 5432 to prohibit launching of motorized watercraft along the dunnean causeway yes may i just add just a few things and call your attention to the staff report um as depicted in our agenda there are a number of committees and agencies that have written to us in support of the ban on motorized watercraft on the causeway and actually our coastal excuse me causeway coastal waterway committee last december sent a recommendation to the city commission to ban launching motorized watercraft pinellas county owns the causeway which is you know when i look at social media i see a lot of people are mistaking the city ownership for pinellas county that's why pinellas county has been so involved in our recommendation and that we have in writing that they are allowing the city of dunedin city commission to make this determination we've also heard from the sierra club um supporting staff's recommendation the tampa bay estuary uh supporting recommendation windlasses which is our own uh sailing folks uh is supporting it as well as the um rosewood arms of course the condominium is right next door so so there are a number of agencies that are supporting um staff's recommendation to the city commission uh those are most of them are resident based but some like sierra club are are certainly national agencies thank you mayor thank you okay questions for staff i'll start with uh commissioner gow thank you mayor actually no questions okay uh commissioner to guard questions for staff no questions for staff okay commissioner sandberg and questions for staff so the first one was clarified about because i was going to ask who owns the causeway um the county owns it but they've flipped it over to dunedin to make the decision on what we want to do going forward am i correct that's correct okay okay uh is there any connection to this happening be because of the condition or the future replacement or repair of the drawbridge anything that have anything to do with it no okay i i keep hearing i for those of you that are here i i have 125 emails so i'm sure to my left there's probably even more uh one of them went over and over was about trash um are those city of dunedin trash cans was were we responsible to go out there and pick that up do you know yes okay good okay um at this time i don't believe that there are any business operations other than the high and dry no business operations are eligible out there whether you're selling suntan lotion t-shirts or anything else am i correct okay and to the best of my knowledge for the record that is correct okay okay all right um yeah it's dusk to dawn is that or dawn to dusk is that the set the hours 5 a.m to 11 p.m so it is open to 11 okay uh and we talked about the nearest launch site and we got i'm on to hear from the committees we heard from all the committees so that's all i had mayor thank you okay um kind of two random questions a little bit um so how long has it actually been open that little section for jet ski launching or motorized vehicle launch i think it's 2015 that ordinance went into effect i believe no no apparently that's wrong okay hold on we'll work it out we'll work it out i actually was there when it got approved which was 30 years ago okay i was wrong i guess so yeah yeah and i think we couldn't find the actual documentation of it but yeah but i'm sure it's been like 80s or 90s probably 90s okay oh okay i'm sorry we do have vice mayor walker who's just joined us so i want to make sure we've got that um so whatever it's been a long time uh good yeah um yes it's it's been many years through iterations even since before the county closed the north side of the causeway um it has been closed since 2024 okay yeah and i'm kind of thinking it was the early 90s but uh i could be wrong because i don't we couldn't really find the actual documentation um so um any sense of of motorized vehicles i guess specifically jet ski ownership since over the last 20 30 years probably an easy google at some point as far as the ownership or use um i don't ownership and use really i don't have the data i just i think it's so we'll google that yeah yeah so it's okay we're not i'm i'm not asking the audience but thank you um but you know that's something we can google on our break whatever um okay so or if you do come up and comment and you know the answer that's great um okay uh those are all my questions so i'm gonna um we're gonna go to uh citizen input open it up to the public um what we're gonna do i kind of want to set the tone here um if you haven't and you do want to speak and you haven't filled out a card you should fill out a card and they are what in the back yeah there's someone in the back right outside the heather is happy to help tammy can help and there are cards rentally available okay and so if you still need to do that just take your name and you say for or against and you get to come forward or if you're undecided you can say that too and you can come forward um and you'll get three minutes and i'll be very strictly adhering to the three minutes tonight because we have a lot of people that are going to want to speak um and and the most important thing i want to say and this is a very very classic night as to why we have these rules in place which is tonight is about respect um i've got cards that are you know pretty much not that not that different in terms of each side of a very hot issue in terms of for and against so respect respect is the word tonight and uh and i'm gonna ask you and i will read uh most importantly excuse me mayor excuse me mayor yes i don't think you gave the vice mayor an opportunity to speak oh i'm sorry questions i'm sorry vice mayor did you have questions we can't hear you we can't hear you sorry vice mayor we can't hear you yeah sorry okay maybe we can fix that at some point but i don't know which ends it's on um okay well those questions can be asked later though yeah um okay again back to respect and and and per our uh per our rules you know during these times and especially true no applause no cheering no booing no jeering none of that it's about respect and again um sometimes it's hard not to to clap when somebody you agree with but the reality is it it just intimidates each side and it makes it more difficult for people that make it that even have a hard time getting up to speak their opinion you know they're afraid then and we don't want to create that kind of environment here so i ask all of you please to honor those tonight um so on that note now i am going to start calling names and uh and uh uh michelle how are we going to do this are we going to call three names or is that we want to do yes mayor i think that would be best so so everyone will call the first person to come up and the mayor will call two others so that you can be on deck uh on standby to keep the flow going okay and i will not start the clock until you've stated your complete address including the city okay so first name i have is sue o'brien second jason hernandez third lisa wilson hi sorry didn't expect to be first so name and address for the record susan o'brien 1030 san salvador dunedin florida yeah i think we need to yes 1030 san salvador can you repeat it i'm sorry i do like the hat by the way susan o'brien is that loud enough susan o'brien 1030 san salvador dunedin florida i'm lucky enough to live in a generational home with my parents and susan not to make that put you on stop can people hear her now that she's talking right into the mic okay okay very it doesn't need to go up a little bit or are we good okay and so my thing is i've been coming here for years doing jet skis off the causeway um and to punish a whole bunch of people over what you think is bad behavior for some i think is wrong um there was a lot of things said about the environment impact today but nothing about the impact of the people that live here the people that don't can't afford boats people that can only afford jet skis we moved here so that we could be on the water and so for you to take that away from us is just not cool we've had a boat we've been in the dunedin marina sometimes it just doesn't work where you can keep that going it's expensive and so the only way to get on the water is a jet ski and really there is no place we've been paying 25 down at the clearwater marina just to launch and that's under reconstruction um i've just been disappointed in dunedin since the hurricanes why do we even rebuild the causeway if we can't use it not only that we're protecting a man-made structure the dunedin causeway was built it's band-made therefore what are we doing trying to keep seagrass around it we built it we didn't care about the seagrass when we built it why do we care now i think the people of dunedin have a bigger right to that water than the seagrass that's all thank you so appreciate that um okay i uh jason jason hernandez we're not going to clap jason hernandez and on deck next will be our graves my name is jason hernandez i reside at 1638 franklin way uh that's in dunedin zip code is 34698 thank you i just wanted to say a few words in support of allowing jet skis at the causeway i want to start by saying have you ever seen anyone sat on a jet ski me either and that's because for most of us it's a source of joy happiness and an outlet for stress relief i grew up spending time on the water learning to water ski and wakeboard at a summer camp these are some of my favorite childhood memories and when i was too old to attend the camp as a camper i started working there teaching these recreational water sports and learning how to operate the boats and jet ski safely while bringing the same joy to other young campers i now have my own personal watercraft and move to dunedin to be close to the water and enjoy it however this freedom is now being threatened and it does not seem right i believe that there is a way for everyone to peacefully share the causeway and maybe that calls for more safety regulations the few boat ramps that we have in the area are very busy and cannot keep up with the demand of jet skis and boats together which creates a lot of conflicts please consider allowing us to respectfully launch our watercrafts and enjoy our activities peacefully as citizens thank you thank you jason okay lisa wilson i have next and again eric graves is after that hi my name is lisa wilson i live at 2366 rutland lane clearwater florida 33763 i'm in i'm against the ban for the jet skis um i've lived in pinellas county my entire life since 1977 i've lived in four different dunedin addresses and owned a business in dunedin i've always cherished my home as a small town town with a simple and the epitome of american free with a simple life and the epitome of american freedoms however lately those freedoms have been chipped at some people may not notice this like the frog in the boiling pot metaphor however i do notice and it breaks my heart to see my home turn into such a strange and uncomfortable place growing up the dunedin causeway was where we would go would all go to meet with friends or just chill by ourselves i enjoyed running into friends with jet skis and going for a little ride as i got older it became my escape and i have frequented going as often as possible i have thoroughly enjoyed making my way out to the sandbar and the islands with friends on skis or boats for many many years after the storms our friends who lived on the water sustained intense damage to their homes and boats so my husband and i decided to get a paddleboard with a small outboard motor to continue our trips out to the sandbar at least i was diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2024 and the treatment makes it very difficult for me to paddle this is why my husband bought the motor this setup by the way does not require the use of a trailer i understand why we couldn't launch during the rebeautification process which was only supposed to be temporary however now that we are being threatened with this now we are being threatened with this right being stripped from us please do not take my one escape that i have held dear my entire life away from me access to these areas should not be limited to only rich people who can afford boats and houses on the water we all deserve that right the causeway is man-made it is not a natural beach the small area for launching personal watercraft is far from a nuisance to the entirety of the causeway and honeymoon it is the only place we can launch to get to the sandbar as far as safety goes people are going to get hurt with or without jet skis a plane just crashed in the water last week we aren't going to ban planes are we maybe there should be more enforcement for water safety that would make more sense than taking our rights away all together and the people who are blaming all the trash on jet skiers are absolutely mistaken the trash intensified with the influx of people who moved here we definitely need more garbage cans down there it is everyone who leaves trash not just jet skiers i know this because i pick up other people's trash every time i'm there please keep donating free thank you for your time thank you lisa uh next is eric graves after eric i will have uh nathan nathaniel comb i think it is my name is eric graves uh 1413 bay shore boulevard in dunedin i'm here as a dunedin resident and also representing the dunedin boat club paddling group i'm here for myself and our paddling group in the dunedin boat club in support of the motorized band at the dunedin causeway what a great opportunity to continue to improve the environment safety and quality of life when using the causeway area both from land and on water i am at the causeway a lot both from water and land and remember the challenges created by the many jet skis that launched there before the 2024 storms when launching was allowed i also know there's a lot of different perspectives on this ban and i respect those different opinions i also know that there are very there are many responsible people that have used the location in the past but i also know that some have created the difficulties that have negatively impacted the environment through the impact of the seagrass and also sediment creation human safety including fatalities and quality of life including noise trash parking challenges extra traffic on the causeway and just overall enjoyment of the area history has shown that even with the established rules many violate those rules also during the last almost two your two years when there was no launching it is clear that the strength of the seagrass and water clarity due to less churning of the sediment has continued to improve also i am not comfortable with our tax dollars paying for higher levels of enforcement if others suggest that as a solution from myself and the dunny boat club paddling group thank you again for your support and for voting for the motorized launch ban at the causeway thank you eric uh next is nathaniel home i think and after that will be steve menke nathaniel combs 2664 wildwood lane palm harbor 346884 and i've got two properties here in dunedin too um good evening city council commission members those who came here to voice their opinions on both sides of the debate i stand before you here today to voice my concern about the man-made shutdown of launching from the dunedin causeway we are family as a family have been launching from the causeway for close to 30 years and in that time i raised my son and have had so many great friends and family come to visit just to spend time on the causeway with the jet skis just how amazing it is that they keep going on and on to this day it's a luxury that we take for advantage now i also stand with you on the other side of this issue even being as a jet ski owner as i feel there is a massive lack of education and enforcement when it comes to the water regulation and courtesies my belief is that banning one activity because of a few bad apples is not the correct resolution as far as most the effect of education enforcement i propose that a launch fee and a hiring of a lot attendant just like sunset beach which is being run very well to these days and a collaboration with the pinellas county sheriff and the fwc for enforcement put the rules down and exit anybody that can't obey the rules and charge a launch fee add more launch add trash disposal and the florida riders have been for years voluntarily cleaning the beaches down there and still continue to do it to this day i'm not affiliated with them by no means but i see them down there doing it when we're down there we actually do clean up we clean up cigarette butts where people are down there other people's trash um the county this is where i have the issue with the seagrass okay the county is everybody is saying you know it's the jet skis doing this the problem is we took a picture of the county down there yes uh two or three days ago they were spraying herbicides around the guard rails and the trees down there because they don't want to weed whack the uh the grass and stuff so what that when the rain comes what's that do it goes right down into that seagrass and it's killing seagrass um if we could have the msds sheets for those that would help show what's really actually happening here besides that um if you ban the jet skis and allow the um paddleboarders and the kayakers to do just look at wiki wiki watch you you cannot get off your boat at wiki wiki because they say you're you're killing the seagrass there so that's kind of my opinion is a moot point with that i understand there is destruction um i lost my son a few years ago and this was his favorite place to come with us and he spent most of his time with his friends there which kept him out of a lot of trouble you know he would say dad i'm going to take skis out we go out for the day instead of going out and getting into trouble and doing crazy stuff like that the problem is right now the boat ramps are so packed it takes three to four hours to get out and if that's if you don't get into a fist fight in the meantime uh i was at um anclote two weeks ago there was four fist fights in two hours there and people are just leaving it's insane so hopefully you guys can not pass this ban we'd appreciate it thank you thank you nathaniel sorry about your son uh steve menke and then we'll go to adele carpenter we'll be after that good evening thank you for a couple of minutes up here um i am 2390 uh here's okay steve menke 2390 harrison drive dunedin grew up in tampa in the 70s been coming here since then uh lived in dunedin for six years i'm at the causeway all the time walking uh biking having to get time um i do some kayaking but i'm very careful about what i do after having read the uh the is it an ordinance we're calling it along with the uh attachments with the agenda as long as we're within the purview of doing this no other approvals are needed from the dep or any other state agency i'm 100 involved in favor of banning jet ski launching i'm a previous jet ski owner i'm not operated uh respectfully um what i see out there many aren't and i'm okay with leaving the kayak launch area where it is now we don't have to expand it but i see what has happening with the influx of residents and visitors into this area that's wearing this causeway out so all for it thank you thank you steve okay adele carpenter and after that we'll have uh holly ademani hope that's close hello adele carpenter 2144 druid road clearwater first i want to thank you guys for hearing our opinion nobody ever wants to deal with these things and i know how complicated this can be i want to say that as a florida native i grew up here i spent every summer of my life enjoying the waterways here in florida enjoying going out jet skiing and boating with friends and family as i got older and i had children i returned to florida to share those joys with my children we got one summer one summer of enjoying the causeway and then you guys closed it down i understand that a beautification needed to occur it happens with all of the beaches after a storm i would like to be able to go back to barbecuing with my children enjoying the sun and the fun that florida is all about if you're talking about a safety concern and that's the reason we're closing this down launching into a motorized vehicle causeway that is there for paddleboarders is unsafe the only people that should be launching from a causeway into a motorized intercoastal waterway are motorized vehicles you can't say that it's for safety concerns and still continue to allow non-motorized vehicles to launch into that area unless you plan to divert or move an intercoastal waterway i also would like to say that in regards to water life and grasses jet skis aren't constructed to cause damage they're not constructed to harm animals they have an internal combustion system that sucks in water and pushes it out the seagrass actually causes more damage to a jet ski than anything we don't want to cause any damage to the stuff there to the seagrass it's being on the surface of the water from fishnets and a variety of other things dragging out in the causeway that's what causes it to come up and be there i also agree with the previous person that said spraying along we see it happening all the time you come and spray anything that causes weed killer and then it runs down into the causeway that's going to kill all of the grass that is there also i would encourage you guys to consider opening it so that everybody has the right to enjoy the water here in florida because that is what florida is all about enjoying fun and sun in the water thank you thank you del the next person is holly uh demani is that right ademani holly holly holly holly ademani nobody okay uh actually i guess she waves speaking and said she was for the band so maybe that's why she signed it and left so okay i'll have to make sure i look at that um okay does it say what city she was from she is uh holly is on paula drive in uh dunedin okay uh this one as well may be a wave speaking and against it's rebecca cabrera rebecca cabrera if you want wave speaking but you're against okay thank you okay and newport ritchie okay and so that will take us to karen locust locath actually waving speaking and uh they are for the band and they live as well on paula drive dunedin uh then we go to william callavine who is waving speaking but looks like they are against they're still here or they did want to speak but let's make sure william and that is uh ford lane in dunedin they were undecided about speaking but they're waving it and they're against so well they're gone so i guess they made their decision okay uh terry toz terry toz uh looks like they were going to speak so and i'm gonna have james o'brien on deck so terry toz name it tash okay all right name and address for the record and you have three minutes sir my name is terry taz i live at 1598 nantucket court in palm harbor um first off i'd just like to say i've been using the causeway a lot since 1969 when i was 11 years old i used to fish off the causeway the trouts were way bigger in those days the speckled trout were so big we didn't have monofilament or uh we didn't have stranded we had mono 20 pound i had to walk it to the end you they were so big you couldn't pull them up and i fed five sisters and there was me that was my job get fish anyway i've used it for walking fishing swimming a lot of windsurfing back in those days when we had a windsurfing shop at the very end and sunset viewing i've had a lot of boats through these years and decades and i used all the boat ramps close by um happily you know i graduated dunny and high grew up here and i've been here 57 years using that causeway it is my paradise as well the extra traffic on the weekend from the jet skis and trailers coming in and out make a relaxed walk or a bike ride you know pretty much impossible if not dangerous i have taken my grandkids on scooters and you know during it's it's pretty dangerous you know i am not i'm the last guy against jet skis i love them you know i'm a water guy i'm an outdoor guy but i'm against turning the causeway into a public boat ramp it's never been that it's always been uh peaceful quiet you know and and maybe that other guy's suggestion was good maybe a pay maybe we turn one of it one portion of it to a dedicated boat ramp which is going to cost money uh and have a guy sitting there guiding everybody in and out okay that's but the way it is now it's chaos and and the jet skis are out there chaos along with the kayakers the occasional windsurfer you know that's true they do 60 70 mile an hour today they're not doing 20 and 30 like they did before you know it's it's it's it's on it's uncontrolled and it's dangerous as far as the besides all the seagrass and the just and you know somebody said that a that the foot traffic could be worse than trailers and i'm like that is ridiculous you know the weight of a jet ski and its trailer sinking into the sand as you're isn't like walking over the top of it with a 150 pound person uh that's just my opinion um i would just say for now there's got to be another solution for this for all of us but as far as the cause weight i would leave it for the kayaks and the paddle boards swimmers and the sunbathers and we don't have to worry about all that going on my time's up thank you sir appreciate that thank you okay i've got james o'brien uh and uh then next will be alex steffi and then megan colby hello i'm james o'brien 10 30 san salvador drive dunedin florida i'm a 24 year resident at dunedin love it here this is a great town why are we making changes that cause was great it's always been great and it's always been for everybody this idea that jet skis are different than anything else out there it's it's not true they don't have an external propeller they're not out there tearing up the grass most of the people put their jet ski in and they leave for the day they go out to one of the islands out the three rookers up to the sandbar they're not staying there on the causeway all day most of them are leaving i mean if you want to you know charge money and have them park you know for people to park there that's fine but to ban this whole thing that's that's not right this isn't what the dunedin wants this isn't what isn't what the people that voted for this board wants i mean this is dundeen we're we're different than any other towns because we have that causeway that makes us different that makes us better that's why we want to be here let's not kill it thank you thank you james uh okay uh next is uh alex steffi and again megan colby is on deck alex steffi 2144 druid road clearwater um the the dunedin causeway is a man-made causeway that was specifically created for public recreational use the area being discussed is about the size of a football field uh maybe half of that located immediately adjacent to an established boat channel this is not a large or pristine untouched habitat at the opposite end of the causeway there's a commercial business that rents kayaks canoes paddle boards everyday customers walk through the same environment creating regular foot traffic through the seagrass to serving wildlife if the concern was truly environmental protection these impacts should be evaluated consistently rather consistently rather than focusing solely on jet skis and recreational boats florida is home to more than two million acres over two million acres of seagrass with the vast seagrass beds both north and south of dunedin protecting these habitats is important closing this small recreational launch area is unlikely to have a meaningful impact on the overall health of florida's seagrass ecosystem in addition fishing including cast net fishing is still permitted throughout the area those activities directly remove marine life um yet those continue while recreational boat and personal watercraft launching is being singled out the question isn't whether we should protect the environment we absolutely should the question is why one specific recreational activity is being prohibited while other activities and even commercial operations with similar or greater impacts continue to be allowed if the goal is fairness and genuine conservation then all recreational and commercial uses should be evaluated using the same standards i feel like at dunedin at least to me it's a special place i have friends come in from out of town i want to bring them out i want to show them i want to share it i feel like we need to you know maybe figure out ways to take better care of it but not cut it off completely it's easy for a boater to hate a jet skier or a jet skier to hate a boater or a paddleboarder like they get in our way uh they're launching into a boat channel on the same note i know everybody has the same equal rights to the water and i feel like you guys are trying to strip us from that and it's not okay hopefully you guys hear us and don't uh vote this ordinance in thank you thank you alex um megan colby and on deck will be howard gray that's up to my chair hi uh megan colby 1269 royal oak drive in dunedin um i am here representing myself as a dunedin resident but also speaking on behalf of the suncoast sierra club we would like to thank the city committees organizations and community members who have shared their feedback on the proposed ordinance in late may our suncoast sierra club executive committee submitted a letter of support for the proposed ordinance and in case anybody hasn't read it all the way through it's a long kind of a long one i'd like to highlight three key reasons from our letter to describe why this ordinance is vital for our community the first reason is habitat recovery and protection since motorized launches were temporarily restricted following the 2024 hurricanes we have seen a remarkable rapid recovery of critical seagrass habitats and marine life along the shoreline bringing motorized launches back into this area poses a high risk to that progress propellers scar fragile root systems and churned up silt blocks the sunlight seagrass needs to survive furthermore these shallow waters are primary feeding grounds for the threatened florida manatee nobody's mentioned yet in water under three feet deep the likelihood of a manatee being in a vessel's direct strike range jumps to 96 low frequency engine noise also drowns out the sound of approaching vessels making it nearly impossible for for manatees to swim away in time second we are considering public safety on busy days mixing fast motorized craft with families swimmers kayakers and paddleboarders creates a dangerous multi-use conflict designating this shoreline exclusively for non-motorized launches keeps swimmers safe prevents paddlers from being capsized by wakes and eliminates chaotic navigation during low tide finally the ordinance safeguards our public investment we all mentioned that it took a lot of time for the for the causeway to reopen and it still almost hasn't yet um also costs a lot of taxpayer money that freshly re-nourished sand needs years to compact naturally high thrust propellers and personal watercraft impellers act like underwater excavators actively eroding the beach and undercutting our costly geotextile repairs and rock revetments using an uncompacted sandy beach as a motorized launch directly contradicts best practices for resilient coastal engineering especially important given our proximity to honeymoon island and caladice island state parks in conclusion we thank the commission for your ongoing environmental leadership and for giving us the opportunity to secure a safer more resilient and biologically vibrant causeway the sun coast sierra club strongly urges the commission to vote yes on this ordinance additionally we encourage the city of dunnean to work with pinellas county to establish a long-term plan for a model living shoreline at the dunnean causeway with additional plantings and infrastructure to further advance its resiliency thank you thank you megan okay our next speaker will be howard gray and on deck will be uh uh lewis uh rivera oh okay gotcha well that's one less speaker for this one then howard thank you okay uh we've got then uh lewis rivera and let's put sean spencer on deck and you're waving speaking okay waving speaking but you are against and uh safety harbor florida looks like correct and is that lewis or sean lewis rivera that was you're sean yeah i'm just clarifying safety harbor florida though right right for lewis and i'm sorry lewis was for or against against against okay uh sean spencer uh and let me see on deck let's put uh let's put uh hank hode h-o-d-d-e i think okay okay sean i'm sean spencer i live in 4250 woodfield avenue holiday florida i'd like to take everybody back just two years ago when we were hit by back-to-back storms after the storms the city closed the designated jet ski launch area claiming it was unsafe yet directly directly across the street fishermen were still allowed to access the bridge to do their fishing we were told the bridge was too too unsafe for trucks pulling jet skis trailers yet service trucks pulling trailers dump trucks and other service landscaping vehicles were able to use a bridge now let's talk about seagrass behind caladice island honeymoon island there's over 2 000 acres of protected seagrass it is called a non-motorized zone that's what it sounds like no motors are allowed to be there with that being said we're told launching areas should be should remain closed of seagrass restoration at one point we're told the seagrass has made a remarkable recovery in just two years then we're told it takes five years to recover which is it if the protection of the environment is truly the goal then why not close honeymoon island to the public access for two years and see how much wildlife and vegetation returns we all know that's not realistic situation because public access and environmental protection must coexist i'd also like to point everybody to a third-party study conducted by hernando county at the wikiwachi river according to that study boats and personal watercraft caused less damage to seagrass and act and then activities such as people walking through shallow waters grass beds dragging kayaks and across them and repeatedly standing and swimming across those areas if protecting the seagrass is truly the objective the same standard should apply to every activity that impacts it otherwise it begins to look a lot less less less like environmental protection and more like singling out a specific user group safety has always been raised regarding kayaks and crossing this is an active navigation channel boats have always been operated there and they always will stressing we ban vessel launching because kayakers may cross the channel is like suggesting we ban cars from dundeed and roads because some people have been struck while riding e-bikes this solution isn't eliminating responsible users it's education awareness and enforcement we have also heard the claims that the launch area is constantly covered the trash but there's two small trash cans when they get overfilled people naturally put the trash next to the cans wildlife opens up the bags and spreads it from there we need more trash cans finally i'd like to claim address the claim that jet skis are somehow more dangerous than traditional boats personal watercraft use enclosed jets propulsion systems they do not have exposed spinning propellers that can disturb the thank you sean sorry um uh and uh hank hode your next uh and just so again it's a confusing relationship on the causeway but you know when the causeway closed the county had the authority to do that and then they had to wait for fema money which was about 1.3 million dollars to do the repairs so that's what's in process now but they had that authority we didn't we didn't take that authority we don't have that authority but we do have the authority to regulate this area so just wanted to make that clear all right is that better all right i'll start over hank hoddy 1616 helen drive dunnean florida good evening mayor freeney members of the commission my name is hank hoddy i serve as chair of the dunnean causeway and coastal waterway committee co-author of the uh memorandum that has been submitted to you i'm a voter and user of the causeway i'm here tonight uh to um in favor of the ordinance of adopting the ordinance uh 26-08 prohibiting launch of motorized watercraft from the dunnean causeway the causeway is not a boat ramp it's a greenway it's one of the most valuable public spaces and the gateway to honeymoon island the busiest one of the busiest state parks in florida on any given weekend that stretches shoreline shared by swimmers kayakers paddleboard cyclists anglers and families enjoying the beach for years our committee has heard and documented real conflicts between that mix of uses in the launching of personal watercraft we've seen unauthorized commercial activity on licensed rentals and sales operating in direct violation of city code we've seen safety conflicts high-speed motorized traffic moving through water shared by swimmers and paddlers and we've seen environmental harm including seagrass scarring shoreline erosion and sediment disruption in the shoreline that sits inside the pinellas county aquatic preserve then the hurricanes hit when the county closed the southeast entrance and halted personal watercraft launches from helene after helene and melton something notable happened marine life returned shoreline disturbance dropped marine police no longer needed a standing presence at the east end pedestrians and cyclists reported feeling safer and the county which has repeatedly told us the causeways the costliest area to maintain saw this cost come down aka taxpayer funding that was not hypothetical that was a real-world pilot and it worked ordinance 26-08 simply makes that improvement permanent it does not close the causeway it is not banning boating in dunedin it draws one narrow precise line motorized watercraft may not be launched or landed from the causeway beach itself paddling swimming fishing and every non-motorized use of a residence love continue exactly as they are today this ordinance is grounded in the city's humble authority consistent with the county's own planning direction towards one-way traffic and reduced beach access on the south side and directly responsive to years of committee findings and two prior advisory recommendations from the city's own volunteer committee the causeway belongs to everyone in this community and to thousands of visitors who cross it every year to reach honeymoon island protecting the seagrass environmental protection protecting swimmers and paddlers and protecting shoreline itself is worth one narrow restriction i do want to add that we are all for alternatives and are up for hearing alternatives versus just an outright ban but as far as what we've heard so far prohibiting launching from the causeway will have all of the impacts and benefits that we've heard tonight so thank you thank you hank and sorry i had my coughing attack when you were coming up um but thanks for all you do uh thomas black would be the next one uh and uh three minutes name and address and i've got kim begay i think after that on deck thomas black okay good evening thomas black uh 203 leafwood road tarpon springs florida 34689 first of all i'd like to thank you all for having this open mic for for some feedback and uh appreciate that a little bit about me i'm a retired combat veteran uh and my current job i'm a current business i'm a business owner and i train veterans today in the aviation industry uh also i've had my u.s coast guards boat license since 1984-ish and uh done eating has done a beautiful job with the causeway with your city everything you do so i know there's a lot of intelligent people a lot of good leadership up here so i'd have to take you back to rodney king in 1992 can't we all just get along right uh i was at a advisory board meeting last week and the first time i heard about it was off the uh off uh channel eight and the reason i didn't stay on top of you know the local the local activities is because i didn't even know this was coming our understanding was the causeway was closed uh for repair so when i saw this on the news i redid my whole schedule just to be here because that's how important it is and uh i have a wave runner and friends veterans everybody it's it's the uh last gentleman that's the i think he's the head of the um the chair the um advisory board for against motorized he says it's everybody's he's right it is everybody so we all need to be able to use it there's another gentleman at the advisory board that has been there you know since the beginning of time and it used to be a bigger launch zone that we could launch jet skis from so uh i've been out of town for for ever since the last meeting i just got back and uh i don't have all the statistical facts but i can tell you what facts i do have the waterway we're talking about is parallel uh to uh to a highway it's also a channel that runs off the intercoastal waterway from the intercoastal waterway to the ocean it's 50 feet minimum 50 is no more than 50 feet from the shoreline that we're talking about all the seagrass that the uh people launch their their vessels off of so it's also 0.3 miles from where we used to could launch from so 0.3 miles is a very short space and i can tell you that the majority of the uh people that have the the the wave runners and all and even the boats we all care about the environment and i hear this the environments come back well of course it has there's been no one there i can go out to sunset beach right now in the with no one's there it's full of birds i see fish jumping guess what happens we come out the birds fly away except some of them the fish go away and then at the end of the night they all come back to sit there and say that we are hurting the environment is the most ridiculous thing i've heard for that little bit of property so fish come back at night the seagrass is there the jeskies don't hurt it and these are just the facts so everyone's harping about the environment what about us and our rights and the sanity we have and the peace of mind that we have anyway thank you appreciate your time appreciate it thomas uh kim begay is next and on deck will be john lobeer good evening um so my name is kim begay and i'm the vice president and the conservation advocate with clearwater audubon society and my address is 523 hammock drive palm harbor 34683 um as some of you know i have a long history of fighting for environmental causes on the dunedin causeway i am representing my chapter at clearwater audubon society and we strongly urge the city of dunedin committee to pass the ordinance banning the launching of jet skis at dunedin causeway i'm not sure if any of you have pulled up the latest seagrass study conducted by swift mud on july 7th 2025 but there is a stark difference between the south side where the jet skis have historically launched and the north side directly across the street the north side shows dense continuous seagrass meadows and that is section 18060 immediately off the shore and directly across the street on the south side section 198005 shows very patchy seagrass from years of launching the grasses have had two years to heal and we need to continue to allow it to do so as you know seagrass is where fish spawn seahorses and octopi reproduce along with scallops etc many other marine life healthy seagrass equals healthy marine life life and better quality of water it is more effective than any plant in the amazon rainforest at sequestering carbon dioxide it is a very important plant this is such an environmentally significant area with caladice island honeymoon island and three rookers why spoil it with the extra traffic trash issues noise pollution that come with launching of jet skis you're driving down a causeway that should be nice to look at and environmentally protected to go to these beautiful parks and we don't want to have this section over on the south side that with you know all kinds of noise and obnoxious activity i have watched the fwc officers hand out citation after citation to jet skiers who have dangerously and repeatedly entered into the motor exclusion zones at high race of speed which is a very real danger to swimmers snorkelers waiting anglers etc they don't seem to know about the designation nor care to follow the rules when the launching area was closed after the last two hurricanes they brazenly simply moved west down the causeway and started launching in the motor exclusion zone near the honeymoon or tidal relief bridge i guess the rules apply to everyone except them healthy seagrass and less obtrusive noise levels benefit the many species of wading birds shorebirds and seabirds more fish equals more bird population and the dunyan causeway has a stable population of the rarest wading bird in all of north america the reddish egret which is only forages in a coastal tidal flat which is exactly what the construction of the dunyan causeway back in 1963 provided for them thank you kim appreciate that um john lobier is next and uh on deck would be uh mark clark hey john hello i hope everybody can hear me my name is john lubier i live at 436 helen street dunedin three four six nine eight i rise to support jet skiing on the causeway i hear everybody talk about jet skis the ordinances for motorized launching any motor right or we just talk about jet skis because they're launching motorized craft on the causeway as we speak motorized every day somebody comes with a little canoe with the boat motor on a little boat fish whatever so we need to decide what that is secondly it has nothing to do with seagrass it's all about people's perception i can still drive the jet ski up and down the shore five feet from the shore this ordinance does not stop that so if i was ruining seagrass launching i'm certainly going to ruin seagrass riding up and down the causeway as other people explain it is a channel and we're talking about a very small area of the causeway less than a quarter of the causeway and of course it has rebounded quite a bit because nobody's over there the north side looks so great because there's nobody over there there people on that west side west south side are using that it looks exactly the same as it did years years ago no different the fish whatever i don't see any hard facts i see opinions that's what i see and then the other thing i would suggest that we want all to group together to save the causeway how do we justify spending 20 million dollars of pinellas county's money to build a new bridge for what the state park down the end of the street what 10 20 condos 100 condos probably ain't even worth 20 million dollars worth of condos so i say we need to join together build the causeway bridge enjoy jet skiing enjoy the con the causeway and the seagrass will grow somewhere else thank you thank you okay next uh person is uh mark clark and on deck would be rita foley mark clark 2013 woodward avenue dunedin formerly 2233 sneet avenue dunedin i have lived the dunedin dream my parents moved here in 1960 when i was one years old from clearwater i have been literally on saint joseph sound and the duning causeway thousands of times i'm constantly in saint joseph sound on kayaks paddle boards jet skis boats windsurfers you name it i'm on the water i fish i dive i do everything on the water for somebody to say that the seagrass is being damaged it's totally incorrect the seagrass has rebounded in the last 10 years probably due to conservation efforts by stormwater runoff being captured fertilizer bands and things like that if you go out there now before the rain started the water quality was unbelievable it was almost keys like in saint joseph sound so the notion that seagrass is being damaged and there's no fish fish or wildlife there's so much bait out there there's all kinds of scaled sardines the birds are eating them the the environment is fine you know i was here in 1990 when all this started years ago with banning the jet skis nobody wanted the area where we're at now where we were you know nobody wanted to go there because of the rocks and because of all the the spoils from the the person that the condo developer that wanted to develop you know dunning beach as it was called back then which basically made clearwater beach look terrible because dunning beach was just gorgeous when i grew up the sugar sand was three feet deep you had to park a hundred yards away from the beach it was just gorgeous so i guess what i'm trying to say is that that the environment really isn't being impacted by motorized watercraft you know there's people that like to go out there on the weekdays after work launch their jet ski launch their small boat launch their kayak and go out and enjoy what dunning is all about we're a waterfront community that's what we are we're not a beer garden for for downtown you know craft breweries we that that's a fad we will always have the water that is what dunning is all about and i think people should be able to go down there and enjoy it there's there's you know i think maybe some solutions we can come up with like we did back in 1990 we we you know we're told back then it was a safety issue so we took the area that we're at now and because nobody wanted it back then because it was so rocky and hard to launch maybe even consider making a launch area exclusive launch area right by the big drawbridge maybe 50 yards past the big drawbridge that's the deepest water right there you can launch and recover at almost any tide and not damage anything right there thank you mark okay good to know you were there though when that first happened right what 1990s when they first absolutely i was here then yeah thank you um okay rita foley and after that will be randy cabrero thank you good evening rita foley 700 meese plaza unit 432 dunedin 34698 i am here tonight to respective respectfully urge you to adopt ordinance 26-08 to restrict motorized launching of watercraft at the dunedin causeway beach as an annual pass holder and frequent visitor to honeymoon island i drive across the causeway at least a few times every week during my visits i often see jet skis out operating on the open water on both sides of the causeway this regular observation makes one thing entirely clear alternative launching spots already exist in the surrounding region because these watercraft clearly have other ways to access the water it is absolutely unnecessary to allow them to damage the fragile shallow waterways immediately surrounding our causeway in addition to the environmental issues which have been sort of hashed to death tonight this is a matter of critical public safety the causeway is a haven for families swimmers kayakers sailors and paddleboarders these non-motorized recreational users simply cannot safely coexist in the same narrow launch zones as high-speed motorized watercraft when reading the proposed ordinance and i did read it and all of the supporting materials i was struck by the report regarding public safety which said data provided by the pinellas county sheriff's office identified approximately 80 jet ski related incidents between january 2022 and april 2026 reported incidents included launching in unauthorized zones operation within swim areas violations of non-motorized zones speeding and wake related concerns and unsafe operation near passive recreational users i am well aware from various posts on facebook that outside special interest groups have rallied their members to show up here tonight in force to voice their opposition views this includes owners of a jet ski rental business in a nearby community as well as a group associated with a non-pinellas county area code who by their own description on their own facebook page consider themselves enthusiasts who specialize in quote antics theatrics and stunt spectaculars i urge this council to recognize that these aggressive special interest groups do not represent the majority of the citizens who actually live in dunedin i strongly urge you to listen to the voices of the citizens of dunedin i ask that you prioritize the protection of marine life and more importantly prioritize the protection of human life please adopt to please adopt ordinance 26-08 to make it unlawful for any person to launch or land any motorized watercraft on or from the dunedin causeway beach thank you rita okay i have randy cabrera and then donna laskoski will be after that and nick wattle after that good evening mayor and commission thank you for having us uh first i'd like to say um name and address yes five generations born and raised in tampa florida as well as dunedin one one four seven five weaver hollow drive newport ritchie three four five four two um as i said five generations born and raised um my grandfather took me to dunedin causeway to go fishing when i was young off a john boat uh i've raised my family there i've brought people from out of state we've hosted beach cleanups there um gentlemen recently mentioned earlier about the erosion that is caused by the the vehicles uh you know i don't know if everybody fails to realize that 50 yards from that coastline that shoreline is one of the heaviest traffic boating areas uh in and from to and from the gulf uh from kayaks to you know yachts to commercial fishermen you know every time a boat goes to there we have waves crashing against that shoreline that's causing erosion erosion is going to come from the next hurricane it's going to wipe out everything we just did to that beach it has nothing to do with the jet skis i've heard the word jet ski probably a hundred times tonight this is not a jet ski problem this is not a vessel launching problem this is a community problem and i i don't like to use the word problem that i think we can come together and solve we can fix we're going to use our platform to continue to do beach cleanups including dunedin causeway which we've done many times island cleanups sandbar cleanups we've partnered with dealerships and and prominent people in the industry to come out and help us clean these areas keep them clean and just continue to just let that area thrive we have thousands of acres inside of caladice thousands of acres inside of honeymoon that are protected and i'm all for that i love that i want my kids my daughters in this audience she she was there she's 12 she'll be 13 in september she's been going there since she was one year old she loves it it's all she knows she's homeschooled now we would go on a random wednesday and call it pe class or science and it was awesome and now that's going to be stripped away you know this is generational this is not a jet ski problem this is a educational problem and we're going to do our part i'm going to do my part as an advocate and an ambassador to this industry not jet skis to water enthusiasts sport enthusiasts i'm all for kayaking but a boat coming through that channel which is again heavily trafficked creating a wake even if they slow down they're even creating more of a wake that's going to tumble people off their paddle boards you know a jet ski i can see a kayak i have plain view a boater coming through in a yacht or a scarab going 30 miles an hour you know up on his helm you know can barely see a kayaker so again this is not about seagrass if you allow that to be a swim only area are you going to allow vehicles to still pull up there and set up their tents and barbecue and play their music they just can't launch there they're going to go to other boat ramps nothing has changed in that area the amount of traffic in that area is still just as heavy as it was before they're just launching from other locations the amount of tours and guides and you know jet ski rentals nothing's changed they're just launching from other areas it's recovered from the hurricane damage thank you thank you for hearing me thank you good evening okay next is donna laskowski and on deck is nick waddle next will be michelle brinbon good evening donna laskowski 650 kirkland circle dunedin florida i agree with the woman who spoke with me earlier today it's quality of life the dunedin causeway is quiet it's peaceful it's for families kayaking paddle boarders and it's just peaceful i've been out and i am a uh annual holder of the beach pass for honeymoon island over the last two months i have witnessed jet skis coming dangerously close to the shoreline along main beach and the north beach now it appeared there were six kayak i mean i'm sorry six jet skis the gentleman stayed further away but there was two couples and it appeared that the women wanted to change with their boyfriends so that they could drive the way back home they came dangerously close to the shore and their their jet skis were washing into the beach where people were swimming so obviously they're not paying attention to the rules and it's the noise it's it's not a peaceful place to be anymore so they are launching from other places no one has mentioned the dunedin marina which is under repairs right now for boat launches and you can also launch your jet skis from there i don't see why in any reason you have to disturb the dunedin causeway that's all thank you very much thank you thank you donna okay uh nick waddle is next and on deck is michelle burn good evening my name is nick waddell 29703 us highway 19 in clearwater as i mentioned my name is nick waddell i'm the general manager of cycle springs power sports the division of the dimmond automotive group dimmond is a fourth generation automotive group that has served pinellas county for more than 100 years if we've learned anything over the past six years that is how deeply people value community relationships and shared experiences we have also seen how easily isolated experiences can shape perceptions of a much larger group as you consider the future of personal watercraft access to the dunedin causeway i respectfully ask you to consider three things first please consider the community this is a group of people connected by a shared love for the water in my experience as a business leader father husband and friend i have often found the strongest sense of community and contributions that lead that receive the least attention during my time at cycle springs i've personally watched members of the community step up to serve both the greater community and one another we have hosted cleanup rides involving 30 to 50 personal watercraft and multiple boats where participants spending the day collecting trash from islands waterways and beaches when given the choice i will always support opportunities for people to lead serve and strengthen the communities that they value second please consider the value of shared experiences culture focused on positive experiences and the relationships those experiences create is important to the health of our community shared moments connect people foster belonging and create lasting joy as my angelo said people will forget what you said people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel for many families access to the water creates those meaningful moments and relationships finally please consider the actual impact of responsible access i recognize concerns about safety congestion and the conduct of individual riders those concerns deserve consideration at the same time the actions of a select few should not define an entire community i believe the fairest approach is to address specific behavior through clear expectations and individual accountability while preventing access preserving access for responsible riders in closing personal watercraft also provide a meaningful economic benefit last year cycle springs generated more than 9.6 million in new personal watercraft revenue and more than 1.8 million in pre-owned watercraft revenue those transactions produce produce surtax and county fees that support programs including mana marine turtle protection and save the manatee trust funds we're also investing in more than a 30 000 square foot of new retail and service facility on us 19 supporting jobs workforce spending local suppliers permit fees property tax revenue and surrounding property values the issue before you extends beyond the sale and servicing of personal watercraft however is about whether responsible riders can retain access to the water and the experiences that build community if you take one thing away from my comments tonight i hope it is this supporting responsible access strengthens community builds unity and fosters a sense of shared pride in the place we're fortunate to call home thank you thank you michelle burn bond is next before you start though michelle if you don't mind i've got two waves um christine carica carter is waving speaking but is against and she's from tampa uh and then i have louis cork louis corker carter carter sorry who's also from tampa who's waving speaking speaking okay so now we go to michelle and what did lewis uh against sorry against hi good evening um michelle burnbaum 330 promenade drive dunedin um the reason i'm here tonight is that when i moved to dunedin i found that this community treasured its wild places and one of those first wild places that i saw had been rescued was hammock park hammock park is an incredible environmental treat where you can walk through giant oak paths with the moss hanging you don't hear the cars or the noise surrounding after i moved to dunedin i worked with the city of dunedin to help preserve the gladys douglas property to protect the rosemary bushes which is the only place that they grow in any significant portion all of this county and the gopher tortoises and then we have the causeway when you walk out on that causeway and you sit and you hear the waves and you look up and you see the clouds clouds and the birds and you try to identify each species of bird you see there you walk that causeway and you meet other people and their families who are enjoying that spiritual joy of that peaceful beautiful place it's a refuge for people to recover and explore that world somewhere you don't see anywhere else in this area so preserving what's there on the causeway in terms of the peacefulness and the place where wild animals can thrive i think is important and i think that's something we need to consider we also when we preserved hammock and gladys douglas we knew that those events themselves were part of a future that it didn't stop at the day we made that decision when we're talking about what's happening along the causeway and we're talking about seagrass it's more than seagrass what if we want to improve the environment in more broader ways so we can bring our children there so they can see and feel what that sort of environment should be like yes the causeway was constructed but guess what we can plant native plant species we can add mangroves which are very good at preserving land from damage of hurricanes and their homes to wildlife thank you michelle but i appreciate your consideration thank you very much uh steven gardina dino steven gardino and then mike papa piano is on deck and after that kathleen seagrave seagrave steven gardino good afternoon mayor good afternoon council uh steven gardino 2030 north highland avenue clearwater florida um i'd just like to come up here and say my experience um i am i'm my mother moved me to dunedin florida in 1993 for a better life and uh uh part of the dunedin causeway was one of the main reasons why we moved here um i've been i learned how to ride my first jet ski when i was 15 years old in 19 in 1995 at dunedin causeway um i've gone there for fishing i've gone out there for just hanging out and enjoying this you know times out there um you know the joy has brought me and my family for on the weekends when i can bring my son my son's friends my mother um my stepfather my sister we go out there we barbecue you know uh you know bring some sandwiches to ride the jet ski it's a very and it's a great spot i mean it's what what is one of the main attracted me and my family to dunedin uh many people moved here because of the causeway and not everybody can afford a boat you know my experience the last five years is the majority of the people are out there they're they're respectful uh they do clean up their trash they do let other people know when they're out of line when people are are driving through the wake zones we're out there letting them know you cannot do that uh you know it's a man-made causeway you know it's made for recreation and it's made of concrete and block underneath that sand is concrete and block in fact you can go out there today and walk 10 feet out off the shoreline and dig down probably six inches and there's concrete under there so i'm trying to figure out how seagrass is going to thrive when there's literally concrete and block underneath it um we're talking about less than 10 of the causeway less than 10 it's a three mile causeway it's 0.3 miles of the of the section and if you're talking about both sides we're talking about five percent of the causeway um you know dredging it after the hurricanes the you know the dredging that went on on honeymoon island that didn't hurt the grass the grass out there why is this all of a sudden an issue um you know there's also not enough trash cans i was out there a couple weeks ago and i had to walk literally 30 40 yards to a trash can that was already full and it was a wednesday this was not even on a weekend uh so those talking about the trash i i mean that's the issue there's not enough trash out trash cans out there you know jet skis do not have propellers they have impellers they have more slick bottoms than they do boats i just can't see how they can really can seriously uh hurt the seagrass as much as they did but also the economy people come out there after they leave there they go to restaurants in dunedin they go to shops in dunedin they use the gas stations in dunedin all that's going to go away i am for if it would be a solution as a registrational permit process if i had to pay to go out there i would do it then if you have a registration process you also can track the individuals that aren't following the rules and the laws and you now know what they're doing and you have options there's consequences involved um i just feel that the majority of the people that have lived here their whole lives are for the dunedin cause and the ones that don't are the ones that had the influx of people that moved here during covet thank you thank you for my time thank you uh next is uh michael pampa piano and uh jackie nigro i think is on deck because i think we've got a wave next one uh michael papiano hey good evening how you doing um thank you for having this meeting mayor and um good evening to the commissioners and your staff i'd like to name and address please yeah name and address for the record sorry yes um sorry michael parlopiano i live at 2700 bayshore boulevard in dunedin i've lived here for 20 years i'd like to commend these folks on my right and my left for a terrific presentation of the facts they're facts so i've heard a lot of hyperbole i've heard a lot of statements made tonight from both sides and everyone has an opinion and they're they have a right to it 2700 bay shore boulevard 435 condominium units we are on the south excuse me the east side of st joseph sound on the other side of the causeway from this launch ramp launch area not it's not a ramp i've heard some statements made i've been boating since i was 14 years old in the delaware river and the jersey shore and what you folks are doing on the causeway if you did it on the jersey shore you'd be in jail and never get out i'm serious you touch seagrass you touch the beach you launch from the beach you do all the things that these folks want to do here and you would be crucified because it's a fragile area we you know we survived hurricane sandy the beach didn't it's gone but the seagrass saved most of the homes that were along the shoreline in most of the areas this this beach is precious on the causeway and um as a person who's i have a trailer and i have a trailer boat and um i've launched and i'll admit i've used that area once once i have an 18 foot outboard and it tears things up and it's too soft now let's talk about some of the things about quality of life a couple things that were said tonight and again as a boater someone said he waited four hours at a launch ramp four hours i have never waited a launch ramp for four hours ever and on top of that another gentleman said he was running his jet ski five feet from the shoreline and that wasn't a problem it didn't disturb the seagrass or whatever unfortunately on the south side of the causeway that's an offense you can't do that because there's buoys there that direct you away from areas that are manned by or used by swimmers and boaters and other things one more thing and i'm going to close i only have 30 seconds left we have 1 000 feet of mangrove and beach at mediterranean manors we spend 89 000 a year to maintain that it's really nice to watch the sunset from our four acre park with pine trees and everything until six jet skis come ripping through there at sundown this launch area is used by many people it's very close to our cove and we have problems there with that thank you very much thank you okay uh kathleen seagriff i think is a wave speaking unless she jumps up there and she is against and she's a dunedin resident uh so next is jackie nigro on deck is priscilla lassardo good evening madam mayor commissioners and staff i'm jackie nigro i live at nine hague place number 502 dunedin 34698 i'm a causeway resident for 22 years and vice president of royal stewart arms condominium community situated at the west end of the causeway we support your proposed amendment stopping the launching of motorized watercraft from dunedin excuse me dunedin causeway would be an enhancement to the area which would result in less vehicle and trailer traffic and would allow for cleaner oil-free seawater at beach areas for both sea life and visitable visitors and would reduce negative and environmental noise impact also it would allow for additional beast beach space for an ever increasing number of visitors and provide safety for visitors paddlers and swimmers of all ages the lack of noise would create a more natural environment thus protecting wild and water life additionally the shoreline would be protected from sand displacement caused by heavy water traffic being unloaded and reloaded from and to trailers a beach is not designed to create safety and health hazards with the intermingling of vehicles watercraft and visitors no a community beach is a natural commodity to be enjoyed by all its visitors not a parking lot for trailers and launching motorized watercraft and the other thing is don't buy ice cream on a saturday or sunday coming from publix thank you jackie words of wisdom uh uh priscilla lazardo um she said she was undecided about speaking i guess so she is voting against so again priscilla lazardo oh you are here do you want to come up okay so she is against though correct okay uh newport richie okay uh dave paulie would be next dave that's you dave and brian rodriguez is on deck then jim lippert limpert my name is dave paulie i live at 2598 geary circle uh good evening mayor vice mayor and uh commissioners i'm here this evening to extend my support for the amending ordinance 26-08 concerning the launching of motor motorized watercraft from the dunnean causeway my reasons are very similar to many to support you on this issue this i won't press forward with my list decisions when involving large groups of people i know are very difficult to make you have not approached this as just a good or a bad issue you search for facts and logic and staff heard and put together those for you you didn't rubber stamp this issue and this i think is evidenced by the statistics and facts you had brought forward as support i'm here to tell you that i'm most impressed with the time-consuming and considerate manner in which you approached and justified your position i think you all have made a every effort to support your findings with an open mind and i want to extend my sincere thanks for your professional and honest approach on this issue i hope each of you will support this amendment thank you thank you dave uh brian rodriguez is next and on deck is jim limpert limpert what is it okay brian brian okay name and address for the record and three brian rodriguez 7421 donegal street um newport ritchie florida um i wasn't going to speak but call me inspired um i'm kind of weary though almost every person on this side of the spectrum who's against this ordinance has called for compromise and not one of these people are calling for compromise i grew up in new york city i've been around some major figureheads in operations and i've personally spoke to nelson mandela in the united nations everything came with a compromise that's how america works we haven't heard that from this side of the spectrum we're just sitting here saying okay things need to get done things need to get changed and i understand it i was the dumb dumb on the ski messing around and i learned my lesson and from that point forward i taught and that's how it works we mess up we learn and we fix it that's how i teach my children you mess up you own up and you move forward the proper way that's what we got to do here it's not right to cut everybody off of that access to a man-made bridge it doesn't make sense seagrass is not in effect there anyway it's 200 feet they have a lot of foot traffic on the other end of the bridge the traffic's not going to stop they're building more and more condos on the other end of the side anyway it's not going to get any better it's okay it's what we deal with that's what the price of moving to florida is it's okay that this has come to attention we do need to be i want to say more reliable when it comes to cleaning up the trash because we've all been part of it and i take responsibility for it as well and i'm not saying that it's perfect but it's gotten way better the amount of people that i've talked to that i've met has opened my eyes to the way life could be since moving from new york city and it doesn't make sense why we can't meet a compromise somewhere it does make sense for there to be some sort of a toll for us to be there to bring some money into the community so that things like this can be addressed in future areas there's no problem with that we do that at sunset beach all the time it's 100 bucks for the whole year nobody's going to argue about that that's a good amount of investment for the community and we all you know focus it's not just about jet skis it went from motorized vehicles to jet skis it doesn't even make sense that the topic has gone shifted to jet skis only about 50 times already i operate jet skis i also want a big boat i spent most of my time saving boats at the boat ramps trust me i bled for boats that not even got a thank you for i own jet skis we could work together it doesn't make sense to argue when we got each other here for a reason we have to be a community this isn't about building walls it's about building relationships and bridges we could come together out of this better we don't have to be separated on it there could be a compromise thank you thank you brian uh jim lippert and on deck would be rich master birdie okay this is jim are you jim i'm rich master birdie okay but do we have jim here i want to make sure you have jim here no okay uh he is dunedin and he is four well looks like he's four that's to be interpreted he's darkly marked one and lightly marked again so okay so i'm gonna put that in the not sure pile okay rich so i didn't do too bad mayor commissioners thank you thank you for uh just name and address for the record so you can tell me exactly how i should have said it right uh my what name and address for the rich master birdie 2190 marshall drive dunedin 34698 thanks for the opportunity i support the proposed prohibition of launching motorized watercrafts on the south side of dunedin causeway basically the reasons are um i have two maybe three we talked about seagrass we talked about marine habitat so i won't go into it i did a little bit of research on it but i i think anybody would be disingenuous here if they didn't admit that some kind of damage is being done by having these watercrafts being pushed into the water just as we are walking on the beach and and all kinds of things so we're just trying to do our due diligence to mitigate any type of damage that might be done there the other two reasons are to improve public safety and to reduce congestion we've all seen the crowds we're getting we're getting crowded i think reintroducing the motorized launches from the shoreline could result in more congestion potential conflicts collisions all kinds of things just look at uh new smyrna beach look at a lot of other places where this stuff kind of goes on but here's but here's the rub and i understand this not everybody agrees with the ordinance and i understand you're talking about decades of doing something bringing up your families i get it but i remember a time where i went to the airport and the tsa was not necessary i remember it i also remember getting on an airplane and rows 1 through 25 were non-smoking and rows 26 through 50 were smoking we don't do that anymore either and we don't do it because for the common good for the common sense for the quality of life you know i hear people say you know there i guess there's about what 16 public and private boat launches within 10 miles of dunedin and i know they're crowded but so is the public's parking lot and and so is and so is the gym i go to on main street but i don't expect anyone to say look you can go outside in in the parking lot and work out because it's too crowded and here i find i find a way to work around it and so the rude reality of this is this times change and things change and we become an in i mean there's just so many people that are coming from outside that are living inside and so on and so forth so i believe that we should not have that and that thank you very much appreciate it thank you thank you thank you uh the next speaker is keith seagrave seagrave and rich santoro is uh on deck my name is keith seagrave i live at 1932 barcelona drive in dunedin florida 34698 and i thank you for this opportunity to talk to you about why i'm speaking against this ordinance and the ordinance we're debating there's language that says that it'll reduce negative environmental impact and there's a lot of talk about disturbance to sea life and seagrass and shoreline but as referenced the many times here come on man the causeway was it's a man-made structure and making that structure has done more damage to the saint joseph sound and that waterway than one jet ski can do so what are we really talking about here the act of building it did more damage it's not natural by its own making additionally jet skis are not the only groups that are using the causeway that have an effect on sea life anyone or anything that goes in that water can damage grass and people have acknowledged that and they said that there's still going to be tons of boats that are going through that channel you know that was talked about tonight and there's going to be people swimming kayaking all that has an impact if you truly want to return to that natural state if this is really about the environment in my opinion you can do one of two things prevent all people from going in the water or tear down the causeway and i know that sounds absurd but that absurdity is how absurd it is that i think that you are just singling out one group that clearly has a lot of people here that find enjoyment using jet skis on the causeway there was a gentleman that was talking about this but there's studies that are public record that show you can focus on reducing millions of gallons of pesticide and herbicides into the lawns that go into the waterways including the grass around the causeway that have a better impact on the environment but you know what we did build the causeway all right we did it it's a and it's a causeway it's not a beach it's a man-made road to one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and i think we'd all agree on that but with that there was a slide that listed the benefits of the causeway and it said the purpose of having one of the purposes of having the causeway is it is critical to the recreational well-being and if that causeway is critical erectional recreational well-being that should be for all people that come here and support not just people that feel enjoyment should just be walking or kayaking or swimming or it should be quieter it should be for all people and i think there's clearly a reasonable number of people that have demonstrated that we get enjoyment out of it so that's that statement that you have in there has to be taken into consideration or my opinion you're singling out a group of people and just benefiting all right let's benefit the walkers and the people that want to swim and kayak and it's just not fair there's just not enough justification for it i think it's clearly a targeted attack on a group that clearly needs to be heard me personally i find enjoyment i find peace and going launching from that causeway i go to kel dc island i've tried it from clearwater since 2024 i've done it once because it's a long-ass drive and the causeway is the only way to get that enjoyment thank you thank you keith um okay we're going to go to rich santoro and then on deck will be uh def shaw dev shaw good evening my name is rich santoro i live at 200 woodhead drive dunneeden on the causeway i'm a 35-year resident on the causeway and in island towers i support your ban but that's the easy part here i want to ask everybody how did we get to this point where you have to ban these people being on the causeway that long i noticed that there was definitely an increase in jet skiers just beginning with covet a lot more people came into dunneeden to use the causeway but you guys let it happen you didn't you didn't take a look at what was going on out there for the last four or five years and now we're here banning these people which for different reasons is probably a good decision but i think to a certain extent this could have been avoided it's it's tough enough to let these people and the folks that live in the neighborhood deal with the traffic right that's part of the problem but the other part of the problem of the causeway even way beyond jet skis is that is the inlet itself the lack of law enforcement the lack of a speed zone the lack of a wake zone that tears up that causeway that's one part of the problem the other part of the problem and correct me if i'm wrong the city of dunneeden and pinellas county share the responsibilities of that causeway the question is for the last number of years i've watched i think it's been pinellas county constantly repaving both sides of that causeway now we heard about turbidity in the water and jet skis causing that problem maybe but i got to tell you every time we put that dirt on that causeway on both sides guess where it winds up it winds up in the water due to the wind and the rain and if there's a problem with seagrass the jet ski guys aren't the only ones causing it we're not doing a very good job managing that causeway in its entirety jet skis were possibly and probably part of the problem but there's a lot more going on out there if you talk about safety when's the last time we took a look at what sail honeymoon island does out there with the license you know how many times i was a 35 year boat and my boat was in pirates cove and homeport all those years you know how many people i pulled in out of the channel that were renting the kayaks because they fell in the water for different reasons maybe a jet ski went by them maybe probably a boat went by them there's no complete oversight or plan for the causeway what we're talking about here is just a symptom of the causeway not the cause of the illness not at all this place has to get managed better up there and i see it every day i'm on that causeway every morning every morning for for the past 35 years and it's gotten dangerous it really has and what we talked about here is just one of the symptoms it's not it's not the complete disease up there so i i'll back the ban but there's a lot more work to be done and it's got to be done in its entirety thank you rich appreciate it uh okay uh dev shaw dev shaw no okay they are against and from largo uh tim hughes would be next and on deck will be richard owers or owens hello tim hughes um i'm at i live at 17 south cirrus avenue clearwater thank you for this public hearing this is excellent um i'm in favor of the ban um for many reasons the uh as the conservation chair for sunco sierra club for one reason um and uh we helped we helped uh draft that position paper that sunco sierra did um i would say i'm i'm very much in supportive as relates to the science uh we have we have a wonderful piece of paradise here uh honeymoon island cala dc island um and that causeway is connected ecologically to those islands so the things that we do to protect the the channel the shoreline and make it more resilient is smart um i would also add that you have a great opportunity here the opportunity is to create a living shoreline with mangroves and oyster beds so some of those areas if you create the living shoreline you make it more resilient you reduce erosion from wave action from boats that come through the channel at high speeds so the gentleman talked about symptoms yeah you are fixing a symptom uh so i think i think a living shoreline is a great opportunity here um the the swimmers the kayakers the paddle boaters can still enjoy and coexist with a living shoreline um so i would say that when it comes to the jet skiers i respect them i respect their desire to enjoy recreation however you get more exercise kayaking that's all thank you thank you tim appreciate that um okay next is richard oars or owens hours here okay no but okay i guess not okay and richard is against and he is from dunedin okay next is richard scott councilman my name is richard scott i'm a veteran my address is one nine eight two five windham lakes drive odessa florida three three five five six i am very disappointed that they closed the causeway i've been coming to the causeway since the 90s with and i look at the demographics in this room alone you know and i feel that it's shameful that your grandparents your parents and you don't think about the opportunities that we've had to take our children out to the causeway teach them how to swim uh teach them how to jet ski boat safety and they ought to be a compromise it's a very small area that we're asking to be utilized while i was jet skiing by honeymoon island two indian boys were swimming and got caught in some type of current one of them had no life jacket and i was lucky enough to uh jump off the ski and i had an extra jacket and by then uh was able to save him and pinellas county had sent out the uh fire department as well as uh the um coast guard came out and by then we got him to shore so there are advantages to having a jet ski especially when when we go in between the islands we do see people that go out venture out too far and don't swim well enough and maybe not supervised well by their parents so i just look uh that hopefully that you'll consider at least letting us have the small area um i've also helped clean up out there many times and like these people have said um there is not enough trash cans available for us to utilize to clean up the area so um you know there just needs to be much more emphasis uh you know stop blaming and us work together it's a small area you you're only asking you know for us to use a small area of the beach and um you know like i said i think um we do much better by trying to compromise rather than just shutting it down so thank you thank you very much um okay we have uh okay almost called you again richard so um matt norman and uh on deck will be amanda crescendo cassentro okay we have a long wait right yeah yeah that's all good i'm glad i made it uh my name is matt norman i live on 2373 mangram drive in dunedin fairway states good evening mayor good evening mayor and commissioners my name is matt norman i'm a dunedin resident a small business owner and someone who has spent the past several weeks reading just about every public document i could find related to this ordinance i support protecting seagrass i support improving public safety i support responsible stewardship of the causeway but i respectively do not believe the city has demonstrated that permanently eliminating motorized launching is necessary to achieve these goals the question i keep coming back to is this if motorized launching has been causing unacceptable environmental damage for years why hasn't this proposal been brought forward in 2022 or 2023 when launching was actively occurring instead it was proposed after hurricane damage had already closed the launch area that timing alone tells me this deserves a more thorough evidence-based review before making a temporary closure permanent i also searched the public record for measurable answers to some very basic questions how much documented environmental damage came from lawful launching within the designated corridor how much measurable seagrass recovery has occurred how much of the parking improvement resulted from eliminating launching versus the fact that much of dunedin causeway has remained closed to parking since the hurricanes how many sheriff incidents actually originated from lawful launching rather than unlawful operation on the water i couldn't find those answers my concern isn't simply the outcome it's the process used to reach the outcome good public policy doesn't begin with a preferred solution it begins by clearly defining the problem gathering objective data evaluating reasonable alternatives and then choosing the least restrictive solution that accomplishes the public's goals i also believe there are a number of targeted management tools that deserve objective evaluation before permanently eliminating public access whether those include modifying the launch footprint user fees permits additional enforcement speed management or other approaches i simply do not believe the city has demonstrated those alternatives were fully evaluated i recently read another article involving the proposed downtown open container district the city's response there was to study the issue further evaluate what other communities have been have done and bring additional information back before making a decision i respectfully believe this ordinance deserves the same level of careful analysis i'm not asking you to preserve the status quo i'm asking you to make sure the public policy process is as rigorous as the decision is permanent please slow down this process gather the necessary data evaluate reasonable alternatives and make the decision based on measurable evidence thank you for your time thank you matt appreciate it okay next is amanda crescendo i'll let you help me with that all right i'm amanda crescendo i live at 1101 jack marr road in dunedin um i am in favor of the ban um i think what people forget is that we've had multiple departmental meetings many committee meetings this has been occurring like these discussions have been across many different groups with the city for more than a year more than 15 meetings and it kind of focused on resiliency and i know that you know i'm a small boat owner i can't afford a big one i can't afford a slip but um there are times when you have to look at what changes in the environment and resiliency i think it's been too long since we had helene knock on wood we don't want another situation like that but we have to think about we may not have the causeway we may not have you know what we see today without thinking about more important things like a living shoreline to protect that for everybody so we may give up the small vessels we may give up the um jet skis but we might have an environment where we have people of all abilities being able to go to a beach that you can drive up to that you can park and spend time with your family and i think that's more important than the instant gratification of me getting out there on my john boat or somebody on a jet ski we need to have the data to back up what the city and committees have presented saying that yes these vessels will damage the environment i have yet to see anybody come at us and show that there's a good reason to have motorized vessels on the causeway so with that i hope that you do continue on with this ordinance thank you man it looks like you brought your little one so they can learn about civic engagement yes frankie crescenzo that's good we have a few in the audience so that's thank you thank you okay uh the next one is um well it's unclear so it's sam monarch sam monarch undecided and i guess undecided about speaking so they must have gone home so i guess they made their decision okay uh we're going to go to um uh two that just got submitted andy hogman hoggen okay hoggen okay having this open meeting tonight i've been listening for a while andy hoggen i live at 16404 nikki lane in odessa the furthest i've ever lived away from the water um i grew up in st pete i was born in the bahamas grew up in st pete lived in florida 50 years uh four years in the bahamas six years in the navy i've been coming out to the dunnean causeway for the past 15 years and in that time um like you said it was initially you could launch the whole causeway and you showed some numbers up there 2019 i believe it was you reduce the launch area to the easternmost portion of the beach but it's about 300 to 400 yards from what i could observe uh doing some google maps research um the uh two biggest bullet points i think have been talked so far is the environmental impact and the safety concern from what i've looked at there are two major internal combustion exclusion zones behind honeymoon island and caldezi island about 2 000 square acres uh the dunnean causeway is about 28 to 30 acres of of of uh slow to no wake zone the seagrass beds our area launch area is five to seven acres um the personal safety uh the safety issue going uh up and down the causeway that that channel going hurricane pass is a major thoroughfare for vessel traffic and uh you're you're equating uh people paddling and kayaking across uh the channel there to uh taking mopeds across the interstate uh it's not a good idea but it happens it's allowed uh safety is uh everybody's concern it's a individual responsibility i've been boating more than 42 years of my life and jet skiing more than 35 years of my life after returning from desert storm i bought my first jet ski in 91 and uh it's a passion um i grew up fishing respecting the environment mostly catch and release um i've seen threats online uh fishermen talking about throwing weights at jet skis as they pass and uh i was never raised that way i don't know why people believe they own their specific area of the waterway uh it must be a privilege i uh i don't understand that mentality uh this has been a 30 year old apparently 30 to 40 years of uh an area we've enjoyed to launch uh environmental impact is minimal and safety is everybody's responsibility but it's it's individual i think more than everybody else to uh single out jet skis or boats on it you got the you got the waterway there uh traffic coming through the waterway causing just as much wake um from the beach to the no wake zone is 20 30 yards you can't go out of there at high speeds thank you very much andy okay uh and the next one i have i have tammy fountas and then i have david belt my name is tammy fountas 2196 colonial boulevard palm harbor florida 34683 i wasn't going to speak here today but i changed my mind because there's something that has not been brought up yeah i've lived in this area for over 50 years we grew up on the water almost every weekend fishing skiing boating i can't remember when my family not owning a watercraft our best times on the with family was on the water father's day mother's day 4th july on and on i lost both my parents a few years back my dad unexpectedly my mom to dementia we were launched at dunneaden because it was much easier to be there for her to get on board a water craft than it is any boat ramp what i'm asking you is consider those who are fixably mentally unable to use a boat ramp because of safety concerns but still want to enjoy the activities they love to do taking away the causeway will be taking away family time that is extremely important to those we love the most anyone who has ever had a family member with dementia will understand how important those moments are for them remembering and enjoying themselves thank you thank you tammy uh david belt good evening commissioners my name is david belt i reside at 2377 indigo drive in clearwater unincorporated pinellas pinellas county surrounded by the city of dunedin uh mayor and commissioners thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight i come before you as an angler a boater and someone who previously owned a jet ski i eventually sold it because access had become increasingly difficult uh so i'm not here to defend everything that's happened at the causeway the takeover events congestion reckless operation around anchored boats and conflicts with other users are real problems but i am here because i believe this proposal solves the wrong problem the groups that organize these takeovers need to accept responsibility they may argue that many of their members operate responsibly and that may be true but organizing large-scale events that overwhelm a confined waterway is irresponsible in and of itself those events have made it difficult for anglers families boaters and everyone else to enjoy a public resource public waterways should not become the exclusive playground for one user group what concerns me just as much is how we got here for more than a year residents were told the causeway closure was driven by storm damage maintenance and county issues the city repeatedly pointed to the county today however it is clear this has really been about managing user conflicts and certain types of recreational activity if that was the real issue residents deserve to hear that from the beginning public trust depends on transparency residents may disagree on the solution but they deserve an honest explanation of why decisions are being made and what alternatives were considered this also isn't simply a dunedin issue the waters are a state of florida resource and the causeway is supported through state county and local funding restricting one of pinellas county's major access points doesn't make demand disappear it shifts it it impacts anglers launching skiffs and john boats families launching small boats responsible personal watercraft owners and every other public ramp in the county these decisions have regional consequences and should be approached with regional planning instead of a blanket ban i ask you to target the people actually creating the problem ban commercial activities associated with these takeover events including organized promotions and rental operations limit launching to two vessels for per vehicle to discourage commercial abuse and create county resident access permit so the people who fund and rely on these facilities retain access while generating revenue for enforcement finally if safety is truly the standard then it needs to be applied consistently i've personally assisted in rescues in that inlet and a first-hand respect for how dangerous it can be almost drowning there myself as a swimmer inexperienced kayak paddleboard rentals crossing that channel deserve the same scrutiny as motorized vessels safety cannot be selective as an angler i care deeply about protecting our seagrass and fisheries the answer is to enforce existing environmental protections where damage actually occurs jet skis operating recklessly behind cala dc island thank you david okay um i do not have any more cards um if there's anyone out there um that still wishes to speak um you may come forward name and address for the record three minutes david ballard gettis jr i live on georgia avenue in palm harbor it appears to me that we're going to be redoing the bridge on dunedin causeway with that the length of the bridge and the height of the bridge will be extended probably into that area that we're talking about where we're currently disallowing the jet skis to launch the causeway will be shortened as a result of the extension of this new building of the bridge therefore with the population buildup and more people that are wanting to access the water we're going to have to accommodate for that in some way in some fashion as much as i don't like dredging and as much as i don't like uh um affecting the ecosystem any more than we already have we're going to have to extend something northward parallel with the uh intercoastal waterway um that provides beach access um for uh the people that want to access the waterways um reconfiguring the causeway in effect turning it sideways um would uh and somehow through all that provides some sort of capacity for boat launching um somewhere in that area that's regulated um to a degree um this conversation's important because it is expansive and it will be involving a lot of construction going on out there with that building of that new bridge um and uh so thank you for letting me share and i think this is something we should add to it's just the beginning of a very big big development and a regional uh concern thank you thank you david um is there anyone else that has not spoken it looks like i got a card coming up oh wave speaking uh bill bragg dunnyden against okay again is there anyone else in the audience um that would wish us to speak on this issue okay uh seeing no one i am going to close uh close uh the public input um and i i think uh fellow commissioners um we have uh i think what we still have is if there's any questions that we have now that the citizens have provided their input um we're going to need a motion uh and we're going to do commission comments um or and we can certainly have discussion as well so uh but in the meantime i think it would be appropriate to take a short break okay and uh and we will be back shortly i'm going to call the meeting back into order i'm going to call the meeting back into order we can get the lobby in order too or close the doors whichever they want um i i do want to say that um that was a long time a lot of comments and i know most people aren't here but they might be turn it in to see what happened at the end tune in uh if they went home um but i very much appreciate that i asked for respect in the beginning and and everybody gave it everybody on both sides gave it and um right that's let's do that and and it was also brought to my attention that because we had kids here what what a great example that is no matter how this goes that's a great example for civic engagement so okay um let us uh go back to our item and i am going to see if there's any questions additional questions following the input that anyone would like to ask staff and i'll start with commissioner sandbergen first tony this would be for you it came up a couple of times about the possibility of making this into a revenue stream i even heard about a guard house is is is there anything that you could think of is there any way we could make it where these guys continued but we were able to collect money uh thank you tony wonky parks recreation director uh just i i think it would take a lot more examination because you'd start to trigger a lot of elements if we did an organized boat ramp you'd have accessibility standards you'd have potential core review because you are launching into the navigable so it's not as easy as just come on in pay me and then go launch if there's a lot more to it is what you're saying if we formalized the boat ramp process it'd have to go through a much larger planning process okay and the last thing i believe i heard within the last 24 hours there are multiple vacancies in the marina could someone rent a slip for their marina uh for a jet ski is that legal or not for jet ski i don't believe so i i believe you have to have a minimum and it has to be a a vessel that stays water okay because when i was down there today i was actually picturing some of those slips you know if a family had two or three jet skis they could so that's something that we would not consider i i don't believe so but i'd have to revisit that with the staff okay oh that's fine yeah that's all i had mayor thank you mayor may i add sure go ahead thank you um in in regards to a ramp though and an attendant um and charging a fee the ramp that we have now is is not full cost recovery and we are trying to figure out how to uh limit access to that and we're having a difficult time we're struggling with that in terms of is it an arm is it to have a full-time attendant there to collect um a fee whatever it is uh we'd have a really hard time recouping what we spend on it okay thank you yeah thank you okay um you're good okay uh commissioner gau any additional questions yeah just to piggyback on what the city manager just mentioned um i don't want to assume on the cost recovery i and i know that we have uh some further discussions to make regarding the ramp but if we can incorporate the jet skis and what that looks like and if um i don't know that the residents didn't even should bear any cost to that through taxpayer money but if we can ensure a cost recovery and just be honestly be able to tell the public this is truly what it costs to manage the ramp and it is what it is and then let their financial situation guide them but i'd be okay just a point of clarification please uh mayor commissioner gau is that you mean the the dunnean marina ramp or a ramp yes ma'am okay yes yeah that's a dunnean marina yes got it thank you well the the thing maybe i missed it because i'm trying to think through it um just um are we talking about because we are going to do it for residents potentially yes yes our intent um as discussed with the marine advisory committee is when we reopen the ramp it would be um restricted similar to the model that we have in the in the marina right now restricted to residents only or it would be you know in the marina right now the residents have a slip fee that that's very um very uh favorable economically for them and the non-residents pay a higher fee so it would be one of the combination of the two but the residents would definitely get priority on the on the ramp and they would be able that priority would be for all watercraft so that would include jet skis uh and the john boats and so on and so forth but if i'm not mistaken there's only like 12 or 13 parking spots no they're actually across the street there there are lots of parking spots and and really in season i don't see it filling up okay and we did just find we did just enter a new lease with the church all right and if i may circle back commissioner galt mayor um because the one thing is that we do have all those figures for the ramp before it closed due to the hurricane so we can dig those up and tell you and that cost recovery for me would also include the rental of the property from the church right okay any other questions no i think we've got them all okay okay commissioner ducard questions um i need to understand what our capacity is at the causeway for launch uh because there is a capacity element there's a number of spaces if we were to have be in a full use situation how many jet skis and this parking facilities and things like that are launchable from the causeway so we don't have a actual count but the length of the area of the current motorized watercraft launch is about a thousand feet so the uh depending on how people park it's it's dependent on behavior a little bit but if people were aligned abreast and and able to park on both sides can you give me kind of a zone which you think would be there maybe 150 vehicles so that would be if they had two boats that would be 300 jet skis potentially in the sound that would be accurate okay um what what is we've had some fatalities in the sound one jet ski that i know of um but i don't know that we have a good record on the number of injuries that haven't been reported to our safety department um do we have any feel for safety factors from jet skis that kind of thing so i want to understand the safety issue okay so um we did ask uh denean fire rescue to give us there you go um to give us the number of calls and not necessarily just just related to uh accidents involving motorized watercraft in the area not not not just jet skis and it's really difficult because the calls come to 911 from a number of different places yeah so we really can't identify exactly where the incident occurred so we can't give you an accurate account but what we gave you was the overall on this slide do we know of any jet skis hitting kayaks uh paddle boards anything like that do we have any records of that we just know the one that hit the commercial vehicle and then the other uh there was a fatality uh the jet ski rider and then the other one was uh he hit uh shallow water and was ejected okay um we have the restrictions of time uh closing at 11 what was the opening time for 5 a.m 5 a.m to 11 p.m okay do we have any problems getting people uh out of the water and then off the causeway at the 11 o'clock hour have we had experience we would defer to pinellas county sheriff's office okay they are here do we have somebody speak to it i'm sorry okay thank you all right that's all i have for right now mary thank you okay um let's see um so sunset beach came up a couple times i was just curious what that is do you know um i don't have a lot of knowledge on it okay that'd be interesting to see what it was for the second reading i was just curious um and uh and then um is there any place anything that's an option on the on the um on your sheet that is actually not a boat ramp it's something different on the list of launch yeah launch areas i'm just curious i mean mayor while you're doing that i'm going to ask um in our audio visual if we can turn up the mayor's microphone a little bit they're having a hard time hearing okay i'm gonna pull it closer they moved it back there you go okay yeah i mean they they pushed it back at one point so i left it back uh mayor from the information that we gathered they're all they're all built out ramps right yeah well i just it's just interesting i mean we have people from tampa and from uh uh newport ritchie and all these places coming down to us are we like the only game in town that's not a boat ramp does that appear to be the case and that's why huh i don't know right i mean i'm sorry for the side talk that's okay no i i'm i'm just kind of curious um i i believe there's a lot of prohibitions on a lot of the the causeways um so if you if you go through the county codes there's a lot of rules on many of the other causeways and the dunnean causeway is is one of them that's very limited on the rules why sometimes they say it's a wild wild west right mayor mayor if i may you had asked about sunset beach there's actually two references to sunset beach in pinellas county there's one in treasure island but i believe this references to tarpon springs okay yeah well i was just curious to know a little more about that i'm not saying it would be comparable at all but and and again i'm not we're not looking to be the jet ski capital of anybody um okay um okay i don't think i have oh i do have one more question first but not i'll go to you commissioner guard so um you know several times people have said you know the area hasn't been used so that's part of why it's come back and then um and then the comparison of you know motorized uh watercraft versus just the vehicles that go down there on the causeway the you know the the people that go down there on the causeway the tents that get put up on the causeway is there is there a you know i'm just asking i mean what is the real difference between those two things so i i think it's a magnitude of impacts on on some of that um you know you're you're going to see impacts from activities human activities are going to have impacts on the the natural world um i i think it's uh a multitude of factors with the noise the the um um you know congestion is we have a lot of uses out there and and the most impactful use from from what we've seen is is the the motorized watercraft um there there is uh impacts from everything like i said but the the highest impact is is what we're looking at okay and uh i i don't think anybody here has the answer to this question when they originally did the man-made causeway i would assume that they just did it to make a way to get to um cali dc honeymoon island and roller steward arms at the time and that was it and everything else grew out of that mayor it predates me but um the cause it was originally a dot corridor it was functionally reclassed um and handed over to the county i believe they were asleep at the wheel at the time um so they became owners of it they're trying to give it back we know yes we know uh but it was originally a dot corridor so i suspect it was a transportation corridor primarily right and actually it's still not considered a park by the county it's considered a road okay and so it's become so much more um okay i don't have any other questions so at this point i'm going to ask for uh a motion sure oh i'm sorry sorry commissioner do we i'm looking at a number of roads that cross bodies of water in the area um courtney campbell these kind of roads do they allow launch off of there so courtney campbell on the tampa side has a county boat ramp that's attached to that uh a significantly sized one right off of that area and they launch off there they do okay all right it's a ramp yes it's a ramp though it's not just off a beach correct it's an improved ramp have we got any history on this kind of issue in other communities where they've decided not to allow beach launches on jet skis do we have any knowledge of that kind of history i did come across that and i need to dig it out here if i don't have it right at my fingertips okay uh no we're we're past the uh we're past comment thank you though thank you okay anyone else any questions okay so i need a motion and the motion will be to approve ordinance 26-08 on first reading so moved second okay so i'm going to go to uh i have a motion by uh commissioner gao i have a second by commissioner to guard and i am going to go to commission comments starting with the maker of the motion commissioner gao what i get for moving the motion you do um i'm not sure where to begin begin and i'm not fully confident in my motion for everybody so but what i will tell you is um i've never had the luxury of finding somewhere else to live that you love so much that you're willing to move there because i was born and raised here and so when i see it time and time again the number of people who actually pack up and move change their lives to come here is just phenomenal to me um we if you want to talk about history uh just for the record my father was dunedin's first director of parks and recreation back in the 60s and if you look at um can you bring up the history i think it was like slide two it was way at the beginning there we go there we go um the bridge and causeway built in in 1963 and once it was built actually then you had private developers that wanted to develop at that time dunyan beach into a entire community but that went bankrupt um and uh didn't work and so that's how we got dunyan beach and then honeyman island uh but we had powerboat races in the mid 60s out there on on that side of the um of the causeway back in the 60s uh so it goes to the gentleman's conversation that we used to do a lot of things um you heard it spoken earlier i guess it was actually on break that in high school we would have bonfires out on on the causeway and for a lot of us that's where you had your first taste of alcohol out there um that was a day when we were all kind of raised feral um uh or when we had hurricanes my mother used to drive us out to dunyan beach and would let us out of the car and let the wind blow us down the beach and then she'd drive down and pick us up and drive us back down and just did that and what what a mother with three kids will do to entertain us and savor sanity um uh but we used to have there's a lot of things we used to do and and so um and also for the record honeymoon island today is the number one visited state park in the state of florida so it gets a tremendous amount of traffic a lot of times if you're not on the island by 10 a.m it's 2 p.m before you can get out there and it's amazing and so part of we've heard um uh resiliency and sustainability and the ecosystem and that is if you know me that's really important but there's so much more going on there and there are lots of things that i used to do as a kid that i can't do anymore and a lot of the reason i can't do them is because there's just too many people i used to ride my bike everywhere i can't do that anymore um and and so when you look at actually what's going on on that causeway for me especially since covid you have just this huge increase in people wanting outside in general but you got walkers pedestrians bicyclists kayakers paddle boards um uh jet skis the motorized and everything is focused on on that causeway and to me it gets to the point it is a safety issue and it's trying to fit 10 pounds of mud in a five pound bucket at some point what what's going to give and what can we do and the idea isn't just to say no to one group or one subgroup it is if we can't let them have it there where can we we tell them and before i continue on there i do want to go back to my beginning comment and just let you know you guys have been amazing thank you very much for just being this incredibly representative of what democracy looks like you guys have been respectful you've been confident in your words and letting us know how you feel and that as a as a standing commission we can't ask for more than that so thank you but it it goes back to um there was a time when there's she's well known in dunedin for anybody who knows sylvia earl she is a a very well known marine biologist and she talks a lot about the oceans and she openly talks about you know there was a there was a time when we had no idea that we could pollute the ocean it was just unfathomable it was so vast and so deep that there was just no way we could damage our oceans and now we know that's not true we certainly can be and so um off our coast we have a hope spot and you have dead zones throughout the world and so sylvia came up with this and dead zones are where nothing lives because it's all polluted and in our oceans and so we have hope spots which counter that so our entire coastline from the panhandle down to ten thousand islands in the south is is the hope spot and dunedin is the hometown for the hope spot and uh and it's all about bringing that water back to life so that we can all enjoy it we're starting to recognize that while there's a lot of fun in the water there's also a lot of money in that water and the more attention we pay to the quality of the water and the estuaries and the seagrasses and the oyster beds truly truly what there is to be to be made out there we just did a proclamation about four months ago on the rice's whale which is an endangered whale that primarily lives in in the the gulf of mexico and trying to save the um rice as well so there's there's more value and be and because we've started to pay attention to those seagrasses and ecological uh points of the water people are now starting to see it as well so we have more and more people wanting to see those seagrasses mangroves oyster beds um take passive walks there and we are trying to accommodate everybody but when it comes back to putting 10 pounds of mud in that five pound population congestion alone is going to drive decisions we just can't do that anymore and so that's the reason today right now i'm for this ban but thank you for anybody who has come out against this ban because it's making us think and if we can't do it on the causeway where can we do it i do find it interesting especially for those residents that came really all the way from odessa that's crazy thank you for coming from newport richie do you know you had to drive along the coastline how many miles and you're upset about a thousand feet in dunedin it's like where along that coastline up to newport richie are there opportunities that aren't there i look at the clearwater causeway and you can't launch there nobody's complaining about that and the clearwater causeway is beautiful and and so i whether or not the causeway is man-made or not to me is irrelevant it's there right yes we destroyed seagrasses building it yes that was a time when we didn't even know we could damage the water we weren't focused in that um so those are just my thoughts and my comments um about why today i'm supporting this you've other heard other conversations about our boat ramp and what we could do so um i wouldn't just say stay tuned wait and see be active reach out to us every once in a while hey we haven't forgot about you what are you doing for jet skis and and keeping it on on that kind of level uh but i do thank you all for coming out and those are my comments ma'am thank you uh commissioner guard was seconder of the motion thank you mayor this is one of those where i could argue either side easily um i'm about personal freedoms the ability to enjoy life and that's what jet skis are about their expression of having fun enjoying your life fulfilling yourself a little bit and um i hate where i'm sitting um on the other side there are people that want a pristine community in which they can live and enjoy a walk without the noise without speed boats going or jet skis going up and down so there's two sides to this and both sides have to be respected um i tried to do an analysis of how many of our citizens might own jet skis and i came up with a number of about 300 or so and that's using some very spitball math um so i think the crowd also showed us that this is a gravitation point for people throughout the region that wanted to be on jet skis um that's a value it's a value that they're here it's a value that they're coming here problem is is we're suffering from compression pinellas is one of the most populous counties in the state of florida which is one of the most populous states in the union and one of the reasons we honor our park so much here is because we want free and open space so that our citizens even though they might live close together can go into a place walk through the woods and and enjoy nature um i'm afraid the balance for those not living in dunedin as opposed to those living in dunedin is more for those living in dunedin at least for me because those are the people that put me in this seat and that is why i seconded the motion okay commissioner sandbergen right out of the blocks it was uh it brought up about how long it's been jet skis i would never be voted father of the year but i remember my three-year-old being stuffed in a pack and play with an umbrella over him and that was about 1995 because i used to be part of that jet ski crowd and it was a heck of a good time and it does so whoever talked about uh families hey randy you're you're heck you did heck of a john david and my namesake back there steven if i ever wanted somebody to go to uh address a crowd which i do a lot of times i'd have you right next to me because you're good i never met you before but i met you tonight and you guys are passionate and it's a hot it's more than a hobby i mean when i see these kids sitting here i can tell this it's it's it's what it's what you do it's what it's what brings your family together and i i i will bet that if you're out here and you're in this room and you took the time to come in here tonight you're not the one that was out there causing problems because like i said i have 125 emails and not i don't think any of them said they're the most polite tidy bunch of people in the world and you know that's and i know we i think one of them even talked about i'll clean up the trash well that's you know that's really going out of their way but um you know this is you know that power to the people i mean we have been at least i haven't i'm not sure i'm everybody else but i've been inundated by dunedin residents that are against this and i represent and work for the citizens of dunedin so i have to go along with what they've asked for and and i will be voting in favor of the ordinance and i know that's not what you wanted to hear but i have to remember that i'm a dunedin city commissioner and work for the the citizens of dunedin and that's all i have to say mayor thank you um so um i i'm also going to vote for it um just to be clear i do appreciate the respectful way everybody has presented their case there's certainly been some things that have given me pause i certainly have some dunedin residents that also said oh can't you find some place can't you you know it's not that big of a spot um but uh i have also been overwhelmed by people that don't agree with me about anything up here but they're like it's so unsafe there i thank god you guys are doing this um so um it's tough i mean even tonight the uh non-residents um were about equal to residents and by far in non-residents overwhelmingly did not want this ban but residents were the majority they want the ban uh by our emails the latest tabulation we had was 64 for the ban 18 against the ban and um and and but that's just a small piece of all the other emails and um and commentary we've had from our residents i i think they're clear i think that this started with one of our our advisory committees who felt very passionate about it they brought it forward and i think some of our other committees spoke to it um and then as we pulled data somebody talked about did we get data well we did get data and you saw a lot of that data even including some of the safety issues uh that got brought up i mean um but you know we are a coastal city and uh we're that's number one somebody said that that is number one what we are we are not anything else other than that is number one uh and um but i think that um and i think access to the water is really important i think it's actually a county-wide struggle to make sure we continue to provide access to the water um we're lucky that we are one of the communities that provide visual access to the water along our along our scenic corridors um which is a great thing because many communities did not do that um but and i i certainly um i'm i really um appreciate all the environmental aspects of it i think that's really important but for me more than that this is almost a safety decision before it's even environmental um there's a lot going on out there there that is the reason it literally is coined at times the wild wild west because there is a lot going on out there and honestly um with the overwhelming number of residents that want peace um i feel that i should give that to them and i think it's a safer way to go um and i think it's just a hard sell when dunedin has so much and we do we have so much i always say dunedin residents want everything and it's our job to figure out how to do that and keep things affordable um but the reality is we can't be everything and some of the people that don't want the ban are coming from other places and i'm saying to myself why are you coming here why aren't you going to where you are because they must not have it but we have a lot and we don't need to bring the world in to our dunedin causeway uh we need to make it what we want it to be and um but i'm sympathetic i am because that is why we're all in florida is for the water um the closure because of hurricane helene um i think just gave everybody an opportunity to think about it and obviously i think it was certainly the drive of this commission to not let it be reopened without making this decision you know because let's set the pace now and people obviously have found somewhere else to go for the last two years and so it seems like the perfect time to make this call and kind of change the path i did look up on ai i admit about increased jet skis and motorized vehicles and they have increased drastically um and i will certainly look that up a little deeper um between now and the second reading but but in the last 30 years i believe that's what's changed that's truly what's changed i think it's just a it's a matter of just the the sheer numbers of it and uh and this this causeway can't be all things to all people so uh kind of to summarize uh safety compatibility quality of life good for the environment and traffic on the causeway again we have enough issues just with our like people close to us you know other than adding more traffic on the causeway by incentivizing other uses uh for uh for lots of people to come so i am in favor of this um i am appreciative to the committees and uh the citizens that have spoken out and i'm appreciative of every everybody's point of view i respect it and um and it is i get do get torn because i i think boat boat ramps are probably a little tricky with some of these vehicles and and i'm not sure what the answer to that is and we need to think about that i'm just just don't think this is the place uh to have it so um so that's my vote and on that uh on that note we will go to a roll call vote commissioner sandbergen aye commissioner dugard aye commissioner gow aye and mayor franey aye and that motion passes unanimously with a four to zero vote okay and thank you everyone thank you for coming and appreciate it and the second reading will actually be on september 3rd 2026 uh so we end that yeah so it's about a month away thank you steve okay we'll just uh wait for one minute and then we're just going to go on to the next item we're not going to take a break no you're good i understand okay um i'm not on that's why i'm not on that's why we are going to get started it we our next item is first reading of ordinance 25-02 amending chapter 111 of the land development code historic preservation jen can you please read ordinance 25-02 by title only sure ordinance 25-02 an ordinance of the city of dunedin florida amending chapter 111 historic preservation of the city of dunedin land development code to provide for more comprehensive requirements and procedures for properties and structures to be designated as local historic landmarks and landmark sites amending table 104-1.1 development approval requirements of the city of dunedin land development code to provide for approval requirements related to historic landmark and landmark site applications and certificate of appropriateness for historic landmark and landmark site applications consistent with the amended language of chapter 111 amending table 104.1.2 notice requirements of the city of dunedin land development code related to historic landmark or landmark site applications and certificate of appropriateness for historic landmark or landmark site applications consistent with the amended language of Chapter 111 and amending Section 104-20.1 generally to recognize historic landmark and landmark sites consistent with the amended language of Chapter 111, creating Chapter 109, Administrative Agencies Division 5 Historic Preservation Committee to codify the Historic Preservation Committee as a board responsible for the overseeing of various parts of Chapter 111, providing for codification, providing for severability, providing for conflict, and providing for an effective date. That was Ordinance 25-02, read by title only. Okay. Can I have a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. And I'll go to staff presentation, which appears to be Francis George Blair-Nighting with Kimberly Horn. George is in the background, huh? So he's just taking it off. Okay. All right. Well, good evening, Mayor, Commissioners. I'm Francis Leong-Sharp, Planner 2 for the City. I'm here along with Blair Knighting, who is our consultant from Kimberly Horn. We do have a brief presentation of the ordinance, so I'll let Blair take it away. I promise it's brief. Blair Knighting with Kimberly Horn. We're here today to talk about the Historic Preservation Ordinance changes, the recommendation. Thank you. Today, we'll recap on everything that's happened, and then we'll talk about the final changes, and then we will ask for a motion. Recap. So essentially, we've had a series of workshops with the LPA and City Commission. We also had some hearings in summer of 2025. We also coordinated with the state and the National Park Service. So we've been at this a while. So a couple slides. I'll just quickly talk about the recommended changes we're suggesting. We did add a landmark site to the ordinance, to the definition, so we can clearly define the difference between a site and a building. So you can either landmark the entire site or you can landmark just a feature or a building. And those proposed changes allow the opportunity to designate just the asset and simplifies the COA process. And then we also clarified the notice sections for all applications. We cleaned up inconsistencies and how the HPC processes applications. And then we did make some changes to the COA process. COAs now require pre-app with staff. We clarified how the COAs are processed in terms of the matrix, administrative versus HPC and City Commission. And then we removed the majority of the COAs that the City Commission were reviewing because it was a little onerous on both the applicant and also, y'all, you have plenty of things on your agenda. You don't need to review things that the HPC can review. And then we also created an easier flow chart for City staff. So the matrix revisions, as you can see, is a little antiquated, copied and pasted a few times. The current matrix, currently not the proposed matrix, uses changes on how you handle exterior changes to landmarks through that COA process. And the matrix currently requires quite a few things that the City Commission needs to review. And what our revisions suggest is just altering that to put a little bit more on staff review and then the HPC. So you guys really will see the big things like demolition, relocation, things like that. And then I'm going to hand it over to Frances to catch you up. So where we left off since approximately almost a year ago, we have discovered that staff that we would need to submit the draft ordinance to have the state and the National Park Service to review. And so that is the primary reason why there was a delay in between the last time you've heard this at first reading before moving forward to the second reading. And from there we did receive comments from both the, excuse me, the Department of State as well as the National Park Service. And within that time frame, staff had worked with both the National Park Service and the state to resolve those comments. And as a result of that, as you can see from the bullet point, the one key changes that you see from this current draft that you have here this evening is that we have removed the provision to create historic districts based as a result of the comments from the National Park Service, particularly as well as the rising concerns that we have seen expressed from the citizens. So from there we revised the draft ordinance and brought it in front of the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, which will soon be called Historic Preservation Committee, on May 14th and recommended approval. And we also have brought it in front of the local planning agency on June 10th. And they also, too, have recommended approval of the draft ordinance. And we're here for any questions you may have. Okay. Questions for staff? I think I started over here for a long one. I'm going to go over here. Commissioner Sandberg. So I know there was a question before about who can initiate. Am I right? Yes. Okay. And has there been changes to that? Is that all cleared up? As far as who can initiate a historic district? Yes. Yes. That's been eliminated. Okay. Yes. So the provision of historic district, just to talk about that, it's been completely eliminated. So that is the big change that you see from this draft, from the previous draft that you have heard almost a year ago. And I think the one part that we also still have is the landmark designation in terms of the application process has not changed. That's all I needed. Thank you. If we did jet skis and historic districts in one night, first of all, we'd be idiots. And secondly, we'd need twice the building. There we go. Okay. Questions? Commissioner Gow. Thank you, Mayor. Yeah. I will say that historic preservation is a little PTSD for me. True. Probably for all of us. Let me see if we want to run. I like paid parking. Yeah. My question is about site versus building. And just so the residents understand that and what that looks like, do you actually have any literal examples? This place in Dunedin, da, da, da, da, da. Okay. Yeah. I think if I'll answer, we can use the marina as an example correctly. Yeah. So for example, if you wanted your entire historic site to be designated, you could include the building, the landscape, maybe the historic wall around your site. That would be the landmark site. If you wanted to just do the building, you could do a landmark. So you could request for a landmark designation. So that's the difference. The landmark site is the whole encompassing area. And then the landmark is the building or the feature. It could be a wall too. Okay. So there could be, um, like part of the site may not be historic. Exactly. It might be newer. Yes, sir. But there's that historic building or something of value that asset on your property. Yes, sir. That you would want to have. Okay. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Commissioner Dugard, questions? Do we see in the future coming back and looking to create historic districts in the area? Okay. I won't go anywhere. Please have that after November. That's all. Yeah. Commissioner, mayor, that there is no plans in the future to bring back historic districts. Okay. No more questions. Thank you. There are no plans is no. Okay. I do not have any questions on this item. And so I'm going to open it up to public input and see if there's anyone in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue. Wow. Not even, uh, former vice mayor Debra Kynes, huh? All right. Okay. Right. Okay. Well, all right. So I'll let you come up after. Okay. All right. Sounds good. All right. Okay. That's the cart before the horse. We haven't voted yet. Well, that's what I mean. I mean, we'll see. That's why I didn't want to let her come up now. Um, okay. Anyone else in the audience wish to speak on this issue? Okay. Closed public input. I'm going to go to final commission comments starting with maker of the motion, Commissioner Steve Sandbergen. We've worked this back and forth. I have nothing more to add. And a seconder of the motion, Commissioner Tom DeGuard. It is disappointing that we do not have districts inside this ordinance. We wanted districts in a certain way here so that it was more unanimous on the part of the citizens that was not agreeable to our good friends at the state and the federal level. And therefore, because of that disagreement, we could not find a way to shoehorn this. If we ever do, I'll be right here ready to vote for it because I think historic districts are important, but so is the consent of the people. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Commissioner Gao. Um, you know, I do echo, uh, my colleagues' comments with the districts, but it has to be the right ordinance. It has to be the right time and the residents need to be involved in accepting it. That's it. Thank you. All of that sounds good. I don't really have anything additional. I'm really glad we're moving forward with a lot of things that are in here. It's a really good thing. And, um, and so, uh, I'm going to go to roll call vote. Commissioner Gao. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously, four to zero. And, uh, and now, uh, if the, uh, former vice mayor and current chair, right? Still of historic preservation, Commissioner Vice Mayor Devin? You have so many titles. I don't know how to, you know, but you sat through all the water. Almost a hundred years old now, but I've been, yeah. But anyway, thank you. Uh, it's much more user friendly. Uh, it's much more explainable, uh, as a voluntary action of our citizens. And we're going to do also something that is on us. And we want to do, we will be doing much more education to people. It's, it's a very, it's an intricate subject. You ought to know that because we have, you know, we have an expert here and Francis has been amazing. So anyway, thank you. Uh, we, we, we appreciate it. Thank you. Awesome. And Debra, thanks for all you do. We, we love you girl. We love what you do for our community and thanks to the staff and everybody involved. Okay. Second reading will be held at August 16th. No, sorry. Sorry. August 6th, 2026. Okay. We're going to go to three C, uh, and mayor, if I may, I, I would like to propose that three C is tabled until after the election. I don't see that it's time sensitive. I think whatever happens at the election will have an impact on this vote. So I don't see a reason why it can't be tabled. Is there a second? I'll second that. Okay. Uh, well, do you want to tell us the impact of that if we do? Absolutely. Thank you. Uh, mayor, vice mayor, commissioners, unless Tyler, um, is, is at the staff table as well. Um, let's want to talk a little bit about what the impact would be of tabling this resolution. Yes. Uh, I don't believe there's any impact personally. Uh, as long as we have this resolution approved before construction begins, assuming the parking garage moves forward, uh, we're fine. So there's no impact if we delay. Yeah. No, no, no, no impact of delay. Yeah. The, the function of this resolution is to ensure that, that we are reimbursed for expenses, uh, when we issue the debt for the parking garage. And so as long as we issue it before we start construction, we can recoup all of that. So we're fine with waiting until after November to find out what happens. Okay. So I have a motion and I second to table, um, uh, all in favor. Aye. Aye. Aye. Uh, any opposed motion passed unanimously. So that has officially been tabled and that is correct term city attorney tabled. That's fine. Yes. Because you're not continuing it to a date certain, you're just tabling it. And then the city manager can bring it back. Just making sure you're keeping us on the path of righteousness, so to speak. I'm trying. I'm trying. Question to council. Um, on a tabling, is there a requirement for when it comes off the table in timing? There is not. Okay. Thank you. There we go. We are definitely on the path. Um, so I, I think there was a little bit of a faux pas earlier and, uh, or misunderstanding. I'm not sure, but I just want to go back to it because, um, before we go to the next item, Howard Gray, who is still here, um, was wanting to speak to 2C, which is on our consent agenda, apparently, right? Is that what you wanted to speak to? Uh, we just tabled it. Okay. So we're good because I had 2C. I went back. So, uh, 3C. It's 3C. So, well, we've tabled it. So to be continued now. So, but thank you. Yeah. I mean, sorry, but you know what, if you want to come up and speak, you waited so long. Come on. Come on, Howard. Come on. You know what? Even I thought that was mean when I was saying it. It's not. Okay. First of all, it's too damn cold in here. Okay. I say that because I've got four fusions in my neck and I can hardly walk when I get cold. Okay. I wore long pants in honor of Jeff. Yeah. Okay. Name and address for the record and three minutes. Very nice. Uh, Howard Gray is 1617 Brook Drive, Dunedin. Uh, the, the beautiful Dunedin. Uh, all right. So, so, so I'm going to take this time. Don't know if it even applies to what you're doing today, but you guys will know. I, I don't know. It's, what you're doing is complicated. Um, if you had come up with this proposal for a parking garage five years ago, I'd probably, I'd have probably been in favor of it, uh, but not anymore because I think, uh, these new autonomously driven cars, they drive themselves, in other words, for taxis. That's going to be a highly preferred method of getting to where you want to go than a parking garage. So, so just play through the scenario. Um, I want to go to a restaurant in Dunedin. So I, I get the, get in the car and I put in the address for my destination, a parking garage. That's not where I want to go. I, I just, I want to, I want to get to the restaurant. So, uh, if, but if I get one of these self-driving cabs, I just pull out my phone, say, hey, I'm at home. I want to, I want to go to, uh, a restaurant and, and pick me up at 6 30. And then that happens. And I, and it, it pulls up in front of that restaurant and it just drops me off. I didn't go to a parking garage. I don't like going to parking garages. I like parking my car there during the day when it's hot, but, but otherwise I'd rather stay away from parking garage. So since you're planning on spending, what was it? Uh, 10, 11 million dollars. That sounds important to me. So if it's, if it's not necessary and I don't think it is, um, then, then, uh, we don't need to spend that money. How am I doing? Oh, I got time for a story. It has to be pertinent to the attorney. So maybe you'll give me some, uh, some extra time here. No, we will not, I guarantee you. That was 10 seconds right there. Okay. So, so in 1900, uh, there's this great picture of, uh, 5th Avenue in New York City. Um, and it is full of, uh, horses and buggies. There's one, uh, gasoline powered car in there. Uh, and then you go forward to 1913, same angle. And now you see nothing but, uh, gasoline powered cars and one horse and buggy. That's how fast that takes over. That's what's going to happen with these autonomously driven vehicles. They're going to take over a lot faster, more like the iPhone that took over in a period of just a couple of years. So, so just something to think about, because I know you're itching to spend that, uh, 11 million dollars. Well, it's tabled for now. Thank you, Howard. Appreciate it. That means I can come again. Okay. 3D. Resolution 26-11 establishes a maximum millage rate for fiscal year 2027. Jen, can you please read resolution 26-11 by title only? Yes. Resolution 26-11, when a resolution of the city commission and the city of Dunedin, Florida adopting the proposed millage rate for ad valorem tax revenue for fiscal year 2026-27 at a rate not to exceed 4.1345 mills or $4.13 per $1,000 of assessed property value, providing for public hearing dates and providing for an effective date hereof. That was resolution 26-11 read by title only. Great. Can I have a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. Staff presentation. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. Les Tyler in the Finance Department. I'm also here with Gene, our Budget Manager. Uh, this item, as mentioned, is resolution 26-11 and is to establish the proposed maximum millage rate for fiscal year 27 budget for the city. Staff is recommending the approval of this rate, which allows the commission to approve this rate of 4.1345 mills or any rate lower than that. Uh, this is no increase from prior year and this rate of 4.1345 mills has been the same since fiscal year 26. This will be the city's 13th year at this millage rate. Following adoption of this resolution 26-11, the attached forms in the staffing report and first public hearing date, time, location will be certified by the city and returned to Pinellas County property appraisers by July 28, 2026 and be included in the trim notices. I want to mention that the total general fund reduction in revenue in the fiscal year 27 budget, if the city did the rollback rate of 2.72 mills, 2.72 percent, excuse me, would be a reduction of approximately $776,000 in 2027. That concludes our comments. I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Okay. Questions for staff? I will, uh, start with, uh, I don't forget who it was. I'll go with Commissioner Sandberg. If we look at that certification of taxable value, could you just clarify line one, two, and four? Current year taxable value. Is that the total property in Dunedin? Total taxable value of 4.9 billion. In Dunedin? Yes. Yeah. 4.9 billion, right. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Okay. And will that number, oh, that's for 2026. Does that, does that go up based on a percentage each year? Well, that, that goes up based on the, uh, assessed value growth every year. Okay. Yeah. And then that 80 million number, we talked about that the other day. Is that property, new property, new construction and properties coming back down to tax roll post hurricane? That's correct. And, uh, that, and we're going to, uh, provide more information that the next, uh, workshop budget workshop, but it was pretty much, we're very close to half and half, very close to half, half that amount was property brought back and half was new construction. I think I may be caught in, is there anything about the percentage of, uh, I know we have a delinquency every year. Was that built in with, was there any discussion of that? Yeah. We, we, we budgeted a 95% collection rate. Okay. Okay. And so we kind of assume a 5% delinquency. And we also budget every year, 150,000 on the average for delinquencies, uh, on a, on an annual basis. And we generally come in pretty close to that and sometimes slightly over. Good. That's all I had, mayor. Thank you. Great. Okay. Uh, uh, Commissioner Gow, questions. Thank you, mayor. Uh, less than yet, just for the record, because I think I heard a different date. How long have we had the millage rate 4.1345? Uh, since 2016, 2016. I thought I heard a different date, so I just wanted to clear for the residents. Um, and the rollback amount was 770,000. Yeah. 776. Yeah. Oh, 776. All righty. And if possible for our next workshop, could you also propose what services would have to be cut in order to reach that 777, 770, that amount? Um, if I may, mayor, um, the next workshop is coming right around the corner. It might be difficult to quantify that specifically. Um, we are working on the contingency plan and it's difficult getting you the information for the contingency plan in, in that time period. I mean, we could equate it to number of positions just straight across the board and that type of a thing, but to, you know, various cuts that we would recommend, I can't do that by that, by that workshop. All right. Thank you. That's all I have. Okay. Uh, Commissioner Dugard, questions. Thank you, mayor. Um, give me a sense of the growth in, uh, our revenue under this basis as opposed to prior years. Can you give me some kind of picture on that? Yeah. Well, our, our growth this year was, uh, uh, 4.53% year over year. Okay. And then last year was like 5.23, I believe it was. So, and then years prior to that, uh, it was more than, uh, it was more than that. I'd say the five year average before that was probably 8.2% on the average, roughly 8.1 or 2%. So this is significantly less than the average for the last five years as far as growth. Definitely less. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's all I have, mayor. Thank you. Okay. Um, I don't, I don't really have any questions. I mean, this is the, this is the maximum we can do and we can do anything below it. Uh, so we have time for that. Um, sorry, any questions? Uh, yes. If I may, because I don't, I feel, I don't like the way I answered that question, Commissioner Gow's question in terms of, we did, I looked at the workshop agenda today. We do have the contingency plan on there and we will discuss some of the things that Les and I have been discussing, you know, as far as where we're trying to get with the departments and maybe, and try to figure something out in terms of giving you an idea of the equivalent of, if that'd be okay. And, and that would be fine. And, and I certainly understand that because especially with your, you're coming up with the contingency. Now, if I understand that the contingency is going to be for three and six, or is it going to be nine or six? Because I know the mayor was concerned about the second year and the big hit. So you can't get to the second year without the first year. Right. The plan that we're going to put before you to be approved by the city commissioner that the referendum passes in November will be what we call the contingency plan. And then we're going to include in that, as part of that, you know, the best we're able to do right now is, is a good estimate of what year two would look like. And then it's, but it's going to take us three or four months to say specifically, this is what that looks like in terms of the contingency plan to put in place. We'll have those details flushed out. And then after that, we're going to have, we're going to need a little bit more time. Well, we don't have time. I mean, we, we've got to under, we have to have our citizens understand if we're going to take a seven and a half to $8 million hit by the time things roll back from the County, um, what does that look like? Now I get that the contingency plan that we're going to kind of vote on is what's going to absolutely happen if it, if it gets approved, but we have to be able to have that fact sheet to say, this is our best shot at what's going away in that second year, if it passes, because otherwise I just think that people think it's just creatively managed and not real. And, and, you know, Hey, I hope, I hope in that exercise, I think is critical to all of us. So, yes. Les and I have had that conversation. Go ahead, Les. Yeah. I just can't mention. Yeah. I, Jennifer, I talked about this a little bit yesterday. I think, I think with, we'll have a formal detailed plan, like you just talked about, Jennifer. And then I think we can have another, another plan that would get to that, that second number, that six, that's a $8 million number roughly. And that, and that difference between the 3 million and the 8 million would be, we could definitely, uh, tell by department what, what the, what the, uh, reductions would be. We can, we can give staff, we can give staffing amounts and staffing reductions. We can give, uh, at a high level, uh, some of the, some of the reductions and specifically what they might be as well. So in that particular plan, Les is talking about $8 million because we will have, uh, we'll look at the, at everything that's going to roll down from EMS, from the library and that type of thing, roll into that year too, as well. Good. Okay. All right. Um, okay. Uh, any, I'm sorry. Any other questions from anybody? Okay. Um, I'm going to open up to public input. Anyone in the audience wish to speak on this item? Seeing none, I'm going to close public input. Reader, you look like you might be leaving, but you get like an award tonight because you were here early and you're here late. I mean, first one here, she came in during CRA. I mean, come on, you know, every time I said an input, I looked right at Reader. Like, she's like, no, not this one, not this one. Is she from the Citizens Academy? Is she here to get points? I am going to be in the Citizens Academy. Oh, there you go. Well, I, I think, are you selected? Because if you're not, I, I highly recommend you read it in there. I'll endorse her. Yeah, it's all endorsement. That's above and beyond the call of duty. You're already the valedictorian at this point. Oh, yeah. Yeah, right. Exactly. Oh my gosh. Too funny. Um, okay. Uh, final comments by the commission, starting with the maker of the motion. Commissioner Sandberg. Nothing to add, Mayor. Commissioner Dugard, seconder of the motion. Um, this is tangential. If you see the morning paper, the Tampa Bay Times, it talks about the $12 billion that is prospectively to be lost by municipalities across the state if this referendum passes. And in Pinellas County, it's $153 million. And that's in the first year. That's not even the worst part of that. The last part of that article speaks to when the public is fully informed as to what's going to happen. The votes change. The votes change. It doesn't, it's no longer six, it can't pass. It's 60%. It only gets 50. So that's how important it is that we, the city, keeps our citizens and every municipality keeps their citizens informed as to what they're going to lose if this passes. And it will be substantial. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you as well. Um, okay. Um, and, uh, okay. Sorry. Commissioner Gow, final comments. Nothing further, Mayor. After all that, right? Okay. Well, this is about the military. So I'm trying to stay in my lane. It's all good. Um, yeah, I don't have any additional comments. Again, this is the maximum millage that we have. And, uh, um, we'll, we'll, we'll go forward from there. Um, okay. So roll call vote. Commissioner Gow. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously four to zero. Yes, it is getting late, isn't it? Okay. 3E, awarded bid number 26-2613 for the replacement of the wastewater treatment plant, return activated sludge, waste activated sludge, and filter feed pumps replacement project to TLC diversified ink in the amount of 1,955,810. We're talking about sludge. You're at this hour of the night. Yeah. I do like the bow tie, by the way. Everybody's favorite topic, right? Yeah. Everybody's favorite topic. And on a high note. Uh, even Rita left and Eric left too. They're like, we don't want to hear about sludge. Uh, good evening, Mayor. Alejandro Gonzalez, Engineering Department, uh, alongside me, Brian Tonian, Utilities Operation Manager. Uh, good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commission staff. Uh, I'm here to present, uh, award of bid 26-2613 for the replacement of the wastewater treatment plants, RAS, uh, WAS, and filter feed replacement pumps to TLC diversified. Uh, the wastewater treatment plant has three sets of crucial pumps that circulate the wastewater, uh, throughout the plant to, uh, keep our very important processes alive. The RAS pumps, uh, recirculate all the, all the healthy bacteria that gets rid of all the contaminants. The WAS pumps, uh, removes the bad sludge so it can be dewatered and hauled away. And the filter feed pumps takes it to our final filtration and disinfection where it ultimately becomes reclaimed water, which is, uh, distributed to the public. In 2024, our, uh, pump manufacturer told us that the pumps were slowly being obsoleted out and they cannot be repaired. So we were faced with a replacement. These pumps have been in service since the last 15 years, 20 years? Uh, since 2014 was the last time we replaced these three pumps. So 12 years. Uh, and, uh, so, uh, we got a engineer on board and we worked through the design and we bid out this project. In March, we received eight competitive bids and these, and, uh, we found that the lowest perspective responsive and responsible bidder was TLC diversified in the amount of $1,955,810. And, uh, we found them to be, uh, responsive and responsible. So we are here to recommend the award of bid 26-2613 as such for the wastewater treatment plant, RAS, WAS, and filter feed replacement pumps to TLC diversified Inc of Palmetto, Florida in the amount of $1,955,810 as detailed today. You could give lessons to some other staff on, you know, speaking quickly and crisply. Yeah. So that was good. Um, so, uh, questions for Alex or for either, uh, I'm going to start with, uh, Commissioner Gow. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, you might've said it and it's late in the night. Um, why, why, why do we need this? Uh, so, so, so these pumps are very crucial. If they do not operate, we do not provide properly treated wastewater. And two years ago, these pumps were identified as being old and obsoleted. So there's, we can't keep buying replacement parts on eBay. They can only last so long. So we are looking for a complete replacement of these eight pumps in total. Okay. And do we know how old these pumps are the new, the old ones, current ones? Uh, yes, Commissioner. We've had these pumps, uh, originally, you know, this manufacturer was from 1990 and 2014. We replaced these pumps. And as Alex said, in 2000, around 23, 24, they informed us the pump manufacturer discontinued the pumps. So that's when, when the city, as a result, the city had to retain an engineering firm to design a replacement system that would meet our operational requirements while feeding within the existing, uh, available space and the structure. Okay. Thank you for repeating that for the C students. I appreciate that. Um, all right. Thank you. That's all I have. Okay. Commissioner to guard questions. Uh, do we have any work history with GLC? Yes, we do. Okay. All favorable, I presume? Very favorable. Okay. All things being equal and it being the lowest bidder, I think I can support this. Oh, yes. They, uh, they were the lowest bidder in a very crowded field. Yes. Okay. Thank you, Mary. That's all I have. Okay. Uh, Commissioner Sandberg in questions. I understand there's, there's three pumps. There is, uh, so there's three processes. It's a total of eight pumps, three RAS, three filter feed, and two WAS pumps. How about the, any, any concern about the condition and the other, any of the other ones? Uh, we keep a, a, a, a, a, on those two. Those are, uh, uh, sponsored you. Those are actually the other pumps at the wastewater treatment. They're actually kind of cheaper and they fall within more of our, our, and our budget, but because these are the big pumps, I mean, just, just the pump themselves is $1.5 million. So these are the, these pumps are bigger than myself. So, uh, they do, so they do elevate to the capital improvements plan, which is why they cost so much. Good. That's all I have, mayor. Okay. Um, well, I'm not going to slow down sludge, so I don't actually have any additional questions, but, um, okay. So I'm going to open it to public input. Does anybody in the audience wish to come forward and speak on the side of it? I see one knowledgeable person out there, but. Oh, okay. David, come forward. David Ballard, get us junior Georgia Avenue and Palm Harbor. What is the life expectancy of these pumps? And during, during the changing out of these pumps, is there a possibility of any, anything that could possibly go wrong that you could foresee? Thank you. Okay. Thank you. We'll answer that. Very good question. All these pumps run 24-7. This is a 24-7 facility. So these pumps run nonstop. A life expectancy of 10 to 13 years is quite normal for these, uh, constantly running operating pumps. Okay. Anyone else in the audience wish to come forward, speak on this issue? Okay. Seeing no one, I will close public comment and I ask, I will ask for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. DeGuard and Gao. Okay. Uh, final comments starting with the maker of the motion, Commissioner DeGuard. I have enough information to proceed. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. And, uh, Commissioner Gao, seconder. No comment. Uh, Commissioner Sandbergen. Nothing to add. And I have nothing to add either. And so, uh, all in favor. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion passes unanimously. Four to O vote. Okay. We are close to 10 o'clock. So can I have a motion to go past 10 o'clock? So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor. Well, but everybody's, hey, let's stay going up and whatever. Okay. Give it to Steve. I'll, I'll take seconds. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Aye. No. I have to, uh, motion passes unanimously. So we will get to continue the meeting. How exciting. Okay. Three out. Yeah. Awarded bid number 26-2614. Wastewater Treatment Plant Emergency Generator Building Rehabilitation Project to Malley Contracting Group in the total amount of $1,082203.10. Uh, staff presentation. Go back to Alex. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, good evening. Alejandro Gonzalez. Uh, thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commission staff. I'm here to present the, uh, recommendation of award bid 26-2613 wastewater treatment plant emergency generator building rehabilitation project to Malley Contracting Group. The, uh, the Dundee wastewater plant has a emergency generator, uh, that provides emergency power to the whole entire plant. Uh, in the event that we lose electrical power during major storms and other events, the emergency generator kicks on. So it is the, um, you know, it's the AED of the wastewater plant. It's always there. It, it provides crucial backup. Um, however, and for, in terms of hardening and providing resiliency to the wastewater treatment plant, uh, there is some deficiencies when it comes to the building. We need to take the radiator off the roof. There's penetrations that go through the roof. We need to go out the side, uh, that meets standard, uh, current standards of it. And, uh, and, and while all this is going on, the emergency generator cannot be operable. So we have to rent a very large emergency generator on a trailer mounted unit that provides power to the plant in case. Um, so we provided a, uh, we got with a, a engineer to provide a design to provide, um, the resiliency and hardening aspects to our emergency generator building. Uh, we got designed together and we bid that out in April. Uh, it was comparatively advertised and we received three bids and the lowest responsive and responsible bidder was Molly contracting group in the amount of $1,082,203.10. As such, staff recommends awarding bid 26-2613 wastewater treatment plant emergency generator building rehabilitation project to the Molly contracting group of Tampa, Florida, and the total amount of $1,082,203.10. Okay. Questions for staff starting with Commissioner Sandberg. I guess I recognize the name of this, uh, contractor. Um, do it, they're doing the park downtown, right? Yes, that is correct. It seems like quite a difference. This project versus that park. I, I mean, comfortable with them. They've done, uh, we're comfortable. Uh, the work detailed in this project is more of a general contracting, more concrete work and more vertical build. They will not be touching any of the processes of the wastewater treatment plant. That's fine. Thank you. Okay. Questions. Commissioner Gallo. And this can't be fixed with duct tape. Is that what I'm, I'm hearing? Um, there's a flex tape. Uh, yeah, I'm, I'm, I do have concerns over the, the, the Malley group and I mean, they're having trouble with Grand Oak Park and we're, uh, and we want to, you know, it just seems to me what, and we do, we have some issues with Grand Oak Park. I know we're working through them with them, but what are those safeguards to make sure that we don't have, I won't say similar or the same problems, but problems with them? What? I am going to pass that over to, uh, Clay Watkins because Oh, come on. I hear from Clay all the time. No, Clay is involved a lot more with the Grand Oak Park. Uh, he is familiar with, uh, uh, how Molly is currently performing on that project. I am not familiar. Uh, so I will pass it over to Clay. Uh, yeah. So we, we, we, we understood that there would be some of these questions. Um, one, you know, they were the lowest responsible bidder. So there's, you know, there's only certain things we can do. Well, I could have put a bid in for a thousand. Well, I don't know about the, but yeah, so, but at the same time with this setup, we, we, we feel that with the, the, the engineering set of plans we have, we have the engineer on site doing inspections constantly. Our wastewater treatment staff is there 24 hours. We have the mechanics there that can help them. We'll be able to respond quickly to any questions and try to keep the project moving along. So we have to babysit them. No, I'm just saying that those, that we have those safeguards. If we do have any issues is what, what I was trying to say. Do we have any financial teeth? There's always a, um, we always have liquidated damages in all of our contracts. And the contracts are bonded. Yes. And the contracts are bonded. Correct. Yes. Yes. Is this, is this time sensitive? And if we were to hold off on this project, what, what would be the result of holding off? I'll let Brian answer that one. Yes. We, we, we have the ability to hold off a little bit of time, but it is, this, this is a, uh, critical asset to the wastewater plant. I mean, this is the emergency backup generator. And we have hurricane storms coming through. We've run this generator three to four days continuous to no power. So no, no generator, you got no services for the wastewater. So that is a high priority for us. So we do want to move forward, but I have no problem discussing further if anyone has any concerns. But again, as Clay mentioned, we have staff on site. You're going to have myself, you're going to have city engineers, you're going to have EOR on site and all staff just, we're going to be participating because we know how vulnerable this piece of equipment is and how important it is for the wastewater success. I just feel we are rewarding. I don't want to say bad actors, just not great actors, right? I'm having problems with them now and we're going to give them another project. It's scary for me. Yeah. And we, we do understand that. And also the other thing with the weather and the importance of this, most of these, these two projects that were ordered today, they will not start construction until after hurricane season. So there'll be that we were not like we're rushing to get them and having them on two projects at one time. Okay. So this, this is going to wait till at least after, you know, this won't happen until November. Yes. And so if, is there a need to hold off on this to see how they continue to perform at Grand Oak Park that doesn't hinder the ability to move forward when we need to move forward on this? No, I, well, one, we're also looking at a different set of subs that are helping them do this work than the set of subs you have at the Grand Oak Park. So it's, it's, it's the same contractor that you're awarding the award to, but they have different subs doing the work for them. Okay. But it's the contractor that hopefully oversees the subs. Absolutely. That is correct. And so are you, are you saying that the subs that they got for Grand Oak Park aren't? No, I'm more saying it should be. No, I'm definitely not saying that. I'm saying it's a different group. So if there was a time constraint and you're looking at comparing the two, even though we know they're starting later, it's different groups doing different work. Okay. That is not saying anything positive or negative about the subs at the, the current project. All right. Okay. Thank you. That's all I have, Mayor. Okay. Uh, Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. Um, as we've now linked malate in this project to the past project that's currently underway, um, what is our satisfaction level with them now with what they're doing at Grand Oak? So, and the Grand Oak has been, oh, it's, it's picked up some pace. We're doing well. Uh, we, we actually reached out to them and we, there was some conversation, uh, you know, that we had the add on for the sidewalk. Those bricks are in. So they're, they're looking to wrapping up mid September with that's with the add on of the extra work we had to them. Um, and they did another project for us last year for on Lockley. They replaced the brick papers there and they were exceptional on that project. Okay. I'm going to let them talk. Understandable. Okay. I'm, I'm, I'm a little worried about, uh, deferring this only in as much as this sounds like a critical a one when it comes to community services. And I know that we're not protecting ourselves in a storm situation. We're going to live with what we've got until November, the very least, but I'm the worst thing that I think we can do is, uh, defer critical a ones. That's our job as a city. So I'm not interested in deferring this particular and I'll get that into comments. Thank you. Okay. Um, I don't have any additional questions. Um, so, I mean, obviously I was concerned about the contractor as well and, um, and understood we did some due diligence to try to make sure we're comfortable with that based on the fact they were the low bid and they have picked up the project. I, I do see that. So, um, so I don't have any additional questions. So I'm going to open this to our public input. Uh, does anyone in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Okay. We do have somebody. Here we go. Name and address for the record. Man Bennett, 1990 Saddle Hill Road North, Dunedin. Um, I'm sorry. Some things I can't keep quiet about. Um, the next lowest bid is $300,000 more and you have a, a limited time in your contract that the bids are valid for this. I think it's 60 days typically. So that's what you're talking about with delay. City manager. What's that? The current bid will expire if we don't award. Right. Right. You might think we talked about that. It's right at the 60s. Yeah. It's close to that. Okay. Yeah. We, we are coming up to the last day probably to award this bid. We need to get to a meeting, I should say. Okay. Well, I'm not going against you because you were my provider of cough drops tonight, Clay. So no, uh, okay. Got it. Okay. Um, okay. Um, any, anyone else in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Okay. Seeing no one, I'm going to close the public input and ask for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. Okay. Commission comments, starting with the maker of the motion, Commissioner Sandbergen. About one week after I was elected, a long time resident here said, don't ever be on the wrong side of a vote that involves wastewater. So I'm supportive of this. Okay. Uh, second to the motion. Commissioner DeGuard. I couldn't agree more. I am in the sport. Okay. Uh, Commissioner Gow. I certainly concur with all that. Uh, yeah, I, it's part of our critical infrastructure. Uh, but because of that, it's also important that it be done right and on time and we need serious people doing serious work. So those are my comments. No, I couldn't agree more. I mean, I think, um, I had big concerns, um, but I, I feel better and, um, we're just going to have to keep an eye on it. And you're right. We need serious people doing serious work. This is a very important project. So, okay. Uh, uh, all in favor. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Any opposed? No. Okay. 3-1. Okay. Uh, okay. The proposed agenda of August 6th, 2026. Take a look at that right now. Is there any additions? Yes, ma'am. We have an action item. Letter of agreement between the city of Dunedin and 968 Douglas Avenue LLC and Euro American investments of Pinellas LLC. Outlining the terms and conditions associated with the delivery and construction activities for the Main Street Exchange and Douglas Avenue parking garage project. And that is my only change or addition. Okay. Um, okay. Anybody else see anything on there that, uh, or, uh, so, okay. So if there's no other additions or deletions, uh, I, uh, need a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor. Aye. Okay. Aye. And, uh, no nays. No, I just wanted to say, though, uh, I will be absent from that meeting to attend a family wedding. So we'll delegate a bunch of stuff to you. Bring us back. Bring us back some cake. Okay. All in favor of the August 6th meeting agenda. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Uh, motion passes unanimously. Uh, 4-0. Okay. We are going to go to the, uh, proposed August 4th, 2026 budget workshop agenda, which we don't actually approve. Right. As you recall, we just, uh, see, I can learn. I can learn. It can be taught. Uh, but, but it is, uh, to let us know. I did have one question on this. Um, how about the benefits? There have been two additions. Right. Oh, what are they? There are two items, health fund update and fiscal year 2027 health benefits package and premiums. Also city commission fiscal year 2027 civic partners and aid to social cultural nonprofit organizations. Yes. Aid to org. And we also added this afternoon contingency plan. So this, um, cause this agenda came out early before I was able to discuss it and before, you know, the last workshop. So, or we had, we had up to upload, updated it. Yeah. Before the last workshop. So, uh, we have those three items and there may be more mayor, but we'll get it out to you in plenty of time. That's the legislative assignments that we were going to move, right? Actually, um, no, that that's a little bit later in this agenda. Oh, I thought it's not to this, to this workshop. Okay. Yeah. We, we didn't, we didn't move it then. Cause you'd actually asked me for a report about when you last voted on those. And then we're going to move the legislative assignments. Obviously not tonight. We'll move them somewhere. Yeah. Cause we have time. Cause you start in October. Right. Okay. Gotcha. Okay. Got it. Okay. Uh, okay. Well, that's just informational. So we'll move on. Um, so, um, city commission discussion and, uh, comments, uh, I will start with, uh, well, let me add. So, so the 2026 legislative policy committee selections, we're going to move. We're not going to talk about those here. Yes. And then we were going to move it to the sixth, but if commissioner Sam Bergen is not going to be there, I'm sure he'd like to be, um, you know, in that discussion. So we'll move it to September. Yeah. I mean, the first thing is what we were on before and, um, what we, yeah. Okay. Well, we'll, we'll just, we'll just move it forward. Okay. Okay. Um, so commission comments, I'll start with Mr. Gow. Uh, got nothing right now. I'm good. Nothing. Okay. Okay. Uh, and, uh, commissioner to guard, um, I had about eight comments, going to cut it down to one. Um, we were able to visit one of the most important franchises to this little Berg we call Dunedin this last week, and it was an exciting time visiting with the Toronto Blue Jays in Toronto. Um, I don't think it is possible to calculate the benefits of what that relationship is. They value it. We value it. And it was in full display in Toronto this last week. That's all I have, Mayor. Thank you. Okay. Uh, commissioner, uh, Sanberg. I sort of want to echo what, uh, commissioner Dugard said, you know, it's, and I set it up there. It's much more like a family and I, and I need to remember that, that it's, you know, I sit and talk to them and joke with them like friends, but I realize, you know, there are, as I said, they're our largest trade partner. And if I think you guys caught what I said, how that Winnipeg Sun said, Dunedin, congratulations, the Toronto Blue Jays have made you an oasis during these economic turn and all of the turmoil in the world. And I said, well, that's $70 million and those hundreds of jobs. It's a hell of an oasis. So that was a, that's good partnership. And, uh, I really appreciate everybody, including, you know, uh, commissioner, uh, vice mayor Walker, Jen and Jorge. It was a great representation and, uh, we got everything accomplished we needed. And if I could piggyback on that mayor, sorry about that. You know, it was, yeah, go ahead. Sorry. Are you sure? No, no. It's just, I, I haven't written as big as life here that we have to remember since there's been some unfortunate, um, disconnection here, uh, vice mayor could not get on by zoom. I just, the connection just continued not to work. And I know he's not happy about that because he wanted to be here. And, um, and I know he's been watching, but he just couldn't get through to give his, uh, points of view. Uh, so I just want to, we just, everybody place setter. We, after we give our comments, we need to basically vote on his excused absence. Um, so I apologize. Go ahead. No, no, no, that's fine. No, um, uh, two things. One, can somebody remind me of the economic impact of the, uh, the Toronto Blue Jays to Dunedin? 200 million dollars, uh, in the 2025 study, uh, for the year, countywide impact. That's incredible. And thank you for that. And Steve, you mentioned our, our largest, but I just wanted to put a number to that. So the residents understood the value of that relationship, that partnership, and also to acknowledge the number of Canadians that you would talk to when you were there that knew Dunedin. And we're very proud to say that tourism is down everywhere in the United States, but Dunedin, and that is information coming from them. So I think that is really, really impressive that strangers that you don't really even know, and they have no desire to lie to you. So they're just telling you what they know what they're. So it's that, that's nice. I, it's, it's a wonderful relationship. So thank you, Mayor. Were you, were you, were you done? I was done. Okay, good. I thought you were. Um, so, um, yeah, I'll, I'll piggyback on that too. The, the Toronto trip was amazing. Uh, they are amazing partners. They do a lot for the city, uh, not just by being here, but in, and the economic impact to businesses, et cetera. But they also sponsor a lot of things and do a lot of things for our kids in this community. So it's, uh, it's really important. Yeah. Yeah. Shelby's a coach for little league. Uh, and then a group of them went to Cooperstown. And so, uh, so it's a, it's a really great relationship, but I think my favorite part of that Toronto trip each year is the, the, it's a chamber trip first and foremost. And so business, the businesses go and it's, uh, it's just great. Uh, and some new businesses went this year and, and it really meant a lot to them. And it sealed again, that great partnership, even between the businesses and the Blue Jays and, and, and just that interaction and the importance of the economic impact to our restaurants, to our, to our shops, to, to just everything. So, um, yeah, so I'm glad you, you remembered to bring that up. Thank you, Commissioner Gard. Um, I, um, I, I did want to say, I love the song about Dunedin. Who is it that did that? It's, it's a guy I know. I guess I would consider him to be a friend. He actually wrote that, right? Yes. Yes. I thought it was awesome. Somebody brought up maybe the night at, uh, at the, like the first swearing in of our new commissioner, if I could get, you know, get permission from him, something, of course, Jennifer, but, you know, did you get a chance to listen to it, Jennifer? I mean, it's really, you know, he really pointed out a lot of things and he kind of hinted that he's going to write one about the commission. Yeah, cool. And I hope it's good. I hope it's really nice to him. Okay. That's kind of scary. That's kind of scary. A song about Dunedin. Yeah. I mean, I didn't think it would be great to have him do something. I'm not sure at the swearing in. Only because I want to have the high school girls there. Okay. And I'll get permission so we don't step on any toes. Yeah, it's all good. We'll decide on some of that stuff. Um, uh, okay. And then, um, and lastly, I was just going to mention that, um, uh, the city manager and I, um, both did the, we did the morning rotary and we did the afternoon rotary, um, yesterday on, uh, the property tax reform bill that's going to the ballot in November. And I think they went very well. Um, we had some issues with the PowerPoint for the first one, but we improvised. And, uh, and then we, then we had that reset for, uh, or the second one. And, uh, but it was good. We got a lot of great questions. Um, and I think, uh, people that really kind of want to understand, and I think, uh, it's really important that we're out there doing that because, um, you know, education, education, education. So it's really important to our community and what we want it to look like. Um, okay. So before we go to city clerk update, uh, because unfortunately, uh, it didn't work with the internet connection. Um, if I could have a motion to excuse vice mayor Walker. So moved. Second. All in favor. Aye. Okay. Motion passed unanimously. And, and vice mayor, if you're still watching, we're, we're, we're sorry for, uh, for how, for the, we weren't able to connect, but as always, we miss you here. So, um, okay. Uh, city clerk update. Nothing new to report mayor. City manager update. Nothing new. And city attorney update. Nothing new. Wow. You guys are easy. Okay. This meeting is adjourned. Oh, I lost the over under.