CITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING - Mar 05, 2026

everyone. Welcome to the March 5th, 2026 City Commission meeting. I'd like to call the meeting to order, and we'll start with the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance from our City Attorney, Jen. Let us begin this meeting by taking a brief moment of silence and reflection to turn our thoughts to Kate, Emily, and the rest of the family of Chris Hogan. Amen. Okay, for those of you who may not be aware, Chris Hogan is a longtime employee who just passed away after a long battle with cancer, but he served our city and our recreation department for many, many years, mentored a lot of our kids, and then their kids' kids, but so big loss for the city overall, not just the staff, but the community, so important to recognize him. Okay, we're going to go to presentations. There is a reason we all have our kilts on tonight, and so I will turn it over to our Scottish liaison, Commissioner Gao. Thank you, Mayor, very much, and I would ask if, did Ron make it? Ron is, oh, fantastic. Oh, he just came in. I like it. Ron and Jim, could you all step forward, please? Yeah, and I'll try and make it a short story, but it is a story worth telling. Decades ago, 1983, the city of Dunedin adopted the Elliot Tartan as the official Tartan of the city of Dunedin, and henceforward, you can see that Elliot Tartan displayed in our city seal. You can see the Elliot Tartan displayed throughout our community center. The interior design is based on the colors of the Tartan, and even one of the rooms in the community center was the Elliot Tartan. We're very proud, and I have been on a push since I've been on the commission to get the entire commission in kilts in the Elliot Tartan, and very excited just before last year, we decided that we would do that, and so during the Highland Games, I was walking by Clay and Elliot, that they were there at our games, and I was excited to share with them that, hey, we'd adopted the Tartan, and we got permission, and they were very quick to tell me and put me in my place, you did not get permission from Clan Elliot to wear the Tartan. They gave permission to our city of Dunedin pipe band who wore that Tartan at the time. They did not give that permission to the city of Dunedin, and so we wanted to rectify that and apologize and try and see what we could do. So I met with Lady Margaret Elliott, who is head of the clans, her title, and got their permission, and actually that's what tonight is all about. We have a letter that they're going to present to us from Lady Margaret giving us official permission to wear their Tartan. But gentlemen, thank you. Thank you for coming here tonight. The stage is yours. Just make sure the button is on and the microphone works. To say hello and how proud she is of the association that the city of Dunedin and that Clan Elliott have enjoyed up to this point and will enjoy for much longer, I do believe, especially as we have the opportunity to share this evening in the presentation of this letter. So without further ado, I'm going to turn this over to Ron Shea, my sidekick and co-commissioner for the State of Florida, who will read the contents of the letter and then will be happy to present it to whomever would wish to receive it on behalf of the Council. So, Ron? To the Council of the City of Dunedin, Florida, I, Margaret Elliott, 29th Chief of Clan Elliott, have the greatest pleasure in granting the City of Dunedin and the State of Florida permission for the continued use of the Tartan of the Elliots on all its appropriate civic occasions. I'm very proud you have chosen the Elliott Tartan to enhance your events. In return, I would request that you send us photographs of these occasions. Signed, Margaret Elliott of Redview, 29th Chief of Clan Elliott. I'm going to come down. Very nice. Yes. Can all the pictures with me get over again? Yeah. Closer to the division can stand up as well. Keep up with them standing. Come down. Um. Yeah. Well, because we killed them. I won't be able to really get them off. Unless we move over here a little bit. Okay. Close. Get close. Get friendly. Okay. Jennifer, do you want to be on it too? Okay. Perfect. Yeah. This is great. All right. Okay. Good. We got it. Good. We got it. Okay. Perfect. Yeah. This is great. All right. Okay. Good. We got it. Okay. Good. We got it. Good. We got it. Thank you. Thank you. So, gentlemen, we are very happy to be legal now with our kilts. So, gentlemen, we are very happy to be legal now with our kilts. I do want to say to both of you and also to all three of you, but also the crowd. I mean, obviously, the city of Dineen takes its Scottish heritage very seriously. It's a huge part of our community. You see it everywhere. We're certainly in all of our school-age kids in elementary and middle school and high school in the importance of the bagpipes and just keeping that alive. And we were formed by two Scots, and it's important we keep that heritage. And so when we did our community survey about people, what they loved about Dineen, the way that we do the Highland Games and the Celtic Festival and keep that heritage alive was really important to them. So thank you for this. Yes, we're very appreciative. Thank you. Lady Margaret has an open invitation to our games anytime she's available. Yes, and our games are the second weekend of April this year because Easter is the first weekend. So usually it's always the first. Okay, so we're going to go ahead and go to recognition of Adam Granat for the Eagle Scout Award, but I think he may have to be rescheduled. Commissioner Sandbergen, I think your update on this. Yes, Mayor. Adam has come down ill. I know his father very well, and I'm sure they're disappointed to be here. But we will go ahead and reschedule when Adam is back feeling well. So thank you. Thanks for bringing that. It's always good to recognize the Eagle Scouts. Okay, so our next proclamation is to the Dunedin Youth Guild Scholarship Day proclamation, and I will turn it to Vice Mayor Walker, who I know that your wife is working hard along with all the rest of the guild on these things. So, okay, I'll turn it to you. Well, thank you, Mayor. Could I have President of the Youth Guild, Linda Ault, and her husband, David, come forward? Is there any other members of the Dunedin Youth Guild in attendance? Well, welcome. I am honored to provide this proclamation. You know, and it just, it seems like every time we do something like this, it's touching on another aspect of our history that is so deeply woven in the fabric of the great city of Dunedin. And the Dunedin Youth Guild has been part of that fabric since 1964. And I, you know, every time, every year, the number of scholarships that they give out to our youth is just phenomenal. It grows every year, and the amount of good that they do here in Dunedin is amazing. So, on to the proclamation. Dunedin Youth Guild Scholarship Day. Whereas the Dunedin Youth Guild was founded in 1964 and has served the city of Dunedin and surrounding communities for more than six decades through volunteerism, civic engagement, and educational support. And the Guild was established to promote educational opportunities for youth and was awarded more than, has awarded more than $500,000 in academic and technical scholarships to deserving students pursuing post-secondary education. And the Dunedin Youth Guild has played a meaningful role in the civic life of our community, including founding the Dunedin Christmas Parade and contributing to the development, enhancement of local parks and community initiatives. The Dunedin Youth Guild's annual scholarship luncheon, held each year on the first Friday in March, raises essential funds that directly benefit local students and families, reinforcing the city of Dunedin's commitment to education, service, and community leadership. And the dedicated volunteer members of the Dunedin Youth Guild exemplify the spirit of service that strengthens our city and invests in the promise of future generations. Now, therefore, I, Robert James Walker, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the mayor of the city of Dunedin, Florida, and on behalf of the entire city commission, do hereby proclaim March 7th, 2026, as Dunedin Youth Guild Scholarship Day in the city of Dunedin, and encourage all residents to recognize and celebrate the Dunedin Youth Guild for its enduring commitment to youth, education, and community service. Thank you, Dunedin Youth Guild. Thank you. I mean, this is, it really is a secret, honest to God. I'm going to read this from the podium Saturday at the fashion show. That's awesome. So I haven't told the guild that you all did this for. Thank you. Linda, do you want to say a few words, though? Sure. A few words. Half a million. We have 14 scholarship applicants this year. And bear in mind, these are four-year scholarships. So when we award a scholarship, thank you. When we award a scholarship, it's not one semester, it's a four-year scholarship. This is the 54th scholarship luncheon and fashion show. And so this is one of the big events. This is where all our scholarship money comes from. And so it's a huge event, and I'm going to absolutely read this from the podium. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. We'll see some of you Saturday. Thanks. Well, it's an important event, and I have told you that I've got company here and two young kids who I can't bring to a fashion show. But you know I'm there in spirit. You guys are doing awesome. And Linda, you're doing an awesome job. So thank you very much. Thank you. Great. We'll get a picture that you'll show them later. Yeah, we can't post it right away soon. No, after. No, after, right. Right? Yes. Okay. Okay, we're going to just, I'm just one agenda change. We're going to do the consent agenda, then we'll go to citizen input. So on the consent agenda, I have the approval of the minutes for the January 22nd, 2026 regular meeting, boards and committee appointments, firefighter pension trust fund board of trustees, and a marine advisory committee. We also have 2C, award the replacement of carpet tiles for the main area of the library, the teen room, friends bookstore, and circulation areas to Shaw Industries, Inc. of Atlanta, Georgia, via piggybacking, source well, cooperative contract, number 061323S11, in the amount of $181,764.73. And 2D is 2026 St. Patrick's Day celebration, revocable license agreement with Flanagan's Irish Pub. And is there any items that anyone would like pulled? 2D. 2D. 2D. Okay. Anybody else? Okay. So for everything but 2D. So moved. Okay. And second? Do we have a second? Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. I'm sorry. Does anyone in the audience wish to speak on any of those three consent agenda issues? Okay. Seeing no one, I will close that out. And so now, all in favor? Aye. Aye. And that motion passed unanimously. Okay. 2D. Is this relatively short? Very short. Comments only. Yeah. That's okay. Okay. So the 2026 St. Patrick's Day celebration. So I will turn it to you, Commissioner Sandberg. Jason, you want to come up here a second? Anybody else with you back there? Oh, yeah. Enjoy. Yes. But I'm looking for something. How are you? This is Jason Seibert, 1756 Ranchwood Drive South, Dunedin, Florida. It's going to be short. It's going to be quick. It's going to be right to the point. Yes, sir. I just want to say thank you for everything you do for this city. The preparation, the time, the hours that go into it. I think I have perfect attendance every year, and I will be there again. And you're really good to this community, and I just want to say, and I'm sure I speak for everybody up here, thank you for what you go through, the hard work, and the amount of people that you bring to our city on that fine day. So it's all yours. That was a lot better than I thought I was going to be. Thank you very, very much. I appreciate each and every one of you up there. And I know you all, and I appreciate your leadership. Thank you. And thank you for pulling it. I appreciate it. Anybody else have any? Yes, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I haven't missed one yet either. I'll be preparing your awards for perfect attendance. Yeah, but I will say, you are truly a leader in this community, and I just want to thank you for all you do. Thank you, Rob. Thank you. Anybody else? No. I mean, yeah, keep it coming. Wait a second. If we speak, do we get a free beer? Well, only if you've gone all the time. Not as much as you guys. Yeah, perfect attendance as well. But not surprised given it's done eating, right? And that really shows the commitment from leadership that, oh, okay, we'll go to another. But, Jason, thank you, sir, for everything that you do. Thank you very much. Really appreciate it. I appreciate that. Mr. DeGuard, anything? Well, you've got to talk to the resident leprechaun when you can. But we really appreciate how you put things together. It's not an easy task. It's assembling a ton of things, and I know that it's become more difficult with time, what's going on in security. But you make sure everybody's safe, and it's a good, fantastic, and safe event. And thank you for making it so. I really appreciate that. I do have to give a lot of credit to my staff. I have one of the most incredible staffs I can even imagine having. I am so incredibly blessed to have them. So thank you. But a lot of that credit does go to them. Absolutely. So I absolutely have perfect attendance, since I'm Irish, as well as with about 25 other people that it's been tradition to go. I'll have my lit dreadlock hat on, and you won't recognize me. But now my crowd still would love it to go back to the 17th. So continue to give that some thought. I will give it some thought. I will give it some thought. Because we used to, it was just as crowded, and everybody took off. I would love it to be on that day as well. The post-COVID era has changed some things for ours. I got you. And as things get back to normal slowly but surely, I do hope to bring it back to the actual 17th to bring honor to the day that it is. Okay. Well, sounds good. But, again, thanks for all you do. It's a great party. So hopefully everybody here will be there. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Okay. Can I get a motion? So moved. Okay. Okay. Is there anyone in the audience that wishes to come forward and declare their perfect attendance or give an input on it? Okay. Seeing no one, I will close it. And all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion passed unanimously. So let's have a St. Patrick's Day party. Okay. I'm now going to turn to citizen input. I guess, Alan? I jumped the gun. I thought I was too late. Oh, no, no, no. It's... Go back. Yeah. Well, you can start if you want to. Citizen input when you talk about the Main Street and Marketplace? Or is this... Yes. Main Street Exchange. Oh, that... Yeah, that's... This is citizen input, so if you're going to be talking about Main Street Exchange, you have to wait until that item. I'll wait. So, yep. Okay. So anyone in the audience wishes to speak on an issue that is not on the agenda, if they would come forward. I'm at it. Okay. Name and address for the record and three minutes. I'll be less than that. My purpose here tonight is to say thank you to the commissioners. Oh, Jim Calgar, 2092 Valley Drive, Dunedin, Florida, 34698. Good to see you. Thank you. Good to see you, too. Nice to be seen and not viewed. But anyway, my purpose here is to say thank you to the commissioners, the city manager, and your efforts in helping me and my neighbors deal with the situation with the drainage ditch behind my home. The crew came out, they cleaned out the ditch, and it looks amazing. They took something like 12 or 13 truckloads of debris out, and it was phenomenal. I still have a palm tree, but that's okay. But I want to say thank you for working with us, and I believe that all the citizens of Dunedin can work together with the city to achieve a common goal. And I just want to say thanks. Can you repeat that, please? No. If I repeat it, it's going to cost you. Anyway, I want to say thanks, and again. Thank you, Jim. Appreciate it. So just to kind of lay it out as we do our comments, not because we don't like clapping sometimes, but sometimes you have different issues and people have different feelings, so we ask everybody not to clap, because some people get nervous if you do that. So we'd appreciate it. So a three-minute name and address for the record. Can you hear me? Yeah. Okay, there. My name is Kenneth Koenig. I live at 1544 Pasadena Drive in Dunedin Isles for the past 24 years. And I'm lucky enough to live in a short driving distance to Hammock Park, and I know one of the things for consideration is eliminating the advisory committee. And I know it's been shorthanded for a couple of years since the president lost, and I don't know a lot of the details about it. But I go to the Hammock Park about 10 times a week, and I have a lot of friends that go there, and obviously being in Dunedin Isles, so I know a lot of boots on the ground. So I would like to volunteer to be on that committee if you so continue to decide to keep it. And on a segue to the rec center, if someone, Jennifer Brantley, can look into why they aren't replacing the lights on the tennis courts. Thank you. Okay. Thank you very much. Who's here for the Hammock? Okay. City Manager, did you want to say something now or wait until comment? It might be helpful to say it now. Okay. Yeah, I think probably you should. Yes. Just give us one minute. The City Manager is just going to make an overall statement about Hammock Park since many of you are here. And if I may, Mayor, Hammock Park and in general the consolidation? Yeah, that's great. Absolutely. Yeah, I think that's good. All right. Thank you very much. And hopefully this will address some of your concerns regarding the committee and the committees in general. So I think that everybody here, because you participate in the committees, understand that you can't underestimate the importance of citizen input through our boards and committees in Dunedin. From the budget to public art, to our sustainability programs, to programming for seniors, we seek the advice of our committees. And in fact, every agenda item, if you, how many of you have looked at our agenda, looked at Granicus and our agenda? Yeah, Jason, I know. So every single agenda item that this City Commission sees has a block, if you will, for which board and committee saw that item before it got to the City Commission. And a really good example for all of you this evening is Main Street Exchange, which is our first action item. It's a design review. It's a development project. And so that particular project went through the Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Committee, the Architects Review Committee, more than once. So four times, I think, Mr. Mazas? Yes. It went through, just recently, the Local Planning Agency, which is a board. And it also went through the Development Review Committee, which is a staffed committee of experts, if you will, fire, law enforcement, solid waste, who look at all of our development plans. We have 26 boards and committees in the City of Dunedin. And just to put that in perspective, Clearwater, with a population of over 117,000, has 15 boards and committees. So our citizens actively participate in their municipal government. I say your municipal government. It is part of our DNA. And it's not just these five commissioners, but every commission who has sat on the dais seeks the input of their constituents in the community. We have been discussing committee consolidation for quite some time. And there are several reasons for that. Some committees do struggle with their mission. Sometimes their mission has changed over time. And some do struggle with getting a quorum. Staff struggles with managing that number of boards and committees in terms of minutes, agendas, and attendance. And many of our committees, including Hammock, have a singular purpose. And I want to add, too, in addition to the 26 boards and committees, we also staff eight county advisory committees as well. So we're out there all the time. At the February 3rd City Commission meeting, staff presented to the City Commission at their workshop a plan to consolidate some of the committees, not all of them. And, in fact, none of the boards, because most of those are contained within the charter. And they have to stand alone. And I want to describe a workshop and exactly what that is. Because I know that there's a lot of misinformation out there, if you will, that the City Commission has already decided on this. And they have not. So workshop, there's never any action that is taken at a City Commission workshop. It is a publicly advertised meeting in which the City Commission and staff can talk about ideas, talk about visions, talk about plans moving forward, and get consensus direction from the City Commission. Now, we put the consolidation of the boards and committees before the City Commission at that time to get their consensus direction on moving forward with the plan. They had some comments, which we incorporated within the plan moving forward. But it was not approval of the consolidation itself. The next step is to go to the boards and committees and talk to them about the consolidation and bring the proposed resolutions as far as the consolidation goes. And keep in mind, those resolutions have not been adopted, have not been drafted yet. And they have never been before the City Commission. And so we think that the consolidation will strengthen the mission and the focus and provide a broader perspective for committee discussions and recommendations. I want to give you an example because we have our friends of the hammock here today, correct? Yes, thank you. As well as members of the hammock advisory committee and those that are passionate about the hammock. And the members of the committee are there because you are passionate about the natural environment, correct? And especially the hammock itself. But we have at Gladys Douglas coming online. Are you passionate about that? We're very fortunate to have large ESLs, environmentally sensitive lands. So if we combine hammock with the Gladys Douglas, folks from Gladys Douglas, into the Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee, we'll have your passion and your knowledge then on that committee as well. Gladys Douglas is 120 acres. And there's going to be a huge responsibility that the City has and the committees have in maintaining Gladys Douglas. And we'll certainly need the hammock advisory committee's expertise on that committee as well. Now, it's very important to note that early on in this process, the commission was very clear that they did not want the consolidation to result in anybody losing their seat on the committee that they have been appointed to. And we have managed to put a plan before them that would implement that. It would be a large quorum. And then as people are termed out, you get most of the committees, you get two, three-year terms. As you're termed out, then we would not fill that seat until we get down to the original quorum, which will be discussed and contained within the draft resolution moving forward before the City Commission. But we're going to take our time on this. It's more important to get this process right, to have it done thoughtfully and correctly, than within a specific time frame. So I met with the commission liaisons on Monday. The liaisons will be discussing the consolidations with the affected committees. And you should have heard from some of them already. And we will not put a resolution before the City Commission for adoption until we've had the input of all of the committees. For those committees that have a difficulty-making quorum, we can do one of two things. Either the committee liaison can reach out to those committee members and meet with them individually. Or, and the city attorney had a brilliant idea this afternoon when we were discussing this, we can also advertise for and call a workshop of the Hammock Advisory Committee, where we could get the input of those currently seated on the committee and the public as well. I think that that's the direction we're going to go in. The proposed consolidation will decrease the number of boards and committees from 26 to 21. The average number that most cities have are between 1 and 5 boards and committees. But that's okay. 21 is a good number for the City of Dunedin. As I mentioned earlier, we're going to take this very slowly. And we're going to get your input. And we're going to make sure that the original mission of that committee, which is being consolidated, not dissolved, consolidated, will be stated and restated within the resolution that we put before the City Commission for adoption. But it will be broader. It will be more global. It will be about environmentally sensitive lands, the Hammock, the Gladys-Douglas property, and other areas as well. Again, the boards and committees are an integral part of the way that we conduct business in the City of Dunedin. I really genuinely think that after this consolidation is implemented, we're going to find that we have a renewed purpose that results in a broader vision and more voices for our city. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Thank you, Jennifer. Okay. We'll go back to citizen input and name and address for the record and three minutes. Matt Horvath, 1409, Red Oak Drive. One thing I just want to comment really quick, which is going to blow up my time. I was at the Friends of the Hammock board meeting last night, and I spoke with one of the members of the current HAC. And he told me unequivocally that they were told that they could not recruit any new members, and that started several months ago. They were reviewing five to add. The HAC is currently dead because it can't achieve forum. At the same time, the city is not allowing new members to join. So, you know, I'm glad to hear from the city manager that there's some evaluation that's taking place, but I guess it's a little bit in conflict from what I heard from one of the members of the actual committee last night. So, I just wanted to mention that. I'm here to express support of retaining the Hammock Advisory Committee. I just ask again for those that are here for that, if they would just raise their hand and let everyone see. These are your constituents. Mayor, during the 2021 Continuous Review, you said that the Hammock Advisory Committee is one of the most critical committees in the city. And I believe that you meant it. And if you were able to preserve that committee functional, I think that you would do that. And the good news is that you can. Each of you have a petition in front of you with 190 signatures, 65 of which are people who are volunteering that want to be on the committee. I was here several weeks ago, and I told you that the membership issue with the Hammock Advisory Committee was not because of indifference. It was because no one knew. I've spoken with over 100 people at the park. Not a single one knew that the Hammock Advisory Committee even existed, let alone that it needed new members. There's six vacant seats and 65 willing to serve. Every seat could be filled with a lengthy bench for the future. While the city is merging away the only committee dedicated solely to Hammock Park, I want to mention that the city is at the same time standing up a stand-alone golf committee. Mayor and Commissioners, I'm respectfully requesting that you direct staff to halt the merger, begin accepting volunteers for placement, clarify the future of the committee. People aren't going to want to join if it's just going to get shut down or merged several months after they get added. And if you choose to move forward with a consolidation despite all of this, then do so responsibly. Establish clear quantitative success metrics and build in an automatic rollback provision so that if those metrics are not met within an established timeline, that the Hammock Advisory is reconstituted as a stand-alone committee. We've demonstrated that it's achievable not to just have, not just to retain the committee, but to seat passionate residents, which would include potentially members of the Florida Native Plant Society, the Dunedin Garden Club, the Sierra Club, and the Audubon Society. So if it's not because of efficiency and it's not because of low membership, why are you going to consolidate it? Thank you. Thank you, Matt. Okay, anyone else wish to speak? Mayor, I'm sorry. I heard him say his name, but did he say his name and address? Oh, did you get your address as well? I said 1409 Grove. Okay, I was just making sure. Okay, I thought that you did. Is that Dunedin? Where is that? It's in Tarman Springs. Okay, thank you. Okay. While walking my dog this morning, my name is Stephen Cottrell. I have been a Dunedin resident since 1131 McLean Street in Dunedin. I've been at that address for probably close to 40 years. I've been a resident of Dunedin since the third grade, probably 60 years. I've seen lots of changes, but I was also a former city manager in the state of Florida and served those communities where I work, I think, fairly well. I've been involved in city government and city administration in public service for my whole life. But I did speak to Matt this morning. I was walking my dog, as I usually do, several times a week in the hammock. It's changed a lot since I've been in that neighborhood right adjacent to the hammock. But I don't know that I completely agree with the idea that consolidation of the overall mission of all of the conservation areas in Dunedin is a bad thing. I wouldn't conclude that immediately in any shape or manner because I think the Gladys Park addition is a good one. And I think that the more people who can be applied towards all of those efforts would be beneficial for the city. And if there are so many people volunteering to just preserve the hammock, I think that's a very good sign that you have the kind of support from the community for the preservation of all green spaces and all ecologically sensitive areas and conservation areas. So I don't think it's going to be a problem of finding people. I mean, I just learned about it today, and I have been remiss in volunteering my time after retirement. But I'm ready to get up to that speed again as a former manager and hope I can contribute to the efforts of the city in preserving all of the green space. As little as we have, it maybe seemed like a lot of area, but when I was growing up here, it was much more extensive, believe me. Thank you. Thank you, Steve. And you're a great city manager. You did a great job. Steve and I have known each other a long time. Okay, anyone else wish to come forward and speak on this issue, name and address for the record, and three minutes. I am Jefferson Cox at 1665 Country Lane in Dunedin. Thank you. I bring a letter from Carrie O'Brien, the president of Friends of the Hammock, and I'd like to read it into the record. Madam Mayor, commissioners, and guests, thank you. For the record, my name is Carrie O'Brien, and I'm submitting these remarks for entry into the minutes tonight as president of Friends of the Hammock of Dunedin. Friends of the Hammock exists to provide support for educational, beautification, management, and charitable programs associated with Hammock Park. That mission is our North Star, regardless of how the city structures its advisory committees. Tonight, I want to state clearly that Friends of the Hammock supports the interim plan communicated by staff, specifically the city manager's intention to request that the commission appoint members to the Hammock Advisory Committee while the broader merger process moves forward. We also support the eventual consolidation of advisory boards, so long as Hammock Park's unique ecological needs, project priorities, and volunteer energy are not diluted, delayed, or deprioritized. I also want to acknowledge the real concerns raised by community members, that a merger could reduce focus, limit public input, or weaken the volunteer pipeline. Those concerns are valid, and that is exactly why the interim plan matters. It restores functionality now and prevents a dead zone where nothing moves forward during the transition. As noted in public remarks, there is a strong community interest and a deep bench of residents willing to serve, along with reports of applicants not hearing back. The interim plan is an opportunity to fix that quickly and to do it in a way we can measure. Friends of the Hammock believes governance changes should be evaluated the same way we evaluate stewardship work in the park, with clear targets, transparent tracking, and a willingness to adjust if results don't match intentions. With that in mind, we respectfully request that the city adopt a short list of success indicators for both phases, the HAC interim bridge period and the merged advisory board model. For the interim period, success should look like HAC seats filled with and quorum restored with regular meetings and posted minutes, a reopened volunteer pipeline with clear communication to applicants, volunteer activity that continues without pause, including progress on time-sensitive priorities, faster volunteer follow-through, using tools that already exist. Friends of the Hammock has a functioning online event registration system on our website that can be used to communicate with volunteers and track registrations and confirmations. For a merged board, visible, consistent, I'm sorry. Thank you. If you could just wrap up quickly. Visible, consistent attention to Hammock Park, including a clear point of responsibility and predictable agenda items and time. No loss of momentum on Hammock priorities, especially stewardship, education, and volunteer coordination. Maintain strength for grants and partnerships. Are we close? Yes, because I just don't want to have to give other people, you know. Yeah, I understand. Yeah. Thank you for your time. But thank you. Thank you very much. But we understand, and I think we got Carrie's message. Thank you. Thanks for being here. Oh, yeah. We would want that letter with our city clerk. That'd be great to put into the record officially, the whole letter. That's great. Thank you very much. Thanks for being here on behalf of the friends. Okay. Anyone else in the audience wish to come forward and speak on any item that's not on the agenda? The agenda, name and address for the record, and three minutes. Good evening, Commission. My name is Mallory Kasnick. My address is 2036 Douglas Avenue. I live a stone's throw away from the Hammock. It's an amazing resource, something that I have recently learned about, too, as a newer resident to our community. I moved here from Clearwater and previously out of state in 2023 when we purchased our home. My husband and I were also devastated during the recent hurricane. One of the things I really value about the Hammock is that it is such a major ecological area for our community. It's a watershed for neighborhoods like mine. When I hear things about Hammock Advisory Commission going to be consolidated, it raises concerns not just from an ecological perspective, which is incredible because we are the most densely populated county in the state of Florida to have 90 acres of green space where local native flora and fauna can flourish, animals can live. But also knowing that it's a valuable watershed, it concerns me as a resident that if it is not taken care of and adequately staffed from an advisory board perspective, that it could cause further damage to homeowners like mine down the road. We don't know. I don't know. I don't have the answer to that right now if that could happen should the consolidation and the merger come forward. But it is definitely a concern of mine. You know, we are in the Hammock regularly. Whether we're walking our dogs, whether we're going on runs, whether we're taking our daughter to the play area, it's a major resource for us. And I just wanted to speak up and know that I didn't even know that the Hammock Advisory Committee was a thing until a few days ago when I saw the chatter online. And I just wanted to bring that perspective as well. So thank you. Thank you very much. Appreciate that. Anyone else wish to come forward and speak on this issue or any other issue that's not on the agenda? Okay. Seeing no one on that one. Well, I just want to add that on behalf, I think I'm speaking for the entire commission. I'm certain of that. The most important goal to us, of course, is to make sure the most effective, efficient way of taking care of our things like Hammock Park, Gladys Douglas Preserve, our protected lands, is taken care of. I think that's the most important thing. I'll speak to the issue. In talking to people, I know there's been some mixed issues with the Hammock Advisory, even on our staff side. But sometimes that's a reflection of the fact that our staff is very polled because there are so many committees. So I hope we'll keep an open mind because at the end of the day, it's about making sure we protect the Hammock, keep it up, and Gladys Douglas, and again, other protected lands. So that is our goal, and that will continue to be our goal, and I think the city manager has gone through the process that we're going to make sure we have the input of those involved and do this with as much collaboration and input as we possibly can. And we'll let that kind of lead us to the right decision for these parks and how we can best protect them. And we know there's a lot of passion out there, believe me, and that's a great thing. That's what's driven Dunedin to where it is today, and that's why we have things like these parks. So I really appreciate all of you being here, appreciate the input. We love the Hammock. We love our preserved lands. That's what Dunedin is. So, again, let's keep that in our thoughts as we give input and figure out the best way to make that happen. So thank you. Okay. We're going to go ahead and move on to our action items. Oh, well, I asked if there was anyone else in the audience that – Well, if there's any other item that is not in the agenda, yeah, I guess, I guess, right? But as one person – usually I don't let one person speak on multiple items. You get three minutes for all items. So can you come back? Okay. It'd be better. It'd be better. Okay. Thanks, Steve. Or just call us during the week. I mean, I always tell people you can call me. Yeah, that's okay. All right. Sorry. Well, all right. We're going to move on to action items. 3A, second hearing of application DR-2025-002, request for design review approval for the development of a new project called Main Street Exchange, consisting of a three- and four-story mixed-use building comprising an 89-room boutique hotel, marketplace, theater, food hall, restaurants, social establishments, retail spaces, and a parking garage on a 1.7-acre parcel located 830 Douglas Avenue. This is a quasi-judicial item, and so I'm going to open the public hearing by requesting City Clerk to swear in all who wish to provide testimony on the design review application to be heard. So anyone who is intending to speak, you should stand now and be sworn in. Great. And I'll ask the group up here, does anyone have any ex parte communications to disclose for the record? Okay. So we will go to our staff presentation, George and Bob. Mayor, Vice, Mayor, Commissioners, George Kinney on behalf of the Community Development Department, and to my right, your left, Bob Ironsmith with the Economic Development Division. We are here for a second reading. I'm going to be a little quicker than the first reading, Mayor, because I know that we went through this pretty thoroughly at first hearing, and certainly stop me if you have any questions on the land development side. That's great. I did add an exhibit to your packet. I think it's Exhibit Q, which addresses some of the concerns that the Commission had at the first hearing. And, of course, the developer is here and will elaborate on many of those discussion points. So working through very quickly, again, just to orient everybody to the property, the area on the left shows the subject property with the current Ocean Optics building on it. To the south is, of course, Main Street. To the right is Douglas. To the north is Monroe, surrounded by three streets. This is the Main Street Exchange project, and the property address is 830 Douglas Avenue. It is approximately 1.7 acres in size, and as just mentioned, there is a current vacant three-story office building and parking area associated to the current site. Project description. The Main Street Exchange consists of three- and four-story mixed-use buildings comprising an 89-room boutique hotel, marketplace, and food hall, event space, restaurants, retail spaces, and on-site and off-site parking garages. The picture to the upper left is the survey of the subject property. To the lower left is a screenshot of the existing site, and you can see one of the renderings for the project on the right-hand side of the screen. From a land-use plan evaluation standpoint, the subject property is located in the activity center land-use category, which permits, from a temporary or transient lodging perspective, up to 50 units per acre. The table to the right shows the math for that density calculation at 50 units at 1.78, yields 89 permissible units, and that is what is being requested with the project. From a zoning perspective, the subject property is on downtown core. As the commission knows, downtown core is broken up into three street types, and there are two that consist on this property. Type A Street along Main Street in Douglas, and then Type C Street towards Monroe and the rear portion of the property. There is a height request, as the commission knows, there is a height request for additional height for that Type C Street portion of the property, and that is the four-story request. There is a step-back waiver request also, but as was articulated in the first meeting, that is really just for portions of the building, and I think the applicant spoke to why they are requesting that waiver because of how they've integrated step-backs in certain places, but then other fenestration types of items throughout the project. Very quickly, also, as you'll recall, there is one special requirement for this type of development, that hotel rental units have a minimum floor area of 300 square feet and a maximum floor area of 600 square feet, and all 89 of the units do comply with this special requirement. From a compatibility perspective, again, it's a three-story, 40-foot-high vacant office building currently exists on the site. It's actually 41 feet. It's a little typo there, but as was presented at the first, hearing staff did do their compatibility evaluation, which included also a compatibility evaluation from the developer and a mixed-use development with the mix of permitted uses that are being proposed here. We do find consistent with our master plan, specifically Objective 2.9 of the master plan. As the commission also knows, there are several review criteria that a design review application must meet. This is a summary of those review applications. We went through them a little bit more in detail in the first hearing. I'll kind of just leave it as it is to say, at this point, they do comply with all of our design standards, and I'm sure there will be some discussion and questions that come up as a result of the conversation to follow. Well, just again, a quick piece on the parking aspect of it. The on-site parking requirement is 222 spaces. The on-site parking at the Main Street Exchange site is 133 spaces, and if you'll recall, there is a companion development on Douglas Avenue of a parking garage where the applicant will use a reciprocal parking agreement to utilize the spaces that are needed to gain the full compliance for this particular site, and we'll also have spaces left over at the Douglas Avenue garage site. I hit on this briefly in the first hearing, but a lot of additional information is noted in your exhibit I, in your packet, which includes a compatibility statement, talks about bicycle and golf cart provisions, commitments to underground and utilities, estimates on delivery vehicle sizes, the justifications for the additional height on that type C street portion of the property, a justification for the waiver of the 10-foot step back on portions of the property, amenities which will be open to the public versus hotel guests, and a fiscal impact memorandum. You'll recall the committee actions. This was heard by the design review. As the city manager mentioned, it's been heard several times by the architecture review committee, also the local planning agency on January 14th, who unanimously recommended the project to the city commission, and then at city commission first hearing, of course, was just a few weeks ago, and the commission unanimously approved the project to second hearing with some clarification requested. And that is really, that clarification that was requested is really part of that exhibit cue that's in your backup, and this includes responses to the multimodal application considerations, and it provides a summary of pedestrian, bicycle, golf cart, and transit amenities. There were some signal box questions. There is some, there's a summary of some initial conversations with the county, and I know the developer will talk a little bit more about that in some of those conversations she's had with the county. There were some infrastructure considerations, so we do have a summary in that exhibit cue of the applicable impact fees, and also we did confirm with our city engineering department that there is capacity from both a water and sewer standpoint, and ample capacity. There are a few other considerations that are summarized in that exhibit that include an overview of trail connections, outdoor market considerations, and an additional crosswalk that I think was discussed for that area like at Monroe and Douglas. So with that, from a staff perspective, we are finding that the design review is consistent with the applicable review criteria for approval and subject to the following conditions. I won't read through all those. One important one for at least the developer to remember is that number four condition, design review approval, shall expire in 12 months from the data city commission, design review approval unless the applicant obtains infrastructure review approval and vertical building permits. So there is a timeline in which permits need to be secured and the project needs to start. So with that, I'm going to turn it over to Bob. I know I have a few comments, and then we'll be happy to answer any questions. Sure. Thank you, George. Thank you, Mayor and Commissioner, Bob Ironsmith, Economic Development Director and CRA Director. I just want to reiterate a couple of points that we had made at the last hearing, too. This property has been dormant for 15 years or more. It's certainly been a break and a gap in our downtown. It certainly causes people not to walk to the east to go ahead and go to the other stores. So having a hotel there, an 89-room hotel, is what we call a captive market. These are people that are coming. They're going to be spending money. They go to retail. They go to the different restaurants. This is something you want to see, and you actually kind of court along downtown or Main Street to have that type of opportunity. This is pretty exciting. We have a very thoughtful, mindful developer. This has been three years in the making. He's assembled his team. He certainly has spent considerable dollars to get to this point. That's why you're seeing those various renderings and aerial views, which is very important. He's also a local developer. He's Clearwater. We'd like to see that. Of course, he's now going to have his office right across the street, so we know we can knock on his door. That's pretty important for us. And he's also going to be holding the property. This is not something he's looking to build and go and flip. So when you're a staff and you go out for RFPs and you get an outside-type developer, many times they will build it and then just go ahead and sell it in a couple of years. That's not the case here. So we have a very responsive-type developer. He's made presentations to the CRA on several different occasions, both for the Main Street project and also the parking garage, and has received very favorable responses. Everyone is very excited about the project. A couple of things that came up at our first reading were, what about the downtown market? We have talked to the downtown market. They're very comfortable. They knew this was coming. This was nothing new. As we all recall, this project has been under development proposals many times. They will go ahead and park at the church. They'll go ahead and park at our vacant lot that we have there at Douglas and Scotland, and we're also going to have them come to our CRA meeting on March 19th just to give a quick overview. The other item that was asked was a crosswalk on Douglas. We already have that designed, so we're looking to go out to bid with the Main Street Streetscape project from the trail to Broadway on Main. So that's already designed, and we expect to go ahead and have that built at the same time. I'd be happy to answer any questions that might come up or something I didn't cover. So do we want – is there any kind of presentation of the applicant now? So we can – you know, I think last time we just asked our questions after everybody was done. Certainly. Seemed pretty effective. I think the attorney, Attorney Mr. Onks, has a little presentation he would like to do. It's a short amount of slides. Should everybody up here just do that first, and then we'll ask our questions. Yeah, it's a short amount of slides, and, of course, the developer, Bill Mossas, is here asking questions, too. But I think Brian's just going to run through a few things, say 13 or 15 slides. So, Brian? Yep. Good evening, Mayor, Commissioners. Brian Onks, 625 Court Street, McFarlane, Ferguson, and McMullen. Here on behalf of the property owner, applicant, and developer, Bill Mossas, Mossas Development. It truly is a privilege to be back before you today on second reading for this homegrown legacy passion project for Mr. Mossas and his family. They own this property. They've been very deliberate and collaborative in developing this design. And it has improved at every step of the way over the last three years of the development process with robust community engagement. And, as you know, we had a robust hearing and presentation two weeks ago, so I will not belabor the point. I'll get through and address really only the topics that we're asked to be followed up on tonight. We do have some additional slides we can reference if those topics come up, but I'm not going to go through the entire presentation that we did the last time. All of our experts are still here, our civil engineer, our traffic engineer, our architect, of course, Mr. Mossas himself. We have received overwhelmingly positive response from between the last hearing and this hearing. So I think that this has been an example of a very successful development review process from the city staff, from the citizens, from the developer, really engaging the community in this process. So one of the questions was about potential conflicts with pedestrians and the valets. We included this in the first presentation, but we did not include the dimensions, and it didn't do it justice. So we now have provided the width dimensions for the ingress-egress walkways. They're really not sidewalks. I mean, these are really open-air walkways that draw you into the project and allow you to access the project and allow you to move around the project. So at the northwest corner, Monroe and Pinellas Trail, it's a 43-foot width at that corner. The corner of Main Street and Pinellas Trail is 25 feet wide. The corner of Douglas and Main Street is 33 feet wide. And the corner of Monroe and Douglas is 25 feet wide. The narrowest portion is 10 feet. So the minimum required in the city of Dunedin is 5 feet. So at the narrowest portion, we're double, and, you know, we're quadruple or more at the widest portions. Next slide. Here's the architectural elevations. We just combined them into one slide showing the different facades. You can see the west elevation from the Pinellas Trail. Absolutely amazing. Beautiful. Landscape architect Chris Anasiewicz and other landscape architect on the arc provided some very good feedback about native landscape, shade trees, all of those things that have been incorporated. And you can see the elevation there from Main Street, also from Douglas. Next slide, please. This is just showing the signal box. This is highly conceptual. These are renderings. So these are not, obviously, as you can tell, these are not pictures. The building doesn't exist yet. That is, on the left side, what's existing, depicted as an architectural rendering. If it's up to the developer, he would love to just maintain what's already there. We're not looking to do anything more. However, we understand there are technical requirements that will have to go through Pinellas County and the city's engineering staff. What we did on the right is we interposed a artist's rendition or architectural rendition of the existing signal box at Main Street and Broadway. And if you go to the next slide, George, this is a picture. So on the left is a picture of what's there, which, of course, the developer, again, is happy to maintain if it's suitable and acceptable to the county. On the right is a picture of the existing signal box at Main Street and Broadway. Next slide, please. This is just showing the step-backs and defenstration, as referenced by Mr. Kinney. I wanted to include this again. This is from the Douglas Avenue view. And what we're asking for is the fourth floor of height based on the C-type frontage for the northern portion of the property. It's only three stories on Main Street, so I want to be clear about that. The portion of the property, half of the property on Main Street is three stories. The portion of the property moving away from Main Street closer to Skinner is four stories. But you can see the generous step-backs and architectural defenstration and breaking up the building and multiple architectural influences there. Next slide, please. This is just a summary of the request. Four story, up to four stories in height on a portion of the building on the C-type frontage, which is, again, not a variance. It's not a waiver. It is something that is incentivized in the code that only you can approve, and you can only approve it if we meet the requirements for approval. And we believe we've done so with the design on this project. And the 10-foot step-back waiver is not uniform for the entire site. There are portions of the site that greatly exceed the 10-foot step-back waiver. The setbacks alone are generous for most of the site. And so this does not create a canyon effect. It's stepped-back and it's set-back. So there's just technically some portions of it that don't quite meet the 10 feet. Next slide is just the single slide of the architectural elevations for the parking garage. This is under construction, not before you today. But, of course, it's part and parcel for why this project works from a parking perspective. And you can see the parking garage is integrated into the Pinellas Trail. The Main Street Exchange is beautifully integrated into the Pinellas Trail. And it incentivizes and promotes pedestrianism, cyclists, golf carts. It's a multimodal pedestrian-oriented project that fits beautifully in the Pinellas Trail and is an incredible improvement over both what's there at the Ocean Optics Building and what was there in the industrial storage yard. Thankfully, that industrial storage yard is now already gone and under construction for the parking garage. So it will be incredible improvements for two sites that were sorely needing redevelopment in your Crown Jewel downtown core, which is so successful. This is the conclusion. We're here to answer any questions that you have. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Brian. Okay. I will go to questions for either staff or the applicant. And I guess I'll start with the Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. You know, I went through the attachment queue, and, you know, quite frankly, I think the questions that I had are satisfied by that, so I'll defer to my colleagues. Okay. All right. Commissioner Sandberg? I just had a couple, Mayor, for these two, and then maybe if Bill can help me out on one. Use the term this time, George, that I know what it means, but I don't recall hearing, the companion project. Is that putting the garage will need to be completed first so that we're in compliance of the number of parking spots, right? That's exactly right. Okay. That garage provides the parking that they need to satisfy at this site. Okay. I just didn't remember that term before. And I know I had a question about the island right outside where the valet, is that island going to stay? What did we decide? Yeah. There's a couple of medians out there. Yes. The one that's at the intersection right at Main Street will stay. The other one will go away. But it's very important to keep the one there on Douglas. It's a pedestrian refuge area. It's safety. It's speed. It's a lot of different things. So the one will stay. Okay. You know, Bill, can I get you for one second, please? I went by there this week and I saw they were, it looks like, drilling the parking lot. Anything special that they're looking for or any concerns you might have? Yeah. No. And good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor. Right on there. Sorry. City Commission and City Manager. They're drilling to find the compaction levels of the soil. Okay. Okay. Because we're going to be, the vibrations and the drilling and all the foundation work seem to be a very sensitive topic. So what we're doing is we're doing extensive testing and going back and we're drilling, again, just to double calculate certain areas to see if we can get away with shallow foundations and not even build this with, you know, the vibro replacement and the type of foundations that may be disruptive. Okay. Good. And the other one, I just want to make sure, someone brought this to me, the construction site will be secured and fenced to keep us. That's all I had, Bill. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Commissioner Gow, questions? Yes, Mayor. Thank you. I just have two, and there are more for Bob and George. Bob, you had mentioned number four on that slide as far as the timeline, or George, the timeline from our approval to getting permits. And is there a timeline once they have their permits to when shovels are in the ground or when construction has to start? So that requirement, it's part of the Land Development Code, requires that they have vertical permits secured, obtained. So they have to be obtained. So that means they're in their receipt, and then they have, I don't remember what the building code requires, Commissioner Gow, but I think there has to be some sort of earth movement within a certain period of time. I want to say three to six months or something like that. Six months after permits? Okay. Very good. All right. Thank you. And Bob, on the medians on Douglas, there are two there. We're removing one. We're keeping the other one. Correct. The one that's right at the intersection of Maine will stay. The one with the palm trees today. It's a refuge island. It's a safety pedestrian. The other one will go away. Yes. What's the width of Douglas at that point? The width of Douglas? Geez, I don't know. Okay. All right. There you go. Thank you, Bill. There you go. Very much. I'm just curious. You know, it's the only one left. We don't have any medians on Main Street. We don't have any medians that will be on the south side of Douglas or south of Maine. And so we used to, but we don't anymore. And I'm just thinking if we're out there getting rid of one, how big of a refuge is it? It's not that wide, and it's no more wide there than it is with the one that we're getting rid of or farther north on Douglas or farther south on Douglas. I understand. I understand. It adds a couple of things. It adds ambiance, slows speeds down a little bit, and it does have some protective refuge there. You know, it's a short crosswalk. So it's just another aspect of creating a nice feel for the downtown. So it's something I think that's pretty important. I don't see the value in removing that one. I can see the other one for sure based on turning movements, ingress, egress, and things like that. But the other one I think is pretty important. And can that median also be a trip hazard for walkability? I don't think so. Those sidewalks and everything are pretty good width. The crosswalk is what he's doing. The rest of downtown, I don't see there's any type of tripping aspect out there, no. I just think it's an opportunity to get rid of it if we've got the machinery out there. Yeah, I think the palm trees create a great ambiance. I don't think I want to see it go. And then what we should do is get rid of that palm tree and put it in a shade tree to make it more walkable. But then we need more width. Then we need more width. Anyway, I'm done, Mayor. Thank you. Stay strong, Bob. Okay, sorry. I like the look. Anyway, okay, Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. There is only one question I can imagine left to be asked, and it's because of our recent experience in the last two years. What's our BFL on this building, base flood level? What's our level? Yeah, I'd have to him ask that. I know that one of the things, too, they're always looking at the groundwater, so I'd let Bill or the engineer answer that question, what the base is. Okay. It is not FEMA identified. I'm sure it's not, but I think I'm going to start asking that question on every project these days. No, I get it. No, I'm good. Yeah. I know we're east of the Pinellas Trail, and that should protect it, but I want to be sure what we've got here. Commissioner, if you have a question, our civil engineer, Creek Corp, has already informed me, and as we know, we're not in a flood zone, so there's no base flood for this property. Finished floor is 18 feet. 18 feet. Okay. That's all I have. Thank you. Yes, sir. Okay. I do have a few. So, appreciate the valet, but I think what you basically did, unless I kind of was missing something, was go over the space that you have around the building, and I think the valet issue was people, you know, running to the garage down the street, leaping over people having a glass of wine at Sonder Club, because those aren't as wide, and that doesn't provide a lot of ambiance, so just trying to understand what's the plan. Yeah, I know we had spoken to Bill, he's already spoken to a valet company, I think he's got some insight to provide to you, some additional information. Actually, I spoke to a couple valet companies, and they both came back with the same suggestions when they reviewed the area that we had for the valet operations, they said that this was probably one of the best designed valet areas that they had seen. They figured that you could stage 21 vehicles in a row, you would have on real busy nights that you knew you were going to be really busy, you would have between 7 and 10 valet personnel, and you would be going back and forth with a golf cart. They said, but just the idea that you're able to stage 21 vehicles, and then the additional parking that's downstairs, if you utilize that, you're up to 40 spaces. They said that's unheard of. They don't see it being a problem at all, nor causing any traffic, nor confusion, nor people, you know, running crazy down the street to go park cars. Okay, no, thank you for that, I just, I appreciate it. Um, so, pedestrian, again, I think we saw the walkways around the actual building, but again, specifically, what are we doing on the street to protect the traffic flow, the pedestrian priority flow, can you just review that for me? Sure, I think the very wide sidewalks that he has, obviously on Main Street Exchange, we want to go ahead and get the crosswalk in on Douglas, which I think is an important part. Um, we are a very pedestrian-friendly type. And again, the Douglas one is going to be? Oh, I'm sorry, Monroe Grant Street is a crosswalk we're looking at there. Okay, so, to the, to the north? To the north. Okay. Yeah, to the north, because we know, we also- The area I would know very well since I fell there and broke my wrist. Yes, yes, yes, we certainly recognize that, and we want to take care of that, and it has been designed. So, last time we didn't get any bidders. That's why we want to combine it with the other Main Street project, because we'll get some bidders for that. Bob, do you feel confident, though, with the added, you know, vehicles, that it's very doable to make sure that remains pedestrian-friendly without feeling afraid? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're a 15-mile-an-hour special transportation zone on Douglas and Main Street. I know some people go quicker on Douglas, but everywhere we looked at, you know, we put the lights up there at the Artisan on Douglas, so all the things we do is to make it pedestrian-friendly. So, I think people recognize it's an urban-type environment, and we have heavy pedestrian, and we're seeing it now with the Blue Jays here, obviously with spring training. But I'm pretty comfortable with what we have downtown. Let me ask you, well, before I do that, let me ask about the signal. I know you're going to talk to the county about it. I do appreciate that you did the visual there. I did, because at first I thought, you've got to see the visual. So, is it likely that the larger traffic signalization will be there in order to have a smart signal there at the Art section? I don't know the answer to that. I think that, I know they've gone ahead and done some investigation with Pinellas County. I know we've talked a little bit internally. I think it's something that still needs to be looked at. I think there's aspects that we can look at with that signal. You can almost look at a four-way signal stop if we wanted to maximize pedestrian activity. But I think that's something that has to be sorted out with the county, you know, how they feel. When we originally got that years ago, it was a decorative piece. It came from Iowa. We wanted something that was a little different and a little less scale and mass, so it didn't just kind of jut out toward the project. So, I think it's something we're going to have to explore. So, are you confident, you, consider you probably the primary architect of our downtown, are you confident that if we have the large, bigger one with a historic picture on it, whatever, that it will fit versus be like, oh, my gosh. Yeah, I think that with the wrap, we're okay. I think one of the reasons is the buildings step back quite a bit. You know, that corner is pretty wide open, much more wide open than we've seen in previous development proposals. So, I think so. I'd still like to see something a little smaller scale, perhaps with the new technology or something that will allow for something to be a little bit smaller. I think that the developer here, Mr. Mazdas, also would like to see something a little smaller scale. I think Bill had some discussion with the county, so we're going to have to follow up with it. Do you want to say anything else, Bill, about that? Yes, I actually had a conversation with Jeff Thompson with Pinellas County, and we discussed the traffic signal. He was a little bit himself. He did, based on what that signal is doing, what we have is appropriate. There's no issues with it. He says, I don't understand why it's being changed. He goes, but again, we can open this up to discussion. And, you know, he set up some meetings for us to have. And after I looked at what the Broadway control box looked like, I definitely said, well, if this is an option and the developer has any say-so, I would definitely prefer the ornamental, architectural, smaller in scale. Of course, it's up to the county what, you know, what they want that traffic signal to do. And if they need to change it, I'm sure they'll, you know, change it. Yeah. I guess, excuse me. Mayor, I guess the bottom line is if it needs to be the bigger, are we going to be okay with it? Yes. It's certainly the route. Well, and again, you know, I brought this up. I answered a question two years ago of a citizen about some of the inefficiencies of that, how that light works. And I was told it's not a smart light. It could definitely, but we wouldn't do anything different with it until there's a development happening there. And so, you know, I want to do what's smart. Sure. But it looks good. And I'm not sure what that, when you bridge those both, you bring them both together, what that's going to be. I think we'll have to explore it. I will tell you, when we did the traffic signal, of course, I initiated that. Those signal heads, I'm talking about the signal, those were 8-inch, not 12-inch. The Victorian architecture, I mean, we did a lot of design aspect to make that fit within our Main Street. So I think if we could do something with the smaller scale, great. But if the county says, no, we need to have the interaction with the things that they do, with the data and analysis, then it's going to have to be the bigger box. And we'll wrap it. Okay. But obviously, we would have input to that, too. I mean, I don't want to underdo what we need either. You know, I mean, again, it's about pedestrian friendliness, but some of that's just traffic flow. Especially, traffic flow is going to be huge. We've got three garages coming out of there. That's going to be huge. It's a question of what do you want that signal to do? Is it lacking something that needs to be done? So you guys will be all over that, though. Yeah, we're also going to work with the county on the trail crossings, right, for the right-of-way use on the trail crossings. So we're going to be inputting a lot with the county. George, what I see is what I'll get, and that's built into the agreement or whatever? Yes. And as I mentioned at the first hearing, we've made some structural changes within our own organization to make sure that we're pulling that and getting that to our DRC to take a second look at it before we issue permits. Okay. Okay. I'm going to read this because I got this a couple days ago from a citizen, and I assured her I would ask these questions, so I'm going to do that. Somebody who's lived downtown since 1998 on Grant Street. I've seen everything over the years. I know there have been traffic studies, but I think this project will create a major problem in our streets. Our streets are not designed for this amount of traffic. Couple this with the problem of restaurant food deliveries, and this may sound familiar. I didn't know. With the problem of restaurant food deliveries with tractor trailers, valet parking, and event parking, this will make our downtown unbearable. For example, I have the salty soul across the street from my house. The town took away the unloading zone in front of the restaurant, so now the employees are parking on the street, and when the frequent U.S. food deliveries come in, they block one side of the street completely. These deliveries take almost an hour to complete. She also said, I don't know if the guy's having lunch or what, but anyway. But people go through the other side of the medium to get through. Somebody's going to get hurt. Any of that sound familiar? That's one. She has two issues. That's one of them. So what would be your response there? Really quick, Mayor. I mean, one of the great facets to this design is they have an interior loading space, so everything is coming into an interior portion of the building. So you won't have any staging off-site, you know, in the public right-of-way. One of the exhibits talks about the size of the vehicles and the frequency of deliveries, and they're going to be using much smaller vehicles where they can. Obviously, there will be some instances where they have some larger vehicles, but I don't think you're going to see that stacking up in our right-of-way like you probably do where somebody doesn't have a dedicated loading area. So I know this isn't the time to say it, but can you look into that other issue she's talking about? Because I know the deliveries. I haven't seen them there that long, personally, out there. Okay. Well, we will look into it. Yeah, if you just look into it. I don't want to take – and, you know, this is – I can make sure that Lindsay forwarded you this. The other problem, and this is probably more of a bill question, the other problem I'm very worried about is the rooftop bar area of the hotel. The developers said they haven't picked a hotel manager yet. Given the three or four stories of the building, if the hotel has outdoor music, it's going to be a megaphone over my house. I can tell you with all the surrounding bars around me, you know, that's hard to monitor noise level. So what would be your response to that? My response to that would be that, of course, we're going to abide by all the city rules, you know, after 11 p.m., decibel levels have to go down. And we're going to be looking also – there's specific acoustic equipment that you can purchase where the sound will only travel so far, and then it stops. And the rooftop bar, I mean, it's my intention that that's the kind of equipment we would put up there. And, again, we're going to abide by all the city rules. And that's one reason why this isn't a housing project, because we realize that noise, you're not going to, you know, stop it completely. And where this project is specifically, yeah, that could be a bit of a problem. But we're going to abide by the rules. Okay. Yeah, yeah, and also for the hotel guests. Yeah, Brian's right. Yeah, that's a good point. My final question is for you as well. I'm just going to ask this question as best I can. And so you're going to be the owner, and your plan is to stay the owner. You don't have any plans to transfer it, sell it. You plan to be the owner for a long time to come, and that includes your office, this, and the parking garage. Is that correct for the short or long term? That is what you expect to do? That's what you intend to do? Swear to God. That's good. That's good. That's good. Let's get a Bible now. It's all good. Okay. I wanted to ask that. Okay. I don't have any other additional questions. So I think we will turn to the public. Is there anyone in the public wishing to speak on this issue? If so, this would be your time to come forward. Come forward. Name and address for the record, and three minutes. Hi. I'm Linda Mifsud with the First United Methodist Church of Dunedin. We're a neighbor of this development. We've been watching it with great interest. We're very excited about the changes that this will bring. We've been watching how this development has evolved over the last few months. There have been many changes, many sensitive changes, many responsive changes. And so as a neighbor of Bill Mazas and his development and his company opposite the park from us, I am personally very excited to welcome him to the neighborhood. I believe that this will create some big changes to our community, and we are for the community, not just in it. So as we look at the future with Main Street Exchange in place, just a catty corner to our church, we see a lot more traffic. We see a lot more people, and we're excited about that change. We are not for the status quo. We're for change. There will be some necessary pain with the construction. There's no pretty way to say that. There will be. But I think we've got so much to gain with this development, and I'm very happy to have gotten to know Bill Mazas. He's been very available. I'm very happy to see all of the changes that he has made at the request of you all, at the request of his team, as they have identified the need to fit in this neighborhood, not just take from the neighborhood. So I believe that we will be referring to downtown Dunedin before Main Street Exchange and after Main Street Exchange. Thank you. Thank you, Linda. Anyone else wish to come forward to speak on this issue? Okay. Name and address for the record. How are you doing? Three minutes. Hi, everybody. David Ufer, owner of the Sandpiper 833 Douglas Avenue, directly across the street from the new project. I met Bill and his son yesterday. I told him I'd come by and give my vote of approval. I'm all excited for this project. It's been empty for probably nine years, once Ocean Optics left. Maybe a little more. I've been there 10, so they used to come by. It's an exciting project. It looks great. I do have concerns with the deconstruction and the construction, but they'll all be worked out, I'm sure. But I just wanted to say that we are excited for it. Thank you, Dave. Appreciate that. Okay. Anyone else wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Okay. Name and address for the record in three minutes. Hi, Vanessa. Vanessa Quintas, 401 Finway, Dunedin. I'm a resident on downtown, and I look so much forward for this project to give us options. We will never have to leave the city. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Were you sworn? Oh, I don't know. No. Okay. Yes. Yes. I'm also part of the Chamber of Commerce, and we, the MASA's team is part of the Chamber, so they're already connected to the community, and I'm, we advocate for our members, and we already are spreading the word about the potential of this project to be developed. And we have a lot of visitors, and I just want to share that so many people have, it's been such a positive response of, and actually new members that are considering joining that are not, do not belong in our community. They feel this, all these changes that are potentially coming our way, and it's made a difference in our Chamber membership and interest in our town. We see the, we get visitors right now, spring training, and we're spreading the word, and there's, there, everything's been very positive, and I really appreciate the MASA's team being so thorough and understanding the culture of our town, and the, the, the, the small town community that is, is so close-knit, they, they, they, they're considering that, and they're going to be part of it because they're going to be part of downtown, so thank you. Thank you for considering this project, because I'm really excited, and the Chamber is really excited, too. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Okay. Alan, name and address in three minutes. Oh. I have a degree in mechanical engineering, and I've been looking for it. Microphone, yeah, I guess. Is it on? There you go. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah, that, that helps. I have a degree in mechanical engineering. I've been doing solar power work for about 10 or 11 years now. So I'm here to speak on behalf of the Sierra Club, just to express a little bit of disappointment that this is what's considered another signature project for the city, along with Victoria Place and the Artisan, none of them, featuring solar power in the plans presently. I did sit in just last week in the Cali DC room for a design review committee meeting for development at, I can't remember the name of it, but it's at 265 Causeway Boulevard, where every unit will have eight kilowatts of solar power on it. The units that, or the development that was going to go in this site that I was a consultant for back about six years ago, the courtyard on Main Street, that was also going to have solar power on it. So I want to say that we, the Sierra Club, would like to remind everybody that, along with the clean energy commitment that the city's made for their own facilities, there's a second half to that commitment, and that is to clean up the whole city by the year 2050. So I have the opportunity here to be in front of some developers and some architects and some others who may not know that, and certainly don't, they don't know that on the, our chapter of the Sierra Club, besides myself, we have two other experienced solar power professionals who are more than willing to help answer questions that any developer, architect, et cetera, may have, in fact, to just give you an idea, just this afternoon I did an analysis for a church in Clearwater on a solar power proposal, and that solar power system is going to pay for itself in about seven years if they go forward with that on a 25-year system life. So the economics are there. I want, I want developers to know that. I want developers to know that anything they can imagine for solar power, there is probably a solution already available commercially, it's, I read an article recently, the title of which is, the future is here, it's just not evenly distributed, and that's the way it is with solar power. The future is here, it's just not right here, so we're not seeing it, but these things are being done elsewhere and they're being done successfully and economically. So thank you, if anybody wants a card, we're not selling anything, but the process is sold. Thank you, Alan. Anyone else wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Thank you. Thank you, Alan. Name and address for the record in three minutes. And sir, before you begin, were you sworn? John? I was sworn in before. Okay, good. Go ahead. Name it. Just watch. Yeah, it's okay. That's what I was checking. Thank you. Okay. Madam Mayor, Mr. Vice Mayor and City Commissioners. I want to thank you. You have to give your name and address for the record first, though. Sorry. Keep the note. Three minutes still. Thank you. You're very alert. John Gadu, 1426 Alamo Lane. Madam Mayor, Vice Mayor and City Commissioners. I want to thank you and thank Jennifer and her dedicated team of city employees and the developer for putting together an action plan that will transform the most underutilized real estate in Dunedin into an enviable destination for local residents, tourists, and seasonal guests. Magic is about to happen on Main Street thanks to your hard work, tenacity, and working as a team to accomplish a shared goal. Kudos to all. I have a question that can be simply answered, and that, of course, you knew that. There's a property that is currently under construction, underway on the south side of Cafe Racer to the north side of the existing structure at 966 Douglas across from Lucky Lobster. My question is, is that part of this project? There's construction going on now. Is that a parking garage? What is going there, and will it impact traffic, and will it impact parking? That's a huge chunk of land, so my question is to anybody who can answer it at some point, what will you see when you leave Cafe Racer going south on the left between that property and the structure that's currently there, and how it will impact this project? Other than that, my only other concern is there's a number of bicycle racks around Cafe Alfresco. It probably holds about 30 or 35 bicycles, and I understand they're going to put some accommodations in one of the parking garages, and my question there is probably needs more like 50, because there's already 35, and there's some scattered around, and there's some nearby, and this will change that whole environment, so I would think 50 would be a good number to plan for. Other than that, thank you all for what you've done. Thank you, John, and we'll get your question answered as soon as we're done with all input. And I'm sure those were music to Commissioner Gow's ears, right, about more bicycle racks. Okay. Anyone else wish to come forward and speak on an issue, speak on this issue? Name and address for the record in three minutes. Laycock 2306 Jones. I didn't swear in. I learned from Clay. Do you swear the testimony you were about to give in this proceeding is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I came here for another reason, but since I'm hearing all this, I do a lot of research at the patio on skips, and so that intersection is, I mean, I'm a Florida native, and the growth, it's great. I mean, this is great. Thank you, sir. This is fantastic, but with this, the new parking garage, the city's parking garage, and the marina, I mean, in three years, downtown Dunedin is going to explode. So I really think, and I know this is the county, but that intersection has to be looked at. I lived in Southern California for a long time, and we had diagonal crosswalks, four-way stops. They're called barn dances. And just address this way to the commission if you would. They're called barn dances. They're a diagonal, so all traffic stops, and people can move in any direction. I don't know if that's really that necessary, but that intersection is really going to get busy. And then I think as you take that turn going around the building there, you're heading east and then going to be turning back up to go north. Maybe we just actually put a barrier there and sort of force traffic that way. Because I think what you would want to do is keep most of the pedestrians either on that east side or on the trail. Because walking down that west side, unless you're going into the exchange, there's not really a lot there until you get up to your favorite places. So I think trying to keep that traffic there to a minimum and sort of giving people that push to go to the east side, where you've got Salty Soul or you've got Dunedin Brewery. And then like he was saying, to go east. And I think by then there will be a lot more stuff to the east. So I think the direction is to try to somehow manipulate that. And this is way outside of my purview. But I know you're going to be going to the county. And I look at downtown St. Pete, what they did with first, you know, north and south. They messed that up. So you've got to really be thinking ahead there. And sometimes I think Pinellas misses the ball. I think you guys have done a great job. But I just thought I'd put that out there for you. Thank you. Thank you very much. And kind of my point, it's not just, I mean, we want it to look good. But we want to be smart about how that flow of that intersection works. I think that's right on point. Just an editorial comment. Anyone else wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Okay. Seeing no one, we do have the question that came up by John, which is about the vacant parcel by Lucky Lobster, if you want to answer it. Yeah, sure. It's a parking garage that is in conjunction with Main Street Exchange. They're also looking to do retail there, which will be a future with a rezoning of their property. So it's, as George put the rendering out here, it's a good-looking garage. It'll be up against the trail and also be facing on to Douglas. The other aspect, as far as the signal component, actually we are looking at, and he called it a barn dance. There are other terms for it. But it certainly can be right now programmed where you could go ahead and stop all approaches in the signal. But, of course, then it also queues and backs up traffic. But we have talked about it internally, and that's something that we certainly can take a look at with the county. Okay. Whatever's the smartest way to. Sure. Anyway, you'll figure that out. Okay. I think that's everything. And so I'm going to close the public hearing, and I will ask for a motion. So moved. Second. Second. Okay. I have Vice Mayor Walker and Commissioner Sandberg. Okay. And so I will go to Commission comments, starting with the maker of the motion, Vice Mayor Walker. Thank you, Mayor. Chair, you know, as we went through and received the two readings and all the other things prior to that, you know, it was, I honestly don't think that, you know, and I go out and I talk to the residents and, you know, I don't think I heard one adverse comment about this project. And that's a little bit unusual. But, yeah, I will say this. I think there's a lot of excitement around this. I do appreciate the comment that was made with regards to, we will be saying before the Main Street Exchange and then after the Main Street Exchange. And this is going to be transformational. I think the one thing that really struck me here was just the involvement and the engagement by Bill and your team. Because, you know, the feedback that we get from the staff is, is that you've been incredibly accommodating. But the thing that really kind of drove this point home in terms of the fact that, you know, there's no question in my mind that you're going to be a very active member of this community and, you know, we were all at Dunedin Cares on Saturday and you were already, you know, on the top sponsor spot. And I, you know, that, you know, that speaks volumes. So, yeah, anyway, I'm very excited about this. I think this is just going to be a wonderful thing for the downtown and for Dunedin as a whole. And I think, you know, we've got a lot to be excited for. Thank you. And thank you. So, seconder of the motion, Commissioner Sandbergen. You know, tonight we heard the words commitment and long-term, I guess, very long-term. And that's exactly what Commissioner Walker just said was, or Vice Mayor, I was going to go that same direction. You know, there was people that noticed you sitting over by that wall on Saturday night and there was people that took notice who the lead sponsor was. The professionalism by your son caught me in the hallway and shook hands and said thank you and nice to meet you. And, you know, Dunedin's a special place. I've been here a long time. And I think that you are going to be a welcome partner. And that partnership that night with Dunedin Cares really pushed it over the top for me. And that's more personal than that beautiful project you're going to do. And I can't wait to see this project go forward and you have my full support. Thank you, Mr. Miles. Okay. Commissioner Gow, final comments. Thank you, Mayor. First of all, Alan, thank you for always continuing to be a champion on solar. We can't have enough of it in our country, so thank you very much. Anybody that talked about pedestrian corners and barndance intersections, love your attitude and your focus and your vision. Keep talking that way. They will listen. They're a little slow, but they will listen. John, bike racks, can't have enough of them. Thank you, sir, very much. And so you're obviously understanding where my mindset is. Bill, a fabulous project. There's a lot to be thankful for. Thankful for you being here. But certainly my passion is always going to be we need more housing. Right now, the latest data I got was within the county. Currently, we are short 45,000 units for housing. But in order to keep up with growth, that's 3,400 new housing units a year just to keep up. And so when we talk about housing may not work in our downtown, I take that personal, and that's dangerous comments. We need to be thinking. We have people that work for the city of Dunedin that can't live in Dunedin. We have teachers that teach in Dunedin that can't afford to live in Dunedin. We have service workers. We have hotel workers that can't afford to live here. Many of them actually can't even afford to live in the county. We need to make room for them. How many of us have children that when they get to that age, there's no half step out of the home. They're either in the home or they're leaving the county because they can't afford to live where they grew up. So we need to make room for them. And more and more, the state legislature kind of starts to tie our hands on what we can do as municipalities for zoning and whatever. So we are relying on the goodness of strangers. We're relying on developers that see the vision for what Dunedin is and what it should continue to be. And so there's plenty of development opportunities in Dunedinville. Dunedinville, please take a look. If this is an example of what you can do for our community, I'm excited about what other opportunities you can bring that include housing in our community. But thank you. Thank you, Mayor. That's it. Oh, and one more thing. I just, Bob, just a thought. It's not a question because I missed that. But if that utility box for the intersection is a real issue, is it food for thought? Could that be moved into Pioneer Park at that corner of the intersection? Just think about it. That's it. Thank you. I think it got asked one other time and another project. But anyway, I'll let him look. Okay. Commissioner DeGuard. Thank you, Mayor. I did have one resident call and complain about this project. She didn't know where it was, but she did complain. I don't think there's many more accolades that you could receive, Mr. Mazes, than what you've received so far. A project like this is very important to the community, fraught with a number of possible obstacles and pitfalls. And you've managed every one of them extraordinarily well. You should be very proud and so should your team. The manager and I were chatting and she was wondering where I was on some things. And I said, I'm asleep because I'm going to vote for this thing. It's been well done. But there is one thing I would like to make an observation about. When you look at the spectrum of possibilities on this footprint that we have, we exceeded the best of possibilities, in my opinion. Thank you very much. Okay. Well, I'm going to differentiate myself a little bit by saying I've seen emails. And I'm not a Facebook follower because you can't count on that. But I know that there is certainly a certain element of Dunedin. Not surprising that things are going to be too big, too much, huge. And so, they haven't been here. You know, I haven't really heard any negativity directly. The email that I just read, asking the questions, I think the word was, you know, a monstrosity. And I've been in Dunedin 40 years. And they always want the charm and they always want it to stay quaint, stay small. But I have to say, Bill, I think that over all my years, you know, of development downtown, with three and four stories, this is the most positive I've ever seen and the least negative in a meeting. I mean, normally we'd be here all night. We really would. And I think it's a real testament to you for how much you've opened yourself to input and comments and trying to work with everything that you can to make it as good as you can. And I have to say, I think you've done a great job. I have a lot of confidence in the project overall because I think you have shown a lot of, you know, true interest in the community. You want to be here. You've got your office here. And I feel your heart is here in this project. And I think that, but I, no doubt, when that thing starts to get built, we will definitely hear. And they'll be like, well, what are you commissioners doing to our little study of Dunedin? And I would just ask people just be patient. And it will be a signature project that we can all be proud of. But it will seem like a lot. It will seem like a lot to me when it goes up. But, again, it's about balance. And I think this is a good balance. And I think you've worked hard to really try to make it fit and be a Dunedin spot. So I love that. I definitely want to be up on that rooftop, listening to some easy music with, you know, maybe a beverage. Yeah. So I just think you've done a great job. I do want to make sure that I say to Bob, to George, great job. I think you guys have worked this through. It's been a long time coming. But that's always, you know, you're doing great stuff. Appreciate it a lot. And, yeah, I guess that's it. But I'm in favor of it. I think, you know, Dunedin's a special place. And we put our trust in your hands now, Bill, by giving this approval. So I'm in favor. So let's do a roll call vote. Commissioner Gow. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. Vice Mayor Walker. Aye. Mayor Franey. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously. Congratulations. Okay. I think we don't have a lot more. So we should just keep going. Or does anybody desperately need a break? Okay. We're going to keep pressing. Okay. So 3B, RFP number 25-2535, Loan Grant Administration and Compliance Services. Staff is requesting this item be postponed to a meeting in April. So I would actually, Mayor, if I may, how about March 19th? Okay. So staff is requesting to be postponed to March 19th. Do I have a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. So I'm going to go Walker-Gow. Mayor, I didn't, there was some noise. What did you just do, Jennifer? Postponed on March 19th, please. This next item? Yes. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. That's good. Yeah. I'm sorry. I probably should have. I didn't, after giving him a hand, I didn't want to gavel him down. So quiet. Okay. So all in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. And Deputy Renee is going to, well, they're both, they're going to close the doors. Thank you. That's helpful. Okay. Proposed agenda for the March 19th, 2026 commission meeting, which would include the change that we just made. Uh, is there anything that needs to be added or removed? No, ma'am. Michelle? No? No. Other than that. Okay. Anybody else? I'm just, give me a second. I just want to pull it up. Uh, okay. Um, okay. So, um, do I have a motion? So moved. Second that. Okay. Vice mayor and commissioner Sandbergen. And all in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Okay. Informational items, commission, discussion, and comments. So, I'll start with, uh, commissioner Gall. Um, don't have anything, mayor. Okay. Commissioner DeGuard. Um, Dunedin Cares is a magnificent organization that celebrated a wonderful event last night. Um, we were up to our elbows and elbows. Uh, it was so well attended, and I want to thank this community for- You mean the historical museum? No. Or Dunedin Cares? Okay. You said last night. That's why I was- Okay. Oh, okay. Yeah. That's okay. Go ahead. Sorry. I didn't mean- Am I off a day again? Yeah. You're good. You're good. Last Saturday. Last Saturday. Yes, that's right. No, that's okay. Sorry. Go ahead. You know, after everything that's gone on this week, it felt like last night to me. Uh, but yes, Dunedin Cares had a wonderful event right here. We got to see the best of the community come together and celebrate a wonderful organization, and I just think everybody needs to take a bow for that. Thank you, Mary. Awesome. Thank you, Commissioner. Okay. Vice Mayor. Uh, yeah. Just, uh, I want to give a big shout out for the Dunedin History Museum. Um, the 50 years of the Blue Jays and the exhibit that they have put together is really something to behold, and, uh, I, uh, I was, uh, particularly pleased by the presentation that we received on Tuesday, uh, to the point that I liked them so much I invited them to our Rotary to talk to our Rotarians, um, on Wednesday morning. Um, and, uh, just one other note, uh, I did my, my filming for the, uh, for the video that they're putting together, uh, this morning, and, uh, you know, while I was in there, uh, there was a group that came in two by two, you know, I think we ended up having about 12 people there, and, you know, they looked at the exhibit, but then they became a lot more interested in the, the interview that was going on, and, uh, you know, I, I was, I was looking, and I'm going, well, this is pretty cool, because, you know, I've got this, I got 12 people here watching me, watching me talk about Dunedin and the Blue Jays, um, you know, and so when we finished up, uh, I went over and said hello to the group, and to, they were all visiting from either Alberta or Ontario, so that was really great to see, and, uh, anyway, but so for the, for the residents, for the community, go check this exhibit out. Thank you. Commissioner Sandberg? I just want to say thank you for, uh, the opportunity to go to breakfast this morning with Clearwater for Youth. I saw people there that, man, I hadn't seen in 40 years, and, uh, someone said, well, now you're on our email list, so you'll see them again, so, uh, that was really special, you know, and it seems like today everything we hear is bad, but man, you know, listening to the background and the qualifications of those young people heading off to college, I mean, we can be really proud of some of the young folks that we have in this area, and I wish they would get more attention than, you know, the bad kids, so I, I really, I really appreciate, you know, having the opportunity to join you guys this morning, so thank you. Yeah, they were, I will, I'll second that. They, they were just some impressive kids. I walked out of there feeling like a slacker. It was like, well, nuclear submarines. Thank you, Steve, for, for, for talking to me, because I feel that way about our schools, that's why I'm so passionate, is that you can drive by those schools, and all you hear is the negative stuff on social media, whatever, and you have no idea what's going on, but if you open the doors and go inside, the students are amazing, the parent, the teachers are passionate, and so thank you for just one more, because we do have good kids, and there's nothing wrong with the younger generation, so thank you. So, you know, my comments are, you know, tonight's interesting, because I always feel like the number one thing we have to do is, you know, be fiscally responsible, and work on a good budget, and make sure we're being efficient, and, you know, look at how do we keep the charm of our downtown, and approve development projects that fit Dunedin. I mean, number one, that's our job, but we both know we get invited to every social thing there is, every non-profit thing, and we really work hard to be at those, and, but I, I just, and I think it's just interesting tonight that, you know, we, we heard, you know, we're going to be talking in our state of the city about what makes us special, right, and we heard some of it today. We're all in our kilts. We had the, you know, the, the Elliott clan here. We're so proud of our Scottish heritage. We had a room full of people, because we love our green space, and we want to preserve, and we want to take care of that, and we know that's a huge passion, and of course, you know, we, we, we, you know, when we look at our youth, that's really important, but again, who stepped up to sponsor that? It was our own Toronto Blue Jays, so when you look at, yeah, I mean, Toronto Blue Jays are a huge, are a huge leg of our, our spoke of our wheel in Dunedin, but, but, and part of that is, you know, this is an example that things that people don't see, some of the things that they sponsor, and I think Clear Sky sponsored the breakfast, and so our community just continues to step up, so I was going to add to, to, I didn't really have anything. I'm playing off you guys tonight, but the, the other thing that the museum did was they got Channel 13, Charlie, Charlie Belcher, is it? Yeah, and I mean, and I actually like set my, you know, made sure I was up at like 6 a.m., so I wouldn't miss it, and it was great. I mean, he did a lot of, it was good stuff, all about the Blue Jay exhibit, but of course, that opens itself up to playing off of all the stuff to see in Dunedin, and, and our charm, and things like that, so, um, yeah, and Dunedin Cares is great to, you know, it's great to have them, because, because not everybody is living the good life. I mean, we have a lot of people struggling, and it's important that we, we match all those things, so anyway, um, I can go on and on, because it's my favorite topic, Dunedin, Florida, so, um, but I will go to the city clerk update. Thank you, Mayor. I would just like to give a warm welcome to our new deputy city clerk, Heather Drake. Yeah, right. I'm happy to have her. You know, I congratulated her, and then I'm, but all night, I'm thinking, I wonder why she's here, and it's like, oh, hello. Yeah, of course she is. That's great. That's, that's awesome. Congratulations. Yeah, that's great. Yeah, that's true. Uh, city manager update. It's nice having a deputy. Um, state of the city, March 12th, doors open at six o'clock, presentation starts at seven. Awesome. And we'll have hors d'oeuvres like we did last year. Right. Okay, got it. Libations, like we did last year. I know. Yeah, it's all good. I keep telling people, come on, it's always a great event. Um, okay, city attorney update. No update. Okay. All right. Well, then, if there's nothing else good for the order, uh, this meeting is adjourned.