CITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING - Mar 19, 2026

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the March 19, 2026 City Commission meeting. I'm going to call the meeting to order, and we will start with the invocation and pledge by our city attorney, Jen. Okay, well, our first order of business is we're going to give an excused absence to our vice mayor, who had surgery this morning. He's doing very well. I just spoke with him, a little bit loopy, but doing really well. And he did say he's going to watch at least until Mayor Rector comes up and gives the trophy to Deneen for us winning the mayor's challenge. So, there we go. So, can I have a motion to excuse vice mayor? So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion passed unanimously. No discussion. Yeah, no discussion, but we certainly wish the vice mayor well, and we always miss him. So, okay. So, our first point of order is the 2026 Mayor's Challenge presentation. So, I would ask Mayor Bruce Rector of City of Clearwater in his Toronto Blue Jays jersey to come forward. Well, Mayor, it's great to be here with friends in Deneen tonight. I did have to, we had to, to go back, Mike Lockwood's with me from Parks and Recreation in City of Clearwater, and our team had to research how this is actually done, because we looked, and it, last time, apparently the last time the Blue Jays won was 2015. So, but this is such a great tradition, and it's a great tradition because of the love both of our communities have for baseball, Major League Baseball, and I think it's fitting that the 50th year of the Blue Jays here in Deneen, and that, although I would have loved to have kept it in my office for another year, I think it's fitting that we do bring it back to you in this very special year for the City of Deneen. And I'm going to come down in a minute, but before I do, let's kind of relive the moment there at the game. Because it didn't start out good. I'm trying to remember. I think it, like, was 2-0, favor of Phillies. And then I think we went ahead 3-2. And, of course, every time they went ahead, Mayor Rector would look over at me and, like, you know, as if here we go again, you know. And then I think you guys went ahead 5-3. Maybe it was 5-2. And then, of course, and then 7-5, if I recall, 7-5. For the record, Mayor, I was standing next to Phillies owner John Middleton when everything fell apart. And it wasn't recorded, but I did ask John, you know, what's going on here? And he did say he brought your good players. And I can tell you that I will be showing this video to Mark Shapiro, CEO of the Blue Jays, to make sure we're not, you know, we're taking care of our good players for the next time because we've got to start a long tradition. But, anyway, before I come down, I do want to say I really appreciate that you were there. And, of course, some others from Clearwater were there, which was awesome. It is a great partnership. We both know how valuable spring training is to our region, how much money it brings into our region, and the jobs it supports. So it is a great partnership. I'll come down now for the official picture. Okay, very good. I do want to give our Toronto Blue Jays liaison a chance to weigh in on this, Commissioner Sandbergen. You know, that was quite a game. And, you know, Mayor, I did think that was a little unfair when you brought the owner of the Phillies. It wasn't like you just brought a fan. So, yeah. But I think Dunedin's going to go on a run. What would you say, like 10 years almost? I hate to say it, but that thing's not going back to downtown Clearwater for a while. And welcome to Dunedin. And thank you. You know, the partnership, the Phillies, Blue Jays, you know, the fans. When Philly's here in town, you know, our restaurants in downtown are full, and I'm sure we do the same for you. So, yeah, thank you for that competition. And anyone else over here? Mr. Gall, Commissioner DeGuard. I'd just like the mayor of Clearwater to know he's welcome here any time he wants to come. I do have to say last year when I went, because we did lose last year, I went and you had a, I don't remember what it was, you had a huge controversial issue going on. The chamber was packed, and I think I was just a distraction. You had bigger fish to fry that night, so, but anyway. And thank you to Tony and Mike for all the things that you guys do. We really appreciate it. Thank you. So, okay, thank you. And, of course, if you want to stay, you can, Mayor. But I have a feeling you won't want to. Thank you very much. I think he needs to get out of that jersey. Yeah. It does say retro on the back as he leaves. There you go. See it? Yeah. I guess we had some spectators just for that. I love it. It is nice. Thanks for coming, Father Bob. He gave the blessing to me. All right. We're going to move to Paint Dunning Purple Day for Alzheimer's, March 28, 2026. Commissioner DeGuard, I'll turn it over to you. Thank you, Mayor. I think we have a few people in the gallery that are representing. At least they're in purple. So, please come on down. Is Lynn Christina here? Sit. Yes. Come on down. All of you. Oh, this is awesome. I've got, yeah, I was thinking of you today when I was putting this together. Nice crew. Very nice. Great, great crowd. Whereas nearly 7 million people, Americans, are currently living with the Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. And this number is projected to double by 2050. And whereas in Florida, approximately 850,000 residents, ages 65 and older, are living with Alzheimer's or related dementia. And whereas in Pinellas County, an estimated 12% of the senior population, age 65 and over, amounting to about 30,400 individuals, have Alzheimer's disease. And whereas over 11 million Americans provide unpaid care for individuals with Alzheimer's and other dementias, demonstrating extraordinary dedication and compassion. And whereas the Alzheimer's Association is the largest non-profit funder of Alzheimer's research, with 360 million committed to more than 1,000 global research projects advancing treatment, prevention, and future cure. And whereas raising awareness and honoring caregivers and researchers is essential to maintain hope and momentum in the ongoing fight against Alzheimer's. And whereas Alzheimer's Association invites Dunedin residents to visit www.alz.org to learn more, decorate businesses in purple, and wear purple on March 28th to support awareness efforts and fundraising activities. Now, therefore, I, Tom Dugard, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Mayor Moe Franey of the City of Dunedin, do hereby proclaim Saturday, March 28th, 2026, as Paint Dunedin Purple Day for Alzheimer's, and encourage all citizens to support those affected by Alzheimer's disease, honor caregivers, and unite to strengthen efforts to win the battle against Alzheimer's. I'll bring this to you now. Thank you. So, it's been a while since I've had to speak, so please forgive me if I don't sound great. So, good evening, everyone. I'm Bren Cuny. I'm a member of the planning committee of Paint Dunedin Purple. I also own Cuny Brewing Company in Dunedin, and I'm honored to share with you a little bit about Paint Dunedin Purple. Steve Olson, as many of you might remember, founded Paint Dunedin Purple after losing his mother to Alzheimer's. Determined to make a difference, Steve set out on his own, raising awareness and funds for the Alzheimer's Association. After that first year, he brought local business owners, myself included, on board, and together, our efforts raised nearly $10,000 on the longest day. My personal journey with this cause is deeply rooted in my family. I witnessed my grandma, Evans, facing the challenges of vascular dementia. She became withdrawn and silent before passing 27 years ago. About three years ago, my mom, Joan, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Watching her navigate each day, losing a little bit more of herself, is heartbreaking. She no longer recognizes her husband of 60 years. More recently, my husband's uncle, Jim, received his diagnosis about a year ago. He went from being the life of the party to someone who's dependent on his family for basic tasks. It reminds me of how relentless and far-reaching these diseases can be. Their struggles fuel my commitment to this movement and my hope for a future without Alzheimer's. Since the beginning, Paint Dunedin Purple has grown tremendously. In 2025, over 80 businesses joined in. Some wore purple, some served purple drinks and purple food, and hosted educational events, organized pub crawls, and led creative fundraisers. The whole community got involved, creating a beautiful sea of purple. And in 2026, we're excited to this whole new level. From, actually, Sunday, I'm sorry, Saturday, March 21st, to Saturday, March 28th, we'll celebrate Paint Dunedin Purple. Alongside the Alzheimer's new Do What You Love to End Alzheimer's initiative, which opens doors for even more creative activities. This year, we're hosting a zombie pub crawl, pickleball tournament, drag queen bingo, Paint Dunedin Purple in three locations, golf cart, scavenger hunt, pups on parade, mahjong tourneys. Now, March 28th is the big day. It is the day to be in Dunedin. And wear purple. So, you can go to our Facebook page or website, paintdunedinpurple.com, for all the activities. But let's paint Dunedin Purple and work together toward a future without Alzheimer's. We invite everyone to join us to celebrate, to support, and to do what you love to end Alzheimer's. Thank you. Thank you. And we do want to get a picture, but I want to say to you, thank you for having the courage to be vulnerable with your personal story. Thanks. Hey, that's hard. I would have been ball and dressed in. Thank you. Thank you all. We get prizes up here. Okay. Got a trophy. Now we're getting this. How sweet. Very nice. Thank you. Oh, yeah. Thank you very much. Okay. We are going to go to our next presentation, which is 2026 CFY Scholarship Recipients. And I'm going to ask Kevin Dunbar to come up here and kind of walk us through this. And we had it on our agenda. I know you don't go by Clearwater for Youth now. You go CFY because it's countywide. CFY Pinellas, yes. Right. But, of course, we had a very nice event at the TD Ballpark, what, two weeks ago or something? March 5th. March 5th, where a lot of scholarships were given out. And so, Kevin, you take it and kind of explain what all you do and who we're honoring tonight. Great. Thanks, Mayor. First of all, Kevin Dunbar, I'm the executive director of CFY Pinellas. And clearly, I got the memo on the right shirt color to wear today. That's right. So, I did get a kick out of walking in with Mayor Rector. So, I made it fun. First of all, thank you all for coming out to be part of our Breakfast at the Ballpark series. The reason it's a series is because our program has expanded so much. When I was here last year, we talked about we gave out 39 post-secondary scholarships. This year is 57, which has required us to be in multiple venues in order to support the young children. But a little bit about what we're doing. It's part of our Richard O. Jacobson education program, where this year, 57 scholarships in three different programs. We made available to students throughout Pinellas County and had 527 students apply. And as I said, we awarded 57. So, the children that you got to experience were the top 10%. But the programs are what we call our ROJ traditional program, where we give out 15 $10,000 scholarships. We also gave out an additional $11,000 $5,000 scholarships. Beyond that, we have a partnership with St. Petersburg College. And we provided 18 opportunities to 18 students to get their associate's degree with all tuition, fees, and books covered by CFY through our grant program. And our newest endeavor, which is the one that we're probably most proud of, is our vocational and trade scholarship program. It is sponsored by Duke Energy. And with that program, if a child goes to a vocational and trade school, it's a $3,500 scholarship. However, if they go to Pinellas Technical College, after any financial aid, we cover 100% of all their expenses. So, that's going to be not only their tuition, but that's their tools. That's their uniforms. We're setting a child up for success. So, we are extremely grateful to our sponsors who stand behind this. But incredibly grateful to you all for being here. With me tonight is Eric Harris, who's our program manager. Many of you have met Eric over the years, or many of you also know his dad, former County Commissioner Calvin Harris. Oh, yeah. So, we have a lot of deep roots. I just saw Calvin. We have a lot of deep roots in the community. With this program, Eric's primary role is he's working with the administrators of the school. We are not looking to necessarily provide the valedictorian their 8th or 10th scholarship. We're looking to find the child that this is going to be meaningful and impactful for. Eric is working with the administration of the school. You may have saw we had 37 different administrators over the two programs attend the breakfast to see really the benefits of those labors. And that work out of the 57, one half of the students first won their family to go post-secondary. So, we really believe the program's working. We're here today to celebrate our Duneen High School lads. We have two of them. One could not be here, but mom and dad have been here to join us. I mean, obviously, we're spring break, so we're going to have the challenges. But, Logan, where are you hiding? Logan McLemore is, he's got a pretty exceptional story. He will be going to P-TECH. Logan wants to be a plumber. And so, CFY is going to make sure that Logan's able to live his dream. You know, a lot of our bread and butter with CFY has been based around athletics. And my guy here is no different. You know, four years baseball, pitcher of the year on the team, and the voice of the dugout, even though he's been pretty quiet when I've been around him. But on a roll, and he's looking to get his, you know, plumbing certification. And our whole big thing with this is he's going to get out with no debt ready to take on the world, breaking down all barriers to be able to do that. Our other student is Grayson Franke, who is receiving a $5,000 scholarship. He's either going to Florida or FSU. Again, another baseball player and a golf athlete. And mom and dad are here today. They're in the back representing him. So, we're just excited about the fact that we have this opportunity to provide these. I will tell you this last little anecdotal story, and you heard me mention it when you were at the breakfast. We've kind of made a big deal out of the fact that we or somebody from our board goes out, and we're there and surprise the students at school to notify them that they've received this opportunity. In 45 years, many of you know my background, 45 years in public service. In those 45 years, nothing's been more impactful than seeing the look on their faces and seeing their reactions or seeing their family's reactions. So, really, truly have the ability with, we kind of always talk about the servant's heart when you're in public service, but the servant's heart of being able to go out and deliver that and deliver that for our youth to be able to stand up and to be what they want to be, how they want to be, where they want to be, doing what they want to do. So, and that's always what CFY is going to do. So, thank you for all your support, and I present to you our class of 2026 and both Dunedin High students. Let me ask, Logan, do you want to say anything about what the scholarship means to you? You're the voice. You spoke at the ballpark. It's going to help pay for whatever, I don't know if I could pay for before, so it'll help form a career for me. Thank you. Thank you. And so, maybe for pictures, we can get Grayson's parents up, and I know that your parents are here because the whole family's here. And, of course, Paula and Joe have worked with us for a lot of years in Dunedin. So, anyway, maybe we can do a picture with the parents, both sets of parents. So, while they're coming up, Mayor, if I may. Oh, yeah, please. The Macklemore's, so I'm glad, I'm really glad to hear Logan's going to be a plumber because the Macklemore's work in just about every division in this city. So, this is, we're already extending the application for you when you're done, okay? Just go to Human Resources. You might see your mom there, but it, yeah, I need a plumber. Okay, let's do this. If you can line up here. Brooke, I'll tell you. How did you talk for me? Good job, Logan. Oh, wait, sorry. It's been a pleasure getting to know you. Thank you, sir. So, big congratulations to Grayson and Logan. We're really proud of both of you and the parents, you know. It's a long journey through parenthood, right? And you all have to be very proud of your kids. So, thank you. And, obviously, Kevin and Eric, thanks for all you guys are doing. And I love your dad, just saying. Take care. And we'll see the Macklemore's tomorrow, first thing. Thank you so much. Okay. Yeah, you had a long talk with Logan there at the ball field, didn't you? That's a fine young man. I got to know him at the Dunning High School baseball game. And he sat at my table during that meeting. Yeah, fine young kid. That's great. That's great. Okay. So, we're going to move on to the 60th anniversary recognition of Dunning High School boys basketball team state championship, which I guess was in 1966. Okay. Eric Houghton is going to give us a little bit of walk through memory lane because we know how important our history is to us. I'm glad I wore blue. All right, everyone. Something rare, something unique happened in Dunning in 1966, 60 years ago. So, tonight I'd like to take you back to that time. Dunning High School was only five years old at that time, founded in 1961. So, it's been 65 years since we've had a Dunning High School and a Falcons team of all sports. So, in the fall of 1965, right before 66, I was a junior. I was 15 years old, almost 16. I tried out for the basketball team, and I didn't make the varsity, but they stuck me on the junior varsity. They were all sophomores except me, the one junior. And it was a decent JV team, and I developed into one of the leading scorers. Now, the varsity team was something else. The starting five were three seniors, Wayne Cross, Rich Grandish, and Bernie Klein, and two juniors, Rod Snyder and George Durschel. The coach was Frank Griffin. The varsity team had a rough start of their season. They lost five of their first six games, not a very audacious start. We did a little bit better on the junior varsity, but the varsity improved markedly as the season went on, and the second half of the season, they went back to teams that had defeated them early in St. Pete, especially, and defeated them. They beat Boca Siega and Dixie Hollands and Northeast, and ended on a magical roll that's never been followed in the history of Dunedin High School. So, meanwhile, the regular season ended for the junior varsity, and Coach Griffin promoted me up to the varsity, which was kind of neat. I was excited about that. So, the varsity's record after the whole season was 12 wins and 11 losses. So, now it was tournament time. We went down to the district tournament held at Bishop Berry High School. Anybody remember Bishop Berry? It was a Catholic high school. And there we played three games. We defeated Seminole, a team that had beat us earlier in the year. We defeated Gulf High, and then we defeated the home team, Bishop Berry, that was favored to win that night. We were the district champions of the Class A in this area, the county, basically. Next, it was the regional tournament held in Tampa at Jesuit High School. The first night, we played against the home team, Jesuit. They were slated to win, and we easily defeated Jesuit. The next night was a tough one. We played Plant City, and they had a record of 24-3 at that point. We were 16 and 11. It was an extremely tight game. Came down to the wire, and we won 48 to 47. There were no three-pointers in those days. We were the regional champions for Class A basketball. That meant we were on to the state championship. We were in the final four of the state. So, the tournament in those days was held at the University of Florida in the gymnasium. Nothing was televised. I don't even know if television had been invented in those days. But it was on radio, and everyone in Dunedin was glued to their radio to hear what was going to happen to the Dunedin team. The cheerleaders went around to all the players' houses in the middle of the night and put little signs up on the door or the wall saying, Go team, go. And we lived out on 580, and it was kind of dark and scary. And they got up there, and my father heard them and flipped the light on, and they scattered like rats. And they told me later that a couple of them wet their pants. Don't tell anybody about that. So, the first night, we had some families, by the way, went to the tournament, the Voight's families and some other of the cheerleaders. So, our first game was against Niceville. Anybody ever been to Niceville? It's a little panel team up there. And they had a great record also. It wasn't looking good. We entered the final quarter behind 38-31. And then, things happened. We rallied and outscored them 24-7 in the final quarter to win that game, 55-45. We were going to the championship game. So, the next night, Saturday, March 12, 1966, we faced Hollywood Chaminade, the power team down in the Dade City area, the Dade County area. They had something like a 33-2 record. They outscored everybody by 20 or 30 points. So, we were a distinct disadvantage. And we played exceptionally well, of course. And we raced out to a quick lead. And in the final quarter, we were so far ahead that the coach inserted me and some other reserves into the game. So, as soon as I got the ball, I heaved it up, and it went in. Incredible. My next shot clanged off. My third shot went in again. So, I scored a big four points in the championship game. And we won 61-42, 19-point rate. So, we secured the schools first. And as it has turned out, only state basketball championship. It was pandemonium. I don't really remember what happened. It was joyful. It was crazy. And, of course, we came back to Dunedin as heroes. And that was 60 years and eight days ago. Anybody alive? Probably not, except me. You alive? Okay. There's some old people here. That's 21,923 days ago that we won that championship. Something that's never been replicated since. We exuberantly celebrated here in Dunedin. The governor, Hayden Burns, came the next week to the high school, presented the trophy to the principal, Mr. Danford. The city commission got excited. And they called us in, all of the team members, and you gave us keys to the city. Do you still do that? But I've got my key to the city right here. Oh, that's pretty impressive. Well, I don't need anything if I have this, right? No, it's awesome. So, it was really a lovely thing. They're a little bigger now. We'll take another one if you've got one. Many years later, we were inducted as a team into the Dunedin High School Hall of Fame. And we got t-shirts. Rod Snyder, one of the better players, made up these t-shirts. I haven't washed it since I got it. It says, what does it say? I can't read it. The Dunedin High, Falcons, basketball champions, 1966 state champions. And then, I like the thing on the back. See what it says? The older we get, the better we are. The older, the better we were. The better we were. So, it was really an exuberant, extraordinary time in Dunedin. It was a thrill of a lifetime for me and all the players. And since that time, at least four members of that team are deceased. Three of the starters are Wayne Cross, Rich Grandish, Rod Snyder, one of the reserves, Phil Rogers, who became our class president the next year. They have passed on. But we do have George Durschel here tonight. George, where are you? I'm alive. Oh, he's alive. He's alive. Come on up, George. George was the point guard of our team. He was the Robert Redford of Dunedin High School. Oh, come on, man. He married his sweetheart. Oh, that I did. Yeah. That's the best thing ever did by me. All right. For me, anyway. And Bernie was going to be a very fine. I don't think he made it. He was our center. He lives in Seminole, so he probably got lost coming to Dunedin. I'll tell you what, he was the nickname all the time. He was a character. He was a character, wasn't he? So, anyway, it was a magical moment for all of us who were there, especially us, George. And it's never been replicated, so we wanted to honor it after 60 years. Thank you. We're going to get a picture. We've got to get a picture. You continue to make us proud. Oh, yeah, that's good. That's awesome. The athletic director is here. All right. So, we're going to do it this way. And for those who can't see it on camera, Chris Tuttle, assistant principal at Dunedin High School, just brought the banner from back in 1966. I'll have to stand over here in Cleveland. You come in love with this one. Right there. Perfect. Thanks for having me all. Okay. All right. Awesome. Hey, Chris. Did you want to make a couple comments on behalf of the high school? I think, you know, our history, again, is very important to Dunedin, so. Thank you, gentlemen. Frank L. Griffin was the head coach from 64 to 68. Then he went on to be a principal. The four years he was there, never had a losing season, won state championship in 66, and actually had the last district championship in 1968, his last year's coach, until last year when the boys' basketball team won their first district title since 68. And we continue to see growth with their basketball team. Baseball earlier with our two young men that received their scholarships and two fine young men, but also two athletes. And we always really push athletics because we believe it is a way for success and also to those things in life you just don't learn in any other way. So, super excited. Thank you all for recognizing the 66 team. Always good to see our former Falcons as well. And appreciate the recognition. Thanks, guys. Have a great night. Thank you, Chris. Thank you. Again. Sure. Go ahead. The icing on the cake was Frank Griffin. Our coach was named the coach of the year that year. So, he was the top coach in the state of Florida. So, that was great. That's awesome. Well, thank you. Hey, thanks. No, thank you. For Falcons. Dunedin Falcons never disappoint, right? All right. Thank you. Very nice. I wonder if there's any open slots on the roster this year we can bring Eric back. Yeah. He's tall enough, right? Okay. We are going to move to citizen input. Anyone in the audience who wishes to come forward and speak to an issue that is not on the agenda, this would be the time to come forward. Go ahead, David. Name and address for the record and three minutes. Thank you, Mayor. David Ballard-Gettis, Jr. I live on Georgia Avenue in Palm Harbor. Under the public health provision of the Florida State Statute, statute 381.0065, almost 30 years ago, makes reference to a waterless incinerating toilet as a water conservation measure. To my understanding, the city of Dunedin processed almost 1.4 billion gallons of raw sewage last year alone. And until just recently, throughout the course of most of my lifetime, the city has been pumping that treated sewage out into the intercoastal waterway behind Caledee Sea Island. The city has been pulling the water out of the ground, running the water through our household plumbing, treating it, and then pumping the wastewater into the estuary, polluting St. Joseph's Sound. Instead of disposing of our water properly, the city has been doing as it pleases, ultimately in pursuit of aggregating the water supply to the point of manifesting a water crisis, legislatively hoping to capitalize on a water crisis that was deliberate in the making. Instead of conserving water based on the 14th Amendment, legislation has been promoting the wasteful, improper use of water, developing HOA, deed-restricted neighborhoods, to promote legislative insolence through lawn irrigation, encouraging pesticides and carcinogenic fertilizers that leach down into the groundwater supply, ultimately to affect our health. Recently, legislation has begun to inject reclaimed water down into the aquifer. Political lack of sanity seems to be running rampant in this nation. We need to correct this immediately. Our essential water pipes in Pinellas County are frequently upwards of 80 years old, as is our decrepit water sewer systems. Yet we seem to have the money to desecrate the Middle East and destroy the state of Palestine, while our resources here at home and our infrastructure here are slowly being crippled. The county has money for the onset of roundabouts and its designing of its surveillance corridors based on the falsehoods of the Patriot Act and the timely construction of overpasses on U.S. 19, which remain in a constant state of perfidy and disrepair throughout my lifetime. U.S. 19 has been a source of financial bleed. Abraham Lincoln, in his Gettysburg Address, states that the world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. Thank you. Thank you, David. And just for the record, Dennean treats its water long before it ever goes out into the sound by all regulations and rules. So, okay. Anyone else in the audience that wishes to come forward and speak on issues that's not an agenda? Dale. It's me again. Good evening. Pal Coxie, Broadway and Albert. As we all recall, last month we had a very extensive presentation about the exchange on the corner of Douglas and Main Street. It was a very interesting presentation that covered a broad array of things that was of community concern. However, the one thing they didn't cover that was of interest to me was the availability of the sanitary system that serves that project. In addition to that, I was interested in what kind of capacity the exchange delivered into the main sewer system that runs down Main Street and then down Douglas. I talked to George Kenney. I made a phone call. He's the community development director. He responded promptly and set up a meeting with George and Clay Watkins, the city engineer. They put together a PowerPoint presentation showing the existing infrastructure, the available capacity, how they treat INI, and all the things that were a concern to me as a taxpayer. They knocked it out of the park. You should be very proud of your staff and what they do and how they did it and the presentation they gave to me as a concerned taxpayer. I just want to let you know that you guys have got a good team. And they answered all of my questions in detail. Thank you very much. Thank you. And in closing, as always, I want to thank you for what you do, for what you've done, and your transparency in doing the right thing. Thank you very much. Thanks for coming up and sharing that with us. Okay. Anyone else in the audience wish to come forward and speak on an issue that's not in the agenda? Name and address and three minutes. Hi. Julie Nelson, 651 San Salvador Drive. I'm a long-time Pinellas County resident. I am a Dunedin resident now. I graduated from Countryside High School. I love Dunedin. I love this town. That's why I'm here. However, I'm increasingly concerned about rising costs of living and what appears to be an ongoing budget mismanagement. Residents are being hit with large sudden increases, especially in utilities, after years of what seems like inaccurate projections. That creates financial strain and erodes trust. Several years ago, garbage service was reduced twice weekly to once weekly, so rates didn't go down, but they didn't go up. Now we're facing significant waste collection hikes. Also, my water bill has gone from when I first had my house for 15 years from about $60 a month for one person to nearly $100 a month for one person with very modest uses. With minimum billing thresholds that Dunedin has, there's no way for residents to reduce their costs, because whether you use the water or not, you're billed for a minimum. I don't believe that businesses are charged a minimum. In fact, I believe that the way their rates go is the more they use, the less they're charged. So, I also want to say that last May, when y'all were talking about the water rate increase, I emailed each of you, and I never received an acknowledgement at all, one way or the other. Civic engagement should be encouraged and acknowledged, not ignored. That's why I'm standing here in person today. Beyond the costs, I have concern about quality of life and city management. The Pinellas Trail has become unsafe at intersections due to cyclists ignoring stop signs with lack of enforcement. Our parks and recreation facilities need attention. The tennis courts are in poor condition, and there is maintenance issues that are going unnoticed until residents report them. But on a positive note, the new tennis coach, Tom, is amazing, just amazing. On development projects like Main Street Exchange, they raise serious concerns about traffic, parking, and overdevelopment. I know there's a parking garage, but using that parking garage that's off-site to cart their, you know, their cars back and forth on Douglas, which is a main busy place for people to walk and stroll and, anyway, very busy place, that's a terrible idea. And how many parking spots are really being gained for public use when the ones at the Ocean Optics, when you take those away, the ones that already exist, how many are we really gaining from that parking lot? So there's a lot of things that need to be considered. But, you know, it was also said that that was approved because of revitalization. I don't think Dunedin needs revitalization. It's a pretty vital place. But it does need thoughtful, scaled growth that prioritizes residents. Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate your input. Thank you very much. Is there anyone else in the audience that wishes to come forward and speak on an issue? Jennifer, could you clarify commercial water rates? The comment that got made was for individual water rates that actually... No minimum on commercial? Yeah. You want to come up, Clay? Good evening. Clayton Watkins, Utilities and Engineering. So our utility rates are all based on the same. It's a certain charge amount per 1,000 gallons up to 8,000 gallons or 5,000. And then it tiers up to another cost. And then after 10,000, we have another break. So we break it. Actually, it costs you more the more you use. That's for commercial and residential? That's for everybody. Same rate for everybody. And the more you use, the more it costs? The more you use, the more it costs. Right. Because we want people to conserve? Correct. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to... I didn't want that kind of hanging out there. So... Okay. We're going to go ahead and move on. Again, seeing no one else, we'll close citizen input. And I'm going to go to consent agenda. So a non-consent agenda. We have approval of the minutes for 2-3-2026 workshop. We have board and committee appointments for art and culture advisory committee, library advisory committee, and local planning agency. We also have a supplement approved the shortlist negotiation award of FFQ 25-2528, the need marina design and permitting of docks A and B replacement to Kimberly Horn and Associates Inc. of St. Petersburg, Florida in the amount of $355,757, a 2-D supplement award of contract broker of record for the city's property casualty insurance program to risk strategies, formerly the gearing group. And is there anything that anyone wants polled? Okay. Seeing no one, then for the whole consent agenda, can I get a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. Good. Okay. Okay. Would anyone like to speak on any of the consent agenda items in the public? Seeing no one coming forward, I'll close public input. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passed unanimously. Okay. Consent agenda is approved. Okay. We're going to go to our action items. First reading of Ordinance 25-02, amending Chapter 111 of the Land Development Code, Historic Preservation. Staff is requesting that Ordinance 25-02 be continued to the April 16, 2026, regularly scheduled 6 p.m. City Commission meeting being held at Dunnean City Hall in Commission Chambers. Can I have a motion to that regard? So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor of the postponement. Postponement. Sorry. Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion passed unanimously. Okay. 3B. Second reading of Solid Waste Ordinance 25-01, amending Section 66-101 of Chapter 66 of the Code of Ordinances. Jen, could you please read Ordinance 26-01 by title only? Ordinance 26-01, an ordinance of the City of Dunedin, Florida, amending the Code of Ordinances for the City of Dunedin to increase collection rates for Solid Waste Services, providing for publication, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date. That was Ordinance 26-01, read by title only. Okay. Can I get a motion? So moved. Second. Okay. Staff presentation. I've got Sue and Bill. Good evening. Sue Bartlett, Public Works Director. Bill also Pickram, Solid Waste Superintendent, Solid Waste and Recycling Superintendent. And we also have Terry Boveri on Zoom with Raftalus, who did the study for us. This item is here for the second reading. The first workshop that we had was December 2nd. Prior to that, we had gone to the Board of Finance on October 15th and November 19th to present them information and receive their feedback. And their letter of support in endorsing the recommendations is included in the agenda item packet from November 20th, 2025. And then, as I mentioned, December 2nd was the first workshop where we went into detail with Raftalus bringing the information and digging into all the different factors that went into calculating the rate and factoring that in. And then we had the first public hearing, February 19th, 2026, for Ordinance 2601 as attached. We also incorporated the comments not only from the Board of Finance, but in addition to the consultant here digging into what we actually needed. We had an efficiency study ongoing at that time to also incorporate those recommendations. Those results of the implementation were presented to the commission and then updated on March 3rd recently, which included changes to our solid waste capital program and huge changes to the unincorporated service with those reductions. So those were all factored into the calculations for the rate, the current rate recommendations. This ordinance includes not only bringing up the reserves to where they need to be over the next two years by splitting that out for the taxpayers or rate payers, I mean, so it's divided, but thereafter, those years have a 3% or CPI increase on an automatic basis recurring so that we can keep up with those changing costs and we will also be coming back to the commission as usual on an annual basis with our budget process where that information will be presented and providing updates at the end of the efficiency implementation to give you another update. And I'll just mention that at the previous hearing, we talked a little bit and dug in it on March 3rd about reducing the assets there in the trucks and solid waste with the changes that we've made. That was six at that time and since then the total is 13. So they have made a lot of improvements and changes to the way that the service delivery is performed and organized. And so we are asking at this time for your support in implementing this rate increase. So I don't know who wants to answer this, but if you could, since it's second public hearing, I want to make sure that we're laying out at least the basic facts, which would be, in my view, the exact expected rate increases, not by percentage, but real rate increases of what it's going to go to for the next five years, and also the specific reasons for that increase and what necessitated, what drove the unexpected costs. Yes, we'll do that. So attached, again, to the item, the agenda item for public viewing as well as commission, there is a rate table that will, when, and if the commission approves this, that it will be codified. And that rate table is Exhibit A, and there's quite a few rates here. So I'll just start with a single-family residential. Can you make sure we're all, we're, I'm not sure I know where you're at. Exhibit A, the very last one of the ordinance? That's correct. Okay, I'm with you. Okay. Are you ready with the or no? Yes. What page is that? Six. Six. Twenty-one on my computer. It's not really the page number. I don't have pages on mine. I'm there. Five, six, and seven. Okay. Yeah, go ahead. Thank you. For FY26, which would be effective April 1st, 2026, that rate would be $30.42. For FY27, effective April 1st, 2027, it would be $35.17. What's the current rate? Did you say the current rate? $26.26. Thank you, and then it's going to $30.42. Go ahead. Mm-hmm. And then for FY28, we resume the October 1st fiscal year. So it's our fiscal year of 2028, but October 1st of 2027, it will be 3% or CPI, whichever is greater. The CPI index is referenced in the ordinance. It's very specific to, let's see, garbage and trash collection in the U.S., city average. All urban customers, not seasonally adjust. And there's very big, a lot of detail here in our Section 3 under F that tells exactly how it will be calculated, the period of time in which will be considered for that CPI. And it is very great detail. Well, the graph or the chart that is included is that dollar amount is just calculated at 3%, since we don't know exactly what it will be. But then for 28, the estimated, if it's 3% or greater, if it's 3%, which is the minimum, it would be $36.23 for FY29, which is effective October 1st, 2028, be $37.32 for FY2030, effective October 1st, 2029, the beginning of our fiscal year, be $38.43. And then for a summary, oh, is that the other one that's unincorporated rate that I quoted? Sorry, I misquoted. I gave the unincorporated rate. It was $26.26. So the current rate is $23.67. Thank you, Bill. And I'd like to turn to Terry to just give you the top reasons there that we, that necessitated this rate increase. Terry, thank you for attending tonight. He's on spring break with his children. So we appreciate his attendance. Hi, good evening. Can everyone hear me already? We can hear you. Yes, yes. Thank you. For the record, my name is Terry Bovery with Reptalis. And our firm was commissioned to do the rate study. The key reasons for the study at a high-level summary are that in the recent few years, inflation has been very significant and outpaced the prior rate study plan that the city had committed and adopted the recommendations. One of the underlying issues there is that the rate increases were fixed adjustments. And because of the aforementioned higher rates of growth and inflation, sort of outpaced. And this really only happened in the last two to three years. The city monitors the finances very closely. And as part of the budgetary process identified the need to perform a rate study. Prior to completing the rate study, the city elected to perform an efficiency study in order to ensure that the rate recommendations that would be brought forward later on would represent the most cost-effective to the residents through a more efficient operation. I believe that it was mentioned that staff and the city presented on March 3rd the results of the efficiency study that were also commissioned. And there's a great amount of detail around those. And, you know, we had reflected that within the rate study. So the rate recommendations here tonight are effectively to bring the rates for service to the cost of service. In other words, funding the operating expenses, funding the capital lease payments for the vehicles, funding direct capital investment to ensure fiscal sustainability. And that another point I'd just like to add, I know it was, you know, the question was primarily about what's driving the need for this. However, I think that the rate increases and the rate proposal here is intended to help minimize rate shock going forward, meaning that, as Sue pointed out, that the rate index will be adjusted for inflation. This was a recommendation of the Board of Finance when we had gone before them to present this study. And we concur, Reptiles concurs with the findings of the Board of Finance, and that the idea is that once we implement these rate adjustments, that the hope is that it should better align with actual cost increases to the operation so that we don't find ourselves in the position where inflation has really outpaced the rate study. Thank you, Terry. Also, Mayor, if I may, the city manager asked me to also address the question from the previous meeting that we had on non-recurring costs and answering that question that was one of the slides that was asked about. And the non-recurring costs during, this is just how it's coded in that budget slide, were for consultant services, which included that year, again, non-recurring, both Rath Talis and then the efficiency study consultant and our consultant services from our support person that helped us implement the efficiency. So in that particular line item, and those costs are directly identified, any year that we don't have recurring costs, they would show up in that line. Okay, questions for staff? I'll start over here with, well, maybe it's time for me to start over here. Commissioner Gow. Yeah, actually, Mayor, I don't really have any five comments, but no questions. Okay, Commissioner Degard? As we look at the cost increases we experienced, did we do any analysis in the interim between the last adjustment to our rates and where we are today? Were there any considerations of what's going on? We just, in other words, we went five years without looking at this. Was there any consideration of looking at it before then? So, yes, actually, we did look at that, and that's why the ordinance is structured the way it is before you now. Similarly to what we did with stormwater, where we said we'd take a look in three years, the city managers asked us to make sure to come back, and we're looking at it, finance looking at it every year, and similar, again, Raftelis did our stormwater study and several others here, but they are providing us, the city of Dunedin, with the model so that we can actually enter in those different changes as every year annually when we're looking at what's ahead and what's happened. So we'll have a pulse there and report back to the Board of Finance. That's why Les is, Les Tyler, the finance director, is that connection to make sure to look at that. And then we will review, again, in all of these areas in three years to, yes, Jennifer's going to, go ahead. Mayor, may I? Sure, go ahead. So, to Commissioner Newgard's question, and we did talk about this during our one-on-one agenda briefing as well, is that during that five-year period, did we look at the utility and ascertain whether or not we needed to bring the rate study back earlier in order to lessen the increases? And actually, it was towards the outlying end of those two years, I think year four, that tipping fees were more than we thought that they would be, more than we had forecasted and more than the county had advised us they would be. And so that's what really drove us to go to Rafteles to start the rate study. That said, you know, it was a very dynamic time period in this country's history in terms of the, you know, coming out of COVID, inflation, interest rates, the cost of supply, the cost of labor, and all of those things increased much more than we had anticipated that they would and outpaced what we had forecasted. And I don't know, I hope we get out of that cycle. I'm not sure if we ever will. So we are committing to the Commission with all of these rate studies that we will come back to you in three years. We'll keep an eye on them year to year as well, if there are any surprises, but come back to you in three years to put before you anything that has changed in the forecast from this second reading of this ordinance until that period of time. And if there is, then we would have to move forward with adjustments. Rafteles has provided us with the model that we can do this analysis for, actually for the funds, the enterprise funds that they've analyzed and made recommendations on. So we will be able to do that as staff. If we get to a point where we believe, where we're seeing what's going on in the financial markets, labor supply, those types of things, then we maybe even need to bring it back earlier. But traditionally, in government, in my experience, these rate studies have occurred every five years. It's just been the standard every five years. But we're not in that standard anymore. And so I know a lot of governments now are, and Les can attest to this, bringing back their rate studies in a two- or three-year period as opposed to five. As both a representative of the city and also a consumer, I'm seeing this on both ends. We haven't really seen a rate schedule that has been normal this year. Everything is extraordinary, and it's hot. And to the manager's point, we've seen it also in other utilities around us. It's not anything that's unique to just us. I think that being said, and with your comments, that we need to make sure that there's better alarm bells, that we don't find ourselves five years from now. Are we doing questions, though? Sorry. Yeah, thank you. I didn't want to linger into too many comments. Is that true? Yeah. Is that true? Well, there's a question coming right at the very end. I was trying to wait for it, but, you know. So how are you going to make sure we get warned? We are going to, this is just part of our process, it's set up annually to take a look at it. We also, the way that this is structured, again, to balance out the first two years, and then the third year, we will actually be trying that CPI to see if it's actually going to keep up with inflation. You know, while we were doing the efficiency study, and, you know, we delayed this actual rate study in order to implement that. And so, of course, inflation continued on, but they did incorporate all that right up to the last minute because we wanted to stabilize and make sure that we're sustainable, and then we also have all these efficiencies taking place, and that's going to keep on going. You're going to hear more and more about that in addition to the rate study. So that's how we're going to have our warnings. Thank you, Sue. And I promise you I won't say much in comments. Mayor, may I elaborate on that efficiency study just a little bit? Sure. In terms of this utility, solid waste, and when Sue had mentioned that we delayed the rate study, we, I believe, squeezed every little bit that we had out of solid waste as far as that efficiency study goes. As you know, we contracted the routes out of unincorporated because not only was that not making money, but it was costing us. So that was not efficient. We sold vehicles that we had in reserve that we were no longer using. So we have reserve vehicles in case we have one broken down, but we sold the rest. We also have two unfilled positions which moving forward will most likely take out of the budget. So those were the efficiencies that we found, and we found those as a result of the rate study and then, excuse me, efficiency study, and then came in the back end and looked at the rate considering those efficiencies that we gained. And so this is the size of the utility that we need in order to provide the services that we need to the community at the level that the community expects because, as you know, solid waste is, on all of our citizen surveys, one of the top-rated divisions in the city. So, and it's important, our residents really appreciate the TLC that they get from our solid waste employees, and I see kudos to them all the time. So I just want, for those that are watching, maybe because this is second reading, so this is not as an elaborate presentation as first reading usually is, but, you know, that efficiency study and the rate study were really hand-in-hand to arrive at where we are this evening. Okay, thank you. Questions, Commissioner Sandbergen? You know, I guess when the percentage was compared to the dollar amount, it sounds a little different, but, you know, to piggyback what a citizen came up and talked about, utilities, I mean, we hear about this. You know that. We hear about it. In fact, as of today, I've talked to you. Have we looked behind every possible door? We have taken everything we can do so I can say to the public, this is, we've done the best that we can do. We absolutely have, and part of this efficiency study is not to stop. It's taking more ideas and continuing to keep up and current with what's happening in the world that we can use, but really the meat of it is getting ideas from employees where we can actually just carve off five minutes, carve off another five, and that results in recurring savings. And so it's not done. It's some of the things we mentioned, like the vehicles, that'll be a one-time savings. It does save, it does impact other areas, which will save also solid waste, like maintenance on those vehicles, PMs. So, you know, fleet is impacted. You know, that's a cumulative effect. But then there's the recurring savings that will continue to occur and that we will continue to find. I mean, it's really no secret that I just cannot get comfortable with our recycling program. Are there any other options for this city going forward for, you know, we've talked about it. The guy that's got, you know, a milk carton and an orange juice carton at the bottom of that giant blue can. To me, it's unfair that that citizen has to pay the same as somebody that has it overflowing. Are there any alternative options out there? There are, and I scrutinize those and look at them in different types of programs where maybe an incentive program where a variable rate based on what you produce, generate per household. We do have, we have a, our program is a hybrid of that. Okay. To where we have a minimum and our minimum is a rolling cart for the trash at a 90 gallon and the same over on the blue cart side. But where the heavy generators, they get a 50% discount if they need that second cart for the second cart. The, those are, those are some of the programs. And the other, the other part is in those variable rates, perhaps you're seeing in the industry as a pay as you throw program, which is considered out there. I looked at, I look at a lot of it. Where is it being performed at? What are the typical other parts of the waste stream that apply to those areas that are having success with them? Do they have the same growing seasons? What we're faced with on our side and our program, keep in mind, you have three to four different vehicles that go by your, your, your home each collection day. One of them is for the, for the recycling cart. One's for the trash, household trash. And you have up to one or two on the yard waste. This time of year, growing season, it's out there. And so we have the claw truck in support. The labor intensiveness in our growing seasons is year round, but more heavily now. And are those programs there? And what are the tools that we're offering our residents to help them divert waste? I think someday we might be able to get to it because we're once a week all in on the same day. But what are the tools we're doing with our residents? And our sustainability, our environmental specialist team right now are working on composting programs. They're working on those programs to where can we, can we bring those citywide to give people ways to produce less waste without abusing the blue cart or perhaps illegal dumping, which is not, I don't see that with our program. We're very well structured to where we do have a pretty robust program of what we collect each week outside the barrel when it comes to two pieces of bulk up to a certain amount of yard waste. Right. I mean, I hear those three trucks go by and it's, you know, you can almost set your clock by and I'm just wondering if there's, you know, just anything, as long as I know you guys have looked behind door number two, door number three to... And we'll continue to. I mean, and that is really the key. We'll continue to look because as Bill was mentioning, they're looking now at which of the programs, whether it's recycling at curbside, composting, we have several pilot programs to see what will they cost, do they really save, and is it better for the environment? Which program is the best bang for the buck? So that's the ongoing, some of the ongoing work that I was mentioning that will continue to go on. And we hear our citizens. We do hear them. We are working on as many of these solutions as we can at a time. Again, limited amount of staff, but we haven't forgotten. We are listening and we are continuing. And as Jennifer mentioned, you know, it's one of the top-rated divisions. They really do an outstanding job. They're not going to stop that. They're going to continue to do that and apply, again, some of these new technologies in different ways. You know, I think it says a lot when citizens contact. I mean, I'm sure to my left, too, you know, contact me with an idea how to save money. And, you know, that means a lot coming from the citizens. But they're the ones that are footing the bill. Right. Whether it be their water, their trash or whatever. So, thank you. That's all I had. I just wanted to make sure. Thank you, Mayor. I just have a couple questions. Just kind of reiterate. So, waste and recycling CPI over the period of time that we're talking about, was it 30%? Is that what it was? 30%? Terry, is that accurate? For what period of time again? Over the same period of time we're talking about. Yeah. For the five years before we re-evaluated? Oh, yes. That is correct. 30% since 2020, to be specific. That's included in our presentation on slide 8 from the first reading. And within, even with this increase, after this increase, how do we compare to the region? Very well. Yes. Go ahead, Terry. I'll just jump in and say that we performed a survey average with approximately 12 different municipalities within the region and some of which are not, are subsidized by the general fund and just as a point that the city is a standalone enterprise fund, meaning that the cost service is only funded by the city through the user fees. But even given that in the survey, the survey average was $30.69. And with the proposed increase for next year, the city's rate would, for a typical residential customer, would go to $30.42, slightly below the average. So, you know, it would suggest that the city would still compare very favorably with other neighboring jurisdictions. and also to note that, you know, we are comparing the city's proposed rates to the comparable peers' current rates and that they likely, too, would have inflation and cost adjustments over time. Okay. That's all the questions I have. So, I'm going to, if there's no other questions from the commission, I'm going to go ahead and turn to public input. Is there anyone you'd like to wish us to come forward and speak on this issue? Name and address and three minutes. Julie Nelson, 651 San Salvador Drive. Again, I'm very concerned about the budgeting miscalculations that have led to this recently approved waste collection rate increase. Waste collection has been sold as a 28% rate hike, but the figures that were provided in the newspaper that I, article that I read, when you compare the first, the current rate up to what it's going to be, it effectively turned out to be like a 62% increase. And that's not a modest adjustment. I don't really understand, you know, maybe I don't understand local government, but I don't understand, like, don't you have budget people, financial people, that that is their role for the city? Why do we need to spend money on rate studies and efficiency studies when we're looking at a simple budget, you know, for waste? That's just something you have to look at every year. I'm also concerned about the costs, how they're being distributed. Again, about commercial versus residential rates. I do want to, I didn't get a chance to ask, you know, my question when you asked him about the commercial rates, but in the paper, it said that commercial rates for waste are being adjusted the same as residential rates and I wonder why that is. Why are commercial rates not higher? Why are residents basically subsidizing businesses? And then, what contributions are new large developments like Main Street Exchange making towards a strain on our water, sewer, and trash infrastructure? The justification cited post-COVID inflation, but COVID began in 2020. It's now 2026. Why weren't budget projections adjusted earlier to avoid these kind of sudden compounding increases? Residents are being asked to absorb the consequences of delayed financial planning. And like other rising expenses in our lives, these are not optional costs. We can cut back in many areas, but we can't live without water, sewer, and trash services. To put this in perspective, water rates were sold as 15% increase, but with additional annual increases, they are much higher than that, over 25%. Waste collection sold as 28% increase, effectively 62%. That's a combined increase of 86% in essential services in a very short time. This is especially difficult for seniors on fixed incomes and for singles who are bearing these costs alone. This level of increase reflects a deeper issue with long-term planning and financial management. My question is similar to you all's, is how will the city improve its budgeting process to prevent this from happening? And what steps are being taken to ensure that residents are not disproportionately burdened moving forward? And I would like to clarify whether on the water, whether commercial businesses have a minimum water amount because years ago when I called the city about my high water bill, that's what was explained to me over the phone by the water department. So if that has changed over the years, I was not aware of that, but I was told that it was at different rates and I would like that clarified and whether there's a minimum on commercial as there is on residential. Thank you. Thank you. We'll answer questions at the end of everybody's comments. Okay. Come on, David. Name and address for the record in three minutes. Thank you again, Mayor. David Ballard-Gettis, Jr. I live on Georgia Avenue in Palm Harbor. With the rising costs of door-to-door garbage pickup, would it be wise to table a conversation regarding neighborhood recycling bins where we consolidate our garbage to include, like I had said earlier, you know, the waterless incinerating, you know, toilet program where if we're picking up after our animals, you know, in such a way, after our dogs when we're out walking, you know, our human waste would also be packaged in such similar manner. The neighborhood recycling bins would serve a practical purpose and a cost-effective purpose for having them strategically located, you know, throughout the neighborhood, throughout the town where we can dispose of, you know, our waste products. We're already slowly starting to realize that recycling is a critical concern. Plastics go in one bin and to include our waste products. Now, in the future, as the water crisis increases and society trends start to change, that might be something practical. It would help save money. And, you know, I feel as though, you know, we have enough energy to go to the grocery store. You have enough energy to go to the neighborhood recycling bin and recycle and divide your garbage up and make practical use of how we throw away our byproducts. Thank you. Thank you, David. Anyone else in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Name an address for the record in three minutes. Hi. Hi, ma'am. Hi there. How are you doing? Good. How is everybody doing? Good. Jim Calgar, 2092 Valley Drive, Dunedin. Mr. Bovary made a comment that they did a comparison with other municipalities. I'm kind of curious as to are those municipalities, do they have the same population, same amount of businesses, and how was that comparison conducted? That's my only question. Thanks. Thank you. Anyone else in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Okay, seeing no one. Let's go ahead. I think I understand the question, but at the heart of it, I think with water rates or trash rates, are residents subsidizing businesses or is there some advantage in some way? Can we ask that for water first and then I guess trash? I think that's the heart of your question now. Is there a subsidizing going on in minimums? I would say, so we do have a, for our residential, maybe we have a meter fee, we have a base charge for water and wastewater for residential. Commercial, we're basing you, that very minimum would be based on the meter size because it's a larger meter. And then I've got to do some double checking, some digging on the rates, but mostly they're all the same. So are you aware of any way that it's being subsidized? I mean, are they? No, for on water and wastewater wise, well, on wastewater, we, no matter what residence, we cap you at a certain use after you get 10,000 gallons for that charge. But on our rates, our discharge rates, they go up as we talked about before. Yes. And then you're, on a commercial, you're billed by your meter size. So there's a rate that goes through that. But there were. So in a sense, that becomes the minimum. Correct. Like we're still, everybody's still being charged. We're not subsidizing commercial over residential. And we can look further into that, you know. It's not a problem. Yeah, I mean, yeah, maybe you want to clarify that. Yeah, I need to double check some more with utility billing in the morning. Julie Nelson is her name. Yeah, and actually, what I'd love to do is much in the Dale model of a question is to sit down with Ms. Nelson and go over how it is we do the rate studies and how it is the methodology and how we arrive at what the rate will be, how we vet what the rate is and make recommendations to the City Commission. And I think it might help clear up some of the questions that she has. So, you know, I'll give you my card. I'd love to sit down and talk with you. Okay. I think that would be very helpful. Great. Okay. Second question was, does it make any sense or would it be advisable to try to do neighborhood recycling centers versus what we're doing now? We currently have two in the city, one right next door to our yard on Lake Haven Road and one up at the Park Off of Michigan Boulevard. And there happens to be a county drop-off site which is on our border on Curlew Road. So, you speak to those. Residents have three options to self-haul recyclables to any one of those recycling sites. To go a little bit more than that, I'm not a big fan of. They tend to perhaps become dumping grounds and those are the fallout of it. But I understand the principle of the idea is that if we can offset some of the costs of going house to house for recycling, which in my opinion works for our program. It's a staple of our program. It's allowed us to go to the one, one, and one. But, you know, there are three nearby. And then there's also the county runs their program on every other Saturday and that's right off of 19 to bring the electronics and the hazardous chemicals and such like that. We try and pump out as much information as we can to allow people those options to be able to help with the waste stream. And we, you know, again, we're going to continue to look at ideas and different ways to do things. One thing to consider, I mean, it's not, it always sounds so simple when you start talking about it, but then you start looking for a place to put it. And, you know, not in my neighborhood, not in my yard, not next to me. Also, you know, we're very limited on any extra land here in Dunedin. And so, again, this is not, I'm not trying to say there's, these are reasons, these are realities that we'd have to look at. And we're going to look at different ways that we can be creative and be efficient. Mayor, ma'am. Sure, go ahead. Oh, he's back. He's back. Clayton Watkins Utilities Engineering. Quick correction on what I said earlier. We do not cap waste water charges on commercial. We only cap it on residential. So if they use over the 10,000 cap, they would still be charged per gallon, per 1,000 gallons. Okay. And so, but you'll have this meeting, so that'll help. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. And one thing I just want to add about the neighborhood recycling centers that we really do take, you know, and I've said it so many times that our analysis is starts with a citizen survey. And we always have to think about the consequences of the decisions that the five of you make up here. And if it is to stand up a neighborhood recycling center in order to save money, what's the consequence of that? I think you're going to hear from as many residents saying, I don't want to do that. I'm not going to do that. I don't have time. I don't, we're not going to recycle anymore. You know, so there's an impact. It's like, you know, you throw a stone in a lake and there's all sorts of, you know, rings around that, all sorts of consequences outside where the stone landed. So we have to take that into consideration. It would be a red flag if I was hearing from the citizens that solid waste was, they didn't like it, they didn't like the frequency, they didn't like it, and so on and so forth, but we're not hearing that. And so they like the program the way it is now and that's how we presented the right study. And I will say, I know, because for a lot of seniors, they just get to the point they can't take stuff to the recycling, to the existing neighborhood recyclings. They need it picked up door to door. They just, they can't, they can't do it anymore. And we will pick it up at their doorstep too. Yeah. Okay. Let's go to the last question, which was, and I guess, Terry, this is probably you, how was the comparison done among other cities in the region? Same size? Were they like, how was it done? And what did you look at? Yes, Mayor. When we did the comparison, we looked regionally. We weren't specifically looking at population because that isn't a very good metric for the city's solid waste enterprise fund here. And I can explain why. However, I do want to say that several of the cities were comparable in size that we were benchmarking to in terms of population. The first point I'd make as to why it's not that relevant for a comparison is that the city doesn't own any disposal facilities and it's the disposal facilities that have economies of scale with the operation. And because the city takes their material to the Pinellas County facilities, which is one of the largest in the state, you are theoretically already having those economies of scale. So as it relates to the collection operation specifically, which is what is predominantly being done with the labor efforts of city staff, those costs tend to scale. You know, the capital efficiency use is scaling with the vehicles, meaning that, you know, a vehicle might be able to serve, you know, 800 homes in a day. And so, you know, if you have a really big municipality or smaller municipality, because the capital required to serve the population is in a very small increment, relatively speaking, 800 homes, it means that different sizes and communities, you know, you're not going to see as much of, you know, a difference in those economies scale. Now, if you have a very small rural operation, obviously, you know, so I guess what I'm trying to say is that population probably isn't as big of an effect as other variables. The benchmarking is a useful tool, but I would also admit that nothing replaces, you know, looking at your own operations. And I think that's what the city had done with the efficiency study and the costs are what they are. We all face the same costs in terms of the labor costs, the vehicle costs. Many of the vehicles are purchased through a cooperative procurement agreement across the state of Florida for all municipalities. so the cost inputs are going to be kind of similar and the outputs, therefore, are the result of the unique characteristics of the community themselves, the density of the homes on the route, things of that nature, not necessarily just population size as a standalone item. Okay. Thank you. Okay. We're going to move on to commission comments and I'll start with the maker of the motion, Commissioner Sandbergen. No, I think that, you know, we heard it tonight we're still looking if there's anything, any options out there. That's all I can ask for. So that's all I have, Mayor. Okay. And seconder of the motion was Commissioner Dugard. Final comments. This is your comment time. I think I've used up most of my comment time, particularly on this issue, but I do feel that we may be setting ourselves up again. We do this every five years for all of our enterprise funds, same year. That means it's a perfect storm, particularly if we've had an inflationary, unexpected inflationary impact. That means we're sending out to our citizenry a series of messages which says, guess what, you've got to pay more. And I think we're set up for it again because we're using the five-year benchmark. I think that's obsolete. I think you will. You may want to answer that if you wish, but I... We're going to three. We're coming back in three. I heard we were going to have a five-year with a three-year check. Is this a five-year rate? This is, no, this is not set up as a five-year rate. It's set up in, to go to the CPI and continue to recur every year thereafter unless we come and change it. So the check-in is... When is it coming forward here again? Three years. We will bring this back to you in three years. And what we'll bring back to you is that nothing has changed since you adopted it three years ago. And we are on the right path for what we requested for all of you or tipping fees have increased again more than we thought and we need to address this and amend the ordinance. I'm very grateful for that and thank you for correcting me. The thing I kept seeing was a five-year schedule and everything was in a five-year sequence. And that's what made me believe that what you were doing was just bringing back a report in three and a full recommendation for new rates in five. But that's not the case. Yes, that's correct. Okay. Then I can be supportive of this. Thank you, Mayor. Okay, I'll go to Commissioner Gow. Final comments? I was waiting for Tom to go. Oh, never mind. You know, I worked for Cedic Clearwater Solid Waste up until I got on the dais here. And at that time they were talking about the tipping fees at the county. And what was on the horizon a great concern. But to the resident's point, this is such a hard pill to swallow, right? Because for all of us we're making the decision but we're also residents. And so we will be bearing as much pain as anybody else. And for the record, we're all not independently wealthy. So this is, it's a tremendous hit. But if you look back at what the city, county, state, the nation, the world has gone through in the last five years post-pandemic and the conversations about inflation and the constant talk about inflation coming down, inflation coming down. And it really didn't. And so when are decisions made? And certainly if you make them too early, now we're just raising prices when, oh, see, and so we're really in a catch-22 situation. Unfortunately, with this, we did wait a little long. But between tipping fees, inflation costs, labor costs, and that's not just us. It's not just our solid waste. That is everywhere. Everywhere. And so we're just part of that. It's just hard to swallow when with affordable housing prices, the market of houses and just at what point is the city unaffordable? It's not just for people wanting to move here, but the people that live here and can't afford to live here anymore. That's very important to me. It's personal to me. But as hard as this is to swallow, it is something. Right if you just look at the numbers, it is what we need to do. Could we have made better decisions sometime in the short past five years? Maybe, but I think we'd still be sitting here tonight no matter what we would have done three years ago, two years ago. So I'm reluctantly supportive of this. I don't know what the CPI index is going to show. I would love to have staff come to us and say, hey, look, we can reduce our rates or let's keep them flat this year because we're good on everything else as long as everything else settles. And we're still not. There's conversation now that inflation is going to go back up. There's a concern of that. And so we need to keep that mindful eye. But staff does a fantastic job. You guys have done the very best that you can. And I do thank you for that. But anyway, so those are my comments. Mayor. So, you know, I've been here 40 years in Dunedin, 42 to be exact. I was a staff person here. I actually do know what waiting too long on rates looks like because back in, I've said this before, late 80s, early 90s, water and sewer rates were kept artificially low until we were in absolute crisis. Complete crisis with broken down plants and, you know, to a point of a couple things that got said about the environment and putting bad things into the sound. We were, we were, it was a crisis. I was here when storm water rates got put in for the first time. It was painful. We were one of the first communities to do it because things weren't happening and it was having environmental effects. And of course, in 42 years, number one department has pretty much always been solid waste and the service that solid waste provided. I mean, that's just always been true. I mean, there's a long told story 40, 50 years ago where they actually picked up a Volkswagen that was old and threw it in a garbage truck. So, I don't know if that's folklore or the truth, but they pick it up at all. And, you know, before I talk about overall cost, I mean, you know, today I had three barrels of yard waste, full recycling, and my trash. And that happens once a week, every week of each month, and I'm now going to pay $30.42 for that month of four different times with all those barrels out there. When I look at all the things that I buy, and I'm not minimizing it because I know it's tough, but it's still a good deal for something really important that you have to pay for. It's a must-do. Looking at the big picture, you know, we, since COVID, I mean, it's just happening nationally and internationally, the costs. Maintenance, labor, huge labor costs, increases in inflation, disposal costs, which are mandated by Pinellas County. I mean, we don't have an option there. And, of course, they took a hit because they used to have the Duke Energy that kind of subsidized some of those costs. They don't have that anymore. So now all the communities around Pinellas County are getting hit with that. Steel went up 40%, which is our trucks. And the waste and recycling CPI up 30%. So I, and I don't say any of that to take it lightly. I really don't. I just say that it's hard up here sometimes. We don't want to raise the rates. It does affect all of us. But at the same point, we have to keep our enterprise funds sustainable and make sure we're getting the job done for the good of all, especially for our environment. government. Our finance board, which is made up of all citizens on that board, unanimously supported this. And trust me, they are not easy. And they feel we have to do it. And again, I go back to my monthly water, sewer, stormwater, trash, recycling bill is $135 a month. Again, when I look at some of the other bills, it's it's a lot. It's a lot. We get a lot for that price. But again, I get it with affordability because all costs, especially at the grocery store, are up. But again, we look at a lot of mandates in those areas of water, sewer, stormwater, and trash. And we got one that we're going to probably get hit with in wastewater, you know, if not next year, the year after, which is biosolids and how we have to deal with them. We agree with it environmentally, but it's going to add to our costs. So it's not easy being up here trying to figure out how to do that and at the same time caring deeply about the effect on our residents. And I do care deeply, and I know people are struggling. But I think, again, I think we just have to do this. And we just have to keep a close eye. And I think that's what staff is going to do. And we, every budget year, have to ask the right questions too. You know, if we see it going up, if we see the disposal fee at Pinellas County going up higher again, I think we jump on that, even if it's a year end. You know, is this going to change what our outlook is? So I do support this, and so I am going to go to a roll call vote. Sure. I need a little help on this ordinance, and the help I need is to understand where it provides that in three years this will become something before the commission. It's not incorporated in the ordinance. It's a statement here this evening on the record that we will bring it back in three years. Well, that's why I was confused. Thank you. Okay. Roll call vote. Commissioner Gow. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Okay, do we want to take a short break? I think we need ten minutes. Ten minute break. Okay, we're going to restart. That means you, Mr. Beatty. We might, Deputy Renee may have to remove you from the, no, it's just Okay, our next one is 3C, Resolution 26-05, Savishing the Golf Club Advisory Committee. Jen, could you please read Resolution 26-05 by title only? Resolution 26-05, a resolution of the City of Dunedin, Florida, establishing the Golf Club Advisory Committee, providing for duties, membership, and terms of office, providing for organizational structure, providing for reporting responsibility, providing for record keeping, providing for appointment, I'm sorry, providing appointment and removal, providing for a review by the City Commission to continue the committee's existence, and providing for an effective date hereof. That was Resolution 26-05, read by title only. Okay, I need a motion. Got to get a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. I'm going to go to staff presentation. Michelle slash Jennifer is what I have, so who's going to do this? Is this a fight? I'm happy to introduce. Or maybe Heather, since Heather Drake is up here, sitting it now. And Heather, we're glad you're up here. Heather is in training, so she can sit there and Michelle can have a vacation, right? So, okay. All right, so who's starting? Well, thank you, Mayor. I'm going to turn it over to Jennifer for the fine-tuning, but just this resolution, consensus direction was provided at the February 3rd, 2026 workshop to bring forward the finalized resolution for hopeful approval and possible next steps. Okay. Do you want to add anything to this? Sure, absolutely. Thank you, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Commissioners. So, this is modeled after the Marine Advisory Committee. Very similar business model in terms of slip renters, members of the club, enterprise fund, along with some other interests involved in that area, in the golf club area as well. So, the members of the committee will be residents of the City of Dunedin. The committee is advisory to the City Commission and to the City Manager and his or her staff, in this case her staff. So, and I, you know, I stress and emphasize advisory to the City Commission. The operations of the club still lie in administration with Blair Klein as our general manager. The committee itself will advise Blair as the liaison and myself and Jorge Quintas and Tony Mulkey, who's involved in the golf club as well, as to the operations of the club itself. Um, the membership terms then, there will be seven members who serve terms of three years each, and we're going to stagger that when we start so that all seven members don't mature and turn out at the same time. So, um, there will be three members of the club, three members of the club who are also residents on the committee. There will be three non-members of the club who are also residents on the committee and one member of the Board of Finance. Yes, and I know Board of Finance met yesterday, and I think Les mentioned to them that we are looking for their nominee, uh, for the golf club moving forward. So, as I said, the, the, um, the, uh, appointment will be staggered. The terms will then be staggered. Not much more to report on that. We, um, uh, Michelle and I have talked at length about this. Um, we are going to put it out for two weeks. Uh, the, uh, the, um, uh, advertisements for applications take the two, two weeks. And Michelle, you want to talk a little bit about the process you and I talked about it? Because she's the, she's, she's a subject matter expert on that. So, so our hope is to, if, if you were to pass that tonight, we would open the application window beginning March 23rd for a two week period through April 6th. Now I cannot turn off applications being received, but those, that window would be what we were looking at for the initial appointment. And then our final vote that would, to give you all some time, I would then that two week period forward on all received applications for that two week period to all of you, for you to make some selections, have all of that for your review. Then our hope would be to do the vote on May 21st for those initial appointments. So we will, as discussed, uh, previously by the city commission, we will send those applications out to you earlier, 13 days actually, because we don't want to miss, miss, you know, another couple of weeks of getting it to you, uh, for appointments because we, we missed the two weeks that's required in resolution 99, 13, I think. Correct. Yeah. So, so we'll send them to you 13 days. We'll have, uh, two, two categories essentially, the members and the non-members. And we'll put all of those, um, those applications before all of you. Um, and Mayor, uh, uh, the clerk and I need to work with you as far as how those appointments are going to be made and how it's fair and very transparent, um, for, for the commission. And that has, has yet to be determined because I think we're going to get a fair number of applications here. Yeah. I mean, um, yeah, on that note, um, Jennifer and I talked a little bit, I mean, there's been times when each of us picked one and then we voted on the rest of them. I mean, that usually has been like the, um, uh, uh, help me out ordinances, the ordinance review committee. Um, but, but there's also been where we pick them all and maybe we have a sheet. So we just vote, you know, we took it out. Obviously we have to write our name on it. So it's public record who we vote for, but the tallying goes to Michelle and she tallies it up and tells us who, who won that. Um, so there's a different, couple of different ways that we'll talk about the best way to do that. Um, the other question I was going to ask, the alternates would need to be non-members, wouldn't they? Because otherwise you could have the, you could have the group end up to be more, way more members. Right. Correct. Okay. Yes. So, because I'd like to pick them all. Yes. Because we'll probably have plenty to pick from. We'll put all of them before you. Okay. Um, all right. Well, so, um, questions for staff, uh, starting with Commissioner Sammer. And you don't have to have questions. One thing would be if we had a member, if one of the committee members were a member and all of a sudden for some reason their membership stopped, um, would we have to readdress that? Is that something? I mean, I know tonight it was just about the resolution, but you've, you've considered that? We would have to address that. They, the, the, the, the makeup of the committee has to follow the resolution at any time. Correct, Jen? Correct. Okay. Oh. Yep. Yep. Yep. Okay. Yep. So, that's all I had. Whatever. Well, typically how it's been, right? If somebody is in a member's seat and then they're not a member, they're just off. And then that member's seat would need to be refilled. Would that, that's a really good question. Correct. It would be, um, no difference in any other qualification that you would have for any other committee. So, if you had a residence, um, as a qualification and then they moved out of the city, that seat would become vacant. So, maybe one alternate as a member and one alternate as a citizen. I mean, I, I don't want to complicate this, but. Well, I just kind of said, I think they'd almost have to be non members on the alternates because otherwise, all of a sudden, you got a couple of non members there and all of a sudden you're going to be overrun. The members would actually then have, which I think that's what you're trying to avoid, but. Um, okay. Any other questions? No. Thank you, Mayor. Commissioner Gao. Questions. Thank you, Mayor. Um, it's such a simple task creating a committee and, and we could talk for hours on the makeup of the members and how we vote and things of that nature. Um, and I know that whatever we say here tonight, at the end of the day, we'll end up addressing it when it comes from forests and in whatever form. Uh, but I do see the way it's made up now and I'm just listening to the alternate conversation, um, that it can have, um, at least four non members. Uh, and so I don't know how you can have at least four non members, but no more than three members. members. And so how does that conflict if we have at least four, so we have five non-members, but if you're allowed three, and then we're under representing at the member level. You want my answer? I... How do you underrepresent 37,000 people that don't play golf? Well, as far as the number of seats allowed, it's not, right, no, I'm not talking about underrepresenting 30,000 people. I'm just talking about it. It's a, it's a committee. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. Yeah, no, and so I think it's going to end up being a little more complicated. Um, what, what's the established goal? Uh, it's, it's very similar to, again, the Marine Advisory Committee, um, and typical, as you know, Marine Advisory Committee, we, we talk about specifically, um, maintenance on the, on the course, maintenance in the marina. Um, we talk about the, the, the, um, condition, if you will, or, or the, the enterprise fund, and, um, we talk about talk about, uh, uh, we'll certainly talk about membership, because we talk about slip renters in the Marine Advisory Committee, and so on and so forth. So, um, when we establish the agenda, usually there's, there's a liaison report, and the liaison report is, is, encompasses all of those things, and then we'll bring any special information that we, that we need, tournaments that are coming up, events that are coming up. Uh, there's a foundation as well, the, the very active foundation, and, um, I would imagine that they would attend the meeting and maybe report out as well, because they, uh, they're, they're really picking up speed, the foundation itself is. So, um, and what it will not do is direct the general manager, and that's the same as the Marine Advisory Committee. Sometimes the Marine Advisory Committee wants, um, you know, the Harbor Master to do something specific, and she'll always go through me, whether she does it or not. So, um, you know, we appreciate our citizen advisory committees, but, but we can't take direction from them specifically. Thank you. That was, that was my concern, is that all of a sudden, uh, Blair has seven bosses, eight bosses including you, you know, and that's, there's only so much one person can take, Blair. No. All right. Yeah, but, but we're the nice group. Um, not to imply that this, this advisory committee isn't the nice group, I don't want to imply that. Uh, it was more about Jennifer, um, and, and that's my real concern, Mayor, so I'm, I'm the answer. Oh, that's a great question. I think that, um, Commissioner Dugard. Close to my colleague's question, what problems does this solve? Well, I, I think, well, first of all, when, when we, uh, committed the ARPA funds to the golf course, and it, obviously, it's, it's public funding. At that point, the golf course was actually, uh, operated by a board of directors, and the board of directors were members of, of the golf, um, club, and, um, uh, and actually, we didn't pay them any sort of an operating fee, per se. They were volunteers, which was very kind of them over the years. However, in order to, uh, expend ARPA funding, we needed a full operation. We needed the, the club to be under the jurisdiction of the city of Dunedin. And at that point, the board of directors, um, uh, had, had still wanted to have a say, if you will, and be involved in the golf club itself. So we committed at that point to establishing the golf club committee. Um, the, and they still do, and they still do. You know, the members actually paid their, their, uh, member, uh, dues throughout the renovation, as did I, despite my husband's objections, but just like everybody else. But, um, yeah, he won that one. Yeah, that's right. Um, so we're grateful to them for seeing us through the renovation. And, you know, as far as the three members, they're going to look at it from a membership perspective is, are the members getting, uh, you know, out of the club, what it is they, they want to get out of the club. Conversely, the non-members, um, would have, and most likely there, there are a lot of folks who live in fairway estates and live in that area and others that don't, who frequent the club or frequent the, the restaurant and, and they would be, um, kind of representing the city at large, if you will, in the operations of the club. So it's that citizen advisory, the citizen touch, um, within the golf club itself. And in fact, in our larger amenities, for example, the Marina, um, which is an enterprise fund and this golf club, which is also an enterprise fund, we do have that citizen committee, um, in place. So. No more questions. Thank you. Okay. So I guess it's my turn. Um, I think board of finance also wanted to make sure we had this committee, right? Yes. Yes. And, and they were, I would go deeper than your answer because I think their issue just was kind of to the, to the thing that we need this to be successful, but it also can't be a giant sucking sound to the rest of the city finances. And so, you know, so from more, from, I think from a business perspective, you know, kind of that outside view. Um, so, um, what are my questions? You guys' questions are great though. I'll save my reason for that for comments. You were going to put out a comment. Um, how often will this committee meet? I was, I had a real good comment, but how often will this committee? So I, to begin with, I think it should meet once a month. And I, I think as the, the committee comes up to speed, um, and as we get through this renovation, because the course, and, and as, as the mayor and all of, you know, I've spent a lot of time, uh, with Blair this last week, uh, and with some members of the club as well, one member of the club in particular. Um, and, and it's still, it's still growing in. It's still a renovation takes two to three years to grow in. Um, and the committee, I think will have valuable oversight, um, or insight rather, not oversight, not oversight, insight, uh, into, into the, yeah, into the operations and the course as it, as it matures, both as an enterprise fund and as a physical golf course itself. Um, so, uh, I think once a month, and we will be able to tell if, if we're meeting and everybody is, we have one or two items and we're done in half an hour, then we do not need to meet once a month. The board of directors also met once a month. Okay. Cool. Um, I don't have any more questions. I just, uh, have comments. Um, so, uh, we have a maker of the motion, which is Commissioner Degard. Well, hold on. Sorry. I'm going to open it up for the public. Anybody out in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this item? Okay. Nobody's rushing forward, so I'm going to close public comment. Were you going to say something? Yeah, I did. Um, I know that we have a motion and a second on it, but during the conversation, there was discussion with regard to the, um, two alternate members being non-members. Do we just want to amend the motion so that we can add that information into the resolution going forward? Yeah. So that way it's clear. If everybody's agreeable to that. Agreeable? Okay. Cool. So then in that case, um, if, okay, so make her the motions agreeable to that and you are the seconder. Yeah. I'll agree to that. Okay. All right. So, um, final comments, uh, I will turn to Commissioner Degard. You know, you kind of get tired of saying that this particular or that particular entity is the jewel of the city, but we've got a lot of jewels. We've got a great marina. We've got a beautiful island out there that, uh, everybody identifies greatly with Dunedin. We've just got a wonderful set of assets that are worthy of great protection. And I see this committee as being a part of that great protection. That being said, this cannot be seen as a member's representational body. And I think there's an attempt in its construction to make sure that it is not. It is a body that can be partly that, but if it starts representing the members as its first choice, it will be a train wreck in my opinion. And that is because the city owns this and we've owned it for a long time. Members had a shot at making sure it worked and they didn't do that. So I'm just only making the comment that as long as this committee understands that it's representing the community and also the betterment of a great asset, we will be fine. Thank you, Mayor. Great. And seconder of the motion, final comments, Commissioner Gall. Thank you, Mayor. You know, for every great asset we have in Dunedin, comes with it an advisory committee and that is one of the really, really great things that makes Dunedin so unique. And so it only makes sense for the gem that we have in the golf course to have it accompanied with input from residents and the members to make sure that everybody's represented. So I'm in favor of this, Mayor. Thank you. Commissioner Sandberg and final comments. I think having the members, you know, they'll bring that real-time experience. They're out there. They see it. They'll know what's going on. And I think the community members, I'm kind of excited. They're going to see it through a different set of eyes and I think they'll be very good for it. I fully support this. This is something we've needed and I'm fully supportive. So I think I'm the only one up here that's ever actually staffed a committee, an advisory committee for the city of Dunedin. So I can speak firsthand that they can become extremely labor intensive. And I've also talked to some people that have run golf courses who said that, and I mean no disrespect to some of the members, but they can be labor intensive. And we have a really highly skilled manager that we worked hard to find for the golf club. So I just want everybody to be on the same page because I think this has the ability to be a great advisory committee. First and foremost, a great communication tool between, you know, the management of the club, the manager, and Tony, and members and also non-members. And also kind of keeping an eye on a very important business enterprise of the city of Dunedin. And I think it can work really well as long as, again, everybody kind of stays in their lane and remembers we have a manager. You know, this isn't about overrunning the manager with a bunch of new bosses. And I think that's so critical for this to work. And if it works, is that kind of communication elevation once a month between management and, again, other residents and members, it could be a great thing. And it will achieve, I think, some of the best things it's meant to achieve. And it just has to stay in that realm. So I think it's a great thing. I think it's important. We said we'd do this. And I think if it functions the way it should function, it's going to work well. So I'm fully supportive of the resolution as well. So I will, I guess we have to do a roll call vote. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. Commissioner Gow. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Mayor Franey. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously. Okay. That's great. Okay. We're going to go to Resolution 26-06, Fiscal Year 2026 First Budget Amendment. Jen, please read Resolution 26-06 by title only. Resolution 26-06, a resolution of the City Commission of the City of Dunedin, Florida, amending the city's operating and capital budget for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2025, and ending September 30, 2026, and providing for an effective date. That was Resolution 26-06, read by title only. Okay. And I need a motion to that resolution. So moved. Second. Okay. In staff presentation, we go to Les and Gene. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioners. Les Tyler, the Finance Director, and I'm here with Gene, our Budget Manager. As mentioned, this is Resolution 2606, amending our 26 operating and capital budget. This amendment in the staffing report will increase appropriations by $31.4 million in various funds in fiscal year 26. The purpose of this carry-forward budget amendment is to appropriate carry-forward encumbrances and project budgets from fiscal year 25 into fiscal year 26 budget. The outstanding encumbrances result when purchase orders have been created during the fiscal year, but goods and services have not been invoiced or shipped by September 30, 2025, which is our year-end every year. At the end of a fiscal year, the encumbrances and the funds that have been budgeted in the prior year are carried forward into the next fiscal year, and the incumbent amounts carried forward from 25 to 26 will be $15.4 million, and that's in attachment C of the staffing report. The other carry-forward amounts are for projects, project budgets that were not completed or started as of our year-end, September 30, 2025, and the total for those projects are $15.9 million, and that's in attachment D in the staffing report. I want to mention that we discussed the carry-forward quite a bit last year in various meetings with the Board of Finance. My team, finance team, going over the carry-forward and kind of explaining it to them in detail. We also discussed it with the commission last year, and we worked with departments very closely this year to reduce the carry-forward in fiscal year 26, and we rebudgeted wherever we could, and if the project was not going to be complete, we'd rebudgeted and not have a carry-forward. And I appreciate the help from the departments to do that, and they were very supportive in working with us, and our carry-forward this year is about $15 million less than it was last year. We went over this carry-forward information that we're presenting today to your commission with the Board of Finance, and they were overall very pleased with our efforts to reduce the carry-forward moving into 26, and we'll continue that effort moving forward trying to reduce it in 27 of future years. Also in the packet, the last page of the staffing, is the impact on each fund balance in the background section, and it shows the affected funds and the total impact on the respective fund balances. With the exception of four funds, the Solid Waste Fund, the Stormwater Fund, Golf Operations Fund, and the Health Fund, all the other funds met or exceeded the reserve targets, and I'll briefly go over the ones that were slightly under. The Solid Waste Fund was quite a bit below the goal, and we knew that going into the 26 budget. We knew that the utility rate study was being done during the budget process last year. That rate study was discussed this evening. The rate increase that will be effective April 1, 2026, or one-half of the year for this fiscal year, 2026, will begin to help build up the reserves in that fund and improve the health of that fund over time. The Stormwater Fund is under the goal slightly as well. The estimated available fund balance is $601,000 in the Stormwater Fund. We expected that during the 26 budget process. There's lots of projects in the fund, and also it takes time to build up the reserves since we adjusted the rates about a year and a half ago. The Golf Operations Fund is slightly under the reserve goal. The estimated available fund balance is $327,000. And as mentioned earlier, it's a new enterprise fund, and we're closely monitoring the golf fund throughout the year. The Health Farm Reserve is under the reserve as well currently. We did a final year-end adjustment in 2025 for $400,000. We knew last year that 2025 claims were coming in much higher than budget. We made that adjustment. And also, we just want to point out the 26 health claims for the first five months are coming in over budget slightly as well. So we're monitoring that closely. If that continues, we will likely or may have to do a budget adjustment during 26 to the health fund. We've got in 2025 and also current year, we've got a lot of seven or eight different individuals that are over the stop loss claims and had a pretty robust discussion with the Board of Finance about some of that a lot yesterday in their meeting, but we're closely monitoring the health fund this year as well as last year. The general fund, I want to just point general fund, the available fund balance is projected to be 32%. That's slightly above our target. It's above our target at 15%, but it's also better than we expected it to be when we prepared our budget in 2026. So we had estimated 29.4%. So based on our estimates today, the general fund is slightly better off than we had projected back in August of last year when we were finalizing our budget in September. The 25 expenses were under budget. Labor costs were down with vacancies and also operating costs were down, which helped 25. And also our revenues were about a million dollars more than our estimates for 2025. So that is good news and helpful as we move into the 27 budget cycle, which we're working on now, the staff's working on to bring forward to your commission. I did want to mention that all these estimates today are pre-audit. Our audit starts April 1st. They'll be coming out for a couple of weeks. So some of these numbers could change, but I don't expect them to change by too much. That concludes our comments. We'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Okay, questions. I'll start with Commissioner Gao. No questions, Mayor. Commissioner DeGuard, questions. I couldn't help but notice that the majority of our carry forward is in wastewater. Is that correct? Yes, there's large numbers in the wastewater fund. Is there a systemic issue here, or is it just normal for this kind of carry forward in wastewater? I wouldn't say there's a systemic issue. There's a lot of projects going on in that fund right now. Actually, there was also a large carry forward of open POs, which means that there's a lot of projects going on. There's a lot of movement and spending of capital dollars, which is a good thing. We're completing projects. So I think it's more just that a lot of those are expected to start by September 30, 2025, so we did not rebudget. So that's why that number is a little bit higher in here for some of those projects because they're going to commission soon to move those forward. Once, if approved on the carry forward, this will, in essence, have an impact on our current budget, particularly the capital side, very substantially. Is that the case? Yes. Yeah. $15 million. Yeah. It could help some. Our big exercise we did this year was challenge the departments, are you really going to start that this year? Because we talked about rose-colored glasses a little bit last year on some of the different projects, and we really were getting more realistic with, is that going to be really started by this year, or is it really a 27 project or 28 project? Thank you. You make my point. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Commissioner Sandberg, any questions? Yeah, no questions, Mayor. I don't have any questions either, so I will open it up to public input. Anyone in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Okay. I'll close public input, and I'll go to commission comments, starting with maker of the motion, Commissioner Sandberg. No, really nothing else to add. It's in the right hands with you two, and keep pointing us the right direction. I'm good, Mayor. Okay. Seconder of the motion, Commissioner DeGuard, final comments? Thank you. I am in support of the motion. This is a natural course of events for cities, particularly with large capital budgets, but I do think it will be important to encourage that these be as small as necessary. Thank you. Okay. Commissioner Gow, finally, final comments? Thank you. I am in support of this. It is just part of the process. I'm thrilled that you were able to cut it down. It's nice that we should look at each project on the carry-forward basis and go, is this an extra project, or do we need to re-bid it so it can go in the appropriate year where it makes a little more sense? So, thank you for your hard work and dedication. I'm good. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. No, I'm in favor of this as well. I actually was at the Board of Finance meeting, or one of them, where they talked about this, and they were very happy that it's gone down a lot. So, I commend you guys. I commend the whole staff involved in doing that. But I agree with the comment. I think we're in good hands with you guys, and so you too. So, appreciate it. Okay. Roll call vote. Commissioner Gow. Aye. Commissioner Dugard. Aye. Commissioner Sandbergen. Aye. And Mayor Franey. Aye. And that motion passed unanimously. Thank you. Okay. We're going to go. Thank you both. We're going to go to award a bid number 25-2545, fiscal year 2026 mil, and overlay on various street locations to preferred materials, Inc. of Tampa, Florida, in the amount of $1,248,310.30. And we will turn to Clay for the presentation, with possible assist by Patrick, but I'm not seeing that. So, looks like it's just you, Clay. Yeah. Patrick conveniently is on vacation today. There you go. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioner Clayton Watkins, Utilities and Engineering. Item 3E is the award of bid 25-2545 for fiscal year 26 mil and overlay on various street locations to deferred materials, Inc. of Tampa, Florida, in the amount of $1,248,310.30. This project was competitively bid and had seven submittals were received, ranging in the cost of $1,248,310.30 to $1,987,112. Staff reviewed the bids and preferred materials, Inc. of Tampa, Florida, provided to be a responsive and responsible and the low bidder in the amount of $2,248,310.30 for this project. Construction is planned to commence as soon as possible upon the notice to proceed. It is currently anticipated that the start would be in either late April or early May and then completing hopefully by July. As such, staff hereby recommends the award of bid 25-2545 fiscal year 26 mil and overlay on various streets, locations throughout the city to preferred materials, Inc. of Tampa, Florida, in the amount of $2,248,310.30 as detailed in. I'm here to answer any questions. Okay, questions, Commissioner Sandbergen. I guess I keep reading $1,248,000. Did I say it is $1,248,000? Yeah, no, yeah. Okay. It was in my head. I apologize for that. I'm sorry. $2,000,000. But $2,000,000 would be good. Don't want to do that. Don't want to do that. Yeah, I apologize. It was, yeah, $2,248,000. No, no. I noticed in there that there was some indication about speed bumps, speed humps. I thought we were trying to do away with them. We only, if there is currently one on that street, they will put one in. We do not add any other ones. Okay. Any concern about cutting sidewalks? These people, their driveways, will there be, you know, anything we need to be concerned about? Damage to driveways, curbs? So, as part of this, we do repair curbs. Also, in this year, we put a little bit of extra dollars in to look at the ADA ramps at the intersections. So, that is also included in this as we go through the roadway. Generally speaking, what we'd like to do is have our contractor, we'll go out and put door hangers at least a week or so before they're going to be there. And if they are doing that concrete work in front of a home, they coordinate with the homeowner to make sure that they can get in and out of their driveway. Good, because that was my next question about disruption to the neighborhoods. It is a little bit of a disruption the day they're milling an overlay. You sort of got to shuffle through, but they have, they're going to make it to traffic to make sure folks can get in and out of their houses. That's all I had, Clay. Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Okay. Commissioner Gall, questions? Thank you, Mayor. You know, last year we had a resident or two that were upset on the quality of the work that was done on their street and just wanted to ask what kind of oversight, what kind of supervision? So, if I'm correct, the one in which you were speaking of, I think, was a few folks on Lexington Avenue. And those actually complaints came out prior to the contractor even finishing for the day. They might have finished for the day, but they were coming back. And with that, then we had our inspector work with them to try to alleviate where they thought there were some issues on the quality. And our inspector hadn't even been out there yet that day specifically on a couple of those. So, we hadn't even reviewed their work. So, generally, we have somebody come out behind them, make sure we're good with their work. And if we do hear complaints, we'll work with the contractor to try to make things better where we can. Thank you. Mayor. Okay, questions? Commissioner Degard? Thank you, Mayor. Mayor, this may seem a little strange, but why are we having two motions dealing with the same action? We're going to pass an action, and then we're going to amend that action. Correct. And as I will, we can short-circuit some of my presentation on the other one, is this came in under budget. So, with that, we were able to extend their scope of work to add additional curbing in some of the streets and actually pave another street because they came in low. So, that's why we're coming back in for the next action, is to approve a change in order to increase their workload, to get us closer to that budget number. I'm going to move you to solid waste. Okay. I think all my questions have now been answered. Thank you, Mayor. Good question. That was a good one. So, okay, I don't have any questions, so I will open to public input. Anyone in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Seeing no one, I will close public input, and I will ask for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. So, final comments, starting with Commissioner Zandbergen. No, I just appreciate keeping our neighborhoods looking good. You know, the potholes, you know, some of those streets are starting to age, and I'm glad we're doing this for the entire community. That's all, Mayor. Okay. Commissioner Degard? Final comments? Very much in support of this, particularly as we figured out how to do more with the same amount of money. So, you'll have two yes votes on this. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. And Commissioner Gow, final comments? Yeah, thank you. I just want to remind everybody at home that there's just kind of normal services that we do every year, repaving our roads. But the primary reason we repave them is because of the wear and tear. And the large majority of that wear and tear comes from the weight of vehicles. And so, if we all chose smaller vehicles, bicycles, golf carts, walking, we could save ourselves a little bit of money not having to repave. So, that's it. Thank you, Mayor. Well, I'll try to walk to DCO tomorrow. I'm not sure. I just have to get up early, but I'll try. And that'll take a huge weight off the... It'll make me happy. Right. So, I just want to clarify something, City Manager. A lot of the $1,248,000 would be general fund, property tax, gas tax. Yes. But gas tax is small compared to penny. Okay, good. Okay. All right. Okay. Anyway, how are we? Mayor, excuse me. In the impact face statement, we break down each fund. Penny is paying 1.1 of that, roughly. Stormwater, $200,000, and gas tax, $220,000 of that, if I'm reading that correctly. Okay. Anyway, thank you for that. I mean, I think as we approach some of this legislation about property tax, it's kind of important for people to know where the money comes from. So, certainly, the care of our streets in other ways comes from property tax. Anyway, I'm totally in favor of this. I think it's one of the most important things we do, to keep our roads up and keep them safe. So, I'm fully in support. So, I'll say all in favor. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Okay. Now, we'll go to the second part of this, approval, which is good news, approval of change order CO number one for an increase of $281,339.28 to the prior award of bid number 25-2545, fiscal year 26 mil and overlay on various street locations to preferred materials, Inc. of Tampa, Florida. Clay, I'll turn to you for staff presentation. And just to clarify again, this is good news. Yes, I'll make this. Yes, I'll make this a little shorter. Again, Clayton Watkins Utilities and Engineering. This is a change order to the previous agenda item. The award of bid 25-2545 came in under budget with some very good pricing on curbing and asphalt. So, city staff worked with the contractor to add additional scope of work for removal and replacement to help better convey stormwater on a few of these streets and included adding Rodmar Drive to the program for this year. So, therefore, staff hereby recommends commission approval of and authorization to the city manager to execute change order number one in the amount of $281,339.28, including 32 additional days of contract time to the previous awarded 25-45 to Preferred Materials, Inc. of Tampa, Florida, resulting in a total adjustment contract of $1,520,000. I really wanted to put that, too, in there. I don't know why. So, we're here to answer any questions. Okay. So, questions for Clay. Commissioner, go. You know, I should have asked on the last one, but here's an opportunity. Just, Clay, how are the streets chosen? So, we have a program that has some software on, this is not working, that are on a few city vehicles. There are, like, the engineering inspectors have it, the water meter, the folks who do our water meter reads, some public works vehicles have them, and a couple of engineering staff. So, we have a software that we can evaluate the condition of the road. If you can see here in this slide, this is basically the evaluation as it drives over the road and the condition of the road. It evaluates that along with other conditions. So, you can see we generally like to get to the streets that are D's and F's as we're working our way backwards, obviously, through the worst roads. Now, in the program, a lot of those F roads are actually our brick streets. So, we kind of have to make sure we take those out, and we also have to make sure it's just a city streets. We have to pull those out. So, we evaluate, and basically, we have a GIS view of all of these maps that we can see each of these roadways, and then we just find the worst roads and work our way through it. A little contrary to that, this year, we did put in to specifically move the Bay Street, Milwaukee, and Oak Street, some of the roads that were around that were used somewhat a lot of a detour for Skinner. So, we went ahead and moved those forward to repave those roads after the excessive, a little bit of additional trips from the construction with Skinner Boulevard. Okay. But, so is Bay Street part of the previous? Because I didn't, I didn't see it there. Is it part of the, hey, since we got money and left over, let's do that? No, we added Rod Marr and some more curbing around Cardinal and St. Anne. Right. So, so Bay Street was part of the previous? The previous, yes. Yeah, this is, this is just your, this, yeah, this was the slides for all of the, just to show the conditions of all the roads that are on the list. So you can kind of have a, just to give you an example of what we look at and how you can see the changes. And then here is basically the overall condition of the pavement for all of our roads in the city. Now, with that being said, this, this does not do a very good job of pulling out the brick streets. So that's, that, even that 7.2% of our roads miles is, is an F. Some of those are our brick streets and you'll, they'll never ride better than a D just because of brick. So. And what, what letter do you decide that it's time to repair? We're looking at, well, so some, a lot of it will also depend on, you may have a D or an F that milling and overlay won't fix either. So then what we have to look at, does that become a capital plan to do something more to the road? Right. Yes. The idea is to, before it gets to that level. You would, based on the condition, yes. Right. Sometimes, you know, depending on conditions of the, the, the base material will change that, that scenario over. Okay. And cause the reason we're talking about this is because the previous item, we had money left over. Correct. And so we had a choice to make. We can save that money or we can add more roads, uh, in which we did, we added Rob Marr. And walk me through that process. Why was it decided that to slip in one extra street as opposed to just saving the money for a rainy day? Uh, well, so that we, I think we coordinated with, with public works cause realistically engineering is spending their dollars to sort of get through the program. But that was the budget number. So we figured we could find some other places that we could add to, to make it a little bit better for product. Cause when we go through and remove, do the curb work, a lot of times it's the curb that has the, you'll just see, we just hit like the pocket that has a crack in it. And there may be, and we kind of space around and get it. If with the additional dollars, we were able to do like the whole, a lot longer run in the road to make it look all a little bit better. Cause usually it's sort of spot filling in, uh, the curbing. Thank you. Questions. Commissioner DeGuard. Didn't have any until my colleague spoke, um, because that's a great question. So we made a decision to spend the money because it's available and we needed to. So tell me about need that drove that. I'm going to defer to see who's getting up. It looks like the other staff table has no chairs. That's why there's no chairs over there. It's way off to come over here. We lost them at state of the city. Sue Bartlett, public works director. Um, we have a backlog of work. And so when we had the opportunity to actually get more roads done, um, really our wish list is much longer than what you see, but we're limited by our budget. Um, and the idea is that we do preserve the life or extend the life of those asphalt of that, um, roadway so that we don't have to rebuild those D's and F's. Those are big, big bucks. I mean, huge projects that come in. And, uh, Clay said, you know, we do have a lot of backlog, um, work for curb. And it's not just about how it appears, but, you know, we get requests for ponding and things like that. But really what we're concerned about is when that curb is broken and allows water to seep down in the base and, uh, contaminate, well, the base. It really degrades it and it allows that water to pump in and out. And that's what, you know, deteriorates your road. So if we can get more done, um, we would, we would really love to raise the budget there, but we can't. Uh, there's only a limited amount of funding. So, um, when we had the opportunity put before you that we would like to preserve as many as possible while we have that, um, opportunity at a lower cost. Thank you. That's all my questions. Okay. Um, I do not have any additional questions, so I will open it up for public input. Anyone in the audience wish to come forward and speak on this issue? Seeing no one, I will close public input and I will ask for a motion. Second. Okay. So final comments, starting with Commissioner Degard. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, as the mayor said just a moment ago, this is one of our basic responsibilities is to provide for roadways in this community. Um, and that's not as simple as you might think. It's a complex process as you can plainly see by looking at priorities when it comes to repair. Uh, I think that this is a great opportunity and you've taken full advantage of it and I'm fully, I'm in full support. Okay. And, uh, seconder of the motion was, uh, Commissioner Gao. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, my, all my colleagues have said, right, this is one of the things that we do. And, uh, the mayor has repeatedly, repeatedly talked about the importance of maintaining our assets. And, uh, and that's what we're doing. Right. And so for anybody who thinks, oh, you could have saved this amount of money, they'd be screaming at us down the road at the expense it would cost. So, you know, it's, let's, let's spend, let's spend a dollar to save $50,000. Right. So to speak. So, um, I am in, thank you for this graphic that you're, you're showing. And it really does show the residents that we just don't drive around and go, oh, this looks bad. Let's repair it. That there's actually is a process and we actually think about it and analyze. And so, uh, and we have software and so it's, thank you for what you do. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. And, uh, Commissioner Sandberg and final comments. Fully supportive. Money well spent. Oh, brief and brilliant. There you go. I like it. I like it. Um, yeah, I'm fully supportive of this for the same reasons I had stated. If anything, I wish we had more money for roads and sidewalks. And I think in the next level of penny, that may end up to be one of our priorities if we're lucky enough to, uh, make the case to our constituents about that. Uh, so yes, money well spent. Um, so I voice, voice vote. Uh, all in favor. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passed unanimously. Okay. Uh, this next one, I have to say, I'm a little confused. Start item to put the item on only to postpone it. Like, is this, is this something we need to be doing at all? I don't know why the residents talk about us. Yes, ma'am. In the last meeting, you all voted to, to put the item on the March 19th agenda. Therefore, it had to be on. It didn't make it in time to get the generated agenda. Therefore, it has to be added as a start agenda, uh, start item. And after that all happened, it was requested to be postponed. Okay. Who let us do that? So, do we have to do this? Yes. I, I can elaborate. I mean, all I want to know is, is this necessary? Is this a necessary waste of our time? But yes. Yes. Okay. It is a necessary waste of your time because these, uh, consultants or these loan administration services gave us an extra 30 days from when we put out the RFP. And so, the 30 days, um, is, is probably beginning of April. So, yeah, we do have to, we, the agreements aren't, um, in place. We thought that they were, but they're not exactly where we want them. And so, um, I had very ambitiously put it on for March 19th, make, trying to make it within that 30 days and apparently we need to postpone it again. Only in question. But then it's put, then you put it on. Yes. Therefore, we don't have to do a start on and put it on. So, so it was not on the 19th. Even Jen Cohen is. What? All right. Okay. Bottom line. This is to save time. To save time. We're just going to do it. Cause it's, it's. Yes. We're postponing to April 2nd, please, mayor. And Kim. Well, no, first we'll do. We got to get it on. Okay. Uh, do I have a mo, do I have a motion to. So moved. Second. RFP 25-2535 on for, uh, today's meeting. Who said Dugard and Gow? I'm right there for you. Okay. All in favor. Aye. Aye. Motion passed unanimously. Now, a staffer's request. I move that we move the item to another meeting. I second that. To April 2nd. To April 2nd. April 2nd. So Gow. And Dugard. Yeah. Do we have a full presentation? Okay. All in favor. Aye. Motion passed unanimously. Okay. Proposed agenda for the April 2nd, 2026 commission meeting. I bet I'll know an item that's going to be on there. That we just spent. Okay. Here we go. Yeah. Yeah. I think I made it to that one. Okay. Now, normally we try not to have four proclamations. We've, you know, it's a busy time, so we'll get back to normal probably next month. Yes. Um, okay. Uh, anything added or taken away? Is, seriously though, is this item already on there? Or do we have to? Yes, it is. Okay. I think we're good, Mayor. Yes. Okay. And the Skinner property is on there. That was presumptuous of you, wasn't it? Yeah. Yeah. Not a pass. Um, okay. So, no additions or changes. Can I have a motion to approve April 2nd agenda? So moved. Can I have a second? Second. Okay. I have to get Rob on the phone now. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passed unanimously. Okay. The proposed agenda for the March 31st, 2026 commission workshop. Are there any additions or changes? No, ma'am. Okay. And we don't approve that. So, that is for information only. See? I can learn. Okay. So, we go to commission discussion and comments. And I will start with Commissioner Sandberg. Well, the other thing I want to say is, now that spring training is wrapping up, I didn't quite have perfect attendance, but I tried. Each game I attended, I made it a point to sit down and speak with visitors. People, you know, visiting Dunedin. I really tried to focus on our Canadian visitors. And, you know, it's easy to sell Dunedin. The weather's beautiful, the sun's out, and they're having a good time. I think it's been very successful. Downtown, you know, after the games. It's fun to point where to go, what to do, and welcome them. We had some nice promotion in Canada by someone named Craig Borden. Craig, Mr. Borden interviewed. He has a podcast. He's a Jay's podcaster. And spent a couple hours with the mayor and I when we were in Toronto. And I actually went to breakfast with him and his entire family today. And he gave me the chance to promote Dunedin. He said, it's all yours. Promote this city. That's all we can do is just keep, you know, I focused on the visitors and the fans that are here and didn't worry about those that said they're not coming. So, very successful season and that's all I have, Mayor. Okay. That's great. Okay. Comments? Commissioner Gow. No comments, Mayor. Okay. Commissioner Ducard. Comments. Thank you, Mayor. I have about 20 minutes worth of comments. Yeah. I deserve that. I'm going to speak to something because I know it is of interest to the majority of people that live in Dunedin. And that is about safety on our trails and sidewalks and a recent piece of legislation that actually made it through in the state. Senate Bill 382 was passed unanimously, which creates new restrictions on e-bikes. And if it's signed by the governor, it'll make a big difference to our community. However, enforcement will be difficult on this when I look at our good officers in the room. It is going to be hard because it's going to be a judgment call on whether somebody was traveling over 10 miles an hour within 50 feet of a pedestrian. That's what we're going to have to deal with. And I look forward to the opportunity of discussing how that is going to be enforced. Because we know that many people don't use our trail anymore because it feels unsafe to them. And we want to return that sense of safety on the trail. And with that, I will leave it back to you. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Well, a couple things. Certainly had a fun non-St. Patrick's Day on March 14th, because that was the big street party for St. Patrick's Day. And I'll continue to bother Jason, although he does a great job about putting it back on March 17th. A lot of activity was going on on March 17th as well. So, but a lot of people enjoyed the festivities, and so I wanted to make note of that. I did want to say, gentlemen, that I was in Safety Harbor yesterday, and I was at a pizza place, and both bathrooms were unisex. I thought you'd want to know that. I'm continuing. I almost sent a picture, so you get it. Anyway, we're getting there. And if I hear anybody not in favor of unisex, it's always a woman. So, you know, there you go. Okay. Get that one off my list. I would say... There was a Facebook post the other day that said we should forget gender and just poop or pee. Okay. That's next level. Yeah. We just degraded the conversation big time. On the Toronto Blue Jays again, congratulations on a great spring training. Let's see. Who did I say? And Grand Slam today for... Yeah. Grand Slam. Um... Um... Your guy. Um... Barso. Dalton Varshot. Yeah. Varshot had hit a solo. And then... No, I'm not going to say this right. Jimenez. Jimenez. Jimenez. Jimenez. Yeah. Jimenez. Yeah. They beat the Yankees. They beat the Yankees. They beat the Yankees. And that's how... That's never a bad thing when they beat the Yankees. So, any... Sorry, anybody out there? Well, I'm not really sorry if you're a Yankee fan, but... Anyway. Um... A reminder that, again, our 2025 impact analysis of the Toronto Blue Jays on this region was $200 million for 2025 of economic impact for our businesses and 1,600 jobs. So, it's not just fun. It's important to... It's a very important driver to our economy. Um... And I did... Heather, Drake, I wanted to say... Hey, I'm glad you were up here all the time. Do you have any thoughts about how it was, or...? I'm still learning. No, I'm getting the buttons. Okay. Heather is our new assistant city clerk, if you haven't already. She was introduced at another meeting, but... So, she's up here in training, but you're going to do a great job. Thank you very much. I know you are. But just keep an eye on Commissioner Sandberg, and in the meantime... And my last thing, which is more of a question, overview of the legislative session. Now, I know they're not done, but it would be nice to have, you know, kind of to date, what's been signed, gone to the governor, that may or may not be signed by him, and then, you know, and then potentially what's still potentially coming. When would that be possible? I know that the, actually, the League of Cities came out with something, which is a fairly comprehensive list about what was passed and what's on the governor's desk. So, we can work with the Southern Group, and I know BMO also puts out kind of their impact statement once everything is done about, you know, what we need to amend, what we need to, and so on and so forth. So, let me get with Nicole about what we can do as far as the list goes, and then... Is that potentially something on a workshop? Yeah. Our next workshop, maybe, or something? Yeah, the one... So, we have the citizen survey on the next workshop, and then a stunning Duke presentation. So, we can certainly put something on and see, I'll see what we have. Well, I just know there's some concerning legislation in terms of inserting, again, in what I would consider local government's business, and we are the most functioning kind of government. So, I just think I'd rather be on top of it now, so that we can be talking to our other cities, and again, before they're officially signed and fully in action, so... Right. I'll be happy to put something together for you, as far as where we are now. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, and just, I think at this point, you know, it would be top level as far as which ones have been passed. I don't... I think they've all been sent to the governor that have been passed. Right. But I'm not aware of any that he's signed yet. Right. But you could do a general, someone could do an overall, a general overview. Yeah, you could do a general one of that, and then also kind of when those effective dates are, too. Yeah. So, we'll go ahead and put that together. There, the, I generally do a, it's been in the last few years, a very lengthy memo, because there are so many bills that affect us. Right. But that really drills down into every little thing that affects. And so, this would be a higher level, and that would probably be done after the April session. That's fine. I want us to at least make sure our citizens are aware of some of the ones we think impacts us the most, good and bad. I mean, as one got brought up by Commissioner DeGuard, probably very good. Some other ones that maybe not so much. So, okay. Okay. Yeah. And, and finally, before I turn it over to the next item, you know, if by some miracle, Vice Mayor is still watching, we missed you up here. So, but I have a feeling, he, I think he's sound asleep. I have no doubt about it. And as, as he should be. Okay. Okay. City Clerk, Commissioner DeGuard, did you, you wanted to say something about that? Okay. All right. City Clerk update. I covered it with Heather. Thank you. Great. Okay. City Manager update. City Attorney update. Okay. This meeting is now adjourned. Five minutes to nine. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.