It's a 2025 City Commission work session, and as I'm saying that, I'm thinking, why didn't I make an April Fool's joke, right? I'd like to call the meeting to order, and we're going to start with the Pledge of Allegiance. And Jen, could you leave us in the Pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, so the first thing on our agenda is a presentation to a very special person. And we want to recognize Tom Anderson for his service, but first I'm going to read a little bit about him. And Tom is right here in the front row. So, as all of you know, he was a former mayor and former state representative. So Tom and his wife Alice moved to Dunedin in 1982. Tom's a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He served as commissioner of the city of Dunedin between 1990 and 1994. As mayor of the city of Dunedin for almost nine years between 1994 and 2002. And as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2002 to 2010. Tom's a champion of many important causes, including senior care, safe aging, public safety. During Tom's term as mayor, various staff who worked with him, including myself, very proud to say that, knew him as a smart, caring, efficient, and level-headed leader. One of Tom's many great achievements as mayor was being the swing vote in 1995 to disband the city's 100-year police department in contract with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. This issue was extremely controversial at the time. That's an understatement, isn't it, Tom? Yes. This courageous decision saved Dunedin taxpayers approximately $2 million per year, or $60 million to date. It resulted in a 25% reduction in the city's tax rate while retaining quality law enforcement services. Tom Anderson represents the best of public service and has been an inspiration to many others. And we want to present him with a key to the city. But I do want to say personally, Tom, as I sit up here and as I ran for office for mayor, I look to you and how you led the city back in the days that I was a staffer. And I always admired how you handled things. You kept an even hand, an even keel. You were respectful of people. You always did your homework. And you had courage. So I always want to try to model that. But you're an amazing person. You've done amazing things both as our mayor and as a state representative. And we want to honor you today. I'm going to come down. The Honorable Tom Anderson, an appreciation of your many years of dedicated service, devotion, and commitment to the city of Dunedin, February 27, 2025, because, of course, this was originally presented without you here. We wanted you to come back at our State of the City. So if you could come forward, Tom. Mike, it's yours. Very good. Thank you. Thank you so much for this honor that you're presenting to me. But there were quite a few other people involved in this performance of me as the mayor. For example, John Lawrence, who was the city manager at the time, used to give me very good advice and counsel on a number of issues. In addition to that, John Hubbard, who was the city attorney, also provided some very good advice for me over the years. In addition to that, the current mayor, Mo Freeney, was very instrumental in the decision to go from the city police department to the sheriff's office. It was a, as she indicated, it was a very controversial decision. The actual vote on it was 2-2, and I had to cast a deciding vote. But it was a big win for the city. We saved $25 million and were able to reduce the taxes substantially over a period of time. And an interesting side issue is the current sheriff, Bob Guilterri, was a former City of Dunedin Police Department employee. So it provided a lot of opportunity for advancement for the people also. And about 80% of the police went with the sheriff. 20% just had difficulty handling that. So that's, that's, it was good to have good staff, good advisors. And that, that does it. Okay, we're going to get some, you guys want to come down with a picture? We've got to get some pictures with you, if that's okay. I think we're going to get them down here, though. You're going to what? We're going to get a picture with you. Oh, yeah, that's important. So if you want to take a seat. If you could stay with us for just a minute, I do want to give my fellow commissioners an opportunity to say a few words. And I'll start with Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. You know, Tom, in preparation for trying to see what I wanted to tell you this morning, I, I looked, dedicated public servant in the dictionary, and it's got your picture there. So quite amazing. Because that, that is my takeaway with you, Tom, is not just how you, how you led, but how you represented the city, how you represented the people. And you really were just a true, dedicated servant. There was no, there wasn't a politician in you. It was all about the people that you represented, whether it was a commissioner, whether it was mayor, or a Florida representative. You always had the people at heart. And just the idea that when that time, when you, when you moved on from that time, you still stayed involved. And there's nothing that warms my heart better to see you at all the events and still engaged and, and still the number of times you've pulled any one of us aside to give us advice on a particular topic. It's just wonderful because even when you do that, and that would be trying to sway us and lobby us, I, it's always with the people in mind and it's always with a tender heart and a true gift of, of what you think is best for our community. And so just thank you for being who you are and leading the way you led. Thank you. Commissioner Sandberg. I wouldn't be sitting up here this morning if it wasn't for you. You pointed me the right direction, told me what to not dive into. You, you and a couple of other former mayors, um, it's really been a pleasure to get to know you and, uh, that, you know, we were born with two ears and one mouth and I understood that every time you talked, I learned something and you, you pointed me the right direction and you kept me out of trouble a couple of times when I wanted to dive deep and, uh, really come out swinging and you're a good man. You're the kind of person that Dunedin is made for and you helped make Dunedin. So thank you for everything you did. And, uh, I look forward to seeing you going, going forward on our Tuesday afternoon lunches. Thank you, Tom. Commissioner Walker. Thank you, Mayor. Um, you know, when you look up Dunedin in the dictionary, you see a picture of Tom Anderson. And, um, you know, one of the things that just completely resonated, struck me, um, in terms of the, uh, almost five years that we've known each other is just your service. First in the Navy, then in the federal government, I think it was Department of Energy. Um, your time in elected office had a profound effect for our city, for our region. And then the thing I think that's maybe equally as heartwarming here is, is that as I look in the audience, I see a number of members of your Rotary Club here to, to honor your service. And, you know, that to me is special. I'm a Rotarian. And I don't think that's any secret. Um, and, uh, you know, I, again, I, I don't think there, I think you had a more significant influence and mentorship of all of us up here that I think is just absolutely amazing. I mean, you know, you, you truly shaped probably in some measure who we all are as elected officials. So, uh, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for your service, sir. Commissioner Dugard. And by the way, thank you for getting him here this morning. That was awesome. Yeah. I think the words out of his mouth is this better not be an April fool's joke. My colleagues have done a beautiful job of describing Tom, but what you don't really realize is how many ripples he's caused in this town, positive ripples. He speaks with people about what they should do to make this place what it's become. Um, I know when he came to me and said he'd like me to consider running for city commission, I was a little surprised because Tom and I don't always see eye to eye on a number of issues. Um, but he thought I was worthy of it. And at that moment, that was the first time I thought I might be worthy of it because when a man like Tom speaks, it makes a difference, made a difference to me and I'm going to pay you back someday. I don't know how, but there's a lot of love in this town for you. And there's a lot of this town that is here because of you. Thank you. And I, I want to give our city manager an opportunity because I know that when Tom has an opinion, she hears about it. And it's always a very good opinion. I remember, uh, when I first came to town, uh, Tom was described as a legend. He and Alice together, the pair, the partnership. And I remember sitting with he and Alice, uh, and my husband, Dave at a, um, Highland games. And we talked for about an hour and a half. Um, I don't know if you remember that. I hope you do. Um, Alice contributed greatly to the conversation as well. And some of it was don't listen to him, but just the pearls of wisdom and the support. Um, and you know, coming in under the shadow of, of, uh, John Lawrence, uh, and you told me to make the job my own. And, and that was to me, uh, very powerful. And you empowered me, uh, in this position. And just like the ripples, uh, on the city commission, uh, there are ripples among staff as well. Um, and so I'm very grateful for that, for you and Alice. And every time I hear the clock tower ring, I think of the both of you. And that's another, you know, another impact that you've had on the town and the, you know, the physical, uh, portions of the town, the aesthetic of the town and how important it was to you. And, and so, and, and Alice as well. And I'm just grateful, um, for your words of wisdom, your advice, um, your counsel. Um, and, and I can't believe how you are everywhere all the time. And, um, and you said to me one time, you got to get up and get going. And, and that's true. No matter what you are, either physically, mentally, whatever you're doing, get up and get going. And, um, so, um, when, when the state of the city rolled around and, uh, uh, you weren't able to attend, um, I was, I was disappointed in as much as, as if you could see that room and the people who had so much love for you in that room. Um, and also I think you're the only person that can get, uh, bottoms in seats during a work session on a Tuesday morning. So congratulations for that. Thank you for your service. And again, thank you for all of your advice. Thank you, mayor. So I'm glad you brought up Alice though, because for so long, you know, you and Alice were the team around the city and you couldn't have been the leader you were without Alice. Um, you know, she was amazing. And I, as she was, as Jennifer was saying that I couldn't help but go back to the time you were running for election against, I won't say the name, you won, clearly won. And then Alice finally had her say about some of the tactics the individual took. It wasn't pretty. I remember that as a young staffer at the time, but Tom, uh, ripple effect is exactly right. I mean, first, certainly for me, for Peg, I mean, for so many people, you've just shown the way and we're forever grateful. The city is forever grateful. Thank you. We love you. Okay. And, uh, you don't have to stay for the rest of it. I think the Rotarians should though. Yeah, that's right. Well, I did laugh because I was leaving my temporary home where Linda lives and she's rushing out the door and I said, oh, you're in a hurry for somewhere. And we were going to the same place. We ended up, I've ended up following her. So that's one other, uh, gift for Rebecca's bringing down. So if we could maybe give one more standing ovation for an amazing leader. Okay. So, uh, we are now going to do the Earth Month proclamation and Commissioner Degard is going to read that. Um, Commissioner Degard. Thank you, Mayor. I'm particularly honored to read this day's proclamation. I'm glad Natalie's coming forward. She has earned the right to stand here and accept it. Whereas April 22nd marks 55 years of worldwide Earth Day celebrations, which began in 1970 when 20 million Americans rallied for a healthy, sustainable environment. And whereas all life forms on Earth have a right to a healthy, sustainable environment. And as caretakers of the planet, we have an obligation to change human behaviors that contribute to environmental degradation, to preserve Earth's beauty and resources. And whereas Dunedin is fortunate to have over 1,600 acres of parks, open spaces, preserves, and trails, which enrich the lives of our residents, visitors, and wildlife. And whereas the city of Dunedin is the home city for the Florida Gulf Coast Hope Spot, which supports critical marine species, promotes ocean conservation, and water quality. And whereas Dunedin has ready for 100% clean energy goals for municipal and community-wide operations. And whereas the city adopted Dunedin's resilient environmental action master plan, DREAM, which includes 150 action items for robust, sustainable action. And whereas the city of Dunedin will continue to support, educate about environmental awareness, natural resources, and wildlife conservation, clean energy, sustainable practices, and so much more related to the well-being of our planet. Now, therefore, I, Tom Dugard, on behalf of Mo Freeney, mayor, and the city commission, and on behalf of the entire city commission, do hereby proclaim April 25th as Earth Month in the city of Dunedin, and call upon all residents of this great city to be engaged in local and global efforts to protect our environment, and join me in supporting the goals of this worthwhile effort. Thank you. Oh, where's the camera? Okay. Okay, and I'm going to go to citizen input. Oh, I'm sorry, Natalie. I was just going to say. I'm actually dealing right now what I think. She prepared for three weeks. Yeah, no, it's okay. Actually, right now I'm dealing with my April Fool's joke where my screen is blank for my commission agenda. So, so, distracted, but yes, please, you've got the floor. Well, good morning, mayor, vice mayor, commission, city manager, Natalie Gass, sustainability program manager for the city, and joined by our fellow team up here and in the audience as well. Really excited to celebrate Earth Month again with all of you and share some of the great programs happening in our city. Just a few things to start off, birds and breakfast is a new program that's going to be held every Thursday in Hammock Park. If you're interested in, you know, bird watching and having breakfast and communing with other Dunedin residents who are interested in that as well, you can check out that program with our Parks and Recreation Department. The popular annual Arbor Day tree giveaway is going to be happening on April 12th at Achieve a Credit Union starting at 8 a.m. And it's good to get there early because the trees go pretty quickly. That same day, the Growing Together event will be happening at the library from 11 a.m. to 1230. It will be a day of plants, crafting, and discovery, fun for all ages. Staff will have an environmental booth at the downtown Dunedin Market on April 25th for Earth Week to share our sustainability programs, events, initiatives, and just ways that others can take action and become educated. The 2025 Dunedin Environmental Hero will be awarded at the May 8th City Commission meeting, so coming up next month. And finally, Dunedin is certainly so proud of its green space and all of the ways that we encourage and really try to get ourselves out into the beautiful nature, trails, parks along our coastline. And so, you know, we really hope that everyone can enjoy these activities in Dunedin. You can enjoy the outdoors and learn something new about the planet that you live on and take action in whatever way that makes sense for you. So, thank you so much, and happy Earth Month. Thank you, Natalie. Thanks for all you do. And the whole team. Okay, we're going to go to citizens' input. Does anyone in the audience wish to speak on a topic that is not on the agenda? This would be the time to come forward. Okay. Welcome. And name and address for the record. Okay, good morning. My name is Denise Minch. I live at 2202 Gulfview Boulevard in Dunedin. Since I last spoke to the commission in 2023, we have a new mayor, two new council members, and we're in a beautiful new city hall. Congratulations to you all. I stand before you today, as I did two years ago, as a friend of Sterling Park. It was then that our community worked successfully with the city to keep a dog park and pickleball courts out of Sterling Park and preserve this unique parcel of land for all our residents. It's a quiet park used by many in our community each day. I come before you with two concerns. The nets at the public driving range on Bayshore Boulevard, which were damaged by the hurricanes, were repaired in a timely manner. The nets separating the Dunedin Golf Club and Sterling Park were also severely damaged in the storms, but they have never been repaired. They're torn and unsightly, and isn't it dangerous to have an active driving range with no safety nets? My second concern is this, and perhaps that's why the nets have not been repaired. It has come to our attention that the Dunedin Golf Club is waiting on funding from the city to improve their driving range. Their original petition, dated January 18, 2023, calls for the expansion and extension of the driving range so that it meets the public range on Bayshore Boulevard. I'm including an illustration of this concept in my remarks to you. The project would entail cutting down dozens of trees, disrupting the natural drainage of Curlue Creek tributaries, possibly destroying protected mangroves and the further encroachment of Sterling Park. This plan or any adaptation of this plan that might affect the natural use of Sterling Park is not in the community's best interest. The golf club has adequate practice facilities already in place that are more than meet the needs of the golf members. The city has spent an enormous amount of money on the golf course already, a project that probably benefits less than 10% of our residents. Yet Sterling Park is a wonderful asset that can be enjoyed by 100% of our residents. Why would you agree to let the golf course gobble up more of Sterling Park, either now or at any future date? And why would the city allocate more of its limited resources on the golf course when there are so many more worthy places to use the taxpayers' money? Dunedin has a wonderful reputation of working together with the community to address issues and solve problems. To paraphrase your Earth Day proclamation, I'm calling on the commissioners of this great city to be engaged in this local effort to protect the natural environment of Sterling Park and to support the goals of this worthwhile effort. Thank you, Denise. Thank you. Appreciate your input. Thank you. And we'll have a look at that. Okay. Is there anyone else in the audience who wishes to speak on an item that is not on the agenda today? Okay. Seeing no one, we will move on to the consent agenda. So on the consent agenda, we have 2A approved the minutes of 218, 220, 225 of 2025. Board and committee appointments, three of those. We have requests for commission approval to purchase the Microsoft support contract and software upgrade from the current Office 365. We also have awarded bid number 25-2508 for construction of the wastewater treatment plant administration building, window replacement project. Is there anything that should be polled? I know that we, the city clerk has a couple of things. Yes, Mayor. Thank you. I'd like to poll the Timothy Knowles reappointment to the architectural review committee. And then I'd also like to poll the February 18, 2025 work session minutes. Okay. Is there anything else that anyone would like polled? Mayor, if we could 2D. I just had a couple of questions. Okay. 2D. Okay. All right. So other than those three items. Sorry, just a point of clarification. Did you, are we still, is 2E still part of the consent agenda? I do not have a 2E, so. And I do not have an active computer right now. So what is that? It's hold harmless agreement for use of the city of Clearwater fire training facility. Okay. I'm sorry. Yep. Okay. Yes. We're including that. Okay. Okay. So thank you for that clarification. Okay. So anything else to be polled? Okay. So do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda without those three items? So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Excuse me, Mayor. We need public comment. Okay. I'm, it must be having the former mayor in the house. Is there anyone in the public who wishes to speak to any of these consent agenda items? Okay. Seeing no one, I will again ask for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously. Okay. So we'll go back to the three items. So we have 2-18-2025 work session minutes. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to note that when you see the February 18th minutes on the board and committee appointments, you notice one highlighted the reappointment of Megan Doherty to a regular term ending. And that actually is a Scrivener's error. So what I'm hoping, she was actually appointed to the Edgewater Drive Committee on the March 4th meeting. And so I'm just hoping that I can get a motion to clarify and correct a Scrivener's error that the appointment of Megan Doherty was to the Edgewater Drive and not the Hammock Advisory Drive Committee. And just to clean that up and make sure that we have a motion. Okay. Can I have a motion for that? So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries unanimously. And then we'll go down to reappointment of Timothy Knowles to regular term ending 12-31-2027. Rebecca? I'm sorry, Mayor, real quick. So that was a clarification motion, but we also need a motion to approve those minutes now. Okay. Sounds good. Okay. So can I have a motion for all the full set of minutes? So moved. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Aye. And that motion passes unanimously. Okay. Now we have the reappointment of Timothy Knowles to regular term ending 12-31-2027. Okay. And I just wanted to, Timothy, per the term limits, Timothy Knowles has termed out, but we have, because of the architectural review and their specific requirements for the architectural review, we have not been able to find someone else to fill that position. So per Resolution 20-21, it does state in Section 4, if the City Commission is unable to fill a vacant board or committee member position with a new member, it may waive the term limit restriction and reappoint the member vacating the position for one additional year. And so I just wanted you to all realize that this is an extension of, it is past the term limit, but we were not able to fill that position. And so that's why I wanted to pull it just so everyone was aware. So should we formally waive the, uh... Yes. Well, this is an item you're going to have to make a motion on separately anyway. Okay. So yes, your motion can include that you're formally waiving the term limit under the resolution for one, and this will be a one-year term. Okay. So the first motion... No, one additional term. So it's for three years. I'm sorry. Three-year term. Okay. Okay. So two motions or just one? Just one. Yeah. Okay. I was going to say. Okay. So basically I need a motion that is allowing for Tim Knowles to have an additional term by waiving the term limit for that one additional term. So moved. Second. Okay. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And that motion passes unanimously. Is it important to get feedback from the audience for this one? You can. It's an administrative item, but you can. Okay. I mean, anyone in the audience wish to speak to this item at all? I don't see anybody rushing forward. I thought I'd check. Okay. Mayor, if I can. Sure. Can I, what set of skills is he bringing to this committee that make it hard? They have to be licensed architects. Okay. And that one has specific requirements. There's different types of architects as well. And I'm sorry, off the top of my head, I don't know which one he specifically is, but there's a landscape. There's just different ones. Well, I know that right within that committee, there's a variety of skill sets. I think the city manager can answer. No, he's a regular architect. Regular one. Yeah. That's what I thought. Yeah. But there is different requirements in that, for that committee. Is he still chair? He, I don't know. Okay. Anybody else have any questions? Comment. Comment? Okay. Yeah, I, you know, I think, I greatly appreciate bringing this forward for this discussion because this is obviously something, you know, we're talking about term limits here, and we want to make sure that we're clear. Knowing the individual and specifically understanding the architectural review committee, this is a very important part of this, so I think, not to speak for my colleagues, but I think this is the right thing to do. Yeah, thank you. Any other comments, Commissioner Sandberg, and you look like you want to, did you have anything? I just said, yeah, I agree with what Rob said. I know Tim, and he's very qualified, and I think we're very fortunate to have him on that committee. Anyone else? Okay. I mean, I just add, I agree, he's done a great job on that committee, and we can't get anyone else to step up, and that's a really very important committee. It's been extremely successful, and we definitely have some projects coming forward. We don't want to have that gap, so, okay, so I think we've taken the motion and taken the action. Okay, so we'll move on to 2D, which is the Wastewater Treatment Plan Administration Building Window Replacement Project, and, Commissioner Sandberg, did you have anything, do you want a full presentation, or just basically some questions? Yeah, just some questions, not a full presentation. You know, this window and door replacement, that's become, that's a big business, especially with long-term leakage, safety, completed operations when they leave. You know, approximately how many windows and doors are we talking at that location? Good morning, Alex Gonzalez, Project Manager and Engineer. Good morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commission, and City Staff. To answer your question, Commissioner, there is 27 windows, a curtain wall system, which is pretty much a wall of windows, and two front doors of the administration building, and there's additional 16 windows at smaller buildings within the Wastewater Treatment Plan 2 that need to be replaced. And, obviously, everything houses critical infrastructure that you want to best protect against the natural environment. That's kind of where I was going with this. Did this particular contractor visit the location? This particular contractor did not visit the location, but they were given a set of architectural and as-built plans of the facility. Okay. I noticed that, just reading through, I noticed that, for example, there's certificates of insurance. I don't know what they were presented, what the city expects, but I find in looking at them, it's got to be, I think it's going to be deficient in what we're asking for. I mean, there's no auto liability. There's no umbrella. And some of those policies have actually expired. Is that because it's been so long since we've asked for them? Or at what point will that stuff be updated? Specifically, the insurance certificates is what I'm talking about. I will have to defer that question to our purchasing department, who is the one that accumulates and verifies all the insurance policies. But we do require a certain set of insurance, as you mentioned, commercial, builder's risk, so forth and so on, that the prospective contractor has to meet in order to be awarded. I guess when I see a bid that's $50,000 less than the second number, this is not exactly like we're, you know, putting molding around the doors. This is a big project with a long-term safety issue, not only for our staff, but the equipment and anything else in there. I just want to make sure that this, and I'm not picking on this contractor by any means, but that these people are qualified and understand what they're getting into. I realize they're 300 miles away or whatever. There's a long ways up here. And I just want to make sure we're looking out for the best interests of the entire city. And I can tell if Sue, you have something to say. Nan Bennett, utilities director. We have fully vetted them, and Alex can expand on this, but we have been in contact with the contractor. We have voiced those same types of concerns, and we have been working with our purchasing division to ensure that this is a responsive bid. That sums it all up right there. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Anyone else have anything on this particular item? Okay. So I am going to ask for a maker of the motion. Also moved. Can I have a second? Second. Okay. And is there any public input on this particular item? If anyone wishes to come forward to speak to it? Seeing no one. I'm going to, so all in favor of approving this window project for wastewater. Say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion passes unanimously. And before we move on to action items, I'd like to take a five-minute break so I actually have something to work from. That would be awesome. So thank you. Did you let me get staff down here to get you? Yeah. Okay. We'll reconvene the meeting, and we will go immediately to City of Dineen grant-seeking policy, staff presentation by Nicole and Camille. First time, right, Camille? Okay. Here you go. This is it. Game on. Okay. Thank you. Good morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners, City Manager. My name is Nicole Delfino, Strategy and Sustainability Manager. I'm here today to present with Camille Zoller to present an update to our grant policy. First, I wanted to formally introduce Camille since we haven't actually, this is our first time here in front of commission. Camille is a Florida State University College of Law graduate. She came to us from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation at the state and also had worked for the Florida Department of Health. So we're very happy to have her here. She started in December. And to say we have hit the ground running is an understatement. So one of the first priorities when Camille came on board was to kind of get a database of where we've been and what we've done. So that task has been underway and completed. And then the second was to look at an updated policy so that we have very clear parameters and direction moving forward as far as applying for and then receiving grants. So Camille has worked on the policy language. So I will actually pass it to her to give an overview of what the policy is in front of you today. Hi. Good morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioners. In 2007, City Commission approved a policy requiring an executed resolution prior to submitting any grant application. That policy was then revised in January of 2016, adding a few specific exemptions to the review and resolution process for grant applications, including authorizing City staff to apply for grants if there was no requirement to provide a matching contribution or if a match of in-kind services or funds did not exceed $25,000 and was previously budgeted for the project in question. Nearly 10 years later, the City has now approved and hired a staffed grant specialist. That's me. So there's no better time than the present to provide a clear and updated policy allowing more flexibility in staff's ability to apply for and accept grant funding. The proposed policy revision before you today authorizes your City Manager to approve the submission of grant applications on behalf of the City, provided that the grant purpose is consistent with the goals and objectives of the City, and provided that the following criteria is met. Either the application does not require a matching contribution, or the application requires a matching contribution not to exceed the City Manager's delegated purchasing authority, or the application requires a matching contribution, which has previously been approved by the Commission as part of the annual budget adoption. So that would either be as a business plan initiative or a part of the capital improvements plan. Any grant applications meeting these criteria will be shared with the City Commission in the City Manager's report, and all other applications would continue to be presented for Commission approval. It is prudent to note here that the process of simply applying for grant funding does not bind the City into any agreement of any kind, and it doesn't guarantee that the City will be selected for award. The second part of the policy addresses grant agreements. The proposed policy authorizes the City Manager to review and approve grant agreements requiring a matching contribution within the City Manager's delegated purchasing authority. While approval and review of grant agreements which require more significant City contributions would remain under the purview of the City Commission, and shall be brought forward for resolution. So, in sum, the two key changes that we have are first that this updated policy authorizes City staff to apply for grant funding without your explicit direction, when there is no matching requirement, when a matching contribution would fall within the City Manager's delegated purchasing authority, or when the amount of the matching requirement has already been approved by City Commission as part of the annual budget adoption. So, you can rest assured that your City Manager will notify you whenever staff submits a grant application under her authority, and that grant applications which do not meet these criteria will continue to be brought before you for review and approval. Second, with regard to your approval of awarded grant agreements, this updated policy authorizes the City Manager to review and approve grant agreements requiring a matching contribution that is within the City Manager's delegated purchasing authority. Your City Attorney, Jennifer Cowan, has reviewed this proposed policy revision, and has approved its language as to form. And finally, we do love our Blue Jays in Dunedin, so I'll just leave you with a baseball metaphor. In 1943, John R. Tunis wrote in the Keystone Kids, quote, you can't hit the ball if you don't swing the bat. So, we are asking you to let us swing. So, again, thank you very much for your time and your consideration, and of course, we are available to answer any questions or concerns you may have regarding this proposed policy. Well, that was pretty good for your first time. There you go. All right. Okay. Do we have some questions for Camille? I will start with Commissioner Walker. You know, I think everything I've got really is comments on the process and policy. I guess the one question I would ask is that I think in the interest of understanding what the, and I'll just, you know, my analogy is a business development pipeline, you know, the grants that are coming down the pipe, things that we're contemplating, pursuing, just to have an understanding of where, you know, where those grant funds potentially could go. And I know we've talked about this and that we'll have that presentation, but I'm very much looking forward to that. So, but I do have some comments on the comments. Thank you. Okay. Commissioner DeGuard. Thank you, Mayor. Before I get started, I wish to commend Nicole. We had a magnificent trip to Tallahassee. It was run like Patton running through Germany. Well done. And I also wish to congratulate my colleague for getting out the first thank you note to you. Nice job, Rob. That being said, I'll now get back to the issue. I think this is an excellent policy suggestion. I have only one caution. Oftentimes, grants are designed to affect behavior on a local level. You know that, and I know that. Sometimes that behavior is what causes the match to occur that's unmentioned in the grant itself, because that behavior causes us to have to extend ourselves and oftentimes create expenses. I refer to those types of grants as eating celery, which means you get, you know, two calories for every four you eat. So it's a difficult kind of situation. I just want to be cautious that we don't find ourselves in a case where we create more expense through action than we receive in benefit. That's my only thought. Thank you. Okay. I will go to Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. I am curious as to Tom's analogy on Patton and Germany on whether you were like Patton or Tallahassee is like Germany. I don't know. I don't know. I want to leave that as a rhetorical question, right? Yes, and I would rather not have an answer. As far as the third reason, can you give us, do we have a live example of that where we have approved a budget or a business initiative that, oh, this is what we're talking about? Do we have that? Yes, sir, we do. So currently I'm in the process of drafting an application for the HMGP, which is the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, and the HLMP, which is the Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program. So for the Hurricane Loss Mitigation Program, your staff actually met and decided that, and I believe that City Manager Bramley briefed you about this a couple of meetings ago. But for that grant opportunity, it offers up to $250,000 for mitigation construction. So your staff met and identified that the existing project that would best suit that purpose and meet all the criteria of that grant program is the hardening of our water treatment building, which would prevent, hopefully, any future hurricane losses and protect 100% of Dunedin's residents. That has already been budgeted for. You approved $500,000 to harden that building. We are now drafting an application which requests the full $250,000 available and, as a show of good faith, commits $250,000 of our own money to that project. So we had already budgeted $500,000. If we win this award, we will only spend $250,000. Thank you. That's all I have. Commissioner Sandbergen. Thank you again. I don't think we could express what all you did for us up there. And, man, you really kept it together. Thank you. You're welcome. I really have no questions about this. I think, you know, I've made it real clear that my questions will come up when we start zeroing in on what grants are available, what we've applied for. And so that's when my questions will come up. But I have no questions on this. So I know this isn't going to be popular, but I'm completely against this. April Fool's. You were freaking out over there, weren't you? So I think the key – I think, actually, Commissioner Dugard, you brought up a fantastic point. And I actually think that's sometimes why commissions at any level keep a very tight rein. They're afraid of all the little side things that get, you know, required. And I'm not going to give the example, but we just heard one the other day at the state level where they haven't been applying for federal funds because of something that now seems to be going away, so now they're going to apply for them. So I think that, you know, that is something the city manager and staff – I like that you keep saying your staff. And, like, it makes me feel more, you know, powerful and important, right? Yeah, so my city manager – but I do think that's where – Jennifer, you're going to have to be careful so that you're watchful of that. And I think as long as we're on the same page and we're doing our work sessions, I mean, some of those things will come forward. We'll know kind of, you know, different administrations, what they tend to put in there. So I do think that's really important. So I think – and, again, I think that goes with that consistent with goals and objectives. And it's going to be really important for you to understand how, you know, wide or, you know, narrow that really is. So I'm just trying to scare you a little bit. So, yeah, you're feeling scared? No. My biggest issue with this, too, and it's a little bit kind of the same thing, which is I don't think we reflect anything with in-kind in here. So how are we going to – are we going to monetize – and I did ask the city manager this question. You know, when we look at delegated authority, it can be no money and it can be millions in work. So I guess how are we going to, you know, adjust for that and how do we write that into our rule? Well, I think we're going to have to kind of cross that bridge when we come to it, when it comes to in-kind work, to really try to monetize and put some hours behind that. And if it's within, you know, I think that moving forward, if it would be within the delegated authority, we would follow this and beyond that, then we would be bringing that forward. So depending on how much that kind of cost allocation will either come before you as a consent agenda or an action item. So should we put something in here, use the verbiage in-kind, you know, so that it's clear? I just think that's probably where we'd fall off as – and not for you and this commission, because I think we're so – we're pretty in sync. But I think, you know, this has got to stand the test of time, so. Right. Yeah. What are your thoughts? Yeah. Massage something in there as far as in-kind. Because in-kind, as you know, can be capital. It can be labor. It can be – It can be, yeah. All sorts of in-kind. And I think that it's really important, actually, to ensure that we completely understand what in-kind is. Right. And understand future operations and maintenance of any grant that we receive. So I think that – you know, I'm thinking we'll talk about it at our department head meeting this afternoon in terms of some sort of a matrix to set up so that we've considered all of those eventualities. And a lot of these grants will come with administration expenses as well on top of it. So – and we need to consider all those things and convey to you during the city manager's report, you know, how much that is, how long – how much of a legacy expenditure it's going to be, and so on and so forth. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, I don't actually have any more questions. So I will ask if there's anyone in the public that wishes to speak to this issue. And I don't see anyone rushing to the podium. So I will close the public input, and I will ask for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. I have a motion and a second. Commissioner Walker, Commissioner Dugard. And so I will ask for commission comments, starting with the maker of the motion, Commissioner Walker. Thank you, Mayor. You know, I think just to your point on in-kind, I think that's a great point. Yeah. But it definitely needs to be considered. So with the comments, you know, we've been looking forward to having a manager for our proposal – our grant writing things. And, you know, it is so important because – and I just want to emphasize, and I think the due diligence is important – but, you know, without a dedicated force on this, we're leaving money on the table. And I think that we will be well-served going forward. So this hits all the check blocks for me. Streamlined policy, you know, bringing this to the commission every single time, you know, really kind of limits our ability to respond, especially when faced with – and sometimes very tight deadlines. And I think that's great. The thresholds, I think, are consistent with what they currently are. I would say down the road we might want to consider raising those thresholds, just thinking out loud. And the other part – and this is in terms of what the opportunities are, the transparency on this will be important going forward. Because it'll – it's not so much us having to approve what you go after, but it's more in the mindset of shaping our opinions on things or things that we can advocate for going forward. So – and finally, grant proposal procurement responses. You know, there is a process. I'll be looking forward to see how that process lays out. And if you need any help with that, I would be happy to do that. So, anyway, thank you. Okay. Commissioner Degard, comments. Thank you, Mayor. The subtext of motions like this happens to be about staff confidence. We will be delegating an authority with this action for application of grants that will not come before the commission. This is about that staff confidence. This is a vote of confidence in our staff. Camille, you as you come on board, Nicole, and our city manager. I'm in support of this motion. Okay. Great. Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. I can't really add anything that my colleagues have already said. Thank you. Commissioner Sandbergen. Yeah. Really, nothing else to add? Okay. Yeah. No, I think it is about confidence. I think that's great comments. And I'm for this. And, again, if you can adjust that somehow for the in-kind issue, that would be great. So I will take a voice vote. All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion passes unanimously. And good job. Thank you. Thank you. Bring us the money, though. Bring us the money. Show us the money. Okay. Going to go to 3B, Memorandum of Understanding between the City and International Association of Firefighters, AFL-CIO, Dunean Firefighters Association, Local 2327, regarding the 4896 shift schedule. And staff presentation is Teresa. So, Teresa, it's yours. Good morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Commission. Teresa Smalling, Director of HR and Risk Management for the city. As was noted, this is a memorandum of understanding between the City of Dunedin and the local IAFF Dunedin firefighters. Last year, the firefighters brought a proposal to fire administration requesting a pilot program to introduce a different schedule, going from the schedule at the time was one day on, one day off, one day on, one day off, and then four days off, to work in consecutively 48 hours and then having 96 hours off. The fire administration approached city manager and HR and was discussed, was agreed to move forward with this pilot program for one year. commencing in February of 2024 and ending February, 18th, February, 2025. So, what you have before you is after going through that year, there was actually, per Deputy Chief Handoga, about a 21% decrease in sick leave. That was one of the pros of going with this program. And the union wants to continue with the program, at least through the current contract period, which ends September 30th, 2027. And a fire administration and a city manager, we have discussed it, and we have no objection with doing that. So, the memo of understanding was written by our employment attorney, Brett Snyder, to reflect the change to making the schedule at least through the end of the current contract period. At this time, I'm happy to take any questions that you may have. Okay, questions, Vice Mayor? Does this change, have any negative impact on the health, safety, and welfare of the residents? I will defer to Chief on this. Chief Parks is here with me. Morning, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commissioner. Jeff Parks, Fire Chief. Commissioner, Commissioner, I don't see that we've had any lack of service to the customer or the citizens at this point with the new schedule. So, we've been very happy with it. And how about all the staffing throughout a typical week? Do we have any holes because of this change? Not because of the change. We're still gearing up. We're in a process. We're finalizing. We probably have three of our six safer employees hired now. The other three are in the process now with HR. So, once we get that there, we have a couple that have to go through Fire Academy, but we can use them as paramedics on our rescue now. They're county certified. But we haven't had any decrease because of this schedule enough. How about managing the schedule? Is that harder, easier? I think it's actually probably easier because we get a shift that's on now for one day. Now, they're on for two days. So, if we have something going on, training is in process, anything like that. If we get calls, we have to leave. We can go back the next day and pick up the training as well. So, it helps with that. Thank you. That's all I have. Thank you. Commissioner Sandberg. And it seems to be going over well with your staff. Yes. 4896. Yes, sir. I think you see a more relaxed crew when they come back in. Our other schedule, you're on for 24 days and are off for 24 and come back on. The four days off gives them the time to spend more time with their family, get relaxed. If it was a busy night, they have four days now to relax and get back into the mood to come back to work again. Good. That's all I needed to hear. Thank you. Commissioner Walker. Thank you, Mayor. There's precedence for this, obviously. Other cities have done this. So, this mostly in the northwest on the Pacific side. But East Lake Fire District in Penelope County now has the same schedule. And Marco Allen just adopted that schedule as well. Yeah. Fantastic. And you, and I just wanted to pull the thread, and this is really just for my understanding, the reduction in sick time. What, how, how does that factor in? Did you, yeah. So, when the fire union proposed it, and we see that as one of the selling points of the schedule where a lot of the participating agencies have used the reduction in sick leave as an incentive for the schedule. And so, you know, that was one of the things that we wanted to look at. What is, was there really a benefit in terms of keeping the schedule? So, that does stand out as one of the benefits, as well as what Chief said about the work-life balance, mental health of the employees. Yeah, I totally get that. Thank you. Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. When I look at changes like this, I consider three perspectives. First perspective, of course, is the team itself, the, our union employees and how they view it. And, by the way, getting any union degree to anything at a 92% level is absolutely, well, I consider it near impossible. So, that's a great achievement. I don't know if there was any investigation into the three that voted against it, but I would be interested to know what their thought process was. Second, I look to management and their agreement with it, and by being here, you are in agreement with this approach. But the third area is scheduling itself, and that's a challenge that will come to you, Chief. Do you see any challenges in the scheduling under this new system that presents any difficulties? No, we haven't seen anything. We have a computer program. It's called CrewSense. It's part of our training system as well. So, we can see the schedule of all the units, and it automatically loads in personnel that aren't on vacation or on any kind of leave. So, it's very helpful to do it that way. But, no, we haven't had anything, a lot of training. We have a lot of training going on, so it's kind of been mixed up, you know, getting that all situated. But our schedule, per se, no, we haven't had any problems. Okay. So, I'm assuming that you're in complete support of this? Yes, sir. Okay. No more questions? Kind of a weird question, but do we know why the Pacific side started to do this schedule? I mean, there's a part of me that thinks, okay, well, they're doing big fires. They're sending people off to big fires. It's hard to get people 24 hours, and they'll come back. So, you might as well leave them at the fire, give them rest. I guess, because inherent in that is why they did it versus what's the difference of why we should do it? I mean, because they could be very different, very different issues. So, the only thing I can say is why, to answer why we should do it is, and that's why we went with the pilot program. Because we did have some reservations also as to being, you know, one of the few, if only, entities on this side. And I think the year that we took to, you know, examine the pilot program has sort of spoke for itself in terms of, you know, a more engaged, productive staff. So, I would defer to the union if they had any thoughts. I might ask you guys a question. So, yeah. But hold on. Yeah. Because, okay, so who does, do all the firefighter paramedics do this schedule, or is it just an option for them to do the schedule? It's everyone. It's everyone. So, I guess I'm just picturing, it's your 23rd hour, you've been up, call after call after call, and I ask myself, how could you still be mentally, physically alert to work on a patient if it's your 23rd hour and you've been just call after call after call? And I guess I'd ask one of the firefighters to answer that. I'll invite Lieutenant Gandolfo, if you'd like to come up and speak to this. This is Lieutenant Phil Gandolfo. Yep. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for having me. Philip Gandolfo, fire lieutenant and the VP for the union. So, to answer your first question about why it's a little more popular out west, we're seeing it a little more popular in North Florida, and it's trickling down. The big thing out west is expenses. That wasn't our primary reason, but when you look at, like, L.A. County, California, property is very expensive. So, you have a lot of firefighters who live in other states. So, for them to drive every other day, that is time-consuming, being able to recall people for natural disasters, something like that, it's difficult. So, that was a big push out there. That's a secondary thing for us. As you all are aware, we had a bit of a staffing crisis the last few years. Many of our members were working 72 hours on, go home for 24 hours, come back to work 72 hours. So, in collaboration with fire administration and with the city, you know, the union started looking at other options to kind of benefit that work-home-life balance. And part of that was this 24, sorry, 48-96. When we get hit with a 72 hours, you still have that 72 hours rest cycle. So, that long-term burnout was our main priority of accomplishing this. And I do want to add, it had no change to our work hours, no change to payroll. All of that maintained the same. It was just rearranging the days of the month you worked. So, that was our main focus and then the byproduct. To answer your question on that 23rd hour, it is difficult. As a lieutenant, you know, our chief has kind of given us the leeway to manage the schedule of the day, all the extra stuff. So, when we notice a crew is getting beat up, we have the leeway to kind of swap members out, give them a little more rest on a slower unit to provide them the necessary rest moving forward. Again, I like to think we're a pretty busy department for this area, but there are significantly busier departments in the country that operate this schedule. And part of the benefit of it is you have that reduced sick leave, you're reducing long-term burnout, which then reduces long-term injuries, both mentally and physically. So, we've been given the leeway to kind of manage the day to overcome those hurdles. And we noticed some of that throughout the last year. There were some changes that we had to do. You know, there's an old saying, firefighters hate two things, change in the way things are. So, initially, you know, we had a 67% approval rating to start this because we had to uproot people's lives. Childcare issues, home life, everything changed. That's difficult. And, like Commissioner said, we went to a 92% approval because people saw the benefits. They saw that work-home life balance increase their mental health, their physical health. We're noticing we're more efficient in the firehouse. We're able to accomplish more tasks because we're here for a longer duration of time. So, we're seeing benefits across the board. And I do want to thank you all for allowing us to go through this trial. I mean, it's a big deal changing the schedule for a fire department. It's no small thing. So, like Dr. Smalling said, Eastlake officially went to it. They used to do kind of a modified, but they're official. And I get notifications of different ads for job postings all over the country. And it's becoming that highlighted thing, which I'm hoping will kind of just help our recruiting, helping us bring quality employees to the city to service our citizens. Thank you. That's a great answer. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. I don't have any other questions. So, we will go to any public input on this issue. Anyone in the public wish to come forward and speak to this issue? Seeing no one, I will close public input. And I will ask for a motion. So moved. Second. Okay. Commissioner Walker and Vice Mayor. So, I'll go to Commission comments and start with Commissioner Walker. Thank you, Mayor. I like this on so many different levels. This is, this makes a lot of sense from a quality of life perspective, from a manning perspective, from, you know, just plain mental health perspective, if you will. Having had personal experience with this when I was in the Navy, I recall days where we would have 24-hour duty days while in port, and sometimes those would be every other day. And that would go on for, until we went to sea. And I can tell you, that takes a toll. It takes a toll on retention. It takes a toll on family-work-life balance. And, you know, with that said, I really applaud the ability to embark upon this because I think it's the right thing to do. Thank you. Okay. Commissioner, actually, I'm sorry, Vice Mayor. Second. Thank you, Mayor. This is actually the absolute right thing to do. The testimonial was just fabulous in just the real-life impact of this. And there's very few changes that organizations make that have the impact across the board on what this sounds like will do. So, I'm certainly in favor of this. So, thank you. Okay. Commissioner Sandbergen. No, I'm glad to hear that it sounds like we're kind of getting out in front as it's starting in North Florida. And I appreciate the chance to be able to help you who help us. So, definitely fully support it. If you're satisfied with it, that's all I needed to hear. Okay. Commissioner Degard. Thank you, Mayor. In a past life, I had the pleasure of supporting the Safer Council through a survey that indicated the stress and what relieves stress amongst our first responders. In that survey, it said the first line of defense for stress was the family and how families work with our first responders to keep their lives in balance. This action does that. And I am in support. Great. I'm also in support. I'm not going to let you work on me on the 47th hour that you're up, though. So, just so you... No, I'm very supportive. I appreciate, you know, Lieutenant, your answer hit right on all the bullet points. But I think this is kind of a win-win all the way. So, I'm certainly supporting. So, I'm going to go to all in favor. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. And any opposed? And motion passes unanimously. Okay. Mayor, as is our tradition with the union, we usually do a joint signing. So, Lieutenant Gandolfo is here for Lieutenant Denison, who could not be with us today. So, if you will, if we could take a few minutes to do the signing. That's it. First official signing. You got it. You want it? Okay, good. I don't know. You're saying for a mission. I don't know. You have one. Yeah, sure. I'm not serious to say that. No, no, no, no. Over your shot or over your shoes. You been sure a lot? Don't do jokes in pictures, please. Thank you. Oh, people think I have a Napoleonic soul. I like it when policy changes hit so many different sweet spots. Yeah. Nice. Thank you guys for all being here. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Teresa. Okay. The next item is proposed agenda for April 15, 2025 work session. And it looks like Rebecca has three things to add. Arts and Cultural Advisory Committee continuance. Committee on Aging continuance. Award of Phase II Architectural and Engineering Design Services for the Gladys E. Douglas Preserve. And anyone else have anything else as they look at the agenda to add or take away? I am going to make an editorial comment that I don't know how you celebrate Cinco de Mayo on Cinco dos. I don't know. But we already approved St. Patrick's Day, not on St. Patrick's Day. Okay. Anything on the? Okay. So I am going with those three additions. Can I have a motion? So moved. Second. I want to figure that one out. Yeah, I know. Who was that? I think it was Tom. Okay. I'm going with Tom. Okay. Okay. And all in favor? Aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Okay. We have no workshop items. So we will go to commission discussion. I didn't get any emails on anything that's going to come forward. But we'll wait until comments. Okay. City clerk update. I don't have anything today. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. City manager update. The only thing I have, and it's attached to the city manager's update agenda item, is a 2025 business survey. And in the past, we've gone over question by question with the city commission. I don't think we need to do this. We've done this year to year. And we're not proposing changes to the survey because we're able to kind of trend things and so on and so forth. But I wanted to let you know that we will be sending it out and provide you the opportunity to have a look at it before we send it out. Okay. Any commissioners or any questions for the manager? Okay. So going to city attorney update. Nothing at this time. Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Any questions for the city attorney? Okay. So we'll go to commission comments, and I will start with Commissioner Walker. Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I want to thank my colleagues, Commissioner Sandberg and Commissioner Dugard, for supporting the National Vietnam Veterans Recognition Day. And you obviously very short-fused and appreciate the consideration by the whole commission. We did send you regrets. And that's a significantly important event because, you know, for a lot of different reasons, our Vietnam veterans were not treated well when they came back. And as the generations, the veteran generations continue to get older, we now see a majority of those being comprised of, you know, the Vietnam veterans and our Afghanistan-Iraqi war veterans. So, anyway, that's important. Second thing, this is, so on Thursday, I'm sorry, first of all, I think it should be on your calendars now, but April 11th will be the decommissioning of the Dunedin Boat Club Clubhouse. And we will be reading a proclamation on Thursday, and we'll be also presenting that proclamation at the event. And just a thought on this, so, you know, the historical significance of what the Dunedin Boat Club is is really a foundational component of Dunedin. And when you start thinking about our maritime history, our sailing history, and the point on this is that this is not the end of an era. This is a decommissioning of the historically designated clubhouse. It is actually more of a recognition of the future and the legacy that needs to be passed on. So, I want to just provide that. Finally, on Wednesday is the Dunedin History Museum Whiskey and Stories event. And I'm sure the stories will get longer and funnier as the more whiskey is drank. But I bring this one up because I attended this event last year, and it's awesome. And it's a great kickoff to the Highland Games. So, if you can make it, I think you will find it a very enjoyable experience. So, those are all the things I have. Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner Dugard. Thank you, Mayor. Again, although Nicole is still here, again, thank you for an excellent tour of Tallahassee relative to our legislature. It is not inappropriate to refer to our legislature at this moment as potentially a rolling cannon. And we just don't know what direction it's going to take off in. And we have several things at risk right now. And I was disappointed to learn that the prediction that the CRA was off the table is no longer the truth. And I think that represents a risk to our community. And so, I encourage everyone up at this dais and in this citizenry to voice their opposition to closing CRAs effective this year if the legislation passes. So, that gives me great pause. And that gave some of them great pause. Some of which did not receive substantial damage. And some of those citizens have come to me. I think our department and Joe Piscopi... Do that again for me. De Pasqua. De Pasqua. I do that poorly. I apologize. Is now fielding those calls and experiencing the pain of a bunch of concerned citizens. We will talk more about how we handle substantial damage letters in the future. Several up here have experienced those letters. And we know how traumatic those letters can be. But, as I said before, we did four-star in dealing with this storm. And I wish to commend the staff for all their efforts. And that's all I have. Thank you, Commissioner. Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. Commissioner Walker, thank you for your comments on the Vietnam Celebration Memorial event this weekend. I apologize. I couldn't be there. I was short-fused. But I remember the first time we did that event. I think it was an official welcome home event for the veterans. In Pioneer Park. It was awesome. And that was insanely emotional. I know. And it was, you know, and it's amazing what a word thank you will do when it's official and sincere. When a welcome home is official and sincere. And for the length of time it's been since the Vietnam War. And never to have received that. Seemed to have been accepted now into our society. But never really with an official. That event was, you could see it on the faces of our Vietnam vets. And it was just beautiful. So the fact that it seemed to be an event that is continuing is just wonderful. Because they do deserve that. And it was a little short for you. So I do, again, apologize. I couldn't be there. No worries. Thank you. Those, you're spot on. And your comments are very appreciated. Thank you. Thank you. And as also duly noted, it is Highland Games Week. Very excited. Very excited. And our church proudly tries to take the bookend of it, of Highland Games Week. And we held our Kirk and the Tartan service. Which is a service that just kind of celebrates and acknowledges the culture and heritage of our Scottish roots. So it's wonderful. Everybody's invited next year, as always. But we have the scotch and stories Wednesday, as already been acknowledged. And that is true. As the more scotch we'll drink, the longer and funnier those stories we'll get. So, Vice Mayor, I bought tickets yesterday. There were only 11 left. You're only 11 left. There's only 10 left. I bought one this morning. There you go. Is it scotch or whiskey, or is it scotch whiskey? Well, yes. Okay. Yes. Okay. But it depends on how you spell whiskey. Okay. Right? And actually, if you spell it with an E, it's Irish. So if you look at a bottle. And if you want to call it scotch, it has to be made in Scotland. So if you're buying scotch from Japan or the U.S., it is not scotch. So technically, officially. And then we have a haggis hunt coming up. New World Kelts are putting on a haggis hunt this week. So if you're in the mood to hunt haggis, certainly get involved with that. We have our pipe band march this Friday. And it is for the new commission. There is nothing more exciting. The best part about that parade is it's not linear. For our Christmas parades and all the other parades, they're all linear. We start at VFW and just go straight down Douglas. This starts on Loudoun. And when you turn that corner onto Main Street and you see the number of residents that show up for this parade, it will set you back. It's like, oh, my God, this is so amazing. And so certainly looking forward to that. We have our haggling games on Saturday. I will be announcing the trail run on Saturday morning. So if you've got nothing else better to do at the crack of dawn, come on out and celebrate all the runners. A good portion of them are in kilts as well. So it is a kilt run. And kilts are encouraged in the run. Also, we have, if you notice, so that's all about the haggling games. I'm looking forward to everybody being there on Saturday. If you also saw on Facebook, our middle school had the privilege and honor of going to New Orleans last weekend and enter a competition. And they brought home gold in several categories. And because of their win there, they've been invited back to attend in a special category next year. And so it just shows you what is happening in our public schools, what's happening in our public music education, and in Dunedin, in our Scottish arts programs in our schools. So that's all wonderful. And so that's all that I have right now. Thank you, Mayor, very much. Hey, Commissioner Sandbergen. I was glad to help out on Sunday. I think it's so important for us to recognize anybody that gives back to the community, any volunteer. You know, that's a great organization down there. I was glad to be part of it. And just, I know we've talked about it a couple times this morning. When we went to Tallahassee, it was really something to learn and to watch the wheels of politics spin. I'm not sure that it was all good, but, you know, we gave it all we had. I mean, we sat at that table with those senators and with our representatives. And I got to tell you, Mayor, you did a great job taking the lead. And I guess if I knew you were good at what you did, but when I got to see it in action, I really admired the way you led us as a city and as commissioners. And I can't say enough good about, you know, I think Commissioner Dugard said you were herding cats up there. And we were all going a different direction. I mean, if I'm not mistaken, someone got lost going to the restroom and ended up on the wrong elevator. So we, but we all made it back and we all, you know, we gave it all we had. And then it was kind of disheartening to see that, you know, and I know they didn't make us promises, but they kind of implied that things were going to lean our way. And then when reality set in, you know, it was kind of a setback. But I'm looking forward to Friday with the Highland Games, the cart parade. I have seen it in the past. It's the first time I've ever been part of it. And, again, it's Dunedin being Dunedin. It brings out the entire community. Things, you know, seem to be looking good. We talked about hurricane recovery. We talked about the marina. We talked, you know, we gave it all we had. And hopefully the rest of 2025 will make some of that come together. And I appreciate everything that everyone up here does for us. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. I remember the very first Friday march. I don't know if you do. But I was like, I was sitting in Cafe Alfresco. It was raining. And there was like 10 people marching down the street. And we're like, okay. And, I mean, look what it's become. I mean, it's really kind of just another fun thing. I mean, can you party enough when you're on this commission? You know? I mean, really, it's so true. We're up here talking about whiskey and scotch and marge and, you know, anyway. I did want to kind of take note that I guess it would have been 14 years ago. Today was declared John Hubbard Day because he was retiring. And I just, you know, just want to keep his memory alive because, you know, he was responsible for so many things that are important to Dunedin. Saving trees, you know, the tree ordinance. The land dedication ordinance to make developers give money to the fund to buy green space, which we now call, I can never remember because I call it the land dedication ordinance. But now it's there, again, in a different form. Impact fees. He started the impact fees so that new people coming in actually had to pay for some of the capital expensive moving on as a community. And, of course, we know everybody's got this now. But he was a real, you know, he kind of set a pace on a lot of things. No billboards. We don't see billboards in Dunedin. You can thank John Hubbard's ordinances for that. And so there's just a lot of things. And I think it's just very appropriate that he's got John Hubbard Linear Park named after him because he gets a lot of credit for some of the, you know, saving some of the things that matter in the hearts of Dunedinites. So I just wanted to recognize that. I, you guys kept using, I do want to apologize that I didn't make the Vietnam thing. I was in Rhode Island with my grandson. I couldn't get here, but I would have been here. And I do remember the first one, and it was amazing. And every time you guys say it was a short fuse, I think somebody's going to blow up in anger because that's just a, but it was, yeah, short notice, I guess. It was a very short notice. Yeah, but it was, it was good. And hopefully they'll let us know sooner because obviously that, it is a very important celebration. Yeah, yeah, so that's good. I have had a discussion with Jennifer about looking into, and she's going to do that, and I told her I'd wait, but sorry, changed my mind. Looking into whether, as when we change to the one work session a month, that they become true work sessions. Maybe, you know, a couple major items like grants, because we know we want to sit and talk about grants and what we're going for. But do it in a more informal setting, so that our Thursday night meetings maybe become the formal, but our work sessions become true work sessions where we're sitting around the table, a little bit more informal. We get to do what you dress informal. So it's just a thought. She's going to look at some of the, you know, how that could work and bring it back to us for formal. So the Tallahassee trip, I agree, was fantastic. Nicole, thank you to you. Thank you to Laura. Laura was fantastic. Both of you were fantastic. And I felt like it was extremely productive. And I've been up there a lot of times, and it was, in my opinion, the most productive trip I've ever had up there. And, you know, everything was kind of scheduled, and it worked out well. I also wanted to give a nod to Commissioner Brian Scott, chair of the county commission, because he was up there specifically working, because Laura is also his lobbyist, working on behalf of the Causeway Bridge, and I think getting some, making some headway on that. So if you see him, give him a nod to thank him. And then the last thing I just wanted to, well, I do want to comment on Commissioner Dugard, you know, the substantial damage letters. Yeah, I'm getting so many comments. And, of course, I got mine. You know, I didn't get the whole layout of it anyway in terms of so late in the game. But I knew, like, not to worry. But I've got, you know, neighbors and people just calling me like, you know, well, this isn't even right. They don't even have my right flood zone. And they're confused because it's making them panic. Now, I think Joey is doing a wonderful job of calming people, getting them through it. But, again, it is hard to imagine that there's not a better way. But hopefully we don't have to learn that too quick with another hurricane. So, anyway. May I just comment on that? Absolutely. We completely concur with the City Commission that there's a better way to do the substantial damage letters. And as part of the after action, which we're going to discuss at Department Head this afternoon, we will change the way that we're hoping this year. We don't have, or next five or ten years, we don't have anything to do with the substantial damage letters. But we've got to do better. I agree. Thank you. Okay. And then the last thing is, and I don't know if it's on everybody's radar, but on, let me look at the dates. I think it's, hold on, hold on, hold on. It is like May 15th and 16th primarily is the Regional Resiliency Summit 2025 that the Tampa Bay Regional Partners, Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council is putting on. I think it's extremely timely in terms of the issues that we have had with, you know, climate change and storms and, you know, post-development, redevelopment, rather. And so, you know, to the extent anybody can consider going, I don't know if anybody's already planning on it. I know I'm going to be going, but I hope people will consider it if they can. I think it'll be great. Yeah. I would encourage everybody to go if they can. Mayor, is it possible as soon as we can? And I know it's still being developed, but get an itinerary, an agenda for those two days. Yeah. I'll actually reach out now. I mean, obviously, I'm chair of Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, so as many of you that can be there, it would feel good to me. But I also understand people have conflicts, but I will get a good layout so that you know. Yeah. That's great. Commissioner? When you talk about those dates, I'm going to be gone the 14th of May through that weekend. I was scheduled to speak at DCO on Friday the 16th, and I would be glad to swap with somebody. If they can cover for me, I'd be glad to cover for them. I see, Rob, you're scheduled 25 April. I'm not sure your calendar, but give me some thought. You'll be at the conference, though. Yeah, I would support that, but I'll be at the, yeah. Okay. Okay. Have we ever had a situation where we didn't have a representative? Yeah, we can work it out. I mean, one of the staff, if one of us can't go, one of the staff can go and fill it. Okay, so it's a ways off, but okay. I mean, yeah, we'll take care of it. All right. Thank you. Okay. Other than that, does anybody else have anything good for the order, City Manager? Are we good? No, ma'am. We're good. Okay, so meeting is adjourned.