City Commission Conference Meeting on 2026-09-02 1:05 PM - Sep 02, 2026

Okay, moving on to the conference meeting agenda. So we start out with neighbor presentations. Is Carrie Barnes here? She is not. She indicated she could not be here and requested to speak at the next, first being in October. All right, very good. Okay, then moving on, City Commissioner's reports. We'll start with Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Thank you, Mayor. You're welcome. Yes, yes. It's been very, very productive and enjoying the city and all the intimacy we offer. It's been really a nice time. On Friday, August 21st, the annual Summer Jams was held at Mills Pond. Local entertainment, a young man in a band by the name of Larry Dogg, which always rocks the crowd and bring everyone to a level of engagement. And then our headliner was the Ohio Players. They brought the funk. They brought it all. We had a great time. Thank you to Chris Cooper and also Pat Riley. They came out and they had a good time with us. And we were blessed. There was no rain that night. So we had a really good time. And thank you to Parks and Recs for all that you do. And it's amazing to me how you execute from week to week. Every weekend, there's something going on in the city of Fort Lauderdale. And you bring that stellar level every weekend. So thank you to all of you. Give them some love. Thank you. Thank you for that. And also thank you to first responders, both our PD and the Fire Rescue. And again, thank you for Chris Cooper and Pat Riley being in attendance with us. I also want to congratulate our PD, the Explorers, that are led by Officer Jason Fairburn. I don't know. They're kind of like a hidden gem. Our Explorers, they're really a productive group of young people. Over the summer, they attended and were in competition at the major summer 2026 achievement regional conference session. And at that session, they were participating in what's called the South Florida Council Learning for Life Law Enforcement Agencies for the Explorers Conference. They competed against 10 regional agencies. The team secured third place overall. Along that tier, they were able to secure events and finish first place overall for traffic stops, domestic crises, and also crisis scenarios. They came in second place with crime scenes, investigations, and in-progress calls. Also second place with the female obstacle course, female bicycle course. Third place, third place tug-of-war, and also they were given a national recognition as well. So overall, again, they came in third place, giving them several top tiers where they finished. Wanting to just acknowledge what is going on with the Explorers is so exciting to me because you know we're always preparing for that next opportunity to hire law enforcement. And this is a great opportunity where we, the city, have a program for our young people ages 14 to 19. These are young people who already have an interest in law enforcement and leadership. And Officer Fairbarn, he's doing a great job with them. And this group, they seem to have a really good relationship because they're really doing some great things. So congratulations to the Fort Lauderdale Explorers. And if I'm not getting it wrong, their post number is 1160. So yes, I'm going to nod, 1160. So hats off to our Explorers and everything that you're doing. And thank you, Chief, for allowing us to come back and be in full fruition. You recognize the need for it, and we thank you for your leadership with that as well. Also, we had the privilege of attending the graduation for the fire rescue class number 2601. The vice mayor and I was there. There was 19 recruits who are now in position to save lives, to keep us in those areas where there's fires. And it was a great celebration. Congratulations to those new recruits, along with their families, because we know also the families are the ones who keep them encouraged and help them to continue on the path. So welcome to the city of Fort Lauderdale. And I love to say, prayerfully, this is a career that you would have longevity with the city of Fort Lauderdale. So thank you with that. Also, Mayor, I'm going to ask that later at our conference meeting, if we can give notice, a moment of silence for Ms. Juanita Gray. Juanita Gray? Yes. Ms. Gray, born and raised in the city of Fort Lauderdale, lifelong resident. She was a graduate of Dillard, Dillard class of 1955. And she was their salutatorium, choir member there, basketball team player. And also a graduate from Central State College in Ohio. Ms. Gray, a wonderful woman, a community champion. She dedicated 30 years of service to Broward County Public Schools and Transportation, which included transporting students of special needs. And she found great joy in caring for children that was entrusted to her. Devout member of the Mount Olivet Seven Day Advantage Church. Over 80 years of membership. 80. 80 years of membership. Who was she? She was 89. 89. Mm-hmm. And she worked many ministries there and was still a part of their choir. Again, she was an engaged civic leader. She was a constant participant here with the city commission meetings. She also was a graduate of the Fort Lauderdale Leadership Academy. She also was an officer with the Fort Lauderdale Civic Association, champion for Go Green. And then also Ms. Gray was one of those neighbors that really believe in going in and boots on the ground. One of the neighbors I spoke to, she shared with me many years ago when Go Green initially started that opportunity for recycling for the city. She actually went door to door explaining to individuals how to properly recycle. So, overall, she was a mayor for 61 years. Her husband had preceded her in death. But a true champion and advocate for the city of Fort Lauderdale. So, again, if we could acknowledge her with a moment of silence, that is Ms. Juanita Gray. Thank you, Ms. Gray, for all your love and input that you gave to District 3 and the city overall. And, Mayor, that completes my report. Thank you very much. Commissioner Glassman. Yes, thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, everybody. August 24th, it was a really nice turnout. And, again, condolences to the Erics family on day of Erics passing. I know that we spend time and we basically speak with Candace a lot on a lot of issues for the state. And, again, condolences to the family. It was really a very uplifting celebration of life. It was very positive. And it really was a celebration. It wasn't really anything too depressing and too sad, as sometimes those can be. But, again, it was a really nice spirit in that room and a really nice turnout to honor his memory. May his memory be a blessing. August 29th, I wanted to say congratulations. I had a really good time spending an evening with all of our labor unions in the city of Fort Lauderdale and Broward County at the AFL-CIO Labor Ball at the Diplomat in Hollywood. Always an excellent turnout. Good speakers and a really good spirit of camaraderie for all of the folks that work so hard on our behalf every single day in our city. And I wanted to say thank you to everyone for that service. And it was a pleasure to be with everyone this past Saturday evening. Upcoming, September 3rd, we have a workshop for the Eastern Corridor, the La Solis Mobility Program. As you know, we're moving forward with the Western Corridor. But now we are going to get going with the Eastern Corridor as well. That meeting will be at the First Presbyterian Church again on September 3rd. I guess that's tomorrow. Then coming up on the 9th, we'll be right back here. Very exciting to have the ribbon cutting for this amazing structure and all of the men and women that serve us with incredible service every single day. We're looking forward to September 9th to dedicate this building. Next Friday, it's so hard for me to believe that next Friday, it's 25 years since 9-11. I mean, I remember it like it was yesterday. It's one of those days that you just know exactly where you were. There were a few of those in history, and we all know which ones they are. But when I thought about it as the 25th year since that, it's just incredible to me that it has been that. So there's a very special meaning that day. We will be gathering, as we always do, at the Fire Safety Museum in Sailboat Bend. And this year, there's also a really nice program that I'm looking forward to at the NSU Art Museum, a good ceremony, and then a really nice exhibit. It's free and open to the public. I'm looking forward to that art exhibit as well, commemorating what happened on that horrific day 25 years ago. So hopefully people can join us at the Sailboat Bend Fire Museum or both at the NSU Art Museum. That's at 11. The Fire Museum is at 9.30 in the morning, followed at 11 at the Art Museum. That evening also is the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. So I wanted to wish everyone who observes Rosh Hashanah a very good and happy and healthy year. And may you be inscribed for a good year ahead. Again, that begins sundown also on September 11th. September 20th, another milestone not just in our district but also in the city. But we will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Sanctuary Church, one of, I think, one of the coolest structures in Fort Lauderdale. For those of you that might not remember exactly where that is, that's the one that's set way back on Federal Highway, a wonderful Sanctuary Church congregation. And I'm looking forward to presenting the proclamation that evening to celebrate their 75th anniversary. Again, September 20th. September 24th, Ocean Rescue ribbon cutting. Oh, I did, I'm sorry, I skipped. September 17th is also a Central Beach Alliance meeting. Welcome back to all of the residents on the Barrier Island. After a summer break of meetings, we'll be gathering on September 17th. September 24th, Ocean Rescue ribbon cutting. That's another exciting, another exciting event, another exciting milestone in our incredible water district. So I'm looking forward to that as well on the 24th. September 26th, always an amazing event. The Urban League, this year it's the Derby Gala. It's at the Omni Hotel. And every year that is quite an event. People really, they really turn out. I love the way everyone looks at the Urban League annual events. Right? They do. It's exciting and I love it. And this year it's going to be red and it's going to be Derby. I don't exactly know, what's the reason for red and Derby? Is there a connection between red and Derby? I think the red is just for the Urban League. That is one of their core colors. Okay. So maybe they just also incorporated it. Okay. But I do know it's also a Derby Gala for some reason. But anyway, looking forward to that as well again. That's September 2nd. Derby like Kentucky Derby? Yeah, I believe Kentucky Derby. But there you go. Well, I'm not. Make sure it's red. Okay. All right. We'll get you. We'll get you. We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. And that's about that. I did have one question, Chris, that came up at my pre-agenda district meeting Monday evening. People on the Barrier Island are wondering, what is the status of the FTL sculpture that we're supposed to have at A1A and La Solis? Like, where is that or how's it going? I know there was some issues with the state. It's being manufactured right now. Is it? Yeah. All three letters? They're on the F right now. Oh, they're on the F? That's good. Okay. So we'll get an update on the T and the L as well? Okay, good. So go ahead, Chris. That's accurate. They'll be pressed on. As we reach a milestone. Okay. As we reach a milestone, we're going to get an update. Okay. Thank you. Yeah, that's accurate. So we spent some time getting the FDOT permit to place that on the right-of-way, so that's been completed. They are manufacturing the letters. I think the last time we communicated this, we said it would be installed sometime in the late fall of this year. So we'll continue to work towards that date and update you if that changes. Okay. Late fall. Okay, great. I'll let them know. Thank you so much. And that's it for me, Mayor. Thank you very much. Okay. Vice Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. A couple topics. One, live local. So live local continues to be a massive challenge, I think, for our city and its, you know, Tallahassee imposition on us that strips us of zoning ability, strips the city of so much input for what we develop, how we develop. So continues to be a big challenge in, you know, at least in District 4. And so I think we need even more kind of all hands on deck of kind of engaging with this and working with our lobbyist team and city team to just explore every possible way that we can make this more palatable to the city and the implications it can have, Mayor. So I don't know if that's just engaging our state representatives more, working with, I've been working with our city attorney on it, but that's, it's a big priority for me. And so I just wanted to lift that up for the commission. That's something I want to kind of keep working on. So what you're suggesting is that we collaborate with our lobbyists and with our state representatives, whoever that state representative will be, because Chip Lamarca is retiring. So the point is, what strategies should we try to employ to be able to press upon the state legislature in the next session, what the negative impact that this is happening and that the, it's becoming actually counterproductive in producing affordable housing as opposed to it creating affordable housing. And, and in that situation is actually impacting our communities in such a way that it's denying folks in our single family home neighborhoods, the quiet enjoyment that they come to expect when they're having the imposition of these large scale, multi multifamily projects being built in their communities. So totally with you there. And perhaps in the fall, we need to sit down and have a meeting with our, our, our lobbyists and see what strategies we could perhaps establish and, and promote during the next legislative session. When is Broward Days? I think it's in March. I think it's March. I think the end of March, I think Daphne just sent it out. Yeah. So that might be an opportunity for us to, to meet in Tallahassee, if not before, to be able to, you know, show the, show the consequences of what this live local has to do. I mean, it's, I see it in Miami beach. I see it in Hollywood. I see it in Fort Lauderdale, you know, up and down the coast. It's really, it's not producing the results that I think that they expect. Yeah. Thanks, Matt. I agree. We, and I mean, just on 17th street, there's the possibility of four live local projects all along and around 17th street, which is already an F rated road. All within one block. Yes. It is asinine. And we already have massive challenges around the port, cruise traffic, going to the barrier island right now without these thousands of new units that we have no say in, no involvement in, and just dictated down to us without consideration. And, and furthermore, as, as, as you know, the AMI per se is 120% of AMI, which is around a hundred thousand dollars, which many people, many neighbors say, is that really affordable housing? Is that workforce housing? I don't think so. And, and yet we have no say in this and we have to deal with the traffic, the infrastructure, the public safety component, the responsiveness of our first responders. It is a massive concern that we have such little say in. So, so yes, mayor, I think all of the above ways to engage. So I just wanted to make sure we're heading in the right direction. Okay. Next, just being a Navy chaplain and pastor, I really want to try to bring our, our faith community together a little bit more. So I've just been trying to create a little bit of a dialogue with our, our, our, our faith leaders. And so I don't know what form that, you know, we used to have the prayer breakfast. And so I don't know what the answer is there, but I'd love for, you know, all of us collectively or just to maybe think about ways we can further those interfaith bonds in our community. Well, I, I, you know, I've, I've spoken with some of the folks that used to be the organizers of the, uh, of the, uh, the breakfast and, um, uh, and they've talked about resurrecting, well, bringing back the, uh, sorry, uh, sorry. They bringing back the, uh, the breakfast and, and, and I, I, and I think it, it might be more successful if it is interfaith as opposed to dominated by one faith. And, uh, and, uh, and, you know, if you want to take on that responsibility and head that up, I'm totally supportive, uh, anything that I can do to, to, uh, help you. Cause I have been sort of formally talking with those folks, um, like Stefan Trevidian and the other folks that helped put it together. Uh, uh, I think it makes a lot of sense to engage the faith community in, in the, the, the, uh, operation of our city. A lot of times I see that they're, that they don't really know what's going on in our city, right? And, and we don't know what's going on in their community. So we need to, to the extent that both communities are vital to the success of any city. I think it's important that we integrate our, our practices and our, and our goals and see how we can move that forward. So if you have any ideas, you have an outline or you have some, um, some, uh, first steps that you can first talk to us about, I'm totally supportive of them. Okay. Um, vice mayor, I think that's a great idea, the direction that you're bringing to the table. Um, I know you will include our chaplains, um, we have a new chaplain that has been named and, um, I've had a couple of conversations with him and, um, I'm truly believing he would be, um, willing to jump in and the direction you're going in, be willing to do that. And then what I can do, that's not in violation of any of the ordinances we have to, yeah. Right. But yes, I agree. I agree. Thanks. Yeah. And it's unethical for you to bring religion into, uh, into what we do. So yes, but you understand, but you know, that gray area, I just want to make sure that they're not saying we're doing anything behind the door. Yeah. I'll be sure you don't, man. Yeah. I'll be sure you don't. Oh, thank, I think it's a great point in our chaplains for fire, police, I mean, and then, you know, chaplains in the community. So, um, fantastic. So city manager and city attorney, I'm just thinking of ways, um, you know, I'll, you can give us guidance on how we can maybe just kind of work to get, to make sure we're getting, you know, faith leaders from each of our districts. Um, and I'm happy to help convene that or whatever way is appropriate. Yes, vice mayor. And I'm happy to assist with that, knowing that there are limitations of what city can do in terms of sponsors, sponsorship. You are, of course, each, uh, perfectly able to involve yourself in faith leaders and events, uh, that they may bring forward and you participate in, and maybe that's the structure you'd want to take. I'm happy to discuss that with you. Okay. Okay, great. So thank you. So we'll kind of just look at how to put that together. Um, and the mayor has even just, uh, the community foundation of Broward of talking with some of them, those team members, and they're interested in, in supporting kind of an idea like this. So great. We'll look at that. Um, and then lastly, Chris, you and I touched on this, but the idea of having a bit of a tourism focus for one of our staff members. And I don't know who exactly that would be, but I think it's important that as the county does great work towards, uh, attracting more tourism that we're engaged as well. Yeah. Vice mayor. So we have our economic development division with our community services department. We have some other staff that touch the tourist industry here in Fort Lauderdale, specifically on the beach. So we do have some focus on that, but we're happy to look at ways we can, um, enhance and amplify that focus on our tourist industry. Okay, great. I think that'd be great. Just benefits the entirety of the city. Okay, great. Thank you, mayor. That's all I have. Thanks. All right. Thank you so much, vice mayor. I just have a couple of things. Uh, I think you've cut, you've, uh, you've covered so many of the other things that I was going to talk about. Uh, just, uh, want to point out that on Monday I was in New York at the, uh, uh, U S open, uh, tennis competition. And the, I was there, um, with Scott from, uh, our Parks and Rec, who is our tennis pro here in Fort Lauderdale. And we together received, uh, an award from U S tennis, um, as Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale being recognized as having been an outstanding public facility for a, uh, a large city. And, um, very proud to have received that. Our Jimmy Everett tennis center was recognized. Um, I guess they'll send us the plaque in the mail because the one we took a picture with, they took it away from us. It was just for pictures only. So, uh, we'll be getting it in the mail, but it's really great because we have made a significant investment over $9 million in our tennis center. And, um, and I'm told that we have a significant program, uh, uh, going on there, especially for our young people. Um, multiple, we have over 20 courts. And, and they're always being used. And, and the, uh, the program we have is going to produce the champions of the future. I know that. And we've already seen it happen in our past. And, uh, and so it was a great recognition on the part of U S tennis to, uh, to have recognized, uh, Fort Lauderdale as having an outstanding facility for a law for a large, uh, city, uh, such as Fort Lauderdale. Um, tomorrow there's also a ribbon cutting for Regents Bank. That's, uh, I think in your district, your vice mayor. Um, they're already there. So I'm not quite sure. I think they're just opening up and, uh, they changed their retail office to front on third Avenue as opposed to being inside the, uh, the building. Um, so anyway, I'm doing that. When, when is that mayor? Uh, it's 10 30 tomorrow, 10 30. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Um, and of course, labor day is next Monday. And, uh, um, it's, um, it's very important to recognize the contributions of labor in America. Historically important labor unions have been to our, to the, uh, evolvement of, of, of worker rights. And, uh, and we really appreciate, uh, um, taking that moment in that day, uh, to, to understand how those that work for this community, whether it be in the public or whether it be in the private sector have really changed what America is about. And, uh, and so this is an opportunity for us to appreciate, um, labor, the labor union movement here in the United States. Um, on September 8th, I don't know if you mentioned this, uh, Commissioner Glassman, but there's a groundbreaking at the Cove. That's an affordable housing project on 1055 North Federal Highway. That'll take place at 5 p.m. Uh, that's at the bend as you come down from Sunrise Boulevard onto, uh, uh, um, from North Federal Highway. Uh, by the way, a live local project, but very reasonable and working with the community and really making sure that nothing happened there too egregious. And that's probably Erica's fault that I didn't mention any of that. So I just want to just say I'm so sorry. Um, but just because she has better hair than you. She does have better hair, but, you know, I, you know, I'm not a mind reader. It's not on the paper. I can't, you know, always remember every single thing, but. You know, I really thought you knew that from your memory. Thank you. You know, you know, it's been an interesting time, Commissioner Beasley-Pittman, and I'm doing the best that I can. Uh, but thank you for the concern. And we're going to work on that in the future. Don't worry. Okay. This is my time. I'm so sorry. Well, you didn't mention my name, so I'm entitled to speak to it. Well, I just want to make sure you're there. Mayor, if I can. I will be there. It's on my calendar. If I can further erode your time for a moment. Uh, but Commissioner Glassman, a great point. And, Chris, you might know better than I, but the Cova is a project as an example of where the AMI percentage is far lower than 120%. I think it's 67, 80%. Remind me what percent we are there. Yeah. So, Vice Mayor, it's 100% below, and then there's some that are 120% and below. And so, what I would say about Live Local, especially here in Fort Lauderdale, is we do have some examples where they may have worked, and we've incentivized in some other ways to be able to have more favorable income limits. So, as we continue to have that conversation and talk to the state, we do have a lot of examples, good and bad, and, you know, whatever your opinion is of those projects to share at the state level from our experiences. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you. Um, September 10th, um, the, uh, at the Galleria, the, uh, the community is getting together to, uh, honor veterans with regard to the poppy project that you'll probably all recall how the veterans, uh, sell, not sell, but, uh, hand out poppies for a donation. Again, that's September 10th at 4.30 p.m. at the Galleria Mall. And, um, Vice Mayor, excuse me, one of you had mentioned regarding the September 11th events, uh, and September 13th, we are recognizing, I'm presenting a proclamation of St. Anthony's Church, it's their 100th anniversary, and that'll be, I believe that would be in the morning. I don't have an exact time on that right now. Um, and so, uh, that's really all I have. So, any other comments or questions or additions to your, to your reports? There being none. City Manager? Yes, thank you, Mayor. So, first, I want to, uh, announce that we have our Labor Day Festival this weekend up at the Galt Mile Shops area. It's on September 6th of this Sunday, uh, from 3 to 6 p.m., and then from 6 to 9. We have our car show from 3 to 6, and then music from 6 to 9. So, encourage everybody to come out, celebrate Labor Day. That's at the North Beach Shops? It's on the North Beach Shops of the Galt Mile area between Oakland Park, North on A1A. Um, it's another wonderful Parks and Recreation production. Very good. Does that complete your report? I have one more. So, on, uh, August 11th, we let the commission know that we had, um, engaged the GSA, the General Services Administration, as well as the Department of Education, for a public benefit conveyance of the federal courthouse. Um, that process was unsuccessful. So, what that leaves us in is a position to enter into a negotiated sale agreement with the GSA if the commission so chooses. Wait, repeat what you just said? Yes. What was unsuccessful? So, when we left the, uh, when we left for break over the summer, the commission gave staff direction to work with the GSA to entertain a public benefit conveyance of the federal courthouse building for a museum use. So, we... For just museum? For just a museum use. So... I thought we were looking at education, too. Yeah. So, the last direction we received at that point was a museum with an educational component. The museum part, Commissioner Herbst had, had suggested it as an additional use, but I thought that we had also talked about, I had brought up the idea, uh, of an education component. So, Mr. Rogers. Good afternoon, Mayor, uh, Commissioner Ben Rogers, the City Manager. So, we did engage in discussions with GSA on the educational front, and with that, a museum would be an educational feature as well. So, the Department of Education asked us to fill out a, uh, an application, uh, at about a 20-day turnaround time, and it was very developed, uh, of information that we would need. We weren't at that point in time where we could commit or answer to a lot of the questions they had, and so we asked for an extension. They were unwilling to give the extension, and so that, uh, conveyance opportunity is no longer available. However, uh, as we've talked about during the whole time, the city is able to move forward with negotiations of a, of a fair market value, uh, transaction, should we want to proceed with that. A fair market value? And, yeah, negotiated sale. I don't know. That seems pretty... So, we have a meeting with GSA tomorrow to share what the path forward may be. So, not necessarily looking for firm direction or firm input today, but looking to see if the commission is wanting to have a conversation at a future conference meeting to figure out the path forward and the plan for what the commission may want to help define that scope, and which will also help define the appraisal process for that building to have that negotiated sale opportunity. So... Okay. So, so, this is the thing. Um, I understand what you're saying. We didn't have all the information. We were just, we were just talking in general, generalities. So, and I understand their, their application required a lot of detail, and we weren't ready for that yet. I understand that, whether it be a museum or education institution or whatever. Um, we already, obviously, engaged in the analysis for, uh, what it would cost, what we thought the fair market value was, and the rehabilitation costs. That was already done in connection with the city hall analysis. Um, they are doing their own, uh, assessment of it, and they will not reveal what that is. They've told us they won't reveal it. Um, they just said, you have to figure it out on your own, and so we kind of are one step ahead of them, because I don't think they've done their appraisal yet on the building. So, um, we can put in an offer, but I can tell you right now, personally, I would not be in favor of offering a whole lot of money, considering the rehabilitative costs of that building. And, you know, it, it made sense if we were going to get it for free, but if we're going to have to pay, I believe the, the appraised value was about $4 million, if I'm not mistaken, uh, when we did the analysis for the city hall with a, uh, was it $4 million? Something, it was really, it was- $28. $28 million? Yes. Yeah. Okay. And, and I think what the city manager's asking is, uh, if there's any intended uses that we envision for the space, we're going to have to do another appraisal and have to have negotiations with the GSA on restrictions, covenants for the property. Uh, and if there are those things, then the appraisal might come, uh, at a lower amount. Uh, and so I think that's what, uh, where we're at in this point in time is trying to figure out if we have an intended use, so that way when we do the appraisal process, it comes back accurate for what we're seeking to use the parcel for. So, Ben, let me ask you this. Do they have competing offers? Is there, is there, like, uh, are there other people interested in this property other than those who wish to tear it down and develop it? I mean, what is your sense of things? So my understanding is that we're the only, uh, government entity that they're, uh, having dialogues and negotiations with. Right. Should we not move forward with it, then they would do a public opportunity for, you know, the development community or private ventures to come in. So they're prepared to have it torn down then? I, I can't say that on their behalf. I can just say that right now the process is, uh, the public, uh, interest and then it would go to a private opportunity thereafter. Wait, Mayor, can I jump in? Yeah. Um, so let me see if I'm tracking this right. So there was a time period for us to submit an application for the use we wanted and we weren't able to complete the application in time. So what happened? Yeah. So in July, they reached out and said that, uh, if we wanted to continue seeking a public benefit conveyance for educational purposes, we need to work with the Department of Education which required an application. Right. That application had finite information in there. Who's your education partner? What is the use of it? How will it operate? Tell us all of the program parameters. Got it. We did not have that information at that time because we haven't fully developed what the use of the parcel would be. So we did request an extension from GSA and the Department of Education and they responded with that it would not be extended. So that application period closed, uh, without us submitting an application, uh, which then closed the opportunity for public benefit conveyances. And then the next process that GSA offers is a negotiated sale. Okay. I mean, city manager, I would have liked to know that this clock was running. I mean, did we, I don't think as a commission, we were aware that there was a time period and that we would need to get our ducks in a row very quickly. I mean, was that, maybe I missed it, but I don't think we've done anything. I don't think we've done any missteps. The thing is they wanted it like an, they wanted a program that was defined and it was had detail in it and all of that, which I think was, was a little, um, unfair because, you know, they just now have put this on, put it before us and we don't necessarily have a, you know, an education program or whatever museum program, whatever to, to, um, been able to qualify based on their criteria. So, um, uh, the, so these artificial deadlines that they're creating have not helped the process. Um, to be honest with you, I think they may go out to the private sector and no one wants this building unless they're going to tear it down. So I don't know. My past reading of their interest was that they don't, they, they don't want it torn down. They would rather see it rehabilitated. Um, and I have a feeling they may just come back to us and say, okay, what can we do here? I don't, I don't want to honestly, vice mayor, I don't know whether we should push this until, you know, I don't, I don't know who else wants this building. The only people that would want this building is someone like us, if we could get it at a reduced price to be able to, to adapt it to the kinds of uses that we've been talking about. So, um, what are your thoughts? Yeah. I mean, I'm just, the, the opportunity with GSA, if it was an approved use per GSA is that we would get it for free in effect. So I'm just disappointed that we missed that, that window and completely agree. We didn't have all the details we needed to complete the application, but, um, I would like to at least give it a shot, but, uh, that's passed. So, um, yeah, so I think engaging the way you're suggesting now is, is the right way, right way to go. So if the commission still wants to proceed with an educational venue, we can have that conversation, we can understand what restrictions, what the, the D covenants, restrictions, all those types of things may or may not be. Uh, we can then define the work program a little bit more, work with GSA and negotiations to figure out what that dollar figure would be, and then bring it back to the commission to, uh, further evaluate. I, that makes sense to me. How about the rest of the commission? Ben, I remember at one time we had a discussion, um, because this seemed to be relevant to the GSA, uh, the historic preservation aspect of this building. There's so much documentation on this building, not just the building itself, but also the architect and what it meant when it was constructed. And I mean, people have done studies on this building. You can read reports on this building. There's a lot of information on this building from a historic preservation, uh, aspect. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I just remember at one point in time that was a, uh, of something of interest to the GSA. Is there any angle there that we're able to, uh, to use? Yeah, and I'll be stepping out of my area of expertise, but we do have Trish Logan working with, uh, GSA right now. They're doing, I think it's a 106 study, uh, on the building to determine the next steps on the historical consideration side. Okay. Because I remember even, I mean, I remember attending, uh, workshops when folks from the state came down and division of historic resources, when folks from universities came down. Uh, people came here just to do tours of the building, to learn about the building. Uh, there's just a lot of information about this building and architect, uh, But there's a different administration now with a different point of view. That's what, that's my concern. No, I understand. So, yeah, I don't think we're near the finish line. Um, but having just general guidance of what the use of the building, uh, that the commission would envision will help us have the conversations as we talk through historical considerations, what needs to be, uh, kept, what, what kind of, uh, you know, building elements and things like that, uh, for future use. Okay. I just want to make sure we're still considering it or still pursuing that, that aspect of the project. Thanks. Okay. Thank you. Anything further, city manager? Nothing further. Okay. Uh, city attorney, do you have any, any report? No, mayor. Okay. All right. So let's move forward with our business. Business one, discussion regarding rescheduling of city commission meeting dates. Um, I took a look at that. I assume you all did too. I didn't see any real conflicts. I, I did see one. Did you see one? That I'd like to mention. Um, because I wanted to see if there was anything we could do about the July calendar. I always find it difficult to come back after the July 4th, uh, weekend. Too much partying? Yes. Um, you know, there's just so much going on. I thought it worked well this year when we moved the calendar, we moved it, um, this year and maybe city attorney can chime in, but we moved it in, we moved it before the holiday and then we had that week and we didn't have to worry about coming back after. That's the only thing that seems a little inconvenient to me, but what would we have to do to change? You want to do it on the July 1st before the weekend? Well, that would be a Thursday, right? Yeah. And then we did something like that. We met this year on July 2nd, right? And then we would have finished on July 2nd. This way people could go ahead and do the holiday and et cetera, et cetera. So I don't know. What does the rest of the commission think about that? Yeah, I, I agree. I agree with July 1st. I like the idea of July 1st, that Thursday, then. It was also June 30th. But we have to do July, don't we? You have to do July, I think. That charter says July, I think we have to do it. No, it doesn't say that. It doesn't? Because remember I took, remember we did it one year when I, when I, um, I went, I went overseas to attend a conference. We did it, we did it June 30th. But it's okay. We don't have, you know, uh, uh, uh, Dwayne Spence had given the opinion that it did not necessarily have to be in July. So it would be like July 29th, I mean June 29th, before it would be on a Tuesday. Tuesday, Tuesday, which actually is still two weeks after, because we don't meet before that till the 15th. So it actually would be two weeks later, which is typically what we do if, if we are allowed to meet. What do you think, city attorney? A couple of, uh, alternatives for you potentially, uh, and that would be to reschedule the July 6th to, uh, uh, July 1st, which is the prior week. Right. And then, um, the time period until the next meeting wouldn't be until August 17, mid, mid August. Right. Um, or if you moved it, um, and deleted the first and third Tuesday in July, then the time period from the last meeting would be from June 15th to August 3rd. But they get you back much earlier in August than you did, for example, this past summer. So, so. So what happens if we just did it July 1st and just came back August 17th? Um, and this would be similar this year. You could recess, um, and move the 6th to the 1st and then take the rest of July. And the next meeting would be August 17th. Right. Mayor, what about what you said, though? Two weeks after the 15th. Is that a possibility to do June 29th and then August 17th or no? We looked at that and thought that that was really not, um. That's stretching it. Yeah. Because you can take that 30-day, uh, period within a month. And so this accomplishes that and that was problematic. Okay. So the best alternative, if you wanted to come back mid August, is moving 6th to the 1st. If you want to come back early in August, then just delete the July meetings. So, so let's just settle on July 1st. Yeah. And come back August 17th. Yeah. Yes. And there's, um, if you, if we're finished with the July conversation. Next one. Um, the month of March. March. Yes. The March 16th meeting. Day after Martin Luther King. Um, no, we're in March. Oh, excuse me. March. This is, um, normally when I attend the National League of Cities on Conference. The which conference? National League of Cities. Yes. Isn't that in November? There's two. There's one in, um, D.C. that we go to. Oh, right, right, right. And then the one in November. Right. Um, the date for that conference is actually, um, the 13th through the 17th. Um, so the 16th I would, um, not be attending the meeting because I'll be in D.C. So you want, you want us to move that to? Um, I was, if we can do the 18th, that's my request. Any objection to that? Or we could do it the following week. Fine with me or you could do March 23rd. Yeah, there's also that. But I'm, I'm open to either. Do you want to do it March 23rd? Whatever y'all like. Yes, because actually you still have two, we don't come back until April 6th. So you still have that typical two-week period in between if you just move it to the following Tuesday. All right, why don't we do that? I'm in agreement with that. Okay, why don't we do that? Yes? Yes. Wait, wait, wait. Before he, let me make sure. March 23rd. Let me make sure I'm not, uh, speaking out of turn here. Maybe that's Holy Week, uh, for Christian celebrants. Which is Holy Week? Um, looks like Easter's March 28th. So that Good Friday is the 26th. Um, Palm Sunday is the 21st. Um, well, the Tuesday doesn't do it. I think it's still fine. Yeah. I think. Yeah, that will be so fine. Yeah, the 23rd. Yeah, the 23rd. Tuesday the 23rd. So I think it still works. Yes. Uh, wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. Wait, folks. Chief Demers. Hold on a second. Just one second. Let me just make sure. Okay, March 23rd is fine. Just want to check school calendars for a sec. Uh, and we said July 1st, right? Yes. All right. So we're looking to move to March 23rd. Move that to March 23rd, right? And that's because of the, um, National League. Right. Congressional Congress. Conference, rather. Any other changes? Okay. Vice Mayor, did you want. To talk about the November 2nd one? I know you had mentioned that previously. November 2nd. Yeah, thank you. I mean. Oh, that was the election day. Yeah, we need to change that. Thanks for. Thank you for bringing that up. Is there an election in 2027? No, there are no elections in 2027. But I believe it was for, for another reason. No, I don't listen. What about December 7th? Is that going to be Christmas on Los Olos? No. That would. No, Christmas on Los Olos is, um, let's see, it's the 4th. It's the 4th. Um, it, it, it works out okay. Next year it does? Yeah, let me just see. So, Thanksgiving is the 25th. So, Christmas on Los Olos is November 30th. Really? Yeah. November 30th is Christmas on Los Olos? Yes. It's the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Okay. And I think. So, so our first meeting is not until December 7th. Correct. Alrighty. Anything further? Mayor. Yes. I just spoke with Carl. It would be December 7th is Christmas on Los Olos. Oh. I thought it was the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. The first Tuesday after Thanksgiving is November 30th. It's November 30th. Check that. Okay. We can get back on that one. Yeah. I mean, I'm looking right at it here. We have time. Okay. Anything else? We're good? All right. Yeah. Okay. Um, business two. Prospect Lake Clean Water Center. Project Milestones and Commercial Operation Dates. Hello, Mr. Carbon. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Commission, City Manager, Howard Carbon Utility Services. When are we turning on the spigot? I'll let Joey Patron talk about that in just a second. So, Joey Patron from the project team is going to give you an update about the status of the project. And then Kevin Polito is going to give you a status of the outreach we're going on. Not to both Jews, but I'll let him do it. Joey? Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Commission. Well, the moment we've all been working for for years is upon us. And so, uh, wanted to give you an update, uh, just before, uh, we achieve, um, the milestones that we have ahead of us. If we can, oh, I got control here. I'm sorry. And so, this is a week of milestones. Uh, today, the project achieved substantial completion. And so, major milestone for us. This is, construction is complete. Yes. Thanks. And so, with that, uh, commercial operation date is set for Tuesday, September 8th. And that's when the water will flow, Mayor, to your, to your question. And so, the water will flow on September 8th. And so, we've been working with the city, uh, for months to develop a transition plan that minimizes the impacts to the, to the system, to the distribution system in the city. And so, that, that will take the course of over 30 days. We're going to take a slow transition, um, small bits of water at the beginning. Are we doing a ribbon cutting or something? Are we doing a ribbon cutting for this? We are, Mayor. It's, it's set for a couple months from now, uh, to make sure that we finish all the landscaping and everything's nice at the site, um, ready for that. Okay. But yeah, it's, it's in October. Okay. And so, we've been working with the city together to plan that event. Okay. So, the transition plan will take, over the next 30 days, will start slow and will ramp up over the next 30 days, starting on September 8th. And, and eventually ramping down five ash, uh, to zero, um, gallons per, per, uh, per day. And then at that point, this is a local site for us. Just kidding. At that point, Prospect Lake will, will, will be the, the, uh, the plant online producing the water for majority of residents at City of Fort Lauderdale. Uh, the operations team is fully assembled and trained. Um, you can see there a picture of the team. Uh, they, they had kind of a, an outing together as a team. That's both the operations and the maintenance team together, uh, with the operator, uh, IDE. And they're, you know, getting to know each other. They've been working together for a good six months, but this is, this is a great picture. I wanted to show the teamwork that we have on site, uh, with the city, uh, staff as well. And so, I just kind of wanted to show a video. Um, wow. I don't know if I, if, if you can press play on that. Have you all had a chance to go visit it? Yes. You all have? Yeah. And so, this is, this is a video taken last week. This is a, a drone flyover of the site. And so, while, while you take a look at that, I did want to take a look at the moment, you know, to reflect over the last three years of construction and really thank the city, uh, for its partnership and thank the city's partners, uh, such as Hazen for the, truly the collaborative partnership. Without it, this wouldn't have been possible in three years. And so, I, I did want to take a moment to reflect and thank the city. So, how many actual months was there, um, how many actual months did it take to complete this project? Do you have that, do you have that number? Sure. So, the, the, this contract was signed in February of 2023. We essentially really broke ground in earnest in November of 2023. Of 2023? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. We mobilized in October. So, less than three years. Less than three years. It was scheduled to be 40, 40 months. So, you're definitely under, under the timetable. Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir. The, the job isn't complete until the water's flowing. But we, we're really proud of where we are and really of the collaborative nature. Let's just start bottling it. Let's see. Okay. All right. You have no faith. I have a lot of faith. Okay. How quickly, I think we're, we're going, we're going up to what, 50 MGD? We'll spend 10, we'll spend two weeks at, at 10 MGD. Okay. Allowing the system to acclimate. Right. And then we'll spend another week at 20 MGD, then we'll go up to 30 MGD, of course, always dropping five ash at the same time. And then ultimately we'll, we'll switch over to 40 MGD and then we'll do a quick burst at 50 MGD, which the city doesn't require that, but just to make sure that the plant can achieve 50 MGD. Yeah. And then we'll come back down to whatever the city needs. Yeah. Great. Any other questions? And if you could just give us a overview for folks who might not know, just talk to us a little bit about the nanofiltration, PFAs, what, why, tannins, just why this is going to be spectacular. Sure. So, so this technology is, is cutting edge. This is, it's a 70% nanofiltration plant with 30% ion exchange. And of course, efficiency was one of the reasons why we have 30% ion exchange. The ion exchange is really there to remove color. The nanofiltration is the ultimate in technology for, for cleaning the water. So really nothing survives, gets through the nanofiltration. And so the combination of the nanofiltration and the ion exchange really is going to produce a water that is great tasting, clean, clear. And so we've actually had discussions with, with Albert about entering into the, the, the water tasting event that happens soon. We're not sure if we're actually going to do it, but we're talking about it. Um, that'd be great. I mean, I, I think, I think we can win. Um, but yeah, so the technology is, is cutting edge and, and yeah, it is, it is designed, um, to be able to handle, uh, emerging contaminants. And so we are in the middle of, of still executing that PFAS pilot, uh, that'll go to next year to truly understand how this plant will handle the 20, 29 MCLs for PFAS. Thank you. There is, uh, I wanted to introduce Kevin and the, the public outreach. Hi, good afternoon. Kevin Pulido, strategic communications director of the city of Fort Lauderdale. Um, so most of, uh, most of you should have received, uh, this mailer that has gone out already. More than 75,000 of them have been sent out, um, to educate our community that, uh, the new chapter is coming for our drinking water. Um, so we want everybody to just be aware of the new water that is going to be coming online. Um, and over the next couple of weeks, as we get closer to the actual ribbon cutting ceremony, uh, mayor that you just, uh, question, it's going to be on October 15, 2026. We're going to invite you all out to come out to the plant. There is going to be an opportunity to drink the water there and to taste it directly from the plant. Um, and again, over the next few weeks, there's going to be an outreach strategy, uh, through social media, uh, we're also going to have our webpage updated. So that way people understand, uh, the new water when it is flowing through the system and it is reaching their homes. Um, so that's our one slide here. And then now we'd be available for any questions that you may have. Any other questions? Yeah. Al, can you just remind us of where this water goes? So who's going to be the recipient of it? And also if you could just give an overview of the, some of the other municipalities we provide, and we sell water to, give us a little bit of that overview. Yeah. Thank you, Mayor. Or everybody, Mayor. The city services about 260,000 people in the, in its service area, which includes all the city of Fort Lauderdale, uh, the cities of, uh, Wilton Manors, Oakland Park. Uh, we all, we also operate the system in Lauderdale by the sea and there's small portions of Tamarack and Davie that we also service through master meters and a few of the neighborhoods in, uh, that are in unincorporated Broward County in the southwestern portion of the city. So, with the population of the sea of Fort Lauderdale, it'll be about 180,000. We serve about 60,000, 70,000 people outside that area. Uh, the area that will be served, uh, Peel Dixie, uh, just to build on what Joy is, the plant has a capacity of 50 MGD. Currently, our, our water usage throughout that, that service area is about 40 MGD. Uh, and Peel Dixie, which is in the southwestern portion of the city is, it runs an optimal operation about six MGD. It can go up to 12, but it's optimally about six. Uh, so it serves the southwestern portion of the city, about a quarter of the city. You'll see it in, it'll get across the intercoastal, uh, and on 17th street causeway. It'll go up to Davie Bar, go up to Broward Boulevard, uh, but it can service about a quarter to a third of the city, depending on the pressures at Five Ash and now at, at Prospect Lake. Uh, so Prospect Lake will serve the rest of the community. Uh, as we transition, as Joey said, transition from 10 MGD to 20 MGD. And once we reach that 30 MGD, which is that three or four weeks in, we will turn Five Ash off because the rest of that, that 30 to 40 MGD can be produced out of Prospect Lake. And then we'll be able to produce it all out of, uh, out of Prospect Lake if we choose. So, uh, that's the operation of the plant and our staffs, both the staff at, at, uh, Prospect Lake, the staff at Peel Dixie and our distribution staff are all on board to make this happen, uh, next Tuesday afternoon and make the transition to, to our, our new water facility. Great. Thanks. And, and as we have a state of the art new water treatment facility, as we continue to upgrade our, the pipe infrastructure, obviously many of our pipes are not going to be as new as the water treatment facility. So walk us through that impact as you clean and filtrate water through the plant. And what impact do pipes that might not be as new have on the quality of the water? I, the, the pipes are, you know, all systems have different age pipes, different types of pipes. Uh, we have pipes in our system that, that are over 50 years old. They're in good shape. We have some that are not in good shape. They might be newer, but the, the, the pipe has, has been conditioned over the years and throughout the United States. Anybody produces water, pipe pipes are conditioned to let clean water flow through them. And they, they've got the buildup of, of natural by bicarbonates and, and natural ingredient or components of the water that goes through there. As we transition from the lime softening plant, which plant to this nano filtration plant, uh, those pipes will be continuing to be treated. And they're here with, with, uh, sodium bicarbonate and, and, uh, and a coating of, uh, that will allow that coating to maintain. And then it will flow through that, reducing that water from 10 mgd of the, the nano filtration and a little bit of the lime will soften that transition. So you will see it, as we did with PL Dixie, we saw a change in the color, but then within the 30 to 60 days, all that color went away. We got the crystal clear water that the people in the southwestern portion of the city experience every day. Great. Great. Thanks. And I'm assuming we'll be doing out of the tap testing to ensure kind of quality and what we're seeing as this ramps up. Is that, uh, we do that every day, sir. We, we, we, we have testing 10 or 50 testing sites throughout the city that we test on a regular basis. We report that to FTP on a monthly basis. So we will continue that. We do have some, we're doing additional testing to make sure that that transition happens. We have pressure tests or pressure, uh, areas, about 15 of those throughout the city that we can monitor the pressures in the system. And so we have, we do that on a daily basis and we'll continue to do that. Great. Thanks. Thanks, Al. Um, one question for you, Al, before you move. Um, I believe I heard Kevin mention an opportunity for water tasting. Is that something? It's like a wine tasting. It's like a wine tasting. There's two things that we were, we were playing on during, when we had, once we opened the plant, we'll be able to get the water from out there at the plant. So you can taste the water coming out of the plant. But, uh, what, uh, uh, uh, Mr. Patron was talking about the American Water Works Association, the local chapter has an annual event where they do a water tasting event. So all water agencies are welcome to bring their water to that event. And there's five judges appointed from the agencies throughout the region. Is this like a county fair type thing? It's a county fair type thing. And, and, and it is, it's a very, it's, it's a local agency's tradition that they do this. And, and unlike the, the current, the tradition is the, the winner, there is one winner. Everybody else gets second place. So, so, so you, uh, unless you get, unless at one point someone did get eliminated for bringing their water in a cooler. So it's supposed to be tap ready, not cool water. So, uh, it's a great event. I've been there several times. So, so I, we've done it. And where's it, uh, it did changes every year. Uh, American public waterworks association, the South Florida chapter has the, has a monthly luncheon and they pick one month in October and they have it. And wherever that's happening, that's where it happens. Is it a different water tasting pad with different courses of the meal? No, it's a, it's a, it's like a wine tasting thing where everybody, you have, you have the blind testing of the different water. Okay. So I'm just trying to get some clarity. You're trying to pair water with the water. I'd like to, we'll, we'll, we'll talk offline. Okay. Okay. Thank you. No problem, sir. It's all good. That was not what I was envisioning, but. Okay. There's a water for your breath. Yes, yes, yes, yes. There's a water for your. Where I'm going back to, I didn't, I didn't, I was really going just back in, in, in time where, um, Phil Dixie had that opportunity where neighbors could go up and take some water and taste it or whatever. Is that an opportunity? Am I just thinking in the wrong calendar year now? I think we can, we can make that happen during the, during the, the transition period. Okay. You know, just to have water, but it's going to be water throughout the system. So, so the, your house, my house, and anyone else who lives in, see if I'll be going to taste that same water. All right. Thank you for that clarity. Okay. Any other questions to Mr. Carvin? No. There being none. Thank you. Anyone else wish to speak on this item? There being none. All right. Thank you so much for your great work and very excited. Uh, it was a big decision on the part of the commission to move forward on this. And, uh, um, and it's very forward thinking and I'd like to thank the commission over the years that I've served as mayor, the very forward thinking in this decision making. And we've really advanced the city in so many ways that, uh, made Fort Lauderdale a great destination, not just for tourists, but for investment dollars. As we're going to hear more about this afternoon, um, business three, we have the international swimming hall of fame complex project update city manager. Good afternoon, mayor. So, um, we have our project team for the international swimming hall of fame, uh, redevelopment effort. Uh, as we are cruising into the end of phase one with the work on the seawall in the ocean rescue building, we thought this would be a good opportunity for the team to come update the commission and the public on progress on phase one, as well as plans for phases two and phase three. All right. So hello, Mario. Hello, mayor, vice mayor, commission, everybody here. Thank you for giving us the time to give you an update. We're pretty excited about this update. We've made some tremendous progress and I'm going to turn this over to Janine to, uh, walk you through the slides and then we're going to have different members of the team give up different updates on different parts of it. Go ahead. Hello, everybody. Is this where I press to change the slide? You're good. Oh, I, no, this is. Oh, right here. All right. Fancy clicker. Okay. Hi, everyone. I'm Janine. I'm the, uh, project manager on the iShelf project, uh, under Mario's team. Um, today I'm just going to be giving a brief overview on the, uh, status of the project, uh, phase one, uh, completion, which is really, really close, getting the, uh, certificate occupancy, as well as, uh, status on phase two, three, and four. Um, here we just got a, an overview of the different phases of the project. I'm sure you all are familiar. I know we've given you these presentations before, um, so we'll just kind of run through it in the later slides. Um, project structure hasn't changed. Uh, we're still, um, uh, under the, uh, project structure for a public-private partnership, um, just aligns with the city's, uh, uh, city, the non-profit and private sector interests, um, and creates a clear role for development operations, attractions, and tenant partners. So let me ask you a question here. Um, how has, how have you been doing with regard to prospective tenants? Are we fully leased out? Are we partially leased out? What's the status of that? We will go over. We have special slides to go over with you guys to that, uh, with that, uh, today. Yeah. Okay. So moving on to phase one, which is our seawall construction, uh, and ocean rescue building. Um, since we submitted this, uh, by the deadline last week, we have been granted the partial certificate of occupancy. Um, the ocean staff, uh, ocean rescue staff has since moved in or has begun moving in. Um, and we expect to be full certificate of occupancy mid-September. Um, we are having a ribbon cutting ceremony toward the end of the month. Um, and more information to come on that, uh, the seawall and the design for the promenade structure, which is phase three. Um, we, uh, submitted an application for the find grant, um, and we're awarded, uh, more recently, 4.3, about $4.3 million to assist with the seawall construction costs and the design for the promenade design in phase three. We'll go over that a little later. Otherwise, construction of the seawall is, is ongoing. Um, and you can kind of see a photo, uh, there at the, the west side. Um, we've got the rig there with the piles going in, uh, phase two updates. Um, also just some, uh, early foundation and site work going on. We're still waiting on our master, uh, building permit, but we hope to have that in hand, uh, sometime at the end of this month. Uh, just kind of still going through the review process, um, after we're done with that, we'll go ahead and submit our tenant improvement permits, um, and more, again, more information on that in the next slides. So just a general information on the project phasing phase one, uh, as, as stated was the ocean rescue building, um, and the seawall improvements, which you'll see highlighted on the left with some updated, uh, renderings, uh, on your right. And mayor, you do have your shade structure is up. We have the posts and they're so... Now, which shade structure are we referring to? The one in the stadium or the one... The one on top of the ocean rescue. The one on top of the ocean rescue. We can use the outside roof terrace and then have some shade. Yeah. Okay. That would be good. Remind me, we had talked about exploring the possibility of living seawall on this. Remind me where we are. We're still doing that, like you're going to see later on in the presentation, we had three dock options for the public dock. Yep. We selected one because the staircase is still centered in the, in the middle. Okay. And then on the right side, we'll have two pockets where we can put those seawalls and they'll be protected and it'll become a free attraction for people coming to see. Okay. Great. And I'll, and I'll be involved in that, making sure I'm a big proponent on living seawalls. Yes. Good. As commissioner for the intercoastal, making sure working with John, who's our aquarium director and, and we're going to make sure that that's in there and have a whole program about educational, uh, oceanic conservation and teaching kids with the living seawall and what that's about. Excellent. Thank you. Great. All right. Moving on to project phasing, uh, for phase two, uh, which houses, uh, the aquarium, uh, future international hall of fame museum, event spaces, exhibit spaces, and a rooftop restaurant on the sixth floor. Um, we'll also have a component of the public promenade built, uh, at the West end to support the West building infrastructure. Um, we've also got some updated renderings on your right of, uh, top West building, uh, facade, um, the entrance to the West building. Um, again, these are the, it's the concept, obviously the middle picture. Um, we haven't gotten these approved yet, but are hoping that you guys will be as excited as we are about the, the concept and the vision. Um, and then just going down to the third is, is a view, uh, walking down that, uh, from the promenade down to the dock. And just to speak in the microphone, just to add on to what Janine is saying, we want to make sure one of the things I learned from our entertainment team and riches team is the way finding the experience together and the experience to leave will really dictate how people feel about our project. So we're spending a lot of time into the marketing, the way finding and, and the communications to the public to make sure that we give them a good experience of coming there and leaving because a lot of people, and I've learned this a little bit, the hard way myself, you go to a place and it's fun and it was great. And then you're in the car with your kids and all you talk about is awful. The lineup was to park or to get out or whatever else. So we're going to try to really eliminate as much as we can of that. Go ahead. Mario, on that, a ride share, the, to that point accessible in and out, cause I think we're going to have to rely significantly on ride share here. So is that built into the, yep, we have, we're looking at drop-offs. We're looking at a water taxi. We're actually trying to do a very ambitious project in partnership with ULI. So we have our team from Stantec with ULI, with Bill Walker from the water taxi. We're going to try to do a study that helps cities like yourself and all the other coastal cities to evaluate how much does a water taxi replace in trips and parking? Because a very simplistic approach, and it's not the right approach, but I want to mention it as an example for thought process. You have the, the average person is 2.3 persons per car in a parking and he's transporting, I don't know, a million people a year. Three lines are going to go right here on the water taxi at the peninsula. So we're going to have three lines coming there. We don't know exactly what the numbers are going to be. It looks pretty substantial, like maybe 1500 a week. So we're going to look at that and try to extrapolate how much parking, how much traffic are we saving? And then Bill had, you know, he was, made some tremendous headway that he had FDOT recognize him in some shape or form as a form of transportation, almost like a road. So we need to learn more from his experiences and how we can tie into what we're doing so that we can facilitate having people come from offsite without, you know, using cars and parking if we can. A couple of updated renderings here of the West building. On the left here, you'll see a West view from the pool deck over to the new water district signage. Again, this is sort of our, our vision, you know, implementing signage for the water district. And over to your right, just another really beautiful view of the facade for the West building. Just an enlargement of that entrance that we, that we saw on the last slide. Yeah. And we're thinking of like the welcome signs are going to be digital so we can advertise whatever. There's three separate entrances. We're going to remove some of that glass because we want to use more digital activity to create an element of arrival based on whatever events are going there at the time. Go ahead. Can the mayor of Fort Lauderdale give an announcement like they do at the airport? So these here, I thought this was very interesting from the artistic team. So as you could see the letter of aquarium, these are going to be, we're thinking of proposing this as digital because they're inside and then we can have these letters be square digital boxes and it could be aquarium and it could be fundraiser for the mayor. It could be whatever event. I'm not running, so I'm good. Whatever happens. But I think digital is important. Just like what you, like your water district sign a couple of slides back, you had an image of a, of a, someone swimming. I don't know if you're planning on having that as a digital screen, but that would be amazing because it shows, it, it, it, it, uh, activates the visual aspect of it instead of just having a static image, you know, you continuing showing, you know, images. And I think that's what creates the energy that's often associated with the aquatic centers. Okay. Thank you. Agreed. We'll be able to go through if somebody has a wedding, it could be personalized, it could be an event, it could be whatever we want it to be. So it's going to make people feel very well. Well, I think your entrance idea, it makes a lot of sense because now you feel like you've arrived somewhere, right? And whether it be this or something like you just described, the, the arrival part is very important because people are excited about where they're about to come instead of just a dingy gray entrance. Yes. All right. Your vehicular experience. I'm glad you let you guys like it. Moving on to phase three, um, phasing. So we've got in our East building, uh, a retail cafe, uh, planned, the dive grandstand, uh, dry land training and teaching pool, um, as well as the public promenade to the North and South planned in this phase. Here, we've got an updated rendering of the phase three, uh, East facade. So this part is important because microphone, microphone, this part is important because I had the design team with JC, who's our in charge of development. He's also an architect, uh, work on creating a focal point for that staircase before. If you recall the first few renderings, you couldn't tell where the entrance was. It was hard to find it. So we created this structure personally. I think it's ugly, but I'll tell you the reasoning behind it. The reasoning behind it. The designer's right behind you. It's just, the designer's right behind you. No, no, no. He's not the designer. No, you'll, you'll see what the designer came up with. It's pretty damn good. Uh, so the idea was to create a structure that we can add artwork to it. So we're going to try to use the rules for signage, for artwork, for all kinds of other experiences that people will, uh, uh, experience from the, the street level all the way up, welcoming them to the upper promenade and then connecting back down to the lower promenade. So let's go down to some of those other renderings. I'll, I'll show you that. Go ahead. Yeah. You just got another updated rendering. You're teaching pool and dry land training, um, uh, rendering here. And the proposed addition, uh, elevated promenade, uh, East view, um, again, it's just a very activated area. Um, kiosks are planned, uh, that have food and beverage components, um, an enclosed restaurant, um, and then lots of public art, art throughout the, uh, throughout the promenade area, just for some interest. And we'll get into that public art component a little bit later. So you can see some of those components here, um, at the elevated promenade, looking to the, the West, uh, over at Seabreeze, you'll see sort of the public art, um, statue of the swimmer on the pedestal sphere. Um, again, these are all works in progress, vision, concept, uh, potential signage opportunities at what we're calling these, uh, they're, uh, planters slash, uh, seeding slash shade structures, uh, potential for sponsorship and advertising opportunities at these sort of pylon looking structures there in the middle. I don't know if you want to elaborate on that. Digital sign. So part of the, uh, vendors that we've been, uh, uh, working with right now is to, to design our own shade structures that will also serve as advertising. So on the blue circle that you're seeing right now under the shade structure, that's a digital screen. So we can tell the story of an athlete that's going to be jumping. We can do a replay. We can do an advertising of what's coming, uh, or whatever else, uh, is steering. The people say, come to the Western side of the promenade. There's some event going on there. So we'll be able to communicate with people on the promenade on a constant basis. And then the statue, we have moved the original statue, which is historical in a storage area. And then we're going to replicate that exact size so that we can put it on a digital side, on a digital screen. That ball is actually a digital screen that we've seen operated. Wonderful. And it could be as big as 10 feet, uh, in diameter. So by doing that, we'll be able to tell the whole story of how they, the competition came about, uh, how it evolved and how this became so significant. Is that our sphere? Yes. But wait, wait, there's more coming. Okay. There's more. Um, you can also see a musician there on the, on the left-hand side of, of the rendering that just kind of shows you, you know, um, event opportunities, you know, for, uh, for, uh, music. Light, outside concerts. Yep. Outside concerts, other events. Yep. Light stuff. Yep. Uh, here's just a view of the, that kiosk restaurant, uh, walkthrough, um, again, is really activating the space, um, and creating new opportunities and, and revenue, um, using, uh, food and beverage, um, operations. So half the kiosk are being food and beverage to create a very diversified food experience to go along with all of the other foodie experiences that we have in Fort Lauderdale. So we figured we'd go piggyback on that. And all the other kiosks are going to be there for vendors. So when there's the tier event, they won't have to pull out their tents. They're just going to be able to use some of the, uh, facilities that we have. It's going to look more professional and I think it'll sell more. Go ahead. All right. So this is our front entrance. So those were preliminary ideas and I have a lot more to show you today, but this just shows you on the top of the staircase. We have digital signs that could be on there. We have the water district sign. It could be the monument sign. We have signage on the building itself so that you have a sense of arrival. When you come with a car, you don't have to question and miss the driveway and then go around and have to loop in the traffic. So we're going to make it very, very obvious that you have arrived and this is where you're supposed to be going. And we're talking about doing digital projections inside the staircase, on the ceiling. So we're going to create a lot of artificial water features. Can I ask you about this, um, shade structure? Sure. Yes. So I noticed in some of the other slides, it seems like it's, it's glass or plastic, which is not going to shade anybody. It is going to shade. It's designed for that. It's a specific technology that doesn't allow that. Doesn't allow the sunlight to come through? Correct. Okay. You're protected. So the other concern that I had, and I don't think, I don't know if you can really correct this, but the sun is in the southern part of the sky and the bleachers face the south. This shade structure is not very efficient. It's not going to be very helpful. We're working on that. Yeah. So right now we put it as a placeholder to show you that we have to address the shade structure. And we are working with companies that specialize in creating shades for seating. And there are a lot of very nice, uh, opportunities that we're going to be looking at. So that's all part of phase three and four. So right now the priority is to get phase two, which is the West building, A, B, and C. A being all the design and permitting, B being the shell, and C being all the tenant build out for the entire West building so we can deliver the main event. Okay. May I, maybe we can borrow some ideas from whoever designed that shade structure on the windows for us. Yes, I thought that was very creative. I think, uh, I think maybe we can borrow. I think they went to. Can we get the name of that designer? I see you went to Boca Bar Goons. They got some extra fabric. Can we get, can we get, get the name of that designer? Were you trying to do rustic? Thank you so much. Yeah. So that brings us the perfect segue into, uh, into the phase four, uh, phasing. So that encompasses the public water dock and the shade structure we just spoke, uh, about, um, which you can see at the top, uh, right rendering. Um, at the bottom you see a very preliminary rendering for the, the, uh, entrance to the dock area where the water taxi operations will, uh, will live. And just to go back to the shade structure that we see there, part of the problem is we had to make it short because of the lights for the pools. Those are competition lights and we can only go so far. So we're still working on that. We're going to work with, uh, uh, FLAC and, and everybody else from their team to try to get some input. I know they, they've made a lot of headway in a couple of years ago, try to figure this out and then they couldn't figure it out. But I think with a new approach, uh, we might, we might be able to find good solutions. Go ahead. Just an enlarged, uh, rendering of the slide before. And, uh, the, the dock, as you can see here, we're selecting option one, which seems to be the, the, the best option for the, uh, the boat show and, and for us and, and for using all of the activations that we want to do with the dock. So the staircase is going to be upper, uh, exactly level with the promenade. And then you have to step down and then you'll have floating docks on the lower part of it. And then on the two corners on the end where the rounds are at the end of the peninsula, that's where the two seawall, uh, exhibits are going to be. Go ahead. Yeah. We wanted to include two and three. So you guys saw that the most efficient programmatically, uh, best option was to go with the option one. And then here's that enlarged, um, shade structure over the grandstand we spoke about earlier. You can see here the effect of the spotlights. That's really the, the restriction. So we're, we're doing studies now to try to figure out what's the best approach for this. Yeah. I, I don't know the solution. Um, so leave it up to, leave it up to people that are far smarter. We'll get some creative thinkers on shade. Well, it's, it's just the, the way it's the, it's set up. I mean, it faces the South and the sun comes from the South, you know, it's just, uh, yeah, definitely a work in progress. Okay. And I'll turn it over to Mario for project financials. So, so this picture here, I think it's pretty important because you can see from the Venetian, this is kind of the new look they're going to get. I think it looks a lot better than what they're looking at now. I think the elevated portion is very clever because it creates a pedestrian area that we don't have right now. Correct. And it decorates the top. It really looks dressed up. It really looks dressed up. It's really amazing. Yeah. So we wanted you to see this angle because I think it's really important on, on how this is going to impact, uh, all the activities in the community there. Next. All right. So, so let's get into the financials. Uh, we have submitted to, uh, as a draft to, uh, uh, Ben and, uh, the interim city manager and, uh, a few other team members that they have to review the, uh, PFM report to make sure that all the financial analysis is done. There's a little glitch here because this presentation was done on Friday and our latest update was Monday. So the PFM report is slightly more accurate on phase two C instead of being, uh, 14 million 70. It's 13, five something. So everything has hit under the mark of the caps. We are getting all of the phases. The only phase that we have considerations for extras, if we want them are going to be in phase three and four. And those are going to be because of the promenade and the extra, um, uh, design and decorations and activations we're going to do there. And we're going to go get all those privately funded. What, what does the HOFP mean? All of fame partners. This is the company that's the, yeah, I understand who that, but I didn't know what, I didn't know that. Okay. That's your acronym. Okay. Okay. So, and we brought with us the copy of what's given to PFM report. So, you know, that on two C, it does say 13 million, five 62, three 24. So everything hit the mark as we hoped. It was a lot of work. The team came together and, uh, and made it happen. That's great. Yeah. That was the key. Next slide. So as you see the, our cap was 13, six. We're still respectful. Our budget is 218. And just so you know, the complication of this, as the interest rates go up and they are going up, that means that we have less than 218 million to do the job. So we have to get creative as the developer to make sure that we have all the right funding for all those extra things that we want in phase three and four. So we feel very, very confident. Uh, we have already identified. I know a banker you can go to. Huh? Yeah. I know. We have our money man. He's giving away money. He's giving away money. And commissioners, not only that, but I'm going to be writing over a $7 million grant for that promenade. Yeah. Thank you. We'll take it. We'll take it. Anyway. So, uh, the other options, as you can see, the canopy structure allowance there. So, uh, optional costs that we will decide as a team, how we want it, where we want it. And I'm going to provide all of the source funding of how this all gets paid for. So right now we have all these identified other optional things that we would like to do. And mostly because they're going to bring in a lot more money. So as we develop that in phase three, right now we need to get phase two done and closed. As we develop that in phase three, we'll decide as a team and make sure that it's the right decision for the city. And we're, we have a very good collaboration between Encel Phelps, All of Fame partners, Capital Group, the city, uh, All of Fame, um, uh, the International Swimming All of Fame and, and our funding source. So everybody's really working in sync, uh, to put this together. And JC has done a tremendous job, you know, making all the pieces of the puzzles work. He's been at it with, uh, Felipe and, and Janine. So, uh, thank you guys for, for all your hard work. Next slide. So the, again, those are bullet points from previous presentations. Remember that the construction costs, as we all know, in every project, everywhere, everything costs more. So we have to be very, very on top of this game to make sure that we control the cost. We control what phases we do when, in what sequence, and, and also what we can do later that we can add to keep people coming. So there's always variety and always change here. The rate fluctuation. I hate to tell you, but when we started this, we were at 1.67% interest. We could have done double the size project for the same money. Anyways, and, and recently went up to seven and a half and, and, uh, more recently from six and a half, uh, you know, it was trending six and a half from the 5.6. And now with the latest bombings and tariffs and all the craziness that's going on, that doesn't help us. So we'll manage that. And we are, the countermeasures to that is really deciding what portions of the projects come in and what sequence and who pays for it. So we got that under control and we're going to keep you up to date as we, uh, suggest things that would be beneficial to the project. And we have also Matt Palmer, who's in charge of the marketing for the water district. So he's putting together the whole game plan for the water district so that we have a cohesive operation between FLAC, the tenants, the city, and us as developers. And then we added the contingencies as we go. We add contingencies to the project. Go ahead. Want to talk about this? So we're, we're moving toward our phase 2B and 2C closing, uh, looking at closing 2B, um, uh, in the month of September, which we're already in. I can't believe it. Um, and then 2C closer to December, the, toward the end of the year. Um, not sure if you want to elaborate much more on it, JC. Yeah, I'll, I'll start with the elaboration of the closing framework that we are doing. And this is to minimize risk. Uh, we are doing a phase 2B construction core and shell closing that will be done upon permit issuance. We are waiting on that. That's one of the factors that we are, uh, contingent upon. And then the phase 2C would be for the tenant improvements for the actual construction costs of those so that we can evaluate the permits as the bid sets, um, at a later date subsequent to the 2B closing. Also, in order to explore VE items and make sure that all the prices are in check where they need to be. Has your, has your timetable changed at all? No, we're still targeting, uh, December of 28. However, the tenants are saying opening in December 28 doesn't really do us much because everything will be booked up and all that. So there are debates between opening in December 28 and maybe, uh, looking at doing a, a, a soft opening in December and then doing a, a more of a grand opening in, in March or April. So we're, we're evaluating that and seeing how we best, best to address that. But right now we're sticking to the table of December 28. My term ends in December 28, just to let you know. We'll still send you an invitation. Would you, okay. All right, never mind. Thank you. Um, well this, this slide is just focusing on the phase three, uh, image that you saw earlier looking from the Venetian. And it's just highlighting some of the design, um, enhancements that we have done. And one of them is the extra parking deck that, that you see in that image. Uh, actually you can't see it because it's shielded. It's built into the design, um, that's cohesive into the design of the West building, into the promenade. So that same language carries from the, from phase two, the West building all the way to the East building. And, and you don't see that as cars being parked there, but it's just sandwiched in between the promenade sits on top and also will increase building efficiencies and the extra parking that we will get from that. Okay. And just a list here of our upcoming critical milestones really focused on, uh, phase two permitting, phase two construction and the upcoming closings. We just went over, um, you guys have anything to add? Do you want anything to add on the scheduling or permitting? So we're, we're addressing the latest round of, of comments for permitting for, for the West building. And we should be submitting next week to address those comments. So we're at the pretty much final stages. We're hoping to have by the end of the month, right? The, the permit. That's the goal. Yeah. Okay. Okay. All right. And I'm going to turn it over to, um, our first tenant, uh, concept design ritual. Sir, do you want to come on up? Commissioners, mayor. Thank you. Appreciate being here. Okay. So I think we have, um, this is our cutout, uh, kind of overview of the aquarium, which we're going to have lots of different amazing species. But one thing I don't, I want to, uh, let everybody understand. This is about oceanic conservation. There's not going to be mammals, no dolphins, no whales, uh, no manatees. We want this about oceanic conservation, having a, a, a coral breeding program, putting coral back into our reef off of Fort Lauderdale, which 200 feet off the shore is one of the largest reefs in the, in the world. So also about, uh, the, the, the, the sea life that we're going to have, we're going to be breeding sea life and being able to put it back into the ocean, not taking it and letting it die. So this is about oceanic conservation, teaching children, the next generation about how do we take care of our beaches and our doing ocean cleanup and how we're going to be able to protect our ocean sea life and our Fort Lauderdale beaches. So, um, uh, I want to walk you through, uh, some of the concepts here. Uh, so there's three pieces. There's the Fort Lauderdale aquarium, the international swimming hall of fame, and then there's going to be the, uh, frameless, frameless concept. So as we go through, um, you'll see that, uh, uh, uh, there's going to be species, uh, that are here local that obviously are going to be non-mammal. Uh, that was a deliberate decision. We want to reflect, um, and celebrate and protect coastal ecosystem that's, uh, actually, uh, outside the building and not to import that as a show type of concept, but all about education. And when parents leave with their kids and they're in the car, like Mario was saying early, we want to be able to educate the parents of how they are going to talk to their kids about what they learned and bring them back and back. And as we change different things in different species, they're going to learn more about what the Fort Lauderdale aquarium is. It's just not an aquarium, but it's, it's a way to keep learning about oceanic conservation and cleanup and taking care of our environment. They're, they're also going to be, uh, experiencing taking the museum home. So whether it's the aquarium or all of the events that they'll be visiting, they'll be able to go home and work from their computer and then continue their journey of what they've experienced and then welcome them back. So, uh, uh, as the guests go through the journey, uh, where, uh, life starts on the water, you're going to enter at the beachfront, walk the sand dune walkway and wade into the shallows, touch pools and shallow reef, then the ocean tunnel, the mid reef shipwrecks. And there's going to be a shipwreck for the kids to play in, uh, and, uh, mysteries of the deep reef, uh, and you'll finish in a research station in our research station that we're going to be building. We're going to have undergraduates from NSU, FIU and FAU, all helping educate the kids about oceanic conservation. We have Guy Harvey program, uh, educational program. They're going to be, uh, educating the kids. And we're also doing a 4d theater to where we were working with Pixar films to create a film. One's a Navy seal, one's a, uh, uh, uh, in the coast guard and how they evolve their careers. So if kids are like, Hey, I'd like to do that and be able to have a career like that, we're going to educate them on how they're going to be able to do that. So between the learning laboratory, the living seawall outside, uh, we're also going to have fish and wildlife officers coming with FWC teaching kids. Hey, maybe they want to be a FWC officer in the future. So, uh, and also with working with the different universities, these kids are going to understand, Hey, uh, I could be an undergraduate and learn about marine biology. And there's going to be all different programs that we're going to develop together between Guy Harvey and NSU FIU and FAU and FWC and Guy Harvey. It's all going to work together as a, as a program that's going to lift them up and educate them for, for future, uh, for future education. Uh, let's see here. So here you're, uh, going to be walking through the kids are going to see different amazing things on the wall. So not only will we'll have that, but we're going to have a lot of, uh, graphic designs, uh, that they're going to be able to go through. This is one of the swimming tunnels that they're going to be able to walk through. That's digital. That's digital and wax, uh, figures. Wax figures. Frameless. Uh, so I went to London and, uh, there's an amazing concept there that we're going to have here to where you're going to be able to see Michelangelo and all the different major artists around from, from the Renaissance to all kinds of really cool films. For children, K through 12, that it's an immersive experience that when you, when you see it and you're actually in there, you're going to step on the ground. You're going to see leaves. You step and you swipe your foot. The leaves are, are, are flying around. It's very immersive and it's, it's absolutely amazing. What's really nice about, about this program is not only during the day we sell tickets as an attraction, but after hours, it becomes a super marketing machine for very high end brands. Like, uh, Rolex, Patek Philippe, Ferrari, Rolls Royce. They're all going to London to use that as their exhibit to promote their new products. Using what? Using what? They're using the full digital street. Oh, right. Yeah. Yeah. I've seen this, uh, been, I've been to different cities where I've, you know, experienced this and, and, uh, it's, it's a great experience and it allows you to change the experience because it's all digital. So you can keep changing it to different things. This is amazing. It's doing it underwater sea experience. Yep. You know, that, that would be, that would be a great component to the, one of my favorite ones is that there's a Venice scene. Like you're, you're going through a gondola in Venice and everything around you is moving. The people are talking, the music is playing. It's, it's really impressive. Yeah. This is going to be the aquarium. And then once you get into the international swimming hall of fame to where the kids are going to be able to stand up on a podium with a gold medal around their neck. So they're going to understand how life evolved in the ocean to where man learned how to swim. Another program, multiple things that are important to me that we're going to involve is special needs. We're going to, uh, have programs for special needs and their families to be able to come to the aquarium, uh, at no cost. Service disabled veterans. We owe them everything they're going to be able to come with their families and the program where we're going to put together to where they can come to the aquarium for free. And not only that, how about first responders that are service disabled? We're going to make sure that they're them and their families are going to be able to come to the aquarium based on what they've done for us. So we need to give back to the people that protect us, our country and our freedoms. So that's important that we're going to have that for, for the individuals. And we want to be able to fight for people that can't fight for themselves. And we want to be able to educate people and the kids for our next generation of how we're going to take care of our community and our ocean and just make this one big, you know, family to where we can all work together to, to, to help the next generation. Great. This is the next. Yeah. So we've got our event space, um, in our food and beverage concept over at the West building or a fourth and sixth floor respect, uh, respectively. So, um, uh, this is a, a rendering of our fourth floor ballroom, um, really, uh, event space. You can have your bar mitzvahs here, you can have, um, you know, wedding events here, uh, you name it. It's just a, a really beautiful space designed for any kind of, um, event, uh, for, for the locals, for anybody coming for conventions, um, really just a concept for now, but, uh, more work in progress and more updated renderings to come. What, um, capacity are you aiming for? Oh, yikes. The maximum capacity is 1,100 people if we wanted to have one event standing, uh, their target market is 275 to 325 people. They have a niche, uh, that's very specific. That's seeding, right? Seeded, 275. Seeded is 275. 275 to 325 for kind of dinner meetings. Uh, uh, uh, but we'll have a lot of flexibility on, on the types of events that we can do, whether it's a teaching class or a fundraiser or, uh, just a dinner party. Mario, why is it, I'm just curious, why is it called the fifth if it's on the fourth floor? We eliminated part of the floor to give the ceiling height for, uh, this was supposed to be two floors and we eliminated it into one floor so that we would have higher ceiling height we needed for, uh, them and we needed for, um, frameless. Yes, gotcha, thank you. Moving on, this is the bar, uh, area. Again, just very conceptual for now. We received these just last week, so first look, um, also on the, uh, fourth floor. This is our sixth floor, uh, ballroom space, sort of a pre-event space, um, sort of, again, just, uh, a pre-event space, uh, a space where people can sit, enjoy the views, uh, have a nice drink, cocktail, um, and sort of the outside, outside of the sixth floor, um. For, um, uh, F&B space, which we'll see on the next slide. Want to elaborate on anything here? Nope, last one. Last one is the, the, um, the Umi no Kazi restaurant, uh, that translates to the sea breeze, uh, in Japanese, pays homage to, um, the address for, uh, for iShaft. And, um, again, more to come on menu and programming, but very excited about this, um, this concept. More to come soon. And that's it. So the next one is, if you can pull up the images of the artistic portion. No, I'm trying to pull up the, uh, oop. I think they, uh, I think, I think they ended our, our presentation. Any way to, to get back in there? Ah, there we go. You know, um, have you ever been to the, uh, World Trade Center Tower in New York? Okay. So, you're thinking you're going to go up an elevator and you're going to go to this very high, uh, observation deck and you're going to see New York, right? So what happens between you stepping on the elevator and you get to the observation deck? You go through about, you go through this whole digital history of Southern Manhattan, right? So I see where you're going with this, where you're going to create an experience before you get to the experience. And that's what's really going to be great about this, right? It draws you in. And I think that's the most exciting part about technology today, how you can, you can, whether, whether it involves artificial intelligence or not, but you're able to take digital, um, projections and to be able to create an experience, um, that draws you into where you're about to enter. So I see where you're going with this. This is great. And just to give you the example, inside from the first floor to the museum floor, it's an experience elevator, exactly like that one. Is that right? Yeah. So you'll be able to come from under the water. You're going to see the fish in the bubbles and you're going to be going up a bubble, up a glass, uh, container to the surface. And then the humans start interacting with, and you land right on Fort Lauderdale beach. So you'll see the round wall. You'll see the, what's it called? Um, the wave wall elbow room. Oh, the elbow room. We put the elbow room as a decor. You'll see. It's going to be pretty good. I hope they're paying for product placement, but go ahead. We're going to hit them up. All right. Can we, yeah, let's go. As we go through these pictures, um, we're going to go to the ones that we can zoom in more. That's the next one. They have big pictures. There you go. So, so that's the East. That's the East. That's the West. That's the East building. Right. Right. So you saw the, the structure before. This is the adding on to the structure. So this could be analog, digital. It could have no imagery. It could have, uh, artistic paintings on there. So we have to decide as a team. And that's where I would like you guys to help us from the artistic side of, of, uh, the city operation. I know we're trying to work with various artistic groups to get this, to get this approved. But if you go back to the next slide, you'll see how they change from slide to slide. None of it can, it doesn't have to all happen overnight, but I think it could happen over time. And if you look at option A, option B, it's all an evolution of the same thing that we could keep adding on to. And then you'll see the images, even from the top of the deck, we want to create the experience where if you're on the top, you're being welcomed. And this is going to make it so much easier to go sell the naming rights to the project. Right. So, uh, it's going to be welcoming. People are going to want to affiliate their name. And we kept that little band there on the top digitally so that we can try to add something up there. Can we zoom in on that or, or no, we can't zoom in. Okay. What's the next big image? We have two more big ones. Yeah. So you see where we're going with this. So we're have this inside the elevators, inside the buildings, and we are going to do a whole fly through. So you'll be able to walk through the entire project inside and out, uh, so that you get a feel. And right now it's in production. So we already started doing a video of, of the tenant build outs. So we're going to have the whole project ready. So I wanted to get some feedback from you. Does that inspire you? Does that get you guys excited that we're going down this path? You love it? Good. And that's going to be facing the park across the street. Yeah. Pretty cool stuff, huh? I mean, this is, if this doesn't make a statement, I don't know what. No, it's great. It's a great component to the experience on the beach, right? You know, we, we've been, we've been adding over the years. I mean, this is, uh, definitely going to be exciting. Well, I think that's all we have for our update for today. If you guys have any questions, anyone else have any questions or comments? I do, Mayor. Thanks. So primarily, I just want to say thank you because I think people need to understand, how many years this project has been in discussion, even before you got involved, even before you. We've been talking about this site for at least 12, 13, 14, 15 years. I've seen so many iterations, but you've gotten it to the point now when people need to understand how closely you've worked with the Neighborhood Association. I hear that all the time, how grateful people are that they have always had input. You've always listened. There have been a few little bumps in the road. You mentioned some bumps with the aquarium, and then you just explained that. Hopefully, you've been able to have those conversations with those folks who were upset about that. You heard some concerns from the swimming and diving community locally. You met with those people face-to-face over a period of many, many, many months. You worked out all of those issues. In other words, what I'm saying to you is thank you for really being so conscientious that there was no one that was left out. I mean, multiple meetings, multiple hours of meetings to get us to this point where now this is going to be technologically one of the most exciting projects in the city. It's going to be basically taking that portion of our beach and really making something spectacular. It's going to work very well holistically with what everything's happening across the street. You mentioned D.C. Alexander Park. You're going to complement beautifully Marina Village and Bahia Mark coming down the road. In other words, you're really going to tie it all together, but with a level of technology that we have not seen yet. And that's the exciting part, and that's the draw. So I just want to thank you for all of this work. And on behalf of all of the District 2 residents who have participated so much in every one of the meetings that you've held for them, and that they have attended, and that they've spoken, and that you've listened. And I think that's the important part that I just wanted to emphasize so that everyone who's listening now, watching, understands that you did not just come in here and say this is what we're going to do. What we're seeing right now is the result of incredible, incredible cooperation and teamwork and really understanding the needs of so many different constituencies that use this facility. So thank you. And I think the partnerships with Guy Harvey and NSU, FIU. They give it substance. And for them to want to be involved with what we're doing, Fish and Wildlife, they know this is important, and they can actually put their hands and be involved with it. It's going to be a total community involvement of everything that we're going to do for the future. All right, very good. This has been such a big team effort and an evolution since day one. You know, I started working on this in 2019, and we submitted our first proposal in 20. So it's been a long time coming, but I really think all the iterations, all of the pushback, all of this was positive. And I really, you know, we have a fantastic team that is working very well with the city and every other group that's collaborating with us. We found a path forward to... All right. And this is going to provide a lot of jobs to the city. We're going to do a job fair in District 3 with Pam, and we're going to have a lot of jobs. Every little bump in the road has made this a better project. Absolutely. Every single little bump in the road, because you've taken all of that concern or any kind of constructive criticism, and you've made those changes. The iterations alone on what you've done from the first time you presented to this commission to what this is now is a totally different project, totally different project, and it's so much a better project. So it really is exciting to see all of this, and I'm really looking forward. We understand that this project's way bigger than us, and it's too important for the community and for the city of Fort Lauderdale. So we're putting ourselves second here and making sure that we do all the right things for this project. It's too important. It's a legacy project. It's a legacy project for us. All right. Anyone else have any comments or questions? Yeah, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you all for the work. The designs looks wonderful. I especially love the partnership of FINE. Thank you very much. FWC. I mean, the entire engagement and collaboration is excellent. I want to talk money. So city manager, let's just, I just want to chat through kind of how we're looking. So the master facility lease payment, we start paying that $13.6 million when? When we finish the project. Okay. So when there's a CO, basically. Okay. Does the, if the project cost exceeds the $218 million, how does that impact the finance? Well, right now we have choices, right? So the comprehensive agreement says we can either propose additional costs with additional income stream, and the city has to make the decision if they want that or not, or if we want to have additional things like I'm proposing, I'm going to get the private sector and other sources of funding to fund it. Or if we didn't want any of it, then we would reduce the scope of the project. So either way, we're covered. There are going to be no surprises. It's all going to be a continuous collaboration, as we've done since the beginning, to make sure that we have the right project for the city. Okay. Great. And so if the cost increases, you might have to decide to tailor back some components. Yeah. Or to put them over time. Okay. Right? Not everything needs to be done overnight. Yep. Yep. So would you then come to us to say, hey, here's what costs are up. Here's what we're going to have to cut back on. Correct. Is that okay? And we have a say in that? Absolutely. Okay. This is why we submit the PFM report. So this is kind of a summary, a recap of what the financial structure is, make sure it's still aligned with how we started five years ago, and that we have a path forward to finish it as planned. So it's absolutely consistent. When we go to phase three right now, you've got the PFM report for phase two. You're going to get a PFM report for phase two C, and then we're going to do a phase three. So we're all blocking it in pieces so that we can deliver the right project at the right time. All right. Great. And city manager, has PFM analyzed the current revenue models and so forth, or are we doing that, Ben? Or what's the process for that? Yes. We usually like PFM to assist us with that. And as Mario was saying, each phase has its own review process. And so they recently submitted the documents to us. We're coordinating that financial review with PFM. So once PFM gives us their feedback and report, then we'll have meetings to work on closing phase two B. Okay. Great. And will we get that PFM report? Okay. Great. Excellent. Okay. Thank you very much. We've had it on every phase. So everything we do one, you get one. Yep. Great. Yeah. And that's the way the deal was structured. So that way, if there was a point in time where the expenses of the app site was no longer there, there would be a way to the city to protect itself. Great. Thank you. Great. Thank you all. Thank you. So I just wanted to remind the commission, next steps, obviously the phase two B is the next closing process as, as we just reiterated that we are just now starting the financial review and we'll make sure that all that information is, is brought forward. And there is a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for ocean rescue on September 24th. Want to celebrate the successes of that and welcome ocean rescue team to the new building. And then, um, there's a groundbreaking schedule in late October, I think October 21st for the phase, uh, phase two process of this project, which is primarily the West building. Great. And what portion of ocean rescue do we have in there now? Like what, uh, is it half, what's the capacity right now? So they're moving in right now. They're in the process of moving from one station to the other. So they have their equipment there. Did a site visit with them last week. They were doing some finishing touches, um, but their team is in progress of, of fully relocating to that site. Okay, great. Thank you. All right. Very good. Um, before we move on to the next item, uh, it was brought to my attention that Christmas on Las Solas is not the Tuesday after Thanksgiving this year. It's going to be December 7th. Next year. I meant next. Yeah. This, uh, next year. Next year. I'm sorry. Next year. Yeah. So, um, thank you. So, um, do we want to move it to the 8th? Want to move the meeting to the 8th? For some reason they changed it. It's always the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, move it to December 8th. Okay. So we could do, Mayor, just so I'm tracking, we could do Wednesday, December 8th is, uh, let's see. Okay. We, I guess another option is November 30th. That's right after Thanksgiving, I think. So, yeah, the 8th, I think the 8th makes sense. Is the December 8th okay with everybody? Wednesday, the 8th. We okay with that? You okay with that? Okay. So that's what we'll do, December 8th. Got that, Chris? Okay. Very good. We don't have an issue this year, right? We did change it. Oh, we did change it. Yeah, we moved it. We moved it already. Oh, right, right, right, right, right. Sorry. Right. I see that. Okay. All right. Scott, is this a new one? Oh, I see. Okay. We're having technical difficulties today. All right. All right. Moving on to, uh, business four. This is, uh, the water trolley operations update and service enhancement options, transportation and mobility department. Milos. Good afternoon. Thank you very much. Uh, Miloš Mojstorovic, um, director for the city's transportation and mobility department. Uh, so today we'll have, uh, our deputy director, uh, Kaite, Claire, provided, provide us with an update on a water trolley service, our water goal, water trolley service, including some of the operating challenges, some of, some of the opportunities for improvement as well, and options that we, uh, uh, would like you to consider, which we developed together with our, uh, uh, operator, uh, water, uh, taxi, um, and we will also seek your feedback. So, with that said, uh, uh, I will turn it over to, uh, Kaite. So this is just the water trolley. That is correct. This is the free service that goes from real visitor. Along the river. Yeah. That is correct. Hi there. Hi. Good afternoon. Mayor, vice mayor, and commission. My name is Kaite, and I'm the deputy director for transportation and mobility. So I'm going to walk you through, uh, just a bit of background, the history on the service. In 2014, the Riverwalk water trolley service launched and was originally managed by the TMA. Then in 2019, after the city terminated the agreement with the TMA, we assumed operational responsibility for the water trolley service. In 2021, an ITB was put out and we entered a three-year agreement with the water taxi of Fort Lauderdale. Um, under that agreement, there were two two-year renewal options. So in March 2024 is when the first contract renewal was implemented, and then this past March is when the second and final renewal option was implemented. So the contract for the water trolley expires on March 12th of 2028. And a bit of background that you already might know, the water trolley is a free service that operates along the new river. Between Esplanade and Laura Ward Park, there are eight stops, four north of the river and four south of the river. It's designed to connect our neighbors and our tourists, anybody who's visiting, uh, to dining and entertainment within the downtown area. Right now it operates 12 hours a day from 10 to 10 and nearly year round. And the most important part is that it's only operated with one vessel. There's only one boat that can carry 19 passengers that is operating our service. 140,000 people. Yep. So 140,000 people. Yeah. On a 19 passenger. It's, it's putting in some work for sure. So when the service was originally launched, the intent was for it to be a transit service for our commuters and any residents downtown to connect not only to Laudergo, but to the businesses that were in downtown, however, that has shifted. And today it's become more of a tourist amenity. There have been some videos that have gone viral on social media. The word is out. People love the water trolley. And that's not necessarily a bad thing. Like it speaks to our waterfront appeal, but it is creating a lot of operational challenges as far as long wait times are concerned. And so this graph kind of paints that picture. As you can see, this is over the past five years. So in fiscal year 2022, we were averaging around 5,600 passengers per month. And then this year we're averaging 12,000 passengers per month. So in total fiscal year 2022, we carried 67,000 passengers. And as you can see on the top, we are projected to carry 140,000 passengers this year. And just in case it wasn't clear, we just have the one single boat that is doing all of this. So essentially the service has doubled over the past five years. One boat manned by one person. Yes. Right. One captain. One person. Correct. So this has created some operational challenges, as you can imagine. So one of the challenges is also that there has been an increase in fuel, labor, and maintenance costs that the operator is experiencing. And then there's also the demand that was shown by the ridership numbers exceeds the capacity of the single boat. And then riders are also staying on the boat longer because they're using it as a leisure experience. They will ride through all eight stops, experience the riverfront, and then the captains have to politely tell them that they can... I thought it was just one stop. It's one loop. There's eight stops. Oh, I didn't know there were eight stops. Yeah. I thought it was just right across the river. Yeah. No, there are eight stops. I can go back to the map. But previously... Can you go back to the map? Yeah, absolutely. So four on the north side of the river and four on the south side. Okay. Yes. So they will stay on for the complete loop, just for the experience, instead of doing point-to-point, which was the original intent. What's the duration timeline for the loop? How long does it take? It goes from about 20 to 30 minutes. And it can be shorter depending on if the bridge is down. It'll cut off access to some of our stops that are on the other side of the bridge. Okay, and I'm assuming there are times where the boat is full and we're denying rides to people. Is that happening regularly, Bill? Yeah. So we started noticing that and we were talking. We have monthly status calls with Water Trolley. And so we had them actually start tracking the number of passengers that were left behind last year. So as you can see, the last bullet, we're averaging about 730 people that are left behind on the dock per month because of how popular the service has become. And so this is creating some challenges that we want to address with you all and get some feedback on potential options to address that. So the first option, and these are not mutually exclusive, like we can do a combination of options. So the first option is to implement fares, potentially not charging our neighbors and charging tourists, so resident versus non-resident rate. And this would help with offsetting some of the costs and help with demand and supply. Option number two could be adding a second vessel during peak months, which is January to July, roughly. And that would also increase capacity during peak demand. Option three would be adding a second vessel year-round, which would double our current capacity and improve frequency. So instead of taking 20 to 30 minutes to complete the loop, that would be cut in half. And then option four would be procuring a larger vessel, which would have a capacity of about 49 passengers. And that would a little bit more than double the operational capacity and maintain the current service frequency of 20 to 30 minutes. And the last column on the right-hand side is the additional annual costs on top of our current operating budget for water traveling. So why did we do this to begin? What was the purpose of this? That's a good question. So it was originally designed for transit, but if there's, if anybody has a background I thought it was originally designed to get people from one side of the river to the other. Yes. So point to point. Yes, correct. And then it expanded to multiple spots. And now it's turned into a little mini river cruise. Yeah, basically. Correct. So if you were to, if you have 140,000 users, you charge a buck a piece, we could, we could augment our, our income from this by $140,000, but it still costs us $735,000. Is that each year? Yes, this is the annual cost. So it would be on top of our current budget that we have, it would be an additional $300,000 added to it for a larger vessel. Commission, Mayor. Thoughts? Yeah. I have some thoughts on this, Mayor. One, I think it goes to Bill Walker's great leadership on this and running such a valuable and popular transportation modality. So that's great. I know a lot of our residents use it, but as I kind of said, I think a lot of non-residents are using it. And I think this is and should remain as one of the benefits that the city of Fort Lauderdale provides to its residents. And so I'm very interested in this option one idea, which is residents of the city of Fort Lauderdale continue to not have to pay for the water trolley, but that we should implement a fee for non-residents. So residents of Fort Lauderdale don't have to pay, non-residents do have to pay. We'd have to work, I think, Mayor, the technology and the app to kind of verify residency and so forth. But we do that for parking, right? You do that for parking rates as well. And I think that might be a helpful starting point before we think about adding another vessel or a larger vessel to see what impact does that fee on non-residents have, the total use and leaving people behind and so forth? Well, you know, what would deter a person from wanting to use it, right? With a dollar? No. With $10? Yes. So somewhere between $1 and $10 would be the sweet spot that we would have to pick. I don't know. I'd leave that up to staff to come up with that answer. But clearly, I mean, we need to start thinking about reducing our expenditures, you know. And I mean, even at $2, $2 just to go around for 20, 30 minutes, that's amazing, right? So. That's definitely something we can look into. We would definitely do an equity analysis, look at other transit options in the area to compare, and then determine what that price is. There are no other transit options. This is it. No, but there are other municipalities who do have programs something like this that we can learn from without having to necessarily reinvent the wheel, correct? Correct. Yeah. Who has a water taxi? Water trolley. Who has a, well, it's operated by, it's a water trolley operated by water taxi. But who has a water system that we would copy from? Who has a water system like this? Nobody. Complimentary. Miami. Miami. Yeah. Yeah. Can you please come up to the microphone? Mr. Walker. Good afternoon. My name's Bill Walker, and thank you for having me here today. The one in Miami has been running for five, six months, and we've taken 140,000 free people. And it really, you know, we're in the yachting capital of the world here, you know. And this service was amazing. It did start off, mayor, as eight stops at the river walk, wanted to connect both sides of the river and up and down the river. And it's amazing that it's gone up to 140,000 people, plus 730 people a month standing at the dock that were just going like you can't make it. And it's gone from this public transportation system to a, hey, I get a free ride on a boat. And, you know, it was kind of interesting to me to see how many people were out there looking for a free ride to go on a boat. But it was substantial. So I think the opportunity here is to, you know, step back for a second, go, all right, hey, what is the best way financially to make this work? I used to do substantial public transportation projects, so I completely get the cost per rider, public subsidies, you know, capital improvements, all those types of things. But I think if we take a second, a couple months, and look at the several options that are out there and then go, hey, what is that? There are some substantial grants that are coming down the pike from the federal government in terms of the maritime aspect of life. One of them is, you know, training mariners. It's not just all about defense and things like that. So there might be some financial opportunities going down those roads to help offset the costs. I think those are great ideas. I mean, I think we do, I mean, it's not, we don't have to make a decision tomorrow. But I think that, you know, we've got a lot of smart people here, your industry knowledge, you know, staff, transportation and mobility. I think we can figure it out. And I think, I agree. I don't think any of these are mutually exclusive that are on the screen right now. I think we can look at a combination of factors. I do think a dollar is too low, actually. So I don't think that's going to help us where we need some help. But I also like the idea of having residents be able to take advantage of this without paying. I think the non-residents should be able to contribute. I also like the idea of adding a vessel. So, again, I leave it up to you guys. But I think a combination of this, take a little time, work it all out, come back with a plan that makes sense. After we've looked at maybe what happens in other parts of the country where there is some sort of similar service, I think we can figure it out. I would like to see us to be able to continue it, though, because I think it is a really cool thing for us to have. Absolutely. Part of the growth is the development that's happened along both sides of the river as much as anything, you know, and the use. I mean, it really is a very vibrant downtown. You guys are a big part of that. But it is very connecting, and it's a cool thing in this city. You know, I mean, at Water Taxi, we did over 1.2 million people last year by water. And you look at the water districts, the water, fueled by water, you guys have a signature service here that's pretty cool, and a story that's very cool above the city and the county and the state. Bill, while you just mentioned something, let me ask you a question. Have you been noticing an uptick in terms of now that the Marina Village is open with the Shirley and all those little food kiosks, have people been taking the taxi, and have you been noticing? Yeah, it's pretty interesting. And so we number all our stops, you know, 1 through 11 here in Fort Lauderdale, and that was easy for people with language and stuff to understand what's going on. We have QR codes at every stop so people can buy tickets and do all that. That stop down there at the beach has taken over all the stops. It's the number one seller. And we've looked at the different hotels that are selling around there, and it's absolutely just all walk-up Marina Village type business. I don't know with the new building that we're getting ready to get rolling on. I mean, we're going to start the seawall and the docks on that right after the boat show, but the banner's up there. But we were amazed at how many people walk through that stop now. Yeah, I'm not surprised. Marina Village is very popular. I'm not surprised because I see what's going on just from the land side when I go up and down A1A. It's incredible. Absolutely. So I was just curious as to what the water side was like. Sure. You just mentioned something that reminds me, and I forgot to mention it, and I apologize in my commission reports. But can we talk about improvements for Water Taxi, what you just said, a little bit further north where we have all those new hotels and condos coming online? I think we can look at that site for an improved experience with Water Taxi because we're raising the seawall there. Right, up at Seville Street. Correct. Correct. So I think that we need to really look at that and make this a much better experience for the folks there because I think that's going to be really important while we're doing that seawall work to actually tie it into improvements there for the taxi experience. What do you think? Yeah, we'll work with Mr. Walker on that. Yeah, I think that's really important. Thank you for that. So excellent. I think these are all great ideas. I, again, commend you. You know, it's incredible when you think about what you just said, all of the folks that are just waiting on the dock. And, like, you know, when you look at the numbers that, you know, we read about, tourists never stayed downtown or they didn't experience downtown. It was always just the beach. So now it really is an incredible change in that number in terms of how many people are really, as tourists, experiencing downtown and staying downtown. Absolutely. It's great. Great. We cover six of the nine communities in Broward County right now, and it is absolutely amazing how my 20-plus years of owning this and running it was, you know, the previous owner was like, just take everybody to the elbow room. But now we look at everyone from 3 to 93, and there's so much to do everywhere. You know, it's like, okay, you want to go to a park, you want to go to a beach, you want to go, you know, great place to eat, just hang out, or just go ride around and look. Right. So congratulations on helping that all happen, and congratulations to the commission for making that all happen. Absolutely. So the $735,000, if we were to increase the size of the boat, because there's a larger boat, right? Yes. If we were to do a larger boat, does that change the $735,000? So the $735,000 is what, annual? Annual. No. We're at $255,000 right now. $255,000. Yeah. I'm looking at the, it says the city commission approved a three-year agreement in the amount of $735,000. So I asked you if that was per year. Over multiple years. Three years. So it's multiple years. Yes, yeah. So how many multiple years is that? Is that two years or three? That was for the original three years. Three years? Yeah. Okay. So if we were to increase the size of the boat, would that, like, let's say, what's your next size boat? We go up to 49, because all of a sudden the Coast Guard has cutoffs when you're building. So they have zero to 49, 49 to 150, 150 to... But this is 19. This is 19. So what's the next one? Probably go to 49. 49. 49. Oh, that's a big change. Well, that's a big difference. It is. And there's, you know, there's a couple things, like collecting money. Like, right now it's a single operator boat. So, like, dealing with all that, plus questions and, you know, safety. But the, I think there's ways that if we go study this to come back at you with, hey, look at this on a longer-term basis, capital improvements and things like that, that you'll sit there and see better financial picture. All right. Well, we have time. It's not until 2028. So, all right. So, all right. Oh, great. And congratulations. This has been... I do have a question before we close this out. So, it states here that monthly, excuse me, 730 passengers are left behind with increasing. Is that the high peak we have here where you're saying that at high peak time and regular time, is that just a standard 730 per month, year round? No. So, it's like 20 a day, right? That's the average across the month. So, the peak that we saw was 1,700 in January. So, January is one of our peak months on the service. Okay. So, we're leaving 1,700 in April. So, the average is the 7th? Yes. Okay. It's not that egregious. I mean, if you think about it, it's 700 a month. Is that a month, you said? Yes, monthly. Okay. You divide it by 30. So, with 25 people a day, you run this 12 hours. It's like one or two people each time the vote goes out. But it takes away from the experience either way. But yes, I agree. But what's the second? The reality is it's Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Right. That all of a sudden, you're leaving 150, 200 people or more. I see. You're averaging. And so, what happens? All the other stops, you can't go to it. People just get on it. And stay on it. Down at the straining and they stay on it. Well, they... I mean, is there any way to monitor that? Oh, we monitor it. But, you know, according to public transportation law, we just can't turn around and go, okay, you got to get off at the next stop. It's like, if you're on there, you can stay on there. Well, we can make the rules up. Please help me. I mean, it's our service. If we say you can only stay there for X number of stops, you know... Anyway, we'll figure it out. Yeah, we'll figure it out. Okay. A couple more questions. Yeah, go ahead. Thanks. First of all, the new stop on the beach, the seawall. Are we exploring at all living seawall there? We can't do that there. That's a city project already approved with seawall. Yeah, it's too busy, Commissioner. Vice Mayor, it's too busy there. It would be... I think it would be destroyed, actually. I think we've had this conversation already, though, but I think it would be destroyed. Help me if I'm wrong, but it's too much. I can't see how that would even survive there. Yeah, too much wave, actually. Yeah, I couldn't... And the boat... And it's just the end of the street. Yeah. It's kind of similar to what they did in Las Olas. You know, so they're doing Sebastian, Seville. Okay. I think one more. Sure. But we look at that. I'm not in that project. Yeah. It's a city. But just from a science perspective, it actually mitigates waves. So it doesn't... Waves don't destroy a living seawall. Well, I don't think it's... There may be other factors. Yeah, I don't think it's just the waves. I think it's also just the action and the boats, and I think it's... I think it would just be difficult. I mean, I'm not an expert, but I think in talking to people in and around that area, I just think that it's... I mean, I'm all in favor of living seawalls, but I think you have to have the right location. Well, this isn't really their purview right now. Right. They're just transportation. Right. No, I'm asking. City manager. Oh. It's fine. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so vice mayor, I believe that answer's consistent that we thought of some challenges with some of the activity at that seawall. I'm happy to go back and make sure that that's the case. I don't give you the wrong answer, but that's my recollection as well. I just want to double check and just understand from the manufacturers and so forth what works. Okay, great. Maybe we can do a half-whipping seawall. I'll take any portion. A quarter. I'll take a quarter. A third. Bill, remind me of the fee for a water taxi, like a, I forget the different rates, but Sure, so for an adult, we charge $38. For children, I believe it's 18. Yeah. And unfortunately, we had to get rid of senior fares because everybody was buying senior tickets online. Right, right. So that was a little tough to come up and go, are you really a senior? Yeah, right, right. So that's for the full circuit, right? Yes. For water. That's all day. And quite frankly, that covers through all Broward. So you can go all the way up to Lighthouse Point, down to Margaritaville. So we bring a lot of people into the city now from those two destinations as well. And how is ridership on the taxi? It's been fantastic. Yeah. So, Mayor, I just bring that up as there's room for a price for... Yeah, I agree. I mean, so we could move it. Keep in mind, we have seasonal people here too. Right. You know, and they'll say, well, I'm paying taxes. Why should I be penalized? Because I don't have my primary residence here. So we'll have to figure that out. What, City Manager, when could we, because I completely understand the contract term, but this is a challenge we're facing right now. I know Bill's facing right now. So how soon could we, could staff kind of dig into this and come back to us? So we projected by this winter we could have some information back. We could work out some of those details about how a fee could be established, how it could be managed and charged, and what the appropriate fee could be. So we'll certainly be diligent about that, understanding that the wintertime, June, you know, or January, February months are very busy for water trolley. So we'll work to try to accelerate it, but that's our projection is come back around winter this year to bring that back. That's perfect. Thank you, Mr. Manager. Thank you. And we appreciate your feedback. Just wanted to answer one of the questions. One of the questions was how can we learn and what can we learn from other agencies? So there are a couple of public ferry agencies, whether it's northwest in Oregon or northeast in Maine, who have a different fare structure for residents versus non-residents. So I think they're charging both groups, but there is a different fare for either one of the two groups. So we'll continue exploring how we can non-charge residents, charge non-residents, and also continue working with the water trolley operator to bring some options back to you in early 2027. Okay. Great. Thanks. Thanks, Bill. I appreciate it. Any further questions or comments? Okay. Thank you so much for everything. We really appreciate it. Keep up the good work. Thank you. Our last item today is Business 5 with a homeless initiative update. Mayor, I apologize. There was just one question I wanted to ask the city manager basically for those last two agenda items because I did have someone from the Marine Advisory Board say they would love to be able to just have those discussions. If we could just talk to the liaison for Marine Advisory Board and staff and maybe they can have a discussion about not just the water district and what we're looking to do there in terms of the dockage and seawalls, et cetera, et cetera, but also this in particular also, water trolley. I think they'd just like to have a discussion. So maybe if we can just let them, you know, just have a few comments and discuss that. Sure. If the commission desires their input, we can certainly share that with them. Yeah. I mean, I just want to make sure that no one on the Marine Advisory Board feels that they're not talking about issues that impact our waterways, and I think it would be nice if we could hear whatever they had to say. Thank you. You're very welcome. Thank you. Okay. How are you? I'm well, thank you. Very good. Good afternoon, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Commissioners. I'm Carol Mitchell, Program Manager for the Community Services Department's Housing and Community Development Division's Homeless Initiatives Team. How do you put that on a business card? So this afternoon, I will be providing you with an update concerning the city's homeless initiatives, including information about our expanded outreach and case management services, housing assistance programs, expansion of services at community court, public education efforts relating to panhandling information regarding our collaborative partnerships with contracted service providers, and a preview of items on the horizon. However, before I dive into the presentation, I would like to emphasize that our citywide response to homelessness is founded on strong, ongoing collaboration with a wide range of internal departments, pardon me, and external partners. This approach enables us to provide effective support for individuals experiencing homelessness, while also addressing the broader needs and concerns of our community and our constituents. Our shared mission is to reduce homelessness and its impacts in our city by connecting our unhoused neighbors to services that promote lasting housing stability. This includes helping individuals reunite with family where feasible and appropriate, providing access to residential treatment programs as needed, supporting shared housing options, and facilitating pathways to independent living and self-sufficiency. So when we take a look at our citywide structure to addressing homelessness, we're really looking at three key areas, as has been provided to the Commission, I believe, already in the past. So street engagement, a balance between compassion and compliance, as implemented by our police department's homeless outreach team, who is also working from time to time on a co-response model with Broward Addiction and Recovery Center's nurse, and also working very collaboratively with park rangers. Our intensive outreach includes our fire rescue mobile integrated health care team, police department's co-responder team, which consists of a police officer and licensed mental health clinician, and also most recently includes the addition of two case managers who are assigned to the homeless initiatives team. And the third key structure in our overall citywide response to homelessness includes program services, which is where my position resides, as well as our community court coordinator and our senior administrative assistant. Collectively, we are charged with conducting and facilitating all aspects of community court engagement and collaboration with local service providers, identifying viable service contracts, and also data collection and performance, measure tracking, monitoring, and compliance. So together, we're ensuring collective impact across all of those disciplines, which to this point in time has proved effective for our city. So taking a look at expanded outreach and case management. Sorry, I go back. So one of the ways in which the city has bolstered its response to homelessness is by doing just that, including an expansion of outreach services by way of adding additional park rangers to our homeless outreach through our police department, as well as an addition of two case managers under homeless initiatives, as I just mentioned. They are Gerald Francois and Catherine Desmerates. They come to us with a wealth of knowledge and experience, having worked in their past history with individuals at high risk of homelessness or currently experiencing homelessness, and also those who are afflicted by co-occurring disorders such as substance abuse and mental health. They're highly focused on housing stability. They're skilled at community engagement and client advocacy. So we are thrilled to have them join our team a few months ago. I already mentioned that our homeless outreach team, PD, they have welcomed three park rangers to bolster their efforts on the streets, literally, with addressing individuals experiencing homelessness. And they are Brianna Hawks, Nathan Persaud, and Robert Kitten. And last but certainly not least, our fire rescues, mobile integrated health care and case management. This is an integration of behavioral health and mobile integrated health services to offer a holistic support for individuals experiencing homelessness. We know that they have very complex needs, especially when mental health and medical issues are concerned. So this team is looking every day to get ahead of unnecessary calls to 911, and they are working in close partnership with the police department's co-responder team, which consists of an officer and also a licensed mental health clinician. With that unit, how many are identified? And I noticed before you had names and how many were identified in their positions. Do you have that available for the mobile unit? I do not have the exact count. I know that there's a lieutenant, there's a nurse, a practitioner, a coordinator. I'm not certain if there are more people involved. All right. Because I just want to, they were with us last meeting and did a presentation. And I was just hoping to just have that information repeated for us. We'll be happy to get that information back to you. Okay. Thank you. So we'd like to take a quick look at the Homeless Outreach Team's engagement this fiscal year, which began October 2025. We closed out quarter three at the end of June of this calendar year, and quarter four will not close out until the end of this month. So in terms of arrests that were made, which include notices to appear, that were given not only by our Homeless Outreach Team officers, but also by patrol officers. There were a total of 227 arrests and or notices to appear during the first three quarters. Referrals. There were 218 referrals provided. There are examples there, such as to Broward Addiction Recovery Center, to shelters, such as the Caring Place in Hollywood. But whenever they have an opportunity to offer somebody a service, that is exactly what they're doing. And hence, they had the ability to offer 218 referrals. And in terms of duplicated engagements with individuals experiencing homelessness, by the end of the third quarter, our Homeless Outreach Team had made contact and engagements with a little over 4,500, not necessarily individuals. It's a duplicated number, but they made 4,530 contacts with individuals experiencing homelessness. Carol, a question. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your work. With the arrests, do you know an approximate breakdown of the NTAs versus physical arrests? We do have that information. And the NTAs are all going to community court. Is that right? Yes, correct. All NTAs, yeah. Correct. Apologize. Yeah, take your time. Take your time. Find that information here. This is it. So, for the first three quarters of this fiscal year, 171 NTAs were written. Of those 171, 93 individuals appeared and 45 individuals have graduated. Okay. So, that's a significant number of the total arrests in NTAs. The vast majority is NTAs, it sounds like, to community court. Yes. Are you taking your numbers from slide seven? You have community court engagement. You have your program graduates at 45, your NTAs. Yes. So, Mayor, we thought you made, like, some additional detail to the community court data. So, up on your screens now is a more detailed breakdown of that information that's in the presentation. And Carol can certainly walk through any of those numbers. Right, but to answer the vice mayor's question, though, is this, I mean, this is more detailed than, I think, it's the same detail that we have here on our slide. Yes. The same numbers. Slide number seven. So, the slide, let me move us forward. Can I move us forward? Are there any questions currently on what's projected on the screen? Otherwise, I can fast forward to slide seven that has a breakdown of community court engagement. So, just to take this line of inquiry to the next step, if you have an NTA and they appear in community court and you have program graduates whose numbers are far less than those who showed up, what happens to the others? In other words, if 54 people in the first quarter were given a notice to appear and 27 fulfilled and 15 graduated, what happens to the rest of them? I mean, what goes on there? So, essentially, they have made a commitment to participate in community court. If they are noncompliant or they fail to show, Judge Florence Barnett will issue a capius and their case will be transferred to division, back to division. So, in other words, they will likely have a warrant out for their arrest for noncompliance. Okay. But we've also been informed by the sheriff that he doesn't jail homeless people. So, do they just go back on the streets? Essentially, many of them will end up back on the streets unless they are engaged with other service providers. We certainly have many of them in the room every Wednesday at community court for them to connect with. But if it isn't the case that they get arrested and jailed, then they likely are choosing to be back on the street and not participate in the community court program. So, Mayor, a lot of these issues that I noticed to appear as issue for minor violations, it could be municipal ordinance, it could be minor criminal violations. So, even if they were to proceed to the jail system rather than take advantage of the community court process, it's likely that person would be booked into the jail and then released pending a court date or something further. So, I think there's not an expectation they would probably spend a lot of time in jail, but they would just enter into a different part of the judicial system. But, again, we lose them. And, you know, how do we connect them to services is really my point. I just feel that – so, you have – so, on this slide, you have service referrals provided, 629. Those are people that could have walked in or appeared because they were given a notice to appear, right? So, out of the 629 people that have – that appeared in community court in the first quarter, you're saying only 15 graduated? So, not everyone who's come to community court received a notice to appear. So, I should – No, no, no. That I get. A lot of these are walk-ins, right? But, at the end of the day, only 15 people graduate out of 629. Well – Am I reading this right? Yeah. So, the NTAs – so, the first number that we provide for our walk-ins are individuals that are coming in that did not receive a notice to appear. I totally get that. I understand that. Then we have a separate number for notices to appear that were written and those of – of those that were written, those that appeared. So, essentially, we're averaging about 5% of individuals that come through our doors are NTAs. So, the other individuals are walking in just because they need to connect to services. I understand that. So, is there – is there a number here showing us what's happened to those others who didn't come there because they had a notice to appear? What happens to them? We refer them to services? So, thank you for that question. We don't always know what happens to them if they don't come back to us because as of – well, as before having our case managers, we really did not have the capacity or the ability to try to track and locate individuals who just did not appear to court as they were issued an NTA. But now that we have two case managers in homeless initiatives, they are being assigned – if these folks don't already have case managers, they're being assigned to track them. So, if they're not showing up to court, they have the ability to try and find whether it's where they're located or if they have a phone number, they have the ability to try to outreach to them. All right. But of the walk-ins, we're not talking about the NTAs. We're talking about the walk-ins. Yes. If they show up, are they immediately assigned a case manager at that point? So, the walk-ins aren't necessarily immediately assigned a case manager. If they're asking for case management, we do have providers in the room that we can connect them to. And some of them are already coming to us being assigned a case manager in the community, but they're looking to connect with other services that might be in the room. And is that what the purpose of a case manager? Yes. Okay. So, if 629 people come in the first quarter, we would want to assign them to a case manager, would we not, to make sure that they're connected? I mean, they come there because they want help. Sure. Right? So, are we there to help them? Absolutely. Okay. So, are they assigned a case manager or are they just, or how do we help them at that point? That's the point of contact. Absolutely. So, it's highly encouraged. You know, when we're doing registration for individuals that are coming through our door, regardless of their NTA status, it's highly encouraged that if they are not already connected to a case manager, that we can refer them to one because we have service providers in the room that provide case management. As well as there are specific cases, they're all very important and involved, but we have the ability now that we have case managers to assign them to individuals that are coming before us. Now, having two people assigned to 600 individuals is not practical and they would not be able to do a good job. But, yes, to answer your question, Mayor, we are working diligently to have folks who aren't already connected to case management to be connected to case management if they are willing to receive the services because, of course, these services are not mandatory. No, I understand that. But, I mean, these are the people that show up. Absolutely. I mean, I've been to community court. Absolutely. And these people are eager to be connected with services. That's why I'm saying, are we there to respond? Yes. We are. The short answer is absolutely. If I can ask a question, Carol. You should have said that at the beginning. Sorry. I like to talk. With those walk-ins, Carol, are some of them specific, I just need to get connection to get a driver's license connection or my birth certificate? Because 600 is a large number, 900 is a large number. Yes. But the services that they're seeking, are they, the majority of those, wanting that caseworker? Is that their need when they're coming through the caseworker? Not everyone's need is for a caseworker. To your point, Commissioner Beasley-Pittman. We have several folks that just come in because they've lost their ID or it's been stolen or it's been damaged by the elements. And they'll come in and they'll ask us for a verification of homelessness letter, which is signed by one of our hot police officers. And that's all they want. They're already connected to a case manager. They're already getting their benefits and things of that nature. Then we have other folks that come in that really just need everything. They're down on their luck. They've lost everything. They're newly homeless or they've been homeless for a while. And they're ready to really just get, you know, all of the pieces of their life back together. And we assess very quickly as we're registering them what their needs are and get them connected to whether it's us and our case managers and or the services that are in the room. Okay. Thank you. And I'm going to take a moment to add my opinion about this. What we're doing, I do believe, of course, it is needed. But I'm seeing what we as a city is doing. And we're being reactive, and I believe we as a commission need to begin to talk about how to be proactive with this. These are individuals who are on the street, whatever the circumstance may be. But we have so many individuals who are facing homelessness, who are working, they're in positions. They're in a different type of demographics category. And if we begin to also look at how we can prevent evictions, foreclosures, mental health issues that cause them to become homeless, I think we will also help come down a little bit with the number that we're seeing with the homelessness in our community. And I really want to, in the very near future, city manager, talk about opportunities where we can implement plans and programs that will also address that type of situations. Because, yes, we know about those that we're seeing every day. But what about those ones who are now living in their cars that we don't have necessarily a record of? But if we're going to do this, even to the point of affordable housing, we have units that are expiring because they're under the 30-year affordability. They're going to be flipping real soon for a market rate. If we don't address that, are we not adding to possibility for homelessness in our city? So we really need to also look at being proactive. So I'm going to put it there, and then we'll move forward at another time to talk about this. I think that's why they moved the slide over to the housing and community development programs, where they apparently are being somewhat proactive with rental assistance, also through the HOPWA program. So I guess we are doing some of that to avoid foreclosure or avoid evictions so that folks can at least have transitional housing. Yes, and again, that market rate, that flip of affordable housing, that clock is ticking. Do we even know how many units are coming up for that flip? These are things that we should be discussing to be proactive about, because we're going to be right back where we were in a matter of months if we address this properly. Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners and City Leadership, Rachel Williams, Housing and Community Development, Homeless Initiatives. I just want to just provide some additional information based on Commissioner Beasley Pittman's comments. We are trying to be proactive with the resources that we have available, along with the programs that are listed there, which are more active programs. We also have targeted rental assistance for our most vulnerable population, like our seniors. It's not listed on this chart today because we ran out of funds, but that's one of our most active programs, where we are helping seniors who are on a fixed income to maintain their housing. For this past fiscal year, we have helped 115 seniors who would otherwise become homeless, and we do that through the SHIP program. We are also in the process of, we have already established a set tracking database in our neighborly software, which Commission approved the funding for neighborly software about two or three years ago, and we have established that tracking. What that tracking system does is keep us abreast of all the units that we have given any kind of city incentives, and when those units will expire. We are halfway through the process of upgrading that system, so I believe by the end of the year, we should be able to give you an accurate data count of those units that are set to expire. That system is also helping us to ensure on an annual basis that the developers who we incentivize are sticking to their side of the bargain. If they say they're going to set aside 20 units of their total development for affordable housing, we have a system of checking annually that those units are being set aside. Okay, thank you for that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I'm just thinking here also, because that is the direction we need to be going in and then maintaining. I would even request at this point if we could do an audit to make sure where we are so we understand where we are and how to move forward, because we still have developers coming to us asking for certain things. And I'm going back to what I always say, we need to see where we can have conversations where we go beyond the 30-year, the 50-year, even going to what is called the legacy 99 years. Because when we do not prepare to make sure we have these affordable housing, affordable units, we are adding to the opportunity for homelessness. So that is what I wanted to add to this conversation. So, again, City Manager, we can discuss the opportunity for a complete audit so we understand where we are in regards to affordable units, expiration dates, and just where we stand overall pertaining to that. Okay. Thank you. Okay. So we wanted to also provide you with an update regarding panhandling signage. This was a request that was made while we know that folks may be well-intended as they're trying to provide funds or resources or whatever they're providing to individuals who are obstructing rights-of-way because they're experiencing homelessness. We know that that is creating major problems for us as a city. So panhandling signage has been installed across various locations, which will be shown to you on the next slide. Keep your change to be the change. There's a better way to help panhandlers. So essentially, the signage is directing individuals, both those who wish to help and those who need help, to ftlcity.info forward slash ftlgives, where they will find useful information as to various providers of housing services, case management services, task force for ending homelessness, just various information that would be useful to them as opposed to providing funds to individuals that are obstructing the way. Those high-frequency intersections, as you can see here, are mainly federal highway intersections, so federal and 17th Street, Sunrise Boulevard, Oakland Boulevard, East Commercial Boulevard, 56th Street, also intersections with A1A and Sunrise, La Solis, Broward Boulevard, from I-95 all the way down to federal highway. So the parks and civic locations, where we're also having some concerns with individuals experiencing homelessness, the signage has also been placed at three parks, Esplanade, Huizinga, Stranahan, across the Riverwalk area, and also at the downtown bus terminal. And it's my understanding that there's at least two signs per location, with the exception of Broward Boulevard and I-95. So we currently have four active service agreements. We are in agreements with the Caring Place Shelter in Hollywood for emergency shelter and case management, with Fellowship Recovery Community Organization for detoxification and stabilization and residential treatment, Homes United, ministries for shared housing for individuals that have mental health concerns and or diagnoses that can be managed safely in a shared housing setting. And most recently, we went into a partnership with Rotary Connection. So with the Caring Place, sorry. So our service period with the Caring Place, we most recently went back into contract with them for July 1st through June 30th, 2027. As mentioned, we are fortunate to have at our fingertips and at our access, 20 beds to place eight males, eight females, and a family that could be up to the size of four individuals in one living space at the shelter. We primarily are filling those beds by way of community court as well as by way of our police department's homeless outreach team. And we are also ensuring accountability by capturing performance measures, as you can see there, daily bed occupancy rate, percent of clients who successfully obtain housing and percent of clients who maintain or increase their income. So Fellowship Recovery, as he mentioned, they are providing us with acute intervention and respite care and long-term care, residential recovery care for individuals who are afflicted with addiction or substance misuse. They are providing us with a maximum of two relapse episodes. We know that relapse is an integral part of recovery, so we thought that it was important for us to build that in there. For individuals who are deemed appropriate and placed at Fellowship, they can be there up to 180 days for resident detox and residential treatment, providing they are doing their part, providing they are following their treatment plan and also engaging in a housing stability plan. Likewise, with this provider, we have performance measures for them as well. That 60% of participants will remain enrolled in the program 30 days after intake. 50% of them will be in stable housing. That could be permanent housing, transitional, or alternative programming, or have reunified with family or friends by the expiration of the contract. And 50% of participants will be self-paid by 90 days. So in approximately three months, we are really seeking to make sure that these individuals are either employed, if they're employable, or if they need to obtain benefits, such as Social Security or disability, that the case managers at Fellowship, alongside our case managers who are now working collaboratively with them, are working towards increasing these individuals' income so we can assist others as these are moving on to self-pay. Carol, before you move on, could you just expound a little bit more for me in regards to the 14-day detox or respite to relapse episodes within the 14 days? Not within the 14 days. So an individual that first they have to admit that they have a substance misuse issue and be willing to voluntarily receive services through Fellowship Recovery, if they have substances in their system, then they are required to go through a detoxification process that can be up to 14 days. They don't necessarily need to be in a detox stabilization for 14 days. And we built in that if an individual is in the program and happens to relapse again while they're in residential treatment, that that will not disqualify them necessarily from continuing services, because we know that part of recovery is the likelihood that relapse is going to happen at some point. With that maximum two relapse episodes, so they're there up to the 80 days, they're in this Opportunities Program, and then there's this 14-day. So they start off in detox. Right. So they are there up to 14 days. In detox, okay. Shouldn't need more than 14 days based on the services that are provided for somebody who's going through detoxification. And then if they are compliant with their treatment program, as well as their housing exit plan, they can receive services up to 180 days at Fellowship. So basically within 180 days, they are to relapse are, in a sense. Permissible. I hate to say it that way, but yes. I use the right word, yes. Okay. Thank you for clarifying that. You're welcome. Okay. So the second arm, so to speak, to the city's mental health and substance abuse housing program. So Fellowship handles the substance misuse component. Homes United is handling individuals that are experiencing homelessness with a mental health concern and or disorder that is manageable within a shared housing setting, meaning that these individuals have the ability to administer their own psychotropic medications and that they are also engaged in mental health counseling. So the same performance measures essentially are what we have required of Homes United. So we're working in close collaboration to meet both of those needs, which we find the vast majority of the individuals that we're working with or encountering experiencing homelessness, especially if they are more chronic, they've been homeless for a longer period of time. It's not uncommon that we're going to find them suffering with a mental health illness and or co-occurring disorder with substance misuse. You know, the problem with psychotropic drugs is that relying on a person to take them on their own is very sketchy because they're very difficult to maintain, and unless someone's monitoring that person, they're just not going to take them. So I see it's a very limited budget for that anyway, so I don't think we really are able to reach out to that many people. But, unfortunately, we see a lot of people on the streets who do suffer from mental illness. They may have been prescribed drugs to be able to stabilize their condition, but unless they take them, they're back where they started from. So I don't know what we can do there unless you have inpatient treatment, but it's a very challenging thing that you have to deal with. Absolutely. All right. Carol, a little bit ago we had been talking with Broward Health about a mobile unit, and this may go back. I don't know, Chris, if you remember this, but partnering to have to kind of supplement the kind of our hot team and the other mobile integrated health. Do you know if they've – have we talked further with them about that, Broward Health? Does that bring any bells? Chris? No, I don't think that progressed any further, but we have been working with our mobile integrated health team on this without the supplement of Broward Health. And what role is Broward Health playing in the mobile integrated health? I don't know if they're providing any direct role, but Chief Pingel may have some information on the interaction. Good afternoon, Deputy Fire Chief Garrett Pingel, Mayor and Commissioner. So it's more resource role, connectivity, the work from mobile integrated health care to ensure that the flow of information is getting all the way through to the end. To answer your question earlier, we have a lieutenant, a paramedic that's overseeing the division under a chief officer as well as two civilian employees that are both social-type worker position making those connectivities for the resources. Right now that partnership with Broward Health is mainly the resource connection. Got it. No additional resources at this time. Okay, because I want to re-engage on that because we had talked about the possibility of them actually having a team and a mobile unit rolling out supporting in this engagement on the street's capacity. Understood. Yeah. Okay. Okay, thank you. Thanks. And the fourth service agreement that was most currently entered into is with Rotary Connection, which is a division of Fellowship Recovery Community Organization. There is a correction there. The service period is actually June 2026 through the end of this month, and it is our hope to be back in front of the commission September 15th with a contract renewal proposal. So Rotary Connection is doing a very fine job of transporting individuals experiencing homelessness to services that they are in need of, whether that be going to the DMV office, going to a medical appointment, going to the Social Security office, et cetera. So we are very pleased to be working with them. They have a very small shuttle. I believe that some of you have had the opportunity to ride out with them, but folks are truly taking advantage of this opportunity. In the month of June, there were 263 rides provided and 857 rides were provided in July alone. They're also working pretty diligently as we're getting to know folks that are riding these shuttle buses on getting them reunified with family members or friends, if that is an option for the individuals in front of them. So we are happy to be in partnership working alongside Fellowship and, more specifically, Rotary. How often do we get those numbers under the performance measures or all those other bullets besides the one you already mentioned? So we request and receive monthly reports from them. So we do get not only their impact summary report that goes out pretty much far and wide to everyone, but a more specific, granular, detailed report monthly. Monthly, okay. And I believe they did just add a second vehicle as well. I know that that was what was being proposed or they were working on, but I do not have the actual update. I believe they already have a second vehicle in operation. Yeah, they did acquire a second vehicle. I don't know if it's decal then on the street, but they did acquire it. I think it is. Yeah, it's on the street. So moving on to the neighborhood enhancement account funding information. So just to provide some background that might be just repetitive, you may have this information already. But in January 2025, the city entered into a billboard relocation and reconstruction agreement with Clear Channel Outdoor. Part of that agreement included that Clear Channel was required to provide financial contributions to the city's NEA, Neighborhood Enhancement Account. The agreement specified that the funds were to support qualified nonprofit organizations addressing homelessness and related community enhancements initiatives. It did not, unfortunately, establish how the city should administer the funding. So staff are in the process of developing a proposed framework to ensure that the funding is transparent, equitable, and repeatable. And we also have provided this information to the city's Homeless Advisory Committee for their input. And we are looking forward to receiving more feedback from them in that regard. Up to $125,000 can be received. And the initial amount allocation of $25,000 has already been received. And for our last slide. So on the horizon, just to share a few updates. So we are still looking to move forward with an overnight safe parking pilot project to serve families with minor children who are experiencing homelessness in their vehicle. We paused and pivoted and moved towards a request for proposal process that best meets our requirements. So that is in the works, and we look forward to bringing more information back to the commission about that. Community court expanded services fellowship has proposed to use the community court building, 18 Northwest First Avenue, where we host community court every Wednesday. They are wanting to use the facility Monday through Friday, 9 to 1 p.m., staffed by their peer specialist. As we know, we have a lot of folks that are experiencing homelessness that tend to be in that general area. So they are hoping to move forward with a proposal to provide services out of the community court building. In relation to that, our community services department administrators, HCD administrators, and myself, we attended Flagler Village's Homeowners Association meeting on August 19th to share this proposal and potential expansion of services in the community court building with them. They were overall receptive to the idea. The only thing that they voiced as their greatest concern is, well, having services expanded five days a week, attract and retain more individuals experiencing homelessness into the area. Fellowship assured them that this would not be their intention. They are not going to be feeding or necessarily giving away items. They're really looking to engage individuals who are seeking services, who are looking to be reunified, who are looking to enter into substance abuse treatment, and be connected to services. So that information was shared with the HOA, and as mentioned, for the most part, was well received. The Critical Homeless Support Hotspot Project, which has been a long time coming, This is a housing and urban development grant that had a hard stop when there were a lot of changes being made in Tallahassee and also locally with the housing and urban development staff. However, we are going to be moving forward with this grant and all the pieces that are involved to not only identify encampments and places where individuals experiencing homelessness congregate and cause a lot of debris, but we're looking to implement once we get all pieces off the ground so that we can really address those encampments and get our city cleaned up. The Homeless Advisory Committee, as the Commission knows, requested to become an advisory board. They want to take a look at the ordinance that has been drafted prior to it coming before the Commission, so they will have an opportunity to take a look at that at our next Homeless Advisory Committee meeting, which takes place next week, Thursday, on September 10th. Last but not least, the development and adoption of a homeless strategic plan. So we have introduced an outline to the Homeless Advisory Committee members regarding what a strategic plan might look like and entail for our city to effectively address the homeless concerns that we have. They are currently engaged in identifying stakeholders that should be at the table to talk about and begin drafting a needs assessment survey, and we also are going to be addressing them to determine what their will is. Is their will to have city staff with the expertise move forward with the development, with their help of this homeless strategic plan, and, of course, with the blessings of the Commission, or would they prefer that we move forward with a consultant helping us pull all of those very critical pieces together? So that, too, will be discussed with them next week, Thursday. And that concludes my update. I have a couple of questions, but before I ask any of the members of the Commission a question, go ahead, Gaisley Pittman. A comment, I want to thank you, Carol, for the presentation that you've given us today. You're welcome. And thank you for being able to answer the questions that I have. Also, in regards to on the horizon development and adoption of homeless strategic plan, that conversation, again, you heard my word, being proactive. So I'm hoping that moving forward with the advisory board that we can begin to look at an approach that would also include being proactive. We are doing much in this city to address homelessness, but I also think we need to go back and look at the approach that we're taking. I believe that sometimes we are so accustomed to a way of doing a method of how we're doing things, and we are falling behind in the progress. So when we look at this, looking at what we realize has changed and how we can put better hands on it to utilize those funds that we have, because the amount of money that we're putting towards homelessness is a great amount of money. And I just see strategically realigned, we can really put a great impact in helping, especially those who desire to not be houseless, that we can address that, and that will give a balance to reducing that homeless number. And I'm not one with a head in the bucket or in the sand. I know we may not ever get to zero, but I believe we cannot continue to add to that number. So proactive is the word I want to leave on the table with you. Thank you so much, Commissioner. Carol, could you go back to slide four, please, the hot engagement? Thanks. Do you know why we don't have Q1 data for referrals? That's a great question. I do not. Okay. If we can, City Manager, if we can just figure that out, that'd be great. In any sense, Carol, as to the trends, why we're seeing an increasing trend in arrests and a decreasing trend of referrals? That's also a very complex question. I wish I had somebody here from the homeless outreach team that might have a better sense of why that might be the case. Okay. I'm not certain. Well, City Manager, if we can, I'd like a little more fidelity on that, to understand that. Great, Carol. And then slide seven. So just for clarity, the NTAs written, so let's look at Q1. NTAs written 54, NTAs fulfilled 27. Am I understanding that right, that 54 were written and then 27 appeared? That's correct. That's correct. Okay. And then appeared at community court. And then to be a program graduate, again, just for clarity, it's my understanding, to be a program graduate, you have to have received the NTA. Correct. So an individual has to have received an NTA, agreed to be, of course, a part of the community court program, comply with community service hours that are ordered by Judge Florence Barna, and also participate in whatever evaluations would be necessary. So everyone that is a part of the community court program, they are required to have an assessment done, which would also indicate whether or not they need medical services, they need mental health services, substance abuse services, et cetera. And if they are complying with all of those pieces, up to and including completing their community service hours, then the judge will graduate them from the program. Great. And then, maybe you mentioned this, but then there's a component of coming back and almost like mentoring or supporting some of the others, right? They're going through it. Yes, absolutely. Great. So, Mayor, when you look at that, like Q1, 27 actually appeared. Out of the 27, 15 graduated, that's a pretty good graduation rate for those that are peering in the program. So, obviously, we want far more, but I think it shows what's possible. And I'd love, if we could, to, I'd love to find a way that the commission could maybe recognize those graduates maybe once a quarter or a couple times a year, those folks who have graduated the program as an idea. And that, you know, I appreciate that, and perhaps we could figure that out. But what's missing here is the fact that 629 people showed up, but they're not counted in terms of the success of their having shown up for the community court. They're not counted as being graduates because they weren't issued an NTA to start out with. Correct. And the success rate could actually be far greater than simply 15. Agreed. Agreed. And that's where I think there's a real opportunity. I think Carol and Rachel and the whole team are doing a great job, and I think we need to be even more data-driven on our outcomes. And so, to that point, Mayor, and I've spent some time researching this, but some of the best national practices are using the HMIS system, which is the software system that we, service providers of city, enter individuals into as soon as they engage in any of these services. So they all go into the HMIS system. Okay. One of the best practices for the HMIS system that we see in cities around the country is there is several components to that HMIS system. One, there's a by-name list in the HMIS system where they geolocate who is in the system and where are they being made contact with. So where in the city, where in the county. Then there is a means to track that individual's progression through the continuum of care of getting services. So right now, we don't have a really effective way to combine, analyze all of that data. So how do you input data? How would you be able to track an individual? You have to keep inputting data, but who would be following them to see their progress? I'm not quite sure how the system works, but I don't know how. You have to first input data for it to be successful. Right. And Carol will probably be able to speak better than I can, but basically, anytime they're engaged with any service provider entity, they're entered in, an update is given on that person. So Ben through, let's say, was encountered with Task Force for Solving Homelessness on the streets. Okay. Then if he goes to Salvation Army for engagement of food, entered in there. So it's a progressive kind of update that the majority of the service providers use to provide updates and tracking of that individual as they progress through the system. Okay. Am I capturing that okay, Carol? Absolutely. Perfectly. So the next, I think the next step is, and city manager's working with the county on this in a great way, which is if we can better get that data from the county and they can kind of organize that data in a way that we can then track where are the bottlenecks or where are the deficits in our continuum of care system that are resulting in people not moving from whatever it might be, graduating from addiction recovery or getting into housing, then we can really start saying, okay, here's where we're seeing gaps in our continuum of care system and here's how we need to solve it. Without that data, that robust data, we just don't have that at this point. And so I think, and the counties with Patrice and Nick have been very helpful in kind of heading in that direction for that. And then what we ultimately can do is not only identify the gaps in our system, but also the individuals who are not progressing and how we as a community and service drivers can work to address that. Then the next step to that, which I'm also interested in and Chris is working on, is a real-time homeless dashboard, for lack of a better term, which would track collectively how many people are entering into the HMIS system in the city of Fort Lauderdale, how many people are exiting through successful graduation or completion, where are they getting referred to specifically, which locations, which service providers, and so that we can better understand, is what we're doing working. In other words, we may be doing a great job, but there may be 100 new people coming into the HMIS system a month and 100 are graduating, and thus we're kind of staying stable when we want to be drawing down those numbers. So those are, I think, some of the data-driven pieces that will not only help us kind of track and identify gaps, but also get increased grant funding, because one of the challenges nationally is HUD is drawing dollars away from long-term supportive housing and putting it into more kind of shorter-term recovery and not that longer-term solution. So those are just some thoughts of kind of where I think we can be heading. Carol, is that, am I saying that all? On point. Okay. On point. Okay. Did you talk beforehand? No. We haven't talked to Carol in a little bit, so it's good to see. Mayor, if I might, by the way, and so it was just mentioned about 15 and 27, that's only Q1, but the trend has been down. If you look at Q2 and Q3, those numbers are getting progressively worse in terms of notices to appear in TA versus program graduates, and so is that a concern? Is that just a blip in the radar, or again, I'm looking at how we're progressing? I don't think three-quarters can be used as a trend, because I mean, because if Q1 is about 50 percent, Q2 is greater than 50 percent, and then Q3 is like 25 percent. So, yeah. I mean- So should we be worried? Now, I also want to just say something, and I appreciate all of the work. Don't get me wrong, but the complaints that I get, you know, we can explain to the public everything that we're doing, all of these services, all of this data, and at the end of the day, and I'm going to be blunt here, it's not really what our citizens, they're great. They say, great. These are just great. I mean, we can input as much as we want. What does it matter when people are still seeing the same amount, the same number of homelessness on the streets? I go by every single, I could tell you when I go out on the day and I start driving around, I know exactly where I'm going to see, and I know exactly where I'm going to find it. And, I mean, how much of this is a problem because the sheriff is not, you know, helping us at all? But, again, when I try and explain everything that we've just talked about for an hour, no one cares. No one cares. They care about what they see on a day-to-day basis. So what are we doing about that? That's what I want to know, because I don't know how to answer the questions. I can show people this. We send them to their websites. We say, look at what we're doing. Look at all we're doing. Is there any other city in Broward County that's doing this? No. What's the county doing? What's the role of the county versus the role of the city? Again, I don't mean to sound too negative, but I'm going to tell you that all of this data really doesn't mean much to most people because they just care about what they see or they care about when they're walking with their families or they care about when they're downtown or they care about when they're on Riverwalk or they care about when they go to every single one of those intersections where we have to put the signs up. I don't know who's reading those signs, but I can tell you every intersection that I'm going to hit in a day, and I'm going to see the same activity there every single day. And I hear about it all the time throughout my district, whether it's the beach, whether it's the La Sola Social Science Park, whether it's heading a little bit west, whether it's going to Flagler Village. Well, you know, again, the hot spots are not changing. So what are we doing? Are we just going around and around and around and around in circles and we're impressing ourselves with all this data and all of the service referrals and all of the NTAs? Help me understand where we're going. That's all. Yeah. So my response to that would be, I think when you look at the data and you look at the numbers and you can maybe glean some level of success or a feeling of success from that, but then you see what you see in the community and that doesn't always match up, just goes to show how difficult this issue is to address and what a challenge it is. You know, we try to be as strong with our enforcement as we can on certain things, but on other things, you know, there's areas we can't enforce. And so some of those issues deserve a more compassionate or lighter response, which is what Carol has been describing in terms of our social service offerings and our programs. So we've tried to deploy a combination of a firm yet compassionate approach to this situation, but there's not always situations where we can command a change. So, again, I think we'll continue to evolve. We got a lot of good feedback today on some ideas and some thoughts from the commission on areas where we could improve. We want to improve. We think just the optics of it in our community is a challenge for everyone. And, you know, there's probably contributing factors to why we have such a population of homeless in Fort Lauderdale. And we've talked about those in the past, everything from our downtown jail to our hospital system to our bus terminal. You know, there's all sorts of reasons we can say that we have a larger population of homeless than other municipalities in and around South Florida. But, you know, I think what the community should know is we're working very hard to address it and we're willing to be open-minded to new solutions and opportunities to evolve as needed to address the issue. Well, in terms of solutions, what are we doing in terms of beds? I mean, I see these numbers, like, from these different agencies, like 10, 20, 25 beds. It's like, seriously, what's the point in time count of our homelessness in Fort Lauderdale? So what I think is also telling is we don't often have a problem of finding a bed. We often have beds available in our inventory of shelter beds, depending on the situation. We've also been talking to the county about having some dedicated beds and their expansion of the Central Homeless Assistance Center up on Sunrise. It's being able to have a level of influence or being able to convince folks to take advantage of what we can offer them. Really? I understand that, man. So we have places, we have beds, but not everyone's interested in... We generally have some opportunities in the ones that we pay for and we contract for. Now, when you look at the Central Homeless Assistance Center, the Salvation Army, they're often full. Their beds are usually full. They're emergency shelters, which is one of the key reasons why we, as a city, chose to invest in shelter beds that we had dedicated access to. We also have some really good projects that we have seen get built in our city that deal with folks that are either on the verge or just coming out of. Well, factually, most of them, I think, are in District 2, but they've been very successful. But that being said, I still don't see what that plan is. And when we get all of this data, are we also considering following up on folks that we consider a success? I mean, that to me is really important. How many people are falling back into homelessness? How many people, not just the new people that are entering homelessness, but are we going to be tracking those, quote, successful stories? Are we going to see what happens? Or do people just fall back into that pattern? So we did realize that follow-up was a challenge. We've improved our performance measures because of those issues with the contracts that we have. So when Carol went through some of those measures we have for our contract services, we built in that long-term follow-up as a performance factor. But that was also one of the main reasons behind getting two case managers that are on our staff was to be able to provide that long-term follow-up, not just for the ones that were successful, but also really primarily those that we want to make sure if we place or we provide a service to, they don't fall out of that and just end up back on the street. We can try to pick them back up and make sure they're continuing on in their program. And when you say that we have beds, we have the beds, there's absolutely nothing we can do to make sure that someone takes advantage of that situation and has a bed. So some of it's being able to be convincing and building trust with our street teams and our homeless outreach teams and other resources to have somebody trust us that we're going to take them and provide them something that's worthwhile and that's a good opportunity for them. Some of that's enforcement. Sometimes there's opportunities if somebody's got an NTA or they're breaking a law and it's not something that they would necessarily go to jail for, maybe that could be leveraged to try to convince that person to go through community court or otherwise to go into a program. That's really the point behind community court is to provide that incentive to say, you know, we'll help you get out of trouble, but you know, you got to do X, you got to complete that program and it's going to be tailored to what that person needs. So it could be behavioral health, mental health, substance abuse, what have you. But those are really kind of the levers we have to pull as a city and as a service to try to encourage folks in those situations to take advantage of the resources we have to offer. Have any of the state regulations made a difference for us in terms of the camping? And then we actually went further. We did 24-7. Because again, this is the criticism I hear from my district. They don't see how we take advantage of that. They don't see us implementing that in any way that makes a difference on what they see each and every day. I don't think it's moved the needle tremendously. A lot of the interactions when we talk to our homeless outreach team and folks that engage with people that are found to be camping or they're responding to a report of camping is that either they're gone by the time they arrive because the report came in prior to them being dispatched or when they do find somebody, they just pack their things up and move along. One of the things we're limited, we can go up to a notice to appear to community court. You've heard a little bit about how that process can play out. But we can't go to that point of saying, if you're found doing this, we're going to arrest you and we're going to take you to jail. So, you know, again, I think the incentive and I think folks understand what the consequences are or aren't makes that a difficult thing to try to move the needle just with that one ordinance in particular. We have to have other things. Yeah, again, I don't want to come off as too overly negative, but I'm just telling you that for many people and myself included, it's like we're a hamster on that wheel. It's just, that's it. But thank you very much. I did have two things on the horizon when you're done. All right, yeah, I have a couple of things. Okay, so a lot of these have been touched on, but I want to just ask a little bit more. So let's talk about the discharge protocols with the hospital and the jail. Have we reached any successful arrangements with them about discharging people onto our streets? So from the hospital in particular, we've engaged with Broward Health quite a bit. We've built some good relationships there. They'll hold or allow somebody to stay for a certain amount of time once they're ready to be discharged, where if we can get to them, either a caseworker from our staff or somebody from homeless outreach or even somebody from task force for the county, if they can get there before the hospital is ready to, you know, it's going to be a success. But there's a point when they aren't going to allow that person to stay in the hospital and take up a bed any further. I totally get that, but I mean, is there at least an arrangement with them that, hey, we're about to discharge somebody, you know, maybe, you know, the rotary connection can come pick them up or, I mean, how do we, do we have anything in place yet to really, to create a system where that, where we avoid those folks being put back on the streets? Mayor, I can share that our mobile integrated healthcare team and the coordinators and the nurse practitioner that partner, they are in close communication with Broward Health. So they're aware of individuals experiencing homelessness that are hospitalized and working collaboratively with the social, medical social workers to ensure that folks are not just discharged. They're made aware when the individuals might be discharged so that a plan can be put in place for where they will be aside from discharging them to the street. Okay. So we, so we have something in place for that then. How about with the jail? What's happening there? Um, when, when someone is given, uh, you know, someone is, is cited and they go to the jail and then they're just, um, they're discharged onto our streets. Is there, have we set up a protocol where that, where again, that person, you know, if they're picked up in Coral Springs or they're picked up in Tamarack and they're brought to Broward County jail and then they discharge on our streets, what's the protocol for returning them where they, where they originated? So I, not to my knowledge, I don't know that there is a protocol that has been established with our local jail. I'm not sure if our city manager has. I started this conversation at least four years ago with the jail. I was part of that. So nothing has happened since then. It has not changed mayor. So, um, you know, we still have the issue where our municipal ordinance violators, which are a lot of homeless individuals because of the nature of the things that they get into, um, you know, cannot be, it won't be accepted at the jail. And then a lot of those minor violations, again, are being booked and then released, you know, without, so release and the releases into our community with the bus pass or something else for them to get transportation to wherever they want to go. So central bus terminal, do they get a bus pass? I believe they get a bus pass. I'm, I think they do. If you can verify that at some point, you don't have to, we don't have to do it at meeting, but if you just let me know what's going on there. Okay. All right. Um, mayor and I'm, yeah, I'm working to try to meet with the sheriff or his team to talk about some of these concerns. Well, it didn't work for me and it didn't work for previous city managers. So God bless you. If you can arrange something, get, be successful. I got, and I wish you the best. So I'll try. Yeah. Give him a free pass on the water trolley. Now we're talking. Me too. It's on the river. Yeah. Yeah. Um, okay. Um, let's talk about transitional housing for a second. Um, you know, you'd say that we have a shelter beds and things like that, but, um, you know, we've always talked about trying to find transitional housing where, where a homeless person would be, um, uh, given an opportunity to stay in a, in a apartment or, or, uh, in a, in a place where, um, we can work with them in providing them housing and at the same time associating them with the services they need, excuse me, in order for them to, to emerge out of homelessness. Right. And there are people in the nonprofit community that continue to approach me and they say, what can we do to help? You know, can we build something? And we just, I mean, I know we've banged our head against the wall with the County and trying to, uh, ask them if we could use the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the, uh, the stockade, right. Couldn't think of the word, the stockade over on power line road. And, and I'm just, you know, there's just no, at least with this particular commission, you know, when these commissioners change out, you know, hopefully we'll be able to get more responsiveness from them. But, um, you know, there are people, so I understand that there've been conversations with the AIDS healthcare, I understand there've been conversations with the AIDS healthcare foundation, um, about providing, uh, transitional housing, um, to help us out here. What, what, what, what initiatives are we taking to be proactive in this regard? Good evening again, um, mayor and commissioners and city leadership. So yes, we have been, by the way, that flower in your hair is really rocking. So I thought I should feel pretty today. Um, and so we have approached the topic with AIDS healthcare foundation. Unfortunately, the funding sources that we have are federal sources and say it again, the funding sources that we have, that we could engage in those activities are federal sources. Unfortunately, with the setup that AIDS healthcare foundation has, HUD requires that each unit that will be federally subsidized must have access to an independent sink to like for kitchen purposes. And the hotel units that they have don't have that. So because of that, we're limited in entering. Wait, they don't have what? Kitchen sinks. They don't, it doesn't have to have a kitchen, but it has to have a separate sink besides the bathroom sink where you can wash dishes and those units, um, don't have that. So we can't use federal funds to subsidize those units. We have entered, I've entered into conversation with the leadership at AIDS healthcare foundation about having a common kitchen on each floor. And they weren't open to that idea because they said that would be taking away a room that someone could utilize. So that has placed some restriction on us. However, we have been thinking outside the box and the tenant, the TBER program that you saw, um, displayed on the screen with the 400,000. We decided to enter into an agreement with a nonprofit homes Inc to provide a similar type of transitional service, a 24 month service for clients using landlords on the open market. And that has been successful. The only drawback to that is that the funding is limited. So even though it is saying 400,000, if you're subsidizing rent for a household for 24 months, that can only help about 16 to 20 families. So that's going on to the private sector, renting, excuse me, excuse me, renting existing units. Yes. And paying for their rent for whatever period of time. 24 months. Yes. Up to 24 months. Yes. And during that time, are we working with the homeless individual, uh, uh, connecting them with, uh, services and so forth? Yes. What homes Inc is specifically doing, they're engaging them in job training so that they can increase their earning power so that they can become independent. And that program has been successful. We have done it for about the third year we're on and it has proven to be successful. So what's a typical annual budget for something like that? If we were, um, the typical annual budget that we are, that we have available right now is 400,000. So ideally what would be your, uh, budget? Well, if we were, if let's say every homeless person in the city was willing to go into shelter. Yeah. Yes. If you build it, they will come. Yeah. But it's a very expensive approach. Even though in that model, um, the individuals and families that we're assisting, they're required to contribute to that, the cost of rent. So they are actually contributing 30% of their income towards the cost of a rent. And during that 24 month period, they're also required to save so that when the 24 months ends, they can transition successfully and maintain independence. So these are working poor. Yes. Okay. All right. So, um, so, um, and are there enough private units available in the city that are available for this program? Cause I was told that there just aren't enough available. There aren't enough. And so what we have done, we've reached out to the state because we're funding this through partly through the ship program and partly through the home program. The home program restricts us to city limits of Fort Lauderdale, but the ship program has given us the green light that if we can absolutely find no units in Fort Lauderdale, we can rehouse them elsewhere. In other cities? In other cities. Yes. And are, and have we tried that yet? Yes, we have been doing that. And there are, there are units in other cities that are available? Yes. Yes, sir. And, um, the further north we go, actually the rent becomes a little cheaper. Okay. Um, all right. Well, that's good to know. Um, one other thing, um, feeding programs on the street. Why are we still doing that? So good at good evening or good afternoon, mayor, commissioner, vice mayor. So we're currently working. Staff is currently working with the city attorney's office to update the social service feeding ordinance. The feedings are permitted. However, the updates that we're making will regulate where they're allowed. The event dates, it formally puts the application process as a part of the ordinance. And we're already doing that process. But we're also looking to do additional requirements as, as it relates to potential setbacks, um, the frequency of the number of events that can be held within a calendar year, as well as putting a penalty system. So if there are feedings that violate the terms that we approve as the city, putting a limitation that requires the city commission to approve additional, um, additional feedings, and then also having fines associated with those violations. So the fines start around right now, a thousand dollars for the first violation, 2000 for the second, 3000 for the third, and at the fourth violation, um, they would not be able to do additional feedings without the city commission's approval. But aren't we still, aren't we still allowing feedings, organized feedings by Stranahan Park? So, Mayor, this is one of my on-the-horizon items I was going to add, so I'm glad you brought it up. So, there are certain limitations to what we can do in terms of regulating or over-regulating these types of activities. You know, the city ran afoul of something several years ago that, that's an example of kind of why we need to be cautious in this way. So, as Ms. Garcia said, we've been working closely with the city attorney's office as part of our overall special event ordinance rewrite that, that we're going to bring back in a couple meetings or the next meeting, I think, to wrap this into that, and really the idea behind it is to bring more consistency between the performance standards and limitations and regulations around social service events, similar to our regular special events, and address the lack of enforcement opportunities for those that weren't abiding by those regulations, which is another thing that we heard from the community was lacking in our program, and we realize that too. Okay. So, there's, again, limitations on what we can do in terms of prohibitions or location-specific issues, but we think with what we've come up with as staff that provides more performance standards for those events, that we can hopefully see some more organization and more control over those activities. Okay. And finally, and I'm sure I really need to speak with, is Chief Schultz here? Did he leave? I guess he's gone. Oh, oh, look. Brandon, could you come up for a second? I got a very stressed out phone call from an individual whose family lives near Oakland Park and A1A, and they, this is not the first time I've gotten calls from this area where they feel that there's very aggressive panhandling going on there, and it doesn't seem to stop. I keep getting calls. This guy said his family has been threatened by people. Are we monitoring that place? I mean, are we, what are we doing there to ensure that people's lives are safe when they walk up and down that street? Yes. Mayor, Commissioner, Sergeant Diaz, Office of the Chief. We do do regular checks there. Homeless Outreach Team, that's on their list. Right. I do know because I received the emails also, and I'll check with Monica, the sergeant over that unit. They do do regular checks there. Patrol is also where they do regular checks there. The challenge that we face, just as was touched on by many of you, is they're making arrests there. They're back on the streets. Right. They go right back to the same location. Okay. All right. Thank you. I appreciate that. Two people have signed up to speak. Is April Young still here, followed by Barbara Stern? Does anyone else wish to speak on this item? Good afternoon, Commission, Board, members. I would definitely like to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I'm not very familiar with the team and the efforts that have gone forward so far in reference to the Homeless Initiative update. For the record, I'm Dr. April Young, and my position is to, our position to, accepting the presentation and the complete performance and its accountability report for Exhibit 1. And my core objection for this presentation document, activity, contract, and opposing the performance measurements, but it does not provide results, local accountability, and the permanent housing success. The presentation did not establish that Miami-Dade County government is administering Dade County, Broward County services. It identifies that Miami Rescue Mission, Inc., doing business as the Care Place Broward County Outreach Center as a contractor. The objection should, therefore, address the selection over the oversight of the nonprofit provider, the user of the local public funds, and the absence of the documented outcome, not alleging that the Miami-Dade County itself holds into this contract. I'm actually requesting that the commission action do not treat this exhibit as one, as a complete performance report. I'm also asking that you direct the staff to supplement the record with the contracts and the procurement documents that would provide at least resource data, that monitoring reports, the complements, and the demographic information as structural outcomes, requiring that the unduplicated participant counts, and that the permitted housing retention as a result, therefore, approves, and the renewing additional funding creates a meaningful role for the organization that's led by the residents as affected by the Fort Lauderdale and Broward County communities. I've shared with you a list of, after reviewing the 19-page review report that was there, it has some questions that leads to some foundings that we should definitely address, but to actually provide you information that me being a part of Fort Lauderdale, the city of Fort Lauderdale, providing a substantial amount of years in dedication to the city of Fort Lauderdale, as well as Broward County at large. I'm providing a certified service as a credited recovery administrator, as well as a certified residential facility for level two therapeutic residents, being only three facilities that provide adequate services for mothers underage with their children. I have now provided services for Camelot services that actually was one of your piloted programs that you provide services to. However, I became an independent wraparound service provider, meaning that I provide service for their entire family and an individual at large. All right. Could you please conclude your comments? Yes. And with that being said, there is more appropriate services that can be rendered through certified providers, as myself and others, and that we are and we have been providing services. And being with that said, our facility actually serviced over 1,700 of our Broward County City family members. So, I would ask you to review that and consider on record. All right. Thank you. And I will direct that to our city staff to address that. Thank you. Good afternoon, Mayor, Commission. So nice to be in here in a more formal setting in here. You know, we could just maybe sell downtown, redo our plans, build a great new city hall right here, have one big government complex. It'd be wonderful. But anyway, on a serious note, I am here today on behalf of one of the many residents, Commissioner Glassman, to your point, who is extremely frustrated with where we are today with the city. And I think you said it, if you build it, they will come. Have we made it too easy for a portion of the unsheltered population to stay here? And my comments are not directed to situational people where they've lost their jobs. I'm talking chronic homeless who, I'm sorry, I'm going to say it, don't want help. I have been to community court. I have stood there. When they have asked for a place to stay, and they're told that they don't have a bed available, if there's beds, great, because I've seen people get put on a waiting list and never called. There are people who just don't want help, but they come for a shower and they come for a meal, and then they are on our Riverwalk. I would walk down 2nd Street at 3 o'clock in the morning and not bat an eye, but I will not walk down the Riverwalk by myself. I personally, last year, was targeted by someone I have never met who became fixated on me, an unsheltered person who everybody knows lived under the bridge, sent me death threats through social media, contacted my office, was able to figure out my law firm email address and my phone number, and was able to contact me there. He is in jail right now. Wonder why he got arrested? Not over the death threats. I called it into place. Our hot team knew him, has multiple arrests from other cities for violent behavior. This individual was finally arrested because the following Monday pulled a knife on somebody in front of the courthouse. These are some of the people on our streets. We talk about the need to be compassionate with those who need help, but we have people with serious mental illnesses on the streets. We see them on the corners having breakdowns who are a threat to our society. They are a threat to me. They're a threat to the people in this room, and we're not doing anything about it. What we can do, I don't know, but we've made it too easy for people to come downtown and stay here. Something more needs to be done. I don't know if it's getting our sheriff in line, because when he said he wasn't going to keep people in jail, other cities and counties said, great, send your unsheltered people to Broward County. Send them to Fort Lauderdale. Yes, it is a compassionate issue. Yes, we have to care about those that want help, but we need to do something more to protect the residents who live here. Because what I didn't hear today in this presentation, what are we doing to make it better for those of us who live here, for those of us who have to interact? I shouldn't have to feel unsafe in my own city. I was afraid to go to my office for fear of my own life. There's plenty of other people who go through these problems, and we are not doing enough for we, the residents who actually live here. So as you're coming up and dealing with their plans and thinking about what we can do for the future, for those, you need to think about what we could do to better protect our residents here, because we are failing our residents here. We have invested in so much in our downtown. You see people walking around with ankle monitors on them, because you know what? If they've been arrested, if they're in jail, if they get released to a program where they can be in and out, they have ankle monitors on them. My individual who's sitting in jail, there's not a bed for him to get into. He's tried to get in. We've tried to get him to Henderson. We've tried to get him into these other programs. There are no beds. We keep saying we'll do something. There's beds waiting. Please, somebody tell us where they are so that these people can get help. But in the meantime, they're not getting the help. Stop telling people that there's beds available, because they're simply not. And stop making it so easy for everybody to stay here. Or maybe Broward County needs to invest in space in West Broward County and the Everglades somewhere where it's not desirable to stay. Or maybe we need to go back to the bus tickets and the train tickets and say, you know, folks, last call. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Something better needs to be done. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak on this item? Is there any further business of the commission regarding conference items? There being none, this meeting is concluded. Thank you, dude.