Forward Pinellas Board meeting on 11/10/2026 - Nov 10, 2026

And, and just to clarify, this is to vote on the original motion that was made.

Brian Scott: yes · René Flowers: yes · Mayor Freeney: yes · Kathleen Peters: no · Council Member Menino: no · Council Member Floyd: yes · Mayor Love: no · Mayor Koulianos: yes · Mayor Brooks: yes · Council Member Albritton: yes · Vice Mayor Johnson: no · Council Member Gabbard: yes · Chris Scherer: no · Council Member Driscoll: yes

Outcome: The motion passes.

We'll call to order the November 10, 2026 meeting of the Forward Pinellas Board. Will everyone please join me in standing for our Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And now we will go around for self-introductions, starting with Commissioner Scott.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Brian Scott, Pinellas County Commissioner.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Madam Chair. I forgot my name. Renee Flowers, Pinellas County Commissioner.

Good afternoon. Mo Franey, City of Dunedin Mayor.

Kathleen Peters, Pinellas County Commissioner.

Tom Shelley, Bel Air Deputy Mayor. Good afternoon, Council Member Mike Menino, City of Clearwater.

Council Member Richie Floyd, City of St. Petersburg.

Karen Love, Mayor of Gulfport, Florida, representing South Inland Communities.

John. Thank you. John Koulianis, Mayor of Tarvin Springs, and thank you for having me. So I'll try to live up to Mike's standards.

Ann Marie Brooks, Mayor of Madeira Beach, representing the beach communities.

Council Member David Albright, City of Clearwater. Good afternoon. Chris Johnson, Vice Mayor, City of Largo.

Brandy Gabbard, Council Member, City of St. Petersburg.

Chris Shearer, Pinellas County Commission.

Whit Blanton, your Executive Director.

And I'm Gina Driscoll, St. Petersburg City Council, and honored to be serving as the Chair for one last meeting. All right. Thank you, everyone. Tina, do we have any citizens who wish to be heard today? Yes, Madam Chair. We have David Ballard-Gettis, Jr. Fantastic. Thank you. Good afternoon, sir.

Hi, good afternoon. It's good to see everybody. My name is David Ballard-Gettis, Jr. I live on Georgia Avenue in Palm Harbor. Last month, there was quite a controversy in Tarpin Springs regarding a rezoning land use change. This land use dispute revolved around a mosque wanting to expand its footprint on an adjacent parcel of property, which became a huge problem within the local community as this land use rezoning change was not clearly identified and proper notification was not given in its process of expansion. Elevating the argument, someone appearing to be a Muslim dressed in a burqa and stood before the county commission playing Muslim prayer music for about two minutes before being escorted out of the establishment. Some of the residents attending the county meeting were quite vocal in their opposition to someone wearing a burqa and playing Muslim music. Particular factions in the crowd were yelling, Nakba and get out of here, leave. Now, it's not as though I agree or disagree with our religious freedoms and our freedom to speak. My point being that if the Muslims are not allowed to expand their footprint using clandestine fashions or shady means of not clearly identifying themselves and not properly defining their intentions, then religions of another nature must also equally and fully and clearly disclose their intentions and their expansionist pursuits as well, which brings us to the reclaimed water variance application, which states that I literally owe my health and my safety and religion in such variance. I don't owe anybody my religion of Christianity as clearly stated right here in the variance to anyone, especially when it comes to water. As a Christian, I stand against this and I can pretty much tell you that the Muslims are not behind this reclaimed water variance, which is religiously claiming eminent domain of everything that I own, both personal and real in Statute 15303, Section 5. I find particular interests based on Statute 218.415, Section 16F, and Statute 2.01 is soon to be a huge problem regarding insurrectionists and rebellious policies and rebellious policies in this nation based on the 14th Amendment, as reflected on Chapter 163 of the Florida Statutes. Thank you. Thank you.

Tina, do we have any other citizens who wish to be heard today? No, Madam Chair, we do not. All right. Thank you. Then we will go to our recognitions and announcements. Whit? Sure.

Well, he gave his own introduction, but I'd like to welcome Mayor John Kalianas to our board, representing Tarpon Springs. And, Mayor, we sat down a week or so ago. I thought we had a great conversation and really look forward to your participation here, Ford Pinellas. Thank you very much.

Keep going? Sure. Okay.

All right. Well, I am going to ask you to join me at the podium because we are going to acknowledge our outgoing board members. So this is a very bittersweet moment for me. You've been our chair for two years. You've served on Ford Pinellas. You've been the chair of Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. And I think we've worked well together. And I really have appreciated your leadership, not only here in Pinellas County, but through the TMA leadership group for all of the Tampa Bay region. And, you know, in thinking about it, our staff came up with some really good ideas. And we put our heads together. And credit goes to Tina for a lot of this and Dana. But we would like to present you with this recognition of your service to Pinellas County. And these are your words. Fair representation, peace, and cooperation in the region. There will be peace in the region, right? Yes. So let's get a picture. Do you get one? Do you like to say a few words here or go back to your seat?

Well, I'm a politician, so I never turned down an opportunity to take the mic for a moment. Thank you so much, Whit, and your team for making this easy for me, even on the tough days. Because of your leadership and because you know how to put together the right people for success, it has been a wonderful experience for me. And I feel like over the last couple of years and for the five or so years that I've served on the Ford Pinellas Board, we've been able to accomplish a lot for our county. And I look forward to seeing that continue with all of you who are continuing on the board. As our county moves forward, we have to continue to make good decisions so that everyone who lives here has that security of a wonderful place that they're proud to call home, a place where they can access great jobs, and a place where they can get around the county and the region more easily. And I have full confidence that we have the right people in place to help make the decisions to make that happen and keep our county moving forward. So I actually just want to thank all of the board members for your service as well. It's been a real honor and a joy to be able to work with all of you. I've learned so much about your cities and the areas that you represent. And I will keep that with me as I continue to stay tuned in, and I'll be cheering you on. So thank you so much.

Tina is preparing to be Carol Merrill. You've already done it. So you're going to go around and do your thing? Okay. Okay. All right. So I guess I'll just kick it off now with our other outgoing board members. And so I'd like to turn it over to Council Member Gabbard and just acknowledge you as well. Thank you so much for all your time that you've served in two different stints. And we wish you great success in your next endeavors. Do you want to say a few words for the board?

Yeah. Thank you. So first of all, Whit, I want to actually extend a thank you to you. You know, I mean, as we've all experienced when you first come on to this board, a lot of times you're kind of like a deer in headlights and wit. I owe a lot of the knowledge and information that I hold to you because you have been a fantastic mentor in this space. You are so highly regarded amongst your peers. And so I have always really enjoyed that working relationship and the way that you steward this organization. So thank you. And really to the rest of the staff as well. Um, every single one of you who I have ever come in contact with, I've ever worked with on anything. You have always been an immense joy to work with. Um, you are such high level professionals in everything that you do. And I just want to thank all of you for your commitment and your service to our county. And, uh, to the rest of the board, I would just say, I would challenge all of you to continue to move us forward. Um, I know that regionally things aren't, you know, quite maybe where we thought they might be a couple of years ago. And, you know, the future is unknown. But, um, I do believe that regional cooperation is how we're going to move together as a Tampa Bay region. And I would challenge all of you to keep that moving forward in whatever way that looks like. Uh, to my colleagues in St. Pete, Council Member Floyd, you're the only one here today. Council Member Fick Sanders couldn't be with us. But thank you on, as a St. Pete resident for, uh, continuing to lead the charge for our city and for our county. And I look forward to watching you guys shine and excel and whoever comes after Council Member Driscoll and I. So, thank you.

And now I'd like to acknowledge Council Member David Albritton from the City of Clearwater. Thank you, David, for your service on our board and for your leadership representing the City of Clearwater. Do you want to say a few words?

Yeah, I'll try to keep a few words. Um, I too would like to thank, uh, uh, y'all from, I really enjoyed working with all of you. And, um, Whit, especially you and your team. Um, you know, I think back of all the committees and stuff that, that, that I was on and the, um, um, they were very important. But I can tell you this, that the hardest thing you're going to do is get this regional MPO thing together because it really needs to happen. If we want to get more money to do projects, we need to be known regionally. Obviously, Washington will know where Tampa Bay is, not so much Pinellas and, and Pasco and so forth. But, um, if we can get together on this, it'll be a, it's going to be very hard, you know, as you've already seen. But stay with it. And, uh, I'm going to be watching and I hope we can get this thing together in the next few years because it'll be very beneficial for, uh, for Pinellas County, for us, for getting money from the federal, you know, federally. So, thank you again, enjoyed being here and, um, wish you all best.

Thank you. And finally, uh, Commissioner Brian Scott. Really appreciated everything you brought to the table. Would you like to say a few words?

Uh, uh, thank you, Witt. Thank you, Witt. Um, well, first of all, I just want to, um, thank everybody around this table and also the residents of Pinellas County for giving me the opportunity to represent them. The last four years has been the deepest and greatest honor of my life. Um, and, uh, last Tuesday certainly didn't go the way that I had, I had hoped or planned and I had some really, um, you know, big ideas of accomplishments I wanted to, you know, get done in a second term. One was, um, you know, really focusing in on, uh, trying to get a regional MPO accomplished, which I, which I think is, should still be the goal. I think is the right thing for Pinellas County. I think is the right thing for, uh, for the region. Um, so it's been a pleasure working with all of you. I consider all of you my friends and I am not going anywhere. I just lived down the road a little bit. Um, so I want to be a friend and a resource, anything that I can do to help you in your careers personally or professionally. And that goes, uh, Witt and all the staff. I've really enjoyed working with the staff. You've got a great, great professional, uh, dedicated, smart, uh, staff, you know, anything that I can do. I'll just be sitting in a different seat, uh, but anything that I can do to offer support for this organization, uh, as it moves forward, I absolutely want to, want to do that. And I think most of you probably have my personal cell phone and, and if you don't and you want it, just see me afterwards and, uh, and I'll certainly give that to you. So I plan to stay, uh, you know, engaged and I want to be plugged into what's going on. And, um, well, I have one half of my brain that tells me I never, never wants to run another campaign again. And the other half of my brain is already planning a comeback and I'm a very competitive person. So I already know which side of my brain is going to win the argument. Um, so with that said, um, I don't think you've seen, uh, the last of me and, uh, I just appreciate all of you, appreciate your friendship and I look forward to the future. Thank you.

You may be in another seat, but we know you'll be in another bike saddle as well.

That's right. That's right. Okay. Thanks to all of you. We'll move next for our consent agenda. Um, is there any, um, item that any, uh, board member would like to pull from the consent agenda to be taken up separately? No. Yes. Okay. All right. And Tina, do we have any citizens who would like to speak on the consent agenda? No, Madam chair. We do not. All right. Thank you. We have a motion and a second for the consent agenda. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. All right. Thank you. Next, we'll have our public hearing items. Um, starting with item six, eight, the modification of the transportation improvement program.

Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Ryan Hutton. I manage the transportation improvement program or TIP for Ford Pinellas. Um, so just a quick reminder, uh, the TIP is our short term planning document outlines, uh, transportation projects going on within the County over the next five years. This is our typical, um, timeline cycle of how we develop the TIP and coordinate. Um, typically every year in the May, June time, uh, we'll adopt a new TIP, but there are ways we can modify or change what's in the TIP, uh, between cycles. There are two main modes of ways we can change, uh, the amendment and a modification, uh, for those who've been around for me giving these speeches before, usually I present to you guys an amendment. Um, typically those are larger in the way they change the scope or fiscal, uh, constraints of a project. But there also are modifications, um, generally more minor, uh, changes to a project scope or funding. Um, and today I actually have just two amendments for you guys or one amendment, however you want to vote on it.

Um, modification, just to clarify, you said amendment. Oh, I said amendment. Modification.

This is a modification for clarification. Um, but our modification today is to, um, our UPWP. Um, so the first part of our modification is adding back $375,000 in surface, surface, transportation, block grant funds. Um, so that was money that was in our previous, uh, budget from the last fiscal year that just went unspent. Um, in March, those funds were de-obligated so they can be eventually added back. And so what this modification is doing is basically just adding back that money into our budget. Um, the second part is $15,853 in federal planning funds. Um, so those PL funds are based on a formula given to each MPO. Um, so after balancing each MPO's funding for the fiscal year, that was the amount that FDOT determined would be additional funds available to us. So just to reiterate that $375,000 is just being added back into our budget. Uh, $15,853 is new money. And that's it. That's the modification. Um, so if anyone has any questions at this time, I'd be happy to answer. Um, pretty straightforward.

All right. Thank you so much, Ryan. Tina, do we have any citizens who wish to be heard on this item? No, Madam Chair. We do not. Um, okay. Um, board members, any questions or comments on this item? Um, yes, Commissioner Flowers.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Um, we, do you have any idea or any projects where you would like to veer this, these additional dollars to $375,000?

Yes, we do. Uh, so in our unified planning work program, which is our two year budget, we have to be very specific on the tasks that we anticipate spending federal dollars on. Um, so we have outlined those tasks in our UPWP and, uh, a lot of it is going to support our ongoing, uh, safety program. Um, a lot of it is our active transportation plan and those dollars are, uh, funds that we can, we can spend on either planning activities or we can add to, uh, project activities if necessary. For instance, we just closed our call for projects, um, from local government programs and we had four applications for planning dollars, four applications for construction dollars. And so these funds could be used on the planning dollars, for instance.

Okay. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Anyone else? All right. I'll entertain a motion for approval.

Move approval.

We have a motion in a second. This one does not require a roll vote. So therefore all in favor, please say aye. Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? The motion carries. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. We'll now move into the Pinellas planning, planning council public hearings, which will be conducted as follows. I will first ask board members to affirm that they've received reviewed the staff report and materials provided to them. If needed for Pinellas staff are available with a presentation and to answer any questions, the applicant local governments are also available for questions as needed. Lastly, I will ask for proponents of the proposal to speak, then opponents. And finally, any other citizens who wish to comment or ask questions on the case. At that time, the board will ask questions and then I will close the public hearing and the board will deliberate and take action. For today, we have item 6B1, case CW26-17 for Pinellas County. Board members, I just want to affirm with all of you that you have reviewed the staff report and the materials that were provided in advance on the case.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Does anyone request a presentation on this item? No? All right. Then, Tina, do we have any proponents, opponents, or citizens who wish to be heard on this item?

No, Madam Chair, none.

Okay. Thank you. And in that case, I'll close the public hearing and we'll go to board questions. Does anyone have any questions on this item? Thank you. So then I'll entertain a motion for approval. Approval approval. Second. All right. There's a motion and a second. Tina, do we need a roll call vote on this one?

We do not, but I just want to clarify who made the motion and second. I had Tom Shelley for the motion. Who made the second? Menino. Okay. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. Thank you. All right. Next, we have our presentations and action items. The first item originally was supposed to be the PSTA activities report. However, that report was not made available in time for this meeting. And so that will be deferred to the January meeting for this board to review. Next, we have our regional activities report.

Right? Yes. I'll keep this one fairly brief. You did get a letter at your desks that I'll just reference, developed by the PASCO MPO in response to some correspondence that we received from the Pinellas Legislative Delegation about a month ago. And I won't read the letter to you. It's fairly self-explanatory, but it does reinforce the PASCO MPO's support of continued efforts to form a regional MPO and designate a new MPO for Tampa Bay. On that topic, on Thursday, I will be attending the Pinellas County work session where we'll be taking up their legislative priorities. I suspect there'll be some discussion of the MPO merger. We also have on the agenda for discussion the commission's potential support of this body's request to amend the PPC, Pinellas Planning Council Special Act, that would anticipate a merger of the MPO. And if that were to happen, there is a clause in the Special Act that would revert the Planning Council body to 13 members representing the local governments in Pinellas County. And thanks to the work of our subcommittee and Commissioner Scherer's efforts, there are provisions in that special act change that would streamline and modify our countywide process to better align it with where we are as a county today and would give considerable more autonomy to our 25-member local governments while refocusing some of the council's activities on true countywide issues of significance. So we'll see how that discussion goes and look forward to following up on that. We have been alerted that there will be a Pinellas Legislative Delegation meeting on December 8th at 8 a.m. at the Drew Street campus of St. Pete College. I plan to attend. We'll see if I need to speak or anything like that. But I am hopeful that we will continue to have a sponsor for the Planning Council amendments. And they'll need to be announced at that first delegation meeting if we are going to go with a local bill. Finally, in the event that the regional MPO does not go forward this year, next year, or for the next five or ten years, I have been working with our colleagues in the other two counties to think about ways to strengthen our regional transportation planning process and have begun outlining some thoughts. And I welcome their feedback when I share my thoughts with them. And we have a meeting scheduled on December 22nd with Secretary Hall and his senior staff to go over some of those ideas and make sure that we're on the same page with the district leadership because I know as we get into session, the members will probably reach out to our secretary and ask how it's going and what questions he has. And I want to make sure that he's aware of our plans and hopefully we can do something together to strengthen the efforts because the district covers more than just Hillsboro, Pascoe, and Pinellas. It covers all the way up to Citrus County and really is a dynamic district. And if we can work in partnership, I think we can accomplish a lot. So there is a plan B to the regional MPO merger as well.

All right. Thank you. Next, we have the, this is an action item. We have the election of our officers for next year. Start that off? Yeah. If you don't mind, that'd be great.

Okay. At our last meeting, I think Commissioner Peters made the motion that we just elect from the dais rather than forming a nominating committee. So that's what we're about to do today. And, you know, we always want to have a chair on the MPO. So, um, uh, Gina will be rotating off as chair. And in the event that something comes up in the month of March and I need a signature, I need to know who I can go get that from. So I recommend that we go ahead and, and, and have the election. Uh, we have, um, as we discussed at the last meeting, Tina sent out an email to all of you and ask you to indicate your interest, uh, in your packet. You see those who responded to Tina's email since that time. We've also received interest from, uh, several other members of the board, commissioner share, commissioner flowers, uh, council member fig Sanders, uh, and others, uh, in addition to that. So, um, we, and I'll just go over the duties real quick. The chair basically runs the meeting. There are no additional powers to the chair beyond running the meetings. Uh, the vice chair is there in case we need, uh, and chair is absent. We need somebody to run the meetings. The treasurer has all the heavy lifting. The treasurer signs all the checks. Um, so, uh, and, and mayor Freeney has done a great job with that. Uh, and then, uh, the secretary rounds out the executive committee, uh, and those duties are pretty loose, but the four members of the executive committee do have two key responsibilities. One, uh, is to determine how my evaluation is done every year. Um, and that's, uh, in our, uh, bylaws. And the other role is rarely used, but in the event of an emergency, uh, we do have the authority to convene the executive committee to act on, on behalf of the MPO if we need to advance funds quickly. And so that has happened in the past. Um, but that is it. Um, and so, um, I think what I'll ask you to do is see if there are nominations you would like to take from the chair.

Can I ask a question before the nominations?

Sure.

Please. Yes. Commissioner Flowers. Since this will be my first, uh, time with the full nomination, I'm not saying we have to do it this way, but I know on some other boards that we serve, there is a matriculation upwards, if you will. So, um, unfortunately we have, Brian would have matriculated. I'm sure he had a desire to serve as chair. He would have matriculated over. Um, and then your secretary and then your treasurer, you know, move up. Is that, uh, something that has occurred here before or is that not a process that has been followed?

That's been, I would say that's been pretty consistently followed, um, where the vice chair then follows the chair. And typically those other seats move into leadership roles. So it's, it's a, it's a proving ground to kind of get to know how the board operates a little bit behind the scenes.

Okay.

Um, well, thank you for answering that because I wasn't sure. Um, and, um, just speaking for me, I personally, I know, uh, council member Debra Fick Sanders isn't here. Um, today she told us all she would be out with surgery. Um, but she was putting her name in the ring. Um, but I would, um, I don't have a problem with sticking with that mode of thinking. So it would essentially be council member Debra Fick Sanders in consideration, uh, as chair Mo, uh, mayor Mo Freeney, um, for consideration for vice chair. And then that would leave the secretary and the treasurer positions open. So that's why I asked the question. And that's where my thinking and thought process is. It doesn't have to be everybody else's, but, and I would be happy to remove my name from the, uh, list of considerations if that be the will of the majority of the board members. But I just wanted to know how it typically was done. And thank you for allowing me.

Yes. Thank you. Council member Gabbard.

And so I had very similar thoughts. Um, when I looked at the list of, uh, who had expressed interest and who was eligible. Um, obviously recognizing that, um, mayor Freeney and council member Fick Sanders are currently on the executive board. I do think it makes complete sense. Um, and I was just kind of going by the way they're ordered on our list. I was actually thinking, um, and I think maybe a little bit because I've served under your leadership, uh, mayor Freeney as chair of the Tampa Bay regional planning council. Um, I know how well you serve. I know what a steady hand you have and what a great job you do facilitating. Um, so I was actually looking, um, to potentially nominate you as chair and then, um, council member of fixed standards as vice chair, but I'm open to whatever order that goes in. Um, and I just think that, you know, maybe kind of getting those two moved up first voting on that and then kind of moving into the other positions makes sense to me.

And just a quick response, since we've had council member Driscoll serve for two years, it might be good to have another city, um, or another jurisdiction for a period.

Yeah. That's kind of what I was thinking. Yeah. So, um, would there be an, so I would make a motion that, um, mayor Mo Freeney be a chair,

incoming chair and council member Debra Fick Sanders be incoming vice chair.

Right. Who else has something to say? So we have a motion in a second. Um, and oh yes. Vice mayor Johnson.

Yeah. My understanding is the normal.

Is your mic on Chris?

I'm sorry. Is that better? Uh, normal. I, my, my understanding is we always have a county commissioner on, uh, like, and like we go back and forth between cities and county commissioner. Is that just a courtesy? Is that normal? Is that the way we want to do things going forward?

Uh, it's, it's, it's a courtesy. It's not written down, but it is something that we have done in the past. So I would say it would be probably a good idea to have a county commissioner on our executive committee.

I'd like to nominate, um, commissioner Scheer as, uh, either chair or vice chair, whichever one makes sense. Just so we have some similarities to what we've done in the past.

So, um, so we already have, we, we haven't, we have a nomination for a chair and vice chair already on the floor.

And, and what, my point of order, I guess, would be the consideration of having a county commissioner fill one of those seats so that we are, and I'm just suggesting commissioner Scheer would be a good option.

Okay.

Um, again, I understand that we already have a motion on the floor, so we have to vote on that.

So, yeah, we, we would still have a secretary and treasurer position, if they'll correct. Right, exactly. Right.

And so, so one consideration that could be made would be that a county commissioner be nominated for one of those two seats so that we have one, um, in to eventually get things back to where we have city and county, which isn't a rule. Um, it's just a courtesy, um, I personally think that mayor free having served on the, uh, board and on the executive committee, uh, with her, she's been present, she's been active, um, and extremely engaged. And I, I think she would do a fantastic job as the, as the chair. Um, so maybe doing it a little bit differently for next year. Um, but then, um, having a county commissioner, I think is very important to have on the executive committee, uh, not only for, um, sort of our, our regular practice, but also because of their insight and their, the leadership that they bring from that county level, um, position. So, um, so are we pretty clear that we have a, a motion in a second?

Well, my question was, was that an amendment to the motion or not for an amendment to the motion?

That was an amendment to the motion.

Right.

I'm asking for that. Okay.

So is that all right?

Yes.

Okay.

Um, yes. Commissioner Scott.

Uh, just a, uh, a quick comment. I mean, there's a lot of moving pieces to, you know, to forward Pinellas. And, um, I, I like the idea of a consistency of leadership, particularly with, with, with, you know, your knowledge leaving my, my knowledge leaving. Um, and we still have some open slots that, that we can fill that I think we, I think we absolutely should have at least one kind of commissioner in, in, in, in those spots. But for the, for the consistency of leadership going forward, um, I'm supporting the motion that's on the table.

Great. Um, question. Question. Yeah. Uh, so I don't see that there's any other, any other comments to be made. So, um, um, council member Menino.

Thank you. Um, I, I think we're getting away. We, we've talked about the precedent of falling, uh, the order of committee members and then matriculating into those roles. If we're getting out of it this year, because we're vacating, unfortunately the vice chair seat, uh, who's not shifting over. I don't think I would be supportive, uh, of, but I am supportive of Mo going chair, but I think we should put that county commissioner, uh, at the vice chair and fill the other positions behind that. So I would, I'm going to be supportive of, uh, of Mr. Johnson's, uh, amendment that was on and obviously declined, but I just wanted to share my thoughts with them.

Okay. Thank you. Um, I'm trying to figure out where to go for my parliamentary procedure brain is kind of trying to catch up here for a minute.

There, I think it would have been more prudent to do each position individually instead of, instead of a chunk of them, right? Who do you want to be chair? You vote on them. Who do you want to be vice chair? You'd have a different, you wouldn't have this going on right now if you were just doing

one at a time. Yes. I think that is very smart and I really appreciate that input. And so we do have a motion that's been seconded.

Madam chair.

Yes.

Uh, I just would like to say that I agree with, uh, uh, commissioner Peters and I won't approve this motion because I think we should be doing individual votes.

Okay. I think we should, Tina, I think we should do a roll call vote for this one. You ready?

No. Give me one minute.

Well, while Tina is getting ready, I'll just comment that I, um, I think it's fantastic that we're having a really thoughtful conversation about this. It really means that people care, um, how this board moves forward and with, with, um, how the leadership is structured. So I'm, I'm glad that we've had some different, different thoughts and that everyone is, um, is sharing, um, their, their own ideas on this.

And also for the record, there's no citizens that wish to speak on this matter before I take the vote, but I am ready if you are. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Freeney.

Well, I mean, it's good. It would be hard to vote against myself because I'm, I'm all for, I want to be chair. Um, but I'm good. I'm good either way. We're going to go to roll call vote now and it's really tough because I also understand the other thing. So yeah, I, yeah. So there's nothing personal if I vote yes, whatever vote we take first. So I just want to make that.

Okay. And, and just to clarify, this is to vote on the original motion that was made. Okay. All right. Tina, please call the roll. Commissioner Scott.

Yes.

Commissioner Flowers.

Yes.

Mayor Freeney. Aye. Commissioner Peters. No. Deputy Mayor Shelley.

Yes.

Council Member Menino.

No.

Council Member Floyd.

Yes.

Mayor Ayub. Mayor Love. No. Mayor Koulianos.

Yes.

Mayor Brooks. Yes. Council Member Albritton.

Aye.

Vice Mayor Johnson.

No.

Council Member Gabbard. Yes. Commissioner Shearer.

No.

Council Member Driscoll. Yes.

All right. The motion passes. Um, my count was 11 to five.

Yes, that's correct.

All right. Thank you. Okay.

And nothing personal with my vote because I think you'd do great as vice chair too, but I do want to thank, um, for me, I will work very hard as your chair. I will do everything I need to do to, to be fair and try to move us forward and work closely with wit. So I really do appreciate the vote of confidence. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Now for, um, treasurer and secretary. Um, if you look in your, oh, I'm sorry.

Yeah.

If you, um, check the backup material, a list who had expressed an interest. Plus we had a couple, um, of others who expressed interest afterwards in the backup material. It was, um, uh, council member Floyd and also vice mayor Johnson had expressed an interest. I didn't say we've received interest from commissioner share and I believe commissioner flowers.

Thank you, madam chair. I will be willing to be considered.

Thank you. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew who had, uh, you know, stepped forward and offered, um, to step in.

Yeah.

And do we have, did you want to speak now?

I was just going to say, I don't know how commissioner share feels about being a treasurer or, uh, or secretary, but I would, I would make a motion, uh, for commissioner share for one of those, if he's interested.

Commissioner share.

Yes.

Anyone in particular?

Uh, which one does not sign the checks? The secretary. The secretary. That'd be great.

Let it be known that commissioner share has introduced his expressed an interest in serving as the secretary. So, uh, I'm thinking a nomination for that might be forthcoming.

Yes. I'll assume. Second.

All right. We have a motion in a second for commissioner share to be appointed secretary of the executive committee. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries.

I would like to nominate Renee flowers as the treasurer.

Thank you.

It's not that, it's not that bad.

We saw how that went. Oh my God.

I couldn't resist.

I'm sorry.

The state didn't give me any money. That's why I didn't sign checks. Cause the state didn't give me any money. That was a good one. There's nothing this time. That was a real good one. But I don't want to give money. Please know that. I don't touch people. I don't. Anyway, yes, I would gladly accept that.

Chair elect Freeney.

So the only bad part about how this is going is I really did want commissioner share to get the hard lifting. So the heavy lifting. So it's sad to say that, but you're going to get it, but it's not that bad. Renee.

Well, he's a secretary.

He, he, no, I don't think he has to do.

All right. We have, we, we, we have a motion. Is there a second?

Can you clarify the motion and the, and who made them please? I'm sorry. I got lost in a whole lot of things there.

And council member Gabbard second.

Thank you. Do we have any citizens who wish to be heard on this item?

No, madam chair. We do not.

All right. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. Thank you. Let's give it. And congratulations to all who will be serving on the executive committee for 2027. Next. Oh, we're not done with, with this stuff yet. We've, uh, next got our TMA leadership group, SCTPA, and the MPOAC committee appointments. The, is that enough letters for you?

Right. So the last item was, was easy enough. Um, this, this actually should be, um, easy as well. Um, the TMA leadership group meets quarterly. Uh, we have to replace, uh, council member Driscoll on that board and reappoint, uh, the others currently is represented by commissioner share and council member Floyd. So, uh, if they're interested in continuing to serve on that, um, you know, they can let you know, and then we would need one other appointment for that. Uh, just to clarify on the TMA leadership group, we changed our bylaws a few years ago to allow any one of you to attend those meetings and vote. If one of the appointed members can't be there. Um, there's a little story I won't tell now about how that came to be. Um, but we want to make sure that we're fully represented at those TMA leadership group meetings. Um, the Suncoast Transportation Planning Alliance, um, is our bigger regional body that covers Sarasota Manatee MPO, Polk TPO, and Citrus Hernando. So it's a bigger region. They only meet twice a year, but they meet right after the TMA leadership group meeting. So it would be ideal for one of the three appointees on the TMA to also be the SCTPA rep rather than having a fourth person drive to Tampa or wherever those meetings tend to be. Um, so keep that in mind when you think about your appointments. Um, and then for the MPO Advisory Council, um, they meet quarterly at least, um, and those meetings tend to be in Orlando or potentially other parts of the state. Um, and we have Commissioner Johnson as our, uh, primary and Mayor Moe Freeney as an alternate. And, um, I'll let them speak to their interest in continuing in that role. So however you want to handle it, we could take up the TMA leadership group first.

Thank you. And, um, I'll share that I I've been representing on SCTPA for the last few years, and it's quite easy if you're already on TMA, you just hang out, it's maybe another hour or so. And, um, so if you're, if you're already on TMA, it's, it's just an easy add on, no sweat. So I encourage anyone who wants to, or, uh, serve on TMA, um, to consider adding that on and get to know some people, uh, a little bit further out. So, um, the two who, um, are already serving on, um, TMA, if you want to consider that. I'll consider that.

Okay, great. And I'd like to stay on TMA.

Great. And then Council Member Floyd, did you want to stay on TMA?

Yeah, I, I like to, uh, do the TMA meetings and would like to continue, yes.

Okay, great. So we need a nomination for one person to be added to serve on the TMA. Technically we need a nomination for all three, but. All right. But I'm thinking one at a time. Yep. Sure. On MP, on the MPO, we're going to take up TMA first.

Oh, okay.

Yeah. So, and you know, another thing we could do, I mean, there's, there's a TMA meeting on December 11th. It's being held at PSTA. So it's close by. Um, you tell me, I mean, I'll be, I'll still be serving. So I'll still be on that one. That'll be my last one. But if a board member would like to go to that meeting as a test drive, see what it's all about. See if it's something that you want to be interested, that you want to get involved in and commit to you, then this could feasibly, um, be a vote, a nomination and vote that gets pushed to January.

I would nominate Mike Mineo. I would second that nomination. To be on the TMA. And then from those three, I think they ought to determine who should be the one that would go to the other, right? If they have to serve on both, then I think it would be between those three to determine which of the three would serve on that.

Okay. And come.

Commissioner Shearer said he was interested.

So.

So, well, there you go.

Okay.

And Council Member Menino, you have an interest in serving on TMA?

Yes. Thank you.

That's wonderful. Thank you so much.

Absolutely.

That's great. Okay. So first, um, all right, we have a motion and a second, um, to appoint Council Member Menino to the TMA. Tina, any, any citizens to be heard on this one?

No, Madam Chair. So I have a first by Commissioner Peters and a second by Deputy Mayor Shelley. And is it just to add Menino or is it to affirm the reappointment of the other two as well? Oh, we have to do that too. All three.

Okay. So. She said all three. Okay. So it's all three.

And there are no citizens.

Thank you. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. Thank you. Um, next for SCTPA, Commissioner Shearer has indicated an interest in serving. We have a motion and a second to approve.

I didn't catch. I didn't know we do, but I just didn't, I didn't catch the voices.

Same to you. Thank you. All right. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. Thank you. And finally, MPO AC.

Road warrior. And we do need a, we do need an alternate for this one just because, um, you, you sometimes do have some conflicts and it would be good to have a member of the governing board there from our MPO.

So I'm happy to stay as the alternate. Um, it was kind of a fun trip to learn some stuff. Uh, but I'm also, if somebody else wants that opportunity, I'm happy to give it up. So, I mean, Chris is there most of the time, so it's not really an issue.

All right. Approval of Chris Johnson as the primary and Mayor Mo Freeney as the secondary.

We're so quiet. Any citizens to be heard, Tina?

No, ma'am.

Thank you. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. Thank you. All right.

Thank you all very much for, um, stepping up and agreeing to provide these leadership roles. They're important. Look forward to working with each year.

Absolutely. We're in good hands. All right. Our next item is on economic and quantitative analysis tools. Nasheen is here to present this one for us.

We have been holding onto this one for a while. I think Nasheen keeps getting bumped from the agenda because we didn't have a long agenda today. We really wanted to give you a, uh, uh, an overview of some really innovative work that we're doing. And I really want to credit Nasheen for her leadership and all this.

Thanks for the introduction. And, uh, Mayor Kulianos, welcome. My name is Nasheen Rahman. I'm a principal planner here at Ford Pinellas. And yes, I am excited to share how we have been strengthening our quantitative analysis tools, um, at the agency to support our local governments. Because at this point, you know, that aside from our regulatory, um, role and, you know, keeping the MPO running, we also provide, um, extensive technical assistance to our local governments, um, large and small across the county. Um, listed in front of you are the current ongoing technical assistance projects that we have. That's not even all of them. We always have some smaller ones that continue. Um, and as you know, we have been strengthening our ability to provide, um, 3D modeling for our local governments as well. Um, so today I'm going to share with you two tools that we developed, um, mostly in-house but with some support from a consultant as well, um, both to support on one side, our land use decision-making, um, and then our transportation decision-making. So on the land use side, we have developed a financial feasibility toolkit to support the development of land development regulations. And this has been used to help us support, um, that technical assistance we provide, um, our local governments. And on the transportation side, we now have a benefit-cost analysis tool to help us quantify the benefits of transportation projects, um, and ultimately support our project prioritization. So first I will start with the financial feasibility toolkit. Um, the purpose of this is, um, similar to, I would say, a pro forma, but scaled down more to the plan, or rather scaled up more to the planning level. Um, it really is a tool to help us stress test the proposed land development regulations that we help our local governments with, because in some ways the effectiveness of the regulations that your community is right, that we help them right, are only as effective as the way they are implemented. Whether they yield realistic good development that is both in line with the, um, the current market conditions. Are they going to yield good, uh, good results in competitive developments? And also, will these policies both support community goals and encourage financially successful developments? Because all 25 of our local governments have very different land use contexts and goals. Um, but ultimately this tool incorporates various development parameters and then market-based assumptions that we have plugged into the tool, um, to give us these planning level development scenarios. Um, so this tool is based in Excel, but this, um, infographic, so to speak, is to kind of help you get your head around what goes into the tool. So we put in the typical project parameters, like the lot size, the allowable square footage, um, the residential units that could be built based on the regulations. And then where we have, um, plugged in some market-based assumptions are these estimated costs. So the cost to build commercial or residential per square footage. And then we are able to estimate the revenue that might come from, let's say, if, you know, there's multifamily residential that, um, will have rental units or commercial, um, square footage that would have retail tenants. Um, and then the tool outputs, essentially the big output that it gives us is what we call the feasibility gap, which tells us whether a, um, proposed development with these parameters would be in the red or green. Um, now we're not running a pro forma the way a developer or property owner might when they know exactly what they're going to build and they're running the exact numbers, but it's almost a version of that where we can test our regulations and see if a community changed their regulations, what kind of development might it yield. And it helps us just be better armed as planners to understand that we're not just writing regulations, but we want to see them come to life and we want them to be good developments in a community that are ultimately economically viable. Um, and where this really came out was from one of our technical assistance projects that, um, we helped the city of Indian Rocks beach with, um, they were considering the adoption of mixed use regulations in two of their, um, zoning districts where, uh, I've listed in front of you kind of the current regulations they have very modest floor area ratio, pretty modest, um, units per acre, um, especially considering the our beach community. But there was a lot of, um, decision-making involved in, in adopting mixed use regulations for them. Um, there are several constraints, um, that they come up against with small parcel sizes. The average lot size in Indian Rocks beach is just 7,200 square feet. Um, so you can only build so much on a lot that small. And then you also consider competing factors like parking requirements when they're high. Um, and you build a certain amount of a development, you also have to provide that parking per your regulations. Um, so, um, at this point you've also become familiar with that 3d modeling that, um, we have provided to our cities led, um, very well by Nicole on our team. Um, and we coupled the 3d modeling and the financial feasibility in this assistance project, where we gave the city different scenarios for them to consider the pros and cons of their decisions. We looked at what happens when you do nothing, because we always like to remind local governments that we give you the best options and the decision is yours and changing nothing is always an option. Um, we just want you to be armed with, um, all the factors in, in the decision. Um, the second scenario, we provided a modest increase, um, in allowable density and intensity. And then in the third scenario, we went up a little bit more and provided the option for a bonus. And these, um, images show you what those different options might look like on these parcels. Um, and then here we were able to run the financial feasibility for these scenarios, took those development parameters, those hypothetical development parameters that would be allowed, and then, um, modeled them in, uh, the financial feasibility toolkit. I want to draw your attention to the second and third row on this slide, 2117 Gulf Boulevard and 401 Gulf Boulevard. Um, you can see that we have this, uh, financial feasibility results for each scenario. And in the case of 2117 Gulf Boulevard, the only financially feasible development or hypothetical development is that single family residential. In the case of 401 Gulf Boulevard, you can see that the parcel size is a little bit above 36 thousand square feet and all of the scenarios yielded a financially feasible result. But the scenario two, which is kind of that middle ground was the most financially feasible. Um, so this kind of helped us consider what is causing some of these developments or rather, uh, hypothetical developments to be financially feasible or not. Um, and some of the key takeaways that we found in working with Indian Rocks Beach was that this reinforced the advantage for the city to have a second revenue revenue stream, um, on their properties through mixed use development, especially for those smaller lots where you saw that 7,200 square foot lot, only a single family residential development would be in the green hypothetically. Um, and we also heard this echoed from the business community because of the outcomes of the 2024 hurricane season where a lot of these businesses were left in a recovery phase because it was just a single use restaurant or retail. But then imagine if they had a second or third story of residential uses that could continue, um, that income stream for that business. So that was something that we heard about as well. Um, but kind of reiterating that single family residential being the most attractive financially, really without mixed use regulations, the city might have been incentivizing these single family uses. And depending on if that's the city's goal or not, they may or may not want that. They may want to diversify their economy or any other city may want to diversify that. But generally stepping away from the Indian Rocks Beach example, the financial feasibility toolkit really can spark a discussion on what types of developments are being incentivized, um, as a result of certain regulations. And it can also help us identify those kind of break even points of, okay, if you have a certain proposed floor area ratio or square footage, are people actually going to leverage that? Is it financially worth it for them to leverage that? Or do you channel your energy and regulations into, um, other design, um, or building form features? Um, so shifting gears into our, uh, transportation, uh, toolkit, we have worked with, um, the Suncoast Transportation Planning Alliance, which you, of course, um, voted on your representatives for that. So you are familiar that this alliance is comprised of the six MPOs and TPOs in, um, the Tampa Bay area. And every year, um, this, the SCTPA is given funds to come together on a regional project and each MPO, um, leads it each year. We were the lucky ones to lead the development of the benefit cost analysis tool. And the end result was again, an Excel based tool that can be used by each of our agencies to help us quantify the benefits of our transportation projects and ultimately plug it into our project prioritization. So we all have our own project prioritization processes already, and this isn't meant to replace that, but rather augment it with a more quantitative view of our projects. Um, and speaking of that existing project prioritization process in front of you are just examples of the criteria that we have in our current process. They require us as planners, as well as our technical committees to sit down and really think about the merit of each project based on these factors. And these are still incredibly important factors for us to use in prioritization. It gives us a holistic view of projects, but what we lacked until now was the ability to just really provide a number for, um, these projects in a quantitative way with the sound methodology. Um, so for anyone who isn't familiar benefit cost analysis, um, has been a well-established methodology and all lines of work, including transportation. And it really is just the process of comparing the estimated cost of a project and the benefits. And ideally you want to have a result greater than one, meaning the benefits of your project outweigh the costs. It's usually expressed as a decimal. Um, and when we think about project costs, those are easier to identify the planning costs, the design, the engineering, if there's right of way acquisition involved, but then the benefits quantifying those is what takes, um, some more extensive methodology. Some examples of benefits that we can quantify are travel time reduction that can be measured as the dollar per person per hour saved on the roadways as a result of improvements like improving signal timing, adding another turn lane, um, at a busy intersection safety benefits are very quantifiable. They are quantified based on, um, the ability of a project to reduce serious injuries or fatalities, which do have a cost associated with them. And the way that we quantify this was following federal guidance. So USDOT or the Department of Transportation has long had guidance for benefit cost analysis, specifically for grant applications. And so we kind of modeled that methodology to make sure that we are aligned with this federal guidance, both to be able to be aligned as an MPO, but also so we can use this tool to help our local governments with grant applications beyond our project prioritization. And I will get into that, um, at the end here, but here you can see that these are the quantifiable benefit categories that we have programmed into our tool from safety, travel time savings, and even being able to quantify the benefit of our bicycle pedestrian projects, because we do have some projects on our list that are just bike pad focus, and we still want to be able to quantify the value of those. So I will start with, um, just an example. The tool is very extensive, um, and has just like 20 different tabs in the Excel sheet that, um, we have been learning how to use, but I like to give, um, a bike pad example here. Um, oftentimes they are the easiest projects to explain, and in this case, this is a project on our unfunded list, and we are slowly going through our unfunded list to score these projects. So when it comes time to prioritize them, we can know what that benefit cost analysis score is. This project is, um, the construction of a separated multi-use trail about six and a half miles on 28th Street North from 30th Avenue North to Roosevelt Boulevard, and listed here are the benefit categories that applied to this project. So we recognize that every project is very different, each project has different benefits, and what we are able to do is only calculate the relevant benefit categories to each project and have these results be scaled in that way. Um, this is just to give you an idea of the total cost of the project as we know them now. Costs, of course, change by the time a project is actually funded, but we're looking at nearly 8.4 million dollars. And then just to give you a look behind the curtain, the way that the tool works is it provides, um, those quantified values for those, uh, benefit categories. This is an example of all the different safety measures that we are able to calculate and provide a quantitative value for. And for this particular project, the total safety cost savings are 24 million dollars. This is based on the number of existing crashes on, um, on this corridor around this area, um, and then the project's ability to potentially reduce those crashes. And as I mentioned, um, these are quantified values that USDOT provides. And, um, I learned this while I was, uh, learning the tool is that USDOT estimates the monetary value of a crash that results in a serious injury as 1.3 million dollars. And this is from the emergency services, the costs and the effect to the actual person who was injured. And the cost of a fatality is even more, even beyond just the life that was lost. Um, so these are, um, guidance and values that we have incorporated based on what is currently available to us. Um, so just fast forward, imagine I've run through the tool and I've been able to put in, um, all of the benefit categories. What we were able to calculate for this project is a benefit cost ratio of 5.39, um, which is really good for, um, for a project, um, that costs this much. Um, and so every project is going to score very differently, depends on all the costs, depends on the benefits. Um, but what we are really excited about is being able to provide this score, but also be able to break down the, the value of each of the transportation benefits, be able to look at safety on its own, travel time savings on its own. Um, and it will be a very powerful tool for us to convey the value of our projects. I mentioned that we made sure this was in line with the U S D O T guidance so that we could support grant applications. And a request for that just came a couple of weeks ago when the protect grant application, um, was currently out. The city of treasure Island reached out to us to run a benefit cost analysis. They are proposing, um, a project to elevate the treasure Island causeway that is currently not elevated. And we were able to calculate those benefits and, um, ultimately yield a result of 1.77, which is still good, for a project, um, that costs as much as a, uh, bridge elevation. Um, so it's been good to already use this tool beyond our project prioritization, but also to support a local government. And really, the key takeaways from this tool are that ability to, um, quantify our, uh, transportation project benefits, but also be in line with our various partners in the region, whether we merge as an MPO or not, it's important for us to have sound methodology in the way that we, um, prioritize transportation projects throughout the region. And this is actually part of a larger effort to develop a unified regional prioritization process between ourselves, Hillsborough County and Pasco County. There is a web-based tool that is currently in development, um, for that. And the benefit cost analysis tool, um, will become part of that. Um, I placed this flyer in this link in front of you. Um, if you are interested in learning more about, um, that effort and my contact information is listed as well, but, uh, I thank you for your time and letting me present this at the last board meeting of the year. And, um, if there's any way we can support your cities, um, or municipalities with these tools, please feel free to reach out and thank you for your time. Thank you. Can I ask, um, did your

modeling in Indian rocks beach include the property tax income right now? Um, single family homes that are homesteaded pay about 70% of their cost to government, whereas commercial properties pay about 150% of their costs to government? And is that an input we could add if it's not included?

It is currently not included, but we could certainly add those considerations. We're able to add these metrics ad hoc, um, depending on the request of the local government.

Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Other questions? Commissioner Scherer? No, thank you. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. All right. Thank you so much. That was fascinating. Yay. All right. We'll go on to our director's report. Okay. I have two items for you today.

Um, I'd like to just, um, maybe first start with the, uh, uh, impacts of amendment three on us as an agency. Um, I know you all are dealing with this and your respective local government, so I won't belabor it, but I did want to let you know that, um, when the board took action, um, earlier this year to approve our budget and then the subsequent adoption by the board of county commissioners, we did a full rollback of our millage rate. Um, and we did some scenario modeling of various millage rates, uh, but once we knew what that millage rate, the board recommended, we looked at it, um, out through the year 2032. It may be a little hard to see, um, but we do, um, have sufficient reserves as an agency to carry us through without any significant changes until the year 2032, where you might notice there's a little bit of a, of a red highlighted here where we run into about a $60,000 deficit. Um, that is five years away. Um, so I think that, you know, that gives us time to think through how we operate, how we function. Uh, there may be some future legislative changes, um, and we will continue to monitor it. That is not in my view, a call for alarm. Um, it is just something to be mindful of. Um, so we're looking at that and just ensuring that we're being smart about how we spend our money and how we use our staff resources. Um, we probably are sitting on too much in reserves right now. And the board of County commissioners reminds me of that every time I go there. Um, so amendment three is going to take care of that. Uh, we are not going to, um, be able to sit on those reserves very long. We do have in our adopted budget plans to spend that down. You just approved, uh, two of those in your consent agenda with the city of Largo and with the agreement with ESRI. So we're being prudent with the tax dollars, but I did want to just make you aware, uh, that we're affected, uh, as well, just maybe not as dramatically as some of our local governments and transit agency. Do you all have any questions about this? That's really all I wanted to say about it. Okay. The next item, uh, that is an action item, uh, is our legislative platform for 2027. Um, and, uh, I've asked, uh, Linda Fisher and Naseen Rahman of our staff to update the priorities we had from last year and it's in your packet. There is a link to a website, um, that has a little bit more of a narrative in here. Um, what's included in your, in your packet is, is the handout that we typically take to Tallahassee and give out to people. And it's an easy read. Our number one priority this year is to really, uh, work with our partners, uh, locally and, uh, in Tallahassee to revise our special act. And, um, that is, um, you know, because of the MPO conversation, but that was really the impetus, the work of the subcommittee really broadened and focused that scope a little bit, uh, on some other elements and we're very proud to bring those forward. So, um, that is something we'll continue to monitor. Uh, protecting home rule has been a longstanding priority of this agency since we represent the 25 local governments of Pinellas County. Uh, we have seen an erosion of home rule over the last decade or more. And, um, there are bills that we know that are being shopped around and may be filed regarding, uh, housing near jobs act and things like that, that would provide further preemption to require, um, higher density housing in your community. Um, so we want to be able to represent the interest of all 25 local governments and the impacts of those bills, um, whether it's a housing bill or it's some other form of preemption. And finally, uh, is support trans regional transportation decision-making. Uh, and that is not specifically, um, to support a merged MPO in any way, but one of the things that's been pretty evident, um, as I've gone around and I've met with you and I've met with stakeholders is the value proposition of merging your MPO. Some of you feel it more than others, uh, but it's really hard to quantify. And one of the reasons it's hard to quantify is because transportation funding is competitive. Um, and the, the Florida legislature many years ago, uh, I think it was around 2005 deemed regional transportation important enough to pass a law called the transportation regional incentive program. Um, unfortunately, uh, while it started out with some pretty good funding, it is now at seven to $12 million a year statewide, which isn't much of an incentive considering, uh, the state of Florida. So, um, you know, one thing we could look at is if you really want to incentivize MPOs to merge, or you really want to incentivize MPOs to work across their planning boundaries, uh, which we've heard, um, uh, is an interest, then, um, let's, let's make it easier. Um, and let's provide the funding and let's provide incentives to make that happen. Um, so I've got a working list of ideas. They're not fully fleshed out. They haven't been vetted. Uh, but the trip program is one that the legislature has, has created, and it just has chosen not to fund it very well. Um, so I would encourage you to look at the website and anything else you see here. This is going to be something that will be an evolving document, but we are asking for your approval of the legislative priorities today so that we can be prepared going into the committee weeks, which start the second half of November.

Thank you. Any questions or, um, Mayor Feeney, were you requesting to speak? Oh, I'm sorry. Nope. Okay. All right. Then in that case,

I will entertain a motion for approval. Second, um, can I make a quick suggestion? Maybe we list the 2027 board members and executive committee on it.

Thank you. Yes. We had to make a call at the time of putting this in the packet, but yes, we will update it with the newly, um, appointed board members. And we're going to probably wait, uh, until we know like the county commission appointments and all of your local government appointments. And we'll do that. Um, if not in December, we'll do it in January.

Okay. Great. Anyone else?

Madam chair. I didn't catch who made the motion and second.

Chris Johnson made the motion and second by David Albrecht, I believe, or did it

other way around. Okay. Oh, Albrecht made the motion and Johnson seconded.

I heard two voices over here.

Now, you know how I feel way over here.

And Tina, did we have any citizens who wish to speak on this item?

No, madam. We do not.

All right. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion carries. Thank you. Thank you, Wade. And thanks to all who put this together and best of luck to you on that. Um, we have no other action items. Did you?

No, I just, we have the standard informational items in your backup. Um, our fatalities map, our Pinellas trail count data. I won't go down all those. Um, and then upcoming events. Um, our chair mentioned the TMA leadership group meeting at nine 30 at PSTA to be followed by the SCTPA meeting. Um, and we are going to be at the SCTPA meeting, giving a little bit of a presentation on these, um, statewide tools that provide funding to local governments, um, in the form of the trip program. There's also a small county outreach program, which I imagine will have to be increased now. Um, and other programs that the legislature does make available to local government. So we'll, we'll kind of set a little context for that. The reason the SCTPA meets is because of the trip program, because you have to have regional alliances of MPOs to come together to adopt priorities, to be eligible for those funds. So just a little bit of background. All right. Thank you.

Um, did any, uh, any board members have anything else for the good of the order? All right. Thank you very much, everyone. It's been a pleasure. Best of luck to all of you meetings adjourned. Oh, oh, I'm sorry. I take that back. Okay. America. No, I just want to, uh, first say thank you for

allowing me to be part of this. Um, Brian, you know, uh, all of our, all these titles that we all have all have an expiration date on them, regardless of whatever time we think that we'll serve. But I I just want you to know that you are a mensch. You have been a great public servant and you have nothing to be ashamed of at all. And you should be proud of yourself as everyone in Tarpon Springs is

proud of you. So thank you. Well said. Thanks. Thank you for that. All right. Our meeting is adjourned.

Thank you all. Thank you all.