Good evening, everyone, and welcome. The Wednesday, May 21st, 2025, City of Plantation City Council meeting is now called to order at 6.36 p.m. I'm going to welcome also Ms. Thompson, who is serving as our city clerk today, and I'll ask you to please call the roll. Councilmember Anderson? Here. Councilmember Andrean? Here. Councilmember Fadgen? Here. Councilmember Horland? Here. Councilmember Einstein? Here. Mayor Sortel? Here. Assistant City Attorney Quentin Morgan? Here. Thank you. Tonight's opening remarks and Pledge of Allegiance will be provided by Councilmember Fadgen. You're up. Thank you, President Reinstein. If we could stand for the invocation and then remain standing for the pledge. Almighty Father, we thank you for your continued and abundant blessings upon this great city, state, nation, and all of your people. We ask that you bless these proceedings and all who appear before this council together tonight as we deliberate on the important business of our city. We pray for understanding and patience, help us to pause, to listen to points of view that are different from our own, and approach each other with respect and empathy. We pray for peace, for an end of suffering, and an end of conflict. With Memorial Day approaching, we pray for the families, friends, and fellow service members who lost loved ones, who gave their lives to protect our liberty and freedom, that the memory of their loved ones is everlasting. We pray for those who stand on the front lines of service, those who heal, protect, teach, and support our daily lives with courage, compassion, and commitment. We pray for those among us who are suffering in body, mind, or spirit. May the sick be restored to health, and may those in despair be guided by your light to healing, hope, and peace. Lord, give us all the strength required to take on everything that comes our way, cheerfully, courageously, patiently, tenderly, all of which in a manner that will be pleasing to you, Lord. For all of this, we ask in your holy name, amen. I pledge allegiance. Okay. Thank you very much, Council Member Fadgen. Now we have items submitted by the mayor. We're going to begin with a very special, lovely proclamation sponsored by Council Member Hoyland. So I'm going to ask the audience if you can take a look at the screen. This is an invitation we did for an event we held outside at 5 o'clock this evening where we unveiled our tapestry. So I want you to just take a little bit of look at the video, and you can see what went on, what went into this tapestry that is hanging outside of City Hall. Just a little bit of a snippet, and I'll go ahead and start reading this proclamation. Whereas Magda Love, also known as Maria Magdalena Marcinato, is a distinguished Argentinian visual artist and muralist now based in Plantation, Florida. And whereas Magda's artwork is a celebration of color, nature, and humanity, her aim is to inspire others to recognize the value in shared personal experience and emotional connectivity. And whereas Magda loves to play with the idea of magical realism, a contemporary twist on Latin American folk arts and literature, inviting the viewers to discover, imagine, and bridge to a land of make-believe. And whereas Magda's love has made a significant impact globally, collaborating with prestigious entities such as Google, Red Bull, W Hotels, Hudson Yards, and Johnny Walker, leaving an indelible mark on cityscapes worldwide. And whereas her commitment to community engagement and education has earned her recognition from esteemed institutions such as United Nations, TEDx, Fulton Street, MoMA, PS1, the Carol Fairman Foundation, Catholic Charities, the JPB Foundation, the Broward County Cultural Division, and the Sustainable Arts Foundation. And whereas Magda was recently awarded a Broward County Innovation Grant to create a community-based public art project here in the City of Plantation. And whereas Branching Out is a large-scale tapestry mural comprised of discarded textiles, a collaboration between artist and community, which brings awareness to sustainable practices and highlights the flora and fauna of the Everglades. And whereas, as the City of Plantation continues to expand its public art offerings, it is grateful for this collaboration with artist Magda Love and appreciates her commitment to fostering education, artistry, and community. Now, therefore, Nick Soral Mayor and the City Council of Plantation Florida do hereby proclaim May 21, 2025, as Magda Love Day in the City of Plantation, and calling upon the residents to join us in celebration as we recognize the contributions Magda Love has made to the cultural arts in cities around the world and now here in our community. Hi, thank you. And before I let Magda say a couple of words, I just want to repeat a little bit about what I said outside for the people that were not here at 5 o'clock. So this meeting really was kismet, and it was really, you know, the City of Plantation has done a phenomenal job of expanding the cultural arts in our community. And because we had the, say, Adams mural, who also, again, a world-recognized artist, Magda Saint saw our post. She contacted me, and what I did not say outside is my daughter now lives in Manhattan, and every morning when she gets off the subway, she walks by a six-story building that Magda painted the mural on. So it's a tremendous project. What did that take you, five years to get through the permitting process? Yeah, in New York. It didn't take that long in the City of Plantation. But it really was meant to be. My dad was an artist. This was important to me. But this is a phenomenal woman who loves community, loves nature. And what I'm most proud of, aside from that beautiful tapestry out there and what we're going to be able to do with education and bringing our schools on board, is the way this really brought the community together. The Sowing Guild of Lauderdale West, our employees, our council, the women's club. It was really just phenomenal in South Plantation High School. So I appreciate administration support, public works, fire department, the police department. It really was a beautiful example of Team Plantation coming together. So I'm just so proud of you and what this community has done. Thank you so much. Say a couple of words. Well, I didn't know if I was going to be facing this way. But actually, I'm really thankful for all of you that came and gave a stitch and just come and help out. I also thank you for the parade. It was very inspiring. And, you know, I think my name, I chose Magda Love because, you know, I'm always hoping that we all see the best on each other. And, you know, through my art and living here, that's always my aim. That we respect each other, that we love each other, that we celebrate each other's gift that God gave us. And, you know, I'm very thankful, Denise, for this proclamation. I was not expecting it. It's very special. And, you know, I just want to say, you know, it's amazing to see people coming together for the arts. And I hope that we can keep growing, like, culture and arts in the city because I think they're very, very important for families, right, to come together. It was beautiful to see people that are, like, 17, 20, 80, 90, and 45, everybody sewing together and having conversations. And I just hope that we promote a lot more of that for us and for our families. So thank you. Take a picture. Take a picture. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, Councilmember Hoyland. Next up is National Safe Voting Week. And that is sponsored by Mayor Sorgel. Did you start to choke up up there? I don't blame you. It's a big deal. By the way, don't read the whole proclamation. You don't have to read the whole thing. No, I'm kidding. Come on up. Come on up. It was a great day. A great day. Safe Voting Week. For more than 100 million Americans, boating continues to be a popular recreational activity. From coast to coast and everywhere in between, people are taking to the water, enjoying time together, boating, sailing, paddling, and fishing. During National Safe Voting Week, the U.S. Coast Guard and the National Safe Voting Council, along with the federal, state, and local safe boating partners, encourage all boaters to explore and enjoy America's beautiful waters responsibly. A lot of good waters out there. Safe boating begins with preparation. Coast Guard estimates human error accounts for most boating accidents and that life jackets could prevent nearly 75% of boating fatalities. National Safe Boating Week is observed to bring attention to important life safety tips for recreational boaters, whereas on an average, 650 people die each year in boating-related accidents, and whereas the vast majority are caused by human error or poor judgment and not by the boat or equipment, whereas a significant number of boaters who lose their lives by drowning would be alive today had they just worn their life jackets. Therefore, I, Nick Soto Mayor, City of Council Plantation, hereby proclaim May 17th to 23 as National Safe Boating Week. Got anything you want to say? Yes, sir. Good job. What's up? Thank you, Mayor, and thank you for the City Council members for recognizing National Safe Boating Week. My name is Glenn Wiltshire. I'm the Flotilla Staff Officer for Flotilla 3-8, based here in Plantation. Through the good graces of the police department, we use your media room for our meetings, as well as on May 14th, we'll be, or June 14th, excuse me, we'll be holding our next boating safety class. Interesting, the state just released its statistics for 2024, and unfortunately there were 81 fatalities in the state of Florida. Over a million boat owners, as the proclamation said, and 65% of those people involved in a fatal accident had no boating safety education. So what we try to stress, and we really appreciate the support from the city in allowing us to facilitate getting people into those classes, whether they've never experienced boating before or they've been boating for a long time, because we find that anybody who comes to our course walks out and says, boy, I didn't know that. So once again, thank you for your support, thank you for the attention to this, and appreciate you seeing me again. Absolutely. Thank you very much. Next up, we will celebrate National Public Works Week. National Public Works Week. Is that Matt? Come on down. Jacket on, he's ready. He does. Yeah. I'm going to start reading. Whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities, and whereas these infrastructure, facilities, and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers, and employees at all levels of government, and the private sector who are responsible for rebuilding, improving, and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, and solid waste systems, and whereas it is in the public interest for the citizens, civic leaders, and children in the city plantation to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of the importance of public works, whereas the year 2025 marks the 65th annual National Public Works Week, sponsored by the American Public Works Association. Therefore, I, Nick Soto Mayor, and the City Council Plantation, hereby proclaim the week of May 18-24 as National Public Works Week. I'm getting out of your way. Thank you, Mayor. So the theme for National Public Works Week this year is people, purpose, and presence. So, kind of got me thinking. If I could, I would ask any staff member on the City of Plantation if you could come up here. Every staff. Every staff. Every staff. Not any staff. Every. Every and all staff. Not just Public Works. Every. Police Chief, Fire Chief, Anna, Administration, Dan, Laura, Laura, we send the city now, Carol, Carol. Carol. They're not happy with them. Presence. I know, it's crazy. It's probably never been done, but I'll do it. Mr. Ezra. So when I think of people, purpose, and presence, this is what I think of. And in my mind, Felix has a sign, Mayor, that he would like for you to hold. It gives you something to do. I thought you were going to tell me to sit down because I don't work. No, no, no. How about Mr. Ezra takes the picture? Clinton, can you squeeze a picture for us? The shorter ones come. I got you. The sign says, we're all Public Works. We're all Public Works. I should have brought his vote. We can't do what we do without the support and help of all them, and they can't do it without us. But I won't say that too loud. And that goes to you, too. This is Team Plantation, everyone. Look at the camera. There we go. There we go. There we go. All right. Good man. Look at him. Nobody planned. Got a future. There we go. Thank you. Thank you. There is a spin on the ground. Thank you. Thank you. Council Mayor, thank you guys very much for the recognition. Thank you, everyone. That was very nice. Next up, we have a very special retirement proclamation. Mr. Mayor. Tanya Beasley Field. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. The best. Oh, my goodness. Now I've got to read this plaque. Here we go. Whereas Tanya was born in Rockledge, Florida in 1959, moved to Plantation in 1966, where she was raised, and whereas Tanya started working for the city of Plantation as part-time and became full-time librarian in December 1990, whereas Tanya has two adult children, Mark, who's 31, and lives in Vermont, and Alexandra, who's 27 and lives in Gainesville, and whereas Tanya is proud of the many people she has met and helped over the years, whether by finding information to support their goals or by encouraging young people to read and learn about what they love, which she finds truly rewarding, and whereas Tanya plans to enjoy her retirement with friends and family, reuniting with many cousins, and perhaps travel to Japan and Australia. Now, therefore, I, Nick Soto Mayor and the City Council, hereby express our gratitude and appreciation to Tanya Beasley Field for her dedicated service and wish her good luck and an enjoyable, happy retirement. Wow. This is so beautiful. I'm truly overwhelmed by this. I don't know. I have no words except to say to everyone, and you could probably hear me because I'm loud. I wish every one of you much love, many blessings in life. I hope every one of you here, you live to 99 years old, in perfect health, win the lottery, surrounded by all of your loved ones. Thank you. I cannot tell you everything that you've given to me and everything the City has given to me. Thank you. Much love. Thank you. This is so beautiful. Can I hold this up? We're going to take our picture here. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Key to the City. Key to the City. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you. You're the best. Congratulations. Thank you. Were you at the day when she spoke about the history? Three or four of you were up on a panel? Or you did another panel? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So if you ever want to hear stories, she does have them. They did a thing, Memories of Plantation, and Tanya's memories were pretty meaningful. Okay. Service awards. We've got one here. Catherine Ortiz, Public Works, five years. What part are you working? Public Works. Okay. Anything you want to say? No. Okay. You don't have to. Some wonderful proclamations. Next up, we have Director Tricia O'Toole, Parks and Rec. Good evening again, council members. A couple of events we've got coming up in Parks and Rec. This Monday, May 26th, is our Memorial Day service at 9.30 a.m. at Veterans Park. On Monday, June 9th, it's our first day of summer camp. Saturday, June 14th, we've got a special event for Father's Day. It's a pinball with Dad. It's a field trip up to Delray Beach. Registration is currently open. In our aquatics division this Saturday is our water safety day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Aquatic Center at Central Park. At our equestrian center, Saturday, June 7th and June 8th, we've got our last show for the season, the Heritage Horse Show. And in our athletics division, PAL is currently registering for cheerleading, flag football, summer basketball, and adult athletics is registering for flag football, basketball, kickball, and softball. And that's all I got. Fantastic. Thank you very much. Well, we are now at 6.56 p.m. And I will now recess the City Council meeting and call to order the CRA meeting. And I'll ask Ms. Thompson to please call the roll for the CRA meeting. Okay. Commissioner Anderson? Here. Commissioner Andreu? Here. Commissioner Fadgen? Here. Commissioner Horland? Here. Commissioner Reinstein? Here. Commissioner Sordle? Here. Assistant City Attorney Quinton Morgan? Here. Thank you. Thank you very much. The CRA consent agenda consists of items 1, 2, and 3 and may be approved by one motion. Do any members of the commission wish to pull an item or do I have a motion? Motion to approve. Second. We have a first and a second and nobody has signed up for the consent items. And seeing no further discussion, I'll ask Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Commissioner Anderson? Yes. Commissioner Andreu? Yes. Commissioner Fadgen? Yes. Commissioner Horland? Yes. Commissioner Reinstein? Yes. Commissioner Sordle? Yes. Thank you. We now have public requests of the commissioners regarding the CRA, and I have Mr. Conklin signed up for public comments on groundbreaking, PGH demo, and no high-rise residences are his topics. You have three minutes, Mr. Conklin. I'm Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest 6 Court. Heavenly hosts protect you and your families. This morning, we were pushing some dirt in Flex Zone 73 at the old Plantation General Hospital site where they broke ground for the new, soon-to-be-built emergency center. And I asked if they were going to be demolishing the existing plant right now, and they said they were. And so I'm requesting from the commissioners, I don't see your name tags up there again, the six of you, to please do not put high-rise residences in that place, looking into my neighbor's backyards and homes. And I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Conklin. Seeing no further cards, do we have anybody online? Seeing nobody online, no further discussion? Seeing no further discussion, then we will adjourn the CRA meeting at 6.59 p.m., and we will now reconvene the City Council meeting at 6.59 p.m., and we will begin with public requests of counsel regarding municipal affairs. Those who wish to speak, we request that you complete a speaker form, if you have not done so already. Please state your name and address when you approach, and please address your remarks to the council president, not the mayor, nor individual members of the council. Please keep your remarks to the allotted three minutes. If extra time will be needed to conclude your remarks, please ask for it as your time is expiring and not prior to beginning your remarks. We have two people signed up, Mr. Conklin, followed by Mr. Huizenga. Mr. Conklin. If I may approach. Go ahead. I'm sorry, this is for the mayor? Your envelope is being passed over to the mayor. It's actually for three people. Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest Sixth Court Plantation. It's day 1,895 of the public health emergency, blah, blah. It's day 592 since Hamas started its war against Israel. All freedom-loving people. Followed in suit the next day, day 591 of the Hezbollah war against Israel. It's day 393 of the Coordinated College Jihad, which has spread not just since the college campuses, but through many of the municipalities of this country. It's day 313 since the first assassination attempt of our president. It's day 249 since the second attempt of assassination of President Trump. And I'd like to make a request to have 12 plantation students from their schools to read approximately 100 words each of the Declaration of Independence after the parade here at City Hall. I would also like to request the budgeting for mandatory DEI, critical theory, CRT, ESG training. Again, it was mandatory. I'd like to request the end for all EV purchases and EV infrastructure. The package that I gave to the mayors, on Friday the 16th of May, the Moody's rating company downgraded the U.S. bonds, treasuries, notes. Again, for the second time in the year. I've been after the city about the mountain of money, and for a number of years we were starting to decrease the paper from the United States. What's happening right now is the bond market is so adverse that these treasuries are not worth the paper they're printed on. So I encourage you to get rid of the treasuries, fully fund the general fund for the general employees to find benefit pension plan. What I put in there were 10 cities, examples of their pension funds from their CAFERS. I didn't put Fort Lauderdale, which was the largest city, but I took the next nine plus one. May I add 30 seconds? If it's to make a request, Mr. Conklin. Very good. I'm asking them to look at the pensions for the 10 cities that I gave information for. A number of them are basically fully funded except for maybe $1 million, $5 million. Plantation general employee fund is down $74 million. I mean, it's not even close. One of the cities even has a 401A program, which basically funds their whole general employees, and they have a small remnant of a defined benefit plan that's basically $1 million unfunded. Thank you, Mr. Conklin. We need to look after our very important and loyal employees. Thank you. I yield back. No more time to yield back, but thank you, Mr. Conklin. Mr. Huizenga. Good evening. Dave Huizenga, 1271 Northwest 78th Avenue Plantation. Last fall and into early winter, I met with each of you independently to discuss the traffic calming process and procedure, and after meeting with each of you, I believe that I presented a reasonable, thoughtful approach to the shortcomings of the problem issues, and that each of you were in agreement with at least some of my points, so on January 9th, 2025, I emailed the city, and I even prepared a preliminary agenda for a meeting with staff to go over some of the shortcomings. I didn't get a response until after I reached out to Mayor of Florida a couple of times, and on April 9th, I got a response from Mr. Dornieville from the engineering department, and he replied, thanking me for my valuable input for the city traffic calming process policy. This policy was adopted by our city council members, supported by the general public on August 22, August 2022. At this time, we're not considering any modifications to the adopted policy, so I thought that I was a pretty good judge of character, and when I met with you, I thought I had some points. Was I mistaken about that, or did I have some points? But for some reason, the staff just didn't think so. So then I watched a video from the August meeting in 2022, and then in May, just to see what happened at those meetings. Well, neither meeting was advertised as a public meeting specifically for the adoption of the traffic calming policy. So there were only six speakers that showed up, three at each meeting, and I watched the video. One of the three speakers in August was in favor of the speed bumps. The other two were not. On May 8th, 2024, none of the speakers spoke in favor of the policy. They noted the speed bump damages and pain that they experienced bouncing over these things, and they had questions about the definition of the area of concern, which was one of my points that I wanted to bring up to staff of defining the area of concern. But there wasn't overwhelming support of this policy, so I doubt that that was really a fair in Mr. Donovil's. Could I have 30 seconds to want more? If you want to finish with 30 seconds, please finish. Thank you. So I don't think that was an entirely accurate statement about public support. At least it didn't weigh out in the people that were here. One of the things that came up at the meeting was the definition of whether a household was one vote or if it was residents. And the city engineer said that it was one vote per household, but the policy hasn't been changed or adjusted. It still says residents. And so, anyway, the current policy still defines the area as basically the street, even though the area that people use that street every day is much bigger than that. If I can ask you just to conclude with your request. Okay. My request is direct staff to meet with me and honestly and earnestly listen to my points and, like, make some changes to the policy. That's my request. I'll be here for any questions. Thank you very much. This is the last call for any comments from the public. Are there anything online? No online. There's no further public request of common cards. So public requests of the council regarding municipal affairs are now closed. We will now turn to the consent agenda. The consent agenda consists of items 1 through 12 and may be approved with one motion. I already have a request from the public to pull number 11. Any requests from the dais? Hearing? Sorry. Yes, Council Member Anderson. Number 6, please. Seeing none others, do we have a motion? Motion to approve items 1 through 12 minus 6 and 11. Do we have a second? Second. Seeing no further discussion, Ms. Thompson, if you please call the roll. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andreu? Yes. Council Member Fadgen? Yes. Council Member Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. Council Member Anderson, number 6. So it's about the generator. I don't know who can talk about that. I don't see Charles Spencer. Mr. Spencer is on. Okay. Hold on one second, Council Member Anderson. Can we just confirm that Mr. Spencer is hearing us? It's not just Charles. So we probably also the specs because I can't tell you. I see special projects. Right. So I don't have enough information. Charles, can you hear us? Yes, I can. Okay, perfect. Hi. How are you doing, Charles? Good evening, Council Members, Mayor. So we don't get enough details, so I'm assuming you have more information. And so when I search the generator for fire station number three, the Blue Star PD 150, the one MSRP price they can find, which is only one, and most of them say call for price, so I'm not going to call all over the country. But at least it gave me a ballpark. It's $53,000. But this project, just to remove one, put on a pad. I know there's wiring, I know there's transfers, I know there's hookups. I've done a lot of this stuff. I've managed many projects. I know there's a lot more costs. But to go from $53,000 to $220,000 to install, to remove and install a generator, can you fill any of the gaps? Yeah, so the actual generator was purchased two years ago. It was purchased back when the old public works director was here. And the purpose was to replace the one that's existing, which is outdated. It's end of term. That generator was going to be removed, and the public works department was supposed to install, except that when it went time to install, there was a lot of deficiencies in what the public works director at the time was going to do. So they went ahead and started the process of going through what we needed to actually install a generator to include the engineering, the drainage, the electrical, a new transfer switch, because they were going to utilize the old transfer switch that was not compatible to the new generator. That's when we got it as the Capital Projects team for administration. So that generator has been there waiting for this. We went out to bid, and this was the overall price for the scope in regards to all the earthwork, all the pad pouring, the fencing, the gates, the transfer switch installation, the transfer switch, all the electrical runs to that, the removal of the old generator from inside the building, because the old generator is currently located inside the building, and then the install of the new one, the testing, having the company come down and start it, and of course, minus the fuel. It still seems extremely high for a $50,000 generator that it costs $225,000 to install it. It's just insane. I do understand what we've noticed. You only had two responsive bidders, which I don't like when you only had three, but one was non-responsive, if I recall. Correct. Yes. I do understand your concerns. What we have been seeing just on this project, I think as Mr. Polio stated as well, we are having issues when we go out to bid. We have seen inflated pricing for that. We've seen individuals that are not bidding, people that were bidding at one time are no longer bidding. Perfect example right now is, which will be brought up, we're going back out to bid for daiki. We had some discrepancies in daiki from a couple hundred thousand dollars to almost, you know, three quarters of a million dollars. We saw some price concerns there. So we're doing our part to make sure that when we get these bids in, we see that they're reasonable for price, but we are noticing the uptick and increase in supplies and the labor force going forward. So I don't disagree with what you're, you know, what you're saying. Most of this is, most, the 50-something thousand is the generator. Most of this is going to be labor, and that's not subject to tariffs. That's just inflation. We have normal inflation. We do have normal inflation. And I have addressed this with a couple of our current contractors that we've used for other projects. And what they're seeing is the uptick in pricing from six months ago, you were able to get someone from $15 to $25. Now they're charging $25 to $60 for laborers. So the price has significantly increased on that end, bringing the overhead for the contractors significantly higher as well. Okay. So the final little part of the discussion, any idea what a comparable, I mean, because removing an installing generator is pretty standard. There's a pad, a transfer switch, wires. It's pretty similar. You can make some general comparisons. What does it cost to put one in other places around Broward locally, South Florida? The last generator that I believe was installed for the city at least was in Fire Station 1, and that was part of the overall project when they built the station. Locally here, we're seeing roughly, with a generator at that size, about $70,000 to $80,000 for the generator now, and then upwards of $150,000 to install. So it is in the ballpark. So it is in the ballpark. Again, I'm not saying I disagree with you because the price is slightly- You guys know I'm not blaming you, but I don't have the devil in the details. That's what you guys have to do. Understood. Yeah. Okay. So, I mean, does this fall, and it is what it is? We have two choices, and the lowest bid gets it, and it's still not low. I see Mr. Spencer is now on the video screen, so maybe Mr. Spencer wants to jump in. I'm just going to add two notations there. There's a $20,000 contingency amount included in there as well, so you need to remove that. And then, of course, the byproduct of doing a project of $6,700 relating to permit allowance. So you're looking at another $26,000 that is technically not associated with the actual construction of the work. Okay. Just for the record, will you identify yourself, please? Oh, I'm sorry. Mr. Soto, Project Manager for Administration. Thank you. Thank you. And Charles Masters. We got you, Charles. Thank you. Hi. Good evening, everyone. Asha Edwards. I'm the Assistant Procurement Director. Thank you very much. So it is what it is. He gave me more information, and I feel like we're getting hosed, but we need it, and there's not much you can do about it. Thank you, Council Member Anderson. Anyone further? Do you have a motion? Does anybody wish to make a motion on number six? Motion to approve item number six. Second. Seeing no further discussion, Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Council Member Horland. Yes. Council Member Anderson. Yes. Council Member Andreu. Yes. Council Member Fadgen. Yes. Council Member Reinstein. Yes. Thank you. As much as I'd like to look at Mr. Spencer. There you go. And Mr. Conklin, agenda item number 11. Thank you, Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest Sixth Court. To back up a little bit to the CRA, the expenses for the week of the CRA were for really important things like consultants, their room and board, and stuff like that, to improve the CRA, which overlays the Gateway 7. And the Gateway 7 again this week, it's $1,300 for water and wastewater. Since the creation of the CRA, and we still have a good period of time left, I request that you would minimize the impact on that same district, because they overlay one another, to remove the millage rate, the extra millage rate for the Gateway 7 district, because they already paid the regular real estate millage rate for everybody else. And there's got to be some better use than spending this money for water and wastewater every week. It's over $1,000. So the CRA, the TIF was over $4 million this year, according to, not last year, I should say last year because of the CRA, the CAFR. So that's what I wanted to say. Thank you. I'll yield back. Thank you, Mr. Conklin. Do we have a motion on agenda item 11? Motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. Seeing no further discussion, Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Council Member Foreland? Yes. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Dream? Yes. Council Member Fadgen? Yes. Council Member Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. Thank you very much. We will now move to legislative items number 13, PP24-0011, consideration of a request for assignment of LAC units for 849 South State Road 7. The property is located at 849 South State Road 7 in Zone BAC. And I will ask City Attorney Quentin Morgan to please read the summary. Thank you, Mr. President. I appreciate the accuracy in your description of me. I'm sure Mr. Ezra is going to have a good laugh about this one. So let me get to the business of the city. We have a public hearing, second reading of an ordinance of the city plantation pertaining to the subject of comprehensive planning, assigning 18 residential units in the Plantation Gateway Local Activity Center LAC so as to permit the utilization of a portion of the remaining LAC residential units for development on property line in Section 12, Township 50, South, Range 41 East, generally located at 849 South State Road 7, and more particularly described in Exhibit A, providing findings, providing for conflicts, providing for severability, and providing for an effective date. Mr. President. Thank you very much. I will take the motion in the second, if there is, and then I will call up Mr. Conklin, who has some public comment. Motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. Mr. Conklin. He yields. I'm seeing no further discussion. Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. Council Member Horland. Yes. Council Member Anderson. Yes. Council Member Andreu. Yes. Council Member Fadgen. Yes. Council Member Reinstein. Yes. Thank you. Next up, quasi-judicial proceedings. City Attorney Quentin Morgan, please read the procedures for the quasi-judicial hearing. Thank you, Mr. President. The City Clerk will swear in all witnesses before speaking. Please state your name and whether you have been administered in the oath. Any speaker may be cross-examined. If you refuse to be cross-examined, your testimony may not be considered. Cross-examination shall be conducted in a courteous manner. The material in the City Clerk's Agenda Packet will be made. A part of the record, the City staff will make the first presentation, if any, followed by presentations from the applicant, any affected parties, and the public. The elected officials may set reasonable time limits for speakers. The hearing will then be closed and the matter decided. The City Council's decision will be delineated in its motion and written in writing by way of a development order, resolution, or ordinance evidencing its decision. Then the City Council may also decide to continue the matter to. Does it need a time to allow for additional research or review? Mr. President. Thank you very much. Do we have any witnesses that wish to be sworn in to speak on the item? If you do, please stand. And I will ask that the City Clerk swear in all witnesses. Do you swear or affirm that the evidence you present today is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? Thank you. So we have quasi-judicial item number 14. Which is PP25-0013, consideration of request for approval for a special sign exception for Columbia Hospital Corp of Broward, aka HCA Westside Hospital. The property is located at 8201 West Broward Boulevard and is zone M-PM, which is mixed-use plantation Midtown. And, Mr. Holmes, do we request, does anybody from the Council want a presentation? No. I'd like to make a motion. Please. Make a motion to approve. Second. And, Council President, may I also make a Jennings Disclosure? I did speak to the applicant. It will not affect my vote. And I will also make a Jennings Disclosure. I, at various times, have spoken to the applicant regarding this, and it will not affect my vote either. We have a first and a second, but I know we had some people that were sworn in. Does anybody from the public wish to speak on this matter? It's not required. My apologies, Council President. I'm sorry, who was the mover and the second? No. Okay. And applicant, not required. Is there anything that you wish to speak on? I see HCA, Mr. Jason. No? Okay, very good. So we have a first and a second. No further discussion. Ms. Thompson, please call the roll. All right. Council Member Horland. Yes. Council Member Anderson. Yes. Council Member Andrade. Yes. Council Member Fadgen. Yes. Council Member Reinstein. Yes. Thank you. Congratulations. And that is almost the end of the agenda. We have comments by the Mayor. Mayor, you're up. Congrats, HCA. Got to be exhausted with that. Thank you. So the Brownwood School Board had a mayoral city manager roundtable today. And so I went and we talked about different things. What they wanted us to know is they finished phase one, which is expanded grade levels for certain neat communities. For example, Hollywood Central is K-8 now. Pines, Collegiate Academy is 6-12. And so now they're talking about phase two priorities. And the big one is school consolidations. And they made it very clear that as this goes down, they want partnerships. They want to talk to us. They want input. To the point that somebody in the crowd said, Mr. Hepburn, the culture has changed since you. Everybody feels like they could speak up. Everybody next to him nodded. Everybody nodded. And so I don't know if you all feel that. I don't know if you should talk about that or not. If you're about to get a raise, I would say yes. But, you know, hey. But so that's coming down. School consolidations and different things. They predicted a decline of $8,000 for next year. And the other thing Hepburn pointed out was it costs more to educate in an old, under-enrolled school than in a new school. And those costs are killing us, according to him. That's what I got. Thank you. Thank you very much. And we are moving right along. We have advisory board reports. Mayor, is there anything from the advisory board reports? Or just passing it on. Okay. Thank you very much. We'll move on to comments from council members. And we're going to start with Council Member Hoyland. Thank you, Mr. President. Just a couple of things. Today, the Solid Waste Authority, Ms. Morris and I were there for the master plan draft for our meeting. What I asked of her is now that we're in the draft master plan stage, we really need feedback. And I need to hear from all of you. So before this thing becomes finalized, you know, one of the things that the scenario they're looking at is not adding a new waste-to-energy plant. There does need to be some landfill, but it's really about reducing, you know, increasing the recycling, composting. There's a lot that goes into it. But what the Solid Waste Authority is doing, they're here holding a series of public meetings. There will be one that will be sponsored by the Broad League of Cities. They're on the 10th and 11th and the 17th of June. So we'll make sure we send those dates out. But what Ms. Morris and I talked about is perhaps doing a half-hour workshop in June with administration's consent, just so that we can have a Socratic discussion about what you want me to take back to the Solid Waste Authority. So I believe we have a date, Mayor, of June 25th, I think. Carol, is that what we did? June 25th? Okay. Yep. So I just wanted to bring that to everybody's attention. That'll be a 5.30 workshop here before our council meeting. But again, we'll get out those meeting dates of the 10th, the 11th, and the 17th. And if anybody can make those, then you'll be able to avail yourself of the actual presentation of the Solid Waste Authority and see everything that they are proposing, we are proposing. On Monday at a South Florida Regional Planning Council meeting down at the TPO in Miami. And one of the things that was really interesting about that presentation, they had Dr. Jurado come in and talk about the resiliency report that took two years that's come out, and I don't know if everybody has taken a look at that. But they had the chief heat officer for Miami-Dade come in. And what was really interesting about that was talking about the heat index. And she gave a statistic that the, I think between the year 2000 and 2023, there were about 30 days in the state of Florida, or in South Florida, their heat index was about 105. They're predicting by mid-century that it's going to be six months of days like that. So when we're talking about, especially our vulnerable population, they're really trying to have a focus on social media campaign, and Broward's going to be running the same type of information out there, because heat is the number one weather-related killer. I think they lost 800 people in Miami-Dade. I didn't have the last year. I didn't have the statistics for Broward. So I know that we just had an emergency meeting, Mayor, emergency preparations recently, I think last, this week. We had it, what day, Monday, Tuesday? Yeah, I know that that was this week. So I just want to see that if we can really include some of that and wait to see what Broward County puts out, maybe run that on social media, and make sure that we're taking care of our folks as well. I would appreciate that. University of Plantation last week was a day in the life of the council member. Councilmember Reinstein and Fadgen and I were there, and really, Laura does a terrific job with that, and it's just so wonderful to see the residents engaged. They ask great questions. And Mayor, again, I told the story, how we looked at each other at that Florida League of Cities meeting, and we're like, we need to do that. And not until you got elected as mayor that we were able to implement it, and you did a really great job. So I love to see that program grow. So thank you very much for that. You mentioned Dr. Hepburn. He was at the Teacher of the Year luncheon for the first time in the City of Plantation at the chamber last week. And he said to make sure to put it on his schedule. He wants to come back, because that was a wonderful event. And it was interesting, because one of our teachers of the year from Central Park, her husband's actually a plantation police officer. She's a young teacher, and I happened to see her the following Friday, and she just raved about the luncheon. She said, I want to come every year. So they really felt special, and I think it's a wonderful event for us to be able to recognize our educators. Cava opened. You know I've been advocating for Cava, and so excited. I'm not a fast food eater, but last night I placed my order at 6.15, was able to pick it up at 8.30, but I didn't wait in that line. But really, just so exciting to see all these restaurants coming in. Cava's a great healthy option. But really, the pictures online are the lines around the door. I think you posted something, Council Member Andreu and Council Member Einstein. Really exciting to see the investment in the community. And as you know, people get very excited about new restaurants. So that's been great. Last thing, I just want, if you can indulge me for a moment, I texted Matt Thompson today because Father Coutier, who we all know, messaged me about one of his parishioners, who was very upset yesterday, and I just, I asked her if I could read this to you. One of the first families in plantation, and they had the first acre sign in front of their house, there's two of them, and they had been removed. And they took to social media, and they're very excited, upset about these signs. I reached out to Matt, and of course, he responded right away and said, yes, we removed those, but we're replacing them. We're going to make them better because they're falling apart. But she asked me to share this with everyone. She said, I said, the signs are being replaced. She said, thank you. That makes me happy because we love our city. Many people do not know where the name came from. It came from the Plantation Water District. My mom, Betty Clark, was thinking the name Farmington was not as pretty as Plantation. She also wanted to name the first streets in alphabetical order. I mean, this was the first family in Plantation. Royal Palm was supposed to be the main entrance. That was after the brick wall where the turnpike crosses Broward down. My dad, Chauncey Clark Jr., was an avid golfer. So, of course, the Plantation Golf Course was in the Clark plans for the future city of Plantation. Mother Nature had other plans. After building several homes and several hurricanes, the Clark dreams took a different direction. My family stayed after the devastation of lots. The original home is still in their family. And that's from Candy Clark Farley, one of the first homes in the city of Plantation. And the family still has a home. So, she, you know, asked that we share that. And, again, thank you, Public Works, for taking care of their sign. It really meant a lot to her. And lastly, tonight was a great night. Thank you for everyone's support. The Community Foundation of Florida, I had just received a note from them. What a great partner they've been in this $10,000 grant to Magda Love, the Say Adams. And, you know, Trish O'Toole was talking about the art festival. They're another one to tap into. And we have a real connection. And Plantation's really raising its profile with public art. And I think they're going to be a great partner. So, I just really want to thank everybody again. And that's it, Mr. President. Thank you so much for the indulgence. Thank you. Was that the Community Foundation of Broward or? Thank you. And Councilmember Anderson. Hi, everyone. I just want to take a moment to recognize the Silver Knight Awards. Each year, the Miami Herald Silver Knight Awards, they recognize high school seniors for service projects and other things. 15 students from Dade and Monroe counties and 15 students from Broward County went home smiling last Wednesday with $2,000 scholarships from Herald Charities Foundation, 25,000 American airline miles, and a Silver Knight statue. This is the 67th annual ceremony that some call the Oscars for our high school seniors. Each of the 15 category winners is chosen by a panel of judges made up of community leaders in each field. The categories include art, athletics, business, digital media, drama, English, general scholarship, journalism, mathematics, music, science, social science, speech, vocation, book tech, and world language. 18 nominees were from our plantation schools, from Plantation High, South Plantation High, and American Heritage. Two of the winners are from American Heritage, and they're Ms. Kangen-Modi for art and Ms. Gabrielle-Amour for drama. And let's just congratulate all the nominees in Plantation and to our two winners. That's for, yep, Silver Knights, thank you. And then I do want to say the teacher there at luncheon for a chamber, that was great. If Heparin's coming again, I would just think it'd be nice to give him a minute or two to congratulate, because most all of them, most all of them are Broward school teachers, although public, private schools are there too. But we should yield him. I mean, I know it was new and it was his first time, but he just basically, other than introducing him, we should give him a minute or two to, you know, so that, that's one piece. And then the other thing, Mr. Huizenga, I don't know what to say. I met, it was so long ago, and I remember he had very good cogent thoughts. It was very well informed, a cordial conversation. The problem I think that we're facing is, it's a very thorny issue from one, it's one side or the other. And, and then with Sunshine, I can't talk to you about what he talked to me about, and you can't talk to me. So he probably went down the line to each of us, and then it didn't move forward. And honestly, it's been a long time since I met with him. I just remember it being a lot of good data. And I know Ms. Shailon does the best she can, but you're never going to make 100% of the people happy on this because it's, it's a, it's literally a divisive, divisive issue. It's either one of them or you don't want them. It's going to have to split somewhere. But I felt that he brought up enough points where we should explore them more and it should have gone further. And so I apologize for not spearheading it forward, but I, I don't know. I just thought it would have come from, once it went down the line, it would have come from admin, but I, I assumed, and then it just faded away. So I, I, I would ask that you would meet with him again. Did, did you, did he meet, did you meet with him, Mayor Stortle? Um, I respect, I respect the work Mr. Huizing has put in and everything, but if a resident says the council liked something and I don't hear from the council people themselves, no, no offense to you, sir, but how do I know it's true? Right. So if you all direct me, we'll, I'll gladly meet with him. I'm not, I'm saying that I felt he had very good points, but I know Ms. Shalin has very good points and I know that it was one of our, it was one of our earlier traffic calming things, so it might not have been perfect. It's just worth another look just to, he's put a lot into it. That's just, that's just one person's opinion. So I don't know if everybody else wants to weigh in. Yeah. I don't know if, you know, in terms of consensus, I mean, I, I, I would agree that, um, I did also meet with Mr. Huizinga and that he did have some ideas and, um, I know that I provided to you some feedback and there were some, um, questions about some of the questions you were raising. Um, I know that in speaking to director Shalin over time that they put together and they're continuing to put together a process and it's something that we've seen being revised over time. So to the extent, uh, uh, another look at it, um, I'm, I'm always for that. There's, you never rest on, there's, there's no perfection. There's always, um, always room to take a, put another set of eyes on it. So if that's what you're looking for, I'd be in favor of that as well. I couldn't tell if you, you were just being polite or if you really wanted us to explore it. So now if you're saying really explore it, we're in at least listen, councilman refraction just on this point. Yeah. Yeah. I would like to, um, um, um, I think a meeting should have been had, um, with the engineer and Mr. Huizinga administration, just, uh, to hear everything out and then explain, um, the city side and, um, maybe, maybe it can be, um, tweaked as necessary, uh, if possible. So we're not, but let's have the meeting. So I think you have a consensus there. All right, we'll do it. Thank you. Councilman Anderson. That's it. Thank you. Thanks. Wonderful. So I'm going to stop here in the middle before I continue on. Um, I do have a few things that I want to finish with. Um, normally I go last and that means you're waiting on me. So before that, so the other day, Councilmember Hoyland and I had a opportunity to go to hear from the early learning coalition of Broward County, where they were presenting the state of childcare in Broward County. And they gave us this, uh, handy sign here, or this, um, poster that puts forth, sets forth the impact statement, uh, in our city in regards to childcare. So I really just wanted to, um, just mention a few of these points here is that according to the early learning coalition of Broward County, we have 23 childcare providers in our city. Um, we have 808 children that are served. Those are children who reside in our city and receive school readiness. There are 410, um, workforce support. So parents who reside in our city that relied on school readiness to continue working and to attend school or job training. And according to their statistics, and this is from fiscal year 2023 to 2024, is that the impact, the economic impact of all of this was $3.2 million. So that was the financial relief provided to our city residents by way of childcare subsidies. So, um, it was very interesting and, um, we, uh, we, we did welcome the early learning coalition to come back to us and see if there's anything further that, uh, our city can do to further increase, uh, you know, our, uh, our impact on, on childcare and, uh, do even better because we can always, always work to do better. So, uh, and they said that we're already working very well with them. And, um, if they find a need, they, they definitely will come to us. So I wanted to start with that. Um, also, uh, I know you've already heard mentioned, um, Memorial Day, uh, service on Monday. So I do want to encourage everybody to attend that and, um, you know, uh, we, we do a lot of proclamations in, um, in our city because there are so many important, um, important topics and subjects and areas, uh, that, uh, that are important that we want to discuss. And sometimes we just don't get to all of them. And, um, sometimes we do it one year and maybe not another year, but in May you have the South Asian Heritage Month, you have Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, you have Haitian Heritage Month, you have Mental Health Awareness Month, which we have observed, you have Jewish American Heritage Month, uh, you have, uh, National EMS Week. So there are a lot of wonderful, um, a lot of wonderful, uh, celebrations to be had. And so, you know, we, we always welcome our residents. If there's a particular celebration that we're not recognizing, um, please come forward and let us know and, uh, we'll see how we can, uh, incorporate it into a, a future observance. Um, I also want to recognize, um, we have two gentlemen that are here regularly to, um, talk to us about their efforts, um, and I'm going to ask you guys to come forward for a minute. MR. He didn't mean you to. MR. Yeah, they know exactly who I'm talking about. Please come forward, gentlemen. MR. They're in their uniforms. MR. They are in their uniforms. And, um, I want to have you, if you may, um, come to the microphone. If you can just introduce yourselves and, um, let the public know who you are. MR. Thank you. MR. Speak to the microphone, though. MR. Yeah. MR. Can I just speak loud? MR. Yeah, no, speak to the microphone. Yeah. MR. Because then you're also on the video. MR. Okay. MR. Go ahead. Good evening, everybody. My name is Noah Uribe. I am the Command Sergeant Major at Plantation High School JROTC. We are two cadets. We are the, both the leadership at our battalion and we want to involve our battalion more in the community. So we came out here to the City Council meetings to get a start and we plan to be more involved in our community. MR. Beautiful. Yes, also. MR. Good evening, everyone. My name is Ethan Williams. Um, as Noah said, we are the next leadership for Plantation High School's JROTC. I am the battalion commander and Noah is the next CSM. Um, we do come to the City Council meetings to get more involved in the community. We do want to be more involved in the community by next year and we do want to get our school in the community helping out. MR. So welcome. I wanted to take the moment to make sure that you got the recognition because you have been here and, you know, we talk about, uh, the, the, the future of our city and we talk about where our future leaders and you two are definitely two of them. So, um, thank you for being here. Your leadership is recognized and, uh, we look forward to seeing, um, continuing to see you, uh, throughout, uh, this coming year. So thank you both very much. MR. Go ahead, man. MR. So I met with these gentlemen last week. They were looking for ideas and fundraising ideas. One thing, one request they have is for shirts, polo shirts they wear as a, as a team and everything. So if anybody has any connections, um, let's connect away. Thanks. MR. Great. MR. Great job guys. MR. Thank you very much. Uh, council member Andreu. Thank you. Go colonels. And on that note, I, it was said earlier that we had a wonderful groundbreaking ceremony for HCA hospital, uh, really excited about the new emergency room that HCA will be building on 441 in the gateway. And with that, HCA will be donating, uh, mice and keyboards and other electronic peripheral devices to Plantation High School. So we're really excited about that donation as well. So hopefully that will trickle down to you all, Noah. Um, also I spoke to, um, the mayor yesterday and he did tell everybody at the PAHA that we're going to be able to do a just sandbag distribution again. Um, so we look forward to announcing those dates soon, but we do want to be prepared, especially in lieu of what council member Horland just shared with us in terms of what's happening with global warming. Uh, again, um, as stated, we'll all be at the Memorial Day service Monday, 930 Veterans Park. Also, we did not mention yet the Gellertown Hall that will take place here May 28th at 630 PM. So we invite everyone to come out. He always has great information to share, uh, in terms of what the county is doing and opens it up for questions and answers at the end as well. And to tie into what council member Reinstein said about early childhood. Well, to close, I guess that gap a little bit, we have our high school graduations coming up. So Plantation High School, uh, will be May 31st, Saturday and South Plantation High School will be Sunday, June 1st. So we want to congratulate all of our seniors and their families as they, uh, graduate and hit this first milestone. And Saturday, June 7th will be the Mango Fest. So if you have not gone to Mango Fest or if you love mangoes or fruit in general, uh, I invite you to attend Island Space Museum at Broward Mall for Mango Fest on June 7th. I think it's maybe $15 and it's a nominal charge for the ticket. And June 7th that evening at 630, I hear that we might know the new president of the Broward League of Cities who will have the installation that evening. So I look forward to that gala and congratulating my colleague Denise Horland as she goes into the ranks of president for Broward League of Cities. And I also want to congratulate her. I believe it's the fifth year that you received the, um, here at Hometown Heroes Award for all of the great work that you do in Tallahassee. And we appreciate you advocating for our city and our county in Tallahassee. And keeping us along with Ms. Morris, keeping us informed of all of the bills and everything that's happening. Cause it's all happening at a very fast pace and it's hard to keep up with. So we appreciate that information and the work you do. Thank you, President Weinstein. You're welcome. And before I turn it over, um, you, you mentioned Island Space is Mango Festival. So the Mango Festival is not taking place at the Broward Mall location. It's taking place in Lauderdale Lakes. Um, they have indicated that, uh, they needed more space. And so make sure you check closely for your, your invitation that, um, the space they had in the mall was not enough for, um, for the Mango Festival. Thank you for letting me know that because I would have shown up at the mall and, but it also goes to the point that they need a permanent home that can facilitate a larger space. So, um, the mayor I know sent the initial letter to the school board. I'm hoping that we get some more traction with that, uh, right of first respect. Uh, right of first refusal for that vacant land. Um, and I hope you will circle back and have that conversation. Thank you. Council member Fadgen. Thank you. Um, just looking forward to the Memorial Day service. It's, uh, one of our special events. It's 930 Veterans Park. If you haven't attended, I highly recommend attending. Um, very thoughtful ceremony and, uh, just have a safe holiday weekend. Thank you. Thank you. With that, we are at 748. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you.