City Council — May 7, 2025

Good evening and welcome. The Wednesday, May 7, 2025, City of Plantation City Council meeting is now called to order at 6 p.m. City Clerk, Ms. Beggarrow, please call the roll. Council Member Anderson? Here. Council Member Andrew? Here. Council Member Fajan? Here. Council Member Horland? Here. Council Member Reinstein? Yes, here. Mayor Sortle? Here. City Attorney is here. Here. Tonight's opening remarks and Pledge of Allegiance will be provided by Council Member Andreu tonight. The floor is yours. Thank you, President Reinstein. I'm honored to have the students from the Black Student Union at South Plantation High School with us this evening to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. As they come, I will tell you that BSU aims to celebrate black culture, educate students on black history, and promote academic excellence at South Plantation High School. So please, if you can all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. All right. Everybody ready? All right. I pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, in the republic for which I stand, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Hello, and good evening, everyone, and the Council. My name is Serene Coombs, and I'm a 12th grader at South Plantation High School and 2024-2025 President of South Plantation's Black Student Union. Established in 2020, BSU empowers students to celebrate black culture, amplify our voices, and build a strong, united community that builds equity, pride, and leadership. Contrary to popular belief, Black Student Union is not just for those of African descent. BSU promotes inclusion through diversity and proudly boasts of our diverse community of members throughout the diaspora. Highlights of our accomplishments include collaboration with over several of SPHS clubs for our Winter Wonderland event, which sought to bring out the different holiday traditions of different cultural backgrounds, and our women's history panel that included our principal, Ms. Alexandra Reese, and your very own, Ms. Jennifer Andreu. We greatly appreciate this opportunity of being able to sit and speak with the members of our very own Council. Thank you. Thank you. And can you tell them also who you brought with you? Oh, and introducing some members of my board. Here I have Mikael Leslie. I have Janae Safford. And our sponsor, Ms. Dineen Brown. So thank you all for being here. I do want to say how much I enjoyed working with Ms. Reese and the BSU when I came over during Women's History Month. And I have a little bit of a surprise as well. So President Coombs, she had applied this year, as she said she's a senior, for the NextGen Plantation Scholarship. And I'm so honored to say that she is one of our recipients for the scholarship. Not even over does that. Congratulations. Congratulations. So if there's any gnole in the house, she's a feature gnole. Thank you very much, Council Member Dreyer. That was wonderful. We'll now move on to items submitted by the Mayor. We have some wonderful proclamations tonight. First one is National Mental Health Awareness Month. And you want to come up? You help me with the words in case I mess up. Okay. How you doing? Where as NAMI Broward's mission is to enhance awareness and provide programs in Broward County that support a world-class system for the treatment and recovery of individuals facing mental health challenges, and where as mental health conditions are treatable health concerns that are widespread and manageable, and where as comprehensive health care encompasses mental health care, which must be accessible to all individuals, and where as one in five adults will encounter a mental health challenge in any given year and prompt intervention leads to more favorable outcomes, where as NAMI commends the implementation of crisis intervention training law for law enforcement officers, diversion programs, and mobile crisis response teams, and where as NAMI Broward County designates the month of May as Mental Health Awareness Month to promote mental health awareness, to seek support, and to be uplifted by our message, you are not alone. Now, therefore, I, next sort of mayor, and the City Council Plantation, hereby proclaim May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness Month. So, Ms. Hoffman, who I know from another life, American heritage, now you haven't worn a new hat, and you've got some things to say? Thank you. Thank you so much, Mayor Sordal. In every story, there's strength. This is NAMI's national message for Mental Health Awareness Month throughout May. More than a theme, in every story, there's strength is a reminder that behind every challenge is a story of resilience. Behind every diagnosis is a person. And every time we speak up, we help someone feel less alone. Thank you, Mayor Sordal, council members, and City staff for this important proclamation. I'm Melanie Hoffman. I'm a proud resident of Plantation. And on behalf of NAMI Broward County, we are honored and grateful for your continued leadership in recognizing May as Mental Health Awareness Month. NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization. Here in Broward County, we provide free, research-driven support groups, educational courses, and public presentations for individuals and families affected by mental health conditions. Everything we offer is evidence-based and accessible. No insurance is required, and there's no cost to attend. We're making a difference across all communities. As we work to end the stigma surrounding mental health, we rely on leaders like you to help raise awareness and keep these no-cost services available to everyone. We receive no state or federal funding and limited local support, so your continued advocacy and partnership truly matter. One way we engage workplaces and organizations is through our stigma-free workplace initiative, offering dynamic trainings and resources to foster mental wellness at work. And we invite the City of Plantation to join us at our NAMI Mental Health for All Walk on Saturday, October 4th at Nova Southeastern University. The NAMI Walk is a powerful gathering that celebrates hope, healing, and connection. One in five adults lives with a mental health condition. Seventy-four percent of employees say they're more likely to stay in jobs where leadership supports mental health. Seventy percent of senior leaders have never received training on how to talk about mental health with their teams. Investing in mental health brings a four-to-one return in productivity, engagement, and morale. Well, every proclamation like this one helps us reach more people with one unshakable message. You are not alone. Thank you again for standing with NAMI Broward County to support mental health for all and to celebrate the strength found in every story. So, the national number is 800-950-NAMI, 800-950-6264. And the web is namibroward.org. Okay. On to swimming. This is here. I know it's not often you get a microphone, so come on, man. The next proclamation is the National Water Safety Month proclamation. Yes. So, I'll read it and then you'll talk. Okay. Thank you. Whereas water-related activities such as swimming, boating, and recreational use of lakes, canal rivers, and pools provide enjoyment and health benefits for people. Whereas water safety is a critical concern for individuals, families, and communities, as accidental drownings and water-related injuries remain a leading cause of unintentional death, particularly among children. Whereas raising awareness about water safety practices, including proper supervision, the use of life jackets, swimming lessons, and emergency preparedness can significantly reduce the risk of water-related incidents. And whereas it's important to support and recognize the efforts of organizations, first responders, educators, and volunteers. Whereas designating the month of May as Water Safety Month provides an opportunity to encourage residents to learn and share safety practices and to recognize the importance of respecting water environments. Now, therefore, I, McSortle, and the City of Plantation, and the City Council declare May 24, 2025 as Water Safety Day. Talk to them, we'll take pictures. Sounds like a plan. Chris Kutsey, Superintendent of Aquatics and Racket Sports. First off, I just want to say thank you to the mayor and our council members for your support with this proclamation and giving me the opportunity to speak today about water safety in our community. June will mark my sixth year with the City of Plantation and my 10th year working in aquatics. Swim lessons and water safety are still the most fun and rewarding part of my job. One, because you get to see real, tangible growth in our participants as they work their way through our various levels in our swim lesson program. And two, when you consider the long-term impact swim lessons have not only on safety in our community, but also the participant quality of life, you realize that these lessons are truly the coolest thing that we offer as a city. Now, I think drowning education has come a long way, but it's still critical that we acknowledge the long and challenging road ahead to prevent drownings in our communities. Drowning can happen quickly and silently. Drowning can happen, or drowning is the number one cause of death in children ages one to four, but drowning does not discriminate and can affect people of all ages and ability at any time. By acknowledging May as Water Safety Month and Saturday, May 24th as Water Safety Day and Plantation, we are making a great step in the continued education of our residents of plantation on the importance of water safety education and how to stay safe in, on, and around the water. Our Water Safety Day event will take place on May 24th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This will be a free event for the community and a key checkpoint in becoming a water-smart community. Our main goal is going to be, obviously, to promote water safety, but we also want to indicate and show off some of the many ways you can get involved in the aquatic world. We'll have demonstrations showcasing water fitness in Aqua Zumba, our plantation swim team. We'll have a skill demonstration by our plantation lifeguards, and a life jacket fitting and demonstration. We'll also offer a free swim lesson every hour, focusing on the Red Cross Water Competency Sequence. If you want to know what that means, come out to Water Safety Day. The swim lesson will require registration beforehand, and it can be done online or in person. And we'll have arts and crafts and various vendors around the pool deck, so participants have something to do at every moment of our Water Safety Day as we cover education and various other topics around the pool deck. Our team has been working very hard. This is our first annual Water Safety Day, and I encourage everyone to come out and participate. I also encourage everyone to share all of our information that we'll be posting about the event so we can spread the word to our residents. This is, again, a free event on Saturday, May 24th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you have any questions or want to volunteer or get involved, call us at 954-452-2525 or email us at aquatics, aquatics with an S, at plantation.org. Thank you. And with me today, I have our aquatic supervisor, Montana Markeski. Next to him is our aquatic admin assistant, Leanne. And we have one of our up-and-coming lifeguards, Logan Carlton. I wore the right color, didn't I? Green. Yeah. Great. Take care. You get this. You get this, too. Hey. Step down for the next proclamation, and I'm going to call up Michael Garcia, ambassador for the Lung Association for the Lung Cancer Action Week proclamation. Welcome. Thank you. So, whereas the American Lung Association's Lung Force Initiative has been working to ensure that fewer people are diagnosed with lung cancer and those living with the disease live longer, and whereas lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, accounting for one in five of all cancer deaths, and whereas according to the American Cancer Society, estimates for lung cancer in the U.S. for 2025 are about 226,650 new cases of lung cancer and about 124,730 deaths from lung cancer. And whereas lung cancer screening saves lives and advocacy and increased awareness will result in more high-risk individuals getting screened, whereas public support for research funding will result in new treatments and better methods of early detection, whereas lung force is a national initiative led by the American Lung Association to defeat lung cancer. Now, therefore, our mayor, Nick Sortal, and the City Council of Plantation do hereby designate the second week in May as Lung Cancer Action Week in the City of Plantation, and encourages all residents of our city to learn more about lung cancer, risk factors, and early detection, and take action as we strive for a world free of cancer. And so, second week of May is now Lung Cancer Action Week in Plantation. Thank you, Mayor, Commission, Council members. Lewis is a personal friend, so thank you for having me here, giving the association the proclamation to raise awareness. I have a few facts that I think every time I speak, people kind of get shocked and not aware of it. The first one is that lung cancer has killed more people than any other type of lung cancer. When I started this, we used to talk about that lung cancer killed more women than breast cancer. It's the number one killer, but most people are not aware of that, and that's just raising awareness. In Florida, this year, there will be about 18,000 new cases of lung cancer, 18,000. In the United States, it's every two minutes someone gets diagnosed with lung cancer. The survival rates are really low, and part of that is there's a stigma with lung cancer. Most people, when you say, I have lung cancer, people think, hey, you smoke, so you kind of deserve that, right? Whether that's true or not, no one deserves lung cancer, period, right? But two-thirds of the people that are diagnosed with lung cancer have, A, never smoked or quit smoking. It's a silent killer. And the problem is most people that don't smoke, when they get physicals, their doctors don't do any chest x-rays or check the lungs, because you don't smoke, so you're safe, and that's not true. The reason I started with lung cancer is when I was part of this group with Leadership Broward, the lung cancer pitched us, and the person that they used that got me involved was a lady that was 35 years old, she was married, she had three small children, never smoked, and by the time she found out she had lung cancer, it was too late, stage four, and that's what happens with most people, that it's early detection with cancer. Most people, by the time they find out, it is too late. For that mother, she left three young children, I think they were all from age 10 down, and just because she never smoked and never got the screening. So we appreciate the City of Plantation giving us proclamation to raise awareness. This afternoon, I was in the City of Hollywood receiving the same proclamation, and after I left, the chief of the fire department pulled me to the side and said, hey, I want to talk to you. One of his firefighters, a young man that was smoked, was diagnosed with lung cancer. So we appreciate this because it's really important for people just to become aware of the screening, because early detection is really key. The survival rates are really low for lung cancer survivors. Here's another number, one in 18 people will have lung cancer. One in 18 people. So we're all going to eventually know someone in the family. When I first started this about 10 years ago, I was fortunate. I didn't know anyone. I just thought it was a good thing. And now my mother-in-law has lung cancer. So it's going to touch someone in our lives. So it's just about early detection, awareness, and we thank the City of Plantation for giving this proclamation, giving us this platform, and allowing us to raise awareness so, you know, we don't need to continue this. It's killed too many mothers, daughters, brothers, sisters. One of the commissioners in the City of Plantation, I mean, in the City of Hollywood, her brother died of this. So it's just about awareness, and we appreciate it. Thank you. Commissioners, Mayor, thank you. Take care. May I ask Muthika, Stacey, and Mrs. Strom to meet me at the podium? Next proclamation is being presented by Council Member Hoyland. All right, Council Mayor. We haven't spoken about character lately, but I think it's more important than ever that we recognize those in our community that are exhibiting great character, because it's what makes us a stronger community. So whereas each month, Broward County Public Schools recognizes students and staff members who exemplify positive character traits, and whereas these traits promote positive behavior and create a safer and more respectful learning environment for students, and whereas character education at home and at school is critical for developing well-rounded individuals who contribute positively to their community. And whereas the eight character traits recognized by Broward County Public Schools are cooperation, responsibility, citizenship, kindness, respect, honesty, self-control, and tolerance. And whereas Broward County Public Schools will recognize all honorees at the 25th Annual Kids and Staff of Character Awards Ceremony at the Broward Center for Performing Arts on May 8, 2025. And whereas the City of Plantation wishes to recognize students Mukti Kachana from Central Park Elementary, Stacy Sequetta from Plantation Park Elementary, and staff member Yvonne Strom from Tropical Elementary for being nominated to represent their schools, their plantation schools, as exemplary models of character. And now, therefore, Nick Sortelmayer and the City Council of Plantation Florida do hereby proclaim May 8, 2025, as Character Education Day in the City of Plantation, and call upon the residents to join us in promoting the traits of cooperation, responsibility, citizenship, kindness, respect, honesty, self-control, and tolerance for the betterment of the entire community. I've asked the students to come up and introduce themselves and tell you about their character traits. Go ahead. Good evening. My name is Mukti Kachana, and I'm in fourth grade, and I go to Central Park Elementary. I was nominated for the character trait, Responsibility, and this means that I'm responsible for my work and projects. Thank you. My name is Stacy, and wait, yeah, Stacy Sequetta, and I go to Plantation Park Elementary, and I am in fifth grade. I have an honor to be here. Thank you. Hi. Good evening. My name is Yvonne Strum. I am the proud school counselor at Tropical Elementary, and my co-counselor nominated me for a character award. And won. If we do our own character award assemblies at school. And a few months ago, as I'm lining up the 110 children that we honor every month, the classes nominate them, the teachers nominate them, and we have about four students a month for that character trait. And a couple of months ago, one of our very special little ones came up to me and said, this is like my Grammy. I've won a Grammy. And that stuck with me. I'm like, this is what this means to them. So, yes, they've done something great, but they're recognized for just who they are. And I think that that's something really important. So up at assembly with a crowded cafeteria, I let him get up, and he said, I've won my Grammy. So I've won my Grammy. So thank you for recognizing all of us this evening, and I know that, will you be there tomorrow night? We'll see each other tomorrow night at our big event. But thank you very much for this special recognition. Thank you. Okay, let's look. Everybody, let the parents get the picture. Okay, thank you guys. You all make our community better and stronger. Walk down the red carpet. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. And next up, we have Director Trisha O'Toole, Parks and Recreation, Upcoming Events. Good evening, Councilmembers. This Sunday, May 11th, is the Mother's Day Brunch at the Plantation Preserve Golf Course. Reservations are required. Saturday, May 17th, we're celebrating Kids to Parks Day. This is a national day of outdoor play. That will be a free event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gym Ward Community Center. In our tennis division, Thursday, May 15th through Sunday, the 18th, we've got a junior level six boys and girls tournament at the Veltree Tennis Center. In our aquatics division, I can't forget them to meet because they're sitting behind me. Friday, May 16th through the 17th, we've got a plantation swim team swim meet at the Aquatic Center. Please note, Pool 1 will close at 12 noon on Friday and reopen on Sunday. Pool 2 will remain open for public use during that time. Registration is also open for Session 3 swim lessons. Classes begin Monday, May 12th. Also, dive class registration is currently open, and those classes run through September. In our equestrian division, we've got this Saturday and Sunday, the 10th and 11th, a Heritage Horse show. And in our athletics division, PAL is currently registering for cheerleading, flag football, summer basketball. And our adult athletics are registering for flag football, kickball, and softball. So, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Applause and everything. Wonderful. Well deserved. So, now what we will do is that we will briefly recess our city council meeting in order to begin our CRA meeting. We'll do our CRA meeting and then return to the council meeting. So, at 628, we will adjourn CRA, and at 628, we will start our CRA meeting. So, Ms. Beggarro, please call the roll for the CRA meeting. Commissioner Anderson. Here. Commissioner Andreu. Here. Commissioner Fadgen. Here. Commissioner Horland. Yes. Commissioner Reinstein. Here. Here. Commissioner Sortel. Here. City Attorney has roll. Here. Thank you. The CRA consent agenda consists of two items and may be approved with one motion. Does any member of the commission wish to pull an item? Hearing none, does any member of the public wish to pull an item on items 1 through 2 of the consent agenda? Seeing none, do we have a motion? Motion approved. Second. Consent agenda items 1 and 2. Second. Ms. Beggarro, please call the roll. Commissioner Anderson. Yes. Commissioner Andreu. Yes. Commissioner Fadgen. Yes. Commissioner Horland. Yes. Commissioner Reinstein. Yes. Commissioner Sortel. Yes. Thank you. Now we will have public requests of the commissioners regarding the CRA, and Mr. Conklin has signed up for public requests. Mr. Conklin. Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest Sixth Court. Heavenly hosts protect you and your families. My request is that the commissioners, I don't see your name tags up there again, but the six commissioners, if they would please ask the city council members to zero out the extra millage that's placed on the Gateway 7, which happens to be coincidental to the area of the CRA. They pay the same millage already as the base rate of the rest of the real estate owners and plantation, and TIF, the tax increment funding, could easily replace that extra millage rate that they are paying. I'll yield back. Thank you, Mr. Conklin. Any further requests of the commission from the public? Seeing none, we will adjourn the CRA meeting at 6.30, and 6.30, we will reconvene the city council meeting. We will begin with public requests of council regarding municipal affairs. Those who wish to speak, we request that you complete a speaker form. If you have not done so already, please do so and hand it to the city clerk. Please state your name and address, 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. At this time, we have one person that has signed up for public requests of the council. Mr. Conklin. May I approach? Thank you. I saw Max there. I thought he might be speaking. Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest 6th Court. It's day 1,881 of the public health emergency, which locked down our churches, businesses, schools, and local governments, created unessential persons, and it was the loss of our God-given individual rights. Inalienable, I might say. It's day 578 of the Hamas war against Israel and all freedom-loving people. Hamas, of course, the terrorist organization under the Muslim Brotherhood. It's day 577 of the Hezbollah war, and that, of course, is the Iranian-backed terrorist group. Day 379 of the coordinated college jihad that's spread across the United States and into the city streets now, threatening Jewish communities and their houses of worship. It's day 299 since the first assassination attempt of President Trump. It's day 235 of the second assassination attempt of President Trump. It's day 184, the landside re-election of President Trump, and it's day 108 of the second administration. I gave to the DS Resolution 1, that was the very first resolution passed by the city of Plantation when it first was incorporated and organized. There had been comments about extended remarks. Resolution 1 gave the public five minutes to speak with a chance to extend. Under Mayor Armstrong and President Vendekovic, they flipped it to three minutes. It never flipped back, and it was only made official two years ago that the public speak for three minutes. Resolution 1 was still into effect for five minutes for all of those years. We can now remove fluoride from the water. By the way, that was page 5 of Resolution 1, Section 10. I request that the city budgeting and mandatory training of DEI, critical theory, critical race theory, ESG, training be put to a stop. And I request that the budgeting of electric vehicles and electric vehicle infrastructure be stopped. I request that for Independence Day, 12 plantation students would be able to read approximately 100 words each of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Conklin, please finish. May I extend? 30 seconds. Please conclude. Very good. I would like to have you congratulate the state legislature. They passed unanimously the legal tender bill, 113 to 0. And I would like you to ask the Senate why they tabled it. And I'll yield back. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Conklin. Any other requests from the public? Seeing none, we will close a request of the Council regarding municipal affairs. Moving on to the consent agenda. The consent agenda consists of items 1 through 11 and may be approved with one motion. I already have 10 pulled from the public. Does any member of the Council wish to pull an item? Two. Any others? Anybody else from the public wish to pull an item? Seeing none, do we have a motion? Motion to approve items 1 through 11, minus 2, and 10. Second. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Ms. Beggarro, please call the roll. Council Member Fajan? Yes. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andrew? Yes. Council Member Reinstein? Yes. Agenda item 2. Council Member Fajan? Thank you. I guess very briefly, I'd like to know what the original purpose of the contract was and then what was the purpose of the first change order, and then I'll get into what I want to talk about. I stumped you? Yes. I'm Charles Spencer, Procurement Director. I can only read the title of the original contract, which is the Development Services Building Interior Improvement Project. I will have to lean on my colleagues to state the detailed purpose of the work. I kind of went broad strokes as to what was the purpose of the architectural design services that we contracted to originally. Sure. Jason Unnemaker, CAO. I'll start with the broad overview. We don't have to get into a lot of detail, but just more broad of what, you know, why and Sure. Well, generally speaking, we had moved the engineering department to the annex, that newly constructed building, the purpose of that to make way for a bigger footprint for building services, partly in anticipation of some requirements we thought were coming down from the state, so we want to have a better workflow downstairs on the first floor. We're also remodeling the second floor, so we're doing both floors. Now, those are from different funding sources. I want to be clear, the building department funds what they impact. The general fund will fund what is outside of that. Those basically deal with workflow issues. Okay. So what was the first change order about? We were looking to expand the conference room on the second floor, but as we did that, it had a domino effect of creating an impact on the roof and would have greatly increased the cost of the remodeling. So once we realized it was going to have about a $1.3 to $1.5 million effect, we moved away from that design. That was the first change order was to move away from that? No, the $22,000 was to look at the possibility of expanding over, I'm not sure what you'd call it, but the entry point where you go into the building department to push out a conference room over there to maximize the footprint. And that's what the first change order was, to push it out over the entrance. All right. All right. So I'm reading this. This is, you know, I do my agenda different than other council members, but I'm on PDF page 80. I'll try to tell you exactly where I'm at. Give me a second to get there. Um, it's basically, it's, it's the, uh, additional service agreement. I'm assuming that's the change order and it's, it's item one. It's the underlying stuff. And it says 95% of construction document based on approved design were completed when the end user on the second floor presented a completely new design layout. The city also now wishes to redesign the wellness center and fitness center on the first level. These changes have a significant impact on the current set of construction documents and the schedule. This will cause the design team to have to redo the development of the 50% documents and upon approval of those documents to redo the a hundred percent construction documents. And then this is like $49,000 approximately. Yes, sir. So I guess my comment to this is that we're lacking imagination at the start of the project. You know, we're not anticipating, um, what our needs should be, not knowing that this was going to cut, you know, one, I guess it's kind of opened up a Pandora box, but when I was reading this, I correlated it to when we remodeled the women's bathroom behind the chamber here. And we only did one of the bathrooms and I think it costs, I forget how much it costs, but about $80,000. About $80,000. Whereas when we did all the bathrooms, the average cost was about $55,000. I recall the average cost being about approximately what we paid. Not that $80,000. We talked about it on the, um, we had a conversation about that. It was cheaper when we did all the bathrooms at once. Right, but the average of those estimates, the average of those bids were not $55,000. No, the average of the approved thing was, well, I mean, that, I'm just saying it was cheaper than doing one bathroom. The lowest bid was, yes, sir. Yes. So I'm just saying that with redoing work, I would have to guess at least $25,000 spending more than not really sitting down, and I'm using the term lacking imagination as to what we could have done from the get-go, um, and now we're spending approximately $70,000 in change orders to get to where we're going with this. So, I'm bringing this up because, like I said, I feel like it's similar to the bathroom. We should have done both of those bathrooms at the same time originally when we did it. We weren't ready to do all the bathrooms, but when we were doing two bathrooms, could have blown out the entire thing, relayed the whole thing out, and we could have got a little bit of economies of scales by doing two bathrooms at once instead of doing one bathroom. This, we're doing a second change order of $50,000 that I think that if we kind of really stepped back, and I kind of blame the architect a little bit, too, because I'm assuming they kind of had a sit-down about what our needs are, what we're looking for, and them not presenting things to us to include in the contract. So, I don't know if I'm really looking for a response. I'm just really kind of saying that I feel this is wasted money because we didn't identify it early enough. Yeah, I take your point, but to use your term of exercising imagination, in order to do that, we have to go through a process, and sometimes we're taking steps forward, taking them back. You know, there are changes during this project. There's been an evolution of how we're staffed over there. We've increased services through the wellness clinic. So, it isn't a static analysis. So, I take your point. We don't want to be wasteful with the public's money. I just felt it's wasteful. That's really where I'm at with it. I appreciate the comment. And I want to try to avoid it. So, I'll make a motion to approve. One moment, please. Councilmember Hoyland. Thank you, Mr. President. Councilmember Fadgen, I just wanted to add a little context. I don't recall if you were here when we voted for the project originally. This was a project that I had reservations about. It was really kind of a pet project of the former mayor. So, when it first came out, what's happened is the scope of work has changed because originally, the way it was presented to us, we were going to just be using building funds for it. It was going to be expansion of the building department. So, I think what's happened over the course of the project, and I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth, but going back to when it was originally approved, it was going to be one thing. And then, as more people got involved and really looked at the building and how it could be best utilized, I think the scope has changed. I don't disagree with your assertion. I thought that had to do with the annex, the relay out of it. Again, that whole thing has, yeah, the first floor has changed. The second floor, we've had staffing changes. We've relocated BTR staff is now in the PZ second floor. Those staff have been increased. You all have dedicated more staff to short-term rentals. We've relocated landscaping. So, the footprint upstairs is bigger. We've added mental health to our wellness facility. So, I think some things have changed over the past few years we've been dealing with this. Yeah, I think your concerns are absolutely well-placed, but I think what's happened as, as this has originated, it has certainly, the scope has changed for, and it's affected both buildings. So, I just wanted to add that. Council Member Fadgen has made a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Seeing no further comments, Ms. Beggarro, please call the roll on Agenda Item 2. Council Member Fadgen? No. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andrew? Yes. Council Member Reinstein? Yes. Thank you. Next up is Agenda Item 10, Mr. Conklin. Ms. Conklin, 4581 Northwest 6 Court. I want to point out that the use of the Gateway 7 additional millage, in this case, a lot of it went actually towards enhancement and development, and not just water, but promotion of the district and so forth and so forth and so on, so I encourage you to that. However, $1,405 was still spent, which was just about a third on water and wastewater, and again, I hope that the commissioners of the CRA might instruct the City Council to zero out that millage rate, and thank you. I yield back. Mr. Conklin, why don't you stay up front here since you'll be up soon for number 12 and then 13. Number 12 is Administrative Discussion Items, Transmittal of Quarterly Grant Reports. Is there anything? Mr. Conklin, did we take a vote on Item 10? No, we did not. Can I? That will be next, and we need to first take a vote. Can I make a motion to approve Item 10? Yes, please. I'll second that. Motion was made and seconded. No further discussion. Ms. Sprego, please call the roll. Council Member Fadgen? Yes. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andrew? Yes. Council Member Reynstein? Yes. I was trying to move us right along, but thank you. Item 12. Mayor, is there anything to report, or is this just for our benefit, the quarterly grant reports? That's it. It's just... Okay. Mr. Conklin, did you want to speak on Item 12? Just very quick. You've got three minutes. Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest Sixth Court. I wasn't sure that I'd get to speak at the administrative thing, but this is a regular report dealing with the COVID money, and it deals with Breeswept Park Estates, which is the official name for everything in Plantation Park East. That's east of the Turnpike and west of Northwest 46th Avenue, and I just want to say keep going, and I'll yield back. Thank you very much. Next, we're up on legislative items. I'm going to ask that if it's okay with the rest of the council is that our legislative item dovetails in with items 15, 16, and 17. They're all related to 849 State Road 7. So why don't we do the quasi-judicial proceeding rules so that we cover those proceedings and swear on any witnesses. Does all of that work well, Mr. Attorney? Yes, sir. And just for the record, so item number 13, which is the ordinance that is a legislative item, we'll be adding that to the overall presentation for consideration of 15, 16, 17, which are quasi-judicial items. Each item should be considered separately after the presentation, and with your permission, I'll go ahead and read the quasi-judicial proceedings. Yes, please. Go ahead. The city clerk will swear on all witnesses before speaking. Please state your name and whether you have been administered an 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 on the city clerk's agenda packet will be made a part of the record. City staff will make the first presentation, followed by presentations from the applicant, any affected parties, and the public. Elected officials may set reasonable time limits for speakers. The hearing will then be closed and the matter decided. City council's decision will be delineated in its motion and rendered in writing by way of a development order, resolution, or ordinance evidencing its decision. City council may also decide to continue the matter to a designated time certain to allow for additional research or review. Items included under the consent agenda are self-explanatory and not expected to require review or discussion. Items will be enacted by one motion. If discussion is desired, that item may be removed from the consent agenda and considered separately. Okay. So, before we swear on witnesses, do we want to take out the consent agenda items? I'll defer to staff. I mean, I think the presentation is going to... I'll defer to staff. I'll handle the item number 15, I assume. So, the presentation says on it 13, 16, and 17 because items 14 and 15 are a consent agenda. And I do have, Mr. Conklin wants to pull 15 but not 14. So, just in terms of the way that we handle this... Well, my suggestion would be since somebody has requested item 15 be pulled, that you do not act on that on consent, that would be pulled regardless of handling them as one project item? Right. The only question really then is because 14 is a separate item altogether. It's not related to the others and it's a consent. We could take a motion on that one. Yes, sir. Does anybody wish to make a motion on item 14? I hear a motion to approve from Council Member Fadgen. Is there a second? A second. Okay. And I don't see any comments from the public on 14. Ms. Beggarrow, can you please call the roll on item 14? Council Member Fadgen? Yes. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andrew? Yes. Council Member Reinstein? Yes. Okay. And before we go with the presentations, do you want to swear on the witnesses? Yes, sir. The witnesses should be sworn in. Please go ahead, Ms. City Clerk. I'm not on. Sorry. Okay. Do you swear or affirm that the evidence that you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you very much. Director Holmes? Okay. Good evening, Mr. Chair. Members of the Council for the record, Dan Holmes, Planning and Zoning, Economic Development Director. As you said, this is a number of items that are all related to what they're calling the Zabella project now, related to that site plan. So we'll do all of that at one time. So the applicant is requesting essentially assignment of 18 local activity center units as part of the project, site plan elevation, landscape plan approval as part of the project. And there's also associated with it one zoning waiver and three landscape waivers. And then there's also the plat that we're looking at this evening that would be needed to be approved to develop the project. So this is the city's location map. So the project is located along South State Road 7 at 849 South State Road 7. That's basically the area that you see here. The agent for the project is Rod Feiner. The overall size of the project is about 30,701 square feet. It's located within the city's BAC zoning district, which is the gateway artisan commerce district. The existing parcel is vacant. And it's also located within the city's local activity center, which is the underlying land use. Some of the adjacent zoning to the parcel to the north is RS2B district and the city's BHC district, which is the gateway hybrid commercial. To the south and east is the gateway artisan commerce district. And to the west of the parcel is the RS4K single-family residential development district. The area, as indicated, is pretty much characterized by single-family residential to the north and west and commercial uses to the east and south of the parcel. The public notification boundary, you'll see there highlighted in purple, for this item was a 500-foot radius around the site. And within this radius, there are 79 notices sent out by the planning and zoning department. Okay, with regard to the local activity center uses, again, this is located within the city's activity center. In order to do residential development, you have to allocate local activity center units. Within the local activity center units, there are different types of units. The type of units that would be applied here are garden apartment units. The city currently has a balance of 119 garden apartment units left within the local activity center. The applicant is requesting that 18 of those units be allocated toward this project. In terms of the overall analysis, with regard to the local activity center, staff finds that the proposed development is consistent with several goals, objectives, and policies within the city's comprehensive plan. First of all, with regard to objective 1.7, which deals with residential densities and housing types, we found that policy 1.71, which sort of deals with maintaining no through traffic within our neighborhoods. As I'll show you in one moment, this development does not provide any through traffic into the adjacent single-family neighborhoods. Also, policy 1.7.5, the city should continue the philosophy of locating higher density residential close to commercial activity centers and then transitioning to lower density. So as you go along the State Road 7 corridor, which is our local activity center, we have pushed the building closer to the street to kind of interact with the roadway. And then as you kind of transition further to the west to single-family, we kind of go down to single-family. So this development is consistent with this policy. There are a couple of other policies that are located within the comprehensive plan, too, which deals specifically with local activity centers under objective 1.17, and that is that local activity centers shall support the location of uses in a manner oriented around a five-minute walk. So this development would enable persons that reside within this development to access transit and other commercial uses, you know, it's accessible via walking along the State Road 7 corridor. So in summary, the location of the subject site, we found that because it's kind of in the rear, there were some single-family homes at one point, but it's kind of tucked away. is less desirable for retail or commercial use, given the setback, and does not have direct visibility from the State Road 7 corridor. And therefore, we found that it was not very viable for commercial use. It's a narrow parcel as well. The site plan offers an effective and efficient arrangement of the site. The building is proposed on the east half of the property and closer to the commercial site to the north and east to provide greater buffer from the single-family residences, and I'll show you some depictions of that in just a moment. So this is the site plan that's proposed. Again, as I said, the site, as you can see here, the building itself is located closer to the eastern portion of the parcel. Most of the residential is actually located in this area of the site and also to the west. So you can see that we've pushed the building quite a bit of ways away from the residential to improve the buffering. And this is a depiction that kind of shows you some of the setbacks. So from the residential that's located here, you can see there's a 241-foot setback from that residential to the building. And also, the only home to the north that is adjacent to the proposed building itself is this single-family home here. That home sits about 155 feet away from the property line. There is a little shed or something that's located about right here, which is about 69 feet from the property. So you can see that there is some significant setbacks between the building itself and the surrounding residential. Another thing I'd like to know, this is a three-story building that the adjacent residential use, as I sent you in an email today, I know that we had an e-comment, that there was some concern about the parcel and the compatibility. The surrounding residential districts have a height that's permissible of up to 35 feet, which would allow essentially a three-story. So actually, if someone could actually purchase one of these homes and build a three-story structure here, which would have a greater impact than this building would within the neighborhood. And the building itself is about three-story. So I just wanted to point that out with regard. That was something that was discussed. We did have, as I'll point out a little later, some of the residences did attend our development review committee, and some of them did also, well, one person did also attend the planning and zoning board meeting that had some similar concerns with regard to the compatibility. This is the elevation of the building. So you can see that the top here is the north elevation. So if you're looking at the building from the single-family neighborhood located to the north, it's what you'd see. The southern elevation is located at the bottom. This is basically where the primary entryway into the building. And then you have the east elevation here, which would face the used auto sales use, and the west elevation, which is the elevation that faces the single-family located west of the building. And these are just some renderings, respective views of the building. What you see here, material board. So there is some brick veneer that would be placed on the building, and then you can see the colors that have been proposed for the building itself. This is the landscape plan. I do want to emphasize also that with some of the residential that's located to the north here, there was some additional landscaping buffer that was put along the entire strip here, along with an 8-foot wall that would be located approximately up to here. And then as the commercial abuts the site, it goes down to a 6-foot wall to kind of buffer the residential use from the commercial. So the floor plan, there are two unit types. Both of them are two-bedroom units. One is slightly larger than the other. The type 1, I think, is the 975 square foot, and the type 2 is the 961. So the type 1 is a slightly larger unit. And you can see where those various units would be located. So the larger units are located as sort of end units here, and on the second and third floor as end units as well. This kind of shows the circulation into and out of the site. So you've got State Road 7 located here, so you'd enter into the site, basically, and you'd navigate through the site here. You could enter here or you could enter there as well. So there's two ingress-egress points into the parking lot. This roadway, Southwest 9th Street, had to be improved. So, you know, right if you drive there now, the roadway is very much in disrepair, so there will be improvements and repavement to Southwest 9th Street. And, again, I want to emphasize that there is no through traffic that would be permissible into the adjacent single-family residential neighborhood. With regard to parking, because it's located within the Gateway District and also because it's close to transit, there are a couple of parking reductions that are available to the parcel. So just under our code, as I indicated, there are 18 units. The two-bedroom units require 2.25 spaces per unit, which requires 41 spaces. The applicant is providing 32. Once you apply the 15 percent reduction for Gateway Parking, it reduces the 41 spaces that are required to 34. And then once you, because it's located close to transit, there's an additional 5 percent. Once you apply that, 32 spaces will be required, and the applicant is providing 32 spaces. So that's consistent with the code. There are also seven EV-capable spaces and two ADA spaces. With regard to the waivers, there's one zoning waiver and three landscape waivers. The zoning waiver, there is a required two-foot setback for all walkways on multifamily lots. So there is a walkway that's required as you go to the front of the building here, and there's a walkway here. Because the site is a very narrow site, there is only a zero-foot setback. So the road, the sidewalk abuts the road. There's very little traffic. There's no through traffic or what have you we have to continue for this development. And then with regard to the landscape waivers, there's a couple of landscape waivers. First landscape waiver is from Section 22255D2, which requires a landscape pedestrian zone to be 50 percent of the building height or 10 feet, whichever is greater. And so they're requesting a waiver from both the South LPZ and the West LPZ. The Southern LPZ requires 18 feet 6 inches, and the West LPZ requires 18 feet. The applicant is requesting that the South LPZ be reduced by about 6 inches, so to 18 feet, and that the West LPZ be reduced about 6 feet or so down to 12 foot 1 inch. And with the buffer yard, which requires all properties to comply with the buffer yard requirements provided in Table 255-1 of the Code, the South buffer yard requires a width of 5 feet, the Northern buffer yard 10 feet, and the Western buffer yard requires 10 feet as well. You can see that the applicant is requesting on the Southern buffer yard to go down to 4 feet, the Northern down to 5 feet, and the Western down to 5 feet as well. And you can see those buffer yards are basically located here on the site. And landscape islands. The landscape islands shall be located at the ends of all parking roads and interspersed throughout the entire parking lot. The interior landscape islands are required to be no more than 10 parking spaces apart from one another on average, and shall be a minimum of 12 feet, and the interior or the terminal islands are required to be 7 feet in width. The applicant is requesting that the two terminal islands that you see here be reduced from the 7-foot requirement down to 3 feet, 4 inches. And one of the reasons that this was required is that as we were going through the DRC, in order to enable the fire truck to access the parking area and to navigate the radius that was required, we kind of had to trim those terminal islands down just a bit. So that's why that is being requested. Community meeting, as the code requires, there is a community meeting held. The first community meeting was held on September 25, 2024 at the Jim Ward Center, and then there was also a subsequent meeting that was held on December 4 as well. Citizen comments. The planning department staff received some objections from citizens regarding this application during their last DRC meeting. As I indicated earlier, there were like three or four individuals that did attend that meeting. We were able to provide them some information on the proposed development. And then there was one person from that DRC meeting that also attended the planning and zoning board meeting that was held. And then finally, I did note that there was an e-comment that we received that I did respond to you in an e-mail, kind of explaining, giving you some background information on those comments. The Community Redevelopment Agency did make some comments on this. There's basically a comment that the project creatively redevelops and revitalizes a narrow, formerly dilapidated property with limited redevelopment potential. Now we'll provide market and workforce housing options in a growing gateway district. Twenty percent or four units will be designated as workforce housing. There were no, in terms of other concerns with the site, there are no violations or any other issues that we think that needs to be noted with regard to the site. Based upon that, in terms of compatibility of the surrounding area, staff found that the project meets that criteria. In terms of compliance with the comprehensive plan, we find that the project meets that criteria. And with regard to consistency with the land development regulations, we find that it is consistent with Section 1971, which deals with the allocation of LAC units. 2741, which deals with notice requirements. 2750, which deals with the site development plan's efficiency. And also 2752, which deals with the practical difficulty waivers that I just went over with you. And based upon that, our recommendation is for approval. Do you have to answer any questions? Thank you very much. Before I call my colleagues, I know you mentioned one of the e-comments that we received and that you responded to the council commenting on the comment from the public. I just wanted to bring those up and just have you just quickly address those publicly. One of them was referencing the auto dealership that abuts the property. And if you want to touch on that or I can just read what you're... Sure. So the e-comment, as I recall, there were three points that were made. So we'll start with the first one regarding the concern with leaving the auto dealership there and not essentially purchasing it and making it a part of the project. Right. So the auto dealership in question is the dealership located right here. And when this project was initially submitted to staff, we did ask the developer to look into purchasing that site. We thought it would be a great idea if we could extend the project as well. The owner of the lot was not interested in selling it. And so we continued with the project. We didn't think that the fact that they were not willing to sell should prevent us from, you know, improving the Gateway District and providing some workforce-affordable housing within that. Understood. And no objections from the auto dealership either? No. And the two other points, one was concern regarding the three stories, and I know that you've actually touched on that quite a bit already in terms of the compatibility with the neighborhood. So I think that one you already covered. The third one was in regarding to concerns as to the stormwater and stormwater drainage. I don't know if you actually had forward this to the engineering department or if you want to respond to this. Well, I just said something quickly, and the engineering director is here. If she can elaborate on that, I'm not an engineer and don't profess to be one, don't wish to be one. I was already giving you the out that you could ask us if I want to. But I know that, you know, there's some things that I've learned through the DRC process, hanging around engineers. But I'll let the engineer explain. Welcome, Director. On-site retention. Good evening, Counsel. Samira Shalan, City Engineer. Yes. During site plan review, engineering review, the stormwater management, this particular property falls under the jurisdiction of Broward County and the City of Plantation. So if and when the site plan is approved, the applicant will be required to provide surface water license from Broward County and meet the regulation of Chapter 27 of Broward County Code in addition to Chapter 9, the floodplain management of City of Plantation. Under site plan review, engineering determined that the site meet conceptually the requirement of Chapter 9. There is a retention area in the back of the property. In addition, there will be an exfiltration trench which alleviate the flooding of the parking lot. Also, as Dan indicated in his presentation, the roadway 9th Street will be developed and there will be not only paving but also drainage facility within that roadway. Thank you very much. So just to summarize that last point, is that based on everything you've said, you don't, if this was approved, you wouldn't foresee any additional burden on the surrounding community? Not at all. And they will not obtain any permit until they've proven that there is no negative impact on the right-of-way or adjacent properties. Thank you very much. I just wanted all that clarified on the record. Councilmember Fajan. Thank you. Just a real quick question. So who's improving the road? Who's responsible for the maintenance of the road? Is it a city road? Is it a private road? The developer is making the improvements. In terms of the dedication, I'm going to go back to the engineer. This is why I'm not an engineer. Nobody wants to be an engineer. My brother's an engineer. It is private roadway. There is a public, there is an access easement between the properties on this roadway. The applicant is obligated himself to improve the public easement, the public access easement, or the private access easement, excuse me. So they're going to improve it, and then they'll be responsible for future maintenance. It won't be part of our paving program. That's correct. And the applicant is here. We'll wait. We'll call him up in a moment. Thank you. Okay. That's all I had. Thank you. Thank you very much. And Council Member Anderson. So both my items were addressed, but the, so it was paving, who's paying for it, and who's going to improve it. So thank you, Council Member Fadgen, for beating me to that. And I also want, could you elaborate on the fire and emergency vehicle access? It's a dead end, not a cul-de-sac. So is it, you went over, I wanted to ask you right when you were on it, but I decided to wait until it's our turn. Are they utilizing the ways in and out of the parking lot to make part of that? Yeah, let me, I'm going to try to find the best, I think I've got to go back further, hold on. They shortened the median to allow for a larger turning radius, right? Yes. Inside, but inside, not in the, right. So you have to use the, that's all. It just uses the parking lot to accomplish the turnaround rather than the dead ended road. So these two terminal medians were kind of shaved down a little bit to kind of help maneuver, help the fire truck kind of maneuver around with access. And this passed fire, obviously, if they review it. So, okay. DRC, yes. Yep. That's it then for now. Anyway, thanks. Council Member Andreeu. Thank you, President Weinstein. You answered my question about the 9th Avenue. Oh, yeah, Southwest 9th Street. Southwest 9th Street, rather. Thank you. Also, I'd like to make a Jennings disclosure. I did speak to some of the residents regarding this project, and it will not affect my decision. Thank you very much. Council Member Orland. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Holmes, when I'm looking at Google Photos at the storage facility, have we gone out there lately, and have they been cited for that? Because according to Google Photos, those walls are pretty dirty, and I know that if I was coming out of my apartment, I wouldn't want to be looking at that. So I don't know if the conditions there have improved or if we've spoken to the owners of that storage facility, because if we're investing this money into the gateway and trying to improve that area, then, you know, we're hoping that everyone's going to come up. So I don't know if there have been any discussions about that. Agreed, 100%. We will definitely go back out and look at it. We do kind of meet as a code group to discuss the State Road 7 corridor. I would certainly bring that up so that we can place that property on our list of properties. Well, I think because they've been hidden, they've probably been a little bit more, so if we could start to focus on them, I think that'll be beneficial to the applicant and to any residents that want to rent there. Thank you. May I? That's a good point. Council Member Orland, do you mean the building next door? Yes. That's right here. So when you come out, look at that. He pointed right there. He needs to be painted and clean. If the walls look anything like they're rooftops, then... Yeah, they do. Yeah, it's a very old development. We're... Well, I... Thank you very much. Seeing no further questions right now from the dais, there are some from the audience, from the public, but I'll allow the applicant to come forward. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Rod Feiner. I'm an attorney with Coker and Feiner for the record, 1404 South Andrews Avenue in Fort Lauderdale, 33316. Now that the free advertising is done with me today as well, is Terry Runyon. He's with DTI Architects. He's the project architect. And Elizabeth Sergisian is here. She's with Police Land Surveyors. They are a primary process to plot and also did the survey for the property. Your staff has done a most thorough and excellent presentation. So my compliments and kudos to staff. I just want to hit a couple of quick highlights and then I'll be happy to answer any questions. As Dan mentioned, I wanted to point out that 20% or four units of this project will be dedicated to workforce housing, enforceable by the city, where the city can go ahead and ask us to prove that they are meeting the workforce housing standards with income and all other items along those lines. Also, as we've committed in various different meetings, we've committed that those workforce housing units will not be in an isolated section of the project. They'll be interspersed throughout the entire project. They'll have the same level of trim as all the other units. So for all practical purposes, you will not be able to tell the difference between a workforce housing unit and a market rate unit. I wanted to clear that. Some of the other items that Dan did not mention is that as we were processing this project, we've been in this project for about two years now, we've also gone through the affordable housing subcommittee and got a recommendation of approval for them. We also went before the gateway seven committee and got a recommendation of approval for them. And as I think you see in your backup, we also got anonymous recommendation of approval from the planning and zoning board. With that being said, I just want to point out that when we were designing this, both from our perspective and from the staff perspective, we really tried to buffer this development from the residential area. And that occurred as Dan, that design actually shows it right there. And as Dan pointed out, we shifted the building all the way to the east for as much as we could. In addition, the reason for the waivers that we've asked for is we tried to put as much landscaping and give the greatest buffer we could on the northern property boundary, which is where the residents are, and the western property boundary. To the south, all we have is the, as you pointed out, is the road in the self-storage warehouse. So if we were going to need a waiver to make something else work, that's where we wanted to request the waiver. And that was the design concept through the entire process is how can we sort of buffer the residents in the best way we can. I would point out that three stories is permitted by code, as Dan already addressed. And as Dan points out here, with the building, by moving it that far east, we've really taken away any impact or tried to take away any impact from those neighbors. You know, when we had the residential meeting, they were worried about surface water because apparently this neighborhood, the residential neighborhood, floods. And I would point out that we're separated from the residential neighborhood by walls. So there's an aminosius charge. B, your law, Florida law, Broward County law, prohibits us from discharging surface water off our property. And we acknowledge that. We understand that. We went through. We provide preliminary drainage calculations as part of the DRC review. And those calculations will even be more detailed before we can get any type of building permit. So we acknowledge all of that right off the top. So they also mentioned, like I said, looking into their backyard from a balcony. A, the one house that's really directly impacted is really kind of sufficiently set back. And again, we're mostly adjacent to the commercial. The other thing that they sort of mentioned was, have we done an environmental survey? And quite honest, no, we have not. There were no native species. It wasn't in an area of critical state concern or anything else like that. If there are burrowing arrows there, we will follow the law. We're not allowed to disturb the site during their mating season. But after that, we can relocate nests or anything else along those lines. With that being said, again, with the wall that's separating there and again, with the way the traffic goes, I will say that. And I will say and reiterate what Mr. Holmes said. His staff did ask us to try and purchase that adjacent car wash. We tried on, I tried actually, on three separate occasions of approaching the owner. And it's not that the owner asked an absorbent in price because I may have gone to the CRA or done something. Who knows what I would have tried? There was just, no, we're not interested in selling. Too bad, so sad. And they understand that we're getting access just to the south of their property. And I told them that. And they said, we're not interested in selling. So, you know, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. And that's sort of where we are. And let me reiterate that what's called Southwest 9th Street, just so we're clear, because it confused us a little bit with the plat, when we were platting this in originally. It's given a mailing address of Southwest 9th Street. I think that was done by the post office, believe it or not. When there used to be residential homes on the property, that's actually not a dedicated public street. Nor is it proposed to be dedicated, so it would be private. So I want to reiterate that we're responsible for improving it and that all maintenance obligations are ours. And we understand that, especially since it's not a dedicated public street. So I did want to say that because we looked at that kind of extensively when we were going through the platting process and everything else. So with that, I'm happy to answer any other questions, as is Mr. Runyon or Mr. Giesian. Thank you very much. And I thought I heard you say car wash, but I think you meant the car lot. Car lot. Yes, sir. I'm sorry. That's fine. Councilman Hoyland. Thank you. Thank you for being here, Mr. Feiner. I just had a quick question. I know there was some confusion about who signed the paperwork. So when we talk about ownership, I'm assuming it's an investment. I don't know if it's Mr. Desroulet or Ms. Charlier. Their names are appearing on both. But my question more is to management. Is there going to be an on-site manager or is this going to be here? There's a property management company that's going to be there. I don't necessarily know that they'll be on-site. I'm not sure they'll be on-site, but they'll be available. All the residents will be given the contact information and everything else. Oh, and let me add why you're doing that. I forgot to add. There also is a designated room in the site for bicycle storage. Okay. Should residents want bicycle storage. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Feiner. Anybody else from the dais? We do have some. We do have Mr. Conklin who wishes to make some comments. Mr. Conklin, I'm going to ask you. I know you asked to sign up for a number of them. I'm going to ask you to use the three minutes. If you need to conclude with a little bit of extra time because you're covering all of them, you can have it. But please try and stay to the three minutes. Dennis Conklin, 4581 Northwest Sixth Court. I have been sworn in to understand the rules. At this time, I would like to withdraw my 16 and 17. I'll be able to cover everything in 15. Thank you. Back in the day when this was Gateway 7 and then later CRA, this area was designated as artisan. And although you hear the word artisan and you think, oh, artists, you know, sculptors and painters and this, that, and the other thing. But basically it meant like welders and professional with, with trades and stuff like that. And this has always been a tough site. Could you put the projection back up to the actual overhead? Back then they were also trying to get all of the auto dealers to the north of Broward Boulevard, to the auto section, or at least to the east side where south of Broward there were auto dealers already. So it's been a long time for that individual to own that place. There have been hopes of extending the warehouses into that place, but you can see it's awkward because it doesn't line up with the rest of the warehouses. So it's basically been ignored for all these years. And so you can see it's already been mentioned. Only one of the residential properties within the Country Club Estates is actually aligned with the project. They moved it as far forward as they could. With the landscaping and everything else like that, a lot of consideration was given. And I was unaware of any of the objections from my fellow Flex Zone 73 neighborhood east of Turnpike residents that live in Country Club Estates. But you can see that it's a very good project that it's been fallow for so many years. I just wanted to say that I do support this as it is. It's a long time seeking a remedy to a headache sort of remnant that was left over. In the north section, you may recall that there were wooded areas behind the car lots in the north, and they became homes for the homeless. And you have a similar situation with this leftover strip that I wasn't aware of it being a homeless situation. But you can see how it could lend itself to be that. So I'll yield back. And again, if you would, kindly remove me for 16 and 17. Thank you very much. Any other further comments from the public? Any further comments from the dais? Seeing none, we're going to... Mayor? Sorry, I didn't see you jump in just now. Go ahead, Mayor. Did you punch him too or not? Okay. Can you... Quick question or two? Yes, sir. Very easy ones. How soon till it's open? One and a half? Sorry, how long till UCD is once we're done? So let's just say we hope to start construction. I know the client asked me the same question about six months ago. Let's say we can start construction within a year. About a year. Okay, okay. Between UCDs and getting the construction loan, about that. And you called Zabella. Is that a playoff? Is Zabella? No, the client's last name and his company down in Miami is called Zabella Construction and Rentals. Originally, they borrowed his Mazel Tov Estates, which is why you saw that, the original name. That's what I was asking. His basic company name. So that's why it's Zabella Palms. Okay. P and Z said we didn't like the estate name for the project, so we changed it. Councilmember Andrea. I agree. I did see that utilities did not have any objection. But, Mr. Polio, we met a few weeks back, and I want to thank you for that. It was a great meeting. And I thought during that meeting, outside of this particular specific project when we were just discussing that general area, I thought you had some concerns regarding the lift station in that area. Danny Polio, utilities director, not concerns with the lift station. That corridors off of a vacuum sewer system. So they're small, individual vacuum pits for each one of the sites. John Adams, our capital improvement administrator, have brought that to the engineer's attention. And the reason there's no objections to the project is they've agreed that any and all costs associated with modifying that system, they'll bear. So tomorrow's conversation, depending on tonight's outcome, with John and the developer, will be that they contact the vacuum sewer manufacturer to find out the most suitable vacuum pit that can service 18 units. And they'll have to install that and tie into the vacuum sewer system. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Yes. No further comments? Do I have, we're going to take them one at a time. We're going to start with item 13. Do I have a motion for item 13? Excuse me. May I read the title of the ordinance, please? Yes, please. Thank you. Public hearing, first reading of an ordinance of the City of Plantation pertaining to the subject of comprehensive planning, assigning 18 residential units in the Plantation Gateway Local Activity Center so as to permit the utilization of a portion of the remaining LAC residential units for development on property lying 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, conflicts, severability, and an effective date. Thank you. Anything further? Seeing none, again, we'll take a motion for item 13. So moved. Do we have a second? Second. Seeing no further comments on item 13, Ms. Beggarrow, please call the roll. Council Member Fadgen? Yes. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andreu? Yes. Council Member Einstein? Yes. Thank you. Item 15, seeing no further comments, do we have a motion? Motion to approve item 15. Second. Ms. Beggarrow, please call the roll. Council Member Fadgen? Yes. Council Member Horland? Yes. Council Member Anderson? Yes. Council Member Andreu? Yes. Councilmember Reinstein. Yes. Item 16, seeing no further comments, do we have a motion? Motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. Ms. Beggarrow, please call the roll. Councilmember Fagin. Yes. Councilmember Horland. Yes. Councilmember Anderson. Yes. Councilmember Andreu. Yes. Councilmember Reinstein. Yes. Item number 17, seeing no further comments, do we have a motion? Motion to approve. Do we have a second? Second. Ms. Beggarrow, please call the roll. Councilmember Fagin. Yes. Councilmember Horland. Yes. Councilmember Anderson. Yes. Councilmember Andrean. Yes. Councilmember Einstein. Yes. Thank you very much. Go Panthers. Thank you very much. Now we'll move on to comments by the mayor. Nothing required. Hearing none. No, I don't have anything. Councilmember Fadgen. Go Panthers. Good night. Councilmember Horland. Of course, I have a few things. Mr. Holmes, can I ask you a question? It's popped up on social media, and I did not have a chance to call you today. The parking spots at Target, do we know where they are in the process, the pickup spots that were removed, which I thought they should be removed, so I'll put that on the record again. I do not. Let me check with staff. I know that we've initiated contact with them. I tried to explain the process to some of the residents that they needed to come back for a permit. They just kind of added those at their own will. So, okay. I'll follow up with you on that. Thank you. I'll send an update. I'm sorry. I just threw that at you, but it was top of my mind today. Thank you very much. Before the council meeting tonight, I was at the P3 Eco Challenge in Davie for Central Park Elementary, and I just received an update. So, if you remember, a couple years ago, Central Park Elementary kids came in with their big check. They had won the big prize of $3,000. So, Central Park was up for student awards. They had a staff member, custodian, office manager, and the school was up for two awards, and South Plantation was up for two awards. So, they won $500 tonight, and they were all recognized. So, they do a great job over there with their environmental practices. So, I told them I'd give them all a shout-out tonight. I wanted to announce Dade County Federal Credit Union had come into the community, and I'd encourage them to join the chamber. They're trying to move more into Broward. A lot of residents are leaving Dade County and moving up here. They've opened their first location in Pembroke. They're looking for other locations. But they do an annual car sale, and they're doing one in Plantation on May 16th and 17th from 9 to 6 p.m. at 1050 Northwest 43rd Avenue. If you go to Dade County Federal Credit Union, individuals get pre-approved online. And I just thought it was great that we've got somebody else coming in to the county to do something like that. Sewing days. We're getting closer to unveiling the tapestry. So, that will be 5 o'clock before the next council meeting on May 21st. I want to thank the Fire and Police Department again for your assistance as well as Public Works. Matt Thompson came out with his crew the other day and took measurements. We have it all laid out. And, you know, Chief, we're coming back for three more days next week, right? Thank you. But, you know, that Fire Department training room is great because we can move all the tables together. And let me tell you what a great community-building event it has been. Council Member Reinstein was back out. We've had city employees come in. A couple have been able to use their volunteer time, which has been great. I think Erica from Parks and Rec was able to do that. It's relaxing. I'm not a sewer. But just being able to bring the community together, put this project together today, Magda, the artist, was presenting to those who gave her the grant, Broward Cultural Division, as well as a community foundation. And it's really got a lot of buzz in the community within Broward County, which is exciting, because they're really looking to bring more cultural arts west. So, I'm excited about unveiling it. Matt's already got his team looking at how we're going to do that. Mayor, I just ask if we can maybe get a microphone out front before the meeting at 5 that day, get it done like in half an hour, and then get everybody in here for the meeting. Yeah, because at 5 isn't a budget workshop? There is? It is, right? Yeah, budget workshop. Ooh, that's okay, because we had talked about this. But if you want to skip that and just do the thing, I'm good. I didn't know that we had the budget workshop on the calendar. Yeah, budget workshop's on for 5. Is that on our calendar? It wasn't on our calendar. Yeah, because we talked about it. We didn't talk about it. Yeah, because we talked about options whether to do it separate or not. Okay. Okay, we'll have to talk about that online, because the invitation for this is going out to County Commission and everybody. Has it gone out yet? It was going to go out today. It's going out tomorrow. Oh, why did you check? Yeah, because I was not aware there was a budget workshop, and it looks like none of my colleagues were either. Okay. All right, we'll talk about that. Anyway, that's been exciting. Legislative update we received from Warren Jackson and 1130 Eshula House floor on Friday night. As everyone knows, the budget's not done, but we were able to tell our story and kill the CRA bill as well as the sovereign immunity bill, so I know Carol's happy about that. There's a couple that we have to be concerned about with the House getting a committee together to talk about property taxes. So we are fortunate that Representative Michael Gottlieb is the ranking member on there. I do have a good relationship with Rep. Toby Oberdorf, who is one of the co-chairs of that, so we'll be having those conversations about how that will harm our municipality if they do away with our property taxes. And I just wanted to mention something. I don't know if anybody was at the PNC meeting or attended last night. I think it might be good if we all touch base with our appointees, and maybe just that's one of our most important boards. And I watched that, and I have to tell you I was a little embarrassed at times because it seemed like a very unserious meeting. And we invite applicants to come do business in our city, and I think maybe just touch base with everyone. Maybe they can touch base with our assistant city attorney, whether it's about voting, about how to run a meeting. But it just, I feel that we have professionals coming in here, attorneys and applicants, and it should be run a little bit differently. Yes, sir. I'm glad you brought that up. I had a couple people call me today regarding the PNC meeting last night, and it looked preordained, and there wasn't a lot of questions coming off the dais. So I agree that I think we should talk to our appointees. And you know what, and I wasn't as concerned about the preordained because this project, this particular project's been hanging out there for a while, so residents had been emailing all of us, and they'd been concerned about it. But I think that enough of the planning and zoning members have been around long enough, and I think the manner in which some of the chatter on the dais, and I just felt it was disrespectful to the applicant. So whomever's coming in here, whether they get an approval or they get a disapproval, I think a conversation needs to be had. I think it would be good for all of us just to have that conversation and maybe suggest they also talk to Mr. Morgan. I do think the chair and the co-chair were both out. Correct. Is that right? Correct. Yeah, I will say that that fact in and of itself did change the dynamics of it in terms of the running of the meeting. And I heard the same thing you all heard. Okay. So anyway, just a reminder, I think it would be good for all of us to touch base with them. And thank you for all the time, Mr. President. I just wanted to say none of us would be here without our mothers. So have a happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers out there, and if you're missing your mom, I hope the day lands gently upon you. Councilmember Anderson. Happy Mother's Day and go Panthers. That's all for me. Thank you. Councilmember Angeo. Thank you. I would like to, I didn't do a proclamation this year. I have in years past, but just recognize May as Haitian Heritage Month and invite everyone to experience the rich culture, art, food, and traditions. And Haitian Flag Day will be May 18th. Also, the United Methodist Church this Saturday at May 10th will be having a high tea right before Mother's Day. So we're looking forward to, I don't know, I hear there's a big hat parade going on. So I don't know how that will end, but we're looking forward to that. And again, wishing Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers and mother figures. And unfortunately, I didn't get to attend any sewing because I've had all these senior events. But if you have any... We're back Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday next week. Okay, send it out, please. I can't wait. Send it out. I would love to sew. I need the relaxation. And the same thing with University of Plantation. Laura, I'm so sorry I won't be able to attend on the 15th because of senior night. But once I get them off, I'll be back. So thank you all. And that concludes my announcement. So I'll put in another plug for the sewing. While I was there sewing, I never promised I could sew well. So if you can help and... I'll just say it's better you became an attorney than a surgeon. Thank you very much. So I wanted to add, though, that last weekend I had a chance to attend the Honor Flight South Florida American Celebration, a patriotic concert that was at South Plantation High School. And it was put on by the Fort Lauderdale Symphonic Winds. If you've never heard of Honor Flight or you've never been involved in Honor Flight, it's an amazing organization that's there to support our veterans and bring them back to Washington, D.C. And I want to thank South Plantation High School for their involvement and the symphonic winds. And last but not least, a happy Mother's Day to everyone. And I can say to my wife and to my mom. And with that, it's 7.39. Meeting is adjourned. You're good. You're good. You're good. You're good. You're good. 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